However, because of Eric's "CAA Apocalypse", which deeply analyzes the CAA operating model, and the subsequent series of reforms carried out by the agencies that felt the threat of CAA, Hollywood has now formed a three-legged situation of CAA, ICM and WMA, in order to compete with the opponents who have awakened, CAA can no longer maintain its previous strong position in the process of cooperation with big film companies, and Michael Ovitz's ranking has also slipped outside the top five.

In the new Hollywood power list, Firefly in 1992 with 27% of the North American box office share far behind other film companies, Eric undoubtedly climbed to the first place in the Hollywood power list, and as the CEO of Firefly Pictures Michael Lynn and Disney Pictures CEO Katzenberg occupied the sixth and ninth positions respectively, although the ranking is not too high, but only in the top ten, Firefly Pictures occupies three positions, so the industry is full of discussions.

There is no dispute that Eric won the first place, the performance of Firefly is really there, and "Tornado" directed by Eric himself also won the box office in 1992 with a global box office of nearly 700 million US dollars. But a large number of media outlets struggled to accept that Premiere magazine included Michael Lynn and Katzenberg in the top 10.

In Hollywood, almost any list is controversial, which is also convenient for stirring up topics and increasing the popularity of the list. In response to the doubts of the outside world, "Premiere" magazine certainly did not admit that there was a problem with its list, but instead fought with the media at full speed like a chicken.

The main topic of media before each Oscar is often focused on the films shortlisted for the Oscars that year, and the shortlisted films have their own talents. At the same time as public relations, it also launched a public opinion offensive in the media. But this year is different. "Schindler's List" hangs high above its competitors with its absolute correctness. Because of the special status of Jews in Hollywood, the canvassing methods of previous years are basically useless this year, and the competitors who are also shortlisted do not dare to launch a public opinion offensive against "Schindler's List", in this case, the topic of Hollywood power list of "Premiere" magazine has been raised highly.

“…… Warner co-president Robert Daley said in an interview with reporters that it was precisely because the board of directors had not made a decision on the CEO position for a long time that Time Warner's performance was surpassed by Fireflies, when asked about another Warner co-president Terry Semel, who tied for second place with him. Robert Daley declined to comment. Robert Daley's move is clearly putting pressure on Warner's board.

According to rumors, Robert Daly and Eric Williams have a close personal relationship, and this condition is likely to be an important bargaining chip for Robert Daley to win the CEO of Time Warner, because Steve Rose, the former CEO of Time Warner, has established a good personal relationship with famous Hollywood filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg. ”

“…… Robert Shea, the former president of New Line Films, openly claimed that Michael Lynn was just a puppet erected by Eric Williams, and that Michael Lynn had no right to decide the Firefly business. Firefly Pictures has made a rare public refutation of Robert Shea's remarks, saying that Michael Lynn has made a significant contribution to the company as CEO of Firefly Pictures. ”

......Andrew Flesser, a well-known film critic for Variety magazine, publicly criticized the selection criteria of the Hollywood Power List, saying that the list should not be the Hollywood Power List, but should be renamed the Hollywood Influence List. ”

“……”

In Sharp Corner Manor, Drew had to get up early because he had to audition for the heroine of "Vampire Slayer Buffy". Sitting at the dining table drinking cereal, casually glancing at the bold letters on a newspaper in Eric's hand. "I don't know what's there to fight about, I'm ranked 15th with Liz, and we didn't say anything." ”

Eric flipped through the pages of the newspaper in his hand and said with a smile: "Could it be that the news that appeared on Hollywood Online yesterday that someone was sneering at the Hollywood Power List was my delusion?"

"Absolutely, if you keep busy like this and don't spend more time with me, you will definitely get Alzheimer's early," the girl said with a grin, and the babyface quickly came over: "Eric, let's go to Century City today to help us pick the heroine of "Buffy", okay?"

"Didn't Liz say a few days ago that she was going to audition for the heroine, and she hasn't picked it out yet?"

"No, we've been picking the director and some supporting roles, and the audition for the actress is scheduled for today. ”

Eric thought about today's original schedule, there was nothing important, and as Xiao Nizi just said, Eric didn't want to become a 'robot' who could only work: "Okay, I'll call the studio later, it's going to be today, when will the audition start?"

"It's ten o'clock, so we don't have to rush too much, there are only sixteen finalists, and we will definitely be able to finish the interview today, so we don't have to rush too much," Drew replied.

……

While Eric and Drew were still chatting about the heroine of "Buffy" at Sharp Corner Manor, Michael Eisner had arrived at Burbank Globe Headquarters.

In the recent boiling Hollywood power list, because of the turmoil of Universal Pictures last year, Michael Eisner, who has just been at the helm of Universal for a year, was ranked tenth by "Premiere" magazine.

But whether in the face of reporters or in private, Michael Eisner sees this very lightly, as the film critic of "Variety" magazine said, the Hollywood power list is essentially just the influence list of Hollywood's figures in the previous year, although it is ranked tenth, but in fact, Michael Eisner's power in Hollywood, which has completely controlled Universal in his hands, is definitely much higher than this list, after all, Universal is one of the seven major film companies, and it has a deep heritage.

At the end of last year, the strategy of winning by volume led to higher earnings in the fourth quarter than in the previous three quarters combined, and Michael Eisner cemented his position in the hearts of Panasonic's parent company.

However, in the context of the emergence of Hollywood's model of relying on big-budget films to generate most of its profits, it has gradually emerged. Want to get better grades. Medium-budget movies certainly won't work. What's more, any studio has its own limits for distributing films. That's why Michael Eisner has been selecting the right big production project for the world since the end of last year.

So far, Universal has started filming a Harrison Ford-starring action film "The Outlaw", with a total investment of $50 million, which is an adaptation of a TV series, and the project was snatched from Warner, because of the optimism about "The Outlaw", Universal paid an extra $3 million to the copyright owner. It also raised the salary of director and actor Harrison Ford.

If Eric is here, he will be more surprised by Michael Eisner's vision, "The Outlaw" is the first part of the account film introduced to the mainland in the 90s in the original time and space, when Drew made a move to collect the rights for Flower Pictures, Eric also had the idea of this movie, but unfortunately Eric did not have too accurate news of this movie in his memory, so he had to give up in the end.

In fact, although Michael Eisner has opened up the production business in the last years of Disney, focusing on the promotion and marketing of films. But during the Paramount years, Michael Eisner also served as head of the production department under Barry Diller. When it comes to "Raiders of the Lost Ark", most people may think of Steven Spielberg at the first thought, but few people know that the reason why "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was filmed was inseparable from Michael Eisner's strong support at that time.

After a brief meeting with several executives from around the world, Michael Eisner returned to his office to begin his day's work.

The assistant put a stack of documents on Michael Eisner's desk, handed the top one to the other party, and said, "Mr. Eisner, the document just came from the legal department, they said "Mummy" The idea of a remake was first proposed by James Jakes of Alpha-ville, who got the remake license in 1991 and developed it in partnership with Universal, but Sid Sheinberg was only willing to make the film into a low-budget horror film with an investment of no more than $10 million, so they temporarily abandoned the idea of filming. If the other party is unwilling to waive the original authorization, it will require at least $2 million in legal costs to recover the authorization, or delay it until it expires. ”

"How long was the original authorization?" asked Michael Eisner without looking up.

The assistant hesitated and said, "Ten years." ”

"Then you call James Jakes directly, and either we pay a penalty and he waives his authority, or we meet in court and he ends up with nothing. ”

The assistant opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but quickly nodded: "Okay, Mr. Eisner, in addition, the first draft of the script for "The Mummy" has also been completed, and in the penultimate folder, according to the model of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" you proposed, there is also a foreshadowing for the development of a sequel, and the production department asks if you want to start looking for a director and a leading actor?"

Michael Eisner took out the script for "The Mummy" and opened it, hurriedly read the outline at the front of the story, looked up and said, "You pass a copy of the script to Mr. Spielberg, ask him if he is interested, and in addition, the heroine contact Nicole Kidman." ”

"Mr. Eisner, I think Nicole Kidman is a bit out of place, after 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith,' her salary has risen to $10 million, which is almost the highest among actresses, and the heroine of 'The Mummy' is a weak librarian, which is too much of a contrast to the image of the female killer in 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith'. ”

Michael Eisner raised his head and said to his assistant: "I don't think you have seen Nicole Kidman's "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Spicy Hand Police Flower", this is a very malleable actress with absolutely excellent acting skills, it is definitely worth the higher salary, and I have some other considerations, so you just do what I tell you." ”

The assistant nodded, saw that Michael Eisner had no other instructions, and turned to leave the office.

Michael Eisner turned his attention to the script for The Mummy, and a month earlier, Michael Eisner had found plans for a remake of the film in some of the project documents left behind by Sid Hinberg, which soon led him to develop an adventure series about the mummy in the style of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Westerners have always had a deep interest in adventure and treasure hunting, and with the success of the Raiders of the Lost Ark franchise, Michael Eisner believes that with a good script and great special effects, the franchise has a good chance of success.

And the idea of leaning Spielberg as a director and Nicole Kidman as the heroine was something he had already thought about. Although he also knew that Spielberg was unlikely to agree, he was at least sure that it would be okay for Spielberg to be named a producer.

As for the heroine, in addition to really fanciing Nicole's current box office appeal, Michael Eisner also has the intention of testing Eric, and the script is in Nicole's hands, and Eric will definitely be able to see it. Last fall, Eric owed himself a favor because Universal offered Joanna Pakula to cover up the incident, and Michael Eisner is sure that Eric should take this opportunity to 'pay it back'.

Michael Eisner knew that as long as the "Mummy" series could be successful, his position as CEO of the world would become unbreakable, so Michael Eisner spared no effort to make so many arrangements.

……

Century City Twentieth Century Fox Headquarters, as TG expanded, Elizabeth rented an entire floor in the Fox Building as TG's headquarters.

By the time Eric and Drew arrived at ten o'clock, a large group of girls and their agents had gathered in the hallway where TG was located.

As he walked through the hallway, Eric could even see that the girls' eyes were clearly starting to glow, like a she-wolf who only saw her prey, and he was sure it wasn't an illusion. As a girl in a beige trench coat first let go of her reserve and stepped forward to greet Eric and ask for an autograph, the other girls who reacted also gathered around.

Eric signed a few names for the girls, who looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, before being escorted into the TG headquarters by the building's security guards.

And throughout the whole process, Xiao Nizi, who was following her, kept looking at all this with a smile.

The two of them pushed the door together and walked into Drew's office, and the girl suddenly pounced on Eric.

Eric subconsciously put his hands on his chest and smiled: "Hey, what are you doing, you can't be jealous of me being so popular, right?"

The girl gave him a blank look, but a small paw reached into the pocket of Eric's coat, and quickly pulled out several small pieces of paper with contact information from each pocket. (To be continued......)