Chapter 321 Finalized

"Eric, what you said just now is almost the same as what I thought, but I know that you have been shooting only feature films. Although some special effects are used in this time, "Human Ghosts", but After that, do you have any specific plans for this company, I don't like joining the company, but it ends up in a situation where there is nothing to do."

Eric immediately shook his head and said: "Of course not, I can tell you very clearly, Stan, my goal is to surpass Industrial Light and Magic, you should know my "Jurassic Park", this project will definitely not For too long, and Resident Evil, I recently handed over another manuscript to my book agent, which is also a science fiction novel called The Matrix, and these three novels will be made at least in the future. A trilogy of special effects films, so there will be no shortage of projects for special effects companies within ten years. Industrial Light and Magic can grow to this scale with only one "Star Wars" series, and Firefly's future special effects films are definitely Much more than Lucasfilm, as long as this special effects company can eat it, I don’t mind handing it all over to my own special effects company.”

Stan Winston hadn't seen that "Resident Evil", and he didn't hear anything from the name "The Matrix", but he knew about "Jurassic Park", a novel that had been used by many film companies. He was concerned, but Eric never gave up the film copyright, and his purpose can be imagined.

Imagining the resurrection of a giant dinosaur from ancient times on the big screen, Stan Winston was already a little excited, but he did not lose his cool, but asked: "So, Eric, what about the conditions for my joining? , You must know that although my current studio is very small, I am the boss myself and have no shortage of projects.”

Eric said: "I will give you 10% of the shares, and the special effects company will be fully managed by you. The company will not be listed within ten years. I will always provide sufficient funds for the company, but I will ensure that before the company is listed, no matter what investment No matter how much money you have, I will never dilute your personal holdings."

"Eric, I don't have a problem with 10%, though. Although I know you have enough money, you still need a specific investment amount. Not the ambiguous promise now. You know, in Hollywood, Many investment promises are unfulfilled.”

Eric thought for a while and said: "The first investment of 20 million US dollars, I hope this money will be used for equipment acquisition and computer CG technology research and development, as well as the premise and special effects preparation of "Jurassic Park". Therefore, you also It can be seen as an early investment in Jurassic Park. By the way, Pixar can provide some technical support for the special effects company. At the same time, the special effects company must also set up its own CG technology research and development team.”

Stan Winston nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "It seems that you are really optimistic about computer CG special effects?"

"Yes," Eric smiled and said, "So, I got a name for this special effects company. It's called 'Digital Domain'."

"The digital realm,

Stan Winston murmured, and James Cameron, who had been listening silently, couldn't help but said, "Eric, in this way, this company is just right for the production of "Terminator 2", liquid metal Most of the footage of the robot is made in CG. So, I want you to think about it, as long as you agree to part of the investment in Terminator 2, even if it's only $10 million, I can go and raise the rest of the money. "

Eric smiled and said: "Jim, I know what you think. Because my first few films were relatively successful, many people in Hollywood now believe in my vision, but I can't risk my reputation. Otherwise, if the movie fails, no one will blame you, and I'm the culprit who misleads them into paying."

Cameron's mind was pierced, and he couldn't help blushing.

And Stan Winston couldn't help asking at this time: "Eric, don't you really like this sequel movie of Jim?"

Hearing this question, Eric was a little hesitant, and he was not optimistic. It was impossible. Originally, he just wanted to whet Cameron's appetite, but now, he is in a dilemma.

After thinking about it, Eric said: "It's not that I'm not optimistic, it's just that the risk of this movie is too great, the investment of 60 million US dollars, plus the publicity budget in the later stage, if you don't consider overseas, the North American box office is estimated to be 150 million. It takes dollars to recover the cost. The first Terminator film was less than 80 million worldwide, and Jim’s last film, The Abyss, was also 80 million, so you should understand my concerns.”

Stan Winston nodded in understanding, while James Cameron was a little lost.

Eric pondered for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, and said, "Well, in this case, I'll take a gamble, $50 million, Jim, I can take out $50 million, so, I I hope you can take the cautious attitude you had when you made the first Terminator movie and try to make this movie with this budget."

James Cameron just hesitated for a moment, and then nodded his head in disbelief. First, the movie project was finalized. Fifty million is only fifty million. Fifty million is a waste of money: "Okay, Eric, I will do my best."

The two unscrupulous guys with their own thoughts looked at each other and smiled, like friends who have been friends for many years.

"By the way, James, since I took out the money, the copyright of "Terminator" must belong to me. There is no room for negotiation on this matter."

James Cameron was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "This... Of course there is no problem, but Eric, the film copyright is still in the hands of Hemdale Productions, which produced the first film. That company is now It's bankrupt, so I can buy the rights back for a sum of money, and, in my plan, I won't make a sequel after this one."

"How much will it cost?" Eric asked calmly, and at the same time was a little surprised. Another super series is about to arrive. In my memory, "Terminator" doesn't know whether it is the third or the fourth. Just to get the copyright from his predecessor, he spent 30 million US dollars. If he gets it, Eric will definitely not let it go.

"2 million, I have talked to the original producer before." Cameron said.

Eric took out the checkbook, quickly wrote a check for $2 million, and handed it to James Cameron: "Jim, what I want is all copyrights, and there can't be any disputes in the future."

"That's for sure," James Cameron said, collecting the check.

The three discussed a lot of things again, and it was already three o'clock in the afternoon when they parted. The audition originally scheduled for today has been canceled because the male lead of "The Unfinished Love" has been confirmed. So Eric doesn't need to go back to Firefly.

Looking at the girl beside him, Eric said, "Jenny, I'll take you back."

Jennifer Connelly listened to the conversation of the three people quietly throughout the lunch. Her last movie "Death of the Swan" was paid only $50,000, and the one that Eric had messed up last night For the movie, Tony Brandt paid her only $100,000. Therefore, during lunch, the three people's funds of tens of millions of dollars at every turn gave the girl a faint sense of unreality, and she was even a little depressed now. No matter how hard I work, the reward I get is not as good as one-tenth of the check that the man beside me just signed out. Thinking about it makes people feel sad.

Without hearing the girl's answer, Eric, who had just opened the door, looked at Jennifer Connelly's face. From the other's faint expression of loss, Eric quickly understood what the girl was thinking.

It seems, since losing that role last year. Some emotions accumulated in a year, after the events of last night and today, Jennifer Connelly was not clear.

In this case, Eric quickly decided to add another fire. The more exciting it was, the easier it was to hold this girl who had a little fantasy in his hand.

Dreams into reality. That scene was really unbearable.

Eric thought so, when Jennifer Connelly got into the co-pilot, he didn't ask the girl's address, but drove directly to Malibu.

The car drove for more than ten minutes before Jennifer Connelly reacted, and said with some trepidation, "You...you said that. You want to take me back."

Even so, his tone was not firm at all.

Eric nodded: "Yeah, but it's only after three o'clock. You must have nothing to do when you go back so early. Why don't you go and sit where I am?"

The girl pinched the corners of her skirt, lowered her head and said nothing.

Eric smiled triumphantly at the corner of his mouth, and drove the girl all the way to Jianjiao Manor. He just walked into the gate of the manor. Eric did not drive the car directly into the garage as before, but got off directly at the door. Car, handed the key to the security guard, and walked to the villa on foot with the girl's little hand. When more than 20 million US dollars were invested, the Jiaojiao Manor was much more luxurious than the Coppola's villa last night. I introduced it as I walked. The two quickly walked into the villa.

"How does it feel here?" Eric didn't take the girl around in the villa, but went directly to the open-air swimming pool on the southwest side of the villa. It was just windy today, and the waves hit the rocks under his feet and made a rushing sound.

"It's pretty good," Connery said softly, sitting down on a reclining chair on Eric's side, pulling up the hem of his skirt that was blown up by the wind.

Because of the sea breeze, the thin dress on the girl's body was blown tightly against her body, and the delicate curves were undoubtedly revealed. Eric admired it for a while, and suddenly pointed to a small room behind him: "Then It's a changing room with spare swimsuits, do you want to swim?"

"But...is there no water in here?" Jennifer Connelly pointed to the dry swimming pool and found a very lame reason.

"It can be filled in five minutes, you can change your clothes," Eric said.

Trapped by her own words, Jennifer Connelly bit her lower lip lightly, but got up and walked to the changing room. A few minutes later, the girl walked out wrapped in a large bath towel and saw that the pool was indeed full. water.

"The temperature is just right," Eric stood by the water and reached into the pool to test the temperature.

"What about you...?" The girl looked at Eric, who was still dressed in formal clothes.

"I watch you wash," Eric smiled, went back to the reclining chair next to him and sat down, took out a pack of cigarettes and lit it out of nowhere, and then showed an excited expression, his eyes seemed to be waiting for the show The unscrupulous uncle.

Jennifer Connelly stood there hesitating for a while, then prudently took off the towel from her body and jumped into the water quickly. A mermaid in a pink bikini swam quickly to the distance. The pool was not too big, so it quickly reached the end. He leaned against the pool in the southwest corner and glanced at Eric, and saw that the man was still there. Looking at herself with interest, the girl shyly shrank into the water. After hesitating, he swam towards Eric.

For some reason, just after swimming a few meters, Connery felt a slight pain in his right leg, and then disappeared. He fluttered a few times and quickly sank. The struggling girl saw the figure beside the swimming pool jumping into the water quickly, and soon came to her side. Then she was picked up and out of the water. The water in the swimming pool had just reached Eric's abdomen, and it was not too deep.

"Don't move, you may have a cramp," Eric comforted the girl in his arms and walked along the steps in the pool to the shore. Eric was about to put the girl down when his feet suddenly slipped. The whole person fell down, and the girl also fell down, just lying on Eric's chest, and the two were stacked on top of each other.

"The unfortunate Frank Gehry, spent tens of millions of dollars and didn't even do a good job of slip-proofing the swimming pool. I want him to rework it for me."

Jennifer Connelly, whose heart was pounding with fright, heard the man say this. He chuckled softly, and then got a slap on his hip: "Don't lie on your stomach, get up quickly, is it comfortable?"

The girl screamed softly, only to realize that she was lying on Eric's body now, and moved her hands on the ground. Soon he slumped down: "I... I can't move my legs."

Eric exhaled sharply: "Then don't move."

"Well," the girl nodded lightly, then raised her head, just met Eric's gaze, hesitated for a moment, the girl moved up slightly, her lips moved. Actively leaned over and kissed Eric's mouth.

Eric paused, quickly wrapped around the girl's waist, and kissed passionately.

A few minutes later, Jennifer Connelly broke free from the entanglement of Eric's lips and breathed, buried her head in the man's neck, and said softly, "Now, you should be satisfied."

Eric, who had been gently stroking the girl's smooth back, stopped, but he quickly hugged the girl tightly, feeling the two plump meatballs softly pressing against his chest, and he couldn't help it. The suspicious voice said: "Remember, from now on, you are mine."

The girl's body trembled slightly before she asked hesitantly, "Are we dating?"

"It doesn't count."

"You are too domineering," the girl whispered weakly.

"I won't let you escape this time," Eric moved the girl's face over and kissed it gently: "Be my wife in the future."

The girl struggled slightly and asked, "What if, what if I don't want to?"

"Then be my pet."

"You...you're a devil, you don't want to give anyone any hope at all," the girl muttered in confusion, but opened her mouth slightly and kissed Eric again.

He massaged the girl's cramped calf. After some simple obsession, Eric still sent someone to send the girl back. Anyway, the meat was already cooked in the pot, so he was in no hurry. At the same time, he also let the girl digest these two things. All kinds of information received in the sky, if Jennifer Connelly has the courage to pack up and flee Hollywood immediately in order not to be a vassal, Eric will also recognize it. Of course, he can be 100% sure that the girl is reluctant to live in the flashy life of this lucrative market. .

In the next few days, Eric went back to his busy work again. Because of the dispute with Robert Shea, Eric set up a film company again, and since the first one was called Firefly, Eric also took advantage of the situation for this. The name of the company was 'Black Ant'. In fact, he originally wanted to call it 'Black Widow', but Jeffrey firmly objected. This name is too unusual. If it is just a miniature independent production company, it is nothing. But although this company doesn't want to grow as a behemoth like Firefly, it certainly won't be a small game.

So, after some deliberation, Eric named the company "Black Ant Films".

Then, the project of "Instinct" was quickly transferred to this company. At the same time, because of the film content, in order to avoid being rated as -17 in the future, Eric chose to cooperate with Universal in the seventh major, compared to Compared with several other film company giants, Universal does not have any major film projects this year, so it can use most of its resources on this film, and the price offered by the other party is relatively fair. Both parties share the copyright and share the investment equally. The film project is still entirely led by Eric himself, who has absolute control over the film project.

actually. The original initiative of this project was at the Seventh University, and everyone could see what Eric chose to cooperate with them to avoid.

However, since the last turmoil, it has been difficult for the seven major groups to unite and form a heart. Basically, no one trusts anyone, so. When quoting is also different, the reason why Universal can offer the best price. It is also because Japan's Panasonic consortium, like Sony, launched the acquisition of Universal's parent company. Of course, Universal wants to stimulate the stock price through a hot movie like Columbia did at the beginning.

A few days later, James Cameron quickly took down the copyright of "Terminator" and handed it over to Eric. The originally promised $50 million investment was definitely not enough, although he was determined to "pit" Eric, forcing him to make additional investments when the funds were exhausted later. However, Cameron was still a little ashamed, so he made some minor changes to the copyright contract.

This change is actually very simple. One of the contracts signed by James Cameron and the production company is that the film copyright of "Terminator" will automatically return to his own hands after 2018. However, Cameron, who was a little ashamed in his heart, quickly removed this one. After all, he's made up his mind that Terminator 2 is the end of his own series, so the copyright isn't much use to him, at least. He thought so in his heart, Cameron couldn't be Eric, and of course he couldn't think that the copyright of this series would be worth more in the future.

Eric is of course happy to see this, but he did not put the copyright in Firefly, but put it in the newly established Black Ant Films, because when discussing the "Terminator 2" project with Robert Shea. Robert Shay raised his objections conservatively again. His concerns were similar to those of the Seventh Congress. Therefore, Eric did not have any burden in his heart. "Terminator 2" was just like "Instinct". The second work after the establishment of Black Ant.

As for whether there will be problems with the release in the future, Eric has not considered it for the time being. After all, Cameron's shooting speed is not fast, and it would be good for this movie to be released in the summer of next year.

At the same time as the two events of "Instinct" and "Terminator" were completed, the digital field was also established quickly. After Eric readily allocated 20 million US dollars of start-up capital, Stan Winston quickly began to recruit troops, and at the same time, the headquarters was set up. It was established in Venice in Los Angeles. Of course, this Venice is not Venice in Italy, but a district in Los Angeles, located near Santa Monica. Eric remembers that after more than ten years, it was called 'Silicon Beach', echoing San Francisco's 'Silicon Valley'.

Among the complicated affairs, Eric went to the door to persuade himself, and Julia quickly agreed to the "Sleeping with the Enemy" led by Robert Shea. Robert Shea even agreed to the ten thousand dollar remuneration, and Eric just shrugged at the girl's lion's big opening. Anyway, Julia was definitely worth the price.

After that, the heroine of "The Unfinished Love" was quickly finalized. Eric finally chose Brigitte Fonda among a large number of audition actresses, who was personally introduced by Jane Fonda. The niece chose the other party not only because the image of the girl is very suitable, but also gathering the backs of the two major Hollywood movie families to participate in her own movie, which will be a good gimmick for publicity in the future.

From Henry Fonda in the earliest silent film era to Peter Fonda, and then Jane Fonda, and finally to the fourth generation of Brigitte Fonda, this family has been standing in Hollywood for more than half a century, while the Although the Paula family rose a little late, but the power connections are not much different from the Fonda family. Being able to make good friends with these two families at the same time will definitely be of great use in the future, such as Oscar, although Eric is still Very young, however, Oscar certainly cannot escape, no one in Hollywood can escape. The unruly character of Xiao Lizi in the previous life was later tortured by Oscar and wanted to die.

After reaching a cooperation with Stan Winston, Eric asked the other party about the special effects in "The Ghost Story". Although Stan Winston used to focus on model special effects, in "The Ghost Story" Stan Winston also quickly gave a solution to the wall-penetrating special effects and the digital special effects of Hell Reaper involved in "Unfinished", even if Eric asked to do more delicate than the previous life, there is no difficulty , nothing more than money matters.

In the end, the schedules for the four films "Instinct", "Sleeping with the Enemy", "The Ghosts of the People" and "The Silence of the Lambs" produced by the tg film company established by Elizabeth were also arranged.

According to the plan, "Silence of the Lambs" has been filming for some time now, so it was scheduled for early June, and Firefly released it in person. Next is "Sleeping with the Enemy". Although the preparation of this film is late, it is a very simple drama, without any major scenes, and no special effects. Therefore, two months are enough to produce, and the schedule is arranged at late June. Mid-June is the hottest time for the summer vacation. It is impossible for Robert Shea to arrange this without selfishness. However, Eric has no objection.

Then there was "Ghosts" in early July. The production rhythm of this film was almost the same as last year's "Dark War", and the schedule was also imitated last year's "Dark War", which was jointly released by Disney and Firefly.

And "Instinct" was scheduled in mid-July, not only because the film's production cycle is relatively long, but also because of the theme, it was placed at the end of the summer season, and the idea of ​​long-term screening was the idea.

The time came to mid-April, and all the preparations for "Ghost Love" have been completed. Eric also plans to shoot a few shots that require special effects and hand them over to the digital domain for processing. According to the plan, he will soon Going to New York to shoot.

However, the reason why the trip was still not possible on April 13 was because of "Instinct", the starring and director of the film needed him to make the decision in person.

At the beginning, Eric considered that actresses in the United States are relatively conservative. For famous actresses, such large-scale works will definitely not be easy to perform, and the heroine of "Instinct" Catherine is not a vase, The requirements for acting are also more demanding. In my memory, although "Instinct" was considered a big production, many famous actresses rejected it, and finally the producer turned to the lesser-known Sharon Stone.

Therefore, Eric set his sights on European actresses. Compared with Hollywood, European actresses are much bolder. This is just a matter of concept of both parties. After all, in most European movies, even if it seems completely unnecessary , but also to take off a bit, as if the director thinks that if you don't take off and don't reveal it, it's not a movie. In this environment, actresses have to take the initiative to adapt, so the scale of "Instinct" is nothing to many European actresses. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)