Chapter 79: Johnny's Invitation

 As a beauty who doesn't want to make trouble, Jenny is destined to be relatively passive socially. Not to mention Johnny, after knowing the existence of Claudia, Jenny deliberately avoided some occasions with Josh during filming, because the crew is indeed an environment where it is easy to have accidents, such a large group of people are locked in a relatively closed space, living a life of close contact at two o'clock every day, seeing you on the set, and going to the bar after work is easy to meet you. If two people have a little spark, it is easy to make mistakes if they are brewed so repeatedly. In addition, on the set of "Pirates of the Caribbean", Jenny also had a need to avoid Gore, so she almost never went out to socialize, and locked herself in a hotel room to rest after the scene.

 And Johnny, the new father, also spent most of his time with his family, during the whole filming period, Vanessa visited several times, and the rest of the time he was honestly mixed with some male staff, and there were no on-set scandals, so that "Pirates of the Caribbean" had a relatively clean shooting atmosphere, and Jenny was also impressed by him. - It's not that she looked down on Johnny's character from the beginning, but he did live a chaotic life before, and the people who came and went were stars like Rivan Phoenix whose private life was more unclear, and he opened a bar, according to common sense, Johnny should have been singing every night when he was young, treating one-night stands as commonplace, and living a very typical Hollywood male movie star life, it is really not easy for a man to restrain himself after having a girlfriend.

 However, this time for lunch, only Johnny and his agent Tracy Jacobbus, not Vanessa and the children, had already returned to their home in France. In the past few years, the mansion in the south of France has been where the Depp family has lived.

 "Johnny, Tracy. Jenny greeted both of them, she and Tracy had met on the red carpet before, and Tracy must have been staring at Johnny when he was interviewing, which was said to have been scared several times by his whimsy and nonsense.

 "Jenny. Tracy's attitude was many times more enthusiastic than before, Jenny wanted to shake her hand, but Tracy stepped forward and hugged her, "Are you overwhelmed by a lot of scripts now? I heard that everyone wants you to be in their new film." My dear, if you need advice, you can always come to me, this is my number. "

 Jenny was caught off guard with the business card Tracy had given, she glanced at Cesare, saw that the business smile on his face had not faded, and deduced that it was just Tracy's joke, so she took the business card and said with a smile, "Thank you, Tracy, now when Cesare is not polite to me, I know who to call." "

 "That's right. Tracy went over and shook Cesare's hand and said hello, "Honey, does it feel good to be poached?"

 "Alright, Tracy, you should be careful. Cesare smiled helplessly, "Are you completely out of confidence in keeping Johnny?"

 Johnny grimaced and invited Jenny to a seat, "Let them go-for-tat, Hollywood's most hated industry should be brokerage, I dare say each of them wants to wake up and become the only veteran agent on the planet." "

 The main job of a broker, in addition to helping clients negotiate remuneration, is to pick films for them. Johnny asked Cesare for his opinion on "Pirates", which is equivalent to Cesare 'crossing the line', and it is natural for Tracy to become angry, but it is not too difficult for a movie star like Johnny to end his contract with Tracy, as long as he pays a small amount of compensation, he can immediately fire Tracy and find another agent. In their current situation, Johnny had taken the majority of the initiative, so Tracy could not protest much about Johnny's behavior, and could only protest half-jokingly at Cesare.

 And for Johnny, a good friendship with Cesare will also make Tracy continue to maintain a high level of enthusiasm for serving him, so he will not avoid Cesare for Tracy, the truth here, Jenny as an insider can understand it after a little thought, so she is not too worried about the half-joking 'showdown' between the two agents, but chuckles, "Then I think this agent will immediately hire an agent for himself and start brokering his brokerage ability." "

 Johnny was also amused by the joke, "You know what—I guess you're right." "

 The two smiled at each other and sat down at the table by the pool, Johnny's Hollywood residence was also very much in line with his status, a large house with a courtyard and a pool, of course, not as exaggerated as Jerry's house, but with the price of Beverly Hills, this house could not be cheap. The whole house is quite beautiful, Jenny took a few more looks, and praised, "Very beautiful garden." "

 "I heard you haven't settled in yet?" Johnny chatted with Jenny about homely things, "Are you looking at an apartment or a detached house like this lately?"

 "I haven't been back from New York for a long time," Jenny said with a smile, "and I'm really going to look at the house, but I'm going to rent it for now." "

 "We also rented this one, and signed a one-year lease. Johnny generously said, "Since I'll be on set most of the time, and Vanessa has gone back to France with the kids, I think you can stay until the end of the year, and then slowly look for a house in the meantime." "

 Now that more and more films are moving to other places, Johnny's two films this year are not very budget-friendly, and almost all of them were shot in small cities in California.

 "Thank you in advance, Johnny, but what if you go back to the city in the meantime?" Jenny said with a smile, not intending to agree.

 "When I was a bachelor, there was a small apartment on Sunset Boulevard, and I kept that place after I was with Vanessa, but rarely went back," Johnny said, "and now that I'm a bachelor again, I'm not so interested in big houses." "

 "You know, sometimes a room that's too big can make you feel uneasy, but a small space can make you feel warm and safe, like a safe haven. "

 In Hollywood, there are several types of celebrities, some are drunken and drunk, some are obedient, some are literary and artistic like Johnny, and unless it is an agent like Cesare, few people can get along well with any kind of star across several fields. The criteria for many actors from independent films and art films to choose agents and films is whether the agent, director, and script can have a similar aesthetic and literary atmosphere to them. Johnny is a very motivated literary school, on the one hand, he is indeed very fun, drinking, high marijuana is what Jenny has seen with her own eyes on the pirate set, on the other hand, he is not the kind of dragon and tiger on the screen, he only knows the type of smoking, drinking and playing with women under the screen, he is still very pursuing and aesthetic about his film career, and he can be literary and artistic at every turn, and he has not heard him smoke drugs that are very much more than Heroin.

 To be honest, Jenny feels very tricky about socializing with this kind of person, she is not very afraid of the obedient card type, she only knows that she can play the erosive type, most of those people are overly corroded by drugs and alcohol, and there is no judgment at all, just perfunctory and stay away. But Depp is a kind of person, you talk to him about ideals, he talks to you about money, and when you talk to him about money, he talks to you about ideals, which makes it difficult for you to find out his true intentions, like now, she clearly knows that Depp must be interested in forming an alliance with her in terms of salary, and making a friend like Depp is definitely very beneficial to her expanding her network in Hollywood, but Jenny feels that it is difficult to make friends with him - to negotiate, It's okay to form an alliance for these business conversations, but when it comes to relationships, she really doesn't have a clue, and she finds it difficult to find a common language with Johnny.

 Of course, the same dilemma is also producers, directors, etc., the Hollywood industrial system is dominated by men, there is no doubt about this, so in this kind of career communication, men do occupy some advantages, women, especially beautiful women, if they happen not to smoke, drink or take drugs, and are always on a diet, then it is almost difficult to make powerful friends without showing off their hues. For example, now, Johnny is interested in making friends, and Jenny feels a little out of place with him.

 In Hollywood, connections are certainly the most important resource, and isn't it because of his network that Cesare is firmly at the center of the team? Jenny silently made a note in her heart: to make a breakthrough in communication.

 She kept laughing and said, "Yes, I feel the same way, but unfortunately, in order to prevent the paparazzi from harassing the neighbors too much, I have to rent a single house." Otherwise, even if you rent an apartment, you may be evicted quickly. "

 "With your current heat, that's true. Johnny said, "The reason why Vanessa went back to France was because she couldn't stand the paparazzi culture here. "

 The two still have some things in common in hiding from the paparazzi, Johnny starred in a blockbuster with a domestic box office of more than 200 million this year, and just gave birth to a young son, of course, he is the darling of the paparazzi, but he does not have Jenny's fashion baggage, usually dressed casually in T-shirts and trousers, and goes out when he should go out, which is not ambiguous at all, and the media and the public are also happy to accept it. - In the United States, if a man is too trim, he is basically associated with homosexuality.

 "So today we ate at home. When Tracy and Cesare joined the conversation, the atmosphere became more intimate and familiar - although he gave Cesare a 'dismissal' by talking to Jeanne, the two agents were obviously familiar with each other, and of course Cesare and Johnny's old friendship had long been verified. "Jenny, you really should try the crab salad in this restaurant, it has a light taste, it doesn't burden your stomach, it's purely seasoned with salt and vinegar, and it's absolutely healthy with a small amount of olive oil. "

 None of the good agents are simple people, Jenny herself doesn't know how Tracy figured out her recipe habits, this bowl of crab salad meets her eating standards from taste to calories, and it also comes with high-protein crab meat, she can eat a large portion without any psychological guilt, which can't help but make her feel good about Tracy. "Thank you, Tracy, for rarely have I eaten such an appetizing meal at a social dinner. "

 Tracy winked at her exaggeratedly, and several of them burst out laughing, and Cesare said, "Well, Johnny, it looks like I'll have to talk to you about your next new film to get it back." "

 Amid a happy laugh, Johnny actually answered, "Yes, Tracy picked me up a few scripts, but I really want to hear your opinion." - Maybe when we're done talking about the pay for the sequel to Pirates, you and I can go to the cigar room and have a look at the scripts. "

 Jeanne made another mental note - Cesare didn't smoke, didn't take drugs, and obviously wasn't promiscuous, but he also needed to open up the situation socially, and tasteful extravagant hobbies like cigars, spirits, and golf seemed to be the breakthrough he chose.

 "John, it's good to know that you haven't forgotten your purpose for today. Tracy rolled her eyes helplessly, but not too harshly, it seemed that she was not as opposed to Johnny's close relationship with Cesare as she had appeared, or that Tracy knew how to hide her true thoughts from Johnny. "Let's talk while we eat, Cesare, and tell me what you know about the sequel. "

 "Since last week, "Pirates" has been released around the world. Cesare said, "Continuing the high praise of the film critics at the premiere, the word of mouth has been good so far, and the overseas box office is also high, and Disney's latest forecast yesterday is $350 million in North America, and overseas should be able to reach that number, or higher." "

 Disney's box office predictions for "Pirates" have always been a bit too low, so they are constantly revising, and this $350 million is the latest forecast based on last weekend's box office decline, which encapsulates Jenny's small box office decline. If overseas and Disney's prediction is the same, conservative estimates, the global box office of "Pirates" can reach 700 million US dollars, in 2003, this number is already very appalling, just the box office, for Disney means a profit in 100 million, and for the Disney company, which is very good at developing the peripherals, they are more important not to the DVD of "Pirates" and the subsequent copyright profits, but the peripheral sales of this movie, and the advertising effect brought to Disneyland. It is no exaggeration to say that the project "Pirates of the Caribbean" is a hen that lays golden eggs, so Disney's determination to make a sequel is also getting stronger. It can be said that the negotiations are progressing differently from day to day, and with Cesare in full control of the progress, Jeanne only occasionally hears some news, and this is the first time she has heard Cesare talk about some of the specifics of the sequel in detail.

 "With a box office of $700 million to $800 million, you can replicate the model and leave room for the first episode of the interface. Cesare took a sip of red wine, "Disney is already crazy about sequels, and their latest idea is to package episodes 2 and 3 into a contract, and the idea for the whole episodes 2 and 3 has taken shape." The filming schedule should be from the second half of 05 to the first half of 06, the two episodes were filmed together, produced at the same time, and then some make-up shots were done between the second half of 06 and the first half of 07. That's all I know so far. "

 Tracy and Johnny both smiled, and Tracy rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, "Come on, Chesa, who wants to listen to these clichés? You know what we want, Spill!"

 "Dear, the business of two consecutive sequels requires close to 600 million funds, and this business is now completely a chief-level game, even my mother has no inside information. "What's more, you know our family's tradition that business is always on the go, because I'm acting for Jenny, and my mother didn't ask about the progress of the Pirate 1 project during the casting stage, and she didn't get involved until the contract was signed, and this time was no exception." "

 Tracy's eyes rolled even more visibly, but Johnny stopped her, "Tell us something we know, Tracy, or the Chesa won't budge." When did you see him suffer in such a thing?"

 "Okay, okay. Tracy sighed, she lit a slender lady's cigarette and took a deep breath, "Jerry and I have had a good time before, of course, the production cost of the next two episodes has increased, but in Gore's idea, the special effects budget has also been greatly improved, and the maximum amount of money Jerry can spend on the cast and crew in the second part is only 50 million." "

 "It's pretty much the same as I've got," Cesare said with a natural expression, "what do you think?"

 "Johnny and I want to form a negotiating alliance with you," Tracy said with a flat expression, "Johnny wants to call 20/20 and make sure Jennifer gets an eight." "

 Here she omitted the unit of measurement million, and the 20/20 term she said was also a term: 20 million remuneration plus the producer's 20% box office profit share on top of the 20 million profit, which is the benchmark condition, and there may be some additional shares, that is, it varies from person to person. - 20/20 is the highest standard of treatment that a top Hollywood actor can enjoy.

 "Then you're just leaving two million of room for Josh's side. Cesare raised an eyebrow, "Are you trying to force Josh out?"

 Tracy pursed his lips disdainfully, "His performance is only worth two million." "

 Of course, Jenny has not made a friend in the entertainment industry in the past few years, and she will also learn some basic common sense through various means during the filming, including the 'date' with Josh, the two often talk about some things in this regard, and Cesare will sometimes talk to her, so she knows very well how Cesare counted from 50 million, and Johnny's 20 million, her 8 million to Josh's 2 million.

 In the production budget of 140 million for the first episode, 10 million was used to invite Johnny, Josh's salary was 3 million, and then 300,000 Jenny was found, which shows how tight the actor's budget is, and the rest of the money is used for the shooting itself and special effects production. Although the 50 million may seem like a lot, it is not divided equally among the three leading actors, first of all, you have to increase the price of the director, and also, after doing such a successful project, the special effects artist, makeup artist, and photographer are all qualified, so if you invite the original team, you should also increase the price? There are still many people to share this piece of cake, even if you don't count those small shrimps, 50 million miles, first of all, Gore will have to share nearly 10 million US dollars, which is a very certain amount, after all, "Pirates of the Caribbean" is a film that can enter the 700 million mark, that is, looking at the history of film, counting the inflation factor, there will be no more than 50 such films. Gore's asking price will never be lower than 7 million,—— 7 million is the bottom line for a first-line commercial director.

 In the next 43 million miles, Jerry will have to share more than 2 million, and the producer's money is more in the box office dividends, and the cash received in advance is this number, and the remaining actor Jeffrey Rush of Captain Babossa will definitely get more than 1 million, and then counting the rest of the cast and crew's compensation, the remaining money for your three leading actors is only about 30 million, which is the widest, that is, greater than this number Jerry or Disney don't think it's worth it, and if the combined bidding of the three of you leads exceeds 30 million, they may run the project aground, or simply replace them.

 However, what Jenny couldn't understand was why Johnny offered to tie her up and set her share at eight million, which was unreasonable. Johnny doubled the price and asked for a 20% share of the box office, which is a very serious price increase, asking for the treatment of top Hollywood male stars, he had never gotten this price before, and even said that the 10 million of "Pirates of the Caribbean 1" was his high price, and now the price is so high, he should hope that Jenny and Josh will honestly divide the remaining 10 million. Jenny's transition from 300,000 to 5 million is a welcome move, and Josh's change from 3 million to 5 million is also a good result for his tepid reviews and the feedback from the audience. In this way, the film company is more likely to agree to his offer, rather than the seemingly ridiculous plan in front of him, and even cut Josh's salary.

 Of course, she did not express her doubts, but assumed the posture of an outsider, as if she was not touched by the eight million at all, but looked at Cesare with great trust—she estimated that the changes here were all caused by Cesare for her.

 "It's very unlikely that this compensation package will pass Disney," Cesare's tone was unleancing, and it felt very matter-of-fact, "It can only be used as the first step of the bidding, and if we want to implement the compensation alliance, we also need a realistic compensation plan, and we also need some room for compromise on Josh's side, and it is impossible to kick him out." "

 "I don't understand why you're keeping Josh. Tracy said in a confused tone, "Is he really that important? Look at the audience feedback, we can get Elizabeth to empathize with Captain Jack in Part 2, start an affair with Captain Jack, and have them formalize the relationship in Part 3, don't you think that's better?

 She turned to Jenny, "What do you think, Jennifer, would you rather be a couple with Josh or would you rather be with Johnny?"

 Jenny looked at Johnny, who was still eating and drinking, and then at Cesare, who had put down his knife and fork, and tore a piece of bread in his hand, and looked back at Jenny with a nonchalant expression.

 She kind of understood.

 No wonder Tracy pulled Johnny... This is bullying her for not being deep in the industry. It should be that this plan can't be solved here in Cesare, so I want to convince her directly. After all, she is not the nobody who relies on Cesare's resources to go up now, and after gaining popularity, even Cesare cannot fail to follow her opinion, as long as she is convinced, Cesare will not be able to oppose it to the end.

 Jenny isn't really only 22 years old, and regardless of whether there is a conflict between her and Cesare, the best thing to do now is not to hold Cesare back. "Honestly, I don't know anything about these things, Tracy, since the past, everything was in charge of the Chesa, I just had to sign, and now I don't even know what you're talking about, Chesa—what the hell are we talking about?"

 Her innocent tone clearly upset Tracy, and she smiled reluctantly and turned back to Cesare, "Is there really no room for compromise, Chesa?"

 "I'd really have to ask Jenny for her opinion on that. Cesare scooped up his napkin and wiped the corners of his mouth, "Tracy, can you give us a moment?" I have to explain to Jenny that this girl only has her fitness plan in her head, and she really doesn't care about these things at all. "

 "Okay. Tracy squeezed out a small smile. Johnny was still enjoying his meal.

 The 'empty-headed' Jenny and her agent went to the bar at the other end of the pool, and the waiter politely left the bar after pouring two glasses, and Cesare took a sip of his glass.

 "It was a bit of a surprise," he admitted to Jenny, "I didn't expect Tracy to come up with such a crazy plan - let me give you a little background on the whole thing." "

 Jenny nodded silently, "This has something to do with sequel negotiations, I know, what were the terms you originally offered, so that Tracy wanted to bribe you with this alliance invitation, and even go so far as to squeeze Josh out?"

 "Actually, it's very simple, I commissioned Exhibitor Correlation to do a numerical report, based on this time audience feedback and online popularity, box office decline, predicted you, Josh, Johnny's personal box office appeal in the sequel, the conclusion is that in an ideal state, if 10 people walk into the cinema to watch the sequel, there may be 3 people for the original plot or other unrelated factors, 4 people for watching Johnny, 2.5 people for watching you, and the remaining 0.5 people are for Look at Josh. "So I'm proposing that the pay should be split according to that ratio, and that your pay should be 62.5 percent of Johnny's, and since you're a newcomer, I'm willing to make concessions, as long as you have 50 percent of Johnny, so if Johnny wants to offer 20/20, we'll get—"

 "10/10," Jenny said, "according to this calculation, Josh will only get 0, and Disney will never agree." "

 "Yes, but if Johnny gets 18 and you get 9, Josh still has 3. Cesare said, "If Johnny takes 15... You know my equation. "

 "I see. "It's going to significantly reduce the bargaining pressure that we're facing, isn't it? And the worst-case scenario, Johnny doesn't raise the price, he takes 10, we take 5, that's the best estimate we can have in general." "

 "Of course. Cesare nodded, "It's shifting the pressure on Johnny's side, and one of the big problems Johnny has to face is that he can't avoid the fact that all the reviews of this movie mention your performance, and your popularity, your popularity, all of that feedback, you're on par with him, and you've been beating him on IMDB for a while." So Disney will keep asking him if he's qualified to get 20/20, and if we stick to this negotiation strategy with him, the biggest possibility is that because of the actor's budget overruns, Disney cuts a major role, and then moves on to make a sequel — anyway, they have to make a sequel, and Tracy and I can be sure of that. "

 He took a glass of wine and continued, "Due to the relationship between Elizabeth and Will, and the couple effect of these two characters is also obvious, the two characters are actually tied together, this becomes a situation of Josh + you vs. Johnny, choose one of the two, if you are cut, Josh does not need to continue to exist, the trio replaces two big blood changes, a well-received character and the focus of attention of the housewives are cut, the damage to the box office is obvious, and the risk is immediately enhanced several times." If Johnny is cut, it will be a big loss, and it is hard for the audience to imagine that without Captain Jack's "Pirates of the Caribbean", Disney is now facing a dilemma. "

 He smiled, "What strategy do you think Disney will take to deal with this change now?"

 "Uh... I don't know," Jenny has to admit that she doesn't know enough about the circle. "Put my salary at six million, seven million? and then announce that if it's high, you will cut me, and you don't have to talk about it?"

 "No, Disney wouldn't do that to a pillar figure. Cesare shrugged, "The biggest possibility is that they put the negotiations on hold and wait for a year and a half, Johnny will have a number of films released this year and next year, but most of these films are small productions, and according to Disney's forecast, the profit may also be very low - this is the slim literary film I told you, and after he fails three or four films in a row, maybe twelve million will be able to coax him in, although Disney will lose the most precious time and take a certain amount of risk - If Johnny's other film hits, his bid will be more confident, but either way, in the long run, it will be good for Disney. "

 "And what about this strategy for us?" asked Jenny.

 "Of course, it's also advantageous. Cesare gave her a strange look, "One year is enough for two films to go from production to release, and if your box office prowess is proven by these two films, then you may get ten million at the same time that Johnny gets twelve million, and in a certain number of years, the later the contract is negotiated, the better it will be for you, because all you lack now is time." "

 "It's a logic based on success. Jenny noted, "If my next two films fail—"

 "As long as it's not a box office reputation fiasco, if you lose a small loss, then you can take about three or four million. "Of course you and Johnny are in a different situation, not without risk, but with greater benefits. "

 Jenny also immediately figured out the truth in this, Johnny is an excellent actor, but there are no other commercial big productions released recently, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is still in 05, and it is produced by the genius Tim Burton, which is almost equivalent to the cult, 03-04 years his films are small productions, profit expectations are more average, Disney does not approve of his 20/20, so he thinks that the mediocre performance of several films at the box office will squeeze out his asking water. But Jenny's own current popularity and the tens of millions of box office brought by "The Oprah Show" (since it is impossible for everyone who is interested in her to go to the movies in those three days, so according to the data model, she brought in tens of millions or even more), it is worth 3 or 4 million, as long as she does not miss too much later, this is the worst expectation.

 Compared with her psychological price of 5 million, if she succeeds, she can increase her profit by 5 million, and if she fails, she will lose 20%, which is a very risky and cost-effective deal.

 "Therefore, it is the best solution for us to firmly negotiate the price now. Jenny said, "Is that what you mean? shouldn't we have acceded to Johnny and Tracy's invitation?"

 "It's one point of view, but on the other hand, if we accept the current condition, you're worth eight million, and you can talk about some box office dividends. Cesare pointed out to her, "Tracy didn't talk about it just now, obviously waiting to bargain with us and set aside the space." If you make this contract now, it's good for you to get the price for your next film, and of course, if you hate Josh, it's also a chance to kick him out. "

 His blonde hair shone in the sun, his handmade suit shone brightly, and even that smile with a hint of defiance shone just as well, "We all know that you're an ambitious girl, Jenny, tell me now, what would you choose?"

 The author has something to say: Note: 1 Tracy is a real person, she is also Nicolas Cage's agent, a big man in UTA, and it was Cage who introduced her to Depp.

 2 Depp really smoked big hemp, and he once walked around the street directly with a big hemp pipe, and was photographed by the paparazzi, which can be seen by Baidu Depp + marijuana... I don't know if I tried to get higher... There is another anecdote that the genius actor Phoenix River died at the door of the bar he opened because of too much drug use

 3 20/20 is the traditional highest asking price for Hollywood's top actors, but it's not like no one wants more, for example... Tom ... I remember it seemed like Will Smith was going to get that high price.