Chapter 183: Exchange
Chapter 183: Exchange
After the brief break, everyone gathered their attention again, because the second film was about to begin. Compared to the star-studded Steel Magnolias—among its six female leads, four had already won Oscars—the creative lineup of The Others was hardly worth mentioning. But the name Eric Williams in the screenwriter column was already enough. Before Home Alone created its box office miracle, its creative lineup had also been completely unimpressive.
After the opening credits, Grace’s storytelling voice rang out against a comic-style background. Slowly, the voice faded, and rough drawings began showing one frightening scene after another: a terrified girl with wide-open eyes, a dark shadow reaching toward children, a marionette with its neck snapped…
On the large bed, Grace suddenly opened tear-filled eyes. Like a fish out of water, she opened her mouth and gasped several times, her body trembling violently.
Everyone knew the female lead had a nightmare. Those who were sharper might realize that the comic scenes at the beginning were precisely the woman’s dream.
In this version, Virginia did not let out a hoarse scream like Nicole Kidman had in the original version, but the fear conveyed through her tear-filled eyes was not much weaker than Nicole Kidman’s. Moreover, this silent terror and despair, paired with the mottled gloom of the dark bedroom, made the audience feel even more chilled down the spine.
This was the first change Eric made to the script. In his memory from his previous life, aside from being startled by Nicole Kidman’s scream, Eric had not felt any other emotion from that scene.
The shot was not easy to film either. Virginia was genuinely terrified, and the fear in her eyes was not fake at all, because beside the camera were a pile of “cute props” watching her intently: Squeaky Beast, Cockroach, Sixer, and the others. Although props were used, in Eric’s view, Virginia’s performance was much stronger than Nicole’s. It also proved that saying true in Hollywood: no one was irreplaceable. Most people only lacked an opportunity.
Unknowingly, everyone in the screening room became immersed in the strange behavior of Grace, the two children, and the three servants. Except for Eric and the others who knew the truth, everyone was trying hard to guess what had happened in this house and where those strange sounds and figures were coming from.
If this was a ghost movie, why had no ghost appeared after so long? Why did Grace’s husband suddenly return, then suddenly leave again?
Although the mystery remained unresolved, the tense plot drew in even the representatives of the Seven Majors, who had watched countless films. Even the steady Michael Eisner could not help asking Eric about some of his doubts, but Eric smiled and refused to answer on the grounds that he could not spoil the plot.
Only after more than eighty minutes, when Grace’s son and daughter discovered the gravestones, were the identities of the three “ghost servants” revealed.
But no one showed an expression of sudden realization. Instead, they developed even more doubts. Why did the three “ghost servants” appear? What was their purpose? From their previous words, everyone knew that the three ghosts bore no malice toward Grace’s family.
From that point, the plot moved fully toward its climax. When Grace pushed open the door to the upstairs sitting room and the other family and the elderly medium appeared, all the audience’s doubts were finally answered.
“Layer upon layer of suspense, every thread tightly interlocked. Beautiful!” At this point, Michael Eisner could not help giving a rare compliment. Paramount president Ned Tanen, seated on Eric’s other side, quietly clenched his fist, filled with determination to secure this film’s distribution rights. The other executives who either had no intention or no ability to obtain the film’s distribution rights all showed regretful expressions. Even the Warner representative, who had originally been the calmest, was no longer so calm.
The symbolic dense fog also dispersed as the truth came to light.
When the lights came on again, applause far more enthusiastic than that for Steel Magnolias rang out for several full minutes.
Jonathan Demme, seated in the back row, saw this scene. The corners of his mouth twitched a few times, and in the end, he still could not maintain restraint. He happily grinned, revealing a row of white teeth. He knew he had succeeded.
Michael Madsen gently patted his sister’s hand, his eyes filled with congratulations.
After the applause stopped, everyone in the screening room was led by the waiters toward the banquet hall on the lower floor. Eric, walking at the very front, was sandwiched between Michael Eisner and Ned Tanen. The Warner representative, who had not been especially warm earlier, also came over and greeted Eric warmly again.
The representatives from Fox, MGM, and the other companies destined not to obtain the distribution rights followed behind.
Elisabeth Murdoch moved beside Carta and asked quietly, “Carl, why aren’t you going forward and fighting for it?”
Carta shook his head lightly and explained softly to Elisabeth, “It won’t work. Eric’s next two films have already been assigned to Fox. They won’t give us any more distribution rights.”
Elisabeth thought for a moment before saying, “Why can’t we do this, then? At the end of the year, what we value most is Eric’s Home Alone sequel. Then give up the distribution rights to the other film and exchange it for this one. I think this horror film is very special. It might even create a box office miracle like Home Alone.”
Carta Hunt could not help taking another look at the woman beside him, feeling quite surprised. Originally, he had thought Elisabeth was simply a somewhat arrogant and willful young lady. After all, the fact that she had pestered him today and made him bring her to this test screening was already a fairly willful decision.
But because of Elisabeth Murdoch’s identity, Carta Hunt had helplessly agreed after considering it. Fortunately, Eric was relatively familiar with him, and the other party also knew Elisabeth’s identity, so she had not been turned away.
Unexpectedly, after the test screening ended, she actually managed to come up with a highly feasible solution in such a short time.
Although Elisabeth had come to Fox under the name of a holiday internship, she had not properly stayed at the position Fox arranged for her for even a few days. It was impossible for her to understand the inside details of Fox’s cooperation with Firefly. Yet even with only this partial understanding, she could so quickly think of a highly workable solution. Carta could not help viewing her differently. After all, while he was still in the screening room, Carta himself had also considered trying to secure The Others, but he had not been able to think of any good method.
“Alright, Miss Murdoch. I’ll submit this plan to Mr. Barry Diller in the form of a formal document. However, I must say that Fox still hasn’t seen the script for Eric’s other film scheduled for the end of the year, so I don’t know whether we can make a decision before another company takes The Others. After all, one can imagine there will also be people inside Fox who oppose your suggestion, because the box office and reputation of films personally directed by Eric have already been proven several times over. Although this film was personally written by him and is absolutely outstanding, I think many people won’t be willing to take the risk.”
“So slow and fussy. If I were in charge of Fox, I’d just take it directly,” Elisabeth said, curling her lips and once again revealing her willful side.
This time, Carta no longer looked down on her. Instead, he patiently explained the key points. “Miss Murdoch, this matter involves too many interests. It isn’t something we can exchange just because we wish to. Even if we’re willing to make the exchange, will Eric Williams agree? Will the other film companies agree? You saw it yourself. Michael Eisner and Ned Tanen both came today. Their regard for Eric Williams is obvious. We don’t have much advantage in this competition.”