Chapter 17: A blockbuster
With the successful conclusion of the Cannes Film Festival, 26-year-old Steven Soderbergh became the youngest winner of the Palme d'Or at the festival with "Sex, Lies, and Videotape", and was also known as the "Golden Boy of the Director World", now, Steven Soderbergh can be said to have truly made a blockbuster!
At the same time, Aaron also took the opportunity to handle the distribution and underwriting of "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" and "Cinema Paradiso";
in particular, the popular "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" sold its European copyright to UIP (United International Pictures) for $4.5 million, and its Japanese copyright was sold to Daiei Co., Ltd. for $2.3 million.
On the seaside avenue in Nice, Aaron and Nicole Kidman drove a sports car to the wind!
"When are we going back to the United States?" Nicole Kidman asked on the side.
"I'll be back tomorrow. I have to report to CAA," Aaron smiled and patted Nicole Kidman on the thigh, "Are you happy these days?"
"Yeah, very happy!"
When Aaron and his partner returned to Los Angeles, it was already mid-May, and the fierce summer box office war had begun, now it's the time for that system to come into use, let's see if that thing really works.
Although the movie "Sex, Lies and Videotape" won the Palme d'Or, Miramax was unable to arrange a summer release, but instead put it in August after the summer.
Because Aaron negotiated another $6.8 million deal in Cannes this time, CAA not only gained direct benefits, but also increased its reputation, of course, CAA also gave Aaron the bonus he deserved, $340,000, and also rewarded Aaron with a new Lotus sports car.
Now he has ($300k+ $160k+ $340k = $800k) and he also has share of Microsoft and Nike, more than $1.3M(shares+ cash) in total.
Aaron Anderson showed up in front of Michael Ovitz this time, but Aaron also knew that Lotus had just signed a sponsorship contract with the crew of "Pretty Woman"!
"Lotus, a British sports car brand that was just acquired by General Motors," Aaron looked at Michael Ovitz with a smile,"Lamborghini, Ferrari, etc., are they unwilling to sponsor?"
Michael Ovitz nodded, "They refused, thinking that the identity of the protagonist is not good enough!"
Call girls, it's normal for these brands not to be associated with this profession.
"Why haven't the male and female protagonists of "Pretty Woman" been finalized?" Aaron asked, isn't it just a low-cost romantic comedy?
"Christopher Reeve refused, we found Al Pacino, and for the female lead, we invited Michelle Pfeiffer and Valerie Golino, but they also refused."
Michael Ovitz didn't hide anything.
After all, Aaron Anderson contributed to the development of "Pretty Woman".
Michelle Pfeiffer is one of the sexy actresses in Hollywood. She has worked with Al Pacino in the new version of Scarface.
Valeria Golino is Tom Cruise's girlfriend in Rain Man, an Italian sexy actress.
The box office of Rain Man, which won the Oscar for Best Picture this year, is $170 million in North America, plus $180 million overseas, and the total global box office is $350 million!
"Al Pacino," Aaron remembered. He was not the final male lead, but it didn't matter.
Now, the heroine of Pretty Woman has started the audition of new actresses. Nicole Kidman, as Aaron's girlfriend, can go directly to the final re-examination, of course, there is no need to participate in the previous auditions.
"Aaron, since you have a great interest in promoting movies, you may be interested in the next job," Michael Ovitz said, and laughed.
"What job?"
"A Hong Kong film company invested in a live-action version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Hollywood;"
"This is a commercial film with a production cost of 13.5 million US dollars. Their American head commissioned CAA to help them find a North American distributor!"
After hearing what Michael Ovitz said, Aaron knew that it was an anime adaptation invested and filmed by Hong Kong Golden Harvest Film Company.
"Is it the Hong Kong film company that invested in the Cannonball Run series?" Aaron knew Golden Harvest very well. It had invested in several Hollywood works before and wanted to push their star Jack Cheng to Hollywood, but unfortunately failed.
Michael Ovitz nodded, "It's that company. Now this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is being filmed in Los Angeles. You can go and talk to their American head!"
"No problem, I actually like to promote commercial films."
Aaron readily agreed he still Rrmember that this live-action version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles filmed by Golden Harvest was a blockbuster movie with a box office of over 130 million US dollars in North America!
However, before that, Aaron had to find out about the development progress of "Pretty Woman" and his own script "Ghost". The most likely investment is from Japan, which is entering Hollywood in a big way, and he has already finished writing the book jurassic park and has to find a publisher to publish the book.
CAA's contracted producer Steven Reuther is the leader of the movie "Pretty Woman" and is connected to Disney's executive producer Gary Goldstein, the senior executive of Disney who is paying attention to this movie is Jeffrey Katzenberg, while Disney Chairman Michael Eisner is paying attention to another CAA packaged work "Dick Tracy"!
Whether it is for CAA or Disney, "Pretty Woman" is far less important than "Dick Tracy".
In the evening, Aaron specially made an appointment with Steven Reuther to hang out at the bar. "Has Al Pacino signed a contract with the crew?"
Steven Reuther shook his head. "No, he just participated in the opposite scene with the auditioning actress;"
"The problem now is that Warren Beatty, who directed and acted in Dick Tracy, seems to want to invite Al Pacino to join!"
Aaron was stunned. "Hasn't Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman already joined? There are already Warren Beatty and Madonna, and now Al Pacino is going to join?"
Stacking stars, you can't do it this way, right? The budget should not be less than 50 million US dollars?
Steven Reuther spread his hands, "Everyone is not optimistic about the prospects of "Pretty Woman", and the audition for the heroine is almost in the final round;"
"Take Nicole Kidman, who you introduced, over to try in the next few days. The opinions of director Garry Marshall and actor Al Pacino are very important!"
Aaron nodded, but he was complaining about Al Pacino in his heart. He missed too many good roles after the "Godfather" series, in recent years, Al Pacino has been a bit immersed and has been out of the spotlight for four years. However, now the great director Francis Ford Coppola has agreed to help Paramount shoot "The Godfather 3", allowing Al Pacino to return to the public eye.
Before "The Godfather 3", Al Pacino can shoot a new film this year to find his feeling!
"Al Pacino, if he refuses, who are your backup candidates?"
"The veteran actor, Richard Gere!"
END OF THE CHAPTER....