I am Hollywood

Chapter 33: Taking Initiative



[Chapter 33: Taking Initiative]n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The next day, the fallout from the incident continued to escalate. Most newspapers condemned Columbia Pictures, and for some reason, they redirected their anger toward Columbia's parent company, Coca-Cola, starting to criticize its management strategies for Columbia. After all, the past few years had seen Columbia's performances hit rock bottom. Initially, Coca-Cola shrugged off this "minor issue."

To everyone's surprise, after the stock market opened that day, Coca-Cola's stock, which had always been stable, plummeted by 1.7%. While this might seem negligible, multiplying it by the company's tens of billions in market value made it a significant concern.

Coca-Cola's COO, Donald Keough, unleashed a tirade against Cohen Blount over the phone, demanding that Cohen quickly resolve the issue, or else he'd be ousted as president of Columbia.

Under the pressure from Coca-Cola's headquarters, at ten in the morning, Cohen personally called a press conference at Columbia, where he offered a subtle apology to Eric and promised to take the contractual agreement seriously moving forward.

...

Naturally, upon hearing the news, Eric was keen to avoid making things worse. He immediately had his personal lawyer, Edward Lewis, publish a statement of understanding in the Los Angeles Times. Just as this storm began to brew, it quickly died down.

Perhaps because of this breach of contract incident, Home Alone, which would typically experience a decline in its second week, shockingly saw its box office numbers rise instead, pulling in $28.76 million and surpassing the $50 million mark within just two weeks.

Meanwhile, 17 Again, with its $14.73 million at the box office, remained in the second place on the charts. The two films associated with Eric had combined earnings that exceeded 50% of North America's total box office for the week, leaving quite an impression on some.

Even with such impressive earnings, the media's interest in Eric started to wane. After several fruitless days of trying to hunt down useful news, the reporters near Eric's home began to leave one by one.

...

During that week, Eric mostly stayed at home, focused on writing the long-awaited adaptation of Resident Evil, a project promised to Michael Krauss. In his previous life, Resident Evil had two versions: one was the storyline from Capcom's video game, and the other featured Alice as the central character in the film version. Unfortunately, Eric had only played the fourth and sixth installments of the game, leaving him a bit out of touch with the storylines from the game.

The movie adaptation had minimal content to draw from, mainly following Milla Jovovich's over-the-top character as she showcased her skills, completely bypassing deeper storytelling elements.

Consequently, writing the Resident Evil novel was not as easy as crafting Jurassic Park. It took Eric three days to outline a story revolving around Leon, from his joining the police force to the team's struggle to escape the outbreak in Raccoon City.

Eric ingeniously incorporated former protagonists Chris, Jill, and Wesker into his novel. Of course, he couldn't forget the beloved Ada Wong, whom many gaming fans adored. In a playful turn, Eric wrote the ambiguous relationship between Ada and Leon as that of a pet boy and his queen.

This was not a wholly original concept; fans online had long speculated on the nature of their relationship.

In the game, the elegant and enigmatic Ada would often save Leon from peril while cheerfully teasing him, leaving behind a rocket launcher stamped with a lipstick print as she floated away.

Every time players reached these moments, they couldn't help but think of some rather cheeky scenarios: "Come here, little darling... (ruffles hair)... That's it, you're all set now; off you go."

...

Emerging from the kitchen with a steaming cup of water, Eric approached James Brooks, who was lounging on the couch, reading a draft of Resident Evil.

"James, what do you think?" Eric asked as he handed the coffee to him, then took a seat across from him.

"It's incredibly vivid, makes you feel like you're in the scene -- just like watching a movie; very exciting," said James.

Eric nodded, appreciating James's honest feedback. Due to his previous career, Eric had unintentionally woven a significant amount of montage techniques into his writing, a style that created a strong visual impression.

"What if it turned into a movie?" Eric asked again.

James set the manuscript aside and replied thoughtfully, "I don't think this novel would be suitable for a film adaptation right now. There are plenty of zombie fans, but their numbers aren't vast enough. A small or medium budget wouldn't cut it for an effective film treatment; if it were to be a true adaptation with all the necessary effects, the budget would have to be higher. It would be best if the tech advanced and became more affordable over the next few years."

No wonder he was a top-tier producer; with just a few words, James sketched out the limitations and potential of Resident Evil's adaptation. Fans often complained about the lack of investment in the Resident Evil film series -- the inadequate special effects, and the recurring theme of Milla without a strong supporting cast -- but they didn't understand that if they followed the fans' desires, the film companies would ultimately face significant financial losses due to ratings and audience demographics.

After chit-chatting about Resident Evil, Eric finally inquired about James's reason for visiting. "Is it an invitation to the Fox party?" Initially, Eric thought James was there regarding the overseas rights to Home Alone, but it turned out to be about something else entirely.

In recent days, Eric had already received several calls and offers related to Home Alone -- even Michael Eisner, who had initially planned to team up with Columbia to undermine him, reached out personally. Eric had turned them all down, having made up his mind.

Noticing Eric's look of surprise, James laughed. "Of course, you thought I was here for Home Alone, right? A lot of people have extended olive branches to you lately, but I hear you've turned them down. Perhaps you're waiting on Fox to make the first move, huh?"

The surprise in Eric's eyes quickly faded. He had indeed been waiting for Fox to take the initiative, allowing him to seize the upper hand. Given that James Brooks, a prominent producer, was extending the invitation, Eric felt it would be petty to deny it.

With a shrug and a smile, Eric replied, "You're right, James. I was hoping for that, considering our collaboration was rather pleasant."

James said sincerely, "That's why I'm here today. In fact, Mr. Barry Diller wants to meet with you to discuss Home Alone, Jurassic Park, and your... next project."

"Oh, Fox sure is ambitious, aren't they?" Eric remarked.

James chuckled, "It's not about greed, Eric; it's business. If Fox doesn't step in, other companies will show interest in these projects. Of course, Fox won't be as short-sighted as Columbia; we want a partnership based on equality and mutual benefit."

Eric knew better than to fall for those words. This was all just talk because Fox hadn't secured the distribution rights to Home Alone. If they had managed that, they could very well have pulled some shenanigans over the contractual agreement. The leaked scandals from his past life were just the tip of the iceberg regarding the dirty dealings these industry giants engaged in behind closed doors.

However, Eric also realized he had to hitch his wagon to a giant to fend off external threats and protect himself while quietly building up his strength. After careful consideration, he decided to align himself with Fox.

Over the coming years, under Barry Diller's leadership, Fox aimed to establish the Fox Broadcasting Company, which would likely divert some of their focus from films. This shift provided Eric, a small player in the industry, with a golden opportunity to garner resources in

their nest.

*****

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