Chapter 1901: 1901 Change the Rules

Barry Meyer looked at the "New York Times" on his desk, and the headline on the front page was "'LA Confidential' Changes the Rules of the Industry: Suspense Drama Movies Are Coming", which made Barry raise his eyebrows slightly, although There is no smile on the corner of his mouth, but it can be seen from his brisk steps and relaxed lips that he is in a very happy mood today.

Barry looked up at his secretary, Michelle Page, and asked calmly, "What's the plan for today?"

Michelle opened her notepad, "There's an interview at nine in the morning, it's from 'U.S. Weekly'."

Barry nodded slightly, "Is the theme still the one that was determined last time?" How does Warner Bros. recognize heroes with insight. This is the subject of the interview. After the "Independence Day" swept thousands of troops last year, Kevin Pence, CEO of Twentieth Century Fox, also accepted a similar interview. Kevin is now a historical reformer who is at the forefront of the times , and now it is the turn of Barry's Warner Bros., and it is undoubtedly "LA Confidential" that brought all this.

"Yes, I sent the detailed outline of the interview to your e-mail last night." Michelle gave an affirmative answer. Now computers have gradually become popular. Many features of the film have appeared, "there will be a meeting at 10:30, which is from the film production department. They have several projects on hand and want to find Hugo to play the leading role, but the board of directors seems to have some opinions."

Barry paused for a moment, and frowned slightly, "Is it because of the budget?" Of course, he couldn't be more clear about these things. Those board members in the company will always only focus on their own interests and never let go. , without any long-term considerations at all. "I've heard rumors that they dislike me for giving Hugo 20% of the box office dividends, hmph," Barry sneered, eyes full of disdain, "They don't even look at what Hugo did for this movie. How much value is brought, a bunch of no-brainers."

After "LA Confidential" signed with Hugo, the contract stipulated that Hugo would get 20% of the North American box office, which would be 52 million US dollars!

Before "LA Confidential", Hugo still held the highest box office record in Hollywood film history. He received nearly 34 million US dollars in salary through "Speed", creating a new chapter in North American history; The 20 million club was opened up through "Independence Day"-this is currently the pinnacle of the entire Hollywood. Only Hugo and Jim Carrey have such qualifications, but I heard that Tom Cruise, Tom Han Chriss, Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford are all trying to get into this club.

However, before the 20 million club flourished, Hugo broke his own record again. Relying on his status as the producer of "LA Confidential", he got a salary of 52 million U.S. dollars. Years later, it is almost an unimaginable data. Even after deducting the 50% wealth tax, the after-tax income of 26 million US dollars is still enough to make Hugo the number one person in the entire entertainment industry.

It's funny that Hugo now pays the same 50 percent rich man's tax as Lawrence Rockefeller.

Although Warner Bros. did not announce the specific data, people in the circle have more or less heard the rumors that the title of "Today's No. 1 Hollywood Man" is definitely not for nothing. Miracle. With a salary of 52 million US dollars, this is a height that almost no one can imagine.

Therefore, the circle has been discussing that instead of letting Hugo participate in the box office dividend, it is better to invite Hugo to star in the film with a salary of 20 million US dollars. This is definitely a deal that is sure to make money. But the problem is that Hugo has now completely surpassed the scope of an actor, and has more influence as a screenwriter and producer. It is foreseeable that Hugo's next move is not to be underestimated ——Of course, first of all, everyone can pay attention to what kind of work "Perfection" that has already been scheduled for release will be, and then you can judge Hugo's true level as a screenwriter.

Now, there are actually complaints within Warner Bros. Everyone is complaining that Barry has given Hugo too much dividends-so their dividends will naturally be reduced accordingly.

But Barry completely dismissed such arguments. When Hugo proposed to ask for a cost of 50 million US dollars, these board members almost seemed to want a piece of their meat, "Why does a suspense movie need so much budget?" ?” Now Hugo has proven his worth—and time and time again, “LA Confidential” has done so well at the box office, and Hugo has done so much behind the scenes, and without Hugo, Barry feels like The box office of a movie can exceed 100 million U.S. dollars, which is the cap. But those suits sitting in the conference room complaining about how little money they make is ridiculous.

"I know about it." Barry just lost his composure just now, but soon returned to normal. He is absolutely sure of dealing with these board members, but it's just too annoying, "You just mentioned the project of the film department, today Have you had a meeting with them?"

Michelle shook her head, "Not yet."

Barry thought carefully for a while, "Arrange a meeting at... two o'clock in the afternoon, yes, after lunch." Although Hugo's next work has been confirmed, Paramount Pictures' "Truman" World", but he knows that he must not relax, and now is an excellent opportunity for Warner Bros. to develop rapidly. After Michelle wrote it down, Barry raised his chin to signal Michelle to continue, but after listening for a while, Barry interrupted Michelle again, "Call Rick and arrange a meeting, lunch."

"Do you need to mention the topic?" Michelle raised her eyebrows and asked, but the movement of her hands did not stop.

"No, it's just a pure working lunch." Barry thought about it carefully, and then nodded his chin, "I remember that it's less than two weeks before Hugo's birthday, and tomorrow morning is free. You and I go pick out a gift for him." After a pause, Barry's brain was running at high speed, "By the way, ask Marvin Josephson, can we advance the dinner we talked about a day earlier, if he has time If it is inappropriate, then it can only be postponed, you tell him that I have something urgent that day, remember to express my apology."

Business is a huge system. While recruiting the Endeavor Elite Brokerage Company, he needs to keep a certain distance from the International Innovation Management Company, but he cannot completely cut off contact. Therefore, he needs to play some tricks, although in fact there is no problem for him to attend the appointment.

At the same time, Shirley Lansing of Paramount also started the meeting early, and the box office of "LA Confidential" was very hot. Although the final cumulative box office has not yet come out at the moment of the meeting, Shirley already has a sensitive feeling. When it arrives, Hugo's pay will hit a new high. Of course, the "Truman Show" contract has been signed, and everything is fine, but Shirley knows that she was too strong in the previous negotiations and needs to ease up now, so the filming of "The Truman Show" that will start next week world" is of paramount importance.

The whole of Hollywood is like a precision machine, running quickly. From the perspective of laymen, although the box office of "LA Confidential" is brilliant, it cannot reach the height of "Independence Day". It is difficult for them to understand everyone's attitude towards Hugo and "LA Confidential"; From the perspective of passers-by, one can clearly feel that the film industry is about to change again, and as the promoter of all this, Hugo's importance is constantly rising. Correspondingly, Endeavor Elite Brokerage Company and DreamWorks status will continue to rise.

Especially now that there are widespread rumors in the circle that Hugo is likely to take a stake in DreamWorks, then this is almost a game-changing move. No one can clearly predict the future of DreamWorks. Of course, objectively speaking, Hugo is just an actor, and the direct actions he can make are very limited, but now Hugo and Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, Jeffrey Kasenberg Ge is a top person at the same level, and the influence of the huge network behind them is hard to estimate.

So, the whole industry starts to get busy, where people can't see it.

As the focus of everyone's attention, Hugo didn't have such deep feelings. On the one hand, he actively participated in the promotion of "LA Confidential", and his busy schedule left him no time to care about these delicate details; On the one hand, it is necessary to keep in touch with the "As Good as It Gets" crew in New York. The film was officially announced in September, and post-production began. Since James edited the film at the same time, and the post-production did not have any special effects, all the work was completed quickly. Sony Columbia Pictures has already begun to arrange the release schedule, hoping to catch up with the Oscar registration deadline.

On the other hand, Hugo still needs to invest a lot of time in reading the script of "The Truman Show". Although Hugo already has his own experience in comedy performance, script reading is still the most important thing, and the characters try to figure it out. It requires Hugo to put all his energy into it.

Therefore, even with a salary of 52 million U.S. dollars, Hugo has no energy to exclaim for the time being. He is so busy that even the time to sleep is extremely precious, not to mention that "LA Confidential" is still in theaters. The figures have not been counted, let alone the income, Hugo naturally has no real sense at all.

After finally winning a whole day of rest today, Hugo read the script in the morning in the study and felt that his brain was almost clogged, so he decided to go for a jog and sweat to calm his whole body down. After changing his clothes, he ran downstairs quickly. When he left the villa, Hugo habitually began to speed up his pace—this way, he could buy time regardless of whether the paparazzi were at the door, but today was very unexpected. There was only one People, Hugo frowned slightly, and ran quickly without thinking too much.

But after running a few steps, Hugo's footsteps slowly stopped.