Chapter 61: Party
Chapter 61: Party
“Did the Runkel family not come?” In one corner of the party, Jeffrey held a glass of red wine and asked in a seemingly casual tone.
This was the second day after Eric returned to Los Angeles. To thank everyone for the help they had given him over the past half year, Eric specially held a private party at his Beverly Hills mansion. James Brooks, Penny Marshall, Jeffrey Hanson, Michael Kraus, Edward Lewis, and others who had crossed paths with him over the past six months, along with some actor friends he had met while filming Back to 17 and Home Alone, had all received invitations from Eric.
Including the companions brought by the guests, there were nearly forty or fifty people in total. Fortunately, Eric had changed residences, so the awkwardly crowded situation from his first party did not occur.
Hearing Jeffrey’s words, Eric shook his head indifferently. “I personally called to invite them. Charlison refused.”
Jeffrey said with some worry, “I heard that Stuart Runkel has been getting very close to CAA recently. If CAA wants to use the Home Alone sequel to hold us hostage, that would really be troublesome.”
“That won’t happen,” Eric said confidently. “Wanting to use the Home Alone sequel to hold us hostage is nothing but wishful thinking. Once the films Little Stu has accepted are released, you’ll understand.”
In Eric’s memory, after Macaulay Culkin became famous through Home Alone in his previous life, he also accepted quite a few films, but their box office results were all mediocre. With the high salaries caused by his fame, some producers even lost money.
“You mean Stuart’s other films won’t do very well?” Jeffrey had also considered this point.
Eric nodded. “Everyone knows Home Alone is an anomaly. I don’t deny that myself. Little Stu is still only a child, after all. No matter how famous he is, his box office appeal can’t compare with that of an adult superstar. By next year, in order to maintain Little Stu’s fame, even if they have to fall out with CAA, the Runkel couple will still choose to continue working with us. That couple…”
Eric stopped there, disappointment appearing in his eyes. When he called to invite the Runkel family, Charlison Runkel’s attitude toward him was very cold, even somewhat arrogant.
Eric could also guess some of Charlison’s mentality. Perhaps the other party felt that if not for his son, Home Alone would never have achieved its current success.
Some people always thought too highly of themselves.
“But what if Stuart makes another huge box office hit?” Jeffrey pressed.
“Leaving aside how unlikely that is, even if it really happens, we can negotiate when the time comes. Jeffrey, after Pretty Woman is released, you’ll understand. I’m not living off a single Home Alone series.”
As he spoke, Eric caught sight from the corner of his eye of Drew, dressed in a little red formal dress, casually taking a glass of red wine from a waiter’s tray. Eric immediately glared at the girl.
Drew realized that Eric had caught her red-handed and quickly put the glass back. She stuck out her tongue, then slipped over to a group of young people nearby.
Jeffrey noticed Eric’s reaction and teased him, “You’re really good to her. Although you’re only eighteen, I still feel like you treat Drew as if she were your own daughter. If you have children in the future, you’ll definitely be a very competent father.”
“It’s still too early to talk about that. I’m only eighteen. I can’t possibly rush into marriage and children.”
As they were speaking, James Brooks greeted several other guests and came over to the two of them.
“James, thank you for that matter.” Eric raised his glass toward James.
James smiled. “It was nothing. A few days ago, I saw that photo reprinted in the Los Angeles Times. The two of you looked very well matched.”
At the mention of this, Jeffrey also laughed. “Eric, are you sure that photo wasn’t staged by you on purpose? I find it hard to believe that was a candid shot taken by an amateur photographer passing by.”
“But that’s exactly what happened. I even specially spent one thousand dollars to buy the negative, and it even gave me inspiration to come up with a new script.”
James immediately became interested. “Eric, if it’s convenient, can you reveal the content?”
“Of course.” Eric said, “The story unfolds between a single father and a female reporter who is already engaged…”
Eric spent a few minutes describing the outline of Sleepless in Seattle.
“It sounds like the inspiration for this script also comes from An Affair to Remember,” James commented.
Eric did not deny it. “In the script setting, the female lead really likes An Affair to Remember. If it gets filmed in the future, I even plan to use the theme song from An Affair to Remember as a tribute.”
James had originally thought that if Eric’s script was stunning, he would buy it and produce it himself. Even co-investing with Firefly Films would be fine. Eric had just owed him a favor, so if he asked, Eric probably would not refuse. But after hearing Eric’s description, James gave up the idea.
Eric had not explained too many details of the Sleepless in Seattle script, so James treated it as an ordinary romantic love story.
Although romantic films made up a large category in Hollywood, not many of them performed well at the box office. In this era, the types of films that sold well in Hollywood tended more toward action films or science fiction films. Even thriller dramas were more likely to achieve good box office results than romantic films.
James’s lack of interest after hearing the script actually made Eric breathe a sigh of relief. If James had asked for the script, Eric really would not have known how to refuse. No matter what, Sleepless in Seattle was still a film that broke one hundred million at the box office. Giving it away just because he owed James a favor would truly make him reluctant.
The group’s topic quickly shifted to other matters, and Sleepless in Seattle was temporarily left behind. It was only later, after the film was released and earned more than two hundred million dollars worldwide, that James Brooks beat his chest and stamped his feet, shouting that he regretted it.
“Eric, I heard your Pretty Woman is planned for a Valentine’s Day release. I think you’d better be careful. From starting filming after the New Year holiday to Valentine’s Day, there are only five weeks. Add in submission for ratings, and the effective production time won’t exceed four weeks. That’s very risky.”
Eric said confidently, “Actually, preparations for this film already began two weeks ago. There’s still more than a week before filming starts, enough for me to fully consider all the details, so four weeks of production time is more than enough. Pretty Woman doesn’t have many main locations, so filming it will be very easy.”
In his previous life, Pretty Woman had only taken twelve weeks despite all kinds of delays, including a change of production company and changes to the script style.
During normal film production, the accumulated footage would be dozens of hours long, while major productions could even exceed one or two hundred hours. It was precisely shooting all this footage that consumed a large amount of time.
But Eric, who already had the complete film in his mind, naturally would not waste that much time. If the actors did not need a large amount of filming to adjust their emotions and immerse themselves in the plot, Eric could even directly shoot the shots from his memory.
Even so, as long as the actors could deliver their performances, Eric was confident he could compress the filmed footage to within ten hours. In that case, four weeks for shooting and post-production would be more than enough.