Chapter Summaries

Kevin discussed a future project with Jeff Robinov and Ovitz, then learned New Line Cinema wanted to buy the sequel rights to Saw. He arrived for negotiations as Shaye planned to have Dean begin the talks before stepping in.

• Kevin told Jeff Robinov he would discuss a new project after Saw finished its run, and Jeff left the party with Ovitz.
• Kevin left the party with Angelina Jolie, and they spent the night together.
• Dawson told Kevin that New Line Cinema president Shaye wanted to negotiate for Saw’s sequel rights; Kevin arranged a meeting and asked for a legal adviser.
• Kevin told Jolie that he held the sequel rights and that New Line Cinema wanted to buy them outright, then went to lunch and headed to the studio.
• Shaye berated Dean for letting Kevin keep the sequel rights and instructed him to start the negotiations before Shaye joined.

Kevin negotiated with New Line Cinema to sell the Saw sequel rights for $30 million, including two scripts and his promotional support. After Shaye agreed, they also discussed New Line backing Kevin’s next film while sharing distribution with another studio.

• Kevin demanded $30 million for the Saw sequel rights and offered two scripts, a producer credit, and promotional support.
• Dawson questioned whether New Line would accept the price, and Kevin said he could sell the rights to another company if they refused.
• Shaye agreed that New Line Cinema would buy the Saw sequel rights for $30 million.
• Shaye offered to finance Kevin’s next project with Kevin controlling the cast and production decisions.
• Kevin suggested sharing the next film with another strong studio to secure a better release window and more screens, and Shaye agreed.

After a news report about the Rodney King incident reminded Kevin of the coming Los Angeles Riots, he chose Get Out as his next film, hoping to appeal to Black audiences and win awards. He later sold the follow-up Saw script to New Line Cinema and received more than $29 million after deductions.

• Kevin returned to the hotel, where Angelina Jolie was waiting for him, and a report on the Rodney King incident caught his attention.
• Kevin recalled that the officers involved would be acquitted the following year, sparking the Los Angeles Riots, and saw an opportunity to make a film that would resonate with Black audiences.
• Kevin abandoned his original project and settled on Get Out, believing it could succeed at the box office and contend for awards.
• Kevin and Jolie became intimate after he told her his decision.
• Kevin brought New Line Cinema the follow-up Saw script with detailed storyboarding instructions and finalized a deal for the rights.
• New Line Cinema transferred $31 million to Kevin, leaving him with more than $29 million after CAA's fee and his advance; Dean reminded him to pay taxes.

Kevin asked Dawson to establish Dawnlight Pictures and then went house hunting with Jolie in Beverly Hills. After choosing a villa near Tom Cruise and Nicolas Cage, Kevin and Jolie went with Litt to inspect it.

• Kevin told Dawson to register Dawnlight Pictures and design a logo for the company.
• Kevin returned to the hotel and asked Jolie to look at houses with him.
• Kevin decided Beverly Hills was a worthwhile place to buy property and visited a real estate agency with Jolie.
• Litt showed Kevin and Jolie a model of Beverly Hills and introduced its properties.
• Kevin chose a villa listed for more than six million dollars, and Litt drove him and Jolie to inspect it.

Kevin bought a Beverly Hills villa and moved in with Jolie, then finished the project proposal and script for Get Out. Jolie asked whether she would play the female lead, leaving Kevin's answer unresolved.

• Litt showed Kevin and Jolie a villa in Beverly Hills, and Kevin decided to buy it.
• Two days later, Kevin completed the purchase for nearly seven million dollars and moved into the villa with Jolie.
• Saw finished its North American theatrical run with a box office total of 86.52 million dollars, and Shaye chose Warner Bros. to handle overseas distribution.
• Kevin finished the proposal and script for Get Out after settling into the villa.
• Jolie asked Kevin whether she would play the female lead, but he had not yet answered.

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.