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Time goes into March, the 61 Oscar awards ceremony was drawing near, and with Hollywood movies becoming more and more influential all over the world, The Academy Awards was also receiving more attention .
Although the Oscar award this year is destined to have nothing to do with Eric, but no one can ignore the meteoric rise of the eighteen-year-old boy in the last six months .
With several movies related to him, since in November 18th of last year "Home Alone" has entered the fifteenth week of release, and although "17 Again" doesn't have the strong momentum of "Home Alone", but after four months of screenings, The box office has also reached $107 million, becoming the sixth movie to break the $100 million mark at the box office in this year 1988 .
If you don't compare it to "Home Alone", the figures can be considered very bright . But up to now, the box office potential of "17 Again" has been completely exhausted, only harvesting two or three hundred thousand dollars at the box office a week, with less than 300 screens, and may be pulled from theaters any time now .
"17 Again" and "Home Alone" box office has reached close to $240 million, moreover "Home Alone" is still playing in more than 1200 screens in North America, and is still harvesting about $5 million a week .
At this age, Hollywood films reaching $200 million at the box office domestically are rare, Only George Lucas's "Star Wars" series can easily reach it, even Steven Spielberg "Indiana Jones" series can't do it at this time .
As for $300 million at the box office domestically, only legendary movies can do it . The last and only time this legend was achieved, was by Spielberg's "E . T . the ExtrTerrestrial" in 1982, after a lapse of six years, only "Home Alone" has the potential to touch this legendary threshold .
In this case, with SONY beginning the acquisition, Columbia was no longer thinking about "Home Alone" gambling contract problem . Instead, they were wondering how to get "Home Alone" North America box office to reach the $300 million mark . Everyone knows that once "Home Alone" box office exceeds $300 million, Columbia stock price will skyrocket .
. . . . . .
"What? You want me to be the presenter for the best supporting actress award in The Oscars?" Eric looked at Amy Pascal in surprise: "Can this be decided by Columbia?"
"We've been working with Allan Carr, the producer of this session of the Oscar, plus with your current influence, you're fully qualified . . . Eric, as long as you accept, you will be able to receive the invitation . "
Eric hesitated a little, his exposure rate is already high, and his private life was talked about in the tabloids every two or three days . But he also understood what Columbia was trying to do, whether it's for "Home Alone" or "Running Out of Time" that will be released in the summer, letting him gain exposure in front of more than 45 million viewers in the Oscar awards ceremony, will definitely be very good for the box office .
Although since Blunt Cohen left, and SONY starting the negotiation, Columbia has taken a one hundred and eighty degree turn in their att.i.tude when it comes to Eric, and actively started working on "Home Alone" publicity and propaganda .
But by then, "Home Alone" had already missed the most easy to get Golden Globe Award, and although the Oscar nominations have been announced, "Home Alone" only got a tasteless nomination for the best soundtrack . . . Everybody knows that, this is just a consolation nomination given by the academy to attract public attention and also because of "Home Alone" dazzling box office results .
If at the beginning Columbia was active in doing some public relations, then perhaps "Home Alone" could get a few more nominations, and perhaps even a an Oscar at the end .
But now it's too late, not to mention the fact that Oscar judges have less than two weeks to vote, It doesn't make much sense to start doing public relations now, just for a kid's movie soundtrack . If "Home Alone" can beat "Rain Man", "Gorillas in the Mist" and "Dangerous Liaisons" these excellent films and get the Oscar, then they would be testing the intelligence of the audience .
After all, "Home Alone" is just a comedy for kids, without any artistic content .
After thinking about it for a few moments, Eric nodded .
Although Columbia is doing this for their own consideration, but Eric will also get a lot of benefits from it . As long as he coordinates with Columbia as much as possible, then there will be a some hope for "Home Alone" box office to break the $300 million mark, and once this goal is reached, Eric's share will jump up to $120 million .
Amy also conveyed to Eric the promises made by Columbia executives, that within a month, Columbia will give Eric his full share of "Home Alone" box office, This will ease Eric's financial situation . . . . . . Because, Eric recently borrowed $50 million from the bank to make "Scent of a Woman" and "The Others", he now has a full $100 million dollar debt . In Hollywood, he is undoubtedly the most indebted person .
"Since you agree, I will inform Allan Carr to send you an invitation as soon as possible . " Amy took a sip from her cup of coffee, and asked: "Eric, I heard the negotiations between you and the two Toms had stalled, do you need Columbia to step in?"
Eric shook his head and refuse, this stalemate is what he expected, And he was sure that this standoff would last no longer than a month .
Because during Easter, the actor Richard Gere who gave up "Pretty Woman" and stared in a new action drama movie called "Road House" made by United Artists Studio, will be released soon . There is no memory of the film in his mind, so he could only ask some people about it . . . The result is, even the most optimistic expectations about the film box office inside United Artists, is only about $30 million .
If there's an example of Richard Gere in front of them, then even if Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks are Hollywood's list stars, It's impossible for them to make the same stupid mistake, by refusing to appear in Eric's new film .
The top stars in Hollywood are very cautious when selection new films, because if they accidentally stepped on a bad movie, the damage to their reputation is difficult to measure .
Four years ago, Warner invested $30 million in a film starring Al Pacino that flopped at the box office, Al Pacino under the huge pressure of the public opinion had to stay in the shadow for four years because of that mistake . Before then, Al Pacino was the recipient of five Oscar nominations, he was a Hollywood superstar without doubt .
And the three films Eric partic.i.p.ated in all become great successes, in Hollywood if your movie can get a good box office then your reputation is guaranteed . What's more, after reading the script, Cruise and Hanks also recognized "Running Out of Time" box office potentials .
The reason why the two Toms are allowing CAA's agents and Eric stalemate to continue, is to allow Hollywood's most influential figure Michael Ovitz to save face, and more impotently to get a higher paycheck and divided .
Eric believes, that once the CAA intentionally caused the negotiations to break down, the two superstars will certainly come forward to stop that from happening . . . From that day discussion of the script, Eric knew that the two had already made up their minds to be in the film . Otherwise, they wouldn't stay and talk to him about the script for four hours .
"There is no need for that, Amy, in less than a month, CAA will relent," Eric didn't want to owe a debt of grat.i.tude to Columbia: "I will take advantage of this time, and complete the preparations for the film . Compared to the first two movies, when I didn't have a lot of production time, there is plenty of time to work on "Running Out of Time", from now to the release date in July there are more than four months still remaining . "