In a private club near Burbank, the Tom Cruise and his wife asked for a separate VIP reception room. After a short wait, their agent, Pat Kingsley, accompanied the former caa's owner and former owner. Michael Ovitz, who ranked first in Hollywood's power list, walked in.
The two parties greeted briefly and sat on both sides. Nicole Kidman took the coffee pot from the waiter and temporarily acted as a waiter.
"Tom, how is it going?"
Although he was in a bad position at Disney, Michael Ovitz still maintained the strong style he had when he was in caa. "Is the script complete?"
Disney's Michael Ovitz is no longer the Michael Ovitz of caa. Tom Cruise suppressed his dissatisfaction and said, "I've got "The Impossible Mission" a long time ago. The script is very good. It will be done soon."
Even if he can see the contempt hidden under Tom Cruise's polite smile, Michael Ovitz still pretends to be ignorant. Now he is in a very embarrassing situation at Disney. He originally wanted to make a big splash in the ceo position, but only after he entered Disney. It was found that the film company was far from as simple as he thought, and the strength of the chairman Michael Eisner completely exceeded his highest expectations. The position of the CEO is simply the other side's puppet.
≯☆,
As the former controller of caa and an imperial figure in the entertainment industry, Michael Ovitz naturally does not want to be a puppet. If he does not want to be a puppet, he must have corresponding performance. The movie project is what he is best at and he thinks it is the easiest to shine On the other hand, I borrowed the previous relationship and quickly got in touch with Tom Cruise. The other party happened to have a project adapted from a TV series. The protagonist was very much in line with Cruise's style of playing cool faces, and it was a hit.
As for Cruise's disdain and contempt hidden in the depths. Michael Ovitz didn't care at all. For the sake of the agent's business, he could clown his **** and tap on the table. As long as the benefits were large enough, Tom Cruise's attitude was nothing.
What's more, this circle is all about rallies. This is also Tom Cruise's consistent style. If even this cannot be tolerated, it is better to retire.
Both parties were holding coffee cups, seeming to be tasting coffee, but in fact they were waiting for another important person and thinking about countermeasures.
Putting down the coffee pot, Nicole Kidman sat beside Tom Cruise, silently without saying a word, but occasionally her eyes flashed from her husband's face, she knew very well. Cruise was dissatisfied with the director candidates suggested by Michael Ovitz, but only because the young director's style and past achievements were too brilliant, he reluctantly nodded.
Suddenly, she saw Cruise's brows frowning, and she guessed something in her heart, and hurriedly pulled him slightly, but Cruise didn't pay attention to her reminder, and some words were still said.
"Michael. Why must I choose Duke? Rosenberg? You should know that I don't like him very much."
Hear what Cruise said. Nicole Kidman could only sigh. Since he appeared here and made an appointment with the other party, it means that Cruise agrees with the director in his heart. Now saying this is just to offend Michael Ovitz for no reason.
Even if the other party is not as expected at Disney. But who can ignore Ovitz's influence in Hollywood?
The good husband I found, in terms of humanity and sophistication, sometimes really looks like an idiot! He is also a person who has gone smoothly all the way, why do you feel that he is so far behind Duke Rosenberg?
"why?"
Michael Ovitz looked grim, "Tom. Don't tell you why you don't know why!"
His tone gradually became ridiculous, "The past movies are not mentioned, we only talk about his latest movie, "Saving Private Ryan", which has been in theaters for two months now. Do you know what the North American box office is? ?"
Without waiting for what Tom Cruise said, Ovitz said directly, "243.27 million US dollars! This is only the North American box office. Do you know the global box office? 421.17 million US dollars!
"If you don't choose such a director, do you want to choose Mel Gibson to direct?" Michael Ovitz said with a strong sarcasm, "Do you think his "Brave Heart" is worth 24.32 million US dollars. Will it pass the touchstone or Disney review? I will reject this project first!"
After Ovitz's words, the reception room fell silent. Even if Tom Cruise was dissatisfied, he couldn't refute it. This film adapted from a TV series must have a production cost of more than 50 million US dollars. Director, how can I persuade Disney or other film companies to participate in the investment?
Thinking of Mel Gibson and his "Brave Heart", Tom Cruise was full of disdain, and he would not cooperate with a loser!
In fact, it is not that he has not paid attention to the competition between "Brave Heart" and "Saving Private Ryan". Although the former has not been forced down from the theaters, it is almost the same. It is just a few in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The independent theater screenings were obviously not for the box office, but for the awards season.
If he suggested that the new project choose Mel Gibson as the director, he must be crazy!
Winner!
This vocabulary surrounds Cruise's heart, everyone wants to cooperate with the winners! From the perspective of the past, present and future, Duke Rosenberg is not only a winner, but also one of the most successful ranks among the winners.
Nowadays, even the dumbest person can see that the global box office of "Saving Private Ryan" has gone straight to 500 million US dollars. Warner, Fox and Disney are also working on film awards. This film It's not just as simple as box office success!
Holding the coffee cup, Tom Cruise fell into thinking, should he put aside the conflict and cooperate with Duke Rosenberg?
This is a question worth considering.
Completely different from Tom Cruise, Michael Ovitz is now considering how to impress Duke Rosenberg and ask him to sign a director contract. As long as he joins, the project will soon be approved by Disney. Review, if it can be like "Saving Private Ryan"...no, as long as it can sell like "Brave to Death Island", as the leader, you will definitely be able to get more voice in Disney.
As for the contradiction between the other party and Caa, Michael Ovitz has not considered it at all. Sitting in the position of Disney's CEO is Caa's natural enemy.
The **** often determines the position of the head.
A black Bentley stopped slowly in the parking lot of the clubhouse. Nancy Josephson saw the car, got out of the car and walked over, knocked on the window lightly, waited for the door to open, and got into the back seat.
"I talked to Pat Kinsley." Nancy looked at Duke next to him and said, "Tom Cruise and Michael Ovitz have a very clear purpose. I want to invite you to direct the movie version of " Mission Impossible. What do you mean, Duke?"
"You know my plan." Duke shook his head slowly, "I will not change my plan casually."
"Mission Impossible" is not yet that attractive.
"Why don't you let me reject them?" Nancy frowned slightly, "This meeting is completely unnecessary."
"There is really no need to see Ovitz." Duke nodded. "I'm here just to see Tom Cruise."
In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can see that after introducing Michael Ovitz as the CEO, Disney is engaged in a series of complicated personnel struggles. Duke does not want to get involved too much, not to mention the party that wants to talk to him or is doomed to fail. , It is not only other Hollywood insiders who are chasing successful people, but it also applies to him.
Compared to Ovitz, Duke would rather cooperate with Robert Iger, and the two sides can also find common interests in several meetings.
"Want to see Cruise?" Nancy looked at Duke strangely. She knew Duke didn't like each other very much. "Why?"
"I want to invite him to appear in my new movie." Duke opened the door and said before walking down. "Of course, our budget is limited. If he is willing to lower the pay, the previous ones are nothing at all..."
For a musical like "Chicago", the innate weakness of the subject matter cannot be completely solved by the director. The cooperation between the star and the famous director is undoubtedly an excellent publicity. Think about it, Tom Cruise and Duke. ? How many people's attention will be attracted to Rosenberg's co-production of a movie?
More importantly, Duke wanted to dig a pit, and wanted to try to make Tom Cruise give up the fundamental "Mission Impossible" series that kept his position in the future, and let him take a completely different path.
It was not that he had not thought about the copyright of this series, but when the conflict with Tom Cruise really intensified, the film copyright of the TV series had already been in the hands of the other party.
Duke is just an ordinary person, it is impossible to remember all things, such as the copyright issue of "Mission Impossible", because Tom Cruise thought of it, and many Hollywood movies or related copyrights, such as the "Lord of the Rings" series, I don't know how long it has been sold.
It's not uncommon for a script to be filmed in Hollywood for more than ten or two decades. For example, for the "Dallas Buyers Club" that was filmed only after 2010, he saw the relevant record in the Screenwriters Association, and Du When making inquiries and filings with the Screenwriters Association, Ke had to abandon several scripts in the plan to avoid crashes.
After several years of getting along with each other, Nancy has learned enough about the mentality of her employer. What Duke said did not surprise her. In her opinion, let alone a contradictory Tom? Ruth, as long as the income is large enough, Duke may even cooperate with his recognized enemy Martin Bob or Sean Connery...
Hearing the sound of Nancy's footsteps coming from behind, Duke strode towards the clubhouse. How to persuade Tom Cruise to cut his salary to play is a question he was considering. (To be continued...)