King of Hollywood
Chapter 347 - Chapter 347 Chapter 71 Stalemate

Chapter 347: Chapter 71: Stalemate Chapter 347: Chapter 71: Stalemate However, before Adrian could arrange for someone to say it, someone had already done so.

“An amusing, even somewhat comical film, where the dramatic lives of the male and female leads are filled with an ironic flavor, exaggerated like a stage play, almost every line worthy of savoring. If you add more of that nagging narration, it would have Woody Allen’s style,” wrote a film critic from the Los Angeles Times after seeing the movie.

There were several articles calling numbers, but this was the first to say so, and it immediately gained the approval of many people, who then compared it with Woody Allen’s other works. Although these critics sometimes have diametrically opposed views, they do have professional quality. With such comments, “Small Time Crooks” garnered a lot more attention, even Woody Allen in New York was hounded by reporters for his opinion on the film.

“A very interesting concept,” the little old man mumbled reluctantly when pressed.

On hearing this, Adrian naturally wouldn’t let it go, subtly hyping up the comment without showing any trace. The word of mouth suddenly climbed a notch. It’s just that box office numbers still weren’t very satisfying. Woody Allen’s works were always niche, and he belonged to those who made movies for themselves. “Small Time Crooks” was one of his lowest points, and even though some parts were modified during production to enhance entertainment, it still had inherent flaws like “Fly Away Home,” so a $4 million opening weekend box office was quite normal.

No matter, since the film was meant to earn critical acclaim. Since it was currently receiving a lot of praise, there was no need to dwell on anything else. With an investment of only about $14 million, they should be able to recoup costs through box office anyhow.

The other two movies couldn’t be handled the same way, as both were big-budget productions nearing $100 million, and also with a mission to appease Miramax and New Line. Of course, if both movies flopped at the box office, it would surely mean that people collectively lost their minds.

Interestingly enough, both “Independence Day” and “The Rock” had similar initial budgets, but as production went on, “The Rock” considerably reduced expenses in comparison to “Independence Day.” Of course, Michael Bay didn’t suddenly change his character and stop shooting so many explosions, nor was it because Brokheimer and Simpson had tight control. The key difference was that “The Rock” received support from the Pentagon while “Independence Day” did not.

Both movies were American anthems. “Independence Day” had even more of a patriotic theme than “The Rock.” In “The Rock,” there was not only a betraying brigadier general but also content about the Ministry of Defense selling arms on the black market. The Seal Team, after finally infiltrating to rescue hostages, got completely wiped out, which looked like it smeared the US military. Meanwhile, in “Independence Day” the US leads the world in defeating aliens, and the President even personally pilots a plane, with an Independence Day speech that was particularly inspiring. Yet, it was the former that received Pentagon support.

The reason was quite simple. When the crew of “Independence Day” sought the Pentagon’s support, the military, after reviewing the script, thought having an alcoholic pilot fly a plane into the alien spacecraft to sacrifice himself was inappropriate and suggested replacing him with an air force war hero. Both Roland Emmerich and the producers from New Line couldn’t agree to such a change, as it would render all their previous set-ups meaningless. The Pentagon insisted on the revision, and neither side could come to an agreement, so there was no possibility of cooperation.

On “The Rock” side, despite having quite a bit of content that tarnished the military’s image, the Pentagon really liked the Seal Team’s shouting scene when they were surrounded. General Hammer at the end sends a missile into the sea and dies in a conflict with his subordinates. More importantly, Michael Bay accepted all of the Pentagon’s suggestions wholeheartedly and even persuaded Brokheimer, who was dissatisfied with certain details. With that, the military naturally offered a lot of support.

So the end result was that the “Independence Day” team spent a significant amount of money renting planes and firearms, while “The Rock” received the full set of Seal Team gear from the military, along with the use of planes to fly over The Rock for filming, all for free and with a sponsorship of several thousand to the crew. Although the amount was small, it was enough to show the stance of the Pentagon.

“I guess Michael Bay’s good relationship with the military started here, huh?” Adrian said with a chuckle after fully understanding the process.

Okay, this was just a minor interlude. If the movies failed to sell tickets, nearly $10 million in savings would still result in a disastrous loss; after all, both films were big productions. But just as previously mentioned, if both films couldn’t sell, then there surely was a problem with the world, especially after he had seen some of the raw footage.

As for movies, aside from these two as well as “Braveheart” and “Emma,” which Adrian was busy with, there were many other productions that didn’t immediately require much attention. Oh, and there was one more film, or rather a script, that needed to start preparation – it was the role that Lily had privately inquired about with the girl’s interest after they had watched “Fly Away Home” together a few weeks earlier.

“Beautiful Girls,” that was the name of the script. Of course, Adrian was as always using what originally belonged to someone else to curry favor. It wasn’t that Adrian lacked better scripts–at least “Fly Away Home” had nothing to do with Natalie and was quite good–nor did he not want to offer the young girl roles that would better showcase her talents. From Natalie’s perspective, having an impressive role like in “The Professional” was already enough.

Although Kirsten had now won Best Supporting Actress, without Adrian’s help, it was uncertain what her future would have been. She had experienced many ups and downs for not having won awards in the past, let alone now. For child stars, the more classic roles they play when they are young, the less room they have to rise in the future, making it harder for them to break through and be accepted. This was one of the reasons for the child star curse, and a reason why Adrian fought for Kirsten to win Best Supporting Actress– it was a simple way to keep the precocious girl under control.

But Natalie was different. She was smart and self-disciplined, and Adrian didn’t want to use such methods on her. What she needed was the kind of film that wasn’t a box office hit but had good reviews and showcased her acting–the kind where she’d be the highlight of the film without standing out too much. “Fly Away Home” was like this, and so was “Beautiful Girls.”

The quality of this movie was only average. While the plot had its merits, it was quite ordinary in many places. Simply put, it was about a few characters who were confused about life and love, then after going through a series of events, they came to a realization. Natalie’s role was the younger sister of one of the female supporting characters–a sly, scheming, enigmatic girl. After her sister and one of the male leads went out, she would do anything to break them up, indirectly leading the male lead to an epiphany.

There were many such movies, which generally neither hit it big at the box office nor incurred losses, making them relatively easy to handle. Since there was such a ready-made piece, why would Adrian bother searching in his memory bank? It would be quite time-consuming.

“Why isn’t there a search engine in the memory bank?” Adrian had sighed more than once, though he remembered everything he had seen. Looking for something obscure, however, could be quite troublesome.

Of course, his sigh was just him complaining. To have such an abnormal memory was already quite remarkable; why be so demanding? Regardless, given enough time, he would always find what he wanted. People should be content with what they have.

Moreover, there wasn’t much time now to search slowly, as there was more than one thing to deal with.

TBS’s situation was still going well. The viewership ratings for “Millionaire” had reached new heights. Adrian repeatedly emphasized the importance of maintaining the pace and not to schedule everything at once just because the viewership was high, as the audience would quickly tire of it. Many media outlets thought it was a pity–if the show was on broadcast television, the ratings would have been even higher. US viewers quite liked this sort of reality show where anyone could participate and potentially get rich overnight.

As for the two flagship TV shows, the viewership for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” remained stable at around five to six million viewers. It appeared mediocre, but in reality, as Adrian had predicted, it was very popular among young people.

Looking at American TV series from the 80s and 90s, the highest-rated were mostly family comedies such as “Growing Pains” or “Friends,” etc., so there was somewhat of a void in the teen drama market. The emergence of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” perfectly filled this gap, and its popularity among the youth was a natural outcome.

“Sex and the City” was similar. If “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was a teen drama, then “Sex and the City” was a drama for middle-aged women. With Adrian’s involvement, this show quickly captured the taste of housewives from the very beginning–fashion, trends, and the unrestrained discussion of men were all their favorites.

Despite this, the viewership ratings for “Sex and the City” still fluctuated considerably. After all, this was TNT’s first attempt at producing and broadcasting its own drama series, and there were still many areas where it lacked experience, plus time slots and other factors influenced the numbers, causing them to be somewhat volatile. However, the number of subscribers was climbing steadily. Cindy Crawford, after getting past the initial discomfort, although her acting hadn’t improved much, became increasingly well-matched with the show. According to feedback, the audience accepted her as the beautiful and stylish protagonist–her high cost wasn’t wasted.

As long as this trend continued, TNT would surely adjust soon enough. Even if they couldn’t surpass HBO, they would be able to compete. Besides, they had Adrian.

However, despite TBS’s strong momentum, there was an undercurrent of difficulty inside.

“No matter what you say, it was you who suggested the acquisition of ABC, so you have to take full responsibility for the current situation.” Under the brilliant sunshine, Adrian said to Claude while gazing into the distance.

“Hey, although I suggested it, it couldn’t have happened without your approval, right?” Dressed casually, Claude sitting beside, immediately retorted, “You can’t push all the responsibility onto me.”

“Why can’t I? I even came here to accompany you for golf.” Adrian swung his club hard, the little white ball flew high before falling, accurately and precisely… into the middle of the lake.

“Ha, that was pretty bad,” Claude whistled and then clapped his hands twice.

Adrian’s mouth twitched, then he turned his head to look at him, “I was about to say that I might take responsibility for thirty percent of it, but now it seems unnecessary.”

“Oh God, what am I supposed to do?” Claude raised his hands dramatically, “Should I beg for your forgiveness, Ed?”

“No need, just smooth things over with those guys, and I’ll forgive you.” Adrian shrugged his shoulders.

The two men then laughed together, Claude got up to pat his shoulder, “Don’t worry, they can’t stir up much trouble. The current deadlock in the acquisition makes them think there’s an opportunity, so they can’t think deeply.”

“I know, I just don’t understand, since you say it’s a deadlock, why then divert energy to the international financial markets?” Adrian looked at him, “If you had used that energy in the contest with Disney or rather Eisner, perhaps you could have broken this stalemate or even won.”

“You’re oversimplifying things,” Claude took the golf ball the caddy handed him and placed it on the grass, “the current deadlock can’t just be broken, and Eisner is happy to see this kind of deadlock because the advantage will slowly tilt towards them. Until a better solution comes along, it’s normal for me to use my surplus energy elsewhere, isn’t it? The international financial market has never been as favorable to the United States as it is now, opportunities are everywhere, and… I mentioned it over the phone before, after which Mr. Regret came to visit.”

“With so many opportunities, how could I let them pass by, and since you’re a genius in that area, of course, I had Uncle Regret find you.” Adrian shrugged as if he did not catch the mockery in his tone, “Anyway, we’ve got to find a way to solve the current predicament, we’ve always been passive, just look at those people’s attitudes.”

Disney and AC Media were deadlocked in the ABC acquisition battle, and Eisner indeed was a formidable figure. Once he grasped the advantage, he used it to the fullest, knowing where Disney’s strengths lay and thus steadily advancing step by step, making it difficult for Claude to win a victory and turn the tide.

In the beginning, economic commentators analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of both sides were optimistic about AC Media. But as the news spread of a lunch meeting between Eisner and two substantial directors of ABC, public opinion began to lean one-sidedly.

“Obviously, the scales of victory are tilting towards Disney, while AC Media has no strong countermeasures. After all, they are too young, and such an emerging company is unlikely to successfully challenge a long-established large corporation. To be honest, their successful acquisition of TBS was a miracle, and now they are aiming for a larger broadcasting company even before they’ve fully digested TBS. Even if they miraculously defeat Disney and successfully acquire ABC again, it’s not certain they can run ABC well.” This was the latest analysis of the acquisition by Fortune magazine.

The articles in other financial newspapers and magazines were pretty much the same, simply saying that AC Media was too young. Although not without strength, as a new company, they lacked experience and even after acquiring ABC, it was not certain they could run it, so losing to Disney was just a matter of time.

Inside TBS, discordant voices inevitably surfaced, with financial programs also expressing skepticism about the acquisition. The commentators were right, AC Media had indeed not fully digested TBS, only…

“This has always been part of our plan,” Claude said dismissively, “Once they stick their heads out, then…”

He made a fist in the air and swung it, making a sweeping gesture: “Without full preparation, how could I possibly rashly propose acquiring ABC? Do they really think we’re easy to fool just because we’re young?”

“What about Ted?” Adrian immediately asked. Such issues were normal, power struggles existed everywhere, but were these guys simply not using their brains, or did they just refuse to look at the company’s structure, or were they just not satisfied?

“He’s obviously pleased to be a spectator. That’s an old fox for you.” Claude shrugged.

“Alright, I think he’s going to be quite surprised.” Adrian smiled. Whether or not they could successfully acquire ABC, they had the strength to clean up those scheming guys, but it was just a minor irritation, so the most important thing was…

Snap! A soft sound as the little white ball traced a perfect arc through the air, bounced a few times, and rolled towards the flagpole.

“So now I’m waiting for an opportunity, the opportunity you promised.” Claude looked away only after watching for a while.

“Ha, I didn’t know you took this so seriously, you were rather noncommittal at the start.” Adrian burst out laughing.

“Sometimes those seemingly useless methods can actually have pretty good effects.” Claude smiled, “I’ve already made the arrangements.”

“That was quick,” Adrian raised an eyebrow, “Well, you won’t have to wait long. They’re in contact now, and it won’t be past the end of this month, so you can start preparing now.”

“Great, I’m looking forward to seeing Eisner’s expression.” Claude laughed heartily and turned to walk toward where the ball had landed.

“Hold on, Claude,” Adrian hurried a few steps to catch up, “Don’t tell me you’re putting all your hopes on this without having a backup plan.”

“What if I say I don’t?” Claude turned his head and asked, his joking manner was obvious.

“Then I’d immediately have you picked up and thoroughly examined to see who’s impersonating my close friend.” Adrian said seriously, then looked at Claude with an inquiring gaze as Claude laughed out loud. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it, and your support is my biggest motivation at NovelFire.net.)