"San Francisco Chronicle" exclusive news: Hugo Lancaster is about to star in "Star Wars Prequel I: The Phantom Menace (Star. Wars：EpisodeI–The。 Phantom。 Menace）”！

After this news was announced, it set off stormy waves in the United States, even more shocking than the "Titanic" dominating the Oscars.

In the long history of American culture, the existence of the "Star Wars" series is very significant, because it allows people to truly see the charm of cinema: to turn countless fantasies in the mind into reality, and to make the impossible possible. The film series created a vast system of extragalactic space, many of which had an unparalleled influence on later space science fiction films.

This kind of influence is deeply rooted in the cultural marrow.

Maybe George Lucas never won the Oscar, maybe "Star Wars" is just an ordinary commercial film in the eyes of many young people, but the series of movies in the seventies is equivalent to today's "Titanic", almost single-handedly changing the course of history.

"Jaws" in 1975, "Star Wars" in 1977, and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981, after these three works, the film industry has truly entered the "commercial era", and the box office performance has improved several notches.

Now, after fifteen years, Lucasfilm has announced the launch of the "Star Wars" series again, and will shoot a prequel trilogy, focusing on the historical background of Luke Skywalker's father, Anakin Skywalker, who transformed from Jedi to Black Knight.

As soon as the news was announced, the whole United States was boiling, and the "Star Wars" created the first truly avid and loyal fans, and now they have grown into the backbone of American society, and their unparalleled enthusiasm has spread in all corners, and even major TV shows can't wait to start talking about it. The film is just a project, and it has already entered the rhythm of the carnival.

In just two weeks since the launch of the Star Wars Prequel series, the San Francisco Chronicle has linked this classic series to some of the most influential actors in the world today. So, everybody went crazy.

The San Francisco Chronicle swore in the news that producer Catherine Kennedy had reached a preliminary agreement with Hugo, and the two sides had a good conversation, obviously with a positive attitude towards the cooperation, and attached relevant photos - in the photo, Hugo and Catherine walked side by side, Rick stood behind the right side, showing a third of his cheek, and there was a blurred figure behind the left side, which could not be seen clearly in the photo, but it didn't matter, the important thing was that Hugo and Catherine's expressions were sparse and obviously relaxed.

In an instant, the authenticity of this news skyrocketed.

According to incomplete statistics, this issue of the "San Francisco Chronicle" sold more than four million copies, and in a head-to-head showdown, it defeated the "Los Angeles Times", which was the first time in history that the former defeated the latter in sales, creating an incredible record, which shows the madness of the entire West Coast.

After the revelations of the "San Francisco Chronicle" appeared, almost all the media in the United States went crazy, and more than 400 media flocked to Endeavor Elite Agency and Lucasfilm, hoping to confirm the authenticity of this news as soon as possible; In North America, more than 700 radio and television media paid attention to this "gossip" for the first time, and more than 10 million listeners immediately listened to the news, and the indirect influence expanded to more than 50 million in just one week.

"Star Wars" meets Hugo Lancaster, and even "Titanic" can't stop such a powerful influence.

Regarding this news, there are supportive fans, many people believe that Hugo has made the wisest choice, and he can also inject new vitality into the series; There are opposing fans, who believe that Hugo's temperament does not match that of "Star Wars", and Hugo's joining will destroy this classic series; There are lively viewers who have a limited understanding of "Star Wars" - especially the new generation of young people, who have become interested in the follow-up development after paying attention to this news.

But there is no doubt that this news has become the hottest news in the whole of North America in April, and people have almost felt the heat of midsummer in advance.

Catherine's brain kicked in almost as soon as she saw the headline for the San Francisco Chronicle, and before she could read the text of the news, she understood what was all about: a trap, a trap carefully orchestrated by Rick. In fact, when Robert Iger took all the initiative and proposed a formal meeting with Hugo, Rick was already calculating.

Robert's biggest bargaining chip is: Hugo has no way to refuse the "supernatural sixth sense", because Robert almost figured out Hugo's ideas and gave a reason why Hugo can't refuse - and Robert did not make the previous mistakes of Mark Canton and Ron Mayer, they chose the script that they thought Hugo would definitely like, but after all, they only considered it from the company's standpoint, and did not really understand Hugo's preferences.

In Knight's view, it was he who took the initiative to ask Hugo to star in his own work, which facilitated this collaboration. But in fact, the "supernatural sixth sense" is just a pawn in Robert's hands. A $60 million investment, a unique appeal to the horror genre, a solid and sincere scripted plot, full and complex main characters...... It can be said that this is the first time after Hugo's strong rise that there is a person who really grasps Hugo's preferences 100% accurately!

The whole of Hollywood was wondering how they should impress Hugo, but now Robert was one step ahead and landed in Normandy.

But now, Rick has given another answer: understanding Hugo's preferences is not everything, because Hugo's unique taste and perspective in choosing scripts are elusive.

On the day of the grand premiere of "Independence Day", George Lucas, who had been reluctant to appear in front of the media for a long time, arrived at the scene in person to cheer for Hugo, and never concealed his appreciation for Hugo in his words. Later, after the "Titanic" became popular, as the person in charge of the special effects behind the scenes, George once again mentioned Hugo's whimsy in an interview, and believed that Hugo gave a lot of inspiration to the development of special effects.

In addition, it is known that Steven Spielberg and Hugo have a close personal relationship, and under Steven's matchmaking, Hugo and George have a really good relationship.

George's friendship, coupled with the prestige of "Star Wars", was another invitation that Hugo could not refuse.

While the "Titanic" has achieved countless glories, in fact, people have also explored an unrealistic possibility - if Hugo replaces Leonardo in the role, then the box office will almost create a new high, such as the North American box office of 700 million or something. This is not to disparage Leonardo, but to wonder where the limits of North American box office potential lie.

However, there is no way to verify this speculation, but now the "Star Wars Prequel" may verify people's ideas, which almost makes the eight major Hollywood studios excited, from "Independence Day" to "Titanic", is it now that the "Star Wars Prequel" has to go to the next level?

In the face of the "Star Wars prequel", the advantage of "The Sixth Sense" has been lost, although the two works have completely different styles, one is a commercial blockbuster, the other is a small-budget production, Hugo has always favored small-budget works; But this time the opponent is "Star Wars", and no one can straighten their backs in front of this set of works and say with absolute confidence that "my work is more attractive". No one!

In an instant, Robert's biggest chip advantage was lost, and the effect of all the previous plans was minimized. What's more, even if Robert knew that this was Rick's ploy, he had to be dumb and eat Coptis chinensis, because he knew that as long as he was not careful, Hugo could completely give up the "supernatural sixth sense" and choose the "Star Wars prequel", and it could even be said that even if he went all out, Hugo might choose "Star Wars prequel".

This move is calm and powerful, murderous, and fatal with one blow!

Catherine also had to admire Rick's plan, and it is estimated that he and David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg had already planned it some time before that. Although Steven Spielberg is now engaged in the filming of "Saving Private Ryan" and is temporarily ignoring the affairs of DreamWorks, no one can ignore the abilities of the other two giants.

Catherine now has two options, because Hugo has actually agreed to star in "The Supernatural Sixth Sense" - of course, there is no signing yet, and everything may change, but Catherine can choose to tell Robert, or she can choose to shut up. Obviously, Rick's calculation also counted Catherine into it.

Catherine can't always be left and right, she has to choose a position: DreamWorks or Broadwell Films, or, more accurately, who would Kennedy/Michelle Pictures be more willing to work with in the future? The former is a newly established independent studio, but it has three giants in charge; The latter belongs to Disney and is the top giant crocodile in the United States. It's a tough choice.

After much hesitation, Catherine chose to shut up and was tied to the DreamWorks chariot.

At the same time, Robert seemed to turn a deaf ear, and did not react at all to the boiling news, and his calm and calm attitude made the "Psychic Sixth Sense" project fall into a temporary impasse in the past few days. But the news of the "Star Wars prequel" did not stop fermenting and heating up again!