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Chapter 321: Finalized #

“Eric, what you just said is almost exactly what I was thinking, but I know you’ve only been shooting narrative films so far. Although there are some special effects in your latest film ‘Ghost,’ what about after that? I don’t want to join and end up with nothing to do.”

Eric immediately shook his head and said, “Of course not. I can tell you very clearly, Stan, that my goal is to surpass Industrial Light & Magic. You should know about my film ‘Jurassic Park.’ This project definitely won’t take too long. There’s also ‘Resident Evil.’ Recently, I gave a book manuscript to my literary agent. It’s a science fiction novel called ‘The Matrix.’ These three novels will be made into at least three-part series of special effects films in the future. Therefore, the special effects company won’t lack projects for at least ten years. Industrial Light & Magic only developed to its current scale with the ‘Star Wars’ series, but the special effects films of Firefly will definitely be more numerous than Lucasfilm’s. As long as this special effects company can handle it, I don’t mind handing over all the projects to my own special effects company.”

Stan Winston hadn’t seen ‘Resident Evil,’ and didn’t hear anything about the content from the name ‘The Matrix.’ However, he knew about ‘Jurassic Park.’ This novel had been of interest to many film companies, but Eric had never given up the film rights. His motives were not hard to imagine.

As he imagined the scene of giant dinosaurs resurrected on the big screen in ancient times, Stan Winston was already a little excited, but he didn’t lose his coolness. Instead, he asked, “So, Eric, what are the conditions for me to join? Although my current studio is small, I am the boss and I don’t lack projects.”

Eric said, “I’ll give you 10% of the shares. The special effects company will be completely managed by you, and the company won’t go public within ten years. I will always provide enough funds for the company, but I guarantee that no matter how much money is invested before the company goes public, I will absolutely not dilute your personal shares.”

“Eric, I have no objection to the 10% of the shares, but although I know you have enough funds, a specific investment amount is still needed. It’s not just vague promises. You know, in Hollywood, many investment promises are not fulfilled.”

Eric thought for a moment and said, “The first batch of 20 million U.S. dollars investment, I hope this money will be used in equipment purchase and computer CG technology research and development, as well as the pre-production special effects preparation of ‘Jurassic Park.’ Therefore, you can also see this as an early investment in ‘Jurassic Park.’ By the way, Pixar can provide some technical support for the special effects company, and at the same time, the special effects company must establish its own CG technology research and development team.”

Stan Winston nodded in satisfaction and said, “It seems that you really have high hopes for computer CG special effects?”

“Yes,” Eric smiled and said, “That’s why I named this special effects company ‘Digital Domain’.”

“Digital Domain,” murmured Stan Winston, while James Cameron, who had been listening quietly, couldn’t help but say, “Eric, in that case, this company is perfect for the production of ‘Terminator 2’. Most of the shots of the liquid metal robot were made using CG. So, I hope you can consider it. As long as you promise to invest in part of ‘Terminator 2’, even if it’s only 10 million dollars, I can raise the rest of the funds.”

Eric smiled and said, “James, I know what you’re thinking. Because my previous films were relatively successful, many people in Hollywood trust my judgment. But I can’t take risks with my reputation. If this film fails, no one will blame you, but I will become the scapegoat who misled them to invest money.”

Cameron’s thoughts were exposed, and he couldn’t help but blush.

At this point, Stan Winston couldn’t help but ask, “Eric, do you really not have much confidence in James’s sequel?”

Hearing this question, Eric hesitated for a moment. It was impossible not to have confidence. He had only wanted to tease Cameron, but now he was in a dilemma.

After thinking about it, Eric said, “I don’t lack confidence, but the risk of this film is too great. With an investment of 60 million dollars, plus the budget for post-production and promotion, excluding overseas markets, the North American box office is estimated to have to reach 150 million dollars to break even. The global box office of the first ‘Terminator’ was less than 80 million dollars, and Cameron’s previous film ‘The Abyss’ also had a global box office of 80 million dollars. So, you should understand my concerns.”

Stan Winston nodded in understanding, while James Cameron was a bit disappointed.

Eric pondered for a moment, as if he had made a big decision, and said, “Well, since that’s the case, I’ll take a gamble. I can offer 50 million dollars. James, I hope you can approach the cautious attitude you had when filming the first ‘Terminator’ and try to make this film within this budget.”

James Cameron hesitated slightly, but quickly nodded without any moral principles. Once the film project was confirmed, it was 50 million dollars, and if it couldn’t be completed, he didn’t believe that Eric would let the project fail and waste the 50 million dollars. “Okay, Eric, I will do my best.”

The two unscrupulous guys with their own thoughts smiled at each other, like old friends who had known each other for many years.

“By the way, James, since I’m putting up this money, the copyright for ‘Terminator’ must belong to me. There’s no room for negotiation on this matter.”

James Cameron was stunned for a moment, then nodded. “Well…of course, that’s not a problem. However, Eric, the film rights are still in the hands of Hemdale, the company that produced the first movie. They’ve gone bankrupt, but we can buy the rights back for a sum of money. Also, in my plan, I won’t be making any sequels after this one.”

“How much money will that cost?” Eric asked calmly, feeling a bit surprised and excited at the prospect of acquiring another blockbuster franchise. As far as he could remember, the rights to ‘Terminator’ were acquired by the previous production company for $30 million just to obtain the rights. If Eric were to get his hands on it, he wouldn’t let go.

“Two million. I’ve already talked to the original producers about it,” Cameron replied.

Eric pulled out his checkbook and quickly wrote a check for $2 million, handing it to James Cameron. “James, what I want is the full rights, with no disputes in the future.”

“That’s a given,” James Cameron said, taking the check.

The three of them talked about a lot of things, and by the time they parted ways, it was already 3 PM. The audition for the male lead in ‘Ghost’ had been cancelled due to the lead actor being confirmed. Therefore, Eric didn’t need to go back to the firefly studio.

Looking at the girl next to him, Eric said, “Jenny, let me take you back.”

Jennifer Connelly had been quietly listening to the conversation of the three men throughout lunch. She had only received $50,000 for her last film, ‘Etoile’ and Tony Brandt had offered her a fee of only $100,000 for the film that Eric had disrupted last night. Thus, during lunch, the large amounts of money mentioned by the three men had left her feeling a little unreal. She was now feeling a bit melancholy, thinking that even if she worked hard, she would still earn less than the man next to her who could easily write a check for such a large sum of money.

Not hearing a response from Jennifer, Eric opened the car door and looked at her face. From her faintly disappointed expression, Eric quickly understood what she was thinking. It seemed that losing that role last year had affected her emotionally, and yesterday’s and today’s events had only added to her despondency.

Since that was the case, Eric quickly decided to add more fuel to the fire. The more intense the stimulation, the easier it would be to catch this girl who still had some fantasies in her mind. Dreams turned into reality. That scene was really unbearable to face.

That’s what Eric was thinking. When Jennifer Connelly got into the passenger seat, he didn’t ask for the girl’s address. Instead, he drove straight to Malibu.

It took more than ten minutes of driving before Jennifer Connelly realized what was going on and said somewhat nervously, “You…you said you would take me back.”

Although she said so, her tone was not at all determined.

Eric nodded, “Yes, but it’s only a little after three now. You probably don’t have anything to do by going back so early. How about coming to my place?”

The girl squeezed her skirt and lowered her head without saying anything.

Eric smiled victoriously at the corner of his mouth and drove the girl all the way to Cliff Peak Manor. Instead of driving the car directly into the garage as before, he parked it at the entrance and handed the keys to the security guard. He then took the girl’s small hand and walked to the villa on foot. With over $20 million invested, Cliff Peak Manor was much more luxurious than the Coppola villa they visited last night. As they walked, Eric quickly introduced the villa to her and soon they arrived at the villa.

“How do you feel about it here?” Eric didn’t take the girl around the villa, but went straight to the outdoor swimming pool on the southwest side of the villa. There was wind today and the sound of waves hitting the rocks underfoot could be heard.

“It’s very nice here,” Connelly sat down on a sun lounger next to Eric and gathered her skirt that was being blown by the wind. She said softly.

Due to the sea breeze, the girl’s thin dress was tightly pressed against her body, revealing her exquisite curves. Eric admired her for a while, then suddenly pointed to a small house behind him, “That’s the changing room. There are spare swimsuits inside. Do you want to swim?”

“But…there’s no water in there?” Jennifer Connelly pointed to the dried-up swimming pool and found a very lame excuse.

“It will be filled in five minutes. You can go change your clothes,” Eric said smoothly.

Caught by her own words, Jennifer Connelly lightly bit her lower lip and stood up to walk towards the changing room. A few minutes later, the girl came out with a large towel wrapped around her, and saw that the swimming pool was indeed filled with water.

“The temperature is just right,” Eric stood by the edge of the pool and reached into the water to test the temperature.

“You… What about you?” The woman looked at Eric, who was still in his formal attire.

“I’ll watch you,” Eric smiled and returned to the lounge chair beside him. He took out a pack of cigarettes from somewhere, lit one, and then looked excitedly, his eyes like a shameless uncle waiting for a performance.

Jennifer Connelly stood there hesitating for a while before shyly taking off her towel and quickly leaping into the water. A beautiful mermaid in a pink bikini swam quickly to the distance, and the pool wasn’t too big. So she quickly reached the end and leaned against the pool’s southwest corner, looking at Eric for a moment. She felt a bit shy and hesitated before swimming towards Eric.

Somehow, after swimming a few meters, Connelly felt a slight pain in her right leg and then lost feeling. Her whole body floundered a few times and quickly sank. Struggling, she saw a figure at the poolside who quickly leaped into the water and soon arrived by her side. Then her whole body was lifted up, out of the water, and the water in the pool only reached Eric’s abdomen and wasn’t too deep.

“Don’t move. You may have a cramp,” Eric comforted the woman in his arms, walking up the pool’s stairs to the shore. Eric was about to put the woman down, but suddenly his foot slipped, and he fell down. The woman also fell down and happened to lie on Eric’s chest, and the two of them fell on top of each other.

“Darn Frank Gehry, spending millions and not even making the pool slip-resistant. I’ll make him redo it for me,” Eric cursed.

Originally frightened, Jennifer Connelly laughed lightly when she heard the man speak like this, and then she was slapped on the buttocks: “Don’t lie down, get up quickly. Does it feel comfortable?”

The woman lightly groaned and realized that she was lying on Eric’s body, she moved her hands and quickly collapsed down again, “I… can’t move my legs.”

Eric exhaled heavily, “Then don’t move.”

“Uh-huh,” the woman nodded lightly. Then she lifted her head and met Eric’s gaze. After hesitating for a moment, she moved up slightly, her lips moving, and she took the initiative to kiss Eric’s mouth.

Eric hesitated for a moment and then quickly embraced the woman’s waist, passionately kissing her back.

A few minutes later, Jennifer Connelly finally managed to catch her breath and disentangle herself from Eric’s embrace. She buried her head in the man’s neck and whispered softly, “You must be satisfied now.”

Eric, who had been gently caressing the woman’s smooth back, stopped and then pulled her close with force. He felt her two full breasts softy pressed against his chest as he spoke with an unquestionable tone, “Remember, from now on, you are mine.”

The woman’s body trembled slightly before she hesitantly asked, “Are we dating then?”

“No,” Eric replied firmly.

“You’re so domineering,” the woman weakly muttered.

“This time I won’t let you get away,” Eric turned the woman’s face towards him and gave her a gentle kiss, “be a good woman and belong to me from now on.”

The woman struggled slightly and asked, “What if, what if I don’t want to?”

“Then be my pet,” Eric replied.

“You…you’re a devil, unwilling to give anyone any hope,” the woman murmured with a somewhat confused look in her eyes. She then opened her mouth slightly and kissed Eric again.

After helping the woman massage her cramping calf and a brief period of intimacy, Eric sent her back with someone. He wasn’t in a hurry as the meat was already in the pot. He also wanted to let the woman digest all the information she had received in the past two days. If Jennifer Connelly had the courage to pack up and leave Hollywood to avoid being a puppet, Eric would acknowledge her. Of course, he was a hundred percent certain that the woman would not give up the glamorous life of the entertainment industry.

In the following days, Eric once again threw himself into busy work. Due to his dispute with Robert Shay, Eric set up another film company. Since the first one was named Firefly, Eric decided to name this company “Black Ants” as well. Actually, he had wanted to name it “Black Widow,” but Jeffrey strongly opposed it. The name was too unconventional. Although this company would not grow to be a giant in the industry, it would definitely not be insignificant either.

After some discussion, Eric named the company “Black Ants Film Company.”

Soon after, the project for “Basic Instinct” was transferred to this company. Due to the nature of the film, in order to avoid it being rated NC-17 in the future, Eric chose to work with Universal. Compared to other film giants, Universal did not have any major film projects this year, so they could allocate most of their resources to this film. The price they offered was also relatively fair. Both parties had joint ownership and shared the investment, but the film project was still entirely under Eric’s control. He had absolute control over this film project.

Actually, the initiative for this project was originally with the Seven Greats. Everyone could see that Eric’s decision to collaborate with them was to avoid something. However, since the last incident, it has been difficult for the Seven Greats to unite and have a common goal. Basically, nobody trusts anybody, so when it came to making the offer, everyone made their own bid. The reason why Universal was able to offer the best price was because Japan’s Matsushita(Panasonic) Corporation, like Sony, launched a bid to acquire Universal’s parent company MCA. Of course, Universal wanted to stimulate its stock price by having a hit movie like Columbia did in the past.

A few days later, James Cameron quickly secured the rights to Terminator and handed them over to Eric. The originally agreed-upon $50 million investment was definitely not enough. Although Cameron had made up his mind to “trap” Eric and force him to make additional investments when the post-production funds were depleted, he still felt a little guilty. So he made a minor change to the copyright contract.

The change was actually quite simple. The contract that James Cameron signed with the production company stated that the movie rights to Terminator would automatically return to him after 2018. However, Cameron, who felt a little guilty, readily removed this clause. After all, he had made up his mind that Terminator 2 would be his personal conclusion to this series, so the copyright was not of much use to him. At least that’s what he thought. Cameron could not have imagined that the copyright to this series would be worth more in the future.

Eric, of course, was delighted to hear this. But he did not put the copyright into Firefly, instead he placed it into the newly established Black Ant Film Company. Because when he discussed the Terminator 2 project with Robert Shaye, Shaye expressed conservative opposition again. His concerns were similar to those of the Seven Greats. Therefore, Eric did not have any psychological burden in doing so. Terminator 2 became Black Ant’s second production after Basic Instinct.

As for whether there will be any problems with future releases, Eric has not yet considered it. After all, Cameron’s filming speed is not fast, so it would be good enough if the movie could be released in the next summer season.

At the same time, while dealing with Basic Instinct and Terminator, the digital field was also quickly established. After Eric readily allocated $20 million in start-up capital, Stan Winston quickly began to recruit people and set up headquarters in Venice, not the Italian Venice, but a district near Santa Monica in Los Angeles. Eric remembers that over ten years later, that place was called “Silicon Beach” because of the gathering of high-tech companies, which echoed the “Silicon Valley” in San Francisco.

Amidst the busy affairs, Eric personally visited and persuaded Julia to agree to Robert’s “Sleeping with the Enemy,” which was led by Shaye, after the actress had starred in two consecutive hot-selling films and demanded a fee of $8 million. Eric shrugged at the lion’s share demanded by the actress, but then again, Julia was definitely worth the price.

Later, the female lead for “Ghost” was also quickly finalized. Among a large number of auditioning actresses, Eric ultimately chose Bridget Fonda, the niece introduced by Jane Fonda. He chose her not only because her image fit the role very well but also because it was a great gimmick to have two of Hollywood’s biggest families collaborating in his movie. In the past half-century, from Henry Fonda in the silent film era to Peter Fonda, then Jane Fonda, and finally to the fourth generation of Bridget Fonda, this family had stood tall in Hollywood. Although the Coppola family rose to power later, their influence and connections were no less inferior to the Fonda family’s. Establishing good relations with both families would definitely be useful in the future, such as for the Oscars. Although Eric was still very young, he knew that the Oscars were unavoidable; even someone with the wild personality of “Little Leo” in his past life was tortured by the Oscars to the point of near-death.

After reaching an agreement with Stan Winston, Eric consulted him on special effects issues in “Ghost.” Although Stan Winston had previously focused on model special effects, he quickly provided solutions for the digital special effects involved in the film, such as the ghost passing through walls and the Grim Reaper. Even if Eric requested more refined effects than in his past life, there was no difficulty, except for money matters.

Finally, the schedule for the four films, “Basic Instinct,” “Sleeping with the Enemy,” “Ghost,” and “The Silence of the Lambs,” produced by TG Films, which included Elizabeth and several others, was arranged.

According to the plan, “The Silence of the Lambs” has been filming for a while now, and it’s scheduled to be released by Firefly in early June. Next up is “Sleeping with the Enemy”, a simple drama film that was prepared relatively late but doesn’t require any major scenes or special effects, so two months should be enough for production. It’s scheduled to be released at the end of June. Mid-June is the hottest period for summer releases, and Robert Shaye’s arrangement couldn’t have been made without some personal interests. However, Eric did not object.

Next is “Ghost” in early July, with a production pace almost identical to last year’s “Running Out of Time”. It’s also being released jointly by Disney and Firefly.

“Basic Instinct” is scheduled for mid-July, not only because the production cycle of this film is relatively long, but also because of the subject matter. It’s placed at the end of the summer season, with a focus on long-term screenings.

In mid-April, all preparations for “Ghost” were completed, and Eric planned to shoot the few scenes that required special effects first and then hand them over to the digital team for processing. According to plan, he was scheduled to go to New York for filming soon.

However, on April 13th, he still couldn’t leave because of “Basic Instinct”. The film’s lead actress and director both needed his approval.

Eric had considered that American actresses are relatively conservative, and famous actresses would not easily appear in such a large-scale work with such explicit content. The female lead in “Basic Instinct”, Catherine, was not a vase and had demanding acting requirements. Although “Basic Instinct” is considered a big production, many already famous actresses had turned down the role, and the production team ultimately used the relatively unknown Sharon Stone.

Therefore, Eric set his sights on European actresses. Compared to Hollywood, European actresses are much more daring. This is just a difference in values between the two sides. After all, in most European films, even if it’s completely unnecessary, they still have to take off their clothes and expose themselves, as if the director feels that it’s not a movie if there’s no nudity. In this environment, actresses have no choice but to adapt, so the content in “Basic Instinct” wasn’t considered very explicit for many European actresses.