Chapter 1137: Timing, Location, and People

The day after the sixth child of the Westeros family was born, Janet also arrived in Boston. Having had prior interactions, Ulyana Melekhova was visibly nervous in front of Janet.

Ulyana had long realized that she could somewhat hold her own in front of Simon Westeros, leveraging her beauty and intelligence as a woman. However, when it came to Janet Westeros, although she seemed more approachable on the surface, Ulyana instinctively knew that crossing certain boundaries with this woman would lead to severe consequences. Therefore, since their first meeting, Ulyana had abandoned any thoughts of competing for Simon’s attention.

Since the child had just been born, Simon initially planned to stay longer. However, seeing how Ulyana was so cautious around Janet that she could barely function, he decided to leave early on Friday. He sent Janet back to Los Angeles and then headed to New York himself to visit other pregnant women in his life.

During Simon’s time on the East Coast, on Wednesday, May 21, Daenerys Entertainment held the premiere of their first summer blockbuster of 1997, Face/Off, in Los Angeles. The film was directed by John Woo, with the dual male leads being John Travolta and Brad Pitt, replacing the original pairing of Travolta and Nicolas Cage.

Travolta was a well-established star, and Brad Pitt had gained global fame through his role as Superman. This was Pitt’s first major film after the "Death of Superman" storyline in Batman v Superman, and his popularity far surpassed Cage’s at the time. As the release date approached, fans of both Superman and Pitt flooded online platforms with discussions about the film.

The original Face/Off had been released before Mission: Impossible 2, but this time it came after, placing John Woo at the peak of his career. As a result, the project garnered much more attention than its predecessor. Additionally, compared to the original, the new version had a budget of $100 million, despite the relatively modest salaries of the two leads. The increase was primarily due to larger-scale action sequences and special effects.

The original Face/Off had been well-received but only grossed slightly over $200 million worldwide, barely breaking even with its $90 million budget. The reason was that it followed the traditional Hollywood action movie formula. This time, Simon upgraded the action scenes to match the scale of the Mission: Impossible series, moving away from the smaller-scale fights of the original. The climax of the film, featuring a showdown between the two leads, was shot using Michael Bay’s explosive style, with a decommissioned oil tanker being blown up during filming.

After the premiere on Wednesday, reviews were released the next day, with the film receiving a stellar 9.2 rating, marking a career high for John Woo in Hollywood. To avoid competing with Face/Off, only one other film, the $30 million romantic comedy Addicted to Love starring Meg Ryan, was released that week, posing no threat to the blockbuster. With Daenerys Entertainment’s strong marketing campaign and a wide release across 3,543 screens, the film had everything going for it—timing, location, and people.

The box office results did not disappoint. On its opening day, including midnight screenings, Face/Off grossed $17.62 million, with a conservative estimate of $70 million for the first week, matching the performance of Mission: Impossible 2 the previous year.

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### Cannes, France

By Sunday, May 25, the 50th Cannes Film Festival had come to a close. The award distribution this year was particularly dramatic, according to insider information from the Daenerys Entertainment team.

The jury president, Isabelle Adjani, was known for her strong personality. This year, she abandoned Cannes’ traditional voting or discussion-based award selection process, opting instead to discuss each film individually. This approach nearly allowed Italian leftist director Nanni Moretti to dominate the process. Moretti even convinced Adjani to relinquish her privileges as jury president, advocating for equality among jurors.

The result was predictable. Cannes’ jury privileges were significant, as evidenced by the case of Fahrenheit 9/11 in a previous year, where Quentin Tarantino, a close friend of Harvey Weinstein, pushed the documentary to win the Palme d’Or, leading to a $220 million global box office on a $6 million budget.

Adjani’s missteps nearly allowed Moretti to push his preferred but less deserving Iranian film, Taste of Cherry, to win the Palme d’Or. However, Daenerys Entertainment’s PR team secretly intervened, persuading influential jurors to steer the process back to the traditional voting system. When Moretti tried to propose a dual award, the team had already secured control, and Adjani refused to compromise.

In the final vote, Taste of Cherry was completely shut out, while The Full Monty emerged as the winner. Additionally, Girl, Interrupted from Daenerys Entertainment scored a dual win, with Mia Kirshner and Angelina Jolie sharing the Best Actress award. This marked another major victory for Daenerys Entertainment at Cannes.

Although even Simon felt the dual award for Girl, Interrupted was excessive, history is written by the winners. Despite Adjani’s public complaints and Moretti’s sarcastic remarks, the results were final. Every Cannes festival has its controversies, and behind-the-scenes lobbying is part of the game. Exposing it would only make everyone look bad.

Meanwhile, after the Cannes premiere of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, most of the cast and crew had left, but Li Youhu and Teacher Yu stayed until the end. Unfortunately, they were unable to attend the closing ceremony and spent their time sightseeing. As the festival concluded, the two women reflected on Daenerys Entertainment’s dominance, feeling a mix of pride and cynicism, knowing it was all tied to a certain man—their man.

With everything settled, they prepared to return to China the next day, planning to return to the U.S. in July for the film’s promotional activities. However, there was a small surprise: another woman, Mira Sorvino, was scheduled to fly back with them on their Gulfstream V. After some conversation, they learned she was heading to China to play a role in Call for Love, a project secretly backed by Simon. This coincidence raised eyebrows, but they chose not to comment further.

They departed on Monday afternoon, May 26, and arrived in China on Tuesday morning. The Westeros family’s team was there to pick them up, and to their relief, Mira Sorvino was taken separately by the family’s female staff. Upon returning to their courtyard home in Mao’er Hutong, they found Chen Qing there, along with regular residents Zhu Momo and Mo Wuling.

In private, Li Youhu learned that Zhu Momo had been having a tough time. Recently, the 1996 acting class at the Central Academy of Drama had been publicly criticized for their lack of focus, and Zhu Momo, as an auditing student, was also implicated. After a phone call from the class’s homeroom teacher, Zhu Momo’s mother had reprimanded both her daughter and her sister, demanding that Zhu Momo follow the same strict academic and cultural curriculum as the regular students. This effectively turned her from an auditing student into a full-time one.

Zhu Momo, who was already struggling with her studies, found the added pressure unbearable. She had been studying day and night, losing weight in the process. Hearing her complaints over dinner, Li Youhu decided against pursuing formal studies at the Central Academy or Beijing Film Academy, as her career was already on track.

After a night’s rest, Li Youhu headed to Jinshu Media’s headquarters near Beijing Normal University on Wednesday morning, coincidentally sharing the ride with Chen Qing. Although Li Youhu was somewhat intimidated by Chen Qing due to rumors she had heard, she noticed the young woman seemed in low spirits, which made her even more uneasy. However, she couldn’t back out now.

The ride was silent. Upon arriving at the company, Li Youhu met with her agent, Guan Yinan, to discuss her role in Call for Love and catch up on the latest gossip. Meanwhile, Chen Qing met with Wu Shanlin, and together they headed to the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT).

At an office near Fuxingmen, they waited for over ten minutes before meeting with a senior official. The news was bad: a document related to the Hero project, which had been progressing smoothly, had suddenly been rejected.

“Xiao Chen, Xiao Wu, we’ve all reviewed Jinshu’s projects, and they’re indeed impressive, especially Hero, which promotes Chinese culture. And let’s not beat around the bush—Mr. Westeros’ involvement is a factor. Opening up is the trend, and China’s film industry has reached a point where reform is inevitable. Sooner or later, the outcome will be the same. However, some people are too conservative, even bringing out older comrades to argue that our approach is inappropriate. This is the result.”

Chen Qing and Wu Shanlin sat like obedient students, showing no signs of frustration. After the official finished speaking, Chen Qing asked, “So, what should we do about Hero? We’ve already started preparations. Should we pause?”

“Of course not. However, your initial proposal to give up domestic rights in exchange for Hero receiving the same treatment as a domestic film is no longer feasible.”

Wu Shanlin, the 32-year-old head of Jinshu, couldn’t hide his frustration. “Then what do you suggest we do?”

The official didn’t take offense and simply waved his hand. “You’ll need to submit a new proposal within the existing rules.”

After about ten minutes of discussion, Chen Qing and Wu Shanlin left the SARFT building. On the way back to Jinshu’s headquarters, Wu Shanlin rode in Chen Qing’s car, sitting in the passenger seat for propriety. He asked, “What do we do now? Hero is scheduled to start filming in August, which isn’t far off.”

Chen Qing didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she pulled out a satellite phone, distinct from a regular mobile, and dialed a number. After a brief conversation, she was connected to Simon.

After summarizing the situation, she asked, “So, boss, what should we do now?”

Chen Qing deliberately spoke in English, which Wu Shanlin, despite being academically accomplished, only partially understood. He turned back to face the front, waiting for the outcome.

The discussion continued throughout the ride. Only after returning to Jinshu’s headquarters did Chen Qing hang up. As they entered the office building, other Jinshu executives and director Zhang Yimou, who had just returned from a location scouting trip in Gansu, greeted them.

Facing their questioning looks, Chen Qing’s expression had improved significantly. She led everyone to a conference room and announced, “I’ve spoken with the boss. The film will be fully converted into a domestic production.”

This statement caused a stir. If it was fully domestic, did that mean Daenerys Entertainment wouldn’t be funding it? $30 million—equivalent to 250 million RMB—was an amount no domestic entity could easily afford.

Chen Qing observed their reactions with a meaningful smile. “The boss just explained to me some strategies German capital uses to invest in Hollywood films. I won’t go into details, but if you’re interested, you can look into it. In short, Daenerys Entertainment will no longer invest in Hero. However, someone will provide Jinshu with a loan to produce the film. Additionally, Daenerys Entertainment will purchase the overseas rights for all distribution channels.”