Recaps

Kevin secured financing for Get Out, cast Will Smith as its lead, and planned to begin filming after Christmas. Meanwhile, his neighbor Nicolas Cage brought him homemade pineapple pizza and expressed his defiant approach to life.

• Kevin discussed Get Out with Dawson, Dean, and Jason, explained his choice of a Black protagonist, and secured funding for the film.
• Kevin arranged for CAA to handle the cast and set filming to begin on December 25, with a tight schedule to finish by April 31.
• Will Smith heard about the male lead role, impressed Dawson with his fit and lack of salary demands, and signed on for $100,000.
• Will Smith hired two veteran actors to train him while Kevin remained confident he could guide his performance.
• Nicolas Cage visited Kevin with homemade pineapple pizza, and Kevin teased him about serving it to Italians.

Kevin invited Cage to join a future blockbuster and spent Christmas with Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie before starting to film Get Out in Texas. The chapter ended as Kevin began directing the film’s opening scene, with Chris arriving to meet Ruth’s parents.

• Kevin discussed making a future Ghost Rider film with Cage and invited him to join the project.
• Kevin spent Christmas alone until Salma Hayek arrived, followed by Angelina Jolie, and the two women eventually agreed to stop clashing in front of him.
• Kevin and the cast and crew arrived in a Texas town to film Get Out, and Kevin began shooting the opening scene.
• Will Smith played Chris as he went to meet the parents of Angelina Jolie’s character, Ruth.

Kevin completed filming Get Out on schedule and within its three-million-dollar budget, while the studios began promoting it. After the wrap party, he strengthened his friendship with Will Smith and took the finished materials to New Line Cinema.

• Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema publicized Get Out while Kevin filmed it in a Texas town.
• Kevin coached Angelina Jolie through her acting difficulties, and the crew finished filming in two months without exceeding the budget.
• Kevin used the remaining eighty thousand dollars to host a wrap party near Hollywood.
• Will Smith told Kevin he wanted to become an actor, and the two became friends.
• After the party, Kevin spent several days with Angelina Jolie at his villa, then brought the finished materials to New Line Cinema.

After ten days of editing, Kevin completed the final cut of Get Out and attended its internal screening with Jeff Robinov and Warner Bros. screeners. Jenofer gave the film an S-class rating for its appeal to Black audiences, and Jeff decided to arrange another screening with more Black viewers to guide the theater release.

• Kevin and his editor finished the rough cut after ten days of work, then completed audio correction, music selection, and dubbing to make the final cut.
• On March 20, 1992, Jeff Robinov arrived at New Line Cinema with two Warner Bros. screeners, including the Black screener Jenofer, for Get Out's internal screening.
• The screening showed the Black protagonist being abducted and later killing the white people who treated him as merchandise, drawing the viewers into the film.
• Jenofer praised Get Out as the best work she had seen and said Black viewers would give it an S-class rating.
• Jeff Robinov decided to hold another screening for more Black viewers and collect data to determine how many screens the film should receive.

After Saw earned $166 million worldwide, New Line Cinema paid Kevin his $8.2 million share, and he set Get Out's release date for May 1. While critics attended a preview screening of Get Out, Kevin went to meet Marvel Comics owner Ronald Perelman.

• Jeff Robinov congratulated Kevin on his new film, and Shaye offered to settle his share of Saw's box office earnings.
• New Line Cinema paid Kevin approximately $8.2 million from Saw's worldwide box office.
• Kevin set Get Out's release date for May 1 after checking the competition and available theaters.
• Harvey Weinstein learned that Get Out's preview screening was three days away and planned to look for flaws he could use against Kevin.
• Warner Bros. hosted dozens of film critics and reporters for Get Out's preview screening.
• Kevin visited Marvel Comics headquarters and met its owner, Ronald Perelman.

Steve Kevin pursued a long-term plan to acquire Marvel, then screened Get Out for critics and saw its reviews heavily promoted. As Jolie celebrated her role’s praise, Kevin explained how marketing shaped Hollywood reception.

• Steve Kevin asked Ronald Perelman about buying Marvel shares, then left after Perelman suggested purchasing them on the stock exchange.
• Kevin relied on an informant inside Marvel and worried that acquiring the entire company would require hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Critics watched Get Out at Warner Bros., and newspapers published glowing reviews the next day.
• Angelina Jolie read the reviews to Kevin at his villa and celebrated the acclaim for her leading role.
• Kevin told Jolie that Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, and he had spent a million dollars on public relations, while noting that promotion could not rescue a terrible film.

At the premiere of Get Out, Kevin and Will Smith watched a packed, mostly Black audience settle in and respond enthusiastically to the film. The screening left off as a white police officer stopped Chris and demanded to see his identification after Ruth hit a deer.

• Will Smith brought friends, family, rappers, and fans to the premiere, while Warner Bros. arranged Black security guards to maintain order.
• Will Smith welcomed the audience and promoted his first starring film before the screening began.
• The Black audience reacted excitedly to Chris’s relationship with Ruth, a white woman.
• Chris and Ruth drove toward her parents’ home, and Ruth accidentally hit a deer.
• Chris got out to check on the deer, and a white police officer stopped him and demanded his identification.

Chris grew increasingly suspicious of Ruth’s family and the town after eerie encounters, hypnosis, and a party where the elderly guests treated him with unsettling interest. He discovered a Black man whose behavior seemed strangely white, and the chapter ended with Chris accidentally photographing him with a flash.

• Chris met Ruth’s warm parents, but the housekeeper and groundskeeper made him uneasy, and Ruth’s mother hypnotized him into discussing his mother.
• Chris saw the groundskeeper sprint toward him and then flee, while the housekeeper appeared at his window with an unsettling smile.
• At a party, Chris noticed that all the guests were elderly and watched them show strange envy and greed toward him.
• Chris met a Black man who acted like an elderly white person and shook his hand instead of bumping fists.
• Chris discovered that someone had unplugged his camera, and the housekeeper apologized while smiling and crying at once.
• Chris saw the Black man talking with a white man, tried to photograph them, and accidentally set off the camera flash.

Chris discovered that Ruth’s family planned to transplant a white brain into his body, then escaped after killing Ruth’s parents and brother. He drove off with the unconscious maid, unaware that she was Ruth’s grandmother, a white woman whose brain transplant had succeeded.

• After a flash triggered the Black man’s consciousness, Chris grew suspicious of the town and tried to persuade Ruth to leave with him.
• Chris learned from his police officer friend that the Black man was missing, but Ruth’s family stopped Chris at the door and Ruth’s mother hypnotized him.
• A man on television revealed that the town’s white residents transplanted their brains into Black bodies, and that Ruth lured Black people to the town.
• Chris used cotton from his chair to block the hypnosis, knocked out Ruth’s brother, and killed Ruth’s parents with a deer antler.
• Chris fled in a car, struck the maid, and took her with him; Ruth chased after him with a gun, while Chris did not know the maid was her grandmother.

At the premiere of Get Out, Chris escaped Ruth and the police, and the audience praised the film. The movie’s reputation spread ahead of its May 1 release, while Harvey Weinstein paid critics to smear Kevin.

• The Black gardener killed himself after briefly regaining control of his body, and Black audience members hailed him as a hero.
• Ruth tried to use the arriving police to get Chris killed, but Chris’s Black police officer friend arrived and drove him away.
• The premiere audience praised Will Smith and Get Out while Kevin stayed behind the scenes.
• Get Out secured screenings in one thousand theaters and four thousand screens for its May 1 release.
• Media promotion quickly boosted Get Out’s reputation, while Harvey Weinstein bribed critics to attack Kevin and the film.

Kevin watched the Rodney King trial with Angelina Jolie and warned her to stay home after the officers were acquitted. Riots spread across Los Angeles and New York, leaving President George H. W. Bush facing a demand to send in the military.

• Kevin explained why sharing profits with Warner Bros. had helped Get Out reach a wide release, then watched the Rodney King trial with Jolie.
• Kevin told Jolie that equal rights would become important in Hollywood and advised her to build a public image around them.
• The jury acquitted Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno, and Timothy Wind, and protests descended into chaos.
• Kevin warned Jolie to stay inside and relied on the supplies he had stored at his Beverly Hills villa as riots spread across Los Angeles.
• New York’s governor sought federal help after two days of unrest disrupted businesses and overwhelmed local authorities.
• George H. W. Bush received pressure to mobilize the military and suppress the unrest.

As the Los Angeles riots disrupted theaters and threatened Get Out’s opening, Kevin urged Warner Bros. to promote the film as a story about discrimination and equal rights. After troops suppressed the unrest, Kevin and the studios announced three days of free Get Out screenings at Warner theaters in Los Angeles.

• Bush ordered fifteen thousand troops to Los Angeles to suppress the riots.
• After Dean warned that the unrest had hurt theater business, Kevin told him to contact Warner Bros. President Jeff Robinov and intensify Get Out’s promotion.
• Kevin and Jeff agreed to emphasize the film’s themes of discrimination and equal rights, while Jeff raised the possibility of an Academy Awards campaign.
• The military suppressed the riots, and Salma Hayek arrived at Kevin’s villa while he was with Jolie.
• After the unrest was brought under control, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. announced three days of free Get Out screenings at Warner Theater Circuit locations in Los Angeles.

Warner Bros. surveyed audiences after Get Out screenings and found that Black viewers strongly praised the film while white viewers rated it less highly. After its opening day earned over $10 million, Warner executives recognized its potential and discussed how to maintain a good relationship with Steve Kevin.

• Ronald surveyed theatergoers and found that Black respondents rated Get Out between S and A and said they would recommend it, while white respondents gave it ratings between A and C.
• Warner investigators brought their survey materials to Warner Pictures, where Jeff Robinov and senior executives reviewed them.
• A staff member reported that Get Out opened in 1,000 theaters with 4,000 large screens and earned $10,820,000 on its first day.
• Warner executives praised Steve Kevin’s record of successful low-budget films and considered how to secure his future cooperation.
• Jeff Robinov concluded that Get Out had untapped potential among Black audiences amid their anger following the Los Angeles riots.

Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema expanded Get Out’s promotion as Kevin celebrated its success and considered building a horror film universe. Kevin received an invitation to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which could boost the film’s audience and his public profile.

• Robinov predicted that Get Out could exceed $100 million in North America, and executives approved more promotion and theater screenings.
• Tom Cruise congratulated Kevin at a party, while he told Nicole Kidman that he hoped to work with Kevin in the future.
• Kevin strengthened ties with his team and planned a horror film universe linking Saw and Get Out, with the eventual goal of acquiring Marvel.
• Warner Bros. promoted Get Out in print media with messages emphasizing its portrayal of discrimination against Black people.
• Dean called Kevin to tell him that The Oprah Winfrey Show had invited him to appear on the program.

Kevin appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote Get Out, and the broadcast helped the film break $20 million at the box office. Meanwhile, MGM president Rett decided to pursue Kevin as a director, accepting responsibility for the risks as the company sought a hit.

• Kevin, Will Smith, and Angelina Jolie appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where Kevin discussed his background and his decision to cast a Black protagonist in Get Out.
• After the show aired, Get Out drew support from Black viewers and white liberals, and its daily box office passed $20 million.
• MGM president Rett proposed inviting Kevin to make a moderately budgeted film despite the company's heavy debts.
• Rett accepted full responsibility for the proposal, and MGM's executives supported his decision.
• Kevin read newspaper messages in which Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Samuel Jackson, and other Black actors supported Get Out.

After Get Out surpassed $100 million at the North American box office, Warner Bros. held a celebration party for its cast and crew. Kevin attended with Jolie, discussed the film’s success with Warner president Jeff Robinov, and was approached by Harvey Weinstein.

• Get Out's North American box office passed $100 million after a week, and Warner Bros. arranged a celebration party.
• Ten days after the film's release, Kevin and Jolie drove from Beverly Hills to the Hollywood party.
• Jolie watched the models around Kevin warily while he spoke with Warner president Jeff Robinov.
• Jeff Robinov congratulated Kevin, and they acknowledged Warner Bros. was the biggest winner from the film's distribution and copyright revenue.
• Harvey Weinstein arrived and congratulated Kevin on Get Out's success.

Harvey Weinstein and MGM president Rett competed to secure Kevin’s next film, offering awards support, funding, and eventually MGM shares. Kevin remained undecided about his next project but was tempted by MGM’s offer of free shares if he continued making films with the studio.

• Harvey Weinstein urged Kevin to work with Miramax, promising help with an Academy Award for Best Director campaign.
• Rett introduced himself as MGM’s president and said MGM could match Miramax’s terms and offer more.
• Kevin politely told Rett that he had not found a project he wanted to make yet, and Harvey left in anger.
• Rett offered Kevin more than thirty million dollars in production funding for his next film, but Kevin said he would contact MGM if he needed funding.
• Rett offered MGM shareholders’ shares to Kevin if his first film with MGM succeeded and he continued signing film deals with the studio.
• Kevin recalled MGM’s possible future bankruptcy and became tempted by the offer.

Kevin agreed to let MGM finance half of his next film, which would cost at least $50 million and would not be a horror movie. As he weighed Warner Bros.' offer against MGM's interest, Kevin saw an opportunity to invest his own money in MGM shares and build influence there.

• Rett gave Kevin a gilded business card after Kevin agreed MGM could take up to half of his next film's investment.
• Jeff Robinov learned that Rett had approached Kevin and hurried to make sure Warner Bros. did not lose him.
• Kasha tried to flirt with Kevin, but he declined while Jolie held his hand.
• Kevin told Jeff that his next film would cost at least $50 million and would not be a horror film.
• Jeff promised Warner Bros. would invest at least 30 percent, while Kevin kept MGM's share offer to himself.
• Kevin planned to use his remaining cash and his next film investment to acquire MGM shares and secure greater benefits from the struggling studio.

Kevin chose Mission: Impossible as his next film project and arranged a meeting with MGM and Warner Bros. to discuss investment. He arrived at the restaurant for the meeting, hoping to secure the rights and make the film.

• After Get Out earned more than $111.85 million in North America, Kevin estimated his profit and began writing a proposal for Mission: Impossible.
• Kevin called MGM president Rett Weinstein and invited him to discuss investing in the new film alongside Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov.
• Rett eagerly accepted the invitation, encouraged by Get Out's success and his desire to work with Kevin.
• Kevin invited Jeff Robinov to the meeting, then told Angelina Jolie she would star in Mission: Impossible 2.
• The next day, Kevin asked Dawson to find him an assistant and a driver who could also act as a bodyguard.
• Kevin arrived at Imperial Royal Feast Pavilion and told a Chinese hostess in Chinese that he had reserved the Heavenly Room.

Kevin proposed an $80 million adaptation of Mission: Impossible to Rett Winchester and Jeff Robinov, who agreed to approach Paramount about the rights. At CAA, Michael Ovitz pressured Dawson to make Kevin accept a comprehensive packaging deal or lose responsibility for him, and Dawson told Kevin about the ultimatum.

• Kevin presented Rett Winchester and Jeff Robinov with his Mission: Impossible proposal and an $80 million budget.
• Kevin explained that they needed Paramount's authorization, and Rett and Jeff agreed to negotiate with Paramount over the first film's rights.
• Michael Ovitz ordered Dawson to persuade Kevin to accept CAA's comprehensive packaging deal within a month or have Kevin assigned to someone else.
• Dawson left CAA and told Kevin about Ovitz's demand when they met outside.

Kevin left CAA and assembled a team for his eighty-million-dollar Mission: Impossible film after Paramount, MGM, and Warner Bros. agreed to fund it. With Yuen Woo-ping and the Yuen Clan joining the production, Kevin chose Angelina Jolie as the female lead.

• Kevin offered Dawson the presidency of his film company, and Dawson agreed to resign from CAA and help Kevin end his agency contract.
• Kevin wrote Mission: Impossible and planned to hire Yuen Woo-ping to oversee its action scenes.
• Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros., and Kevin agreed to invest in the film, with the three studios and Kevin each receiving a share of its revenues while Paramount retained the sequel rights.
• Kevin recruited his USC classmates, hired Bilet as assistant director, and asked Dean to contact Yuen Woo-ping and the Yuen Clan.
• Yuen Woo-ping and the Yuen Clan traveled to Los Angeles, completing Kevin's production team.
• Kevin let the film companies choose most supporting roles and selected Angelina Jolie as the female lead.

Kevin held a high-profile casting call for Mission: Impossible to promote the film, then welcomed Tom Cruise, who asked for the male lead and joined the production for a ten-million-dollar salary. The film’s companies announced the casting and held a press conference before filming, where MGM president Rett defended Kevin’s ability to direct the eighty-million-dollar blockbuster.

• Kevin held a large-scale casting call for Mission: Impossible, and news coverage drew Tom Cruise’s attention after Far and Away failed.
• Cruise told Nicole Kidman he wanted to meet Kevin and pursue the male lead, while declining to secure her a female lead role.
• Cruise visited Kevin’s home and asked to play the lead, and Kevin invited him to audition.
• Cruise joined the Mission: Impossible production for a ten-million-dollar salary, and the film’s companies publicized the casting.
• Kevin attended the film’s start-of-production press conference with Cruise, Angelina Jolie, and supporting actors, while MGM president Rett defended his choice of director.

Kevin directed Mission: Impossible through months of filming in Prague and Hollywood, with the backing of MGM, Paramount, and Warner Bros. After completing the final shot, he thanked the crew and invited them to a party.

• A reporter tried to provoke Rett and then questioned Kevin about alleged affairs with his female leads, while Tom Cruise redirected attention to Mission: Impossible.
• Kevin took the crew to Prague, where the Czech authorities helped close roads for filming and the three studio backers suppressed hostile press coverage.
• Kevin instructed Instructor Yuan to make the fight scenes fast, precise, and ruthless, matching the audience's image of an agent.
• After four months of filming, Kevin returned the crew to Hollywood to shoot the final green-screen scenes, including Cruise's train chase.
• Kevin called cut on Cruise's final shot, thanked the crew, promised bonuses if the film succeeded, and invited everyone to a party.

After filming Mission: Impossible wrapped, Kevin began editing the movie and arranged for Industrial Light & Magic to create its special effects. He left Lucas’s company with the effects deal settled and turned to work on his other films.

• Kevin held a wrap party after four months of filming, and Tom Cruise praised the movie and thanked Kevin for working with him.
• Cruise told Kevin he had joined the upper ranks of a group because they had offered him a high-ranking position.
• Kevin went to MGM to edit Mission: Impossible, while Cruise, Jolie, and the other actors resumed promotional work after several days of rest.
• After completing the first cut and working on the film’s sound and color, Kevin accepted Rett’s recommendation and visited Industrial Light & Magic.
• George Lucas welcomed Kevin as a fellow University of Southern California alumnus, and the two agreed on a two-month schedule for more than a hundred special effects shots.
• Kevin agreed to attend a future USC gathering and left Industrial Light & Magic to work on his other films.

Kevin visited Dawnlight Films and considered how to secure cash from Get Out before investing in MGM. He met seventeen-year-old twin receptionists Alex Helen and Emma, whose hopes of marrying into wealth he firmly rejected.

• Kevin went to Dawnlight Films, which had little business beyond its investment in Mission: Impossible, and reflected that he had spent nearly all his money on the project.
• Kevin planned to collect Get Out’s box-office share from Warner Bros., sell future revenue at a discount, and use the money to buy MGM shares.
• Alex Helen and Emma welcomed Kevin at the front desk, and Helen explained that she and her sister had been hired by their uncle, CEO Dawson.
• Kevin asked Helen about their ages, pay, and education; she said they were seventeen, earned $1,800 each, and could not afford college.
• Helen hinted that she and Emma hoped to marry rich, but Kevin pulled away and wished them luck.