From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

His mood gradually calmed down.

Edgar realized that with the instantaneous successes and explosions of the recent period, he had become somewhat hot-headed, leading to some fluctuations in his judgment—

The Vanity Fair was like this, not just for actors, but for every observer who was in it or even circling around it. If they weren't careful, they would be dazzled by the brilliance and lose sight of themselves before they even realized they had fallen.

At times like this, he needed a little reminder.

When Ansen had nothing, Edgar believed that Ansen could achieve something; now, Edgar's confidence should only increase.

The current Ansen, however, exuded confidence from the inside out.

Ansen revealed a smile, "Is that a bad thing?"

"Ha." Edgar laughed directly, "For others, perhaps." Because it could become the seeds of narcissism and arrogance, "But for you, it's a good thing."

"Whew, I'm relieved." Ansen raised his right hand, originally making a gesture of a pistol, now releasing it, even shaking his wrist to relax.

Sure enough, Ansen was still the same Ansen, confident but not arrogant. The gesture clearly said, "I almost pulled the trigger," teasing Edgar.

Edgar was speechless and chuckled.

Ansen continued, "So, what are the conditions you gave to Sony Columbia?"

Edgar, "Thirty-five million dollars or 10% of the North American box office revenue, choose one."

Wow, amazing!

Right from the start, the price was raised several levels.

The twenty-million club?

No, no, no, Edgar wasn't interested. He was now preparing to open an exclusive club for Ansen, with only Ansen as its sole member.

No wonder Sony Columbia was in a dilemma.

Although Ansen was outstanding, he wasn't outstanding to that extent—after all, his foundation was still too shallow, and he hadn't truly proven his market appeal.

Currently, the entire Hollywood was particularly cautious about the twenty-million club. Even Ansen was no exception, because once an actor's salary rose to twenty million dollars for one project, it would become a consistent industry standard in the future, and other film companies would have to use it as a reference when trying to collaborate on other projects.

However.

Edgar wasn't even satisfied with the twenty-million club.

It had to be said that this move was ruthless enough.

Of course, both Edgar and Sony Columbia knew that such conditions were impossible, and the next step was to sit down and negotiate.

So, who could have the last laugh?

Involuntarily, Ansen thought of the negotiations between Sony Columbia and Tobey Maguire in his previous life. His thoughts paused in his mind, and Ansen thought of something.

"Captain, have them show me the script."

Edgar, "It's not finished yet."

Ansen, "It doesn't matter how much they've written. I'm just curious, how are they planning to create this story? They shouldn't be obediently following the original comic, right? Sam definitely wants to re-create it based on the original comic, so, what about Peter Parker's growth arc? That's the key to the movie."

From his previous life, the most acclaimed film in Tobey Maguire's "Spider-Man" series was the second one, which won praise from critics and audiences alike, followed by the first one, which opened up a new narrative style for comic book superheroes, and finally the third one, which fell into chaos and became unwieldy.

However, judging from the box office data, the first film was higher than the second, which was higher than the third, showing a slow downward trend.

Accurately speaking, the box office of the sequels was far from being a failure, otherwise Sony Columbia would not have planned a fourth film, and would have immediately rebooted the series after the fourth film failed to materialize; but the sequel ultimately failed to replicate the box office miracle of the first film, which was still a pity.

Now that Ansen had taken over, he was a little curious, could "Spider-Man 2" reverse history?

Ansen's words, however, had another meaning in Edgar's ears. His eyes lit up, "We can fight for the position of producer?"

Ansen: Uh…

Edgar snapped his fingers, "Of course. Of course! Just like Tom Cruise's position in the 'Mission: Impossible' series, we can also raise the stakes."

Ansen blinked, "Captain, your thinking is too advanced. I just want to see the script."

"Haha." Edgar laughed happily, "It doesn't matter, you have your expertise, and I have mine, so you need me to help you manage your work."

With a slight turn of his thoughts, Edgar had a new idea.

Moreover, Ansen had just said that it didn't matter if they missed the sequel. They didn't need to limit their focus to one Peter Parker. He needed to make Sony Columbia and other film companies in Hollywood believe that the real treasure was not Peter Parker, but Ansen.

A slight difference in mindset and perspective determined the difference in the overall picture.

His mood suddenly brightened up.

Edgar was eager to try.

He liked this kind of challenge, and he also liked this kind of battle of wits. He was ready to wrestle with the giant Sony Columbia.

The outcome was still unknown.

Returning to his thoughts, Edgar saw the scene in front of him, and a smile climbed onto the corner of his mouth—

Ansen had already begun to read the script.

This was the first time that Edgar had been able to bring more than one script project for Ansen to choose from, and a sense of pride arose from the depths of his heart.

What was in front of him was only a small part.

Now, half of Hollywood's projects wanted to be associated with Ansen, and Ansen had become the number one choice for producers who were eager to cooperate.

Most importantly, "The Princess Diaries", "Spider-Man", and "Catch Me If You Can", three consecutive films had achieved profitability, and had made a lot of money, which was more useful in the eyes of film companies than any acting skills or awards.

Therefore, screenwriters and producers all focused their attention on Ansen.

To give a simple example, a film project had been unable to find a film company willing to invest for a long time, but now that Ansen had taken a liking to it, film companies willing to invest would immediately come to his door.

"The Butterfly Effect" was like this.

It was conceivable that there were countless works eager to enter Ansen's field of vision.

However, it was not "all" film projects—

Mainly genre film projects.

Independent films and art films still didn't believe in Ansen's brand, and these film circles didn't believe that Ansen's name had appeal.

But it didn't matter, they would take it step by step, and there was no need to rush to get fat in one bite.

At least, Ansen now had the right to choose, which was an important step.

Gently exhaling a breath, Edgar revealed a smile, "Let's just leave it at that for today. You can slowly read these scripts. There's no need to rush too much. Give me a reply after you're done reading. I'll go back to Los Angeles to work…"

But he didn't expect that Edgar's words would be interrupted before he could finish.

"Captain, there's no need, you wait." Ansen opened his mouth without looking up.

Edgar was stunned, "What, are you too lazy to read them?"

Because he was so surprised and shocked, Edgar stuttered for a rare moment, looking back at the figure who was busy in the kitchen.

"Are you planning to have Noah help you read them?"

Noah: Where did this pot come from?