The Wolf of Los Angeles.

The next morning, a black bulletproof Mercedes drove towards West Hollywood.

Edward was driving and asked Hawke, "Boss, those bastards from Blackrock will be our long-term enemies from now on. We will destroy any plan they promote."

Hawke couldn’t agree more: “Whatever the enemy wants to do, we oppose.”

At this point, Edward remembered the plan that Hawke had mentioned more than once: "BlackRock's marginalized population plan, starting from Hollywood."

"Let's think of something in Hollywood first." Hawke said simply, "Tom Cruise's production company signed a contract with Eric's studio today, so let's go over there and join in the fun."

As soon as the car bomb exploded in front of Citrus Plaza, it was clear that Blackrock had become Hawke's mortal enemy.

Of course, the more chaotic and divided American society is, the better.

Although with Hawke and Twitter's power, he can only target individuals for the time being, which is far from the extent of defeating BlackRock, it does not prevent him from hindering BlackRock's strategic planning in various ways.

There is no doubt that the marginalized population program is BlackRock’s most important strategy for the future.

Hawke doesn’t remember how the company grew into the behemoth it is in the 2020s, but the strategic plan was certainly one of the driving factors.

No matter from which aspect, he couldn't let the other party implement it smoothly.

Hollywood is the pioneer of this plan, and changes in the entertainment and media industries have led the trend of social change.

BlackRock Film Fund invested in Focus Features' "Brokeback Mountain", and its goal must be the Oscars. Only by winning such a heavyweight award can such a niche film become popular.

Hawke is also thinking about the Oscar game.

In addition, he also sent people to Harvard to find a student named Zuckerberg.

It’s only 2003 now. I wonder if Zuckerberg has established the Facebook website?

During this period, either there is no network or it is still Harvard's campus network.

The Mercedes arrived in West Hollywood and drove directly into the yard of Ethan's film studio.

Hawke got out of the car and Eric was standing on the front steps, waving over here.

Next to him is Tom Cruise in a casual suit.

Seeing Hawke coming, Tom Cruise stepped forward and gave him a hug.

Eric called to go to the reception room to talk.

Hawke sat on the sofa and asked, "Have you officially signed the contract?"

"Just signed the contract." Tom Cruise decided to work with Eric after the first weekend box office of "Dark Night Journey" came out.

The two sides have been discussing this for nearly two months, and now it has officially been put on paper.

Tom Cruise continued, "Cruise and Wagner Films will raise $2000 million to produce Eric's new film. I will play the leading actor. Eric said that the prototype of the leading actor comes from you?"

Hawke said: "Eric helped me for a while when I was a freelance journalist, and then he wrote the script you collaborated on based on his experiences during that time."

Eric answered, "Tommy and I have discussed this project. It is called Nightcrawler."

"That's a very fitting name," Edward interjected. "At that time, most of our news was shot at night."

He asked Eric, "What about my role? Who will play the character based on me? I am the most important supporting role."

Tom Cruise said: "Once the crew is formed, we will recruit actors."

Hawke also read Eric's script and said, "I don't understand filmmaking, but Eric's script is very well written and more interesting than my real experience."

"That's what I like about the script. Eric is a master at character creation and plot design." Tom Cruise praised the director and asked Hawke, "I heard you have special skills and nicknames when you're working?"

Edward took the initiative and said, "My boss is known as the Light Pole God of War!"

Tom Cruise turned his eyes to the window and could see the ten-meter-high lamp posts on the road outside: "Is that what I understood?"

Edward said seriously: "A lamppost god of war in every sense of the word."

Hawke, that bastard, deliberately let Edward brag first before explaining, "The street lamp poles in many places in Los Angeles are relatively high, and it is easier to climb up to take pictures of the situation inside the courtyard."

Tom Cruise suddenly realized: "I will move the street light pole in front of my house!"

“When I’m shooting, that’s reflected in the set design,” Eric said.

Tom Cruise looked at Hawke and said, "You're going to have to teach me how to climb a lamppost."

"No problem." Hawke gestured a few times: "It won't be harder than the running in the movies."

Because the film is based on several real cases in West Coast studios, the four people discussed many issues regarding scene design.

Tom Cruise also specifically asked Hawke for some tips on shooting for freelance journalists.

The topic started with movies, and under Hawke's careful guidance, it gradually turned to the Oscars and award season. Hawke specifically asked Cruise: "Do you have any new plans to impact the Oscars?"

"No, the last failure made me a laughing stock in America." Tom Cruise thought of the Ice Bucket Challenge: "If you hadn't helped me change public opinion, I would be carrying a bad reputation now."

Hawke asked directly: "Does this project have the potential to win an Oscar?"

Tom Cruise thought about it seriously for a while and said, "It doesn't quite conform to the Oscars' aesthetics. After all, those bastards' so-called standards and aesthetics change every session. God can't figure out what they're thinking."

He complained: "When applying for awards, you can't be too active, because if you are too active, they will criticize you for applying for awards just for the sake of applying for awards; you can't be passive, because if you are not active, they will think you lack the spirit of enterprising and don't respect the judges and the academy; you finally get the right position, but they think you are too handsome and your role is too cool..."

This reminded Hawke of the football team on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Tom Cruise complained a bit, then got back to the point and asked Hawke, "Have you ever helped Sarah Parker win a Golden Globe?"

Hawke nodded slightly and said, "During last year's award season, I served as Sarah Parker's award consultant. Fortunately, Sarah Parker got the award she wanted."

Regardless of previous hearsay or actual benefits from the Ice Bucket Challenge, Tom Cruise has personally experienced Hawke's ability in business strategy planning.

It is no exaggeration to say that public opinion is being manipulated.

Originally, after Tom Cruise failed to win an Oscar this year, he became much less interested in the Oscars.

But after talking with Hawke, his mind started to become active again.

Looking around Hollywood, how many people can ignore the existence of the Oscars?

Tom Cruise has money and resources, but what he lacks is an Oscar. He directly invited Hawke: "You know enough about the project Nightcrawler. The film is expected to be released in the second half of next year. Please make an Oscar strategy for the project, and then we can join forces again and strive for an Oscar."

Eric was a little excited. After all, he is the screenwriter and director of this film: "The project is adapted from some of Hawke's personal experiences. Looking at the whole of Los Angeles, no! Looking at the whole of the United States, no one is more suitable than Hawke to formulate an Oscar strategy for the project!"

Tom Cruise has always been very straightforward when it comes to money: "Once the crew is formed and a formal contract is signed between the crew and your studio, the fee will be at the highest standard in the industry."

"No problem." Hawke came here to borrow the resources from Tom Cruise.

Even if the Oscars don't like Tom Cruise, as one of the top three or four people, the resources he can mobilize in Hollywood are far beyond what a newcomer like Eric can achieve.

Hawke's real purpose was to use Tom Cruise to attack "Brokeback Mountain".

Monsters like LGBTQ are indeed the general trend of development in Hollywood and the entire entertainment industry, which in turn triggers social trends that are difficult to resist with individual power.

But Hawke still wanted to give it a try, at least to make BlackRock's strategic planning not so smooth at the beginning.

The progress of "Brokeback Mountain" is that the project has just been established, which is similar to that of Eric Eason.

Hawke believes that it is very difficult to get a movie to win an Oscar, but there are many ways to prevent a movie from winning.

He is best at holding things back and messing things up.

After finalizing their collaboration at the Oscars, Tom Cruise turned the topic to the ice bucket challenge that is still going on on Twitter.

"Currently, we have raised 3857 million US dollars." He did not intend to use this money: "Next week, I will let the charity foundation establish relations with two more medical institutions."

"The White House should give you the Presidential Medal of Freedom," Hawke said.

Tom Cruise emphasized: "It should be us."

He changed the subject: “Remember what you mentioned to me last time?”

Hawke had been through a lot lately and had forgotten about it a long time ago.

Tom Cruise reminded: "Someone had an accident during the Ice Bucket Challenge, and it was also related to school bullying. At first, I thought it was an accident and didn't pay much attention to it. Later, similar news appeared on Twitter and other online media, and some media even attacked the Ice Bucket Challenge..."

Eric also paid attention: "It seems that a group of firefighters were electrocuted because of the Ice Bucket Challenge, which delayed the firefighting operation. Some people criticized the Ice Bucket Challenge for wasting water resources, which attracted a lot of protests from environmentalists."

Hawke has been so busy dealing with the BlackRock incident recently that he really hasn't paid attention to these things.

But he was experienced and immediately sensed something fishy: "Someone is pushing this behind the scenes, right?"

Tom Cruise replied: "I have asked someone to check and there is indeed someone pushing this behind the scenes."

At this point, he left the question unanswered: "Do you know who it is?"

Hawke's first reaction: "Pat Kingsley?"

"Not her." Tom Cruise said a name that was not surprising: "Nicole Kidman."

Edward suddenly sighed: "Ex-wives are really scary creatures."

Eric glanced at the Savior and thought about his own situation.

As for things like marriage, let’s wait and see.

Hawke said to Tom Cruise: "Your ex-wife really doesn't want you to live comfortably." (End of this chapter)