Chapter 288: Completely Shameless
Chapter 288: Completely Shameless
“Eric, everyone knows what happened. Why do you have to…”
Eric directly interrupted Murdoch and asked, “Who led this? I want to know that. I know it definitely wasn’t Fox. Leaving aside how much cooperation we have with each other, Fox already gained enough benefits. Even if you wanted to do this, you definitely wouldn’t have chosen the beginning of the year. Sleepless in Seattle’s box office was greatly affected by this storm. So who took the lead and started it?”
Murdoch paused, then said, “Eric, even if you know, what can you do? Although the methods this time were a little intense, this is still normal competition within the industry.”
“Who was it?” Eric asked coldly again.
Elisabeth, who had only been listening out of boredom, slapped her cutlery on the table and glared at Eric reproachfully. Dissatisfied, she said, “Hey, Eric, how can you talk to my father like that? He’s still your elder!”
The tense atmosphere was completely ruined by the woman’s low scolding.
Murdoch really wanted to pat his daughter’s head and praise her properly. Sure enough, daughters were naturally biased toward their fathers. Of course, Elisabeth was already grown up, so he could not do that. He only smiled and picked up his wine, sipping it lightly.
Eric looked helplessly at Elisabeth, but the woman glared right back without backing down.
This woman deserved a spanking. Why was she interrupting when men were talking?
Eric took a deep breath and softened his tone. “Mr. Murdoch, Home Alone 2’s box office this time is still very impressive. Although it won’t match the first film, there’s no problem with its global box office exceeding three hundred million dollars. Also, based on Stu’s current age, this sequel can still produce at least three more films. What do you think?”
“Michael Eisner,” Murdoch blurted out without the slightest hesitation.
Elisabeth looked at her father in astonishment. Selling out his teammate like this was really too shameless, wasn’t it? And she had just helped him out too.
After sweeping her gaze over the two “hateful” men, the woman puffed her cheeks, angrily picked up her wine, and drained it in one gulp. At the same time, she swore in her heart that no matter what happened next, she would not say another word.
Eric, however, did not notice her movement. His heart was filled only with shock.
During this period, he had thought more than once about who might have been behind this. It might have been Warner. It might have been Universal. It might have been Columbia. Or perhaps Paramount, whose development had not been going very well recently. But his suspicion toward Michael Eisner of Disney had been the lowest. Disney’s suspicion was even ranked after Fox.
After all, although he had not met Michael Eisner many times, Michael Eisner had always acted very appreciative of him in front of him. Moreover, Disney had also shown great sincerity in its cooperation on The Others and Steel Magnolias.
Seeing Eric’s disbelieving expression, Murdoch said, “Eric, if you don’t believe me, you can verify it yourself. This matter has already passed. I have absolutely no need to lie. From the very beginning, Michael Eisner was the one who took the lead. Many things were also led and carried out by him. The rest of us only cooperated as much as possible.”
“How could… it be like this?” Eric murmured in disappointment.
For some reason, Murdoch could not help defending Michael Eisner. “Eisner only did what a standard businessman should do.”
“Yes, a standard businessman.” Eric smiled self-mockingly.
“Then, Eric, about the Home Alone series…”
“Firefly can sign a direct distribution contract with Fox for the next three Home Alone films, but I won’t personally serve as director anymore. However, I will serve as producer.”
Murdoch showed both joy and concern. “Eric, why won’t you direct them yourself?”
“I’ve shot two in a row, and I’m a little tired of it, so I want to save my time for other films. Besides, the brand of Home Alone is Stuart Runkle, so as long as the film’s style remains unchanged, it doesn’t matter who directs it.”
Eric answered. Although this was also part of the reason, the main reason was that in his previous life, only the first two Home Alone films achieved enormous success. The third film replaced the lead because Macaulay Culkin had grown up, and its results were a complete failure.
Although in this timeline, because Eric chose the right actor, Stuart was only nine this year and the series could continue, Eric still had no confidence in the series’ future. That was why he generously signed the distribution contracts for the next three films directly with Fox.
Hearing Eric’s explanation, Murdoch could not find a reason to refute him. Hollywood directors at Eric’s level generally disliked shooting sequels, so he easily accepted Eric’s explanation.
“Eric, although you don’t want to direct them personally, I hope you can continue to handle the scripts,” Murdoch said, settling for the next best thing.
Eric nodded. “I’ll definitely be involved in that.”
By this time, the three had finished their dinner. The waiter cleared away the dishes and replaced them with coffee.
Since Eric had already obtained the answer he wanted, Murdoch began discussing several Fox Television programs with him. After all, Firefly was a shareholder of Fox Television. Eric readily agreed that he would personally supervise the production of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and ensure that it would air smoothly at the end of the month. In fact, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? had already been very thoroughly prepared. Even the question bank was nearly finished. If not for this storm, perhaps it could have officially debuted in early March. The situation with The X-Files was similar. Originally, the first episode should already have been completed by now.
Although Firefly’s delay had also violated the contract the two parties signed beforehand, Fox had originally thought that if Firefly yielded, it could take full ownership of several programs. Therefore, it had not reacted too strongly to Firefly’s breach of contract. Now that the two sides had reconciled, Fox naturally could no longer pursue the matter. It merely passed over the issue in a few light remarks.
After they finished discussing proper business, Murdoch picked up his coffee and took a few sips before casually asking, “Eric, do you have any plans for this year’s films? How many do you intend to make?”
Hearing this question, Elisabeth, who had originally been absent-minded, also looked over curiously.
Eric slowly took a sip of coffee, thought for a moment, then said, “Two, I suppose. One of them has already been decided, but I’m still deadlocked over the script. That screenwriter’s asking price is a little absurd. Plus, with everything that happened during this period, I haven’t had time to negotiate the script.”
“Is it that script about ghosts?” Elisabeth could not help interjecting.
Eric looked at the woman curiously. Had this matter already spread so widely?
Being stared at by Eric, the woman’s face turned slightly red. She said, “I heard that you… thought highly of that script, so I asked around a little.”
Eric saw at a glance that Elisabeth must have considered cutting in and snatching it, but it looked like she definitely had not succeeded.
As though her thoughts had been seen through, the woman became even more embarrassed, but she continued, “But… when I had someone contact that screenwriter named Bruce Joel Rubin, he said the script had already been sold.”
Eric abruptly stood up in surprise and looked at Elisabeth. “Sold?”
“Yes. Wasn’t… wasn’t it you who bought it?” Elisabeth raised her face and looked at Eric, asking in confusion.
“Sorry, I need to make a few calls.” Eric said this to the two of them, picked up his mobile phone, and walked toward a corner not far away.
Watching Eric stand not far away, dialing constantly with his mobile phone while pacing back and forth somewhat irritably, Murdoch asked his daughter, “Liz, what script is it?”
The woman looked at Eric’s figure and answered her father with a little schadenfreude, “It’s a romantic story script. I didn’t see the full story, only heard the general outline. It seems to be about a bank employee who is murdered by his colleague and turns into a ghost, then protects his girlfriend and takes revenge, something like that. Anyway, that’s the gist.”
Murdoch looked at Eric, his eyes flickering as he wondered about something.
After quite a while, Eric finally returned to his seat with a disappointed expression.
Murdoch calmly drank his coffee and had no intention of speaking. Elisabeth, however, opened her mouth. “Eric, who bought it?”
“Michael Eisner,” Eric forced out the name helplessly.
The woman asked again, “Then what are you going to do?”
What could he do? Eric could almost imagine that with Michael Eisner’s shrewdness, after buying this script, he definitely would not rashly have Disney produce it itself. Instead, he intended to use it to cooperate with him.