Chapter Summaries

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.