King of Hollywood
Chapter 308 - Chapter 308 Chapter 35 A Good Idea

Chapter 308: Chapter 35 A Good Idea Chapter 308: Chapter 35 A Good Idea October 1994 arrived, and Adrian’s life had entered a cycle again, involving post-production work on “Forrest Gump” in the studio, understanding and dealing with other matters in the office while pestering Charlize, and dating different women.

The post-production of “Forrest Gump” was essentially coming to an end. Although Adrian had only seen the roughest cut, he was clear that there wouldn’t be too many surprises, and the promotion could start at the end of the month.

As for the other movies, the aftermath of the summer releases was still echoing. Whether it was “True Lies,” “Twisters,” or “Bad Boys,” they were all still screening in theaters, even if it was only in a little over a hundred. “True Lies” had scraped nearly $150 million at the North American box office, “Twisters” even more–by about a hundred million more–and although “Bad Boys” had just $70 million, it was already a remarkable achievement, especially since this didn’t include the international box office.

The momentum of “The Mask,” released late in the summer, was also good. Although the number of screening theaters had dropped below 1000, the North American box office had long surpassed $100 million. “Interview with the Vampire” didn’t have quite enough staying power; although the North American box office had also broken $100 million long ago, only over two hundred theaters were still showing it after two months. Vampire movies, after all, had their limitations. Of course, international box offices hadn’t been taken into account yet.

No matter how you looked at it, it was a huge harvest. Bossworth Film Company had naturally awarded plenty of bonuses. New Line and Miramax were green with envy and had become even more invested in the movies they were currently preparing. Being under the same company banner, they knew that Bossworth Film Company had three to four more films slated for release at the end of the year.

Apart from “Forrest Gump,” the post-production of “Speed” and “Sleepy Hollow” were almost at an end as well. Adrian had already seen the rough cuts; Cate Blanchett’s performance in “Speed” was notable, embodying the typical forward-looking caution of a woman whilst also displaying the same typically feminine resilience–not to mention, a starkly different image from Sandra Bullock’s. Adrian believed Blanchett was definitely going to outshine Bullock.

However, Liv in “Sleepy Hollow” was far less impressive than Christina Ricci, mainly due to her lack of acting experience. But Liv had the advantage of being many times more beautiful than Ricci. She sat there like a sculpture carved out of jade, with a slightly naive and sorrowful temperament. Tim Burton had a good grip on this, greatly expanding this advantage during shooting. Every shot of her was exquisite, and even in the rough cut, it felt breathtaking.

It was just that “Sleepy Hollow” required too many special effects, and it wasn’t five or six years later yet, so according to Burton’s estimate, it would take at least until Thanksgiving to be fully completed, meaning it probably would not catch the Christmas period.

Adrian was non-committal about this; when the time came, the specifics could be determined. If they really couldn’t make it in time for the promotion, postponing to the next year was also an option, as Bossworth Film Company had already released too many blockbusters this year.

However, “Little Women,” facing a similar situation, couldn’t do this because of various reasons, like the need for accurate background and costumes, and since Adrian wasn’t directing, some delays were inevitable. Maybe it could be released before the end of ’94, but promotions would likely be compromised.

Logically speaking, postponing the release would be the correct move, especially if a full promotional campaign couldn’t be executed to maximize the movie’s value–and “Sleepy Hollow” was already setting that precedent. But Adrian insisted that “Little Women” had to be released by the year’s end, even if it couldn’t have a wide release, it had to screen in mainstream theaters for more than seven days, a necessary condition for Oscar eligibility.

The original reason for acquiring the adaptation rights of “Little Women” was for Winona’s Best Actress nomination. The past two years, the best actor and actress had both been from his endeavors; this halo simply had to be maintained. Adrian had seen some clips, and Winona’s acting was solid; with a little push, scoring a nomination wouldn’t be a problem.

As for winning Best Actress? Forget it. She was still too young. At 23, a Best Supporting Actress award was plausible, but Best Actress? That would be hard on so many veterans. Adrian wasn’t particularly concerned; having the Best Actress nomination was already enough. At this year’s Oscars, as long as Tom Hanks defended his Best Actor title, his halo would remain undiminished, and incidentally, Adrian could also pay a favor to Dennis and Winona.

However, promotion was indeed a problem. Although many movie companies didn’t prioritize box office performance when arranging Oscar contenders, proper promotion was still necessary. After considering it, Adrian had the producer overseeing “Little Women” swiftly edit a good trailer early on, planning to release it before Thanksgiving to get a jump on the initial promotion, then relying on Winona securing a nomination for the subsequent promotional campaign.

Besides these movies, another film being prepared in the United Kingdom was always under Adrian’s watchful eye. Preparing “Braveheart” indeed required a lot of effort; he had reviewed numerous drafts for various clothing and setting designs, not to mention the rental of horses, castles, and the production of various props, and more.

Although it was somewhat troublesome, things would be much easier once the shooting started, so Adrian didn’t really mind. Seeing the team’s earnest efforts, it was possible they could snag the Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction in ’96.

That was about the film side of things. As for the record company, Super Boy wasn’t a smashing hit but was still doing well. In the meantime, they had launched a black female rapper and a male singer, both of whom were quite decent. All things considered, the record company’s development was mediocre; it was neither very good nor very bad.

Adrian had originally planned to acquire another record company, but Claude’s sudden plan disrupted his plans, and he had to put it on hold. No matter, acquiring it a couple of years later wouldn’t be too late, and it would also allow the record company to continue gaining experience and foster good relationships with more outstanding music producers.

As for those two little girls, they were well within control. After more than a year of brainwashing, they were both heading in the direction Adrian wanted to see. Because of Adrian’s subtle displays of favoritism and his repeated declarations of how much he valued them, Christina had come to see Britney as her biggest competitor and was determined to surpass her at all costs to gain more recognition from Adrian.

As for Britney, the usual process was that she would start to become proud from incessant praise. At this point, Adrian would praise Christina and criticize Britney. Struck by this, Britney would try even harder to prove herself.

If this cycle continued, Adrian believed he could reap some rewards in another two years.

The record company’s affairs were relatively simple, and the same was true for the game and publishing companies. Renamed Blizzard, Silicon & Synapse had a new influx of capital, so “Warcraft: Orcs & Humans” was released two months ahead of schedule. With Adrian’s involvement, “Warcraft” did not undergo major changes, but it was polished in detail and included numerous Easter eggs about Trolls, Night Elves, and Titan’s creation myth. Even though this real-time strategy game was criticized by many for plagiarizing “Dune,” its sales were quite satisfactory.

Seeing this, Adrian didn’t interfere too much and let it develop freely. After all, Vulture Studio, later Blizzard North, had all their projects documented with him. As for the team that became independent to produce “Resident Evil,” progress was relatively slow. Running it on a computer meant considering hardware, compatibility, and a series of other issues. However, the character design and scenes largely matched Adrian’s vision. If there were no problems, it might hit the shelves by the end of ’95.

As for the “Tomb Raider,” developed by Eidos Studio, it was anticipated to be released slightly later than “Resident Evil.” However, Lara Croft’s figure might not be as voluptuous and would be more delicate instead. Adrian had given the studio Kate’s photo, asking them to design the character model based on her likeness and figure, claiming “it was originally described based on my girlfriend’s image.” The studio had no opposition–even if they wanted to, they couldn’t, as Adrian had every right to make a game character in his woman’s image.

The publishing company, like the record company, tended toward mediocrity. Although following “Resident Evil,” “Tomb Raider,” and “The Matrix,” it published several books with decent sales, there was no significant overall development. Ben Arnt, who co-wrote “Resident Evil” and “Tomb Raider” with Adrian, didn’t have any remarkable works either, still hovering between first and second-tier. He wanted to expand the “Resident Evil” series to include several more titles, as Adrian had plenty more ideas, but it faced opposition.

“It’s better to spend a few years refining the work than writing so much at once. You’re not without your strengths, Ben,” Adrian had said. He had plans to acquire a new publishing company, which was part of the same package as the record company, but that too was interrupted by Claude. Although the impact wasn’t too great, it was still somewhat frustrating.

Fortunately, Rowling’s book deal had been signed, including the next two–thanks to Adrian’s suggestion, the publishing company offered her a favorable contract, making her very grateful. If managed well, once the three books were published, the company would undoubtedly rise several notches.

For TBS, the most important part of his current business, “Millionaire” brought in extremely high popularity and ratings, while “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” also attracted many young viewers. Everything was going smoothly. Over on TNT, “Sex and the City” was in its final stages of preparation, with the female lead role going to Cindy Crawford, as insisted upon by Adrian.

Generally, such a television series would cast an actress with some experience and mid-tier fame, straddling the line between A- and B-list. For a supermodel or a so-called vase like Cindy Crawford, the cost-effectiveness really wasn’t that great.

Adrian didn’t see it that way; producing a TV series for TNT had something of a do-or-die feel to it, so he aimed to max out all the conditions anyway. Cindy Crawford, being one of the first supermodels, had an unrivaled sensitivity in the fashion world that Sarah Jessica Parker simply couldn’t match, let alone the fact that the show isn’t about acting prowess. Even if it cost a bit more, it didn’t matter.

Consequently, after Adrian personally visited and had a “profound” and “thorough” conversation with her, the supermodel immediately agreed to take the role. What remained to be seen was TNT’s production performance.

As for Claude’s new plan, apart from the two of them, no one else was privy to it. The Godfather might have guessed something, but he wouldn’t be certain. They still had ample cash on hand and didn’t need to finance immediately. Besides, Disney was currently in the first round of negotiations with ABC; even if successful, such negotiations would need to occur several times before reaching a conclusion. They had plenty of time, so they preferred to start their moves from the shadows.

Just like with the acquisition of TBS, Claude had begun purchasing 4.9% stakes through proxies, but ABC’s float was not significant. Furthermore, due to Disney’s announced acquisition plans, the broadcaster’s stock had risen considerably and was quite volatile, so the purchase was not as smooth as the last time.

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll acquire as much as we can. Sooner or later, we’ll have to confront them directly, and that will only make us more confident,” Claude said, unconcerned, as he had a complete set of plans.

Adrian had also reviewed his arrangements. Although he could understand the gist at the beginning, towards the end it was all Greek to him. As the old saying goes: “I may not understand what you’re saying, but it sure sounds impressive.”

“That’s precisely why I leave it all to Claude to handle. I’ve got too much to keep track of; this isn’t my strong suit, so why pretend to understand?” Adrian leaned back in his chair, legs on the desk, and spoke to the ceiling in a languid tone.

Charlize, who was tidying up nearby, gave him a glance but said nothing, although she casually asked a question, not expecting a lengthy explanation in return–what a stroke of undeserved misfortune. Alright, she admitted her question was a bit sarcastic, but it didn’t warrant such a long response.

“I’ve already added Kate’s schedule,” Charlize interjected, handing over the itinerary she held to Adrian as he seemed ready to continue, “The other Kate.”

“Thank you, Charli, you truly are a great help,” Adrian complimented as he took the schedule and looked it over, “So Kate is finally back in Los Angeles. I thought she’d stay in Melbourne till the end of the year.”

As he straightened up, he pulled Charlize, who was about to leave, into his arms. “How should I thank you, Charli?”

“Let me think… how about you let go of me so I can get out,” Charlize said teasingly, sitting on Adrian’s lap while his hands roamed her waist.

“Other than that?” Adrian chuckled, moving his hand to her thigh, caressing upwards under her black lace garter belt towards the hem of her skirt.

“You’re crossing the line, Ed,” Charlize reminded him, not tensing her legs as she had in the past.

“Don’t you find that sometimes, crossing the line can be quite exciting?” Adrian smiled as he slid his hand farther up, just below a certain critical area.

“Sometimes it is, other times… it’s not.” Charlize closed her eyes, taking several short breaths before abruptly standing up.

Adrian rubbed his fingers together and watched her with a face full of regret.

“I know what you’re trying to do, Ed,” Charlize said, taking a few quick steps to the wall, adjusting her skirt, and giving him another glance, “Don’t think I’ll agree to it.”

“I know what you’re thinking too, Charli,” Adrian said as he stood up and approached her, winking slyly, “If you really want to exhaust your passion and curiosity, you should try some office passion.”

Charlize looked at him, her breathing disorderly for a few seconds, then raised her chin and changed the subject: “Sometimes I wonder if it’s all women named Kate you want to sleep with.”

Adrian laughed, stroking his chin before evasively replying, “Speaking of which, what do you think about inviting Kate to stay at the villa? She’s just vacationing and will be going back to Melbourne soon.”

“That’s your business,” Charlize shrugged and headed for the door. Just as she reached it, she turned back and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll move out for a while. You can enjoy your alone time with her.”

How interesting. Watching Charlize’s disappearing figure, Adrian wore a meaningful smile mixed with a tinge of regret. That night had not gone as he wished; he had thought after sharing dinner they might continue, but the two women, who seemed to be at odds before, had collaborated so seamlessly.

The three of them still slept in one bed. But any time Adrian made a move on one, the other would find various “coincidental” ways to stop him. Going for both at the same time? They’d strike at the heart of the matter, forcing him to be good. God as his witness, both women were still fighting verbally just before sleep.

So while it was undoubtedly thrilling to be sandwiched between them until dawn, it was a pity nothing happened. If he had known, he might as well have made another attempt during the shower.

Although there hadn’t been a recurrence of this scenario, even though Kate had been half-coerced by him to the villa multiple times since, Charlize consciously avoided them. However, from their habitual chatting and the content–still much sparring–it was clear their relationship was getting more complicated. It had similarities to his relationships with Monica and Julia but also had more differences.

Especially today, his suggestion of bringing Blanchett back to the villa elicited a very telling reaction from Charlize. Had she ever temporarily moved out when he brought Sarah, Liv, and others home before?

Thinking back to the alluring scene of her and Kate half-dressed and embracing, it was really tempting; if only he’d had a camera, that would have been great. Adrian sighed inwardly, and an idea popped into his head.

Tapping his fingers back and forth on the desk, a smile crept across his lips. That’s a good idea, Ed! (To be continued, for more please visit www.NovelFire.net. More chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)