Chapter 170: Conclusion

Staying in a luxury mansion atop the hills of the small town of Cannes, Simon has gradually clarified his filming approach for "Batman" over these days.

In the preliminary plan, the first step is to produce a trilogy of "Batman" solo movies, using the names from Nolan's series: "Batman: The Beginning," "Batman: The Dark Knight," and "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises." However, Simon plans to adopt a completely different plot setting. By appropriately intertwining with the "Superman" series, he aims to lay the groundwork for the entire DC film universe.

To realize the film universe plan, the opening of the first "Batman" movie is crucial.

Simon actually had a very easy shortcut to success, which was to make the Joker the villain of the first film.

As Batman's arch-enemy and the most popular villain in the Batman series, the Joker has indeed irreplaceable popularity and status both in comics and in reality, as seen in Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan's peak Batman series works.

However, after careful consideration, Simon decided to abandon this idea.

Using the Joker meant that the first film had to have a matching grand scale. Starting too high would make it difficult to satisfy the audience's appetite in sequels, and repeatedly saving Gotham and the world could easily lead to aesthetic fatigue. Therefore, Simon plans to save the Joker as the ultimate boss for the last movie of the trilogy.

For the current opening, Simon does not intend to spend too much time narrating Bruce Wayne's transformation into Batman, but plans to start with Batman's process of righteousness and integration with the entire city.

A vigilante suddenly appears in the city of sin, causing reactions and responses from the public, media, officials, criminals, etc. Meanwhile, these subplots will all revolve around a high-concept mode story of good triumphing over evil. The villain appears, Batman defeats the villain, begins to gain the city's recognition, and the story ends.

Simon hides in Cannes writing the "Batman" script, while in North America, this year's summer movie season officially kicks off in May.

On May 13th, Paramount released the seventh installment of the classic horror series "Friday the 13th," envying Simon with its opening on 1796 screens and earning $9.8 million in the first week. Although the box office did not meet the producers' expectations, compared to the film's meager $2.8 million production cost, Paramount recovered most of the production and marketing budget in the first week.

Aside from "Friday the 13th Part 7," the other two independent film company releases did not make any waves, with "When Harry Met Sally" ranking second. This marked the end of "When Harry Met Sally's" reign as box office champion after a massive eight weeks since its release.

In its tenth week, "When Harry Met Sally" earned another $6.13 million, cumulating to $90.12 million at the box office, and effortlessly continuing towards the $100 million mark.

Although Hollywood has always envied Danilis Film Production for producing the first billion-dollar box office film of 1988, Simon is not satisfied with this achievement.

Paramount could arrange nearly 1800 screens for a horror film with a production cost of only $2.8 million, while "When Harry Met Sally" couldn't break through 1500 screens during its entire run. In the initial weeks of prime box office harvesting, the film's screening numbers were even just over 1000, making Simon keenly aware of the entrenched defenses and hindrances from Hollywood's traditional forces towards newcomers.

If "When Harry Met Sally" could have obtained sufficient screen resources, its box office could have already broken through the $100 million threshold, rather than being stuck at the awkward number of $90 million. Although breaking the $100 million mark is not difficult afterwards, with the arrival of a series of new films during the summer, "When Harry Met Sally's" screening scale and subsequent box office are destined to rapidly shrink.

Then on May 20th, the first big-budget film of the summer season, "Storm of the Century," premiered in North American theaters. This medieval fantasy film, based on Western mythology, was co-produced by MGM and Lucasfilm, employing a large amount of advanced special effects technology from Industrial Light & Magic.

However, this $35 million big-budget film received mediocre reviews. Variety magazine described it as "a medieval version of 'Star Wars' mixed with a multitude of mythological fables, with clichéd stories and lacking innovation."

Due to pessimism about the film's prospects, the distributor MGM only arranged 1024 screens for "Storm of the Century," even less than "Friday the 13th Part 7," not to mention the upcoming "Crocodile Dundee II" and "Rambo III." According to the distributors' public data, the expected opening screen counts for these two heavyweight new films were 2800 and 2500 respectively, once again demonstrating the arrival of Hollywood's full distribution era.

Regrettably, as the most anticipated new film of this summer season, "Pulp Fiction" was expected to open on only about 1500 screens, and Simon was helpless because this was already the limit of resources Orion Pictures could mobilize.

Moreover, the film criticism reputation of "Pulp Fiction" has been constantly changing since its premiere in Cannes, especially in North America, where the media's attitude has shifted significantly. Many well-known film critics have criticized the movie for its excessive violence and Simon's plagiarism of various classic films.

The reason for this situation is quite obvious; too many people do not want to see "Pulp Fiction" succeed.

Simon couldn't pinpoint who was sabotaging from behind.

"Pulp Fiction" was scheduled to release on June 3rd, with Paramount's "Crocodile Dundee II" and Columbia's TriStar Pictures' "Rambo III" releasing a week earlier. Competing in the same period were Fox's "Future Flight" and Warner Bros.' "Funny Farm," followed by Disney's "The Parent Trap," Paramount's "Poseidon Base," and MGM's "Poltergeist III" the next week.

Within three weeks, the seven major film companies had all released new films. Even during the hottest seasons, there's a limit to the total box office revenue per week; more for one means less for the others.

In this situation, "Pulp Fiction," being the most eye-catching among a bunch of new releases, would undoubtedly face competition, even from Simon himself, if possible.

Realizing this predicament, Simon became less optimistic about the film festival's award results. Neither Simon nor Orion had the network resources to compete with the entire Hollywood Big Seven. Perhaps just a phone call from the others could mean the loss of an award.

Until May 22nd, the day before the film festival's closing ceremony, the organizers officially extended invitations to the winning crews, and only then did Simon finally relax.

May 23rd, Monday.

The last day of the film festival. The main event during the day was the re-screening of all the nominated films in the main competition unit. At the same time, information about the retained crews also appeared in the local media of Cannes.

Among the 21 main competition unit films, five crews were retained: Simon's "Pulp Fiction," Clint Eastwood's "Rookie Parker," Kieślowski's "Short Film About Killing," Fernando Solanas's "The South," and Chris Menges's "Isolated World."

Among the five films, "Short Film About Killing" by Kieślowski had the highest call for the Palme d'Or. Previously, this film had already won the FIPRESCI Prize in the main competition unit, an award issued by the International Federation of Film Critics, independent of the film festival organizers, acting like a weather vane for the awards.

As for "Pulp Fiction," among the six major awards of Palme d'Or, Grand Prix, Jury Prize, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director, the outside world generally believed that the chances for the Palme d'Or were slim. Acting awards were even less likely, and the jury was unlikely to give the Best Director to Simon, a young man who had just turned twenty.

Therefore, the final result was very likely to be either the Grand Prix or the Jury Prize.

Approaching 7 p.m.

Outside the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, compared to the star-studded opening ceremony, the closing ceremony was much quieter.

The "Pulp Fiction" crew had received the retention notice yesterday. John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Nicole Kidman, who had already left Cannes, flew back from the United States. Other celebrities like Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, Madonna, and Sean Penn did not attend the closing ceremony for various reasons.

Speaking of which, such promotional activities, fundamentally for the movie, were definitely a cost borne by Orion. Simon's private jet bill would also be sent to Orion. Of course, the luxury mansion in the Le Cannet hills was beyond what Orion could afford.

Simon and his entourage arrived at the Palais des Festivals, and the closing ceremony's red carpet event was nearing its end. Everyone quickly passed through the media channel and entered the Lumière Theatre inside.

Perhaps intentionally arranged by the organizers, the "Pulp Fiction" crew's seats were next to the "Storm of the Century" crew, the special effects movie led by Lucasfilm, which would be the closing film of this festival.

However, Simon did not see George Lucas, only "Storm of the Century" director Ron Howard and the lead actors Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley attending the closing ceremony.

After its premiere last Friday, due to poor reception, "Storm of the Century" only earned $8.3 million at the box office over the weekend, far below the producer's expectations. The film could only hope to recoup its expensive production and marketing costs through subsequent distribution channels.

Simon had always been following "Storm of the Century," as a movie using the most advanced special effects technology of the era could provide many references for his production of "Batman."

Moreover, Ron Howard, a director slightly below Spielberg but with a very diverse range of commercial films, also interested Simon. The two took the opportunity to chat briefly before the ceremony and even exchanged business cards.

7 p.m.

The 41st Cannes Film Festival closing ceremony officially began.

The host was still Mathilda May, as during the opening ceremony, maintaining a meticulous atmosphere.

After Mathilda May's emotional opening speech, guests took the stage, starting with the "Technical Grand Prize." This is one of the few technical awards at the Cannes Film Festival.

This marginal technical award does not come with an envelope or a trophy, only a certificate. As actress Jane Birkin announced the result, Simon's heart couldn't help but race.

If "Pulp Fiction" received such an award, it would be quite a joke. This technical award is essentially a consolation prize, preemptively telling the creators that they won't be involved in what follows.

Fortunately.

Jane Birkin quickly announced the result, and Clint Eastwood's "Rookie Parker" luckily won this award, which was within many people's expectations. Watching the old cowboy squeeze out a smile and walk onto the stage, Simon generously joined everyone in a hearty applause.

Afterward, awards like the Golden Camera and Best Short Film were presented, followed by a musical performance. Then, Mathilda May introduced the main competition jury members to the stage, as the most important awards of the main competition were about to be presented.

The jurors took their seats on stage, and the Best Actress award was announced first. This time, the Best Actress award resulted in a rare "three-way tie," with the three lead actresses of Chris Menges's "Isolated World" sharing the honor.

The Best Actor award went to Forest Whitaker for his role in "Rookie Parker." Simon remembered that he was one of the few African-American Best Actor Oscar winners. Although Whitaker's presence in Hollywood was always subtle, despite his exceptional acting skills, he often played inconspicuous supporting roles.

Cannes clearly did not control the award ceremony's pace by arranging the awards, as after presenting the Best Actor and Actress awards, the Best Director was announced next. Argentine director Fernando Solanas won this award for "The South," leaving only the most crucial Palme d'Or, Grand Prix, and Jury Prize.

Among the five films retained in the main competition, "Rookie Parker" and "The South" had already been passed over, leaving the last three awards inevitably to "Pulp Fiction," "Short Film About Killing," and "Isolated World."

The Jury Prize presenter was the renowned French director Louis Malle.

As Malle slowly introduced the award on stage, Simon felt a small hand reach over and press on his own. He turned his palm and clasped the woman's hand, whispering to Janet beside him, "It's not this one, right?"

Janet blinked in confusion and then shook her head, "I really don't know, Natasha didn't tell me."

In terms of seniority among the three films, Kieślowski and Chris Menges were already well-established, making "Short Film About Killing" and "Isolated World" sufficiently outstanding. "Pulp Fiction" falling to the last Jury Prize would be completely reasonable.

On stage, Louis Malle finally opened the envelope, glanced at the result, and announced amidst the audience's anticipation, "The winner of the Jury Prize is 'Short Film About Killing,' congratulations!"

The applause that followed was amidst many gazes turning towards Simon.

From the beginning, Kieślowski's "Short Film About Killing" had been the most highly anticipated for the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, not only receiving a 4.6 highest media rating but also the FIPRESCI Prize, a significant indicator.

Now, by awarding the lowest-ranking Jury Prize to "Short Film About Killing," Kieślowski was clearly out of the running for the Palme d'Or.

As for "Isolated World," this film about South Africa's apartheid struggle managed to make it this far more due to its absolutely politically correct theme.

Although director Chris Menges was a two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer, "Isolated World" was his directorial debut. Apart from its intent, the film could not compare to "Pulp Fiction" in other aspects.

However, Cannes Film Festival, unlike Berlin and Venice, is the least concerned with thematic depth.

After Kieślowski's acceptance speech, French César Award-winning actress Sandrine Bonnaire took the stage to present the Grand Prix. When "Isolated World" was announced, the outcome was no longer in doubt.

While Chris Menges was still on stage, Simon noticed some figures quietly leaving their seats and heading out.

Beside Simon, Janet's cheeks turned rosy, and the others also showed clear joy. After all, leaving their mark in a Cannes Palme d'Or-winning film would greatly benefit their future careers.

Even for John Travolta, who quickly rose to fame with "Grease," this was a chance to shed his teen movie actor image. The title of "dance king" was hardly appropriate for a 34-year-old actor nearing middle age.

The final moment arrived.

This time, the award presenters were Jury President Ettore Scola and Natasha Kinski.

The feared double-win scenario did not occur. After a few words between the presenters, Ettore Scola opened the envelope, and Natasha Kinski announced the already certain result, "The winner of the Palme d'Or is 'Pulp Fiction.'"

Even with the anticipated outcome, the venue experienced a brief but noticeable pause.

Then, enthusiastic applause erupted.

As a silent observer in his previous life, Simon watched others celebrate their glory. Now, feeling the surrounding applause, even with his experience and the memories of many, Simon couldn't help but feel excited.

After hugging Janet tightly for a moment and then embracing Travolta and others, as well as the main creators of "Storm of the Century," Simon walked onto the stage amid the still-unending applause.

After shaking hands with Ettore Scola and expressing his gratitude, Simon saw Natasha Kinski approaching with open arms and hugged her in cooperation.

However, Natasha Kinski took the opportunity to whisper in Simon's ear, "Lend me your house."

Simon replied straightforwardly with a smile, "No."

Natasha Kinski hugged Simon tighter and whispered again, "Do you want to see me destroy myself right now?"

Simon was curious to see that, but considering the consequences of her frenzy, he decisively surrendered and nodded, "I'll lend it."

Satisfied, Natasha Kinski hummed and then let go of Simon. Their brief interaction did not raise suspicions among others, who assumed Natasha Kinski was congratulating Simon.

After being entangled by Natasha Kinski for a moment and reaching the microphone, Simon paused and began to deliver an impromptu acceptance speech.

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