American fame and fortune.

Chapter 793 False
Century City, Fox Tower.

As soon as Ang Lee went to work, producer Gil Nate came over.

Both of them were in a good mood.

"Life of Pi" was released on Thanksgiving weekend. Although the box office championship was taken away by the latest "Twilight Saga", including the Thanksgiving holiday, the film still took in a box office of 3057 million US dollars in North America.

As of yesterday, the North American box office total exceeded 6000 million US dollars.

More importantly, the film's audience and professional reputation are very good, and its ratings in all aspects are not weaker than its main competitor "Escape from Tehran" during the awards season.

If the awards season goes well, Gil-Nette and Ang Lee are confident that "Pi" will recoup all its investment from box office alone.

Therefore, Oscar is very crucial.

Ang Lee said: "Disney Pictures and David Fincher held three screening parties in a row after Thanksgiving, and many old judges who settled in Los Angeles attended."

Gil-Nette asked him to calm down and said, "Our pull-out will start soon."

This is a photo they took together after they fled Tehran.

The economic situation has been bad in the past few years. His wife lost her job a year ago and has been taking care of her two children at home.

He turned down the visor and looked at the old photo sandwiched in it, a group photo of six people.

Seattle, Washington.

My son, who is nearly thirty years old, is addicted to drugs and has to stay at home to grow old.

Security guard Ron Stern left the company after get off work and drove quickly to an ordinary community.

During this period of time in the car before going home after get off work, Ron could smoke a cigarette alone, empty his mind, and feel truly relaxed without having to think about mortgage payments and living expenses.

…………

This was the plan the two of them had agreed upon together. Ang Lee fully agreed, but he also had concerns, saying, "Martin Davis is very difficult to deal with. We only focus on the film, not the individual."

Time flies, more than twenty years have passed.

Ang Lee said: "There are still twenty days until the ballots are issued, so we need to hurry up."

Gil Nate said: "Don't worry, I have sent people to find those people back then. One of them is a fourth-class retired person and is living a very unhappy life."

Gil-Nette responded: "It's not about taking anything personally. We're targeting Escape from Tehran and its content, not the individual people involved in the production."

It was extremely stressful for Ron to bear all the household expenses alone.

I get up in the morning and go to the company to work. The company often works overtime, and I have to help take care of the children when I get home. I am very busy.

It was a cold December day in Seattle when a man wearing a leather jacket got out of a car nearby.

"Now that multiple Sentinel Awards have been awarded, the situation is gradually becoming clearer." Ang Lee pointed to the newspaper on the table: ""Lincoln" is not a big threat. Their main goal is the Best Actor and the Sentinel Award for Best Director. And the winner of Best Picture, concentrated on David Fincher and "Escape from Tehran."

He is basically certain: "Our biggest competitor is definitely "Escape from Tehran."

After returning, Ron enjoyed a brief period of prosperity, but after he was discharged and returned to his hometown, he was a fourth-class Marine and did not receive much care. He only found a job as a bank security officer.

The car entered a parking lot near the community, but he did not get out of the car immediately. Instead, he opened the car window, lit a cigarette, and started smoking.

The daughter, who is less than 20 years old, was born with low intelligence. She could take care of herself when she was a teenager, but now she cannot even take care of herself.

He walked towards Ron and said, "Mr. Stern, I'm Fords from Los Angeles. I called you yesterday."

Ron remembered that this person did call him yesterday and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Fortes rubbed his hands. He came from Los Angeles and was not used to the severe cold in Seattle: "Can we get in the car and talk?"

Ron pointed to the co-pilot.

Foster got into the car, took out an envelope, and placed it directly on the armrest box: "A little greeting gift."

Ron saw the green banknotes from the open mouth of the envelope: "What do you mean?"

"I want Mr. Stern to do me a favor." Foster had learned about Ron's family situation in detail and knew that Ron was short of money, so he didn't go around in circles at all. He said, "Were you one of the parties involved in the Tehran incident that year?"

He smiled: "If I remember correctly, in October you accepted a joint invitation from Martin Davis, David Fincher and Tony Mendes to attend the premiere of "Escape from Tehran."

Ron said: "That's right, I went there for three days and then came back." In addition to covering their travel expenses, the film crew also warmly entertained them, stayed in high-end hotels, attended consecutive banquets, and gave them valuable gifts before returning. gift.

"I saw you on the premiere report." Foster asked: "Is the content of that movie the same as what you experienced?"

Ron didn't say anything. What happened in Tehran that year was at most 20-30% similar to what was filmed.

Foster tapped his fingers on the envelope on the armrest box and said: "These things you have experienced together were taken out to make a movie. The movie now has a box office of nearly 2 million US dollars in North America alone, and Tony Mendes made a profit." Big money, companies that invest in movies also make big money, and you..."

"Tony saved my life!" Ron's eyes suddenly became sharp: "If you want to say anything, you can leave. I'll pretend I haven't seen you."

Foster immediately put it another way: "I didn't mean anything against Tony, I just wanted you to tell the truth about the movie."

He pushed the envelope containing the money towards Ron: "You don't need to lie or make up anything. You just need to tell the media what happened that year truthfully and point out the fiction and exaggeration in the movie."

Ron glanced at the envelope: "What do you want to do?"

"Let the audience know what happened," Foster said.

Ron stopped talking.

"We know that you are a good person, so you are ostracized in the company because you don't like to tell lies." Foster said beautiful words, and took out a particularly thick large envelope and placed it on the armrest box. The opening was still facing Ron.

He pressed his hand on the envelope: "I know a sanatorium that specializes in drug treatment. It's difficult for ordinary people to get in, but I have a spot here."

Ron asked: "Just tell the truth and nothing else?"

Foster laughed: "Mr. Stern, you are the master of your mouth."

"Okay, I did this." Ron still paid attention: "But I will only be interviewed in Seattle and will not go to any other cities."

Foster picked up the hand that was pressing on the envelope and said: "Keep the communication open. You will receive a call from the professional nursing facility soon. I will call you again after your son is placed."

Ron picked up the envelope, took out the money inside, examined it carefully, and said, "I will."

Foster opened the door and got out of the car and quickly got into another car.

Ron watched the Volvo drive out of the parking lot before getting out of the car and heading home. Before he even reached his door, he received a call from a nursing facility. The two parties agreed to meet tomorrow to discuss the matter in detail.

After talking about it the next day, Ron felt truly relieved.

A few days later, when his son's matter was settled, he received a call from Foster and made an appointment to be interviewed by the media.

Just after the Christmas holiday, The Hollywood Reporter, the most influential newspaper in the Hollywood industry, published a prominent column report.

“The exaggeration and fiction of ‘Escape from Tehran’!”

"Since its release in October, the film has been highly praised and the box office has been soaring. With the help of the promotion of the adaptation of real history, it has achieved great success in both business and reputation! But how true is the content of the film? We interviewed people who experienced it Former Marine Ron Stern."

The subsequent content contains this interview in the form of questions and answers.

Without any exaggeration, Ron Stern pointed out the many inconsistencies in "Escape from Tehran" based on the events he experienced.

For example, no one chased them because in the eyes of the other party, there was no difference between 71 hostages and 65; the film seriously downplayed the role of the Canadian diplomatic service; they were not under siege in Tehran, and boarding at the airport went very smoothly. etc.

There are countless details in the movie that are completely inconsistent with the real story.

At the end of the interview, the reporter specifically asked: "Mr. Scott, how much of the film do you think is more realistic?"

Ron replied: "At most 30%, the incident itself is true, and it was Tony who took us out of Tehran. I have been very grateful to Tony over the years, but the content of the movie adaptation has too many false elements without authorization, which makes me, who has personally experienced it, When I read it, I felt that this was something that had nothing to do with me at all.”

This report aroused a strong response. In addition to newspapers and periodicals, Ron Stern's interview video was also played on TV stations, posted on YouTube, and topped the trending search list.

Follow-up reports quickly followed, with some newspaper reports making a fuss. The mainstream view in historical circles was that Iran had reached a secret agreement with Ronald Reagan's campaign team to release relevant hostages at the cost of unfreezing $80 billion of Iranian assets.

This statement has been recognized by many people, saying that the so-called rescue itself is a cover, staged by the United States and Iran for the world to see.

Some newspapers said that Iran reached a deal with the Washington authorities at that time. The authorities provided accessories for the batch of F-14 Tomcat fighter jets that Iran purchased from the United States, and then the two sides acted together...

In short, these statements have only one purpose. Even the incident itself is doubtful. How can the movie stand up?
If "Escape from Tehran" was just a purely commercial film that wanted to gain box office and commercial income, it would not have much impact. After all, there are always various criticisms behind the success of every commercial film.

For example, "The Matrix", "Inception", "Avatar", etc., there have been constant voices about copyright and plagiarism in recent years.

However, the film claims to be based on real events, and it will be very difficult to win Oscars if there are doubts about its authenticity.

(End of this chapter)