Chapter 1935: 1935 A New Field

As the most influential entertainer in the world today, Hugo has reached the pinnacle of an actor.

In terms of awards, it has achieved a sweep - it is only one Venice Film Festival trophy away from the Best Actor Grand Slam; in terms of box office, it has broken through history - even though "Titanic" squeezed "Independence Day" to the second place in film history, Hugo Hugo's box-office appeal is unmatched in the world; influence is second to none—as evidenced by the premieres of "Titanic" and "As Good as It Gets," Hugo didn't even need to show up to be a buzzword.

As an actor, Hugo has almost no room for further development and improvement, but Hugo still brought huge surprises in 1997.

Hugo starred in "L.A. Confidential" as an actor, launched "As Good as It Gets" as a screenwriter, and stood behind the scenes of these two works as a producer. Hugo's Hollywood power reached a new high and entered a new world! In the position of producer, Hugo handed in a perfect answer.

"LA Confidential" swept $260 million at the box office and followed a string of all-time records, not far behind "Titanic"'s $600 million; Under the circumstances of no dew, it actually counterattacked with a box office of 148 million US dollars, which not only surprised the entire North American market, but also ranked among the top ten in the year-end list, ranking seventh in the year.

It is undoubtedly the greatest affirmation that the two works have entered the top ten of the year-end box office rankings in North America.

Of course, Hugo had created such a feat before that. In 1993 and 1994, he achieved such results for two consecutive years, but 1997 was different, because these two works were more based on the producer's This achievement for Hugo means that Hugo's ability has been affirmed again, which also means that Hugo's power in Hollywood is bound to rise to a higher level, and it also means that Hugo's influence is comprehensive Flowering ground has been verified.

"L.A. Confidential" is undoubtedly a major victory for Hugo to return to the actor's position. This work is Hugo's new work after "Independence Day". A retro genre of Hollywood's golden age - just like "Death of a Salesman", "LA Confidential" is amazing with its interlocking and meticulous script, and the leading actors burst out with amazing sparks , making the viewing process a real mental enjoyment.

Different from the visual impact of "Independence Day" or "Titanic", "LA Confidential" is the pinnacle of traditional film art. From narrative rhythm to character creation, from the story itself to the core idea, it can be said that it is the golden age classic work. It can be said that both "LA Confidential" and "Titanic" can be regarded as the perfect combination of commercial films and art films, but the former is closer to art films, while the latter is more commercial films.

In the face of the changing trend of visual effects, "LA Confidential" announced the place of traditional movies with a box office of 260 million US dollars, and even became a clear case for traditional academics to defend their views and fight against the era of blockbusters , all of which prove the great success of this work.

As an indispensable part of "L.A. Confidential", Hugo's performance in the movie once again subverted everyone's fixed impressions, showing amazing performance control. The rivalry between Hugo and other actors is full of praise and talk about it.

The success of "LA Confidential" can be said to be a classic return, while the success of "As Good as It Gets" can be said to be a magical breakthrough.

In this year's year-end list, there are four comedy works in the top ten, "Men in Black", "Liar", "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "As Good as It Gets", but "As Good as It Gets" has inherent Disadvantage, this is a comedy drama movie, the hilarious humor is not the core of the movie-in fact, it is difficult for the movie to make people laugh, the movie is more about discussing social relations in a delicate way. The story of aliens seeking warmth and dependence is more of a work with bitterness in the smile.

Despite this, "As Good as It Gets" still created a new history, not only achieved a super high box office score of nearly 150 million US dollars, but also ranked third in the box office of the film history among romantic comedy works. More importantly, this work brought Hugo's identity as a screenwriter to the spotlight, proving that the birth of "Before Sunrise" was not accidental, and also proved the authenticity of the name "Hugo-Lancaster". Weight has been out of the category of actors.

As an actor, as a screenwriter, and as a producer, Hugo is expanding his influence step by step, and has successfully entered the decision-making level of Hollywood. In fact, no one can ignore Hugo's unique vision as a producer, and the name of "Golden Touch" is definitely not in vain.

Except for "Scent of a Woman", "Great Sea", "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Schindler's List" after the Golden Raspberry Award, Hugo does not have the right to choose these works. They are all chosen, which proves the ability of the agent and the insight of the producers of these works.

But after that, starting from "Speed" and "Pulp Fiction", Hugo gradually took over the decision-making power of the agent and had the right to choose independently, and the works since then have achieved great success without exception, even It was "Before Sunrise", which was not satisfactory at the box office, which not only won Hugo a reputation as a screenwriter, but more importantly, in the past three years, the popularity of this work in the video tape rental market has made people have to look sideways.

——DreamWorks announced the revenue figures of "Before Sunrise" not long ago. This work has already achieved a profit of 8 million US dollars relying on video rental, which is pure dividends. As a work with an investment of only 2.5 million, it has already made a lot of money during its release period, and now it has achieved such outstanding profit results relying on the video tape market, which can be called a model of art films.

It can be said that Hugo's vision in selecting works has been recognized by Hollywood-this is also the reason why the media is so noisy and excited after the box office of "Titanic" and "As Good as It Gets" at the opening weekend is far from meeting expectations. But now it has once again and further proved that Hugo's vision is unrivaled in the world, he has a keen sense of the works, and he can often achieve incredible success.

This has made major Hollywood production companies have to start paying attention to Hugo's producer status, because Hugo's vision can bring outstanding projects, which is what they desperately need; and no one will forget Hugo's box office appeal , Just like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, even if they don't participate in the directing, the nominal producer can often gild the film. Now, Hugo, as an actor, has also initially shown With this ability, it is eye-catching.

Adding bricks and tiles to this momentum is naturally the recognition from colleagues!

During the period at the end of the year, the major award ceremonies ignited the flames one after another. The American Screenwriters Guild gave great affirmation to the "perfect" script, and Hugo was once again nominated for the best original screenplay, not to mention whether he could win the award. , it is already a huge victory to get the unanimous approval of professional screenwriters - it is worth mentioning that "LA Confidential" is also nominated for the best adapted screenplay; the American Producers Guild has also announced their nomination list , "As Good as It Gets" and "L.A. Confidential" were both shortlisted. These two works produced by Hugo not only achieved box office success, but also received absolute recognition in the professional field. Artistic achievements are also impressive.

In addition, Hugo's name appeared on the list of Best Actor nominations of the Screen Actors Guild of America - he relied on his wonderful performance in "L.A. Confidential" to successfully enter the competition for this award, while Kevin Spacey Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Charlize Theron was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

These trade unions are different from comprehensive awards such as the Golden Globes and Oscars. They are all selected by their respective trade unions, in other words, they are recognition from their peers. In the field of art, the recognition of peers is very important. Taking directors as an example, many directors hope to be recognized by the Directors Guild of America more than Oscar statuettes. The Best Director Award is more valuable because it is a purely professional competition without any commercial, publicity or public relations factors involved.

Therefore, it is unprecedented for Hugo to be recognized by the three major trade unions of screenwriters, actors, and producers. Not to mention whether it will win the award in the end, but Hugo's current strong momentum is beyond doubt. Everyone in the circle knows that winning an award requires luck, while being nominated is a test of strength, and the approval of the three major labor unions has become the epitome of Hugo's strong momentum in the circle.

What's more, no one will ignore a piece of news: DreamWorks, which is constantly moving, has already started the establishment of the distribution department, and Hugo will take advantage of the trend to become a shareholder of DreamWorks and truly become the decision-maker of DreamWorks. Berg, David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg are neck and neck, which is also a direct reflection of Hugo's current status as a decision-maker.

In a new field, Hugo opened the door with an absolutely strong and high-profile attitude.

At the same time, everyone should not forget an important fact, that is, Hugo's powerful influence is not limited to the North American film field, but also radiates to all parts of the world. The influence of the lead singer has covered the whole world and set off turbulent waves. This has also become the most important support for the appeal of Hugo's movies, and it has become an important bargaining chip for Hugo to hold more right to speak among the top decision-makers.