Revealing the News, Kevin Prepared to Make a Fortune

The Academy Awards held an unparalleled allure for every director and every actor.

Whenever Harvey Weinstein brought up those words, no director had ever been able to refuse him, eventually handing their film over to him.

Harvey Weinstein had plenty of experience when it came to campaigning for awards.

Unlike other directors, who placed immense importance on the Oscars, he regarded an Oscar campaign as an art of public relations.

To win an Oscar, provided the film's quality was guaranteed to a certain extent—in other words, provided it had not been utterly crushed by films released during the same period—

he needed to win over as many of the hundreds of Academy voters as possible.

He had ample experience in that area.

Relying on that experience, he could always get those directors to sell their films to him at the lowest possible price, or reach a partnership with him at an extremely low cost.

He was confident that the young man before him would be unable to refuse such temptation as well.

"Oh, I understand."

Kevin merely wore a calm expression.

That calm expression made Harvey Weinstein feel that his ever-reliable pitch had failed.

Harvey Weinstein confirmed it once again.

"Don't you want to win the Academy Award for Best Director? Don't you want to become the youngest Oscar-winning director?"

"No."

Kevin's single reply cut off all of Harvey Weinstein's words.

"Fine. Very well."

Harvey Weinstein's predatory gaze swept viciously over Kevin and Angelina Jolie beside him, as though he wanted to etch the two of them firmly into his memory.

Then he snorted and left unhappily.

Kevin's first enemy in Hollywood seemed to have been born just like that.

"Kevin, Harvey Weinstein is an important man. Will you be okay after offending him?"

Angelina Jolie's expression shifted uncertainly. What she said was really because she felt somewhat uneasy for herself.

Kevin might not fear Harvey Weinstein, but that did not mean she was unafraid.

"He's just an independent producer. What could he possibly do?"

"Plenty of people want to work with me. I don't need someone like him, trying to get something for nothing."

"Jolie, you should be careful in the future too. Harvey Weinstein loves using the Academy Awards as an excuse to deceive young girls into giving him their bodies."

Angelina Jolie looked confused.

"Is he bad at campaigning for awards?"

Kevin shook his head.

"No, he really is good at it, but he likes to freeload."

"Everyone knows Harvey Weinstein doesn't keep his promises."

Angelina Jolie was instantly speechless.

Men like that were exactly what small-time models like them, who wanted to change their fate, feared encountering most.

Generally speaking, the bigger the figure, the less likely such things were to happen.

Who would have thought that even someone as important as Harvey Weinstein would break his promises...

She wondered whether the director before her would fulfill her goals.

From the way he had exposed Harvey Weinstein, as well as from his words, he seemed like someone who kept his promises...

While Angelina Jolie was still lost in thought,

after Harvey Weinstein discovered Kevin, word seemed to have spread. Several female models and third- or fourth-tier actresses gradually approached.

Kevin turned them all down in Angelina Jolie's name. As a result, those women cast envious and resentful looks at Angelina Jolie, wishing they could replace her.

Angelina Jolie, meanwhile, boldly took on the role of Kevin's female companion and stopped every woman who approached.

Soon afterward, Ovitz, who had been absent for a long time, came over with a bald, clean-shaven middle-aged white man.

The moment he arrived, Ovitz openly introduced the identity of the man beside him to Kevin.

"Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures."

"Kevin, the director of Saw!"

Ovitz introduced the two men to each other.

After Ovitz finished introducing them, Jeff Robinov spoke as well.

"Director Kevin, your Saw was incredible. I've never seen such an outstanding horror film."

"Jigsaw deeply made people value life..."

Jeff Robinov lavishly praised Kevin's film. Clearly, he knew that every director had great confidence in their own work.

Therefore, praising their work was more effective than praising them personally.

Kevin naturally understood his intentions, but this was simply social courtesy. When someone praised you, you could hardly respond with a dark face and snap at them.

"Thank you for the compliment."

Kevin replied with a broad smile.

Angelina Jolie beside him did not dare speak at all. In her eyes, the three men before her were all important figures. If she managed to attach herself to any one of them, she could obtain enormous resources.

However, compared with the other two, Kevin was the one she felt she would lose the least by being with.

There was no helping it. At twenty-three, Kevin was no less handsome than some Hollywood stars. Even aside from his status as a director, Angelina Jolie would have been willing to date him and experience that sort of thing between a man and a woman.

As the three men spoke, Jolie did not dare interrupt rashly. She merely stood quietly beside Kevin.

She looked at Kevin with an admiring gaze.

Clearly, she understood certain aspects of men's psychology very well.

After chatting for a few moments, Jeff Robinov went straight to the point.

"Director Kevin, have you had any ideas for your next project? Or are you planning to make a Saw sequel right away?"

"No, no, no. I'm not interested in making sequels to any film, at least not right now."

"I'm planning to sell the rights to Saw directly to anyone interested. I'm preparing to make another horror film myself, one completely different from Saw."

Kevin deliberately revealed that he held the rights to Saw. Sure enough, Jeff Robinov became extremely interested.

"Oh? You hold the rights to Saw? Director Kevin, what price do you want to sell them for?"

Everyone in Hollywood was shrewd enough to know just how much profit the Saw rights could bring in the future.

According to Warner Bros.' internal analysis, Saw's worldwide box office was expected to safely surpass one hundred million dollars.

For a horror film, that was enough to make Saw an instant legend.

Moreover, the framework of the story was highly suitable for sequels. As long as the script was not too terrible and the director had a little skill, it was destined to make money. The only question was how much it would make.

Saw would bring New Line Cinema over one hundred million dollars in total profit. They had learned that through statistics compiled from all kinds of data.

That included total profits from licensing the film's image rights, DVDs, television broadcasts, and a whole series of other sources.

That figure was enough to make anyone greedy when placed before them.

And now, there was actually a chance for such a gold mine to fall into their hands.

Jeff Robinov naturally wanted to seize the opportunity and acquire it outright.