Al Pacino

Al Pacino

At the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard, Steven Reuther and Aaron Anderson met with the returning Al Pacino.

"Pretty Woman's script is just too stupid for me. Would anyone really like a story like that?"

Al Pacino had spent four years performing in stage plays on New York Broadway. His official return this time was mainly for The Godfather Part III.

He truly had no faith in the script for Pretty Woman.

"Won't you reconsider?" Steven Reuther had not expected him to say that.

Al Pacino shook his head. "This role doesn't suit me, Steven!"

"Mr. Pacino," Aaron Anderson, who had been sitting silently to the side, spoke up, immediately drawing both men's attention.

Meeting Al Pacino's gaze, Steven Reuther explained, "He's Aaron Anderson, a young agent at CAA. He was the one who persuaded Jeffrey Katzenberg about Pretty Woman."

Al Pacino nodded. He had originally thought Aaron was Steven Reuther's assistant.

"Oh? What did you want to say?"

Aaron looked at him. "Does Mr. Pacino want to work with Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman on Dick Tracy?"

"If a movie could succeed just by piling on a few stars, CAA should have become the holy temple of film long ago!"

"You don't think highly of Dick Tracy?"

Aaron smiled. "The success of Rain Man won't be so easy to replicate. More than half of its box office should be credited to Tom Cruise."

"Mr. Pacino is already set to star in the mob sequel The Godfather Part III, so why join another gangster film just to play an insignificant supporting role?"

"A film succeeds through either box office or awards. Will Pretty Woman's box office really be worse than Dick Tracy's?"

Al Pacino laughed, while Steven Reuther took the opportunity to tell him about Aaron Anderson's exploits at the Cannes Film Festival.

"You think highly of Pretty Woman?"

Aaron nodded. "If I had a few million, or even tens of millions, of dollars, I would invest in it myself!"

"Unfortunately, everyone says they think highly of the projects they're involved in." Al Pacino was not so easily persuaded.

Aaron sighed. "Mr. Pacino, you should listen to other people's advice. Your agent also recommended that you take this film."

"Now that you've just returned, Mr. Pacino, there's no need to go to a production packed with big names. Wouldn't joining a smaller production to prove yourself be better?"

After starring in The Godfather, Al Pacino had become an unstoppable force, but his eye for scripts had truly been terrible.

He had been the first choice for Star Wars, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Once Upon a Time in America, but unfortunately, he had missed them all.

"Aaron Anderson, right?"

Al Pacino looked at him. "Your specialty should be arthouse films, shouldn't it? Do you understand commercial films too?"

Aaron showed no fear and spread his hands. "My credentials are too shallow. I can only discover newcomers and take on works by new directors. Where would I find commercial films?"

"My specialty is the commercial side. What Mr. Pacino should do now is increase his influence. Then, he won't lack good scripts."

"If Pretty Woman succeeds, it will become one of Mr. Pacino's signature works. But if Dick Tracy succeeds, it will still be Warren Beatty's signature work and his achievement!"

"Haha!" Al Pacino laughed aloud.

"Doing this means undermining Mr. Ovitz, the head of your CAA."

Aaron glanced at Steven Reuther and replied casually, "When the film comes out next year, he'll happily give me a bonus."

"Whether Dick Tracy has Mr. Pacino or not makes no difference, but with Mr. Pacino joining Pretty Woman, success won't be far away..."

As late May arrived, good news finally came. Al Pacino had signed a contract with the Pretty Woman production to play the male lead.

Aaron, who had been following the film's progress, finally relaxed.

CAA headquarters.

Aaron had obtained another script from Quentin Tarantino, Natural Born Killers, and had just sent it to the editorial department for proofreading.

On his way out, he ran into Richard Lovett again. "Aaron, Julia Roberts being able to play opposite Al Pacino is largely thanks to you!"

The male and female leads of Pretty Woman were now Al Pacino and Julia Roberts.

As Julia Roberts's agent, Richard Lovett seemed very pleased.

"Not bad. Congratulations to you too." Aaron nodded to him. One of the supporting roles could have gone to Nicole Kidman, but Aaron felt there was no need for that.

Richard Lovett smiled. "I heard you don't think highly of Dick Tracy. Mr. Warren Beatty is a little unhappy about it."

Although Aaron had not disparaged Dick Tracy while persuading Al Pacino, he had still caused the interested Al Pacino to withdraw, which was not exactly a good thing.

Aaron shook his head, wondering where that smug tone had come from.

They were all just newcomers at CAA. Wasn't putting so much thought into such trivial matters a waste of time?

"All right, I'm leaving." Aaron truly had no interest in saying much more to these minor players. He still had to meet Adam Sandler.

After leaving CAA, Aaron had just gotten into his Rooster and was preparing to head home first when he received a call from director Tony Scott's assistant.

"Mr. Scott likes the script for True Romance?"

"All right. I'll bring the screenwriter to visit Mr. Scott then!"

After hanging up, Aaron smiled. Quentin Tarantino's script had been noticed rather quickly.

Tony Scott was the director of Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise, and his older brother was even more formidable—the famed Ridley Scott!

That evening, Aaron met with Adam Sandler and signed an agency contract with him the following day.

However, because Adam Sandler had previously been a client of agent Ari Emanuel, he had terminated his contract with Saturday Night Live after following him out of CAA.

Now Aaron needed to get Adam Sandler back onto Saturday Night Live. After all, that show truly trained people well.

"Don't worry. Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels thinks highly of you. You can write and perform, so signing on won't be a problem."

Outside the CAA building, Aaron Anderson patted Adam Sandler on the shoulder.

Adam Sandler nodded, looking troubled. "But Mr. Ari Emanuel is somewhat unhappy that I'm not renewing my contract this time!"

Aaron was unconcerned. "ITA will be lucky if it can keep going steadily. Agents like Ari Emanuel will definitely leave. Are you expecting those guys to live and die with ITA?"

You're all Jewish people. Other than profit, do you care about anything else? Wasn't Adam Sandler right in front of him a perfect example?

He had abandoned Ari Emanuel immediately!