Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 586 Epic Rotten Egg

For Aaron, the sports industry is also a relatively important branch, and Anderson Sports Entertainment will not only have the NBA's Houston Rockets and the NFL's Los Angeles Stars!

With the release of Pixar's animated sequel "Toy Story 2" in July, coupled with the Independence Day holiday, it grossed $80 million in its opening week and received rave reviews.

Disney's animated film "Tarzan" has grossed $110 million in its first three weeks of release.

The Philadelphia Inquirer: "Toy Story 2, like its predecessor, has stood the test of time."

Time: "Pixar's improved computer animation has met all the requirements of this excellent adventure film."

The Hollywood Reporter: "The most entertaining movie of 1999 so far, funny, full of exciting plot, and has captured the hearts of the public!"

Meanwhile, Warner Bros.' sci-fi film "Wild West," which was released at the same time, not only only grossed $2700 million in its opening weekend, but also received poor reviews.

It's worth noting that "Wild West" was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, who also directed "Men in Black," and starred Will Smith. It underwent extensive reshoots and had a budget of $1.7 million, making it the second most expensive Hollywood production after "Titanic" and "Waterworld."

"Titanic" goes without saying, it holds the record for the highest-grossing film, but "Wild West" received even worse reviews than "Waterworld," and was completely worthless.

The original "Waterworld" cost $1.75 million to make, but it still managed to gross $2.6 million worldwide. Although it was a huge loss, the Waterworld stunt show at Universal Studios became one of the most popular shows in the park!

Will Smith must be kicking himself for turning down "The Matrix" to take on this epic scumbag role, considering that "The Matrix" grossed $1.7 million in North America and has already surpassed $2 million overseas.

"Fight Club only grossed $3700 million at the North American box office."

"And 'Kiss Me' grossed $5500 million at the North American box office!"

In Burbank, Los Angeles, at Dawn headquarters, Aaron sat in his office and shook his head.
Of course, the international market for "Fight Club" is definitely not comparable to that of American romantic comedies like "Kiss Me," and the final global box office will definitely be higher for "Fight Club."

But this doesn't negate the commercial failure of Fight Club. The best-case scenario is that the global box office will only exceed 100 million US dollars!
More than three weeks after its release, "Entrapment" has grossed over $5000 million at the North American box office. However, the best performing film is undoubtedly "The Sixth Sense," which has grossed over $2.3 million at the North American box office and over $2.5 million in overseas markets.

As for the summer blockbuster "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace", its North American box office has exceeded $370 million, and its overseas market has also exceeded $300 million!
"The failure of 'Wild West' was inevitable. Let Barry Sonnenfeld focus on preparing for our Universal film 'Men in Black 2'."

Aaron instructed Etherine Beckett, who was standing nearby, that Rush Hour 2 was going to be released at the end of the month, and then Universal Studios Japan in Osaka would be opening!

That evening, Aaron arrived in Arcadia, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles, where Wang Zhuxian had a villa.
Arcadia is a predominantly Chinese community in Los Angeles.

"Oh, New Moon Pictures invested in Ang Lee's 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' and filming has already started?"

Aaron, sitting on the sofa, was still somewhat surprised to hear this; it was a joint production between Crescent Moon Pictures and Good Machine Pictures.
Other film companies involved include Media Asia Films from Hong Kong, China Film Co-production Corporation, and Taipei Zongheng International Film & Television Company!

"Yes, director Ang Lee originally wanted to cast Jett Lee as the male lead, and he had already finished filming the Hollywood movie Romeo Must Die; "However, Jett Lee is getting married soon, and his girlfriend recently became pregnant, so the director chose Chow Yun-fat as the male lead, and the female lead was the former Asian Bond girl Michelle Young."

Wang Zhuxian explained that Jett Lee's Los Angeles villa is also in Arcadia, and his girlfriend Li Zhi has been staying in the United States. She is currently pregnant, and Jett Lee wants to take care of her.
Wang Zhuxian's trip to Los Angeles was also to meet with Jett Lee, because Media Asia Films was planning to collaborate with him on a film, but it seems that it will take several years, as he is now mainly focused on Hollywood.

Michelle Young is Michelle Yeoh. As for Jett Lee, who is not married yet, Aaron really didn't know that.
However, Aaron didn't care.

“Chow Yun-fat, he previously worked with Jodie Foster on ‘Anna and the King,’ a movie that was scheduled for release at the end of the year,” Aaron said casually, even though Chow Yun-fat had already had two Hollywood movies released that flopped.
But there are so few Chinese male stars in Hollywood now. Jack Cheng is not suitable, and Jett Lee doesn't have the time. It really only has Chow Yun-fat left.

After all, Ang Lee's current works definitely need to consider the North American market, and there are only three Chinese male stars who have come to Hollywood!

Last year, Chow Yun-fat had a film called "The Replacement Killer" released in the United States, which was a complete failure.

At the beginning of this year, he had another film, "The Brink," which was invested in by New Line Cinema and only grossed $1500 million, making it another flop.

The investment in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was definitely not high in Aaron's eyes. New Moon Pictures has always cooperated with Ang Lee, so it is only natural to invest in his martial arts films!

"I still have high expectations for Ang Lee's works, and his style is more in line with the tastes of North American audiences."

As he spoke, Aaron sat down on the sofa and put his arm around Wang Zhuxian, who was sitting next to him. "You just said that you want to invite Jett Lee to star in a movie. Is Media Asia really that powerful now?"

In Hong Kong, Jett Lee's current salary is second only to Jack Cheng's!

Wang Zhuxian smiled and said, "He has this idea, so I came to talk to him. However, he needs to focus on his Hollywood career for the next few years."

"A while ago, your Twilight Pictures, a subsidiary of Dawn Studios, released 'Black Mask,' a movie starring Jett Lee that he made a few years ago, in North America. It grossed $1200 million!"

Well, Aaron certainly wouldn't care about such a trivial matter. Dawn Universal releases about thirty films in North America every year.
Aaron's focus was mainly on those dozen or so important works. Crescent Moon Films would often screen some international art films, while Twilight Films would sometimes screen some foreign commercial films.

Aaron understood then that Jett Lee's appearance in "Lethal Weapon 4" was indeed a success, given that the previous two kung fu films in the "Once Upon a Time in China" series had a combined box office of $1500 million.

Even though "Black Mask" was re-edited and had new voice actors, it was still worth it for Twilight Pictures to make it even better!
It's understandable that Hong Kong would cast Jett Lee in their new film, but the scale of the investment is probably beyond his means.

"Alright, since you're already here, why don't you take a break for a while? Jett Lee probably won't be coming back to Hong Kong to film for the next few years, after all, you know the situation in Hong Kong right now!"

Aaron laughed.

(End of this chapter)