But because of Eric's article "Apocalypse of CAA" that profoundly analyzed the operation mode of CAA, and a series of reforms carried out by the brokerage companies who felt the threat of CAA, now Hollywood has formed three brokerage companies, CAA, ICM and WMA The three-legged situation, in order to compete with the awakened opponents, it is impossible for caa to maintain its previous strong position in the process of cooperating with the big film companies, and Michael Ovitz's ranking has also slipped out of the top five.
In the new Hollywood power list, Firefly left other film companies far behind with a 27% share of the North American box office in 1992. Eric was on the top of the Hollywood power list without any suspense. Michael Lynn, the CEO of Firefly Pictures, and Katzenberg, the CEO of Disney Pictures, took the sixth and ninth places respectively. Although the rankings are not too high, only among the top ten is Firefly Pictures. Occupying three positions, the industry is full of discussions.
There is no dispute that Eric won the first place. The performance of Firefly is really there, and "Tornado" directed by Eric also won the 1992 annual box office with a global box office of nearly 700 million US dollars. box office champion. But a lot of the media had a hard time accepting that "Premiere" magazine also included Michael Lynn and Katzenberg in the top ten.
☆←,
In Hollywood, almost any list is controversial, which is also convenient to stir up topics and increase the popularity of the list. Regarding the doubts from the outside world, "Premiere" magazine would of course not admit that there was a problem with its list, instead, it turned its full horsepower into a verbal war with the media like a chicken blood.
The main topic of the media before each Oscar is often focused on the films that were shortlisted for the Oscars that year, and the films that were shortlisted each showed their special abilities. At the same time as public relations, it also launched a public opinion offensive in the media. But this year is different. "Schindler's List" hangs high above its competitors with its absolute correctness. Because of the special status of Jews in Hollywood, the canvassing methods used in previous years are basically useless this year, and competitors who are also shortlisted dare not launch a public opinion offensive against "Schindler's List". The topic of Premiere magazine's Hollywood power list was also raised high.
"...Warner co-president Robert Daly said in an interview with reporters that it was because the board of directors could not make a decision on the position of CEO for a long time that caused Time Warner's performance to be surpassed by Firefly. Warner co-president Terry Semel. Robert Daly said he would not comment. Robert Daly's move is obviously putting pressure on Warner's board of directors.
According to rumors, Robert Daly has a close personal relationship with Eric Williams, and this condition is likely to become an important bargaining chip for Robert Daly to fight for the CEO of Time Warner, because Steve Ross, the former CEO of Time Warner, has consolidated his position The most important way is to establish a good personal relationship with famous Hollywood filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg. "
"... Former New Line Films President Robert Shea publicly claimed that Michael Lynn was just a puppet set up by Eric Williams, and that Michael Lynn had no right to make decisions about the Firefly business. It is rare for Firefly Pictures to publicly refute Robert Shay's remarks indicate that Mr. Michael Lynn has made great contributions to the company during his tenure as the CEO of Firefly Pictures."
"... Andrew Fraser, a well-known film critic of "Variety" magazine, publicly criticized the selection criteria of the Hollywood Power List, saying that this list should not be the Hollywood Power List, but should be renamed the Hollywood Power List."
"..."
In Pointe Manor, Drew had to get up early because of the audition for the heroine of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Sitting at the table drinking cereal, casually glanced at the black letters on a newspaper in Eric's hand. He muttered, "I really don't know what's up for grabs. Liz and I are ranked 15th together. We didn't say anything."
Eric flipped a page of the newspaper in his hand and said with a smile, "Could it be that the news that someone sneered at the Hollywood power list that appeared on "Hollywood Online" yesterday was my illusion?"
"Absolutely, if you continue to be so busy and don't spend more time with me, you will definitely get Alzheimer's early," the girl said with a smile, and her baby face quickly came over: "Eric, Let's go to Century City today and help us choose the heroine of "Buffy", okay?"
"Didn't Liz say a few days ago that she was going to audition for the leading actress, but she hasn't been selected yet?"
"No, we have been selecting directors and some supporting roles. The audition for the leading actress is scheduled for today."
Eric considered the original schedule for today, and there was nothing important, and as Xiao Nizi said just now, Eric didn't want to become a 'robot' who could only work: "Okay, I'll wait Call the studio and tell me, today is not over, when will the audition start?"
"Ten o'clock, so we don't need to be in a hurry. There are only 16 final candidates. We can definitely finish the interview today, so we don't need to be in a hurry," Drew replied.
…
While Eric and Drew were still chatting about the heroine of "Buffy" at Pointe Manor, Michael Eisner had already arrived at the Burbank Global Headquarters.
On the Hollywood power list that has been buzzing recently, because of the turmoil in Universal Pictures last year, Michael Eisner, who had just been in charge of Universal for a year, was ranked tenth by Premiere magazine.
But no matter in front of reporters or in private, Michael Eisner took this very lightly. As the film critic of "Variety Show" magazine said, the Hollywood power list is essentially just the influence list of Hollywood figures in the previous year Although it is ranked tenth, Michael Eisner's power in Hollywood, who has completely controlled Universal, is definitely much higher than this list. After all, Universal is one of the seven major film companies. One, and profound.
At the end of last year, the strategy of winning by quantity was adopted, so that the profit of Universal in the fourth quarter was higher than the sum of the previous three quarters. Michael Eisner also consolidated his position in the heart of Panasonic's parent company.
However, in the case that Hollywood relies on big-budget movies to generate most of its profits, it has gradually emerged. Want to get better grades. Relying on mid- to low-cost movies will definitely not work. What's more, any film company has its own limit for distributing films. Therefore, Michael Eisner has been selecting suitable major production projects for Universal since the end of last year.
So far, Universal has started filming an action film "The Fugitive" starring Harrison Ford, with a total investment of 50 million US dollars. This is an adaptation of a TV series, and this project was snatched from Warner because of "The Fugitive" is optimistic, and Universal paid an extra US$3 million to the copyright owner for this. But also increased director and actor Harrison Ford's pay.
If Eric was here, he would definitely be surprised by Michael Eisner's vision. "The End of the World" was the first part of the account that was introduced to the mainland in the 1990s by the original time and space. , Eric also had the idea of this movie, but unfortunately Eric didn't have any definite news about this movie in his memory, so he had to give up in the end.
In fact, although Michael Eisner had let go of the production business in the last few years at Disney, he focused on film promotion and marketing. But during the Paramount period, Michael Eisner also served as the head of the production department under Barry Diller. When it comes to "Raiders of the Lost Ark", most people may think of Steven Spielberg at the first thought, but few people know that the reason why "Raiders of the Lost Ark" can be filmed is the same as that of Michael A. Sina's full support is inseparable.
After holding a brief regular meeting with several executives from Universal, Michael Eisner returned to his office to start his day's work.
The assistant put a stack of documents prepared earlier on Michael Eisner's desk, handed the top one to the other party, and said: "Mr. Eisner, the documents just passed by the legal department, they said " The idea of the remake of The Mummy was first proposed by James Jakes of the alpha-ville company. They obtained the remake authorization in 1991. The agreement was to cooperate with Universal to develop it, but at that time Sid Schinberg only wanted to They made this movie into a low-cost horror film with an investment of no more than 10 million US dollars, so they temporarily gave up the idea of shooting. If the other party is unwilling to give up the original authorization, at least 2 million US dollars in legal fees will be required to recover the authorization , or, delay until the authorization expires."
"How long is the original authorization?" Michael Esner asked.
The assistant hesitated and said, "Ten years."
"Then you call James Jakes directly. Either we pay a liquidated damages and he waives the authorization, or see you in court. He will get nothing in the end."
The assistant opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but nodded quickly: "Okay, Mr. Eisner, besides, the first draft of the script of "The Mummy" has also been completed, in the penultimate file folder, according to your suggestion The model of "Baozhuan Qi" also left the foreshadowing of the development sequel. The production department asked whether to start looking for the director and the male and female protagonists? "
Michael Eisner found the script of "The Mummy" and opened it, hurriedly read the first synopsis of the story, looked up and said: "You can pass a copy of the script to Mr. Spielberg and ask him if he is interested." In addition, the heroine contacted Nicole Kidman. "
"Mr. Eisner, I think Nicole Kidman is a bit inappropriate. After "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", her salary has risen to 10 million US dollars, almost the highest among actresses, and the heroine of "The Mummy" It is a weak library administrator who is too contrast with the female killer image in "Smith". "
Michael Eisner raised his head and said to the assistant: "I don't think you have watched Nicole Kidman's "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Hot Girl". Actress, high pay is definitely worth it. In addition, I have some other considerations, so you just do it according to my instructions. "
The assistant nodded and saw that Michael Aisner had no other command and turned away from the office.
Michael Eisner turned his eyes to the script of "The Mummy" again. A month ago, Michael Eisner found the remake plan of this movie in some project files left by Sid Simberg, which made him very excited. A mummy adventure series was soon to be developed in the style of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Westerners have always had a strong interest in themes such as adventure and treasure hunting, coupled with the success of the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series, Michael Eisner believes that as long as you can find an excellent script, supplemented by excellent special effects , the success of this series is extremely likely.
The idea of Spielberg as the director and Nicole Kidman as the heroine has been in his mind for a long time. Although he also knew that it was unlikely that Spielberg would agree, he could at least be sure that it would be no problem for Spielberg to name a producer.
As for the heroine candidate, besides seeing Nicole's current box office appeal, Michael Eisner also intends to test Eric. If the script is handed over to Nicole, Eric will definitely be able to see it. Last fall, because Universal took the initiative to ask Joanna Pakula to cover up the matter, Eric still owes himself a favor. Michael Eisner can be sure that Eric will take this opportunity to return the favor '.
Michael Eisner knew that as long as the "Mummy" series was successful, his position as Universal CEO would become unbreakable, so Michael Eisner spared no effort to make so many arrangements.
…
The headquarters of 20th Century Fox in Century City. With the expansion of TG, Elizabeth rented an entire floor in the Fox Building as the headquarters of TG.
When Eric and Drew arrived at ten o'clock, a large group of girls and their managers had already gathered in the corridor on the floor where the tg company was located.
When walking through the corridor, Eric could even see that the eyes of these girls began to light up, like a little wolf who only saw its prey, and he was sure it was definitely not an illusion. As a girl in a beige windbreaker let go of her reserve first, she walked up to greet Eric and asked for his autograph, and the other girls who reacted also surrounded her.
Eric signed a few names for these girls who seemed to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, and then he was escorted into the tg headquarters by the security guards in the building in some embarrassment.
And during the whole process, Xiao Nizi who was by her side kept watching all this with a smile on her face.
The two pushed the door together and walked into Drew's office, and the girl suddenly rushed to Eric's side.
Eric put his hands on his chest subconsciously, and said with a smile: "Hey, what are you doing, aren't you jealous because I'm so popular?"
The girl gave him a blank look, but stretched out a small paw to Eric's coat pocket, and quickly took out a few small pieces of paper full of contact information from both pockets. (To be continued..)