AN AUDIENCE WITH producer Jerry Bruckheimer proves an intimidating affair. Put it down to the non-nonsense, take-no-prisoners reputation that precedes him. Or the figures thrown at you by his publicity staff (his films have reaped about US$12.5 billion in box office takings ... and counting). But you can't escape the sense of awe that surrounds the man as you're ushered through the doors of the conference room set aside for interviews.
And there he is, sitting front and centre in a stylish dark-blue shirt and black suit, the designer stubble that covers his chin a gentle reminder that this is a man who cut his teeth in the heady film world of the 1980s, when face fur was as de rigueur as canvas shoes without socks. The term 'Hollywood player' should be there, writ large, on his business card.
The 59-year-old Bruckheimer is in Taipei as part of a world tour to promote his latest offering, the Nicolas Cage headlined National Treasure - a film that has so far taken almost US$200 million worldwide. Heady figures, but the kind of numbers that are almost expected from the man who has brought the world such box-office toppers as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (US$654 million) and Armageddon (US$554 million).
Bruckheimer worked his way up the Tinseltown tree after a career in advertising in the early 1970s. He worked on scripts and as associate producer on a few nondescript and forgotten films until the Richard Gere vehicle American Gigolo in 1980 took US$22 million and started spreading the Bruckheimer name around town.
'When I was a kid, I was always the kind of person who liked to listen to stories,' Bruckheimer says, softly. 'I wasn't a story teller. Adventure books, adventures TV series - I was brought up on those kinds of things.'
His mid-80s partnership with long-time friend Don Simpson set the template for an era - Flashdance (1983), Beverley Hills Cop (1984) and Top Gun (1986) - took them to the top of that tree. Simpson's long battle with drugs took its toll, however, and their partnership was dissolved shortly before his death due to heart failure in 1996. That was the year of The Rock, their last collaboration. It also marked Cage's successful transition from quirky outsider to bone fide action hero - making him an international star.
