America 1987

Chapter 54 The Real King of Hollywood

David, who was hopelessly addicted to women, finally found time to do something important.

"Over here, Harvey." David, sitting in a corner of the cafe, greeted a middle-aged, overweight man who had just pushed open the door and walked in.

Round face, short dark hair, overweight, wearing a black bow tie and white tuxedo shirt, with a slight double chin when he smiled—this was David's first impression of Weinstein.

Harvey Weinstein is a name familiar to all readers of American entertainment novels. His character's fame and status are somewhat similar to Huayi Brothers in Chinese entertainment novels, a standard buffoon and villain.

However, because he had not yet fully developed, Weinstein at that time was far from the domineering aura he would later possess, and he appeared quite humble when shaking hands with him.

David looked at the slightly reserved fat man sitting opposite him and found it hard to believe that this was the powerful figure who would one day sleep with almost half of Hollywood's female stars.

Before his time travel, he first met Harvey through a photograph—at a party after the 1999 Oscars, a smug, overweight man was posing for a photo with two beautiful women on either side of him, smiling at the camera.

He looked up information online and that's how he learned the identities of the two women.

The woman on the left with flowing blonde hair and wearing a black strapless dress is Gwyneth Paltrow. She was one of the man's favorite actresses at the time, so he could understand their intimate behavior.

But what's with Madonna on the right, with her blonde updo, wearing a floral off-the-shoulder dress and holding a champagne glass? Isn't she a musician? How did she get involved with Harvey?

It wasn't until David came into this world and entered the circle that he roughly understood the reasons behind it.

The word "Hollywood" is a symbol of the American entertainment industry. Film and music are inseparable, so broadly speaking, the music industry can also be included in the Hollywood circle.

The Oscars after-party is one of Hollywood's top social events, so Madonna's presence there isn't particularly surprising.

Moreover, Madonna has always dreamed of being an actress. In the 90s, she starred in many films (such as "Evita" in 1996). Miramax was the queen of independent films at the time, so it's not surprising that she took the initiative to befriend Weinstein.

But honestly, at 41 years old, Madonna's looks and figure were no less than those of 27-year-old Chili Pepper. If we ever meet, we'll definitely have to have a good chat and see what the goddess that the basketball god dreamed of is really like.

"What's up, David?" Harvey's words interrupted David's reverie, forcing him to get down to business.

Filming for the movie "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" is nearing completion. It's a purely realistic, everyday film with minimal special effects, so post-production will be done very quickly. It should be finished in about another month.

He also needs to start considering the distribution and release of this film.

The original version of "Sex, Lies and Videotape" was first officially screened at the Sundance Film Festival, but unfortunately it received no awards and did not gain much recognition.

This has led many independent distributors (Riesel Entertainment, Savoy Films, Trimac Films, etc.) to adopt a wait-and-see approach, which means "lack of confidence in the film," and the subtext is that they want to lower the price.

Soderbergh and his agent were unwilling to sell at a low price, so Harvey snagged the deal.

To be fair, putting everything else aside, Weinstein's ability in distributing and publicizing independent films truly deserves the title of the strongest in Hollywood history.

Take the movie "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" as an example.

He first repackaged this "serious psychoanalytic treatment" as a "sexy and intense comedy about relationships."

The promotional poster featured an image of two naked couples embracing, linking it to the then-popular topic of "sexual safety" in the United States.

Following this well-established formula for commercializing art films, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" ultimately grossed $2474 million in North America, a huge profit compared to its production cost of just over one million dollars.

After Miramax was acquired by a major studio, it became even more powerful, achieving unprecedented success in Oscar public relations, and it is highly likely that no one will ever be able to surpass it.

By the time he fell from grace in 17, this fat man's films had received over 300 Oscar nominations and won more than 70 awards.

Industry experts say, "They always manage to grasp the key points and are willing to spend big. Some films that weren't initially well-received have managed to succeed with them."

Weinstein himself summarized: "The only thing you can do is win an Oscar, get all the judges to see the film, and if they haven't seen it, they absolutely cannot vote for your film."

Winning an Oscar is as easy as eating and drinking for him; no wonder Nicole maintains a long-term relationship with him. David Ovitz subtly observed him as they discussed potential collaborations.

He's not a time policeman; he won't have overly strong personal emotions about things the other person hasn't done yet. He can treat his real husband, Tom Cruise, with a normal attitude, so how much more so would he treat this long-term casual sex partner with whom he's exchanging benefits?

Since the other party has such strong distribution capabilities, and the original "Sex, Lies and Videotape" only became a great success after being distributed by them, why would they want to change it?

What is the greatest advantage of a time traveler? It's undoubtedly the ability to foresee the future.

Knowing who will become a big shot, who will fail, who is a benefactor, who is a villain, which movie will be a blockbuster, and which movie will win awards—that's his greatest asset in the world.

David doesn't plan to make too many changes to the original history unless absolutely necessary. The film's box office success, awards, release date, production company, and distributors are all closely related, and he will try his best to maintain historical accuracy.

As for the scandals about the other party that he had seen in the news in his previous life, he didn't take them too seriously.

People with an overly strong sense of justice cannot establish themselves in Hollywood.

Unspoken rules are commonplace for powerful figures in Hollywood. His downfall was simply the result of a combination of chance and necessity.

After the incident was exposed in 17, more than 80 people publicly accused him. In fact, in terms of sheer numbers, this is not the highest.

Ten years ago, a biography of entertainment star Warren Beatty was published. Based on newspaper reports and speculation, the author claimed that "Hollywood's number one Casanova" Warren Beatty had sexual relations with as many as 12775 women in his lifetime.

While this number is certainly exaggerated—after all, changing it every day would take 35 years, which is impossible for a normal human being—it's probably 80% possible.

From Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor in the golden age to Madonna and the Black Pearl in the 80s and 90s, the number of these well-known A-list actresses starts at double digits.

Whether it's comparing quality or quantity, Harvey is the least important among them.