Columbia Pictures' 1994 was hard.

In this year, when the best works were gathered and the peak of Zào, Columbia Pictures dedicated three masterpieces, "The Burning Years", "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Little Women". However, in terms of box office, Columbia Pictures is lackluster, and none of their works have exceeded 100 million at the North American box office throughout the year, ranking at the bottom of the eight major film companies.

What's even more tragic is that among Columbia Pictures' productions, the annual North American box office champion is "Burning Years", with only $66 million at the box office, and only three films have grossed more than 50 million in North America. It's an absolute shame.

How could Mark Canton, president of Columbia Pictures, not be in a hurry?

So, making up for the relationship with Hugo is one of the important reasons, but Columbia Pictures is so proactive in seeking cooperation more because Hugo is now in full swing at the box office, and they need a superstar like Hugo.

Hugo took a cursory look at the script submitted by Columbia Pictures, and Rick explained it appropriately next to him, and it must be admitted that Columbia Pictures was indeed sincere. The variety of scripts they submitted to Hugo was diverse, diverse, and the main market was very different, and you can feel their desire for this collaboration.

Among them is "The White House. ameri。 president)" is a romantic comedy, this work obviously wants to replicate the success of "Sleepless in Seattle" the year before last, and invited the screenwriter-director duo - Aaron Sorkin and Rob Reiner, who had worked with Hugo in "The Heroes of the Righteous Sea", hoping to build an iron triangle again. This work, which cost more than 60 million yuan, is very willing to pay Hugo 10 million US dollars.

Rick mentioned that they are also willing to hand over the choice of the heroine to Hugo, which is one step closer than the original "speed of life and death", which also means that Hugo is big enough to choose his partner. Obviously a huge step forward.

There is also "sense and emotion. and。 sensibility)" invited Emma Thompson to write the screenplay, and Rick mentioned that if Hugo was interested, he could work with Emma to change the script. However, the project is only in the preparation stage, and the cast and cast have not yet been decided, and Columbia Pictures said that they hope the work can be a real masterpiece. Although the investment is not high, it will make a difference in the art film market.

Of course, Hugo knew very well that this work was director Lee. Ann's first official work in the European and American film markets is also a blockbuster.

There's also the $70 million action blockbuster "Morain," which is willing to pay Hugo $15 million in the hope that he can recreate the box office glory of "life and death."

The most striking are two works, "The Man in Black (man. in。 black)" and "Air Force One. fore)" because both of these works offered a salary of $20 million, which is obviously also a work that Columbia Pictures has high hopes for.

Needless to say, "Men in Black" naturally made Will Smith complete the feat of three consecutive works and successfully became a superstar, and the huge success of the work also spawned two sequels, both of which are very good, which can be called one of the best humorous classics in science fiction movies.

Columbia Pictures was so confident in the production because they persuaded Steven Spielberg to be the producer, and then they offered a budget of $90 million with a big wave of the script without the script being finished - not including Hugo's 20 million salary for the time being, in other words, Columbia Pictures was willing to pay $110 million for the production if Hugo was willing to star.

Relying on Steven's personal friendship, Columbia Pictures had great hopes for Hugo to be invited to star in this work. However, at present, the script is less than half completed, and what is submitted to Hugo is the first less than fifteen pages of the script and outline, which obviously still needs some time to prepare.

And "Air Force One" is of decent quality, it is a typical popcorn commercial blockbuster, a typical American-style personal heroism work, and has become another Harrison Ford box office work, if Hugo is not mistaken, this work was close to 200 million at the North American box office that year, and the country was still considering introducing it, although it was not able to make the trip in the end, but it still attracted a lot of attention.

Columbia Pictures' greatest confidence in the work came from screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe. w。 Marlowe), not because he's famous - it's just his debut film, but because Andrew wrote the script with Hugo in mind, so to speak. So Columbia Pictures also made a big stroke of the pen and gave a budget of 80 million - Hugo's salary is calculated separately, provided that Hugo is willing to take over the film.

This is just Rick's screened script, and the quality level is very good, and it is conceivable that Rick's script from Columbia Pictures will be in the double digits. Columbia Pictures' sincerity can be seen, they considered it from almost all angles, and the quality of the script was also very well controlled, obviously with absolute confidence in this cooperation.

The scripts from Colombia that Rick brought over today have their own merits, "Men in Black", "Air Force One", and "Money Train" are all commercial films, among which "Men in Black" is excellent. The script of "Men in Black" is full of imagination and the rhythm of humorous jokes is also excellent, as an entertainment commercial film, even after 20 years, it is a masterpiece worth remembering.

But unexpectedly, Hugo looked at the script of "The Man in Black" in his hand, which was far from the finished product in his impression, only the first five or six pages could see a huge gap, so that Hugo could hardly believe that this was the "Man in Black" who was loved by countless people in later generations.

Watching Hugo start to open "Men in Black", Rick also felt very happy and began to explain, "Columbia Pictures is now trying to get Quentin to be the director, and I don't know what the outcome will be." Hugo was a little stunned, he remembered that the director of the "Men in Black" series should have been Barry Sonenfeld (Barry), who relied on "The Addams Family" to make a name for himself. sonnenfeld), if it was directed by Quentin, I really don't know what it would be like.

Rick continues to throw bombs, "There are still a few actors fighting for your role at the moment, Chris O'Donnell, David Humer (David.) Schwimmer) are very interested, but Columbia Pictures has not responded, and they are still waiting for your reply. ”

Hugo was stunned again, and although Chris O'Donnell missed the role of "Smell a Woman", he still became "Batman Forever." forever)", which will be released this summer, is recognized by many critics as a box office giant; And David Humer is the famous Ross in "Friends", although this comedy is still airing its first season, the actors in the play have already gained a lot of popularity.

Unexpectedly, they are also competing for the male lead in "Men in Black", which means that the original male protagonist in the story was set to be white, but in the end, it was Will Smith who made the movie.

Hugo's mind was filled with a myriad of interesting thoughts, but his brain was still running fast.

Objectively speaking, the scripts of "Air Force One" and "Money Train" are too simple and not too attractive, even if the former is tailor-made for Hugo, but it is more of a repetition of Hugo's image in "The Speed of Life and Death", not only does there be no breakthrough, but the script is not as good as "The Speed of Life and Death".

As for "The Man in Black", first, the initial script is too bad, and it must be greatly revised, otherwise it will definitely hit the street; Second, Hugo always insisted that the film could be successful, and the black and white combination of Will and Tommy Lee Jones was one of the elements, and if he replaced Will and partnered with Tommy, it is estimated that the success of the work would be more difficult.

After thinking about it carefully, Hugo still put all three scripts on the left-hand side. Rick saw Hugo's action and grouped the three scripts together, apparently a hint that he was not very satisfied, and Rick couldn't help but pause, and sighed helplessly—without concealing it, causing Joseph and Samora to laugh next to him.

As for the two works of "The White House" and "Sense and Sensibility", the scripts are absolutely excellent, and the quality is outstanding, which is indeed eye-catching. The former shows Aaron's later sharp strokes in creating "social networks" and "newsrooms", which are much more mature than the period of "Yihai Xiongfeng"; The latter is the best proof of Emma's role as a talented woman, and the adaptation of famous books requires a strong background, clear thinking and a magnificent view of the pattern.

However, the former repeated the style of "Sleepless in Seattle", with little breakthrough, Hugo did not feel the sense of challenge boiling with enthusiasm, and his attitude was relatively not so positive; The breakthrough of the latter lies in the number of female characters, to put it mildly, the male character is more like a symbol and a vase in Jane Austen's works, and the real depth has always been in the woman - the film finally chose Hugh Grant to play, so Hugo was not too interested.

But after thinking about it carefully, Hugo still put these two scripts on the right hand side, which can be regarded as pending works. It takes fate and a little luck to meet a good script, so there's no need to cut off all the possibilities right now.

"Hugo, you don't think about seeing this work anymore?" Rick weighed his tone and spoke, Hugo looked over, and the script in Rick's hand was "Men in Black", "You know, Steven called me yesterday. ”

From the audience's point of view, Hugo likes the work "Men in Black" very much, but ...... Hugo looked up and saw the anticipation in Rick's eyes, hesitated for a moment, Hugo reached out and took the script and put it on his right hand, "This script is so bad, if Steven calls you, remember to remind him of this." ”

Hugo understood what Rick meant, regardless of whether Hugo was willing to take over the work "Men in Black", but if there was news that "Hugo is considering", the project of 20 million yuan plus Steven as the producer would immediately become a topic, which would be helpful for the next actions of Endeavor Elite Agency, on the one hand, it could reduce the current pressure of dissatisfaction with Hugo's salary in the brokerage circle, and on the other hand, it could also make people impressed by the ability of Endeavor Elite Agency.

So, all Hugo needs to do is put this script in pending, and that's enough.