
The Men Who Would Be King
An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Hoye
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By:
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Nicole LaPorte
About this listen
For 60 years, since the birth of United Artists, the studio landscape was unchanged. Then came Hollywood’s Circus Maximus---created by director Steven Spielberg, billionaire David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, who gave the world The Lion King---an entertainment empire called DreamWorks. Now Nicole LaPorte, who covered the company for Variety, goes behind the hype to reveal for the first time the delicious truth of what happened.
Audiences will feel they are part of the creative calamities of moviemaking as LaPorte's fly-on-the-wall detail shows us Hollywood's bizarre rules of business. We see the clashes between the often otherworldly Spielberg's troops and Katzenberg's warriors, the debacles and disasters, but also the Oscar-winning triumphs, including Saving Private Ryan. We watch as the studio burns through billions, its rich owners get richer, and everybody else suffers. We see Geffen seducing investors like Microsoft's Paul Allen, showing his steel against CAA's Michael Ovitz, and staging fireworks during negotiations with Paramount and Disney. Here is Hollywood, up close, glamorous, and gritty.
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Pandora's Box
- How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV
- By: Peter Biskind
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Instead of focusing on one service, like HBO, Pandora’s Box asks, “What did HBO do, besides give us The Sopranos?” The answer: It gave us a revolution. Biskind bites off a big chunk of entertainment history, following HBO from its birth into maturity, moving on to the basic cablers like FX and AMC, and ending up with the streamers and their wars, pitting Netflix against Amazon Prime Video, Max, and the killer pluses—Disney, Apple TV, and Paramount.
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The rise and fall of peak TV
- By AlexBenBlock on 02-16-24
By: Peter Biskind
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The Ride of a Lifetime
- Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
- By: Robert Iger
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione, Robert Iger
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. Competition was more intense than ever, and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company’s history. His vision came down to three clear ideas: Recommit to the concept that quality matters, embrace technology instead of fighting it, and think bigger - think global - and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets.
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Joins “Shoe Dog” as required biographies.
- By Matt S. on 01-02-20
By: Robert Iger
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Live from New York
- The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests
- By: James Andrew Miller, Tom Shales
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine, Paul Woodson
- Length: 28 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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When first published to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, Live from New York was immediately proclaimed the best book ever produced on the landmark and legendary late-night show. In their own words, unfiltered and uncensored, a dazzling galaxy of trail-blazing talents recalled three turbulent decades of on-camera antics and off-camera escapades.
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The First Forty Years ... and Counting
- By Dubi on 10-21-18
By: James Andrew Miller, and others
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Never Enough
- From Barista to Billionaire
- By: Andrew Wilkinson
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Once a barista in a small cafe making $6.50 an hour, Andrew Wilkinson built a business valued at over a billion dollars by the time he was 36—and yet, his path to success was anything but a straight line. In Never Enough, Wilkinson pulls back the curtain on the lives of the ultra-rich, sharing insights into building a successful business that has been called a “Berkshire Hathaway, but for internet companies,” and a surprising first-person account of what it's actually like to become a billionaire.
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Fire Your Ghostwriter
- By Leah C. Day on 08-22-24
By: Andrew Wilkinson
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Lorne
- The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live
- By: Susan Morrison
- Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio, Susan Morrison
- Length: 22 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world. He’s a tastemaker, a mogul, a withholding father figure, a genius spotter of talent, a shrewd businessman, a name-dropper, a raconteur, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the winner of more than a hundred Emmys—and, essentially, a mystery. Generations of writers and performers have spent their lives trying to figure him out, by turns demonizing and lionizing him.
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Great read but several weird mispronunciations
- By Larry Carlat on 02-20-25
By: Susan Morrison
What listeners say about The Men Who Would Be King
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- Seth Brady
- 02-10-17
The inside scoop on the Dreamworks hype machine
What did you love best about The Men Who Would Be King?
Culled from over 200 sources, many of them anonymous for fear of retribution, and with no official sanction from the three founding members, the writer had her work cut out for her in piecing together the story behind the story.
You'll hear about Oscar wins (American Beauty) on-set drama (Gladiator) and box office wins (Shrek) misses (The Island) and complete disasters (The Road to El Dorado). You'll also get to know some of the characters surrounding the three kings, along with the personal vendettas and the agendas that drove the company’s early days and sophomore efforts. And like any good drama, there's a clash of cultures, from the initial grouping of Amblin plus Disney employees and their clashing work styles to the organ transplant reject analogy used to describe when the DreamWorks live action business was acquired by Paramount (and then subsequently sold off).
I remember the early days of DreamWorks, and some of the hype surrounding it. Not just the three personalities behind the endeavor, but some of the failed attempts like the Playa Vista studio and the short-lived Sega partnership to create Gameworks arcade chains.
The author did a fabulous job taking us from the inception of the idea, through the early days, and highlighting some of major the struggles they encountered along the way, from films, to financing, to navigating some of the most complex and politically charged business climates in the US.
In addition to some great anecdotes, the author really tries to humanize these three mysterious, almost mythical three men. You’ll glean some insights into their hopes, dreams, squabbling, darker sides, and more. From the early days of the founding to the splintered ending, you'll get a great front row seat to some of the activities and craziness surrounding the formation of a one-time supposed entertainment giants that never quite lived up to its expectations of becoming different than all the other studios surrounding them.
And in the end, this book begs three questions:
Why did these three guys start this studio in the first place?
What would each of them have said if they could've been quoted for this book?
And given where their partnership (both personal and professional) finally ended, money aside, can it be said that any of them truly lived happily ever after?
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- Richard
- 07-15-10
Fascinating, even-handed
Well worth reading/listening to. I had expected it to be a negative slant on the founders. Overall, though, I found the book quite even-handed, talking about both good and bad aspects of the people and personalities. Narrator is top notch.
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5 people found this helpful
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- James M. Patton
- 11-20-16
You do learn the story of Dreamworks, however....
Would you consider the audio edition of The Men Who Would Be King to be better than the print version?
Never read the print version and not sure why Audible does such leading questions, but here is my review: You do learn about Dreamworks from beginning to end and why it did not succeed as well as one might expect considering who made up the SKG beneath the name, but the presentation was a bit robotic. Maybe it would be hard to make this material less robotic, but if you've read a great book like one read by Rob Lowe, you know it is possible to be discussing just about anything and have a better time doing it than was presented here. Glad I listened and it is passable, but could have been better.
What other book might you compare The Men Who Would Be King to and why?
"Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads"... the story of the Back To The Future Trilogy. Some of the same players, some of the same stories, but done better.
What three words best describe Stephen Hoye’s voice?
I'm a writer so I never use 3 words for anything... but I will say his voice is not the best that I have sat through.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. I listen to most of my books while driving, showering, etc and was glad at times to get away from it. I rarely feel that way but at times just wanted to get it done.
Any additional comments?
You really do learn the beginning to almost present day of Dreamworks SKG and why it didn't hit on all cylinders. A good book if that story is one you want to know.
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- Pete Njagi
- 12-06-23
Really deep story into the formations of DreamWorks
I really liked how the book delved deep into the lore and history that made DreamWorks. This book was interesting and kept me reading/listening the whole time, although I wonder how accurate some of these events were. None the less, very informative
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- Only Living Boy In
- 09-17-16
Thorough and informative
I doubt that in one place you will be able to find as much information about DreamWorks and the people involved there as in this book. The research seems copious, and though one suspects whether all of it is true, the overall impression is you've learned a great deal about one of the most interesting companies in recent Hollywood history.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Tom Peeler
- 09-22-22
Great History, Sometimes Hilarious Narration
A great movie-history listen. Couldn't help but laugh on occasion when the incredibly well-read, excellently composed narrator would mis-pronouce well known names (Shee-ya LaBeouf. Tay-mon and Pumba). Anyway, good book!
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- captquint1214
- 08-27-24
Incredible
Absolutely fascinating from start to finish. This is a must listen for anyone interested in Hollywood behind-the-scenes stories.
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- CJ
- 04-12-18
Spielberg is a entitled man-child
Would you consider the audio edition of The Men Who Would Be King to be better than the print version?
I have not read it
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Men Who Would Be King?
Finding out what an entitled man-child Steven Spielberg is I know Hollywood is full of fake entitled people it shocked me to the extent Steven Spielberg is
What about Stephen Hoye’s performance did you like?
I enjoyed the Narrator
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
when the people who left and sold Microsft stock to work for Dream Works but Lost their Jobs and did not have the stock anymore as well
Any additional comments?
if you want to know how the sausage was made at the very end of old Hollywood this is your book THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY
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- Brady Petrik
- 08-07-18
Stephen Hoye is the man you need in your ears
I hope Stephen Hoye is able to speak at my wedding, my funeral, and the birth of every one of my children. His voice is like warm molasses slithering down your ears.
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- Kbp2003
- 05-30-18
Excited to find more books like this
I’m a huge movie fan and always am interested in what goes on behind the scenes. I’ve been a lover of most of DreamWorks catalog and think Spielberg’s films are among the greatest ever made, so this was exactly what I hoped it would be. A lot of depth and a good narrator were icing on the cake.
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