It's been a week since the audition, and there is still no definite news from the crew of "Gladiator", so Kusa called to find out, and the other party was vague. In the end, perhaps because of Ridley's tendencies, he hinted at the attitude of the Globe to Cussa.

Cusa hung up the phone quietly.

"Someone around the world has taken a stand, and Walter is leaning towards Jacques."

With a solemn look on his face, Kusa explained to Daniel the hint on the other end of the phone, which was indeed bad news for them.

If there was still a little bit before, Ridley's reverie that would treat Daniel differently and finally support him to star is completely gone.

"Universal's attitude is to be expected," Daniel said, sitting with a pen in his hand and a blank piece of paper in front of him, on which he wrote the word "Universal," "and they will appreciate the publicity bonus of Jaequin's identity, but we should try to make them less adamant." I mean, they can lean towards Jacques, but don't put 10 percent pressure on Ridley, they need to have the strength to keep them at bay and make Universal have some scruples, or at least balance Philip's operations. ”

Daniel and Kusa looked at each other.

“CAA！”

"Is there any way for CAA to come forward and balance Philip's impact on the global side for us?"

Daniel wrote "CAA" on a piece of paper, listed on the left side of the globe.

"WME and CAA have always been unforgiving in competing roles, I can try to do it, maybe the CAA executives have the will, after all, you are not a nobody now." Kusa hesitated, not completely sure, Daniel and his weight were still too light to ensure that the influential high-level officials of the CAA would be able to stand up for them.

"Do you need me with you?"

"I'll see the situation first," Kusa shook his head, "and if necessary, you will come forward." ”

Daniel didn't say this again, but wrote "Ridley" next to Universal.

This talent is the most central role.

But he seems to be watching, to see who can bring more benefits to the film.

"We still have to start from him, the information we have learned in the past few days is very revealing, Universal must be dissatisfied with Ridley, but it is impossible for this movie to leave Ridley behind, that is to say, even if there is dissatisfaction, it will ultimately be based on Ridley's opinion. As for the filth that was generated, if the film was a big success, for the sake of the dollar, they would not want to remember these unpleasant ones. ”

But here's the problem.

How to impress Ridley!

The biggest bargaining chip he can give is Daniel's performance, which can make the movie even better, and obviously it can also impress Ridley.

But at the moment, it seems that it is not enough.

"Kusa, in this way, we divide up and work together, and you go and find out if Ridley has any fetishes, or people who are good friends. I'm going to comb through his past work and see if I can find something. ”

"Good!" Kusa stood up, "I'll talk to the top first, and then I'll do it right away." ”

……

Daniel collected all of Ridley's work over the past few decades, and "The Dueling Man" made him famous, with this small budget of one million dollars, he was nominated for Best Directorial Debut at Cannes, and two years later, Ridley directed the space horror film "Alien", which established him as a director, and the film became a classic.

After the success of "Alien", Ridley was very cautious about his work, until three years later, he received a total of 28 million investment from the film company of Run Run Shaw, an Asian film giant and a wealthy Chinese tycoon whom Daniel was well acquainted, and Warner, to start filming "Blade Runner," starring Harrison Ford. Daniel paused for a second at Harrison's name, and although he hadn't met the action superstar yet, he had two relationships, one with Tracy Jacobs, who is now also a client of Tracy, and once with Melissa, whose father Drake Lane and Harrison Ford had a good relationship, which was one of the reasons why Melissa was treated differently by Tracy.

"Harrison Ford." Daniel quickly turned over the material for "Blade Runner," and the release of the film was very tortuous, and during the filming in the early eighties, Ridley and the film crew repeatedly clashed, which also became hot news in entertainment newspapers. The film was a miserable box office and received rave reviews, including the duo of Roger Albert and Heath. "Blade Runner" was a Waterloo for Ridley, but dramatically, in the early nineties, the film was re-released by Warners, this time it received the praise it deserved, Roger even changed his tune in a rare way, and the film was considered the best science fiction film by the group of scientists.

Daniel flipped through some messy news before he saw the main creator of the movie.

The director is Ridley Scott, starring Hardison Ford, and the film editor is Delach Lane.

Thankfully, he was still in contact with Melissa, and he vaguely remembered Melissa mentioning that his father and Hardison had met in a movie almost twenty years ago.

Obviously, it's Blade Runner!

Daniel quickly found a catalogue of Delach Lane's works and compared them with Ridley's works, and sure enough, in addition to "Blade Runner", they also collaborated on a work that was very important to both Drake and Ridley, "Flowers of the End", which earned Ridley seven Oscar nominations including Best Director, and finally won two Golden Figures for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing.

He immediately wrote "Drake Lane" under "Ridley".

It's a path, and if there are no accidents, Drake and Ridley are clearly very close to each other, and this twenty-year friendship is by no means comparable to a tendency of the Globe, unless they do make a firm request.

Noting Draco's name for a moment, Daniel began to look for other breakthroughs, but apparently his experience in Hollywood was too young to look like something to do.

Taking a deep breath, Daniel looked at the window, it was almost completely dark, and Cusa hadn't come back yet.

Daniel decided to give Melissa a call first.

Melissa now works at Fox as an assistant agent, because she has just joined the company and doesn't have much work. This is evident in the frequency with which she has recently harassed Daniel.

Daniel and Melissa laughed and made it clear.

This is actually very abrupt, Draco is a famous star in Hollywood, and he is a fledgling new actor, with a little friendship with Melissa, to make such a request, it is not enough to say that it is abrupt.

Melissa was as enthusiastic as ever.

She actually has a special affection for Daniel, of course, it is not the love between men and women, but Daniel is almost getting more and more attention under her gaze, and now she is even fighting for a major supporting role in an A-level big system.

"If your father allows me, I'd like to be able to pay you a visit."

Melissa asked him to come directly, but of course Daniel refused, it was originally a presumptuous request, and if he was an uninvited guest, it would be his own death. In the end, he asked Melissa to talk to Draco first to see if there was room for manoeuvre.

When he finished speaking, he was pulled by Melissa and gossiped for half an hour.

It wasn't until Kusa pushed open the door that he hung up the phone.

Kusa's expression was not particularly gloomy, but it was not sunny either.

"The company agrees to do something for you, but it may not be as good." Kusa first lost a not-so-good piece of news, "I approached Kevin, the company's vice president, and he just agreed to call the global side, but didn't give a definite promise. ”

Daniel nodded, "Understandable. But it seems that there is worse news? ”

"Yes, it may not be very practical to go Ridley's personal path, because Ridley is very averse to bringing his private life into his work."

Daniel himself didn't expect Cusa to really find out anything, and if it was so light, Philip could only move faster than him.

"Come and see, Cusa," Daniel tapped the tip of his pen to the name on the white paper, "Drake Lane, and Ridley may have a deep friendship, having collaborated on Blade Runner and Flowers of the End." ”

"Huh?"

"I know Mr. Lane's daughter, her name is Melissa. Aren't you curious why I knew Johnny rejected me? That's right, it was Melissa who told me that she was Tracy's assistant agent, and that Tracy was talking to Johnny by accident when she overheard. ”

Kusa was surprised, "Did she have a crush on you?" ”

Daniel smashed a discarded ball of paper into Cussa's big nose, "When she met me, I was Billy Bob. Although I am also very good on the inside, Melissa may not have this vision. In fact, Michael Tollin, the producer of "School Blues," also had a relationship with Draco, and he approached Melissa to recommend me to Tracy Jacobs, who was technically the first actor Melissa discovered. ”

"Well, the first complex."

"I've already spoken to Melissa, and she'll help me get around with Draco first, and if Drake wants to, I'll pay him a visit and try to convince him to help me."

Kusa frowned, "Daniel, with all due respect, why do you think Drake will help you, just because of your friendship with Melissa?" ”

"Yes, I also know that there is little hope. So this cannot be considered a primary means, it can only be used as an auxiliary. Daniel said helplessly.

The two reluctantly continued to exhaust their brains to think of countermeasures.

……

Kevin's negotiations with Universal soon reached Philip's ears through some channels.

CAA's involvement was not too surprising to him, in any case, if a brokerage company could not stand up for its clients, it was not far from falling apart.

In fact, the purpose of testing the waters through Guò Global has been achieved.

Ridley's leaning was unexpected, and he barely reacted to the global attitude.

This is where the tricky part becomes.

"Now everything has to be played," Philip and Jackie analyzed the current situation, Ridley's attitude became the key, if there is no way to convince Ridley, I am afraid that this time I will really lose the role.

Philip made an afternoon phone call in his office.

Jackie watched as he negotiated with the various figures.

Famous actors, producers, directors, they all have something to do with Ridley, and they have a common identity: a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Philip understands Ridley's ambitions, and he is looking forward to an Oscar, very much looking forward to it. "Gladiator" is his masterpiece to hit the Oscars, this movie is full of flattery to the academy, heroism, epic, the protagonist's yearning for family, and even Marcus's choice of countries with very different history, which is exploring the sensitive points of the academy.

In fact, in Philip's experience, the film is indeed very likely to win the Oscars.

That's why he had the heart to win.

After receiving a few phone calls, Ridley realized that his delay in expressing his position had made Philip a little anxious, and although he could not be influenced by others, the meaning of these calls was not something he could ignore at will.

Almost unanimously these calls were for Joaquin Phoenix.

The powerful connections of both sides in Hollywood are on full display.

Even if the Globe side softened its attitude, the calls made Jackquin's victory almost a given.

Despite receiving a lot of phone calls during this time, Ridley was still quite surprised when Drake Lane's phone rang.

"Drake, I really can't imagine that even you were moved by Philip's words, what benefit did he give you?" Ridley's tone was lighthearted, showing that his relationship with Draco was truly extraordinary.

Draco on the other end of the line laughed and denied his position of speaking for Jacques.

"You said you made this call for Daniel?"

Now, Ridley was really surprised. Daniel was able to invite Draco, and for him personally, Draco could be on top of Philip's group.

Draco just said that Daniel had some friendship with Melissa, and he also thought that the lad was very good and suitable for the role.

Ridley didn't hide it from Drake, he told the whole story, "To be honest, I really regret it now, if it had been directly determined that Daniel would be in the role, it might not be the scene now." Philip's energy is not small, and he has touched many people. And the world has always been more satisfied with Jackie. If I insist on going my own way, there might be some bad effects, you know, after Blade Runner, I've been trying to avoid conflicts. ”

Draco was silent for a moment, comforting his old friend, and didn't hold out any longer.

Philip's nirvana did hit Ridley, although the reason he told Draco was also the truth, but the identity of those Oscar judges was the most important, and Ridley didn't want his road to the Olympics to be extraneous.

But this also made him resentful of Philip.

No one wants to be forced to act, especially a big director with a strong personality like Ridley.

Daniel was right next to Ridley when Drake called him, and with little effort in fact, Drake agreed to make the call.

It can only be said that Drake's love for Melissa is beyond Daniel's imagination.

"You might lose this role," Draco said as soon as he hung up the phone, sending Daniel and Kusa to rock bottom.

"As you said, Ridley himself is interested in you, he even regrets a little bit that he didn't confirm you at the beginning, but now he is also a little difficult to ride, Jackie's agent is quite well-connected, and he has invited a lot of influential people to intercede for Jackie, Ridley mentioned a few names, and they all have one thing in common, they are all Oscar judges."

Daniel closed his eyes, they didn't expect it, and even if they did, they couldn't do it, what could be more attractive to Ridley than the Oscars.

These people's votes may not really be the same as Jackquin's, but if Ridley rudely rejects them, I am afraid that they will indeed lose those votes.

Compared with the nearly 6,000 Oscar judges, Philip said that of course it is only a very small part, but who dares to say that the final victory or defeat will not be on these few tickets?

Ridley wouldn't be willing to take any chances.

At this moment, Daniel and Kusa simply decided to throw in the towel.

The frustration was felt even by the Alaskan family of Ryan, who whimpered a few lowly.

"What, are you going to give up?"

Daniel's smile was bitter, "We're really at a loss for what to do." ”

The gray-haired Draco smiled and glanced at Daniel with wise eyes, "Sometimes it seems that there is no way out, but it does not mean that there really is none. Jackie's advantage was originally in the world, that is, his brother's promotional value, and now with the addition of Oscar, as long as he makes a fuss about these two points, it is not hopeless. Daniel, sometimes to dare to attack, dare to borrow the form shì. ”

Daniel and Kusa were still a little confused on the way back, and Draco's words gave him some vague thoughts, but not particularly clear.

"Cusa, what do you think Draco is referring to? Dare to strike? ”

Kusa also thought solemnly.

He thinks deeper than Daniel.

Rivan Phoenix and Oscar, these are the two strengths of Jacques, which are the targets they want to destroy.

And now, for Ridley, if Daniel is to be chosen, the first point is not to let those Oscar judges have an opinion about the film and himself. The second point is to give Universal Pictures a plausible reason.

If these two concerns can be cleared for Ridley, then Daniel's victory is a matter of course.

Dare to attack, dare to take advantage of the situation!

Drake's remark made them feel like something was about to break out of their shells.

Daniel sat in the passenger seat and looked out the window, Los Angeles in the middle of summer was bustling, but it was also easy to breed irritable feelings.

Two young black men on the side of the road got into an argument for some reason, but one of them suddenly moved his fist, threw the other to the ground, and then walked away.

"Kusa, I think I know what to do."