Chapter 102: Weinstein
Weinstein? Levi didn't understand.
Levi has also heard of Weinstein for a long time. It's just that this person is famous, not because he is talented, but because he is a famous person who can play tricks.
This person can be said to be a very legendary person. In his early years, relying on his outstanding personal vision, he acquired the distribution rights of major European films and then sold them to make a fortune. When it comes to the aesthetics of art films, he can be said to be one of the most discerning people in Hollywood.
But there are some problems with this person's work. Levi had heard of his name in his previous life. Many directors and producers from other countries told in interviews that 'This Harvey is a liar.' He has a usual way of buying movies: sign a contract and pay a small deposit, making the film dealer feel that it has been sold, and let other film buyers leave. After everyone left, he rejects the previous sale, forcing the film producers to sell the movie at a low price. It is said that he has cheated many directors around the world.
After arriving in Hollywood, Levi heard some new rumors about him: It is said that he saw a movie directed by a newcomer and was about to buy it. When the other party resolutely refused to sell, he locked the other party in the hotel and wouldn't let him go if he didn't sell it. This matter was widely circulated in the circle, but because Weinstein was familiar with people, had many friends, and had plenty of money, even if the director wins a lawsuit, no one cares about him.
This is a person who is quite unscrupulous in his actions - Levi doesn't want to provoke such a person. He initially avoided him as far as he could, but no one thought that he would shoot himself. Levi asked himself that he had never offended him, so why did he find Levi?
"He came to us for a reason. Don't forget, on December 5th, not only our movie was released."
Michael explained, and Levi quickly understood.
Levi's movie, which was released on December 5th, came out the same day as their movie, Good Will Hunting. These two movies were released on the same day, but the difference is that when Levi's film premiered, there were already thousands of screens, while Good Will Hunting had only a dozen screens when it was broadcast; they released the movie on a small scale. Originally, the idea of the Weinstein brothers was to let the media promote the film after a limited release and then start expanding the film immediately. They didn't pay attention to The Lives of Others, a political film made by a newcomer with a low investment. They didn't like it, and they didn't think of avoiding it.
However, after the movie was released, the media were all clamoring for The Lives of Others. Good Will Hunting is an excellent inspirational film, but The Lives of Others does have a political meaning. The media's comments have always focused on more profound topics. With the more topical The Lives of Others was, they no longer paid attention to Good Will Hunting. Such a sudden change caused Good Will Hunting to be significantly affected after its release, and it did not achieve the same success as Weinstein imagined.
Good Will Hunting is a very good movie, but such an inspirational movie also attaches great importance to the evaluation and word-of-mouth of the media. The Lives of Others snatched the media's coverage, which means that Good Will Hunting lost a lot of box office. This is how the feud between Weinstein and Levi came about.
"It stands to reason that their movie ended up doing about the same at the box office, and their reviews were not bad. Our box office is not as good as theirs, and Matt Damon and Robin Williams were both well-received. We didn't have any conflicts. However, this time the best film and director are estimated to be the big boat, but we are in competition with them for the best screenwriter..." After Michael explained, Levi finally understood: The Lives of Others' release date has affected Good Will Hunting's reputation and box office. This reason is the root of their conflict.
"They want to win the best screenplay award, so they are picky about the scriptwriting of our film. If it turns out that our film is made up, it will not be the selection of the best film that will be affected the most, but our screenwriter's award." Michael said, "You know, the screenwriters of his movie are Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Now Weinstein is trying to promote these two young people as newcomers and make them popular. To make a newcomer popular, what better way is there than to win an Oscar?"
Speaking of this, Levi also understood.
Weinstein made this Good Will Hunting movie, so it's fine if he didn't make much money. Still, he originally wanted to use this movie to create outstanding movie stars, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. In Levi's memory, these two guys won the Oscar for Best Screenplay for this movie and began to gain a reputation as talented people in Hollywood. After that, they started to rise to the top, with many opportunities, and both became big stars in Hollywood.
But now, the movie's box office is not as high as before, and the Oscar may not be won. A person who won an Oscar right after his debut can be called a talented person, but if he doesn't win an Oscar, he can be regarded as a slightly talented actor at most. If the situation is not good, the two people who want to be famous may have to continue to struggle on the road of young actors after this movie. If that is the case, Weinstein's so much hard work will be in vain, and he naturally couldn't accept it.
"Actually, such a loss may have already appeared - after Weinstein finished shooting Good Will Hunting, he wanted to introduce Matt Damon to Spielberg to shoot his new war movie, but when Spielberg chose the role, he confirmed that Hugh Jackman was more suitable for his movie; he thought that if Hugh Jackman had a beard, he would have an excellent image of a soldier, so he did not choose Matt Damon. Because we made Hugh Jackman popular, we've already gotten into trouble."
This was the first time Levi heard the news, and he never thought that Hugh Jackman's early fame would have such an impact. Weinstein is not a kind person. In order to make the actors he supported have a promising future, of course, he did not hesitate to play tricks on Levi. It was also to compete for the best screenplay award that he deliberately found fault and said that the movie was fictional and not real enough.
"Just for such a little thing..." Levi smiled wryly after listening.
Before that, he had never thought of winning an Oscar at all. The big ship was too overbearing, and he knew he couldn't compete, so he didn't have much intention of competing for the award. Moreover, he also thinks the movie Good Will Hunting is quite good, and he also admires Matt Damon as an actor. Before that, he really didn't think about fighting for awards.
"Weinstein actually contacted me. They hoped to cooperate with us and told us not to compete with them. As long as we are willing to back down, we can also cooperate. In the future, they can promote our movies for us."
"That is to say, they deal with me, and I still need to please him as much as possible?" Levi snorted coldly: Of course, he knows Weinstein's ability even better than anyone else. It's just that he doesn't like to please the other party immediately after being plotted against.
He has no idea of competing for awards. If he just promotes his own film, Levi will not object or even go back to fight with him, but he can't stand it when he criticizes his movie.
"I don't want to give in. Contact Bruce. I still don't believe that I will lose to him if I squabble in the media." Levi said, "I am not worse than him in media relations."
Weinstein's idea is very good: not only will Levi back down this time, later, but he will also make friends with Levi and ask Levi to work for him. But his calculation was too shrewd. He is such a person; if you give him an inch, he will take a mile. For such a person, his arrogance must be suppressed.
Levi understood what Michael meant. He knew that although Weinstein did it unscrupulously, he was pretty influential in Hollywood. Although he offended people, most of them were foreigners. He was not cheating on Americans, but he made many people famous in the American entertainment industry and is quite powerful here. It is not smart to offend him.
It's just that it wasn't Levi who provoked him, but that he provoked Levi, and Levi didn't want just to admit it.
"Let Bruce put it this way: Even a museum curator can't take his word for it." After reading the comments, Levi thought for a moment before saying, "This movie is about a secret agent's life." In life, if you are really a good agent, you will not be caught even if you do it. For example, Wiesler wrote a play about Lenin himself while watching, and he was in it from beginning to end. How would the curator of the museum know if he was not caught? Besides, even if he was really caught, I still have a question, will the archives of East Germany really collect the materials of the renegade agents?"
Levi's rebuttal was simple and powerful. Indeed, in the movie, Wiesler was not caught. Moreover, since the film is said to be a movie that reveals secret files, how can these secrets be easily known?
You said his filming was unreal. How can you be sure that the materials you found were not tampered with?
The reason why Weinstein said this was because he aimed at people's psychology that watching the excitement is not a big deal. He knew that people preferred heavy-duty plots, so he did this. But now, Levi is rebutting a more serious situation; what else can he do?
Even if it is a media war, what is there to be afraid of?
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Cherif Doghri
Adam LV
Danny York
Scott DePaepe
Dario Cameruccio
MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999
The Main Man.
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