Chapter 179: Impossible Reality
Chapter 179: Impossible Reality
“Vicki, is it the Sunset Tower Hotel diagonally across from Andaz?” the rough-looking white man in the driver’s seat, around thirty years old, asked while staring at the road ahead.
“Of course. Is there another Sunset Tower Hotel on Sunset Boulevard?” Virginia answered from the passenger seat. She took a small mirror from her handbag, checked her makeup, then took out a lipstick and carefully touched up the corners of her lips. For some reason, this action displeased the man in the driver’s seat. “Vicki, I really don’t understand why you have to get involved with that brat. There’s a ten-year age gap between you two.”
“I already told you, my private matters are none of your business,” Virginia blurted out, then quickly realized she should not speak to her brother that way. Her tone softened. “Mike, I’m very happy with him. Although he’s young, he’s very considerate toward me.”
Michael Madsen still frowned. “That guy is destined not to give you any commitment, isn’t he? He won’t marry you.”
Virginia’s eyes dimmed at that. She said softly, “I never… I never expected him to marry me.”
“But you’re already twenty-eight. I hope you can find a reliable man and get married, not be a young brat’s lover like this.” Michael’s tone grew slightly agitated. At the end, he could not help slapping the steering wheel with his large hand, then turned to look at his sister. “I want you to be happy, Vicki.”
“Will getting married make me happy?” Virginia put the lipstick and small mirror back into her handbag. “Our parents weren’t happy at all. And you’ve already been divorced once too.”
Michael Madsen continued persuading her. “That’s exactly why I hope you can find a good man. There must still be good men in this world. Even if… even if you don’t find the right one the first time, just try a few more times. Look, I’ve been divorced, but Gina and I are very happy now. In another half a year, you might have a little nephew or niece.”
“Alright, I know, Mike. Can we not talk about this today?” Like all older unmarried women being pressured to marry, Virginia began avoiding his gaze and changing the subject. Because their parents had divorced and their mother had been busy with her career, she had practically been raised by this brother four years older than her. So even if she could ignore what her parents said, she greatly valued her relationship with her brother.
“Fine. If you don’t like it, I won’t say more.” Michael Madsen helplessly looked back at the road ahead.
Michael ending the topic made Virginia let out a breath of relief. The two stayed quiet for a while. After looking out the window and estimating that they were almost at the Sunset Tower Hotel, Virginia said again, “Mike, I know you don’t like him, but please don’t be rude later, alright? I hope you can get the role he mentioned.”
Michael Madsen said, “Of course I won’t be rude. But I’m only here this time because I want to see your new movie. Don’t expect me to flatter him for a role.”
Virginia felt somewhat helpless. She knew her brother’s personality very well. To put it nicely, he was indifferent to fame and fortune. To put it bluntly, he had no ambition. His original reason for becoming an actor had been more about making a living than becoming famous, and that was still the case now.
As they spoke, they soon arrived at the Sunset Tower Hotel. Virginia saw quite a few paparazzi with cameras hanging from their necks gathered outside the hotel, so she quickly took out sunglasses and put them on. Even so, she still could not stop the sharp-eyed paparazzi from spotting her. A group rushed over and began snapping photos through the car window. Seeing these news-chasing madmen who cared nothing for their own safety, Michael helplessly slowed the car. This only made the paparazzi more excited. They slapped the car window one after another and shouted toward Virginia inside.
But no matter how hoarsely the paparazzi yelled, they received no response. The siblings directly drove into the underground parking lot, then entered the hotel through an internal elevator.
“Another one. Julia Roberts just came too. Who knows what Firefly is planning?” A group of paparazzi were stopped by security and could only continue waiting outside the hotel in disappointment, hoping the next guest might reveal something specific.
“You’ve only been here less than ten minutes, Zeke. In the half hour before that, several major Hollywood figures already went inside.”
“Oh, Cain, who else came?” the paparazzo named Zeke asked.
Cain leaned close to Zeke’s ear and said softly, “Disney CEO Michael Eisner, a Warner vice president in charge of distribution, Paramount president Ned Tanen, and Columbia vice president Amy Pascal. Four of the current Seven Majors have already arrived. Just watch. I think the remaining three will definitely send people too.”
Zeke imagined the scene Cain described and could not help sucking in a breath. “No way. Is something big about to happen in Hollywood?”
Cain shook his head. “I don’t know about that, but it definitely has something to do with Firefly. I heard from an inside source at the hotel that there’s also a party tonight.”
“Tonight?” Zeke checked his watch. “It’s only 1:35 now. Did you get it wrong? If there’s a party tonight, why would those big shots come over now?”
“That definitely isn’t wrong. My source works in the kitchen. The task they received was to prepare food for tonight’s party.”
Zeke asked, “Cain, what do you think it is?”
“Maybe… alright, this is too strange. I can’t figure it out either. But haven’t there been rumors recently that Firefly intends to acquire New Line Cinema? I don’t know if it has anything to do with that. New Line is already a top-tier second-tier film company. If it merges with Firefly, then with Eric Williams’s blockbuster films and New Line’s distribution ability, Hollywood might have a new giant within a few years.”
Zeke guessed, “Didn’t you say Firefly is leading this? Could Firefly be choosing distributors for those new films of theirs, so the executives from the Seven Majors all came over?”
Once he said this, Cain and the other paparazzi listening nearby all paused for a moment, then began laughing.
One paparazzo said mockingly, “How is that possible? You’re seriously overestimating Firefly’s appeal. If it were a film personally directed by Eric Williams, maybe it would be enough to make the Seven Majors’ executives flock over. After all, he’s already fully proven his ability. But everyone knows the distribution rights to Eric’s next two films already belong to Fox.”
Zeke also felt his guess was somewhat unrealistic. Scratching his head, he muttered in rebuttal, “But isn’t it said that The Others and Scent of a Woman were scripts Eric Williams personally wrote?”
However, no one paid much attention to that sentence. The group continued discussing the purpose of these people gathering there while eagerly waiting for others to arrive.
Many times, guesses that seemed absurd were actually true.
This event was indeed only an internal test screening hosted by Firefly for The Others and Steel Magnolias.
When the invitations were sent, Eric had also thought the Six Majors would likely only send one or two ordinary executives each. But he soon received the first reply. For some unknown reason, Disney’s Michael Eisner had his assistant contact Firefly and say he would personally attend the screening. That response alone made Eric, who had originally planned to hold the test screening in Firefly headquarters’ small screening room, move the venue to the luxurious screening room at the Sunset Tower Hotel. After all, Michael Eisner’s status was there. Holding the event casually in Firefly’s small screening room would seem extremely disrespectful.
After that, the other major film companies, perhaps having heard that Michael Eisner would attend, each expressed that they would send important executives.
However, among the Seven Majors, only Michael Eisner, the helm-holding CEO, came personally. As for the others, Paramount sent a president, Columbia sent Amy Pascal, who had a good relationship with Eric, while the remaining companies sent either vice presidents or highly influential executives. Even so, this lineup could still be called luxurious. President-level executives from the Seven Major film companies gathering together merely for the distribution rights to one or two films was something that had probably not happened in the past decade.
Virginia and her brother took the elevator to the floor where the test screening was being held. As soon as they stepped out, Virginia saw Eric’s assistant, Allen Fisman, waiting beside the elevator.
“Hello, Allen. Where’s Eric?” Virginia stepped forward and asked.
“Mr. Williams is very busy and can’t come out to receive you, Miss Madsen. Please come with me. I’ll take you to the lounge,” Allen said politely.
Virginia nodded in disappointment. Michael Madsen, who saw this, did not know the specific situation and directly assumed Eric was being somewhat cold toward his sister. He immediately became furious inside. However, although he was indignant, he did not show it. The two followed Allen into a lounge.
After walking in, Virginia saw that quite a few people had already gathered inside. There were Herbert Ross, the director of Steel Magnolias, and cast members Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, and others. But from the crew of The Others, only Jonathan Demme sat there alone, looking somewhat desolate. This situation was not difficult to understand. The two child actors from The Others were not suited to attend the afternoon test screening, so they had not come. The other actors had little fame and were not the leads, so they were not qualified to attend this screening.
The Steel Magnolias crew was different. Herbert Ross was the director, so there was no need to mention him. Although Steel Magnolias was an ensemble film, aside from the rapidly rising Julia Roberts, Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine both carried a string of Oscar honors. Their seniority and fame even exceeded Julia’s. The other three female leads were also actresses who had been famous for a long time.
Seeing Virginia appear, Jonathan Demme finally showed an expression like a soldier seeing a comrade. He stood first and greeted Virginia. The members of the Steel Magnolias crew also stood and greeted the woman.