Chapter 103: Showing Up at the Door
Chapter 103: Showing Up at the Door
Amy Pascal also knew quite a bit about the internal details behind the negotiation deadlock and did not insist further. Since the purpose of this visit had already been achieved, she stood up and said, “In that case, I’ll be leaving now.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Eric said as he stood as well. “Amy, it seems you didn’t drive here?”
“My car just happened to be sent in for maintenance today. I took a taxi here.”
Eric warmly offered, “Then let me drive you back. It’s not easy to get a taxi around here.”
Amy Pascal knew Eric was telling the truth. Since the place she was heading to was not too far away, she agreed.
The two walked out of the villa. Eric opened the garage door, went inside, and drove out the same old Ford sedan he still kept.
Standing at the garage entrance, Amy Pascal listened to the muffled rumbling of the old Ford’s engine and curiously glanced inside the garage. The garage was spacious enough to hold ten cars, yet it looked completely empty. Other than the Ford sedan, only a stylish purple sports car sat parked in one corner.
“Eric, with your current wealth, you could completely replace this with a better car,” Amy said with a smile, pointing at the Ford before glancing curiously toward the purple sports car.
“You mean that Lamborghini Diablo?” Eric carefully opened the passenger-side door for Amy as he asked.
Amy nodded and climbed into the passenger seat, fastening her seatbelt. “Yeah. Isn’t that car pretty nice? Why don’t you drive it? I remember Al drove the same model in Pretty Woman, although that one was silver.”
Eric replied, “Lamborghini gave it to me a few days ago. But I’m not very good at driving it. Maybe I can take it out on the highway sometime, but forget about driving it around Los Angeles streets.”
“Lamborghini is really generous. That car probably costs over two hundred thousand dollars.”
Eric merely smiled without responding. That car was not the ordinary Diablo model Lamborghini was preparing to release to the market. It was a specially customized four-wheel-drive concept car. Although it did not have an official price tag, its value was no less than three hundred thousand dollars. Meanwhile, the standard Diablo only cost 240,000 dollars, and the first production model was rear-wheel drive.
The reason Lamborghini was being so generous was naturally because they wanted to continue cooperating with him.
Although they had given away a luxury sports car worth more than three hundred thousand dollars, the company was not losing out. This year’s sales volume was at least triple that of previous years. Compared to the profits they gained, a concept car worth several hundred thousand dollars was nothing.
Several days after news spread that his new film would star Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks together, Lamborghini had proactively approached him. Aside from gifting him the concept car, they also wanted to sign a long-term cooperation agreement with Eric.
He decisively accepted the car, but long-term cooperation was out of the question. The case of Lamborghini product placement in Pretty Woman had already spread throughout the industry. Product placement in films would definitely enter its rapid development era many years earlier than before, and the profits would only grow larger and larger. Under such circumstances, signing a long-term contract was definitely not a wise choice.
The car had only just driven out of the mansion when Eric was about to get out and close the gate when he suddenly saw a middle-aged man in his forties rush over and lightly slap the Ford’s window.
“Mr. Williams, Mr. Williams?”
The incident happened so abruptly that, before understanding the man’s intentions, Eric stopped himself from opening the car door and looked outside. The man appeared to be in his forties, with a square face covered in short stubble. His gaze carried both eagerness and ingratiation.
Cautiously rolling the window down a crack, Eric asked, “May I ask who you are…?”
Noticing Eric’s vigilance, the middle-aged man quickly took out a business card and slipped it through the gap. “Mr. Williams, please don’t misunderstand. I mean no harm. I’m Jonathan Demme. You definitely know who I am.”
Eric accepted the business card, glanced at it, then carefully examined the middle-aged man outside the window. After confirming that he basically matched the image from his previous-life memories, Eric finally lowered his guard.
The other man was one of the three backup directors Eric had invited for The Others. However, after handing the matter over to Jeffrey, Eric had stopped paying attention to it because he had been busy with several other matters.
The first was Steel Magnolias. Kapur had originally insisted that Julia’s salary remain at five hundred thousand dollars. Only after Eric personally spoke with him did he finally persuade the man to accept a price of three million dollars.
The process had not been pleasant. Kapur had complained about it for quite a long time, believing that such a salary reduction would damage Julia’s market value. If Steel Magnolias became a box office success in the future, then Julia lowering her pay would become a legendary story of recognizing talent with discerning eyes. But if the box office performance turned out poorly, then for a very long period of time, Julia would no longer receive higher salary offers.
Meanwhile, Julia Roberts accepted Eric’s arrangements without objection. Of course, Eric could see the woman’s little thoughts clearly. She was not truly willing to accept the salary offer Eric had given, yet she silently accepted it anyway. Through their many exchanged glances, Eric had more than once understood her intentions. She felt that by doing this, she was repaying him for making her famous.
In the end, although Julia had cried after being scolded in Eric’s house some time ago, deep down she still longed to break free from Eric’s control and influence. Not only did she think that way, she acted that way too. Perhaps she believed that by lowering her salary this time, she had repaid Eric a favor. Perhaps in her next film, she could rightfully stop listening to his arrangements.
Eric did not feel too displeased about this. With his complete understanding of Julia’s future career path from his previous life, guiding the woman onto the correct path was extremely simple. As for teaching this disobedient little girl a lesson, that was even easier. One box office flop would be enough. Eric even held a somewhat amused mentality, wanting to see exactly how much the woman intended to struggle around.
After settling Steel Magnolias, preparations for Scent of a Woman immediately followed.
As for the director selection for Scent of a Woman, Al Pacino personally recommended someone. Coincidentally, the person Al recommended was the original director of Scent of a Woman, Martin Brest.
Supposedly, Al had chatted casually with him at a party, and somehow the conversation shifted toward the script for Scent of a Woman. Martin stated that many of his ideas about the film aligned perfectly with Al’s own thoughts, and so Al recommended him to Eric.
Since it was the original director, Eric no longer had many concerns. After having a long discussion with the man, he confidently handed the director’s chair over to Martin. At present, Scent of a Woman was already deep in preparations, and Eric would occasionally help out with some of the work.
Because of all these matters, Eric had not found the time to ask about the director situation for The Others. Of course, part of the reason was that Eric was not particularly anxious about it. Whether it was Scent of a Woman, The Others, or Herbert Ross’s Steel Magnolias, Eric planned to release all of them near the end of the year, so there was plenty of time.
What surprised Eric was that one of the three backup directors, Jonathan Demme, would suddenly come looking for him today.
Eric naturally could not continue sitting in the car. He pushed open the door, stepped out, and asked the middle-aged man before him, “Mr. Demme, may I ask what you need?”
“It’s like this,” Jonathan Demme said. “Some time ago, I received an invitation to direct The Others. I never expected the script to have been personally written by you, Mr. Williams. It’s simply outstanding. After reading it, I immediately replied to Mr. Jeffrey and expressed my willingness to direct the film. But Mr. Jeffrey informed me that there are three candidates for director, and that you would personally make the final decision. I know my qualifications are somewhat lacking compared to the other two masters, but I don’t want to lose this opportunity. Mr. Williams, could you spare me some time? Let me explain my filming ideas. Just half an hour will do.”
Eric glanced back toward Amy Pascal inside the car and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, Mr. Demme. Unfortunately, I have to drive this lady home right now, so…”
“I can wait, Mr. Williams. It’s alright. I can wait here until you return.”
The man’s persistence moved Eric somewhat. After hesitating briefly, he said, “How about this, Mr. Demme. Get in the car first. After I drive this lady home, we can find somewhere and properly discuss things.”
“Would that really be alright?” Jonathan Demme hesitated as he glanced toward Amy Pascal inside the car. He did not know what kind of relationship she had with Eric and worried that doing this might seem too abrupt and leave Eric with a bad impression.
However, Amy Pascal had already heard their entire conversation from inside the car and immediately said, “Mr. Demme, get in. I’m not going very far. It’s only about a ten-minute drive.”
Eric also joined in and persuaded him a few more times.
“Then… excuse me for the trouble.” Only after confirming with Eric once again did Jonathan Demme carefully open the Ford’s rear door and climb inside while holding his shoulder bag.
Eric turned around, locked the gate, then returned to the car and started driving away. Because Jonathan Demme had suddenly joined them, the three of them did not talk much along the way. Fortunately, Amy Pascal’s destination was not very far away, so the atmosphere never had the chance to become awkward.