Chapter 124 124 Changes in Status
"Hey, Rick." Hugo held Rick's outstretched right hand, Rick patted his shoulder, motioned for him and Joseph to sit down on the sofa, and said, "Looks like I'll save a drink. Coffee." This made Hugo laugh.
"Have you all finished talking?" Hugo looked at the office, and Lang's space was about the same size, and it was also a whole wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. The blue sky, white clouds, and the city landscape of high-rise buildings were spectacular.
Rick is an American man who is not tall. Maybe because he has Indians in his blood, he has dark skin. He looks black, thin and short, very inconspicuous, but he has a pair of very bright eyes, it's easy to ignore his appearance and focus on his conversation. Different from Lang's strength, Rick is more like a broker who is still working diligently on the 17th floor, rather than the elite vampires on the 23rd floor.
But it would be a big mistake to be deceived by Rick's appearance. Rick is the backbone of the international innovation management company. His business last year was ranked in the top five in the company, and he was on a par with Lang. At the beginning of this year, Rick also officially became a partner of the company.
Those who can achieve such achievements in the brokerage industry will definitely not be honest people.
"Actually, it's nothing, I'm just a middleman." The smile on Rick's face was not big, shallow, with a pair of small eyes curved in an arc, looking very friendly, there was a kind of Indescribable affinity. Then Rick looked at Joseph, "I'll give you the chance to announce the answer."
Joseph didn't hesitate too much, and met Hugo's inquiring eyes, the excitement between his eyebrows glittered in his eyes, "Do you know Sydney Pollack?"
"Of course." Hugo nodded without hesitation. Although he knew Sidney from the movie "The. Reader", Sidney, the famous director, had more Famous classic works, such as "Out. Of. Africa", such as "Mr. Du Si (Tootsie)", and then "The. Way. We. Were". He is definitely one of the best directors in American film history.
"This time Paramount is preparing a novel adaptation script, and Sidney was chosen as the director." Joseph's tone rose slightly, revealing his inner joy, but obviously, his words were not finished yet, "Adaptation The script has been confirmed to be written by Robert Towne."
"Robert Downey?" Hugo is not a question, but a repeated confirmation.
Robert Downey Jr. is not the father of the future famous Robert Downey Jr. There is no relationship between them. Robert Downey Jr.'s father Robert Downey Sr. (Robert. Downey. Sr.) is an independent film director and producer. The Robert Downey mentioned here is a famous Hollywood director and screenwriter. His classic scripts include "Bonnie. And. Clyde", "Chinatown" and "Days. Of." Thunder)" and so on.
As you can imagine, the cooperation between Sidney and Robert, this is definitely a top lineup.
At this time, Paramount was going through a painful period. After a long downturn, it made a comeback and returned to the top ranks of Hollywood. However, the iconic iron triangle that led Paramount's revival was broken by Disney, and Disney poached it. The second of the iron triangle: Jeffrey - Katzenberg (Jeffrey. Katzenberg) and Michael - Eisner (Michael. Eisner), which made Paramount fall into a trough again.
In this case, inviting big names like Sidney and Robert to collaborate on a project is a clear indication of Paramount's ambitions. Sure enough, Joseph's next words confirmed Hugo's conjecture, "It's Robert. Paramount made a budget of $60 million to invest in this project."
"Wow, is this another 'The. Terminator'?" Hugo was surprised by the budget.
If he had just crossed over in January this year, Hugo would have said "such a little investment", because after the 21st century, there are countless investments of more than 100 million US dollars, and works with a cost of more than 200 million are not uncommon. But after a year of adapting here, Hugo knew that in the current film market, if the cost exceeds 50 million, it is a big production, and it is rare.
Therefore, Paramount actually made a budget of 60 million. Hugo's first reaction was an action movie with very complicated special effects, which was also one of the most popular genre films in the early 1990s.
"No, it's another 'The Hero of the Righteous Sea'." The answer was Rick, who gave Joseph an apologetic smile, "It's up to me to talk about the script." He definitely didn't discuss this with Joseph in detail. , after all, Joseph just came in not long ago, so Rick must be more familiar, "This is about a young man who graduated from Harvard Law School and received a lot of preferential treatment after entering a law firm, but then he discovered that there was a It was so involved with **** that it was involved in a case that attracted the attention of the Department of Justice.”
"A lawyer again?" Hugo immediately understood, which is why Rick said, "It's another 'The Hero of the Sea of Righteousness'".
"Yes." Rick nodded affirmatively, "Now they've just started casting, and all the roles are starting from scratch. Sidney heard about your excellent performance in 'The Hero of the Sea', so I hope you can participate audition."
"Me?" Although Hugo was mentally prepared, after hearing Rick really say it, he was still a little surprised. After all, "The Hero of the Sea of Righteousness" has not yet been released, so he did not expect the opportunity to come so soon. came.
Rick was amused by Hugo's surprised expression, but his smile was still not big, it just outlined a larger arc, his eyes were narrowed into slits, "Hugo, you know, this circle is actually very small. , very small." Speaking of the back, Rick also pinched his thumb and index finger together as if he was pinching a strand of hair, expressing his meaning forcefully.
After Hugo finished filming "Smell the Fragrance and Know a Woman", because of his excellent performance, he got the audition opportunity for "Yihai Xiongfeng", and finally Hugo relied on his own efforts to grasp it; The outstanding performance of "Xiong Feng" has attracted more attention, coupled with the positive reaction after the release of "Scent of a Woman", the opportunity really came to the door.
Compared to before, Hugo's status has changed silently. Now there is an audition opportunity automatically sent to Joseph. This is a big improvement, and Paramount Pictures has invested 60 million. The big action is even more rare.
"Wow." Hugo didn't hide it, and just let out his happy voice. The recent positive impact of "smell the fragrance and know a woman" has made Hugo overjoyed, and today's opportunity is even more icing on the cake. "I'm still thinking, I haven't had any invitations for half a year, and Joseph should be in a hurry."
"Are you sure you're not in a hurry?" Joseph was also in the mood to argue with Hugo at this time. Although in the past few months, Joseph was talking about letting Hugo have a good rest, but without any auditions, Joseph's unease inevitably began to grow as time went on. But now, after the release of "Smell the Fragrance and Know a Woman", everything has begun to go on the right track, which couldn't be better.
"Rick, thank you, thank you very much." Hugo expressed his gratitude again and again. In fact, Rick is not Hugo's agent. He has absolutely no need to help. This is different from finding a house. This is a job opportunity. To put it bluntly, money is reputation, and Rick's free help is indeed admirable. The difference between Lang and Rick immediately came out.
"No, I already remembered in the notepad that you owe me a meal." Rick said easily with a smile, Hugo and Joseph also laughed out loud, "Actually, you don't need to care too much, West. Denis asked me for Joseph's number, and I got in touch, that's all. You know, even if I didn't want to tell him, he could have contacted the company, and the end result was the same. So to be precise, I didn't It didn't help much."
Rick said honestly, "Besides, we are still competitors, and I also have actors who want to audition. So don't rush to thank me, maybe my actors will beat you and get the role."
Hugo couldn't help laughing, but mentioning this matter awakened a bit of Hugo's memory, "Rick, I saw Tracy in Lang's office just now, and it seemed that he was discussing important matters. Could it be Sidney's Is this project?" It's not that Hugo has persecution paranoia, it's just that the timing is too coincidental, right?
"Oh, no. Tracy and Lang are talking about a Universal Pictures cooperation project." Rick said simply, but there were still some doubts in Hugo's eyes, such as why Tracy said Lang in front of him I mentioned myself, and for example, whether Tracy met the director of Universal Studios production at the Waldorf Astoria before and whether it has anything to do with this project. However, Rick obviously did not intend to let Hugo continue to ask questions, and ignored Hugo's eyes directly, and then said, "I have just given Sidney's contact information to Joseph, this project is to inform you, the rest The next one has to work hard, as a competitor, I will not provide any help."
"Of course." Joseph took over the topic with a smile. He also noticed Hugo's distraction, but now it's no wonder, "You haven't told me the name of this project!"
"Oh, look at my memory, I'm getting old." Rick patted his head, took a script from his desk, and put it in front of Joseph, "'The. Firm', Here's the script, mine. You can get Sidney if you want it, and it's an adaptation of the original novel, so you can go and read the original."
"That John. Grisham novel of the same name?" Joseph remembered last year's best-selling novel of the same name, and after getting Rick's confirmed reply, Joseph saw Paramount Pictures again this time. The determination to go big.
"Oh, by the way," Rick suddenly remembered something else, "I heard that Brad Pitt got an audition. You know, Sidney and Robert Redford have a good relationship, they But I have worked with the old partner of 'Out of Africa'." Robert Redford, director of "Love in the River", it really is a very small circle.