Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 443 Tom in His Prime

"CVC intends to acquire the MSG shares held by ITT!"

Charles Dolan did not hide the fact that MSG's most important assets are the New York Knicks and their home arena, Madison Square Garden.
Previously, it was operated by ITT, but now ITT is undergoing restructuring and is expected to sell its MSG shares.

ITT was originally a diversified industrial conglomerate, which has recently split into three independent companies:
ITT Company specializes in hotel and gaming businesses;
ITT Hartford primarily engages in insurance business.
ITT Industries is an industrial group primarily engaged in diversified production.

"Congratulations!"

Aaron wasn't worried about whether CVC had the strength to acquire the other shares of MSG Group, even though MSG Group owned a lot of assets;

MSG Sports Cable Network, MSG Arena in Manhattan, NBA New York Knicks, NHL New York Rangers, etc.

Aaron thought for a moment, "Could it be that ITT is giving up on operating because they failed to win over Michael Jordan?"

The New York Knicks offered Michael Jordan a $1500 million annual salary plus $1500 million in advertising fees from the Sheraton Hotel, but failed.

After all, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts is an enterprise under ITT Corporation.

Charles Dolan shrugged. "Perhaps that's one reason!"

Aaron laughed and said, "However, it will be difficult for the New York Knicks to catch up with the Houston Rockets."

Charles Dolan smiled without saying a word. Is running an NBA team all about results?
After talking with Charles Dolan, Aaron also felt that discussing sports with the Dolan family was like casting pearls before swine, so he left.

I ran into Tom Cruise!

"Jerry Maguire, the movie you starred in, is really great!"

"Jerry Maguire" has grossed $3600 million in 10 days.
The film tells the story of sports agent Jerry Maguire, who, after being fired from an international sports management company, goes solo with his former colleague Dorothy. The two fall in love and get married during this process, and Jerry's career takes a turn for the better!

"Thank you, Aaron. 'Jerry Maguire' is produced by Samsung Pictures and distributed by Sony."

This is Tom Cruise's contract with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Tom Cruise has been incredibly successful this year. The box office bomb of "Mission: Impossible" made the fledgling production company Cruise/Wagner Pictures an instant success.
It seems that "Jerry Maguire" wasn't produced by Cruise/Wagner Films, which must be a bit of a disappointment for Tom Cruise!

Moreover, the story of Jerry Maguire, the protagonist of the movie "Jerry Maguire," is adapted from the real-life experiences of agent Lee Steinberg.
It can be considered a semi-biographical work. "Jerry Maguire" performed exceptionally well at the box office and received critical acclaim, earning nominations for Best Motion Picture – Romance or Comedy and Best Actor – Romance or Comedy at the Golden Globe Awards.
The Los Angeles Times: "praised the subtlety of the characters' facial expressions in the film."

The Washington Post: "In the film, Dorothy Boydt's emotional communication in Steele's film is mostly conveyed through facial expressions."

The character Jerry Maguire in "Jerry Maguire" was originally designed for Tom Hanks, but because director Cameron Crowe spent many years writing the script, Tom Hanks was already older than the character was supposed to be, and Tom Hanks himself didn't like the script.
Woody Harrelson was also offered the role, but he turned it down because he thought no one would care about the profession of "agent," which will obviously become one of the regrets of his career.

As for the lead actress, Renée Zellweger, she was not a famous actress before playing the role of Dorothy, but she won the role by auditioning from a group of famous actresses including Winona Ryder, Bridget Fang, Marissa Durham, and Patricia Arquette, which means she didn't need to.

After a brief chat with Tom Cruise, I then ran into the Cohen brothers, Ethan Cohen and Joel Cohen.

The Coen brothers directed a suspense thriller called "Fargo" this year, which received high praise and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama!
The Coen brothers came specifically to promote this classic film, participating in events such as cocktail parties, press conferences, and presentations to showcase the movie.

Fargo, a film produced by PolyGram with an investment of only $700 million, grossed $6000 million worldwide.

The film tells the story of Jerry, a car dealer who, facing financial difficulties and unable to get financial assistance from his father-in-law, hires two kidnappers to abduct his wife in order to demand a ransom from his father-in-law, which leads to a series of bloody incidents!

The film Fargo continues the Coen brothers' signature noir theme of profound themes—fate governs everything. The characters they create are always controlled by desire, greedy yet ignorant, and always trapped by their environment or fate, unable to escape their destined ending.

The protagonist in "Fargo" is like that. He originally planned to hire kidnappers to abduct his wife so that his father-in-law would pay a ransom, but everything gradually got out of control.

Starting with the accidental killing of a policeman and two witnesses by two kidnappers, their fate snowballs, forcing them to kill one another, even killing each other. This perfectly aligns with a recurring theme in the Coen brothers' films: "The overconfidence of the little man always invites the mockery of fate."

In addition, the film Fargo also has a very obvious personal style of the Coen brothers. Its dark humor is reflected in its nonchalant narrative tone, sometimes deliberately deviating from the theme, and even ignoring the core theme in order to describe some strange details!
The Chicago Tribune: "Fargo takes us to the far north with its bizarre murders and intriguing investigations, revealing the darkness hidden beneath a white world."

The San Francisco Chronicle: "The Coen brothers have returned to their glory days with the film Fargo, which is chilling yet very funny and will definitely become a classic."

The Baltimore Sun: "It's simply a miracle, a tough, honest, and bloody film with bright lights in the background that make you feel like you're on another planet. It's captivating from beginning to end. Fargo is a great American film."

The Washington Post: "What is most impressive about Fargo is its gentleness, even more so than its dark comedy and shocking violence. It is a great work of art that can be watched repeatedly and will never go out of style."

(End of this chapter)