Read Online What Just Happened? by Art Linson - Free Book Online Page B

movie.’
    â€˜Pay to play.’
    â€˜But if he doesn’t read it, he’ll never know what he might miss.’
    â€˜Fifteen million against fifteen percent of the gross.’
    â€˜Okay, I’ll talk to Bill.’
    â€˜By the way, Alan Alda is looking for something good, I can give it to him to read.’
    â€˜Gee, thanks, let me talk to Mechanic.’
    Dustin Hoffman, with all of his past greatness, was now, as they say,
reading
. This euphemism means that he is willing to look at scripts without a firm offer, and if he is interested, he is willing to meet with the producer and the director. This is particularly good news for the studio, especially if the actor loves the script and the studio has yet to commit. The leverage builds logarithmically in their favor. If the executives at Fox agree to make the movie, they may be able to reduce the actor’s price because they already know that he loves the script. Actors are like everyone else: When they want something they might not get, they often want it more. If Mechanic et al decide not to make the movie, even if the actor is begging, they lose nothing and can make some apology for the inconvenience. The agent then gets the horror call: ‘What kind of dickhead agent would send me a script that the studio won’t make even if I liked it.’ ‘But … but, Dusty … but …’ That’s why agents are very, very careful how they distribute the material to their top clients. Since the studio heads don’t know exactly what the total cost of the film is going to be, they are equally reluctant to expose themselves. It’s the catch-22 of packaging, with the producer hopelessly in the middle, staring wide-eyed into space, having as much control over the situation as a busboy at Spago’s.
    Back in Dustin’s office, another two hours had passed. We were in the middle of a lox-and-bagel lunch, and we had still not discussed the Mamet script. It’s not that Dustin was avoiding it,he just seemed to have a lot of tangential interests. We talked about sports, current events, diet, religion. He even gave Lee and me some literature on a new rabbi who had captured his imagination. Occasionally, he would glance at my ankles.
    Being the restless type, I was hoping to make a frontal assault. I kept looking at him, thinking, ‘Fuck me. We’re gonna die here. Are you gonna make this sucker or not?’ But producers are not known for raw courage. All that I could muster was an occasional ‘That is
so
interesting.’ ‘Really.’ ‘Gosh, I feel the same way, don’t you, Lee?’ Self-loathing was starting to creep in, and I decided to leave the meeting, hoping that in my absence they would begin to address the script. As I politely rose and told them I had had no idea this was going to be such a time-consuming first discussion, blah blah blah, I suggested that perhaps they could carry on without me. I glanced at Lee, with a stunned, wide-eyed signal: ‘Try and wrap him up, please.’ Lee looked at me as if to say, ‘I’m from New Zealand, don’t leave me here alone.’ Clearly, we both had the sinking feeling that this exercise was sliding into the toilet.
    When I was in the elevator, it occurred to me that Dustin had made one reference to the script about an hour earlier. He had said
Bookworm
reminded him of
Straw Dogs
. Since that Peckinpah movie was one of my favorites and since Dustin was so fine in it, I took this to be a good thing. Wrong. He’d done this part already! Of course! Bookish guy with a pretty, seductive wife having to rise to the occasion when the going got brutal. Dustin’s a rich man. Why would he ever do the same part again? Perhaps Lee didn’t know it yet, but it was time to look for someone else. Let’s go back to the list. We could spend the next six months having nice chats with Dustin, but when the time came to put the chips