That afternoon, Hugo and Cameron came to the furniture store again. Today they came here to buy desk lamps. They had not considered this before, but in the past two days, Hugo found that a desk lamp was missing on the desk in the study, and two desk lamps on the bedside table in the bedroom were broken, and new ones were needed.

Cameron was teasing Hugo with a teddy bear's desk lamp, "It will definitely be very effective to place this on your desk." Hugo's study was full of strong bookish spirit, and the overall design was also very simple. Obviously, the desk lamp in front of him was too cute, and it was completely contrary to the design of the study.

But Hugo shrugged and said seriously, "I think so too. I imagine that Leo looks like reading books under the light of the desk light. It feels very appropriate." This made Cameron laugh very hard, and Hugo looked Cameron up and down, and then said, "In fact, it is also very suitable for you. Otherwise, it is the exclusive desk lamp when you are studying in the study... Oh, I have forgotten that you don't read."

"Hey, Hugo!" Cameron stomped his feet in annoyance, looked down at the desk lamp in his hand, and then looked at the serious expression on Hugo's face, which made her so angry that she was itchy, "Don't think I dare not, I really bought it!"

Hugo tried hard to hold back his smile, raised his eyebrows, and looked like "single and listen to the surrender", which made Cameron very depressed. At this moment, a voice came from beside him, which was considered to be a relief for Cameron. "If it was a lady, this lamp would be very suitable. If it was a gentleman, it would look a little..." Then the words behind deliberately disappeared, with a joking expression on his face.

Looking back in the voice, he looked at it, but there was a completely unfamiliar face. Hugo couldn't help but be stunned. The other party seemed to have expected Hugo's reaction, met Hugo's sight, and took the initiative to stretch out his right hand, "Good afternoon, Mr. Lancaster, Miss Diaz, I'm Mike Phiges." After shook hands with the two people, he raised his hands to express his innocence, "Don't worry, I have no contact with the paparazzi."

Mike Phiges, director and screenwriter of "Far Away from Casino".

Hugo's eyes stretched a little a little widened, and then he realized, "Hey, Mike, I'm glad to meet you." Hugo looked around and saw that it was still a quiet furniture store. The clerk did not even find that the famous Hugo was in the store, without any disturbances, "So, are you here for...?"

This place is obviously not a place where you can meet your colleagues in Hollywood at will, and it was just that Mike and the two met for the first time a few days ago. Then Mike's "Far Away from the Casino" appeared on Hugo's desk. The two of them had never met before, and they met again in a short time, which made people feel that it was too coincidental.

"Mattress, I'm buying a mattress." Mike seemed to notice Hugo's suspicion and explained repeatedly.

Although Hugo was still a little confused, he didn't think much about it, "This is a big project. If you have a partner, it will be even more important." Generally speaking, women are always more sensitive and require more when buying mattresses. Of course, this is just the general situation.

Mike heard what Hugo said and nodded with a smile, "I am just the vanguard, and I still have to hand over the follow-up work to my wife." After that, Mike turned his gaze to Cameron, as if he was hinting that Cameron was Hugo's companion. This gaze made both Cameron and Hugo laugh at a loss.

Instead of staying on this topic, Mike continued, "Have I told you that I really like the work 'before sunrise'? Although I know you must have heard many similar words..."

"No, no, there are not many people mentioned 'before sunrise'." Hugo waved his hand repeatedly and said with a smile, "You know, this movie is not my best work at the box office." One sentence made Mike laugh, and the laughter directly broke the silence in the furniture store. The scattered guests around him cast dissatisfaction eyes. Mike put away his smile in embarrassment.

"I like 'before sunrise'. In fact, I watched it four times over and over again and had a deep impression of the lines inside. Being able to penetrate the plot through the pile of lines and shaped the characters, I think this is a very magical thing. It has been a long time since Hollywood has seen such an excellent work." Mike was completely unswerving in his praise, but instead made Hugo feel a little uncomfortable.

After some politeness, Mike looked at Cameron standing next to him, "Sorry, I disturbed your time, I think I'd better leave the space for you two. Moreover, I'm also on a mission today, right?" Then Mike said, "We'll talk about it in detail next time we meet. I hope you have a good day." Then he said goodbye.

Hugo felt a little strange. Did Mike come forward to say hello to him just to praise "before sunrise"? But Cameron obviously felt that Hugo was thinking too much, "Maybe he just saw you and came to politely. Otherwise, you also noticed him, but found that he didn't come to say hello. How rude is that."

After Hugo and Cameron returned to the villa, Joseph, who was originally on the phone, waved to Hugo and asked him to go over quickly, and said to the receiver, "Tell me about Hugo yourself." Then he handed the phone to Hugo, and he shouted to Samora in the kitchen, "Don't prepare afternoon tea, you know I'm controlling my weight!"

"Then don't eat it." Hugo said with a smile at Joseph, which caused Joseph's angry and entangled expression, which made Hugo laugh. He took the call, "Rick, what's wrong?"

"It's okay, a small thing. You're back, I'll just agree to you." Rick's voice seemed very relaxed, "'Die Hard 3' held a small celebration banquet to invite you to attend."

"What?" Hugo seemed very surprised. "Why invite me?" He had no half cent relationship with the crew of "Die Hard 3".

Rick's chuckle came, "Isn't this obvious? I want to get closer to you." Rick explained simply, "'Die Hard 3' has not reached the box office of North America for 70 million. It is estimated that it will be difficult for North America to exceed 100 million in the end. Their investment in this work will be 90 million, and they can only hope to recover costs in the overseas market. How could they hold a celebration banquet now? In fact, it is just a promotional occasion, inviting some media to create some gimmicks, hoping that at least the North American box office can make another rush."

The final direction of a movie's box office is not that simple, and this is also an important reason why independent films can never compete with large film companies.

"They just want the reporters to know that you are fine with Twentieth Century Fox." Rick said in a vague way, but Hugo reacted, Tracy Jacobs, the original producer of Die Hard 3. "And, they actually want to test your ideas and see how you are about 'stay away from the casino'."

"This movie deserves so much attention from Twentieth Century Fox?" Hugo raised his eyebrows slightly, obviously not convinced.

Rick did not answer directly, but asked, "Do you know how long it took 20th Century Fox to win the Oscar major department award?" Hugo really didn't know this, "Since 'Wall Street' won the Best Actor' in 1987, they have never been involved in major department awards, and they haven't even nominated. The last time they received the main nomination was 'Flying Over the Future' in 1988, Tom's Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay."

Hugo opened his eyes wide in surprise. He had never expected that Twentieth Century Fox would be so pitiful. In the past two years, the works such as "Speed ​​of Life and Death", "Real Lies", and "Slim Dad" produced and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox have achieved brilliant box office results, which is in full swing. However, behind this glory, they are completely ignored by the academy.

"Kevin Pence attaches great importance to "staying away from the casino" this time, because in his next blueprint, Twentieth Century Fox not only needs to maintain box office stability, but also needs to make breakthroughs in awards. So, he appeared in person on the day you moved. The reason is very complicated, but the main thing is your reaction to the script." Rick's explanation made Hugo feel relieved. He had wondered before, how could a small script attract the attention of the CEO of Twentieth Century Fox, which is unreasonable.

But now it seems that "staying away from the casino" is just a part of the huge plan, and big shots like Kevin Pence have a unique vision.

"I met Mike Feiges when I was in the furniture store just now. He said he was going to buy a mattress..." Hugo remembered what happened just now and said by the way.

Rick's laughter came clearly through the receiver, "Hugo, Phiges is British, he settled in London, and he has no fixed assets in Los Angeles."

Hugo suddenly realized that it seemed that Mike Feiges appeared because he was aiming at him. Buying a mattress was just an excuse. These people have taken great pains to "stay away from the casino" project.

"And I suspect Kevin has other plans," Rick added. "I think 'stay away from the casino' is just a big shot. His real plan should be a big guy. I found out that Twentieth Century Fox now has a project with a budget of more than 70 million, but they did not leak much information. I think he spent a lot of effort to invite you to attend, maybe he has long-term plans."

Hugo didn't care about what Rick said later, because there was no clear context, so he naturally couldn't make a judgment. He would first focus on the choice of "staying away from the casino" and "walking in death row" in front of him.

"Far Away from the Casino" is good to enjoy the cool under the big tree, relying on the frequent connections of 20th Century Fox; then the helpless "death prisoner walk" is about to wait for death? Obviously, Tim Robbins has no plan.
Chapter completed!