As the most influential artist in the world today, Hugo has reached the pinnacle of being an actor.

In terms of awards, it has swept - only one Venice Film Festival trophy is just one away from the Grand Slam of Best Actors; broke through history at the box office - even though "Titanic" squeezed "Independence Day" to the second place in film history, Hugo's box office appeal is unique in the world; Second to none in terms of influence - as can be seen from the premieres of "Titanic" and "Perfect", Hugo didn't need to show up at all to cause a buzz.

As an actor, Hugo has almost no room to continue to develop and improve, but in 1997 Hugo still brought a huge surprise.

Hugo starred in "L.A. Confidential" as an actor, launched "Perfect" as a screenwriter, and stood behind the scenes of these two works as a producer, which is not only another feat after Tom Cruise became a producer of "Mission Impossible", but also made Hugo's Hollywood power reach a new high and enter a new world! And in the position of producer, Hugo handed over a perfect answer.

"Los Angeles Confidential" swept the box office of $260 million, followed by a series of film history records, even if it is not as good as the $600 million box office of "Titanic", it is not inferior; "Perfect" made a $148 million box office in its opening weekend, not only stunning the entire North American market, but also ranked among the top 10 in the year-end list, ranking seventh in the year.

Both works entered the top 10 of the year-end box office list in North America, which is undoubtedly the biggest affirmation.

Of course, Hugo had created such a feat before this, and he achieved such results in 1993 and 1994 for two consecutive years, but 1997 was different, because these two works were more producers for Hugo to achieve this achievement, which means that Hugo's ability has been affirmed again, which also means that Hugo's power in Hollywood is bound to reach a higher level, which also means that Hugo's influence has been fully verified.

"L.A. Confidential" is undoubtedly a major victory for Hugo's return to the role of actor, this work is Hugo's new work after "Independence Day", this time Hugo did not choose a VFX staple, but returned to the retro genre of Hollywood's golden age - just like "Death of a Salesman", "L.A. Confidential" is a stunning and nuanced script, and the leading actors burst out with amazing sparks, making the viewing process a real mental enjoyment.

Different from the visual impact of "Independence Day" or "Titanic", "L.A. Confidential" is the pinnacle representative of traditional film art, from the narrative rhythm to the character building, from the story itself to the core idea, it can be said to be a classic work of the golden age. It can be said that "L.A. Confidential" and "Titanic" can be regarded as a perfect combination of commercial films and art films, but the former is closer to art films, while the latter is more commercial films.

In the face of the changing trend of visual effects, "L.A. Confidential" declared a place in traditional cinema with a box office of $260 million, and even became a stark example for traditional academics to assert their views and fight against the blockbuster era, all of which are testament to the huge success of this work.

As an indispensable part of "Los Angeles Confidential", Hugo's performance in the movie once again subverted everyone's stereotype, showing amazing performance control, and the rivalry between Hugo and other actors in the whole movie is full of praise and relish.

The success of "L.A. Confidential" can be said to be a return to the classics, while the success of "Perfect" can be said to be a magical breakthrough.

In this year's year-end list, there are four comedies in the top ten, "The Man in Black", "The King of Big Talk", "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Perfect", but "Perfect" has a congenital disadvantage, this is a comedy drama movie, hilarious humor is not the core of the movie - in fact, the movie is difficult to make people laugh, the movie is more of a delicate discussion of the story of the aliens in society seeking warmth and finding support, and it is more of a work with bitterness in the smile.

Still, "Perfect" made history, not only achieving a box office performance of nearly $150 million, but also ranking third in the all-time grossing film comedy genre. More importantly, this work has really brought Hugo's screenwriting identity into the spotlight, proving that the birth of "Before Sunrise" is not accidental, and it also proves that the weight of the name "Hugo Lancaster" has gone beyond the category of actors.

As an actor, as a screenwriter, and as a producer, Hugo is expanding his influence step by step, and has successfully entered the Hollywood decision-making level. In fact, no one can ignore Hugo's unique vision as a producer, and the name of "Golden God" is not in vain.

In addition to "Smell the Fragrance and Know the Woman", "The Mighty Wind", "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Schindler's List" after the Golden Raspberry Award, Hugo does not have the right to choose these works, he is always the chosen party, which proves more of the ability of the agent, as well as the discerning eye of the producers of these works.

But after that, starting from "the speed of life and death" and "vulgarity", Hugo gradually took over the decision of the agent and had the right to choose, and the subsequent works have all achieved great success without exception, even the box office unsatisfactory "Before Sunrise", which not only won Hugo a reputation as a screenwriter, but more importantly, in the past three years, the popularity of this work in the video rental market has been eye-catching.

-- DreamWorks recently released the revenue figures for "Before Sunrise", and the work has made a profit of $8 million from the rental of videotapes, which is pure dividends. As a work with an investment of only 2.5 million, it has already made a lot of money during the release period, and now it has achieved such excellent profitability by relying on the video tape market, which can be called a model of art film.

It can be said that Hugo's vision for selecting works has been recognized by Hollywood - which is why the media is so noisy after the box office of the opening weekends of "Titanic" and "Perfect" was far from meeting expectations. But now it is further proof that Hugo had a unique vision, that he had a keen sense of work and that he was often able to achieve incredible success.

This has made Hollywood's major studios have to start paying attention to Hugo's status as a producer, because Hugo's vision can bring great projects, which is what they desperately need; And no one will forget Hugo's box office appeal, just like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, even if they don't participate in directing, but nominal producers can often gild films, and now, Hugo, as an actor, has also initially shown this ability, which is eye-catching.

Contributing to this momentum is naturally the recognition of peers!

At the end of the year, the major award ceremonies lit up one after another, and the Writers Guild of America gave great recognition to the "perfect" script, so that Hugo was once again nominated for the best original screenplay, not to mention whether it could win the award, it was already a huge victory to be unanimously recognized by professional screenwriters - it is worth mentioning that "L.A. Confidential" was also nominated for the best adapted screenplay; The Producers Guild of America also announced their list of nominees, and the two works "Perfect" and "L.A. Confidential" were both shortlisted, and the two works produced by Hugo were not only box office successes, but also received absolute recognition in the professional field, and the artistic achievements were also impressive.

In addition, the name of Hugo appeared on the list of Best Actor nominees from the Screen Actors Guild - he relied on his wonderful performance in "L.A. Confidential" to successfully compete for the award, while Kevin Spacey was nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Charlize Theron was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

These unions are different from comprehensive awards such as the Golden Globes and Oscars, they are all selected by their respective unions, in other words, they are recognized by their peers. In the field of art, the recognition of peers is crucial, taking directors as an example, many directors want to be recognized by the Directors Guild of America more than the Oscar statuette, and it is even no exaggeration to say that the Best Director Award of the Directors Guild of America is more golden, because this is a purely professional competition, without any commercial, publicity, or public relations factors.

Therefore, Hugo's recognition in the three major unions of screenwriters, actors, and producers is also unprecedented, not to mention whether he can win the award in the end, but Hugo's strong momentum now is beyond doubt. Everyone in the circle clearly knows that winning a prize requires luck, and nomination is a test of strength, and the recognition of the three major trade unions has become the epitome of Hugo's strong momentum in the circle today.

What's more, no one will ignore the news: the action-packed DreamWorks has begun to set up a distribution department, and Hugo will take advantage of the trend to take a stake in DreamWorks and truly become the decision-maker of DreamWorks, alongside Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, which is also a direct reflection of Hugo's current rise to the decision-making level.

In a new field, Hugo opened the door with an absolutely strong high-profile attitude.

At the same time, everyone should not forget an important fact, that is, Hugo's strong influence is not only limited to the North American film field, but also strongly radiates to all parts of the world, in addition, his influence as the lead singer of glory to death covers the whole world, setting off turbulent waves, which has also become the most important auxiliary to Hugo's film appeal, and has become an important bargaining chip for Hugo to have more say in the top decision-making level.