I’m in Hollywood

Firefly announced the True Lies project as early as last year in the process of acquiring Disney, and the media has been following the progress of this matter, and as the True Lies project began to prepare, the media also paid attention to this Hollywood stars such as Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Nicolas Cage, etc., who have been vacant in the project, have all become the rumored male lead candidates. However, many people in the circle know that Firefly's favorite male lead It was Arnold Schwarzenegger, and of course Arnold Schwarzenegger also knew about it. And at the beginning of the year, the two sides had brief contacts.

At that time, Arnold Schwarzenegger's worth was 15 million US dollars, and the other party did not mean to give in at all, and then the double convenience was temporarily delayed. Schwarzenegger's side was not in a hurry, because the box office of his previous films were all Yes, Arnold didn't think that The Last Action Hero would suffer from Waterloo at the time. However, the other party obviously knew the gold content of the movie that Eric personally selected, so he never refused. It seemed that he was just waiting for Firefly to compromise, after all. , Firefly compromised once during the box office negotiations for Terminator 2.

Arnold is not in a hurry, and Firefly is certainly not in a hurry. No one knows the box office prospects of The Last Action Hero better than Eric.

Now that the first week of The Last Action Hero is out at the box office, it's hard for Eric to even imagine Schwarzenegger's current mood.

Just as he was about to reply an email to Firefly's production department, asking the other party to wait another week before restarting the salary negotiation with Arnold, the phone in the room rang.

Eric answered the phone, and a familiar voice came from the receiver: Hi, Eric, I'm Jim.

Eric responded with a smile at the corner of his mouth, and he could almost guess Cameron's intention to make this call. The two sides chatted about Jurassic Park. After talking about the True Lies that Cameron was preparing for a while, Cameron talked about his intention to make this call: Eric, you must know the box office of The Last Action Hero, right?

Yeah, more than 16 million US dollars in the first weekend, this figure is indeed a bit miserable, and the failure of two blockbusters in a row. I think the Germans will calm down for a year or two, and will not throw money into Hollywood easily. And Michael May, I guess Frank Makasso and John Cali haven't taken their seats yet, they will be replaced by Credit Lyon, maybe MGM will enter the auction process again...

Hearing that Eric was still going on, Cameron had to cough twice and interrupted Eric: Eric, we can talk about these things when we have time, I mean. True Lies The male lead, as you said at the beginning, you want Arnold to play.

Eric still had a smile on his lips, but his tone was full of embarrassment: Jim, you were there during the chat, you know I wasn't too optimistic about the project The Last Action Hero\

,"At that time, Arnold's salary was too high, so he wanted to wait for the film to be released before negotiating the salary with Arnold. But I also didn't think of a movie with an investment of more than 80 million US dollars. It only grossed $16 million in its opening weekend, and Jurassic Park cost $75 million to make. Following this trend, The Last Action Hero is estimated to be only around $50 million at the final box office. If this movie was only a minor failure, I wouldn't be too concerned, but Arnold fell too hard this time. In this case, his next movie will definitely be badly viewed by Hollywood collectives. The risk is too great.

Cameron over there listened to Eric, and immediately said: Eric, don't talk nonsense with me, don't think I don't know you, you must be smiling now. Arnold can't contact you, Just call me here, $3 million salary, you can use it or not, don't think about cheating my favor.

The salary of three million US dollars, compared to Arnold's previous worth of 15 million, is completely at the price of cabbage. But if this kind of thing is Eric's turn, it is estimated that he will do the same. Hollywood is very cruel. The total production and distribution cost of The Last Action Hero exceeds 100 million US dollars. Under the current situation, all parties involved in investment and distribution can only recover about 50 million US dollars of investment, although no Two years ago, Cutthroat Island was so tragic, but this level of loss was enough to throw a Hollywood superstar into the dust. The original time and space Kevin Costner was slumped because of that Water World. Hollywood's biggest box-office star has been on the decline, only to end up playing Superman Dad.

Therefore, for the current Arnold, it is very cost-effective to have a chance to turn over and squeeze into the ranks of the first-line superstars once again with a big cabbage price. If you don't seize this opportunity, it is estimated that in the next one or two years, no one will ask him to appear in movies again.

Just as Eric was thinking, Cameron's urging sound rang again on the phone, Eric had no choice but to say: Use, of course I use it, Jim, even if it's for your sake this time, three million three million...

No, I'm just a messenger, you don't have to look at my face.

Uh, okay, Jim, but you know, fireflies are my personal property, not like a rich German consortium that spends an extra 10 to 20 million like pulling a hair out, so you have a little fun this time.

Cameron immediately laughed heartily: Of course there is no problem with this, Eric, you don't know me yet, I will spend every penny on the movie.

Eric scolded for a while, because he knew too much.

The two unscrupulous and black-bellied guys chatted with each other for a while before hanging up.

Eric was about to go back to his desk to continue reading the email when the phone he just put down rang again.

Although it was already night in London, but Los Angeles was still working in the afternoon, Eric was also surprised and picked up the phone again. This time, it was Stan Winston who called, with anxiety in his tone. Eric listened to Stan Winston's words, frowned for a while, and said, Stan, send me a copy of the information, I'll take a look first, if necessary. I'll do it tomorrow morning. Get back as soon as possible.

After something else was said over there, Eric hung up the phone.

This time the phone did not ring again, and half an hour later, Eric received an email from the digital domain.

After opening it for a while, Eric's brows furrowed tightly again.

There is another wave of departures in the digital space.

The last time was when Tornado was released last year, because it saw the huge box office prospects of special effects movies. Several major Hollywood film companies have begun to increase investment in film special effects, and have established their own special effects departments. At the same time, due to market demand, many small special effects companies have emerged in Hollywood, or special effects studios are more appropriate. Some.

However, because Hollywood still underestimated the commercial prospects of special effects movies last year, it did not spend too much money to dig into the corner of the digital field, and the digital field was not affected much. But this year is different. Jurassic Park's record-breaking first week at the box office has greatly stimulated several other major Hollywood studios. In order to catch up with this development trend, the poaching efforts in the digital field this time can only be described at any cost. Not only the computer effects specialists in the digital field, but also the software research team led by Ed Carmore has also received a lot of attention. It had a big impact. In the week that Eric left Los Angeles, the digital field received more than 120 resignation applications. At first, Stan Winston thought it was a repeat of last year's situation. I didn't take it too seriously, and dealt with it completely according to the handling experience of last year. But in the past two days, more and more resignation applications have been received, and Stan Winston can no longer remain calm.

After reading the letter, Eric calmed down some of his anxiety. He first called and asked his assistant to help him arrange the plane for tomorrow morning, and then silently thought about how to deal with this crisis.

Obviously, with the increasing proportion of special effects movies in Hollywood movies. It is conceivable that with the scale of the digital field, even if it is doubled, it is impossible to cover all the special effects projects of Firefly, let alone the broader special effects film market in Hollywood. Since the expansion of the special effects industry cannot be stopped, you can only choose the plan that is most beneficial to you.

And this kind of plan was considered by Eric in the process of establishing the digital domain. He just did not expect that the implementation time of the original plan would be more than three years earlier than he originally expected.

I pondered the details of these things over and over in my heart, and before I knew it, the whole night passed, and when Eric reacted, the window was already lit up.

Look at the time, it's only after five o'clock in the morning.

Anyway, there is enough rest time on the plane, Eric has no intention of making up for sleep. After washing up, he walked out of the hotel room alone to have breakfast in the restaurant, because the plane will not leave until 8:00 London time, and there is nothing to do for the time being. , Eric opened today's newspaper.

The young Hollywood tycoon fell in love with the daughter of the British aristocrat, and the two sides visited the Thames intimately.

On the News of the World, a clear photo was published on the front page. The photo was taken yesterday afternoon when Eric was holding an umbrella for Caroline, and the paparazzi captured it very cleverly. It happened that two people looked at each other. moment. Eric could vaguely remember that at that time, Caroline should be thanking herself, but the newspapers characterized this situation as two people looking at each other affectionately.

Helplessly smiled, Eric suddenly remembered that News of the World is also a newspaper under News Corporation, and it was also the fuse of the famous eavesdropping door in the original time and space.

Putting this aside, Eric suddenly remembered that he had made an appointment with Caroline to continue to visit London today, and now he must not continue. Eric originally wanted to ask the staff of the branch to explain to the girl afterwards, but there was nothing to do right now, and since Caroline lived not too far from here, Eric decided to go there in person. trip.

The manager of the hotel lobby was invited to ask for a car, and Eric directed the driver to drive towards Caroline's residence.

A few minutes later, the car stopped in front of the apartment of Caroline's crew, and Eric just got out of the car when he felt a spotlight flashing nearby. Looking over unexpectedly, only to find that there are paparazzi guarding here.

Eric was about to walk into the apartment indifferently, when he remembered that he didn't know which floor Caroline lived on. Looking at the paparazzi not far away, Eric thought about it and walked over.

Which paparazzi saw Eric walking towards him, without any sign of panic, and greeted Eric with a smile.

Mr. Williams, did you come to pick up Miss Wilson in person so early?

Eric didn't answer, but asked, Which newspaper are you from?

News of the World, the paparazzi added without concealing it, but if there is any breaking news, of course, which one will outbid the other.

Eric smiled and asked, Then do you know which room Caroline lives in?

Room 203 on the second floor, the paparazzi blurted out without hesitation.

Eric thanked him, turned around and walked towards the apartment again. The moment Eric entered the door, he heard a few slight clicks again.

Because it was still early, Eric did not encounter anyone along the somewhat outdated stairs to the second floor.

When he came to the door of 203, Eric knocked lightly on the door, but there was no response. After knocking several times, a somewhat lazy female voice sounded: It's only seven o'clock, who is it?

Eric was surprised when he heard that the girl's voice was not Caroline, but he still said, Hello, miss, I'm Eric Williams. I have something to ask Miss Wilson. Can you open the door?

There was a slightly surprised whisper, and Eric guessed that the other party was observing himself through the cat's eyes, and he did not dodge.

Immediately, the door was pulled open.

A girl in pale blue pajamas appeared in front of him.

Eric saw the girl's face clearly, and his face suddenly showed a look of surprise.

The world is so small.

You... hello, Mr. Williams, please come in, the girl didn't notice the surprise on Eric's face, but let him into the room in a panic, and said, Mr. Williams , sit down, I'll call Caroline to get up, she, she hasn't gotten up yet.

Thank you, Eric nodded and sat down on the sofa: So, I don't know your name yet?

I, my name is Rachel Weisz, Mr. Williams, you can call me Rachel.

Eric smiled and looked at the girl's flustered appearance, nodded and said, Hello, Rachel, you can also call me Eric.

That, of course, yes, Rachel said, smiled at Eric, and went straight into the other room. (To be continued..)

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