Birth of an actor

When William and Kate Winslet were drinking afternoon tea together, Leonardo DiCaprio suddenly appeared from behind the sofa, holding a small black ball and said to William: "Quickly ask it a question .”

After seeing what Leonardo DiCaprio was holding, William couldn't laugh or cry: "The magic 8 ball? No."

The Magic 8 Ball is a toy produced by the American Tego Toy Company. It is a small ball that can be held in the hand. The number 8 is written on one side of the ball and there is a small triangular window on the other side. People can ask any questions on it and then shake it. After a click, answers will appear randomly on the small window, with about 20 answers including "yes", "no", "maybe" and "try again", like a prediction game.

The Magic 8 Ball is especially popular among teenagers, and there are also many young adults who are keen on it. The place where William sees the Magic 8 Ball most is the school. Too many boys and girls like to use it for divination and dating, and then there is Amon Goffman's assistant, Eric, seems to have a No. 8 ball on his desk for many years. William once inadvertently saw Eric secretly asking the No. 8 ball: "Can I use Amon Goff Have you stayed in the position of Mann's assistant for a full year?"

"Quickly ask, it's very clever." Leonardo DiCaprio said: "Use it to predict whether you will pass Jimmy safely."

"Is this the magic 8 ball that you Americans love to play?" Kate Winslet said curiously, "It looks very interesting."

"Okay." William cleared his throat and asked the Magic 8, "Will James Cameron fire me?"

Leonardo DiCaprio took the ball back, shook it, and then excitedly flashed the display window: "NO!"

But William still had doubts about the outcome.

A few minutes later, the assistant director hurried past the table of the three young people, paused suddenly, took a few steps back, and called William's name: "Will, James said that we will reshoot the film between you and Kate Winslet tomorrow." For the rivalry, the script does not need to be modified, you can act according to your own ideas, no problem."

After the assistant director walked a long way, William blinked, turned his head and asked, "Is there anything wrong with my ears?"

"No, Will, you are safe." Kate Winslet analyzed: "I heard that James has been watching the finished film these days, so I think he may be moved by your performance."

"I'll just say it, man." Leonardo DiCaprio patted William on the shoulder: "The Magic 8 works."

"Big news! I heard great news!" Anna, Kate Winslet's assistant, suddenly ran over, with an expression of shock or panic on her face.

"What's the matter, Anna?" Kate Winslet said kindly: "If you want to tell us that Will is safe, we already know about it."

"No, it's not about this." Anna ran too fast, her chest heaved up and down, and she spoke intermittently: "After Fox CEO Bill Mochanek left, I heard from the director's assistant that there was no crew, no money, Kame Long has already filled in all his salary!"

"What?!" William, Kate Winslet, and Leonardo DiCaprio were shocked together.

……

"I'm safe." William called Amon Goffman and said: "Cameron is not going to replace me, even the script will not be changed."

"Oh, I guessed it." Although Amon Goffman pretended to be calm, there was still a trace of complacency in his tone: "And I think I just know the reason."

William smiled and said: "You don't want to say that it has something to do with you, Amon? It's impossible. Although you are very powerful, I heard that the decision was made by Fox CEO Bill Mochanek. He is very optimistic about me. performance."

Amon Goffman asked back: "Don't you ever think about the reason why Bill Mochanek suddenly ran to Mexico?"

"Uh, it's not about the funding of the movie, and checking the progress of the movie?"

"That's right, but who happened to let Bill hear about these problems in the crew, and who just happened to let him have time to go to Mexico in these few days?" Amon Goffman couldn't help but A bit of smugness leaked out.

"……It's you?"

"uh-huh."

"I've heard that Hollywood is controlled not by film companies but by agents. I don't believe it, but now I believe it a little bit." William rubbed his nose.

"It's a bit too much to say that I am manipulated. I'm not that omnipotent yet." Amon Goffman said "modestly": "I just happen to have friends at Fox."

"Well, I think I need a formal thank you." William cleared his throat and said seriously: "Thank you, Amon Goffman."

"You're welcome, Will, we all win and we all lose."

Then William and Amon Goffman talked about the news that is going crazy in the crew now,

Amon Goffman began to show off his inside information again: "It's not that Fox can't come up with [-] million dollars, it's just that Cameron is too extravagant, and the nightmare brought by "Cleopatra" has not been seen in decades. Dissipate, Fox wouldn't dare to invest so much money in a movie with an uncertain future, even if Cameron's previous returns have been good, so yes, Fox is looking for a second investor."

Under William's curious questioning, Amon Goffman did not keep secrets. Instead, he generously talked about the superstition of the studio in order to show off his seemingly omnipresent connections: "The only ones who are eligible to co-shoot with Fox are The other six of the seven major film companies, Warner and Fox are deadly rivals, Disney is not interested in love epics, Sony-Columbia and MGM are in poor financial conditions this year, and Universal is filming another gold-eating behemoth "Jurassic Park" 2", so it is possible that Paramount will inject capital. I heard that Paramount is also very interested in "Titanic" and is willing to generously spend 6000 million."

In the first half of the 90s, the average cost of Hollywood's first-line commercial blockbusters was between 5000 million and 300 million US dollars. Cameron burned 2 million US dollars to shoot "Terminator 90", breaking Hollywood's input-output law , the investment limit of first-line commercial blockbusters has been raised, and now, just entering the second half of the [-]s, he has to burn another [-] million to make "Titanic"-it's not that Fox is too stingy, it's that Hollywood's inflation is really not so quick.

The confusion was finally explained, William thought, when he first learned that Fox had invested 4000 million US dollars in "Titanic", he was still surprised—wasn't the investment amount heard in his previous life more than 2 million US dollars? , How did it become 4000 million? ——For a time, he suspected that his memory was wrong, or that history had gone awry, and now he knew that there was such a thing as additional investment.

"Cameron is really crazy." Amon Goffman commented with a bit of regret: "In order for Fox to invest more, he is willing to give up his 1000 million salary and profit share."

"what?!"

"Why are you so surprised, feel sorry for Cameron?"

"I'll tell you this later, tell me why Cameron gave up his share!"

"Okay, impatient little boy, I won't shut you up." Amon Goffman said: "Cameron asked Fox for additional investment, and Fox was not happy, because now the executives always feel that the movie will lose money. Melon said that he couldn’t continue the filming without money, Fox had no choice but to agree to find a co-investor to jointly shoot, but asked Cameron to hand over the remuneration and share of the film in advance, and Cameron agreed. Cameron blackmailed Fox, and then he was blackmailed by Fox too. Funny."

"Cameron will definitely regret it." William muttered to himself, he didn't find it funny, he just felt that both Fox and Cameron had made a money-losing deal.

If Fox finds Paramount as a partner because it does not want to invest [-] million US dollars alone, when the profit report is released after the release of "Titanic" and sees the dividend figure to be distributed to Paramount, all the executives will probably faint in the toilet. The same is true for Cameron, who has now given up his dividends. Even if Fox pays him back after the film is released and sells well, it will definitely not match the dividends he deserves.

——Perhaps in order to win over Cameron, Fox will give him a bonus according to the original sharing agreement?

impossible.Because according to the current contract, if "Titanic" sells 18 billion at the box office, Fox will give Cameron a bonus of at least 5000 million US dollars. Maybe even more generous to give Cameron tens of millions for nothing?It's almost enough to make up for Cameron's salary and give him a few million comfort money.

As for Paramount, which entered the game at the last moment, it will probably be knocked out by the big pie that fell from the sky.

Thinking of this, William was a little excited: Can he use the reason that "Titanic" will have a box office of more than one billion in the future to persuade Fox not to recruit Paramount?No, Fox would probably feel that his confidence in the film as an actor was too blind.But can he persuade Fox to agree to share his remuneration?For Fox, which wants to save even a penny these days, and grows more and more afraid of losing money as the filming period gets longer and longer, maybe.

Just when William was contemplating the plan, Amon Goffman heard his whisper and asked in confusion: "Why do you say that Cameron will regret it? Will, do you know something that even I don't know?" The inside story that you don’t know?”

Hearing the agent's voice, William's eyes lit up—if he wanted to encourage Fox to agree to his dividends as compensation, it would be absolutely impossible without the help of Amon Goffman, and if he could recruit his own Jewish agent to join the team, then This matter has not yet been done, and it will definitely be successful.

Thinking of this, William took a deep breath and said in his most bewitching voice: "Listen, Amon—"

"Your voice has changed." Amon Goffman's reaction could be described as swift and suspicious: "Will, what bad idea are you going to do again?"

I almost forgot that I had cheated Amon Goffman many times before, and the other party was most sensitive to his tone.William laughed dryly, and his voice returned to normal: "It's actually a good thing, try not to interrupt me, will you finish listening?"

Amon Goffman hesitated for a moment: "I think I will listen to this idea first? After all, I know you are not a reckless person. Will, although you are a little bastard sometimes, you are not a fool."

"...Thank you for trusting my IQ. Listen, Amon, what do you think if I have an idea that allows you to not get a cut of the "Titanic" salary for a while, but get more in the future? "Then William told the other party that he wanted to give up the remuneration of "Titanic" and exchange it for the box office share after the release.

The other end of the phone was silent for five seconds: "Wow, this is really a crazy idea." Amon Goffman said in disbelief: "Touch your forehead, Will, are you sure you don't have a fever?"

"No, I'm serious." William insisted: "If you don't agree, it doesn't matter, I will settle your commission first. I have consulted with the bank. After the filming of "Titanic", I can apply A minimum credit line of $30, which is enough to cover your royalties."

"I don't agree. Will, you are not allowed to do anything without my consent." Amon Goffman said bluntly: "I will fly to Mexico in the afternoon, and I want to talk to you in person to prove that the person who is talking to me now Will is the real William Bradley, not someone pretending to be."

"Of course I'm true—" William was hung up by Amon Goffman before he finished speaking, so he could only talk to himself into the microphone: "Okay, you can come if you want. Think, maybe we will sign a new contract very quickly."

……

Facts have proved that there is a reason why Amon Goffman and William can become good partners with almost no quarrels and differences-sometimes, they have the same spirit of gamblers.

When Amon Goffman first arrived at the beach in Mexico, he originally wanted to question William, but William's unusually calm and rational attitude seemed to frighten him when he picked up the plane. After reading the script carefully, Amon Goffman was a little shaken.

Of course, there are also reasons why William kept lobbying.

"Will, you are very talented as a politician." Amon Goffman said to William: "Your description of the future is both exciting and unrealistic, but I seem to be really moved a little bit." After a pause, he continued: "But I have a question, why are you so confident in the box office of "Titanic"? I have observed that even Cameron is not as sure as you."

William cleverly replied: "When a person pays too much for one thing, occasionally, he will always think about whether it is worth it, or whether he can get enough returns in the future. This kind of thinking will gradually make people feel Self-doubt, resulting in uncertainty, Cameron is probably in this state, and I, in fact, you don’t need to ask me, just ask yourself, do you think it will be a good movie?”

"I don't want to say it's perfect, but "Titanic" is really one of the most well-made movies I've seen in the last five years." After thinking for a while, Amon Goffman said: "If card If Mellon wanted to tell stories about disasters, high society at the beginning of the century, and interspersed with love stories, I’m afraid I would scoff at him. The most common mistakes in blockbuster movies are too many scenes and too many storylines. A lot, after the show ended, the audience didn't know what the movie was about, Cameron was much smarter, he just wanted to tell a love story, and all the backgrounds of the other characters served the story, which was a very smart move , a simple story can hit the hearts of movie fans more directly than profound."

After a pause, Amon Goffman added: "Of course, the premise is that the film cannot be edited randomly before it is released. No matter how good the film is, if a bad editor encounters it, it will become a disaster that even God cannot save." nightmare."

William smiled: "You know James Cameron, a perfectionist, let others mess up his movies and it will definitely kill him, so I'm pretty sure Cameron and Fox's contract must have the final cut Right to this one."

"Okay, I'll join."

The customs clearance process was so smooth that William couldn't believe his ears: "Really?"

"Cameron is crazy, you are crazy, let me be crazy with you." Amon Goffman said: "My experience and intuition tell me that "Titanic" will not be a money-losing movie. , although I still think the numbers you mentioned are too exaggerated, but if we can make as much money as the "Terminator" series, we will have a successful deal and get Fox's favorability - I heard that Fox has sent Marvel bought the copyright of "X-Men" and also contacted Lucasfilm to prepare the "Star Wars" prequel series, but because it cost too much money to make "Titanic", the two films The filming can only be temporarily put on hold, and it will not start until 98 at the earliest. By then, "Titanic" must have been released. If your popularity has greatly increased and we operate well, you can continue to star in big productions. "Amon Goffman's smile is particularly meaningful.

Well, William thought, Amon Goffman still doesn't quite believe his own words, he thinks about the longer-term aspects, such as the emotional investment in Fox and Cameron, regardless of whether the movie loses money after the release, Cameron And Fox will be very fond of such an actor who is willing to advance and retreat with the crew-and compared with "Titanic", where most of the shots are only focused on the hero and heroine, "X-Men" and " The Star Wars series are all group plays, there are more places for characters to play, and it is easier to shine.

"So, we agree?" William finally asked.

"I'm going to call now." Amon Goffman looked at his watch: "If all goes well, I can still go home for dinner today."