Chapter 184: Anti-War
Chapter 184: Anti-War
As more and more people arrived at the party, Michael Eisner, who had only stayed for a little over ten minutes, was the first to rise and take his leave, saying he still had matters to handle. Naturally, Eric had to personally see him off.
“Eric, I heard The Others has been selected for Venice’s main competition?” Michael Eisner suddenly asked while they waited for the elevator.
Eric nodded. “Yes, but it’s still a horror film, so its chances of winning aren’t high. Sending it to Venice is mostly to build some recognition and help with its European distribution.”
“I actually think this film has a good chance of winning, as long as the publicity direction is right,” Michael Eisner said. The elevator doors opened, and the two walked in together.
“Publicity direction?” Eric pressed the elevator button and asked in confusion.
“Mm,” Michael Eisner said. “Although The Others is a horror film, I think it has deeper layers that can be explored, such as people’s attachment to life and fear of death, as well as a mother’s sincere love for her two children. Most importantly, the film is set after World War II, so it can be promoted under an anti-war banner. Guide this horror film toward the damage war inflicts on human nature. It was precisely the long-term oppression of the war’s shadow on Grace’s mind and body that made her commit the insane act of smothering her two children. Europe’s situation is very unstable right now, and conflict could break out again if things go even slightly wrong. So if The Others is promoted in an anti-war direction and that idea takes root, the Venice Film Festival jury will definitely not let the film leave empty-handed in order to make a statement. You should know that film and politics have never been separate.”
Sure enough, older ginger was spicier. Eric inwardly praised him. He had previously been trapped by the limitation that horror films were not favored by festival juries and had not thought in any other direction at all. “Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Eisner. I’ll have someone handle this direction as soon as possible.”
For The Others, merely being selected and actually winning an award would receive completely different treatment from movie fans in the future. It was just like the Oscars. Everyone paid special attention to Oscar-winning films, but as for nominated films, although their quality was not much worse than the winners, very few people would still pay attention to them.
The elevator reached the underground parking lot, and the two walked together toward Michael Eisner’s car. Michael’s assistant and driver were already waiting there.
Michael got into the car but did not immediately leave. Instead, he gestured for Eric to get in as well.
After Eric sat beside him, Michael Eisner said, “Eric, how about working with Disney next year?”
Eric paused. He had thought Michael Eisner was going to talk about today’s two films. He had not expected the other man to jump straight to next year.
“Mr. Eisner, I can’t give you an answer immediately on this matter. My cooperation with Fox has been very pleasant,” Eric said, lightly shaking his head.
Michael Eisner could tell Eric was not being entirely sincere. Cooperation between two companies had always put interests first. Once personal feelings were mixed in and began affecting those interests, the relationship between both sides would only eventually break down. After several contacts with Eric, Michael Eisner believed Eric was not an emotional person.
“There’s no rush, Eric. You can take your time considering it. As for today’s two films, Disney’s profit-sharing offer will fully reflect our sincerity,” Michael Eisner said. After a pause, he continued, “I’ve also heard that Firefly plans to acquire New Line to establish its own distribution channels. But how should I put this? I’ve met Robert Shaye several times. He has a strong desire for control, but not the matching level of ability. His management style is also overly subjective and not rational enough. I don’t think letting him help you manage the company is a very good choice.”
Watching the Bentley slowly drive away, Eric thought over Michael Eisner’s words. Combined with his own memories about New Line, Michael Eisner’s assessment of Robert Shaye was quite fair.
In Eric’s previous life, after New Line succeeded with The Lord of the Rings series, Robert Shaye became somewhat carried away and stubbornly pushed forward The Golden Compass project, which ultimately caused huge losses and made New Line lose its independence, being merged into parent company Warner. However, Eric was not worried about that now. If he could successfully acquire New Line, he would only let Robert Shaye handle film distribution. As for film production, Eric would definitely keep that power firmly in his own hands and not allow Robert Shaye to interfere recklessly.
After sending off the representatives from the other major film companies one after another, naturally with some private exchanges in between, Eric still made no promises no matter how eloquently the executives interested in the two films spoke.
After seeing off Amy Pascal, the last to leave, Eric returned to the banquet hall. By now, the party was basically filled with his own people. Other actors from the The Others and Steel Magnolias crews who had not attended the screening had also appeared at the party, along with others closely connected to Firefly.
Naturally, this kind of party could not be missing a certain pseudo-lolita. Drew was a party creature to begin with. She had even liked going to nightclubs before, but after becoming entangled with Eric, she had quit that “bad habit.” Still, she attended one party after another of every kind.
Eric caught Drew, who was wearing a magenta dress, among the crowd. He knocked her on the forehead and warned her not to drink alcohol and so on before walking toward two other people: Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender.
“Eric, good evening,” the two greeted him together when they saw him approaching.
Eric smiled at them. “How is the preparation for Reservoir Dogs going?”
Hearing Eric’s question, Quentin’s tone became excited. “Very smoothly. Mr. Hansen has given us a lot of convenience. Most of the roles have already been decided. If everything goes well, we can start filming in September.”
“Good. Then come with me. I’ll introduce you to ‘Mr. Blonde,’” Eric said, pointing in one direction before leading the two over.
“Eric.” Seeing Eric approach, Virginia unconsciously stepped forward, but quickly stopped. After all, this was a public occasion. Although everyone knew about her relationship with Eric, it was still unsuitable to act too intimate.
Seeing Virginia’s cautious appearance, Eric smiled and stepped forward to hug her. He even lightly kissed her cheek. Only when the woman shyly pushed him away did Eric release the petite body in his arms and turn toward the tall man beside her.
“Hello, Mike.” Eric extended his hand toward Michael Madsen.
“Hello, Eric.” Because he disliked Eric somewhat, Michael Madsen’s tone was rather cold. This reaction made Virginia anxious. If Eric had not been watching, she would definitely have pinched her brother hard. However, Eric did not mind Michael’s reaction too much and still enthusiastically introduced him to Quentin and Lawrence.
“This is Michael Madsen. I think he’s very suitable to play Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs. Michael, these two are Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender. You can discuss the specific matters privately.”
Since Quentin and Lawrence knew they could not refuse someone Eric recommended, they both greeted Michael warmly. At least if they built a good relationship with him, there would be no awkwardness during filming later.
Seeing the three already chatting, Eric left with Virginia.
“Vicki, I heard you’ve recently received some film offers?” Eric took a glass of wine from a waiter and sat down on a sofa in the corner.
Virginia also sat beside him. “Yes. Kapoor recommended them to me. A few scripts looked pretty good, but I haven’t made up my mind yet. I originally planned to ask your opinion first.”
Eric waved his hand. “Turn them all down. At least wait until The Others is released before deciding. Any film you accept now will probably also be released at the end of the year. If its box office is bad, it will definitely affect the reputation The Others brings you, and the salary definitely won’t be high either.”
“Mm, I’ll listen to you.” The woman obediently nodded. “Eric, Michael’s attitude toward you isn’t very good. I hope you won’t mind too much.”
“Of course not,” Eric said with a smile. “If someone occupied my sister, I wouldn’t give him a good face either.”
“Heh…” The woman laughed softly and took the initiative to defend the man beside her. “You didn’t occupy me.”
“Of course I did, Vicki. I occupied you. You’ve been mine for a long time.”
“Alright.” A faint blush rose on the woman’s cheeks, and she lightly lowered her head. “Eric, will you come to my place tonight? You haven’t been there in a long time.”
“No problem,” Eric said with a slightly teasing smile. “How about we leave now?”
The woman quickly shook her head. “Eric, you should go socialize with the others. Don’t stay beside me the whole time.”
“No rush. I just saw off one group of people, so I’m tired too. Let me rest for a while first.”
On the other side of the party, Elisabeth was holding a glass of red wine and chatting with Julia, but she noticed the woman kept seeming absent-minded. Only when Julia could not help secretly glancing in a certain direction again did Elisabeth follow Julia’s gaze and catch sight of the rather lazy figure leaning crookedly against the sofa. Beside him sat a woman in a black strapless evening gown, the female lead of The Others.
“Julia, do you like him?” Elisabeth leaned close to Julia’s ear and asked softly.
“Ah, that… no.” Julia followed Elisabeth’s gaze and realized who the “him” she meant was. In her panic, her first reaction was denial. But perhaps because she had suppressed it for too long, and because Elisabeth’s skilled social ability had earned her goodwill in a short time, Julia had unknowingly begun treating Elisabeth like a close friend. After a brief moment of panic, Julia said quietly, “Actually, I… don’t even know how I feel about him anymore. He’s a very complicated person.”
“Come with me. Let’s go have a proper chat with Mr. Williams.” Seeing the woman’s conflicted appearance, Elisabeth directly grabbed Julia’s arm and pulled her toward Eric despite her resistance.