Chapter 1993: 1993 A Game of Chess

"San Francisco Chronicle" exclusive blockbuster news: Hugo Lancaster is about to star in "Star Wars: Episode I–The. Phantom. Menace)"!

Once this news was announced, it set off turbulent waves across the United States, even more shocking than the "Titanic" dominating the Oscars.

In the long history of American culture, the existence of the "Star Wars" series is of great significance, because this work allows people to truly see the charm of movies: turning countless fantasies in their minds into reality, and turning the impossible into possible. This film series created a magnificent and huge outer space system of the Milky Way, and many of its whimsical ideas had an unparalleled influence on later space science fiction films.

This influence is deeply rooted in the cultural bone marrow.

Perhaps George Lucas has never won an Oscar statuette, and perhaps "Star Wars" is just an ordinary commercial film in the eyes of many young people, but this series of films was equivalent to today's "Titanic" in the 1970s. ", almost changed the course of history by himself.

"Jaws" in 1975, "Star Wars" in 1977, and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981. After these three works, the film industry has truly entered the "commercial era", and its box office performance has improved several levels.

Now, after fifteen years, Lucasfilm has announced that it is relaunching the "Star Wars" franchise with a prequel trilogy that will focus on Luke Skywalker's father - Anakin Skywalker - from the Jedi The historical background of the transformation of the samurai into the black warrior.

After the news was announced, the entire United States was in a state of excitement. At the beginning, "Star Wars" created the first batch of truly fanatical and loyal movie fans, and now they have grown into the backbone of American society. Their unparalleled enthusiasm has spread in every corner. Even the major TV programs can't wait to start discussing this as a topic. The movie is just a project, and it has already entered the rhythm of the carnival.

The "Star Wars Prequel" series has only been launched for two weeks, and the "San Francisco Chronicle" has linked this classic series with the most influential actors in the world today. What chemical effect will happen when the ster collides? So, everyone went crazy.

The "San Francisco Chronicle" swears in the news that the producer Katherine Kennedy has reached a preliminary agreement with Hugo. — On the photo, Hugo and Catherine are walking side by side. Rick stands behind on the right side, revealing one-third of his cheeks, and there is a blurry figure behind him on the left side, which is not clear in the photo, but it is not What's important is that Hugo and Catherine look relaxed, obviously relaxed.

In an instant, the authenticity of this news skyrocketed.

According to incomplete statistics, this issue of the "San Francisco Chronicle" sold more than 4 million copies, and in a head-to-head confrontation, it defeated the "Los Angeles Times", which was the first time in history that the former beat the latter in terms of sales , Created an incredible record, which shows that the entire west coast is crazy.

After the "San Francisco Chronicle" broke the news, almost all the media in the United States went crazy. More than 400 media swarmed towards Endeavor Elite Brokerage Company and Lucasfilm, hoping to confirm this news in the first place. The authenticity of the news; and in North America, more than 700 radio stations and TV media paid attention to this "gossip" at the first time, and more than 10 million listeners immediately heard the news, and the indirect influence was huge. The long-term expanded to more than 50 million in just one week.

"Star Wars" meets Hugo Lancaster, and even "Titanic" can't stop such a powerful influence.

Regarding this news, many fans who support it believe that Hugo has made the most sensible choice, and he can also inject new vitality into the series of movies; there are fans who oppose it, and they think that Hugo and "Star Wars" The temperament of the Star Wars does not match, and the joining of Hugo will destroy this classic series; there are spectators who have a limited understanding of "Star Wars"-especially the new generation of young people. Development generated interest.

But there is no doubt that this news has become the hottest news in North America in April, almost making people feel the heat of midsummer in advance.

Catherine's brain started to work almost as soon as she saw the headline of the "San Francisco Chronicle", and before she read the text of the news, she had already understood what was going on: this was a trap, carefully arranged by Rick. trap. In fact, when Robert Iger took all the initiative and proposed a formal meeting with Hugo, Rick had already started to calculate.

Robert's biggest bargaining chip is: Hugo has no way to reject the "sixth sense of the supernatural", because Robert has almost figured out Hugo's idea, and gave a reason that Hugo can't refuse-and Robert didn't commit any crimes. They chose the script that they thought Hugo would definitely like, but after all, they only considered it from the standpoint of the company, and did not really understand Hugo's preferences. After careful analysis, Robert , and "Psychic Sixth Sense" is selected.

In Knight's view, it was he who actively asked Hugo to star in his own work, which promoted the cooperation. But in fact, the "psychic sixth sense" is just a pawn in Robert's hands. With an investment of 60 million dollars, the unique appeal of the horror genre, a solid and sincere script plot, full and complex main characters... It can be said that this is the first time that a person is truly 100% accurate after Hugo's strong rise Accurately grasped Hugo's preferences!

The whole of Hollywood is thinking about how they should impress Hugo, but now Robert has taken a step ahead and successfully landed in Normandy.

But now, Rick gave another answer: Knowing Hugo's preferences does not mean everything, because Hugo's unique taste and perspective in choosing scripts are elusive.

Thinking back to the day of the grand premiere of "Independence Day", George Lucas, who had been reluctant to appear in front of the media for a long time, arrived at the scene in person to cheer for Hugo, and he never concealed his appreciation for Hugo in his words. Jokingly probing, asking George if he would like to cooperate with Hugo; after the "Titanic" became popular, as the person in charge of special effects behind the scenes, George once again mentioned Hugo's whimsical idea in an interview , thinking that Hugo gave a lot of inspiration for the development of special effects work.

In addition, everyone knows that Steven Spielberg and Hugo have a close personal relationship. Under Steven's matchmaking, the relationship between Hugo and George is indeed good.

George's friendship, coupled with "Star Wars" fame, was another invitation Hugo couldn't refuse.

While "Titanic" has achieved countless brilliance, people have actually discussed an unrealistic possibility-if Hugo replaces Leonardo, will the box office almost hit a new high, such as North America Seven Billion box office or something. This is not to belittle Leonardo, but to wonder where the limit of North American box office potential is.

However, there is no way to verify this guess, but now the "Star Wars prequel" may verify people's idea, which almost made the eight major Hollywood film companies excited, from "Independence Day" to "Titanic" , Is it time to go to the next level in "Star Wars Prequel"?

In the face of "Star Wars Prequel", the advantages of "Sixth Sense" are lost. Although the styles of the two works are completely different, one is a commercial blockbuster and the other is a low-cost production. Hugo has always favored low-cost works; but This time the opponent is "Star Wars". No one can stand upright in front of this series of works and say "my work is more attractive" with absolute confidence. nobody!

In an instant, the biggest bargaining chip in Robert's hand lost its advantage, and the effects of all the previous planning were minimized. More importantly, even if Robert knew that this was Rick's trick, he had to be dumb and eat coptis, because he knew that as long as he was not careful, Hugo could completely give up "The Sixth Sense" and choose "Star Wars Prequel". ", it can even be said that even if he goes all out, Hugo may choose "Star Wars prequel".

This move is calm and powerful, full of murderous aura, one blow is fatal!

Catherine also had to admire Rick's plan. It is estimated that he, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg had already planned it some time before that. Although Steven Spielberg is now involved in the filming of "Saving Private Ryan" and temporarily ignores the affairs of DreamWorks, no one can ignore the abilities of the other two giants.

Catherine now has two choices, because Hugo has actually agreed to star in "The Sixth Sense of Spirituality"-of course, there is no contract yet, and everything may change, but Catherine can choose to tell Robert, or she can choose to shut up. Obviously, Rick's calculation also included Catherine.

Catherine can't be both ways all the time, and she has to choose a side: DreamWorks or Buena Vista, or more precisely, who would Kennedy/Michelle Films be more willing to work with in the future? The former is an independent film studio that has just been established, but there are three giants sitting in it; the latter belongs to Disney and is the top giant in the United States. It's a tough choice.

After hesitating again and again, Catherine chose to shut up, and was tied to the chariot of DreamWorks just like that.

At the same time, Robert seemed to turn a deaf ear, and did not respond to the uproar of news at all. His calm and calm attitude made the project of "Spiritual Sixth Sense" fall into a short-term stalemate in the past few days. But the news of "Star Wars Prequel" has not stopped fermenting and heating up again!