Chapter 953 The Reason
On January 18, the Golden Globes dinner was held on a Sunday.
Eric still did not attend the award ceremony, but after the award ceremony, he rushed to a manor in Beverly Hills to attend the celebration party hosted by Miramax.
"It's half past nine, why did you come here?"
As soon as Eric got out of the car, Elizabeth and Julia greeted them together. Elizabeth reached out and dragged Julia, who wanted to get tired of Eric, away, and did not forget to express her dissatisfaction.
"I have a dinner date with Tim Burton," Eric replied, looking at Julia who was deliberately blocked by Elizabeth on the other side with an aggrieved expression, "Don't bully her all the time."
"How can I bully her, do you want to see her rubbing against you in front of so many people?" Elizabeth raised her chin to indicate to the crowd on the lawn not far away, and continued: "Tim Burton, and Is that "Sleepy Hollow" related?"
Eric nodded: "Yeah, talk about some movie preparations."
Elizabeth said enviously: "You stole another good movie. I've seen that script too. Now that I think about it, it's really good."
"This is not necessarily. Before the movie is released, who knows what the outcome will be."
"Then let it go to Fox."
"No."
"Bastard," Elizabeth subconsciously raised her hand and pinched it.
Eric diddge a little with a smile, and waited for Elizabeth to withdraw her hand before asking, "How did it turn out, how many awards did you win?"
"The English Patient, Best Picture in a Drama Series, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Score," Elizabeth immediately reported a long list of awards with a little pride, and added: " And the best adapted screenplay for "Good Will Hunting." On the TV series, "Black Angel of the Last World" also got a few nominations, but they all fell through, but "The Black Road Family" won four awards."
After listening to Elizabeth, Eric was a little puzzled: "I thought Harvey would focus on the public relations of "Good Will Hunting", why is it still "The English Patient", Harvey and the others?"
"Harvey is talking about a movie with Robert Redford," Elizabeth explained, her expression also a little regretful, and said: "Actually, we also want to give up "The English Patient" and work on "Good Will Hunting". From the beginning, Miramax has already invested a lot of PR resources on The English Patient, and it is impossible to change the target immediately. Also, you know about The Perfection, right?”
Eric nodded, "As Perfect" is a feature film released by Sony Pictures at the end of the year, starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. The film tells the story of an eccentric and surly writer who gradually changes his attitude towards people and things under the influence of the people around him. Both Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt have great performances in this film.
The box office curve of "As Perfect" is similar to that of "Good Will Hunting", both of which have high reputation and long-term box office. Since its release in December, the cumulative box office has reached more than 87 million US dollars, and the weekly box office has remained at around 10 million US dollars.
It has more stamina than "Good Will Hunting", and the total North American box office of the movie may even reach 150 million US dollars.
However, the production cost of this film is 50 million US dollars, which is already a big production, and the return rate is far from that of "Good Will Hunting".
Elizabeth continued: "The box office and word of mouth of "As Perfect" are better than "Good Will Hunting", but it is not as good as "The English Patient", which is purely literary. Sony Pictures has failed in commercial films this year. The bright spot is that they have also spared no effort in awarding PR. If Miramax switched to supporting Good Will Hunting for the Olympics, or diverted energy and took care of The English Patient at the same time, then we may have nothing to gain, so we can only continue to do our best for now. Support 'The English Patient' to ensure that it beats 'The Perfection', and as for Good Will Hunting, it's just a matter of fate."
Having said that, the three of them have already walked to the grassy lawn.
Eric smiled and greeted the welcoming guests one by one. Harvey Weinstein and the famous director and actor Robert Redford also came out of the villa, and Robert Redford was accompanied by a three-man. A middle-aged man in his teens, with some familiar faces, Eric thought for a while before remembering that this was Richard Lovett, the current president of C+.
Eric hugged Harvey and turned to shake hands with Robert Redford and Richard Lovett.
Robert Redford showed some restraint, but Richard Lovett was very enthusiastic. He shook hands with Eric, and did not forget to take the opportunity to shove a business card over.
After greeting and chatting with the gathered guests for a while, Eric and Harvey walked into the villa together with Elizabeth's eyes.
When he came to a reception room, Eric saw that Elizabeth drove Julia, who was eager to follow up, out, and sat down on the sofa with a resigned smile, looking at Harvey, Robert Redford and Li. Chad Lovett said, "Liz just said you were talking about a movie?"
Harvey nodded and waited for Elizabeth to walk in with a tray of champagne, distribute it to a few people, and sat down beside Eric, Harvey said, "Eric, it's the Horse Whisperer, Robert To make it into a movie, that's what we're talking about."
The Horse Whisperer is a novel written by British author Nicholas Evans. Daughter Chris lost a leg in an accident. In order to heal her daughter's psychological trauma caused by the accident, mother Annie ran thousands of miles with a horse that also survived the accident but was seriously injured, looking for a man who is said to know how to work with horses. Stories of people who communicated healing horses.
Although the ending of the novel is unsatisfactory, the whole is very warm and healing.
Since its publication in 1995, the novel has been translated into more than 30 languages and has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
The reason why Eric knows this information is half of his life experience. He has always been paying attention to the information of several bestseller lists, so that he can buy the copyright of valuable books in memory at any time. The other half is from a previous life, because in the original version of "Horse Whisperer", the daughter Chris played by the name of Scarlett Johansson.
Eric heard what Harvey said, but glanced at Richard Lovett, the president of C+.
"Horse Whisperer" is a world-class bestseller, and Richard Lovett appears here again. It is not difficult to imagine that this should obviously be a packaged project of C+.
Today is the first time Richard Lovett meets Eric since the last Pierce Brosnan paycheck. The last incident was a mess, and Pierce Brosnan figured out everything afterwards. Although he couldn't find trouble with C+ because of being confused by Richard Lovett, he quickly cancelled the brokerage contract with C+. Now it has been put into wma's banner.
The psychological shadow caused by the whole incident to Richard Lovett is not too heavy. The initiator of the whole incident is sitting opposite him, but Richard Lovett has not shown any resentment in his heart. He is a very Real people, noticing that Eric looked over, just smiled and added: "Mr. Williams, "The Horse Whisperer" already has a world-class influence, whether artistically or commercially, It's a very promising project."
Eric nodded and said: "Although I didn't read it carefully, I probably know the content of "The Horse Whisperer". It is indeed a very good novel, but it would be very difficult to adapt it into a movie. Because on the whole, the plot of the novel is mainly warm and bland, so, Bob, what are you going to do?"
Robert Redford felt a little strange in his heart as he listened to the young man in front of him asking him.
The 61-year-old Robert Redford has already made a name for himself in Hollywood and has a high status. He has not only won the Oscar for best director, but also has been an increasingly influential Sundance Film Festival in recent years. founder of .
However, thinking about the series of box office miracles created by Eric, Robert Redford's discomfort was quickly relieved. Eric's "Casino Royale" last year was more box office than the movies he shot in his life. The box office adds up to a lot more.
After sorting out his thoughts, Robert Redford said: "Eric, it's really not easy to tell this story well, I plan to focus the script's portrayal on the male protagonist Tom Polk and Annie and Chris and their mother and daughter. The relationship between the two is transformed, so as to avoid the whole film becoming dull. Tomfa Polk is a rebellious person, initially, Annie contacted him by phone, hoping to get help, but he refused without hesitation Annie went all the way to his farm, out of pity for the little girl and a deep affection for Annie, a strong woman, Tom agreed to help heal the injured horse. In the end, the horse stood up again Up, the little girl untied her own knot, but unfortunately Tom and Annie couldn't come together."
Eric looked at Harvey on the opposite side and Elizabeth next to him with expressions of approval, nodded approvingly, and then asked, "So, Bob, how much are you going to spend on this movie?"
Robert Redford hesitated and looked at Richard Lovett beside him.
Richard Lovett said: "Mr Williams, the author of 'The Horse Whisperer', Mr Evans, is asking for a minimum $50 million investment in this project."
"$50 million."
Eric repeated, rubbing the glass in his hand.
He could see that Richard Lovett's remarks still had reservations, and the final production cost of the film might be higher.
Although "The Horse Whisperer" is a bestseller in recent years, and some media even compared it to famous novels such as "Land Dreams of the Covered Bridge" and "Thorn Birds", in fact, "The Horse Whisperer" is far from reaching the Such a classic level. But the novel's advantages are also obvious. It has only been published for three years and is at the peak of its popularity.
As Hollywood's top director, Robert Redford is unlikely to smash the film.
If the movie's budget can be controlled within 30 million US dollars, it is definitely a worthwhile project. But the cost is more than 50 million, which is a bit dangerous for a literary drama. After all, the commercial performance of literary films is limited. Phenomenal films such as "Dancing With Wolves" and "Forrest Gump" with double box office awards will not necessarily appear in Hollywood in three or five years, Eric remembers. There is also no connection between "The Horse Whisperer" and the Oscars. Even if the Weinstein Brothers operate this time, they will gain an advantage in future Oscars, but the cost exceeds 50 million US dollars, and the film's profit prospects are very limited.
Both Elizabeth and Weinstein, and even Richard Lovett and Robert Redford, wanted to use Eric's cinematic vision to judge the project's prospects.
Seeing that Eric pondered for a long time without speaking, several people felt uneasy.
Eric noticed that the four people looked at him eagerly, and after thinking for a while, he still did not directly express his inner thoughts, but he lightly changed the topic on the grounds that he had not read the script.
After the party, Eric and Elizabeth rushed back to their mansion on Beverly Hills.
Elizabeth started the car, looked at Julia who was tired of Eric in the back row, and pouted in dissatisfaction. Eric rarely drives, and Julia's state in front of Eric is not suitable for driving at all, so she can only do it by herself.
When the car was driving smoothly on Beverly Hills Road, Elizabeth couldn't wait to ask: "Eric, what do you think of "Horse Whisperer"?"
Eric wrapped his arms around Julia's slender waist, feeling the girl cat rubbing against him, and said, "Do it or not, the cost is too high, you can't lose, but don't try to earn too much."
Elizabeth said: "Harvey said that the global box office prospect of this project is at least 200 million. If it can win the Oscar, the later videotape and TV rights will also be very rich."
"You should also recognize the reality, Liz, the audience of literary films is limited after all. In my opinion, for a literary film, the production cost of 50 million US dollars is already the investment limit. The probability of cost recovery is low, let alone profitable.”
Elizabeth hesitated and said, "However, Harvey has done a good job in recent years, and Fox can't always limit him to low-budget literary films."
"The problem lies with Harvey. I don't deny Harvey's ability, but he may have been stimulated by the success of large-scale commercial films in recent years, and believes that big investment will bring high returns, but this kind of rule is fundamental in literary films. Not applicable. I remember talking to you about it back in the day, and if Harvey starts leaning toward big-budget, big-budget, award-winning films, it's almost time for Fox and Miramax to go their separate ways."