The Wolf of Los Angeles.

This year's Oscars ceremony, centered around the Kodak Theatre and extending to the intersection of Hollywood Walk of Fame and Highland Street, became a scene of bizarre and fantastical carnival.

Tens of thousands of people gathered near the Kodak Theatre from the morning onwards, holding up Philippe's posters.

A statue of Philippe was moved to the very center of attention directly opposite the Kodak Theatre.

Even after death, if a person has made contributions to a certain field, they will always receive various preferential treatments.

For example, in the past few months, Warner Bros. has been frantically using Heath Ledger's unexpected death to market "The Dark Knight".

In an instant, Heath Ledger was hailed as the greatest hero.

"I have a feeling that if 'Philip' doesn't win the Best Picture Oscar, the Kodak Theatre will be torn down by these monsters."

Inside the Brentwood villa, Megan Taylor poured a glass of wine, placed it in front of Hawke, glanced at the live broadcast on the television, and said, "To preserve the reputation of the Oscars, those old men at the Academy who know a lot about social trends will make a smart choice."

Hawke said in a serious tone, "First of all, 'Philip' is very well made, and its quality and reputation are guaranteed."

Even though this film has been in theaters for three months, it still maintains a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.9 rating on IMDb.

Caroline peeled a nut, popped it into Hawke's mouth, and said, "Director Eric is exceptionally capable; I never expected him to achieve this much this year."

Megan leaned over and opened her mouth: "Ah..."

"Peel it yourself if you want to eat it." Caroline grabbed two of Hawke's fingers and shoved them into his hand.

Megan was momentarily speechless, her eyes widening instinctively as she looked up at Hawke.

Caroline brought over a bottle of wine and poured it for the three of them.

Megan shook off Hawke's hand: "This illustrates a point: there are many talented people, but very few actually get the opportunities."

Hawke raised his glass and said, "It's time to begin."

Megan clinked glasses with him and said deliberately, "I hope to see a monster riot that destroys the Kodak Theatre in one fell swoop."

Caroline retorted, "Then Hawke's plan will fail."

"You lackey!" Megan had specifically looked into what this word meant: "You only know how to flatter your boss."

Caroline bared her little fangs: "You're wrong, I'm not a lackey, I'm a lamb's leg."

Megan shoved Hawke toward her: "Look at your loyal lamb leg, aren't you going to give him some milk as a reward?"

Hawke had accumulated quite a bit and said with a smile, "Take it if you want."

Caroline slid off the sofa automatically.

Seeing that Lamb Leg was about to snatch all the rewards by himself, Megan was not to be outdone and joined in.

As for the Oscars ceremony that was just beginning, the three of them temporarily put it out of their minds.

The Hollywood Bowl features a large screen on stage for live streaming, with tens of thousands of people seated below.

These people, dressed in brightly colored clothes and wearing various wigs, would erupt in thunderous cheers whenever Philippe won an Oscar.

The Philippe crew considered every Oscar they won a tremendous honor.

Sitting in the Kodak Theater, Tom Cruise, representing the investors, and Roger Keane of the West Coast Investment Fund never stopped smiling.

The production team won four Oscars in a row: Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.

Although the production team lost the Best Supporting Actress and Best Actor awards, they hadn't invested any resources in those anyway.

Inside the villa, the battle had just ended, and Hawke turned around to see the penultimate awards ceremony.

Caroline wiped her mouth and said, "Eric is coming up on stage; he's the presenter."

Hawke stood up and leaned back on the sofa: "An award presenter can't present an award to themselves."

As mentioned before, Hollywood has never had a director win the Oscar twice in a row, and Eric is no exception. As the winner of the previous year's Best Director award, he presented this year's Best Director Oscar to the Coen brothers tonight.

Megan reminded him, "This is the last award."

The only remaining question was Best Picture, and Steve Nutter walked onto the Oscar stage.

A living saint of America, and a leading figure in the LGBTQ movement.

Caroline said, "It seems Tom Emer didn't succeed."

Hawke, who knew the details, simply said, "Those old men at the film academy aren't as thick-skinned as politicians. They declined Tom Emmer's offer to present the Best Picture award, but since Tom Emmer recommended Steve, they didn't refuse."

Megan, draped in her coat, said, "The Oscars' influence is declining year by year. Steve has unparalleled fame across the United States. Having him as a presenter will at least boost the ratings."

Caroline nodded: "This is a very real problem. Ratings will affect Oscar advertising and sponsorships, directly reducing Academy revenue."

Hawke laughed heartily: "In the end, all you're doing is calculating economics."

“That’s true.” Caroline laughed as well.

Megan patted the two of them, gesturing for them to look at the television.

In the video, Steve Nutter delivers a special message commemorating Philippe and praising the LGBTQ movement, then looks at the large screen behind him and reads out the nominees: "The nominees for Best Picture are No Country for Old Men, Philippe, There Will Be Blood, Atonement, and Michael Crichton."

He deftly tore open the envelope, took out the card, and read aloud: "The Best Picture is 'Philippe'!"

In the film crew's group photo, Tom Cruise and Eric Ethan high-fived each other, while the square-faced Kathleen Lightning wore a warm smile.

But none of the three were particularly excited, because they had just won this award last year.

Taking it again, it just felt the same.

Perhaps there's another point they've all realized: the Oscars and the Academy will bow to the tide.

There's an even more sophisticated way to campaign for the Oscars.

Finally, producer Kathryn and Tom Cruise led the entire crew onto the stage to receive the Best Picture Oscar.

Inside the villa, Hawke, now dressed, raised his glass and said to his two female companions, "Now we can toast to celebrate."

Megan and Caroline clinked glasses with him, and he said, "We should celebrate in advance."

Hawke cautioned, "Our principle is never to celebrate prematurely."

The three of them drank their drinks, and Caroline said, "Okay, whatever you say."

Megan asked, "Is there a next film in the works?"

"Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible series," Hawke said simply. "While he's still young, able to run, jump, and fight, let's make a few more. When he gets older, he won't be able to keep up with the pace of these kinds of films."

Caroline's mind wandered: "How about we invest in a movie, you play the male lead, and Megan and I play the female leads..."

Hawke thought about it seriously for a moment and said, "Great idea! How about we start filming tonight?"

He looked at Megan: "I remember you have a camera? Take it out and I'll be the director."

“Sure,” Megan asked with interest. “What kind of story do you want to write?” Caroline flashed a pair of small fangs. “A strange story about sheep and humans, of course.”

Megan took out the camera.

A peculiar scene began to be filmed, but towards the end of filming, Hawke received a phone call.

Tom Cruise called: "Hawk, I'm throwing a huge party in Beverly Hills, when are you coming?"

Hawke tried to keep his tone steady: "I'll be there soon."

Meanwhile, Tom Cruise left the "Oscars Night" party with a large group of people and headed straight for his mansion.

Two weeks ago, when Steve received the invitation to be an Oscar presenter, he began preparing for tonight's celebration party.

The film that Tom Cruise co-produced won Best Picture at two consecutive Oscars, a feat that even Harvey Weinstein's involvement couldn't match.

Too many people showed up uninvited at the party.

Besides Hollywood A-list star Tom Cruise, these people also surrounded Eric Ethan, inquiring about his new project.

Although Eric didn't win Best Director at this year's Oscars, his film "Philip" won Best Picture, which is enough to firmly establish him as one of Hollywood's top directors.

Not only were many actors vying for Eric's attention, but even many film company bosses came to discuss new projects with him.

When Hawke arrived, Eric was chatting with several Warner Bros. executives.

Warner Bros. remains the top-performing film company in Hollywood, and its strength should not be underestimated.

After the others left, Hawke strode over, bumped fists with Eric, and said with a smile, "Hey buddy, congratulations on winning another Best Picture Oscar."

Eric said, "You've always been the one guiding me."

Hawke said, "First and foremost, you have the ability."

Eric then said, "Boss, there's something I'd like to ask for your advice on."

Hawke nodded: "Go on."

“Just now, several executives from Warner Bros. and DC Comics came to see me.” Eric gestured to the three people in the distance and said, “They want to invite me to direct a DC comic book adaptation.”

Hearing this, Hawke became more serious and asked, "Is it a superhero movie?"

Eric spoke his mind: "Marvel has Spider-Man, DC has Batman, and then Marvel made Iron Man. Although it hasn't been released yet, it has received very good reviews after several test screenings. DC felt the pressure and is preparing to adapt its Green Lantern into a movie."

Hawke had seen the film and knew a bit about DC, so he said directly, "I've heard that Warner Bros.' internal management is rather chaotic, and executives especially like to interfere in the specific affairs of the production team. From Warner Bros. to DC Comics, they all send people into the production team..."

"This is terrible." Eric's face changed.

The success of his films is largely due to the fact that the investors and producers never interfered arbitrarily.

The investors are mainly Malaysians and Arabs, and their nature is quite similar to that of the coal bosses across the Pacific, who believe that professional matters should be left to professionals.

The daily management of the film crew was handled by Catherine, a woman with a square face.

As for Hawke and Tom Cruise, the latter doesn't act recklessly because of the former.

Hawke was telling the truth: "The infighting within Warner is very intense. The people who support you today may be out of office next month. When someone comes to power, the first thing they do is eliminate their opponents."

Eric made the decision without difficulty: "I'm going on vacation and won't be working with Warner Bros. We'll continue after my break."

Hawke casually asked, "Have you found a suitable subject?"

Eric laughed: "I'm planning to take a trip across America this vacation to find suitable material."

He paused for a moment, then said, "I've been following the Sugar Baby website lately. Some of the Sugar Baby stories on there are very suitable for being adapted into a movie."

Hawke is the controlling shareholder of the Sugarball website. From a publicity perspective, making a movie would also be beneficial. He said, "Sugarball has business dealings with Twitter. If you need first-hand information, you can contact Savior."

“Okay,” Eric replied, then suddenly fixed his gaze intently on Hawke.

When that artistic gaze turned in his direction, Hawke suddenly felt pressured, not for any other reason than the artistic air about Eric.

He's still the type of submissive character with a melancholy air.

Hawke asked, "What are your thoughts now?"

Eric scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed: "Actually, there's a subject that's more suitable for being adapted into a movie, and it could be a huge hit, winning another Oscar wouldn't be a problem."

Hawke understood: "You're not thinking of making a movie about me, are you?"

“That’s something we’ve considered.” Eric was clearly not joking; he said with unusual seriousness, “You’re a legend, a true legend. Rising from humble beginnings to where you are now, every step of your journey is a modern urban epic, and any filming it would be incredibly compelling, absolutely captivating hundreds of millions of viewers across America…”

Hawke waved his hand: "This kind of biographical film may be made in the future, but not now. I'm still on my way, and I'm very, very far from a high position."

Eric couldn't force Hawke, nor could he, so he said, "If you ever want to make a film, you must let me direct it."

Hawke laughed and said, "Of course I'll choose you. Besides you, what other director understands my mother as well as you do? So, you're the only director I can choose."

Eric said, "I promise you, I will make a masterpiece for you."

Previously, he lacked confidence and was not qualified to say such a thing.

It's different now.

Hawke patted his arm and went elsewhere.

Tom Cruise was very excited and was talking to many people.

Now his career is at its peak, and not only Paramount Pictures, which he used to work with, but even Disney and Warner Bros. sent executives to attend this celebration party.

On the Disney side, Chairman Robert Iger came in person.

Iger spoke with Hawke for a few minutes, saying, "Disney has established a diversity department specifically responsible for adding appropriate LGBTQ elements to its various works."

The explosive growth of the diversity movement and the huge success of "Philip" have influenced every aspect of Hollywood.

This film has not only swept the critical acclaim and awards, but has also grossed $2.32 million at the North American box office.

Including overseas box office revenue, the global box office has exceeded $4 million.

Hawke knew very well that sports and awards were all meaningless; making money was what truly mattered.

Disney previously said it would promote a diversity plan, but among its films, only "Tangled" made a tentative change.

When the commercial success of "Philip" became a reality, Disney truly made up its mind.

Hawke said, "The Disney I know has always been a symbol of freedom and progress, leading the world's film culture trends, which is closely related to your bold reforms and support for social movements."

Iger smiled shyly: "Disney has encountered many difficulties over the years. Since I took office, I have been trying to turn the tide and have led Disney to make many changes, such as the acquisition of Pixar Studios and the upcoming establishment of diversified departments."

The two discussed this matter last year, and he specifically explained, "Large companies like Disney need to be cautious and take things slowly when it comes to reforms, so..."

Hawke nodded. "I understand." (End of Chapter)