Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 658 The New Hollywood Craze
As May arrives, the Hollywood summer blockbuster season kicks off with Universal's Marvel Comics adaptation, Spider-Man.
Spider-Man held grand premiere ceremonies at Universal Studios in Los Angeles and Times Square in New York.

Teen idol Britney Spears performed, Spider-Man acted, and the main creators, director Sam Raimi, and lead actors James McAvoy and Charlize Theron, attended in full regalia. Universal spent over $500 million on these two premieres!
Spider-Man opened strongly in 3620 theaters in North America, grossing $3900 million on Friday, $4300 million on Saturday, and $3100 million on Sunday.
The box office grossed $1.1 million in its opening weekend!
That evening, in the bedroom of Villa Belair, Aaron lay on top of Charlize Theron and said with great pleasure, "Look, our Universal's Spider-Man has broken the opening weekend box office record of last year's blockbuster, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace."

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was released last year and grossed $1.05 million in its opening weekend, but it was released on a Wednesday, two days longer than Spider-Man!

Charlize Theron smiled and said, "Yes, Spider-Man has a huge impact, but there have also been some negative reviews."

Aaron shook his head. "More positive reviews. For a special effects blockbuster like this, it's already quite good to have such reviews."

The production cost of "Spider-Man" was close to $1.3 million. Fortunately, the director and the male and female leads were not big names, and their salaries were very low!

Premiere: "Spider-Man gives this summer's movies a satisfying start. It's a pure entertainment film—the kind you can enjoy without any inhibitions. It has great visual effects and dazzling action, but not at the expense of other aspects of the film's quality, so Spider-Man can provide audiences with a more complete cinematic experience."

Entertainment Weekly: "From action sequences to pacing, and even incorporating the director's vision into an established comic book classic!"

The Hollywood Reporter: "This Spider-Man movie, directed by Sam Raimi, is not only a perfect adaptation but also a huge success, and it is sure to spark a new wave of superhero fever."

The San Francisco Chronicle: "The superheroes in the film will leave audiences feeling flat, due to the computer-generated special effects and the lack of a tight plot."

There were no other major films released at the same time as "Spider-Man"; they all had to avoid competing with it.

Two weeks later, Disney's animated feature film "Dinosaur" will be released, and three weeks later, Disney's Jack Sparrow action comedy "Shanghai Noon" and Paramount's sequel blockbuster "Mission: Impossible 2" will be released.

With the release of "Spider-Man," the Hollywood summer movie season has officially begun!
New York, Manhattan, Dawn Tower.

Has General Motors not yet confirmed the sale of DirectTV?

Aaron sat on the sofa and asked CBS President Mel Kamaz about the production and preparation of the variety show "American Idol".

“There’s no concrete news yet. GM’s board of directors hasn’t reached a consensus on whether to sell DirectTV,” Mel Kamaz responded.

Aaron sighed, "What a pity. Dawn's stock price is soaring; they could easily issue new shares to raise funds to acquire DirectTV."

"News Corporation has taken the lead in aggressively expanding its satellite television business internationally."

CBS Group's cable television networks such as AMC and Starz are also actively expanding into overseas markets, but ultimately they are slower.

At night, in a villa on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Aaron sat on the sofa with Kate Beckinsale in his arms. "I thought you went to film Michael Bay's epic war movie, Pearl Harbor?"

Kate Beckinsale shook her head. "Disney did send me the script, but I found the nurse character to be a complete 'pretty face'." "Blonde, blue-eyed, with a distinctive nurse's uniform—were nurses during World War II all like that?"

Kate Beckinsale, who starred in the Scream series and The Mummy series, is quite famous now;
Moreover, The Mummy 2 will be released next month.

However, the female lead in *Pearl Harbor* was also a British actress, Claire Forlani;

"Her collaboration with Brad Pitt in 'Meet the Sixth Sense' two years ago brought her considerable fame!"

Aaron smiled. "I see. Isn't she Brad Pitt's new girlfriend?"

Brad Pitt broke up with his fiancée Gwyneth Paltrow while filming "Meet Me" and started dating the lead actress in his new film.

"Sixth Sense" is just a romance film, but it had a budget of $9000 million and was directed by Martin Brest, who also directed "Scent of a Woman".

Aaron rejected the project at the time, and Warner Bros. took over. The film received decent reviews, but it was a commercial failure, grossing only over $4000 million in North America and $1.4 million worldwide!
"What about Paramount? Didn't they tell you to audition for Laura?"

Aaron kissed the girl on the cheek.

Kate Beckinsale shrugged. "My audition didn't go as well as Catherine Zeta-Jones', but I do have a new film coming up."

Aaron patted the young woman. "Right now, on the British side, you, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Kate Winslet are the most influential."

"But ever since Kate Winslet became a sensation after starring in Titanic, she has plunged headlong into the art-house film genre!"

Kate Beckinsale nodded. "Yes, Kate Winslet has indeed been involved in some art-house films these past two years."

"Katherine is alright; she previously starred in the musical 'Chicago,' which was a box office and critical success, but it seems she's always been limited to commercial films."

"When I first started out, I participated in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Shakespeare's play 'Much Ado About Nothing'!"

Aaron smiled. "Yeah, and then I came to Hollywood and filmed three Scream movies, plus two Mummy movies."

“Well, these kinds of opportunities don’t come often,” Kate Beckinsale said, wrapping her arms around the man’s neck and nuzzling him. “If you hadn’t brought me to Hollywood, I’d probably still be making some independent films in England.”

Kate Buckingham truly lives up to her reputation as a high-achieving student who got into Oxford University; she has such a pleasant voice!
"Mmm," Aaron kissed the woman directly on the lips, pushed her onto the sofa, and savored this English rose...

(End of this chapter)