Chapter 294: What a Coincidence
Chapter 294: What a Coincidence
Moreover, the contract Disney signed with Bruce Joel Rubin also included a clause requiring Eric to personally direct the film. If the directors he had designated could produce a proposal that satisfied him, Michael Eisner would not have minded breaching the contract and forcibly handing the script over to a Disney director. But things did not go as planned, so Michael Eisner decisively made today’s decision. After all, if Disney insisted on producing it themselves and the final result turned out mediocre, it would be better to straightforwardly hand the script to Eric to produce, because Eric still possessed extremely strong box office appeal.
After sitting in the study for a long time, Michael Eisner removed the proposal documents from the folders and casually tossed them into the nearby trash can before finally standing up and leaving the room.
…
By mid-March, after more than a month of investigation, the Federal Trade Commission announced the outcome of its handling of Firefly and UTA’s suspected industry monopoly case. Because the major companies had withdrawn their support behind the scenes, combined with the pressure of public opinion, the Federal Trade Commission did not impose especially heavy punishment on Eric.
Aside from requiring Eric to relinquish all of his UTA shares, the only penalty was a largely symbolic one-million-dollar fine.
After the ruling was announced, Eric raised no objections. He promptly paid the ten-million-dollar fine, then sold 90% of UTA’s shares to one of Hollywood’s three major talent agencies, ICM, for thirty million dollars.
Almost simultaneously, Sony Pictures and Firefly also reached a settlement regarding profit sharing for Running Out of Time. One week later, Sony fully paid out more than eighty-eight million dollars in Running Out of Time profit shares.
As for the remaining three lawsuits hanging over Eric’s head, aside from the plaintiffs in two of the cases withdrawing their suits, the remaining lawsuit regarding the Malibu Point land plot also faded away during the investigation due to insufficient evidence.
The television drama The X-Files, jointly produced by Firefly and Fox, also officially entered production. Another program, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, began an enormous publicity campaign from early March onward.
Although someone involved with the program suggested inviting celebrities to appear as contestants in the first episode, Eric rejected the proposal outright. Inviting celebrities would indeed attract attention, but it would also cause the show to lose its sense of authenticity. After all, the main appeal of the program was that ordinary people could become rich overnight. Therefore, the production team still adopted a nationwide audition model, setting up registration points all across North America.
Soon afterward, Disney also officially announced that it would cooperate with Firefly in distributing Eric Williams’ new film Ghost.
At this point, the storm targeting Eric and Firefly, which had begun on the very first day of the new year and lasted more than two months, completely dissipated.
After a long string of precursor awards during awards season, the 62nd Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Los Angeles Music Center on March 26, 1990.
Eric fastened the buttons of his tuxedo and had just stepped out of the limousine when enthusiastic cheers erupted from both sides of the red carpet. He could even vaguely hear someone singing New Divide at the top of their lungs.
Smiling all the way while waving toward the crowd, Eric walked alone without lingering too long before arriving at the end of the red carpet. The reporters in the interview section were naturally extremely disappointed. What disappointed them even more was that Eric still had not brought any female companion tonight, which meant there was much less gossip material.
After all, although Eric was still very young, both his status and wealth were already there for all to see. Ever since his breakup with Aniston, who exactly might move into Eric’s “City of Freedom” at Malibu Point Manor had become a favorite target of pursuit among gossip media outlets.
Anyone who could uncover that kind of information could definitely sell it for a good price now.
Just as he was about to reach the end of the red carpet, Eric was still stopped by the NBC television hosts responsible for broadcasting this year’s Oscars. They politely invited him into the interview section.
“Mr. Williams, hello. This is your second time stepping onto the Oscars red carpet. Does it feel any different?” the female host in a black evening gown asked while holding out a microphone.
Eric smiled and replied, “Of course. The fans have become even more enthusiastic. I’d also like to thank everyone for their support during this period.”
The hostess understood what Eric was referring to and did not continue that topic further. After all, NBC had not exactly been innocent during the earlier controversy either.
“Then, Mr. Williams, tell us about your expectations for tonight’s awards. Not only did you receive nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, but unexpectedly also a nomination for Best Original Score. That was quite surprising.”
Hearing the question, Eric leaned closer to the microphone and delivered the standard answer everyone gave, saying things like it depended on whether the judges liked the work and so on. Afterward, Eric patiently answered several more questions before the host reluctantly let him leave.
As soon as he entered the waiting area, Eric immediately felt countless gazes land upon him. He gave everyone a smile without focusing on anyone in particular, then walked toward the several film crews related to Firefly.
The men among the crews were easy enough to deal with. Jonathan Demme, Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, and the others all warmly stepped forward to greet him. But the women were all somewhat reserved. After all, the media could still photograph them here.
After greeting the men, Eric finally looked toward the women.
Virginia stood quietly at the edge of the crowd with a faint smile on her face, looking entirely detached from worldly affairs.
Nicole looked eager to move closer, but seemed to be holding something back, so she stayed where she was. Still, the emotions in her eyes when she looked at Eric were completely undisguised.
As for Julia, she was currently linking arms intimately with Elizabeth. The two women looked toward Eric with strangely complicated emotions in their eyes.
After thinking for a moment, Eric still walked over toward Julia and Elizabeth.
“Julia, Liz… well, even if it’s probably a little late now, I still have to say I’m sorry.”
Hearing Eric’s words, Julia tightened her hold around Elizabeth’s arm slightly and even shrank back a little. Like a protective mother hen guarding her chick, Elizabeth stepped forward and said in a low voice, “Mr. Williams, there’s no need for an apology. We only hope you’ll stay far away from us in the future. Julia and I would already be extremely grateful for that.”
“Uh… of course, no problem,” Eric replied, unable to resist rubbing the bridge of his nose with his index finger.
Looking at the way the two women were acting now, he constantly felt something was strange, yet he could not identify exactly what was strange about it. But he was certain his instincts were not wrong.
“By the way, Liz, how did you end up here?” Eric awkwardly searched for conversation.
“Hmph, I naturally have my own methods,” Elizabeth replied before directly dragging the still-silent Julia away.
The others all assumed Eric had suffered a setback in front of the two women and revealed teasing expressions. Eric merely shrugged indifferently, greeted Nicole briefly, then walked toward Virginia under the disappointed gaze of the woman.
“Vicky, sorry I couldn’t attend the premiere of Reservoir Dogs earlier this month,” Eric said intimately with a trace of apology in his tone after arriving beside her.
As Quentin’s debut film, this version of Reservoir Dogs, thanks to Eric’s support, did not end up overlooked and ignored in North America due to insufficient promotion like it had in Eric’s previous life.
Not only did this version of Reservoir Dogs win the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January because of its unique narrative structure