In a private club on the outskirts of Burbank, Tom Cruise and his wife booked a VIP room. They didn’t wait long before their agent, Pat Kingsley, walked in with Michael Ovitz, the former head of CAA and once ranked as the most powerful person in Hollywood.
After exchanging brief pleasantries, they sat down. Nicole Kidman took the coffee pot from the server, temporarily acting as a waitress.
"How’s everything going, Tom?"
Even though Michael Ovitz’s situation at Disney wasn’t ideal, he still maintained the assertiveness he had during his time at CAA. "Is the script finished?"
Although Tom Cruise harbored some dissatisfaction toward Ovitz, he suppressed it and replied, "I’ve had the ’Mission Impossible’ script for a while now, and it’ll be ready soon."
Despite sensing Tom’s polite facade, Ovitz pretended not to notice. His position at Disney was delicate. He had hoped to make a big splash as CEO but soon discovered that the film industry was far more complicated than he had anticipated. Moreover, Chairman Michael Eisner’s dominance exceeded his expectations, leaving him more of a puppet than a decision-maker.
As a former kingpin of CAA and the entertainment industry, Ovitz was unwilling to be a mere figurehead. To avoid being reduced to a puppet, he needed achievements, and film projects were his strong suit. Thus, he quickly reconnected with Tom Cruise, who happened to have a project based on a TV series. The lead role fit Tom’s signature cool and charismatic style perfectly.
Ovitz wasn’t bothered by the contempt Tom concealed. He had played the fool and danced on tables to get what he wanted in the past. If the stakes were high enough, Tom Cruise’s attitude was insignificant.
Moreover, Hollywood was all about power and influence. This had always been Tom’s way, and if one couldn’t tolerate it, they might as well retire.
They sipped their coffee, seemingly tasting it, but both were waiting for another key figure to arrive, all while thinking through their strategies.
After setting the coffee pot down, Nicole Kidman sat quietly beside Tom, not saying a word. Her eyes occasionally flicked over to her husband, fully aware that Tom was unhappy with Ovitz’s suggested director. However, due to the young director’s impressive track record, Tom had reluctantly agreed.
Suddenly, she saw Tom frown and had a hunch about what was on his mind. She gently tugged his sleeve, but Tom ignored her subtle warning and spoke up.
"Michael, why does it have to be Duke Rosenberg? You know I don’t particularly like him."
Nicole sighed inwardly. Since they had agreed to meet, it was clear Tom had already accepted the director in his heart. Raising such concerns now would only offend Michael Ovitz for no reason.
Even if Ovitz wasn’t doing well at Disney, who could ignore his influence in Hollywood?
Her husband, though talented, could be quite dense when it came to social nuances! They both had similar career paths, so why did it seem like the gap between him and Duke Rosenberg was so wide? New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾·𝗇𝖾𝗍
"Why?" Ovitz’s expression hardened. "Tom, don’t tell me you don’t know why!"
His tone grew increasingly sarcastic. "Forget about his earlier films. Let’s just talk about his latest one. ’Saving Private Ryan’ has been out for two months now. Do you know its North American box office figures?"
Before the now irritable Tom Cruise could respond, Ovitz answered, "$243.27 million! That’s just North America. Do you know the global total? $421.17 million!"
Ovitz sneered, "If we don’t choose a director like that, are you suggesting Mel Gibson? Do you think his ’Braveheart,’ which grossed $24.32 million, would pass a Disney greenlight? I would reject it outright!"
The room fell into silence. Even though Tom Cruise was upset, he couldn’t argue. The TV series-turned-film project would likely cost over $50 million to produce. If they didn’t hire a director with the right credentials, how could they convince Disney or another studio to invest?
Tom thought of Gibson and his ’Braveheart’ and felt a strong disdain. He would never work with a failure!
He had, in fact, followed the competition between ’Braveheart’ and ’Saving Private Ryan.’ While the former hadn’t been pulled from theaters yet, it was essentially on its way out, screening only in a handful of independent theaters in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago—clearly for awards season rather than box office.
Suggesting Mel Gibson as the director for this new project would be insane!
The word "successful" echoed in Tom’s mind. Everyone wanted to work with successful people! Looking at both the past and the future, Duke Rosenberg wasn’t just a success; he was among the most successful of the successful.
By now, even the dullest of minds could see that ’Saving Private Ryan’ was on track to make $500 million worldwide. Warner Bros., Fox, and Disney were all pushing hard for the film during awards season. This movie was about much more than just box office success!
Holding his coffee cup, Tom fell into deep thought. Should he set aside his differences and work with Duke Rosenberg?
It was something worth considering.
Michael Ovitz, meanwhile, was thinking about how to persuade Duke Rosenberg to sign the contract. If Duke joined the project, Disney would greenlight it almost instantly. And if it turned out to be even half as successful as ’The Rock,’ he, as the project leader, would undoubtedly gain more influence at Disney.
As for Duke’s conflict with CAA, Ovitz didn’t even bother thinking about it. Sitting in the CEO seat at Disney made him a natural enemy of CAA.
Where you sit often determines how you think.
A black Bentley slowly pulled into the club’s parking lot. Nancy Josephson saw the car, walked over, and knocked on the window. Once the door opened, she slipped into the back seat.
"I’ve spoken to Pat Kingsley," Nancy said, glancing at Duke beside her. "Tom Cruise and Michael Ovitz want you to direct the film adaptation of ’Mission Impossible.’ What’s your take, Duke?"
"You know my plans," Duke shook his head. "I’m not changing them for this."
’Mission Impossible’ wasn’t that enticing.
"Why didn’t you just let me turn them down?" Nancy furrowed her brow slightly. "This meeting seems unnecessary."
"There’s no point in seeing Ovitz," Duke agreed. "I’m only here to meet Tom Cruise."
Nancy was puzzled. She knew Duke didn’t particularly like Tom. "Why meet with Cruise?"
"I want him for my next movie," Duke said as he opened the door. "Of course, if he’s willing to lower his fee, our past disagreements won’t matter..."
A musical like ’Chicago’ came with inherent challenges. No director could fully resolve the genre’s weaknesses. But a collaboration between a star and a famous director would undoubtedly create a strong buzz. Imagine the headlines: Tom Cruise and Duke Rosenberg making a movie together. It would draw immense attention!
More importantly, Duke wanted to set a trap. He was curious whether he could push Tom Cruise away from the ’Mission Impossible’ series that had cemented his future and onto a different path entirely.
He had considered acquiring the rights to the series, but by the time his feud with Tom had escalated, the rights were firmly in Tom’s hands.
Duke, being only human, couldn’t foresee everything. The idea of the ’Mission Impossible’ rights only came to him because of Tom. There were many other films and franchises whose rights had long been sold, like ’The Lord of the Rings.’
It wasn’t uncommon in Hollywood for a script to sit in limbo for over a decade before finally being made into a film. For instance, Duke remembered seeing the script for the 2010 film ’Dallas Buyers Club’ filed with the Writers Guild when he was there, forcing him to abandon several planned projects to avoid potential overlap.
As Nancy heard Duke’s footsteps behind her, she already had a good sense of what was on her employer’s mind. Duke’s words didn’t surprise her. In her view, as long as the stakes were high enough, Duke would work with anyone—even his known enemies, like Martin Bob or Sean Connery.
Hearing Nancy’s footsteps approach from behind, Duke strode towards the club, contemplating how to persuade Tom Cruise to lower his fee for the role.
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