To be precise, after the box office miracle of "Independence Day", the whole of Hollywood was in turmoil, and the beginning of the era of commercial blockbusters was a seismic change for any production company and distribution company, and everyone had to adjust their plans. Even brokerage firms' strategies are bound to change, and this period is both a challenge and an opportunity for everyone.

No one can deny the enormous commercial value of the name "Hugo Lancaster" behind this dramatic change.

Compared with the global box office of 1.255 billion US dollars created by "Independence Day", what is even more terrifying is that in the battle of the century, the ultimate showdown and the global tour set off by the "Storm", the added value generated by Hugo has fully covered many fields such as catering, transportation, clothing, daily necessities, media, etc., driving the rapid flow of at least one billion US dollars, and the additional profits generated have far exceeded the incredible global box office of "Independence Day".

Of course, for Hollywood, Hugo's greatest value is the attraction and topicality generated as an actor. Putting aside the success or failure of the movie box office, the social effect of the "Seven Deadly Sins", the shortage of "Death Row Prisoners", the empty alleys of "Independence Day", and the chain reaction of the start of filming of "L.A. Confidential", the entire industrial chain with the work as the core has been revitalized. This value cannot be ignored by any top production company.

Paramount, of course, is no exception.

The project "Truman's World" first appeared in 1991 when screenwriter Andrew Nicol (Andrew). Niccol is planning to write a sci-fi thriller film that takes place in New York City. In 1993, the famous producer Scott Rudin. Rudin) bought the script and got Paramount to agree to produce and distribute it. Originally, Scott planned to make Andrew the director, but in fact, "Truman's World" was only Scott's second screenwriting work, and Paramount thought that the budget of $60 million could not afford to take the risk. So, in the director stage, he tossed back and forth for half a year.

After Peter Weir decided to take over the script, he came up with a different idea, he thought that the original script was too dark and depressing, and he wanted the story to be lighthearted and humorous irony to achieve a deeper theme. The script went through the process of overturning, rewriting, rewriting and overturning, and finally found Jim Carrey in late 1995.

However, at that time, faced with "Truman's World" and "Ace Commissioner", Kim chose the latter. Needless to say, the reason is 20 million US dollars. Kim then became the second member of the 20 million club in film history.

Later, after finishing the filming of "Ace Correspondent", Kim signed a contract with "Liar. Liar)", and for the second time rejected "Truman's world". But then things turned out somewhat unexpectedly, because the "Ace Correspondent" failed miserably at the box office, and "Independence Day" exploded at the box office, which made Kim's position awkward.

After the filming of "The King of Big Talk" ended, Kim did not reject "Truman's World" again, but the problem is that Paramount questioned Kim's box office appeal. As a result, there was a split within the company, with some people sticking with Kim and others believing that they should re-find better comedians.

At the Berlin Film Festival in February this year, Shirley had actually begun to plan to let Hugo replace Kim to take over the filming of "Truman's World". First, the box office fiasco of "Ace Commissioner" and Kim's delay again and again, challenging Shirley's patient bottom line; On the one hand, Hugo's ideas about comedy gradually spread in the circle. But unfortunately, at that time, Hugo did not have any ideas about taking on a new film. In the end, Paramount reached a tentative consensus within it: they wanted to see the box office of "Big Talk" before deciding whether to use gold.

In April, "The King of Words" was officially released, with a box office performance of $30 million in debut, and thanks to the audience's popularity, the $50 million production has now won $160 million at the box office - and is still in theaters, which has restarted negotiations between Kim and Paramount.

Thanks to the box office success of "The King of Big Talk", Kim insisted on asking for a salary of 20 million US dollars, especially after experiencing the trough of the "Ace Correspondent", the success of "The King of Big Talk" made Kim straighten his waist again, insisting that this was an affirmation of his "20 million club". In fact, King's request is not excessive, he is not only the most expensive comedian in the United States at the moment, but also the most charismatic of all actors.

However, in Paramount's mind, this is not a good deal, and although the "big talk king" has entered a profitable model, it is far from meeting their expectations. With the same salary of 20 million US dollars, Hugo is not only more cost-effective, but also has a higher rate of return, and more importantly, Hugo's added value far exceeds that of gold.

In fact, the cost of the "Titanic" far exceeded expectations, not only Twentieth Century Fox was shrinking its budget, so that there were no major projects for more than a year, and even Paramount had to be cautious. "Truman's World" invested 60 million, which is considered an upper-medium investment in commercial films, but for a literary film and a comedy movie, this investment can be called a huge amount of money, so they have to be more cautious.

After the negotiations reached a stalemate, the "Perfection" project was born.

At the same time, DreamWorks made frequent moves, not only starting the huge plan to "save Private Ryan", but also putting the publishing department on the agenda; In addition, Endeavor Elite Brokerage Company has seized the opportunity and risen rapidly, its commercial value has increased at a rate visible to the naked eye, and its Hollywood status has risen. A series of actions centered on Hugo are eye-catching, and Hugo's commercial value is further bullish.

Interestingly, just a week ago, Alan Strello was at a private party and talked to friends about film investment, and at that time Allen joked that he was willing to invest $100 million in "perfection" because he believed that the big return would make him happy. This private party doesn't really have much to do with Hollywood, it's a party with a crowd of Wall Street people. But Allen's words aroused the interest of Viacom.

Viacom, Inc., the parent company of Paramount.

They made an account: it is better to invest $60 million in Kim to star in "Truman's World", and it is better to invest $100 million in Hugo to star in two works - "Perfect" and "Truman's World". This is undoubtedly a very cost-effective choice for Paramount, not only can it win two works closely related to Hugo in one go, but also can win over the Endeavor elite agency and DreamWorks behind Hugo, which is a perfect choice from Paramount's standpoint.

So, three days ago, "Truman's world" was handed to Rick.

For Rick, there are countless scripts handed to Hugo, but he can't give them all to Hugo, they have to be screened. So, after Rick read it, his first instinct told him that Hugo was bound to be interested in the script, but he didn't rush to make a decision. However, in the gap between Rick's deliberations, Shirley decided to take the initiative and take Peter to the door to make friends - this is definitely an important step to break the deadlock for Hugo.

Hugo's reservations, although somewhat surprising, are still expected, and Paramount is bound to have follow-up actions next. It's up to who will have the last laugh in this battle - Sony Columbia Pictures, which has Allen's support, will not let go easily, DreamWorks, which has taken the lead, still has the initiative, and the weight of the chips in the hands of the menacing Paramount cannot be underestimated......

"So, the question is?" Hugo listened to Rick's explanations a lot, and felt that his brain had begun to knot, and the only thing he could be sure of was that interests were still the focus of competition for these large companies, and as for how much these interests had to do with him, he really didn't have a clear idea: after all, it wasn't his money.

Rick also laughed, "You are the first choice of 'Truman's world', and Kim is the second choice. And then...... Then it's up to you to choose, no matter what the outcome is, it doesn't make much difference to you. "The difference lies in the status of Endeavour elite brokerage company, and of course the conditions of cooperation, as well as the next development of the two projects.

"In other words, I can choose according to my own ideas, right?" Hugo concludes that after a big circle, Shirley and his plan turned out to be "perfect" - or more accurately, Hugo behind "perfection". Sure enough, after entering a new level, everything can involve interests, and it becomes more and more complicated.

"Of course, it's your right." Rick nodded, as an actor, it is indeed unimaginable to reach the height of Hugo today, because Hugo has mobilized one-third of Hollywood almost single-handedly, in which the intricate interpersonal relationships and interests are difficult to see even if they themselves are in it.

What Rick doesn't say is that Hugo's choice will have far-reaching consequences, and that almost every different choice will require a different response. However, this is their job and has nothing to do with Hugo, so Rick didn't plan to say it, just left the decision to Hugo.

Hugo let out a long sigh of relief, "Good, that's good news for me. ”

However, shortly after the good news broke, Steven brought the not-so-good news: DreamWorks couldn't afford to spend as much budget as it could meet the "perfect" requirements, and the 20 million cap was the only room they had at the moment. In fact, this is not unexpected, because at present, DreamWorks is still not a top player, in the confrontation with predators such as Sony Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures, their capital is too little and too little, and the only bargaining chip is Hugo's strong friendship with Steven and David.

It seems that DreamWorks is about to miss out on "perfection".