Barry Meyer looked at the "New York Times" on his desk, and the headline on the front page was impressively "'L.A. Confidential' Changing the Rules of the Industry: Suspense Drama Movies Are Coming", which made Barry raise his eyebrows slightly, although there was no smile on the corner of his mouth, but it could be seen from his brisk pace and relaxed lips that he was in a very happy mood today.

Barry looked up at his secretary, Michelle. Page), indifferently asked, "What's the arrangement for today?" ”

Michelle flipped through his notepad, "There was an interview at nine o'clock in the morning, it was from 'Us Weekly.'" ”

Barry nodded slightly, "Is the theme the same as the one that was determined last time?" "Warner Bros. sees heroes. That's the subject of the interview, and after last year's "Independence Day" swept through thousands of troops, Kevin Pence, the CEO of Twentieth Century Fox, who is now a historical reformer at the forefront of the times, and now it is Barry's Warner Bros. turn, and all this is undoubtedly "L.A. Confidential".

"Yes, I sent you a detailed outline of the interview last night." Michelle replied in the affirmative, now that computers have gradually become popular, although the Internet has not yet been completely private and life-oriented, many basic functions have appeared, "There is a meeting at half past ten, it is the film production department, they have several projects in hand now, and they want to find Hugo to play the starring role, but the board seems to have some opinions." ”

Barry's hand paused slightly, and his brow furrowed slightly, "Is it because of the budget?" "Naturally, he knows these things very well, and those board members within the company are always only focusing on their own interests and not letting go, and there is no long-term consideration at all." I've heard rumors that they're disgusted that I gave Hugo a twenty percent box office dividend, and hey," Barry sneered, his eyes full of disdain, "and they don't look at how much value Hugo brings to the film, a bunch of brainless guys." ”

After "L.A. Confidential" signed a contract with Hugo, the contract stipulated that Hugo would receive 20% of the North American box office, which would be $52 million!

Before "L.A. Confidential", the highest box office record holder in Hollywood film history was still Hugo, who received a salary of nearly $34 million through "life and death", creating a new chapter in North American history; Later, Hugo opened up a club of 20 million through "Independence Day" - which is currently the pinnacle of the entire Hollywood, only Hugo and Jim Carrey have such qualifications, but I heard that Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, and Harrison Ford are all vying to be able to enter this club.

However, before the 20 million club flourished, Hugo once again broke his own record, relying on his status as the producer of "L.A. Confidential" to get a salary of 52 million US dollars, which is almost an unimaginable figure even after 20 years. Even after deducting 50 percent of the tax on the rich, the after-tax income of $26 million is still enough to make Hugo the first person in the entire entertainment industry.

It's interesting that Hugo, like Lawrence Rockefeller, now pays a 50 percent tax on the rich.

Although Warner Bros. did not release specific data, insiders have more or less heard rumors that the name of "the first person in Hollywood today" is definitely not in vain, and Hugo once again relied on his strong appeal to create a miracle. With a salary of 52 million US dollars, this is almost a height that no one can imagine.

Therefore, there has been a discussion in the circle that instead of letting Hugo participate in box office dividends, it is better to invite Hugo to star with a salary of 20 million US dollars, which is definitely a sure deal. But the problem is that Hugo has now completely transcended the scope of an actor and has more influence as a screenwriter and producer, and it is foreseeable that Hugo's next move will not be underestimated - of course, first of all, everyone can pay attention to what kind of work will be "perfect" that has been scheduled for release, and you can judge Hugo's true level as a screenwriter.

Now, there is a lot of complaint within Warner Bros., and everyone is complaining that Barry is paying too much dividends to Hugo - so that their dividends will naturally be reduced.

But Barry was completely dismissive of such arguments, and when Hugo asked for a cost of 50 million dollars, the board members almost as if they wanted a piece of their meat, "What does a suspense drama film do with so much budget?" Now Hugo has proven his worth -- again and again, "L.A. Confidential" has done so well at the box office, and Hugo has played a huge role in front of and behind the scenes, and without Hugo, Barry thinks the film would have topped the box office of $100 million. But it's ridiculous that the suits in the conference room are complaining that they make too little money.

"I know about it." Barry was just a momentary gaffe, and soon returned to normal, he was absolutely sure about dealing with these board members, but it was just too annoying, "You just mentioned the project of the film department, did you have a meeting with them today?" ”

Michelle shook her head, "Not yet." ”

Barry thought for a moment, "Arrange a meeting, it's ...... Two o'clock in the afternoon, yes, after lunch. Although Hugo's next work has been confirmed, Paramount Pictures' "Truman's World", he knows that he must not relax, and now is the perfect opportunity for Warner Bros. to develop rapidly. After Michelle wrote it down, Barry raised his chin and motioned for Michelle to continue, but after listening for a while, Barry interrupted Michelle again, "You call Rick and arrange a meeting, lunch." ”

"Need to mention the topic?" Michelle raised an eyebrow and asked, but the movement of his hand did not stop.

"No, it's just a working lunch." Barry thought for a moment, then nodded his chin, "I remember that Hugo's birthday is less than two weeks away, and tomorrow morning, when time is free, you and I will go and pick a gift for him." After a pause, Barry's brain raced at high speed, "By the way, ask Marvin Josephson if the dinner we talked about earlier can be advanced by a day, if he doesn't have the right time, then he can only postpone it, you tell him that I suddenly had an urgent day that day, remember to express my apologies." ”

Business is a huge system, and while attracting Endeavor elite brokerage companies, he needs to keep a certain distance from international innovation management companies, but he can't completely cut off contact. So, he needs to play some tricks, although in fact he has no problem at all with the appointment.

At the same time, Paramount's Shirley Lansing also started the meeting early, and the box office of "Los A. Confidential" was a big hit, although at the moment of the meeting, the final cumulative box office still has not come out, but Shirley has sensitively felt that Hugo's salary will reach a new high. Of course, the "Truman's World" contract has been signed, and everything is fine, but Shirley knows that she was too strong in the previous negotiations and needs to ease up now, so the "Truman's World", which will start filming next week, is very important.

The whole of Hollywood is like a sophisticated machine, running fast. In the eyes of laymen, although the box office of "Los Angeles Confidential" is outstanding, it cannot reach the height of "Independence Day", and it is difficult for them to understand everyone's attitude towards Hugo and attitude towards "Los Angeles Confidential"; But in the eyes of the insider, it can be clearly felt that the film industry is about to change again, and as the promoter of all this, Hugo's importance is rising, and correspondingly, the status of Endeavor elite agency and DreamWorks will continue to rise.

Especially now that it is widely rumored in the circle that Hugo is likely to take a stake in DreamWorks, then this is almost a game-changer, and no one can clearly predict the future of DreamWorks. Of course, objectively speaking, Hugo is only an actor, and the direct actions he can make are very limited, but now Hugo is at the top of the same level as Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, and the influence of the huge network of contacts behind them is difficult to estimate.

So, the whole industry started to get busy, in places that people couldn't see.

As the focus of everyone's attention, Hugo did not feel so deeply, on the one hand, he actively participated in the promotion of "L.A. Confidential", and his busy schedule also made him have no time to care about these detailed situations; On the one hand, it is necessary to keep in touch with the "perfect" crew in New York, the film was officially announced in September, and post-production began, because James was cut while the film, and there were no special effects in post-production, so all the work was quickly completed, Sony Columbia Pictures has begun to arrange the release schedule, hoping to meet the Oscar registration deadline.

On the other hand, Hugo also needs to invest a lot of time in the "Truman's World" script reading, although Hugo has his own experience of comedy performance, but the script reading is still the top priority, and the role figure figure needs Hugo to put all his energy.

Therefore, even if it is a salary of 52 million US dollars, Hugo has no energy to exclaim for the time being, he is so busy that even his sleep time is extremely precious, not to mention that "Los Angeles Confidential" is still being released, these salary figures have not been counted, let alone earned, Hugo naturally has no sense of reality at all.

Hugo had been reading a script in his study for a morning, and he felt that his brain was almost clogged, so he decided to go out for a jog and sweat to calm down. After changing his clothes, he ran down the stairs quickly, and when he left the villa, Hugo habitually began to speed up his pace - so that whether the paparazzi were at the door or not, he could buy him time, but today it was very surprising, there was only one person at the door, Hugo frowned slightly, and without thinking too much, he ran quickly.

But after only a few steps, Hugo's footsteps slowly stopped.