Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 419 Global Monster Genes
With the US presidential election in full swing, Aaron, who had returned to New York, attended a fundraising dinner hosted by the Clintons!
Compared to four years ago, Clinton is now enjoying immense success, with the improved US economy leading to a continuous rise in his approval ratings.

However, Aaron is not fond of the fact that the United States is now getting involved in the political vortex of East Asia and the Middle East.

Aaron clinked glasses with Lloyd Bentson Jr. “It seems Mr. Clinton is about to become the second Democratic president, after Franklin Roosevelt, to win a second term!”

Lloyd Bentson Jr. smiled. "It's certainly a big event for the Democrats."

Aaron shook his head. "It's a pity. Once you've tasted power, it's hard to let go. Even a puppet on a string can develop its own thoughts."

Clinton had substantial Jewish capital behind him, which led to a continuous increase in Jewish cabinet members, but no one wanted to remain a puppet forever.
As a major financial backer of Clinton, Aaron didn't care about anything else as long as the policies didn't affect his own interests.

“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has intensified since Rabin’s assassination last November!” Lloyd Bentson glanced at Aaron, and the Jewish influence in the United States, dedicated to aiding Israel, became even more apparent.

Aaron chuckled. "A bunch of greedy lunatics!"

Aaron then chatted with the Clintons about the film industry, noting that Hollywood's globalization strategy has made American films go far.

Last year, the North American film market grossed $51 billion, accounting for about half of the global box office.

……

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, MGM bought back its film copyright library from 1948 onwards from Time Warner for cash.

A total of $13.8 billion in cash was spent!

Sean's investment in MGM seems to offer a glimpse into the company's revival.

Los Angeles Times: "The Hollywood Big Seven Studios have officially taken shape!"

As competition in Hollywood intensifies, DreamWorks SKG, a relatively new company, is feeling the pressure more and more.
Production of the two animated feature films, "The Prince of Egypt" and "Ants," is progressing rapidly.

Meanwhile, DreamWorks' first live-action film is also in full swing, however, Steven Spielberg is busy filming Universal's blockbuster "Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World";
Therefore, the pressure of DreamWorks' first live-action film also fell on Jeffrey Katzenberg.

A comedy script called "The Mouse Catcher" has a plot similar to the previous "Home Alone," except that the main characters are mice.

The script was originally offered to Disney and 20th Century Fox for competition, and the two companies began a fierce price war to win the comedy script.

Subsequently, Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks learned of this and also participated in the bidding. Perhaps in retaliation against Michael Eisner of Disney, DreamWorks' bids were always higher than Disney's!

Meanwhile, New Line Cinema, in collaboration with Amazing Pictures, a subsidiary of Dawn Group, has officially begun preparations for "Blade"!
Compared to Warner Bros.' sequel, Batman & Robin, Blade had a much smaller impact.

Burbank, headquarters of Dawn Global.

Aaron leaned back in his chair, holding a project Universal had been developing for years: the new *Mummy*. It's well known that Universal Pictures has a strong presence of monster elements in its DNA, holding the rights to *The Mummy*, *Dracula*, *Frankenstein's Monster*, *Bride of Frankenstein*, *The Invisible Man*, *The Wolf Man*, as well as *Creature from the Black Lagoon*, *King Kong*, and many more.

"Remaking 'The Mummy' is indeed a good idea!"

Aaron tapped on the table.

Dawn Steele nodded. "Producer James Jax had the idea to remake this classic 1930s horror film back in 1992."

"At the time, Universal Pictures also agreed to finance the film, but on the condition that the production cost of the film be kept at around $1000 million, because Universal only wanted to make a low-budget horror film."

Aaron looked up. "Why wasn't it filmed?"

"It was probably due to the director. After Universal agreed to film it, James Jacks brought in Clive Barker to direct. Barker's version was quite violent, and the story revolved around an art museum curator trying to bring a mummy back to life."

"Furthermore, producer James Jakes believes that Clive Barker's dark, sexy, and mysterious cinematography will undoubtedly result in a very good low-budget horror film;"

"It was supposed to be a happy ending, and perhaps the Mummy movie would be released soon. But unexpectedly, after several meetings, Clive Barker gradually lost interest in working with Universal Pictures, and the two sides eventually parted ways!"

"After that, they approached George A. Romero, but he wanted to make the film a zombie movie like Night of the Living Dead. Producer James Jacks and the production company Universal Pictures felt that the high level of scares did not match the original intention of the film and would instead widen the distance with the audience, so they gave up."

Aaron nodded. "So, now we've got director Joe Dent back!"

Joe Dent's works often blend elements of comedy, fantasy, and horror, making him a genre film director;

In the 1970s and 80s, he filmed works such as the "Little Elf" series, "Piranha", "Break the Courage Three Times" (1981), "Going to the Outer Heaven", "The Amazing Voyage", and "Neighbors from Hell".

Aaron looked at the script in his hand. Joe Dent's story was mainly set in modern times, focusing on the themes of reincarnation and love.
Furthermore, Joe Dent also wanted Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis to play the haunting mummy.
It's a bit like a mummy version of "Bram Stoker's Dracula"!

“This is definitely not suitable,” Aaron refused without hesitation. “The new version of *The Mummy* can’t be a low-budget horror film, much less a story about reincarnation and love.”

"It should be an intense action-adventure film with horror elements, featuring large-scale scenes, and making the mummy the protagonist's opponent."

Dawn Steele thought for a moment, then asked somewhat uncertainly, "Adding big scenes means turning 'The Mummy' into a blockbuster!"

"That's right. Since it's a remake, if it follows the same low-budget horror film route as the original, it won't achieve much success in the current market."

When it comes to horror films, "Scream" is the benchmark right now. There's no need to waste such a great subject as the mummy.

Universal's film library contains a variety of monster IPs, which is the true foundation of Universal, especially "King Kong," which was embroiled in copyright disputes back then. This gorilla now belongs to Universal!
(End of this chapter)