Chapter 98: Tease
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[Chapter 98: Tease]
"Eric Williams'' Secret Meeting with the Two Toms Likely Discussing a New Film," read the headline on the front page of the Hollywood Reporter the next day, apanied by a photo of Eric, Cruise, and Hanks walking out of Firefly Productions side by side.
In the photo, Eric wore a gray tracksuit, looking every bit like a high school student, which suited his age perfectly. Cruise donned a ck casual jacket, unbuttoned, revealing a white T- shirt underneath, while Hanks was the only one dressed formally in a ck suit and tie, looking the part of a businessman. After discussing the script for the better part of the morning, both stars had let their guard down and left without sunsses, so their expressions were quite clear as they bantered andughed on their way to the exit -- a snapshot captured by a fortunate paparazzo.
"Yesterday morning around eight o''clock, someone spotted the two stars, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, arriving consecutively at the headquarters of the up-anding director Eric Williams at Firefly Productions. Our reporter received the tip and rushed to the scene, waiting for four hours until Eric Williams finally emerged with the two stars, surrounded by a crowd. Judging by their expressions in the photo, the meeting appeared to be quite enjoyable. Although the trio did not stop to give interviews and hurriedly left in cars, insider sources indicated that the meeting was rted to Eric Williams'' uing film project.
Since making his debut as an actor and writer with the film 17 Again, Eric had seen meteoric sess in Hollywood, with his first low-budgetedy, Home Alone, propelling him directly into the $100 million box office club. While many attributed the young man''s sess to mere luck, just four monthster, his second romanticedy, Pretty Woman, premiered, raking in nearly $30 million in its opening week and solidifying his reputation as a capable director. In Home Alone, Eric managed to create a remarkable box office hit using a cast of television actors and a neighborhood boy. His next film starred Al Pacino, who, despite multiple Oscar nominations, had been out of the game for four years andcked box office clout. Julia Roberts had only yed minor roles in low-budgetedies before -- but Eric elevated both to the ranks of A-list Hollywood actors.
This time, the young director had chosen two of the hottest A-listers in Hollywood. There was no doubt that this next film would break box office records once again.
But even though the photos suggested a friendly coboration, it was worth noting that Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks were both represented by the CAA agency, and it was well-known that Eric Williams had angered CAA''s higher-ups earlier this year by acquiring a prominent Hollywood agent''s agency. Rumors swirled that one executive was particrly frustrated with Eric, having previously attempted to block actor Richard Gere''s coboration with Eric during the casting of Pretty Woman, even going so far as topensate Gere with a big- budget MGM film to keep him from working with Eric.
In light of this situation, it seemed unimaginable that Eric would have a smooth coboration with the two Toms. Of course, both Cruise and Hanks had enough clout to ignore CAA''s interference; after all, they were A-list Hollywood superstars, and even without CAA''s backing, their careers would likely remain unscathed.
Furthermore, given the influence of Eric''s first two films, it seemed very likely that his next project would take both stars'' careers to new heights. Surely, in Hollywood, no actor would resist such temptation. The real question was whether CAA''s executive would muster the courage to actively block this coboration.
The previous incident had cost Richard Gere his chance at reiming A-list status. Based on the poor critical reception of his recent film, Road House, its box office prospects didn''t look good, and it was hardly enough to pensate'' Gere for passing on the lead role in Pretty Woman. How Cruise and Hanks would decide to proceed, and how CAA''s executives would handle Eric''s invitation, remained to be seen.
...
Eric chuckled ruefully as he tossed the paper onto his desk, fantasizing about taking out the editor who had written that article. With the current state of affairs, Michael Ovitz would only raise the offers for the two stars to express mild dissatisfaction, rather than aggressively block their coboration likest time.
After all, UTA''s rise to power had be unstoppable. No matter what kind of petty moves Michael Ovitz attempted, they would only backfire on him, and if word got out, he would be perceived as narrow-minded. The narrower someone''s perspective, the more fearful and resentful they became of others'' judgments.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Once contracts were signed and casting announced, hinting at it to a few media outlets would create a perception of reconciled rtionships, no matter what backchannel squabbles still transpired -- it would benefit both CAA''s and Eric''s public images.
But now that the tabloids stirred the pot, if this coboration went through sessfully, Michael Ovitz''s newly imed title of "Hollywood''s Most Powerful Person" would soon be aughingstock.
...
As expected, the day after the Hollywood Reporter published that article, Eric received disheartening news.
"It''s outrageous! A $6 million offer is reasonable, but they''re asking for 20% of the North American profits after the film''s release! I''ve been in Hollywood for years, and I''ve never heard of any actor making such outrageous demands. Eric, do you really have to work with Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks? Other agencies have top-tier actors as well! If ites to it, you could y a role yourself -- direct, write, and act; that would create even more buzz!" Jeffrey stormed into Eric''s office, clearly outraged after speaking with Cruise and Hanks''s agents.
While Eric had braced for this, the conditions proposed by the two stars still caught him off guard. The trend of Hollywood stars demanding profit shares began with Tom Cruise. Eventually, the payment model of a sry plus profit share emerged,nding in the 10% to 20% range.
Profit shares, unlike box office splits, involved the productionpany taking their expected share and deducting production costs to calcte gross profit, then multiplying that by the actor''s requested percentage. These shares could eithere from global box office revenue or specifically North American revenue.
Although Cruise and Hanks''s agents hadn''t yet lost their minds by requesting global profit shares, asking for twenty percent of North American grosses was still exceptionally tough to secure even many years down the line. Only actors with immense box office draw, like Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean, Robert Downey Jr. for Iron Man role achieved the highest shares, or those willing to forgo their sry in exchange for arger split.
Yet this payment trend had only recently emerged. Cruise himself had proposed this inspired idea while filming Rain Man the previous year. Because of Cruise''s incredible box office appeal and the film''s rtively low production costs, the studio felt that having Cruise onboard would ensure profitability, so they agreed to his outrageous demand, but only after he reduced his sry, epting a mere 10% profit share instead.
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