Hollywood starts with a broker

In late June, "Days of Thunder", a racing commercial blockbuster starring Tom Cruise and directed by Tony Scott, opened in 2,308 theaters in North America, grossing $15.49 million in its opening weekend;

However, the reception of "Days of Thunder" did not meet audience expectations.

At a party in the Beverly Hotel in Los Angeles, Aaron Anderson ran into Tom Cruise. Due to their previous acquaintance, they could be considered acquaintances!

"Aaron, you're so cool, starting a film company without a word and even producing your own movies;"

"I watched 'Phone Booth', it was excellently made."

Tom Cruise praised Aaron with a radiant smile.

"Thank you, Tom!"

Tom Cruise, who previously chose literary dramas, is now making a major shift to commercial films;

After all, Tom Cruise's appeal is not just talk. Not to mention "Rain Man", "Born on the Fourth of July", released at the end of last year, had a production cost of $14 million and grossed $70 million in North America, plus $90 million from overseas markets, totaling $160 million worldwide!

As another commercial blockbuster following "Top Gun", "Days of Thunder" has a bottom line, no matter how bad its reputation and performance are.

"It's really a pity that your performance in 'Born on the Fourth of July' was fully deserving of that Oscar for Best Actor!"

Unfortunately, Tom Cruise ran into Daniel Day-Lewis.

"Born on the Fourth of July" got the Best Director award instead.

"Is that so?" Although Tom Cruise appeared nonchalant, his desire for the Oscar was undeniable.

"Of course, those judges in the Academy are always biased against some people, and acting skills are only part of the equation!"

Aaron raised his glass and clinked it against Tom's.

Hearing this, Tom Cruise nodded in agreement, knowing that the Academy judges were prejudiced against actors with outstanding looks.

As a top star, Tom Cruise was naturally very busy. After chatting with Aaron for a while, he walked away.

Soon after, Aaron ran into his old boss, Paula Wagner.

Nodding towards a direction, he asked, "What's going on over there? How did Spielberg end up with the people from Sony?"

It was none other than the great director Steven Spielberg, along with Mike Medavoy, head of Sony TriStar Pictures, and Michael Ovitz from CAA;

Mike Medavoy was originally one of the founders of Orion Pictures. He had just joined Sony this year to manage TriStar Pictures!

Paula Wagner didn't hide anything, "Mr. Ovitz wants to sign Steven Spielberg and is preparing to push Spielberg to film 'Hook', funded by TriStar Pictures;"

"Mike Medavoy previously handled Spielberg's agency contract. CAA packaged the 'Hook' project and is collaborating with TriStar;"

"Sony TriStar gets the box office, CAA gets Spielberg's contract, and Spielberg gets huge profits. Everyone wins!"

As for Spielberg saying he wouldn't film for companies other than Universal and Warner Bros.?

That was just because the money wasn't enough. After Sony acquired Columbia TriStar, they had plenty of money.

Soon after, Aaron also saw Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams join the conversation.

Aaron smiled, "CAA really likes to play this game. How much profit is TriStar going to give up?"

The cost of getting Steven Spielberg to direct a film is actually very high. Regardless of whether Amblin Entertainment shares the film's copyright, Amblin won't pay a single cent of all the expenses;

At the same time, Spielberg has to have at least half of the box office revenue. As for advance payments, video tape and television rights revenue, they all have to be deducted.

"How much profit?"

Paula Wagner smiled, "At least more than half of the revenue from the movie 'Hook' won't belong to TriStar."

Aaron also nodded, "It's a good thing Mr. Ovitz didn't successfully persuade Sony back then. If Sony Pictures Entertainment wasn't headed by Peter Guber and Jon Peters, this kind of thing wouldn't have happened!"

Paula Wagner looked at Aaron, "After Sony acquired Columbia TriStar, the number of films released has increased a lot;"

"Sony's own productions, co-investments, and commissioned releases are indeed frightening."

There's no way around it, Sony's conditions are good, and many independent film companies are cooperating with Sony. Just look at Aaron, and you know that Sony is the first partner that comes to mind now!

Aaron smiled, "They're doing it to produce and sell electronic products. Music and movies are just mediums for them to expand their influence;"

"The profit from the movies themselves shouldn't be important to them. The Japanese economy is invincible now!"

"By the way, how's your movie going? I heard Jack say you invested in another multi-million dollar project?"

Paula Wagner asked.

Aaron nodded, "New director, still a recent black graduate. The movie is about the lives of the black community in Los Angeles;"

"Ms. Wagner, do you happen to have any black actors on hand?"

"Black?" Paula Wagner didn't seem interested as soon as she heard that. She wouldn't have any black-skinned artists.

Aaron glanced at the "Hook" side again, thinking of something.

"Doesn't that movie have a female lead?"

Aaron remembered that the female lead in "Hook" seemed to be Julia Roberts.

However, Julia Roberts is now an ICM artist. He didn't know if they would still choose her to play the role;

After all, the popularity of "Pretty Woman" directly made Julia Roberts the most popular female star!

"Actress?" Paula Wagner looked at Aaron and shook her head, "This matter is really related to you;"

"Julia Roberts defected to ICM following Richard Lovett, and you were also the fuse, causing CAA to lose a suddenly popular actress for nothing;"

"According to the situation of 'Hook', Julia Roberts is very suitable. The film model of big investment, big stars, and big promotion is Spielberg's consistent approach!"

Now "Hook" is still in preparation, whether or not to use Julia Roberts as the female lead will be decided after Steven Spielberg, Mike Medavoy, and Michael Ovitz discuss it.

Aaron didn't worry about these things. Remembering Quentin Tarantino's request, he asked, "Has anyone taken a liking to that 'Natural Born Killers' script yet?"

"What, do you want to develop it?"

Aaron shook his head, "The script's screenwriter, Quentin Tarantino, works at Dawnlight Pictures and asked me to inquire about it."

"It's currently in the archives. If there's any news, we'll definitely notify Quentin Tarantino, and Jack Welles will also tell you, right?"

"Uh, Quentin's intention is that he hopes you take the initiative to promote it, just like I promoted the script for 'True Romance' back then!"

Was I being too subtle? Don't I know that his script hasn't been sold yet?