The top of fame and fortune [Comprehensive British and American]

At the Oscar nomination luncheon, Paul Verhoeven chose to leave in the middle of the banquet and drove to the headquarters of Columbia Tristar Pictures on West Washington Avenue.

And Erica naturally still stayed in the Hilton Hotel banquet hall, and had the necessary social interaction with the crew members of "The Godfather 3" who were nominated for seven Oscars.

The filmmakers at the nomination luncheon are naturally not only actors, but also many behind-the-scenes talents.

There are even quite a few people who are not the nominees of this year, but industry professionals invited by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in order to create a warm atmosphere of "singing and dancing".

But Erica, as a new Hollywood person, can't be ignorant of some of the low-key behind-the-scenes talents.

After all, one of the golden rules in the social world of Hollywood is that everyone knows each other.

In other words, everyone has to show that they know each other and have heard about each other's talents and fame.

If you act ignorant, doesn't that make it clear that the other person is nobody?

Erica was very lucky today. During the banquet, among the crew members of "The Godfather 3", the assistant director Gianni Alduni, who has always been good with her, often lowered his voice to give her some effective reminders, let her When facing some behind-the-scenes talents, he was more thoughtful and polite.

And Alduni is undoubtedly also willing to provide Erica with a little help. From the first day Erica joined the crew of "The Godfather 3" and went to collect the hotel keys from him, he had a very good impression of this newcomer actor. .

Coupled with Erica Parker's promotion speed at this time, it is natural that Alduni intends to make friends with her.This high-profile young actress, perhaps in the future, is very likely to provide him with some job opportunities or help, isn't it?

However, in the communication of talents at this banquet, it is obvious that even Alduni, who has been an assistant director for many years, cannot be familiar with everyone.For example, at this time, Erica saw a man who probably would not be more than 30 years old walking towards her.

The other, who appeared to be a neo-Hollywood guy, didn't go the 'everyone knows each other' social route, but said to Erica, "Nice to meet you Erica, I'm Andrew Nicole, A new screenwriter who just moved to Los Angeles. Your performance in "The Godfather 3" is really amazing."

Erica maintained a perfect polite and confident smile, and did not treat him perfunctorily just because he was a new screenwriter. Her voice was very friendly, "I also look forward to seeing your work, Andrew."

However, the two did not talk for too long, because other filmmakers came soon.After Erica and Andrew Nicole exchanged polite greetings, they went off to socialize about their film careers.

And when the 'hot party' before the Oscars was over, it was already mid-afternoon.

Erica sat in the back seat of the travel car prepared for her by CAA, and the driver in the front seat quickly left Beverly Hills for Los Angeles International Airport. She planned to return to New York today.

The Oscars will be held a month later at the Holy Citizen Auditorium in Los Angeles.Now that Erica has given up the public relations lobbying for this shortlist, there is naturally no need to stay in Southern California for a long time.

After all, even Michael Ovitz has been busy with other business lately and has no time to pay attention to her.

But thinking of Ovitz—

Erica sat in the car, pulled out her cell phone, and called Ovitz.

"At today's nomination luncheon, I met Director Verhoeven." Erica was the first to throw out this sentence, straight to the point.

Naturally, Ovitz immediately guessed why Paul Verhoeven attended the nomination luncheon. He also abandoned the unnecessary conversation and asked decisively, "Are you interested in starring in "Basic Instinct?"

"The role of Catherine is really brilliant and unique, and it fits me unexpectedly." Erica replied.

On the other side of the phone, Ovitz pondered for a while, "I will call Columbia Tristar Pictures, the producer of "Basic Instinct" as soon as possible, and ask them to modify the script to reduce the degree of foul language and exposure."

There was a little more smile in Erika's voice, "Regarding the revision of the script, I seem to have successfully persuaded Director Verhoeven. I think he should be at the Columbia Pictures headquarters now, convincing the producer to make this important change."

"Have you persuaded Verhoeven to revise the script?" Michael Ovitz, who had long been accustomed to troubles, couldn't hide his surprise in his tone at this time.

In fact, even if Ovitz came forward to ask the producers of "Basic Instinct" to revise the script, it was not an easy task.

Because Paul Verhoeven, a famous commercial film director who is known for his violent aesthetic films, has always insisted on creative freedom and dislikes the interference of the film producer or distributor.

But now, before Ovitz put pressure on Columbia Pictures, the producer, Erica actually completed the matter 'without a fight'. Could it be that she is good at some kind of strange magic?

So Ovitz asked her, "What did you do?"

Erica held the phone to her ear and recounted her 'strange magic' to her manager.

She went on to say, "Many of Verhoeven's commercial films in recent years have sufficient box office guarantees, and the absolute brilliance of the heroine Catherine almost makes "Basic Instinct" a completely female film, although she is a man and woman. High-intelligence criminals who are regarded as things in the palm of their hands."

Starring in this movie is indeed a bit risky, but if the bet wins, Erica will become the most commercially valuable actress in one fell swoop, and the limelight is unmatched.

Of course, Ovitz was also aware of this, and the reason why he did not strictly oppose Erica's role in "Basic Instinct" was precisely because he did not find a better film that was more suitable for Erica after exhaustively selecting the script.

Several films that are widely favored by Hollywood and have box office guarantees - "Aladdin" is an animated film, "Home Alone 2" is a child star, "The Nun is Crazy" and "Bodyguard" favor African-American actresses, "Fatal" "Weapon" is an absolute masculine theme.

From the current point of view, if "Basic Instinct" can modify the script, reduce the degree of foul language and exposure, and does not involve nude appearances, it will indeed become Erica's better choice.

Paul Verhoeven's "Cold-Blooded", "RoboCop", and "Cosmic Dragon" directed by Paul Verhoeven in recent years have achieved commercial success one after another.

And this will greatly enhance Erica's commercial status, making her leap from a 'well-known actor' to a 'first-line star', or even a higher status, and stage a miraculous rise.

After thinking about it, Ovitz turned to talk about the salary that Verhoeven proposed to Erica at the nomination luncheon, "$700 million is indeed an amazing number."

Erika has some other opinions on the salary, "But the reason why Columbia Pictures is willing to pay this amount is undoubtedly because in the original script, the actress needs to appear nude. But after revising the script, I think the producer will not Would be more than happy to pay that price again.”

And that's because, of course, Erika is currently a 'well-known actor' who really doesn't deserve that pay figure.

700 million US dollars is already the salary price of "high-quality first-line stars" in the peak of Hollywood actor structure, and due to gender discrimination in Hollywood, this figure has always been enjoyed only by male stars.

"So what do you decide to do?" Ovitz asked Erica with great interest.

He was naturally able to get Columbia Pictures to pay her 700 million even after the script was revised.But Ovitz thinks Erica may have other ways of coping.

Ovitz couldn't help but think that Erica was more like a partner in the way he talked about his career than a new client at his disposal, and she did not fail to surprise him.

For example, at this time, Erika once again staged her "magic trick". "For example, Verhoeven's last film "Cosmic Dragon" co-operated with Columbia Samsung Pictures won a global box office of 2.6 million, excluding production, After distributing, theater distribution and other costs, the final box office profit should be around [-] million U.S. dollars."

"Indeed." Ovitz's voice was cheerful, and he felt more and more like he was in a meeting with a partner.

And Erica continued, "About the 700 million salary contract originally offered by "Basic Instinct", I suggest changing it to - the film is released, and when the producer reaches the balance of income, minus the cost, pay me 7% box office receipts.”

For the previous blockbuster "Cosmic Dragon", the box office profit was 7 million U.S. dollars, and 700% happened to be [-] million U.S. dollars.And if the popularity of "Basic Instinct" exceeds that of "Cosmic Dragon", her salary will undoubtedly increase.

However, compared to the fixed remuneration of 700 million U.S. dollars, the producer will undoubtedly be more willing to pay her this remuneration after the producer has reached a balance of payments and made a profit at the box office.

As the president of Buena Vista, a subsidiary of Disney, said, "In a traditional preferential payment contract, you find yourself writing big checks and bleeding, and it feels great to write checks when you succeed, but it's still a shame when you fail." It's killing people to write checks."

Compared with paying a high salary before the filming started, Erica's 'cash breakeven point contract' proposed at this time will undoubtedly make the studio shine.

And she then said to Ovitz, "However, the producer needs to pay me 300 million U.S. dollars in advance as an advance payment. Of course, this advance payment will be deducted from the box office share after the film is released."

And 300 million US dollars is exactly the salary price that is very in line with her current worth.

As for that $700 million salary, if she is getting it now, it will undoubtedly cause widespread criticism, and nine out of ten will think that she is not worth the salary price.

But if it's after the movie's success, even if Erika gets a higher figure than $700 million, the industry will only think that she is worth the money.

On the other side of the phone, Ovitz almost gave Erica a high-five, and he couldn't help sighing, "It's really unusual to have a client who is a top economics student."