[Chapter 970: I Forgive You]
Most of the Iron Man crew was enjoying their weekend break, but Eric couldn't find a moment to relax. The only blockbuster that Firefly had for the summer was The Day After Tomorrow. Although a teaser had been released during the Super Bowl back in January, the film had only recently completed final editing. It was now set for review and ready to release TV trailers, so Eric made it a point to watch the screening with Jeffrey Katzenberg and the others.
Additionally, he checked in on the production progress of several projects, including The Ring, Ted, Sleepy Hollow, and even the filming of The Lord of the Rings trilogy way down in New Zealand. The Ring had already begun shooting and was on track for a summer release. The casting for Ted was wrapped up, and they were testing motion capture technology, which would be heavily used. Sleepy Hollow had just completed its budget plan and was about to enter the casting and location scouting phases.
Ever since the success of Monsters, Inc. late last year, Disney's animation department had been busy preparing new story scripts. Some of the old Disney company veterans hoped to continue the tradition of Disney fairy tales. Eric, too, wanted to ensure Disney Animation Studios didn't turn into just another version of Pixar. After all, Disney had already proven in the original timeline that this path worked, so he naturally supported Katzenberg and the others' proposals.
Thus, after discussing several ideas provided by the studio management, Eric and Katzenberg selected Tangled. As for the mega-hit Frozen, Eric hoped that the studio would continue refining their projects before officially launching it.
The original version of Tangled had its project spiral out of control due to script changes and high-level turbulence, taking a full six years to produce and burning through $260 million, which made it the most expensive 3D animated film in history. To avoid making the same mistakes, even though Disney Animation Studios had turned in a thorough story script, Eric insisted on allowing them an extra three months to refine the script, ensuring that when the project officially started, they wouldn't face a repeat of past difficulties.
For the Lord of the Rings trilogy being filmed in New Zealand, Eric could only watch a batch of sample clips sent over by the crew and held a remote video conference with Peter Jackson. Katzenberg had already flown to New Zealand twice in recent months, and a vice president from Firefly was even on-site, serving as one of the producers for the trilogy. With Peter Jackson's dedicated focus on the series, Eric felt very reassured about the project.
...
After putting in two grueling days of work, slicing his time down to the minute, Eric began to regret taking on the role of Iron Man himself. Much of this work could have been spread out over the weekdays but had all fallen onto the weekend instead. And this was all while Eric had taken a hands-off approach to many things.
This year, the only movies that Eric personally approved and would be released within the year were The Day After Tomorrow, Ted, and The Ring. The vast film production-distribution system of Firefly naturally could not be limited to just these three films. Excluding the lengthy production cycles of the animation studios, Firefly Pictures, Disney, and New Line as the main production labels within Firefly were all slated to release more than 20 films this year.
While Eric had rarely intervened directly in these projects' production before, he had a good understanding of most of them. Even low-budget films with budgets of two or three million often had their genre, budget, cast, schedule, and box office predictions well within his knowledge.
However, with Iron Man in the first half of the year and Gravity in the second half, both films would consume most of his focus, leaving Eric unable to manage those projects effectively. He had little energy left for other aspects of the company as well. As for films from MGM or Fox, he had even less inclination to oversee them.
Regarding investments, Eric had only paid a little attention to Yahoo; everything else was left fully to Chris.
...
"Eric, I just received the first draft of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets from the UK," Caroline entered Firefly's Burbank headquarters on a Sunday afternoon, placing a sample copy on his desk. The HarperCollins Publishing House hoped to launch the second volume during the summer.
After signing off on a budget document for Firefly's theme park, Eric looked up and took the book, casually glancing at Caroline, who immediately displayed a startled expression, quickly stepping aside.
"Have you done anything lately that you might regret?" Eric asked, as he opened the novel's table of contents without looking up.
For some reason, Caroline seemed a bit flustered whenever she saw him these days. Hearing Eric's sudden question, Caroline instinctively took a step back and shook her head, "No, no."
"It's fine if you have; I forgive you. Just focus on your work, or I might have to dock your pay."
Listening to Eric's playful yet gentle tone, Caroline quickly blinked her bright eyes, suppressing the urge to nod in acknowledgment. Seeing Eric still not looking at her, she didn't flee out of embarrassment.
After flipping a few pages, Eric closed the book and looked back at Caroline, asking, "What were the sales figures for the first book?"
Without a second thought, Caroline answered accurately, "The sales figures from last week showed 13.5 million copies sold worldwide."
Satisfied, Eric nodded. The Harry Potter series hadn't yet reached its peak status, but under the push from Firefly, since the first book was released last September, total sales had reached 13.5 million globally. This was undoubtedly remarkable.
"Let HarperCollins decide when to release the second book. As long as they maintain an annual release pace, that's fine," Eric passed the novel draft back to Caroline. "Also, make three copies of this book and send them to East Hampton. The little ones really enjoyed the story."
"Sure," Caroline nodded, picking up the draft and hugging it to her chest. She added, "Oh, New Line just emailed me. They've finalized the pay with Chris Tucker for Rush Hour 3 -- $20 million. Jackie Chan is still hoping to negotiate for a share of the profits."
Eric waved his hand dismissively, "I'll leave that to them. They want a cut; the base salary can't exceed $10 million -- that's Firefly's rule. If they can't agree, then don't make the film."
"Uh-huh," Caroline nodded again, continuing, "The rights for the short story Monster Love have been discussed with Nancy Collins' agent, and they are willing to sell. However, we can only acquire the film adaptation rights; they've already sold the game adaptation rights to White Wolf Game Company. The rights department emailed asking if we want to try to buy back the game adaptation rights as well. White Wolf hasn't started development on the game yet, so if the price is right, they should be willing to hand it over."
Since 1993, the global video game industry had rivaled that of the film industry in annual sales. Film adaptations of games were increasingly gaining attention from major film studios. Firefly also had an entertainment interactive department that produced video games, but Eric wasn't optimistic about their prospects.
The production of video games shared many similarities with films -- they thrived on creativity. A brilliant video game would undoubtedly rely on a core team filled with creative minds, much like film directors and producers. Hiring a batch of programmers to develop games without a creative vision was like assigning purely technical staff such as cinematographers and gaffers to create a film; the chances of producing something remarkable were quite low.
Therefore, before the arrival of online gaming, Eric didn't plan to get too involved in the gaming field. Even when online games emerged in the following years, Eric preferred utilizing Yahoo's massive user base for game distribution. When it came to game development, the studio model remained the best approach. Of course, Yahoo could also invest in or acquire studios to gain actual control of these operations.
Thinking over these points, Eric shook his head, "No need; just the film adaptation rights are fine. Is there anything else?"
Melanie had urged her more than once in recent days to invite Eric out for dinner, but Caroline was well aware of how busy Eric had been, making it clear that this wasn't an appropriate time. Furthermore, Eric already had plans for the evening.
Finding a convenient excuse in her mind, Caroline hesitated briefly before shaking her head, "No, that's all."
Eric looked at his watch, "Then you and Melanie should head out early to rest. It's the weekend, and you can enjoy some time tonight. I need to finish up and then I'll head out too."
Tomorrow was the Oscars, and although the filming of Iron Man would continue, Eric didn't have any scenes scheduled, meaning he could still put in some working hours during the day.
...
After leaving the Burbank headquarters, Eric drove along the winding road to Elisabeth and Julia's mansion in Beverly Hills. Julia had gone to Paris to shoot an advertisement and wouldn't be attending the Oscars, so only Elisabeth was there, getting into her gown with the help of two stylists.
As Eric stepped into the villa and observed the busy trio in the living room, he simply nodded before comfortably leaning back on the sofa.
"Eric, how does this gown look?" After a while, Elisabeth came over, holding the hem of a big red one-shoulder dress, doing a slight twirl as she asked.
Eric had always preferred one-shoulder dresses; he felt they embodied a certain playful sensuality, and it appeared the women around him were starting to notice his preference.
After sizing her up, Eric nodded, though he glanced at the nearly floor-length hem and said, "It's beautiful, but since it's a party tonight and not an awards ceremony, aren't you worried about tripping over it?"
"I haven't put on high heels yet. When I do, it shouldn't be like this," Elisabeth replied, lifting her hem to reveal her fair little feet before pointing to two large boxes on the coffee table. "By the way, I also ordered a suit for you, along with shoes. Hurry up and try them on. Lisa is here, so if anything doesn't fit, we can adjust it on the spot."
"Too exhausting; I don't want to change. I plan to wear this," Eric leaned back on the sofa. He didn't want to be bothered and added, "And I'm starving. If I don't eat something, I'll pass out from low blood sugar. You figure it out."
Seeing Eric act a bit petulant, Elisabeth playfully kicked his leg lightly and bent down to tug off his boots, tossing them aside. "Change quickly; if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even dress this formally."
Eric lifted a leg, "How about you help me get dressed?"
"Not a chance!" Elisabeth shot him an eye roll before returning to the stylists who were trying hard to pretend they weren't watching.
Feeling the weight of Elisabeth's steely gaze, Eric reluctantly stood up, grabbing the two boxes with the suit and shoes, and headed upstairs to the bedroom.
Once dressed and heading downstairs, he found the stylists had begun working on Elisabeth's hairstyle.
It generally took a couple of hours for a woman to get ready, and by 6:30, they finally left the Beverly Hills mansion.
Although Elisabeth didn't plan to have dinner, she didn't intend for Eric to go hungry either. They stopped by a restaurant first, where she accompanied him while he ate a little something before they set off at 7:00 for the Oscars pre-party.
*****
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