Chapter 131： Talk to Tom

Los Angeles in March can already smell the taste of summer. The cloudless blue sky allows the sun to fall without any obstruction, mixed with the comfortable breeze, which makes people particularly enjoy.

Lehman, Thomas, Ryan, George and others pushed their suitcases out of the passage of the international airport and boarded the special car from Paramount and CAA to pick up the plane.

The group was divided into two groups, each sitting in the car, and then separated at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard.

Lehmann was in a CAA car. Apart from the driver, he was the only one in the car. Originally, Kevin Howian would come, but because of a temporary emergency, he didn't come.

The vehicle turned into Wilson Avenue and went all the way north. After passing through the bustling shopping district, it gradually entered the mansion area halfway up the hillside of Beverly Hills.

The hustle and bustle of the city was left behind, replaced by the tranquility that gradually settled.

The environment here is really good, and it is no wonder that it has become a gathering place for the wealthy in Los Angeles.

Now, the establishment of the new project has been completely completed, and the widely divergent issues about his treatment and investment have also been settled.

Relying on the efforts of his agent Johnson, after several rounds of see-saw talks, everything fell to the ground.

The base salary of 10 million US dollars plus 12% of the film's total revenue, provided that he has to invest 12 million US dollars, but on the contrary, in terms of box office revenue, he also needs to sign a step-by-step sharing agreement.

Compromise and make concessions to each other?

Because Lehmann focused the negotiation on the investment income of the film, he also had to sign a box office sharing regulation.

In other words, aside from the identity of the investor, if you only look at it from the standpoint of the director, it is not easy to get the part of the box office that you should get.

Hollywood distribution companies are all vampires. If there is not enough profit guarantee, how can they easily let go.

And this step-by-step box office split is their common method to avoid director risks.

If the global box office of "Bad Guy" only exceeds 300 million in the future, Lehmann can only get the basic salary and the return on investment, and the basic salary has to be paid in three installments, namely before the shooting, before the post-production, and the next stage. Afterwards, there will be no box office rewards; if the global box office exceeds 400 million, you will enjoy 3% of the box office revenue; if the global box office exceeds 500 million, the share will be increased to 5%; if the global box office exceeds 600 million, the share will be increased to 7%.... .. and the maximum is 10%, which is also the upper limit of the supplementary agreement. The premise is that the global box office exceeds 800 million, and no matter how much you earn after that, it will be the same proportion.

To put it bluntly, the purpose of signing such an agreement is to avoid the huge investment risk brought about by too high up-front investment.

This is also the practice of Hollywood blockbusters, they like to tightly bind the director and the film together.

Anyway, the bigger the film is, the more money they make, and they are not stingy about sharing a little profit, but the premise is that they have to make money.

If you lose, you should reduce your losses. If you don't sign such a share regulation, in case, the movie box office is not very good, and the director still takes a lot of share, doesn't it mean that they lose more.

Think about it and know that Paramount Pictures has also hired the Allianz Fire Insurance Foundation as a third party to undertake the film.

The operation of every blockbuster can be said to be thoughtful, and Paramount is more experienced.

......

Beverly Hills has always been called "the most noble residential area" by the American people. Of course, this name is not because the land price or real estate here is really "the most expensive in the United States", but because it is the most famous.

This city-within-a-city in Los Angeles is home to countless Hollywood movie stars, and it can be said that countless movie fans flock to it.

The driver of CAA drove the vehicle smoothly into the Beverly mansion area, skillfully observed the road conditions, and finally stopped at the entrance of a mansion.

He opened the car window, leaned out, faced the surveillance camera on the front door, and pressed the voice call button below. After a while, a voice came, "Okay, wait a minute, I'll open the door."

The driver retracted his body and waited for the iron door to slowly open to the inside before he put down the handbrake and started the car.

Driving slowly into the mansion, the first thing that catches the eye is a green lawn with symmetrical sides.

Lehmann watched with interest. Small fountains, colonnades, tall trees planted around the walls, etc., all gave him a different visual experience.

Going around the front yard, the driver parked the car at the door of a house.

Lehmann pushed open the car door to get out of the car, and a man in casual clothes heard the sound and walked out of the house quickly.

"Hey, buddy, you're welcome." It was the owner of this mansion who greeted Tom Cruise, who is now a-list in Hollywood. "You go back first." He told the driver With a bang, he turned his head again and said with a smile: "Lyman, I'm sorry to let you come over. This is definitely my rudeness."

Facing his enthusiasm, Lehmann also smiled politely and politely, "It's okay, it's my honor."

The two chatted and walked into the exquisitely decorated house.

Lehman has always maintained a proper distance from this - he is not familiar with Tom Cruise and has no friendship. He can come here today because of Kevin Howian's invitation, but I didn't expect him to temporarily something.

"Then let me do my best as a landlord today. Ever since we met at the premiere of "Fury", I have always had this idea." Tom Cruise said sincerely.

"Of course, you are the master." Lyman calmly responded.

After the tour, the relationship between the two became slightly closer. At this time, sitting under the awning by the pool in the backyard, Tom Cruise also brewed two cups of coffee himself.

"How about it?"

Watching Lehman take a timely sip, he asked with a smile.

"very nice."

Lyman likes to drink coffee, but if he really wants him to say good or bad or taste it, it is difficult for him.

He put down the coffee, "I heard that you are very interested in the role of undercover."

Isn't it just because of Kevin Howian's favor that he came to him, and Lehman didn't want to play dumb, so he pointed it out.

Tom Cruise held up the coffee cup for a while, then looked up at Lyman, "Yes, when my agent told me about this project, I became interested in this aspect."

"But it seems that when you communicated that day, you weren't very confident in my performance?" After speaking, he took a sip of coffee.

"I don't have a target candidate for this role, but I won't change the settings for the actor." The initiative of the conversation has always been in Lehmann's hands. He doesn't care who joins the crew, but first of all, this candidate must make him feel feasible. , "So, Tom, your conditions are too harsh, and I can't do it."

Is that really the case? As agent Pat Kingsley said, Tom Cruise's shy on-screen image was a natural conflict with the project, and director Ryman wouldn't reconcile it.

So, he can only give in. He is mentally prepared for this, "If I can accept the character's setting."

After a moment of silence, Lehman was a little surprised when he said such a sentence.

He originally thought that Tom Cruise invited him personally, but he was trying to persuade him to change a little setting for him through face-to-face communication, but he thought that he was willing to accept it.

So, what are the benefits of joining Tom Cruise?

Unparalleled market appeal, even a literary and artistic love movie with a slightly bland plot like "Vanilla Sky" can sell 100 million US dollars in North America. It is conceivable, what does his face mean for the promotion of the box office? . The only worry is whether he can play the role well.

Although objectively speaking, Tom Cruise's talent is not really in acting, Brad Pitt is also the same, Leonardo Di Caprio is the same now, but after a few years of tempering in literary films, acting It started to become vivid and natural.

But can people be trained? Which actor is born to act.

Lehman thought about the pros and cons, then took out a document from his briefcase and put it on the small table in front of him, "This is a biography I wrote for the role of undercover, you can take a look."

This is a simple character and background analysis that does not involve a specific plot. In fact, this should be grasped by the actors themselves But because when Lyman wrote the script, he wrote the character design first. It's a series of things that happen to these characters based on their own personalities, so it's not a big deal.

But Tom Cruise was a little surprised. He thought that Lehman's style was like this: he was thorough, rigorous, and even wrote the character analysis himself.

This made him even more certain that Lehmann was serious about the cooperation, and the chances of success were infinite.

As a member of Hollywood's first-tier movie stars, he can be said to have a lot, but he has never gotten rid of the shadow of the "vase".

Tom Cruise thought so, and took over the character biography written by the director himself.

The story begins with a policeman named Cayden Ian who just graduated and joined the police force.

After a routine patrol, his boss found him.

After reading his information file, he tore up his written file with the police force in front of him.

"I have one thing for you to do..."

Name: Kane Ian, his father was a policeman, who died in a gang fight three years ago, his mother was an elementary school teacher, who died of illness last year, the family relationship is simple, and his relatives basically cut off contact with him...

Is there a better choice than a police force disciple with strong roots to become an undercover agent? Outstanding grades in school, excellent close combat.

This is a very good dark line plan.

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