Chapter 294: What a Coincidence
Chapter 294: What a Coincidence
Furthermore, in the contract signed between Disney and Bruce Joel Rubin, there is also a clause that Eric must personally serve as the director of this film. If the designated directors could come up with a satisfactory plan, Michael Eisner would not mind breaking the contract and forcing Disney's directors to take over the script, but unfortunately, this was not the case. So, Michael Eisner made a decisive decision today. After all, if Disney forcibly produced it, the final results would be average, so it would be better to give the script to Eric to produce. After all, Eric still has a very strong box office guarantee.
Sitting in the study for a long time, Michael Eisner took the proposal documents from the file folder and threw them into the trash can next to him before getting up and leaving the room.
.... ....
In the middle of March, after a month-long investigation, the Federal Trade Commission announced its decision on the alleged monopolistic practices of Firefly and UTA. The FTC did not impose harsh penalties on Eric due to the loss of support from several major corporations and a series of public pressures.In addition to requiring Eric to relinquish all shares of UTA, he was also fined a symbolic $1 million.
After the decision was announced, Eric did not object and promptly paid the $10 million fine. He then sold 90% of UTA's shares to ICM, one of Hollywood's top three talent agencies, for $30 million.
At the same time, Sony Pictures and Firefly also reached a settlement on the distribution of profits from the film "Running Out of Time." A week later, Sony settled the $88 million distribution deal for the film. As for the other three lawsuits Eric was facing, two of the plaintiffs withdrew their lawsuits, and the third case, regarding a piece of land in Marlborough Corner, was dismissed due to a lack of evidence.
The TV show "X Files," a collaboration between Firefly and Fox, had begun filming. Another show, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," had begun a massive publicity campaign since early March, although some of the show's managers had suggested inviting some celebrities as guest questioners for the first episode. However, this proposal was immediately rejected by Eric. Inviting celebrities may attract some attention, but it would also make the show lose its sense of reality. After all, the show's selling point is the overnight wealth of the common people, so the show team still adopts the national selection method and sets up registration points all over North America.
Disney then quickly announced that they would be collaborating with Firefly to release Eric Williams' new film, "Ghost."
Thus, the two-month-long storm targeting Eric and the firefly that began on New Year's Day has completely dissipated.
After a series of prelude awards in the award season, on March 26, 1990, the 62nd Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Los Angeles Music Center.
Eric fastened the buttons on his tuxedo as he stepped out of the limousine. Cheers erupted from both sides of the red carpet and Eric could barely hear someone singing "New Divide" with all their might. He smiled and waved at the crowd as he walked past them, not stopping for too long. He continued on to the red carpet, where the disappointment of the journalists in the interview area was palpable. What was even more disappointing for them was that Eric had not brought a date with him, leaving them with less to talk about.
Despite his young age, Eric's status and wealth were well-known, and since his break-up with Aniston, the question of who would be able to live in Eric's "City of Freedom" located on the Malibu coast, had been a topic of interest for the gossip media.
If someone had known this information, they could have made a good profit off of it now.
As he neared the end of the red carpet, Eric was stopped by the NBC host in charge of broadcasting the Oscars this year, and was politely invited to the interview area.
"Mr. Williams, hello. This is your second time on the Oscars red carpet, do you feel any different?" The female host, dressed in a black tuxedo, asked into the microphone.
Eric smiled and said, "Of course, the fans have become even more enthusiastic, and I want to thank everyone for their support during this time."
The host understood what Eric meant, and did not continue with the topic, as NBC was not innocent in the recent scandal. "So, Mr. Williams, can you talk about your expectations for tonight's awards? You have not only been nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, but you also unexpectedly received a nomination for Best Original Score, it's truly surprising."
Eric heard the question, responded with the standard, clichéd answer that everyone would say, such as waiting to see if the judges liked his work. He then answered a few more questions before the host reluctantly let him leave.
As soon as he walked into the waiting area, Eric felt countless eyes on him. He gave a warm, unfocused smile to the crowd, then headed towards the groups of people associated with the movie "Firefly."
The men were all friendly, with Jonathan Demme, Al Pacino, and Tom Hanks among those who came up to greet him. But the women were more reserved, knowing that they were still in an area where they could be photographed by the media.
After chatting with the men, Eric turned his attention to the women.
Viginia was standing quietly on the outskirts of the crowd, her face bearing a faint smile and an air of detachment.
Nicole looked eager and excited, but seemed to be holding back for some reason, standing still and watching Eric with a mixture of emotions in her eyes.
As for Julia, she was now intimately linked with Elizabeth, and the two women looked at Eric with a complex mix of emotions in their eyes.
After thinking for a moment, Eric decided to walk over to Julia and Elizabeth. "Julia, Liz, I know it may be late, but I still want to apologize," he said.
Hearing Eric's words, Julia tightened her grip on Elizabeth's arm and stepped back slightly. Elizabeth stepped forward, like a protective hen, and whispered, "Mr. Williams, there's no need for an apology, we just hope you stay away from us in the future, and we would be grateful."
"Of course, no problem," Eric raised his hand and touched his nose; he felt strange, but he couldn't tell what was wrong, but he was sure of one thing: "By the way, Liz, how did you end up here?" Eric asked, trying to make small talk.
"Hmph, I have my ways," Elizabeth said, pulling Julia, who had been silent all this time, and walked away.
Everyone thought that Eric had been rejected by the two women, and they all had a teasing expression on their faces. Eric shrugged indifferently and greeted Nick, then walked over to Virginia's side.
"Virginia, I'm sorry. I wasn't able to attend the premiere of 'Reservoir Dogs' at the beginning of the month," Eric said apologetically as he walked up to the woman. As the muse of the talented Quentin, "Reservoir Dogs" had not only won the Special Jury Prize at the January Sundance Film Festival, but it also opened on 500 screens in North America, thanks in part to Eric's support.
Virginia had attended the premiere specifically to support her brother, who was in the cast, and had even invited Eric to come along. But even though the storm had passed, Eric still couldn't spare the energy to attend the premiere of 'Reservoir Dogs."
After being promoted by the firefly, "Reservoir Dogs" had a box office of over six million dollars in its first week. Quentin Tarantino also became a first-line director because of the film's single-week box office of more than 10,000 dollars. He is currently working on his next script, of course, with Firefly as the investor. Eric is not sure if Quentin can write "Pulp Fiction" again. After all, because of Eric's butterfly effect, although "Reservoir Dogs" was not blown away by the "butterfly" wings, "Pulp Fiction" was hanging. Eric also decided that if he had time, he would talk to Quentin, and if Quentin didn't have this idea, he would write the script himself.
"It doesn't matter; I later regretted it a little; you must have a lot of things to do; how can you possibly spare time to attend the premiere?" Virginia spoke softly.
Eric smiled, thinking that Michael Madsen would not say such a thing—it was probably the girl's own idea. He also paid attention to the situation of "Reservoir Dogs" during this period of time. Following the release of "Reservoir Dogs," Michael Madsen stated that he did not want to work with Quentin again and even called Quentin Tarantino a scumbag in front of other creators during a promotion of the film and an interview with the crew on a talk show. Michael Madsen nearly collapsed while filming the scene of the kidnapped police officer's murder because of some lines.
However, Quentin also stated on the spot that he loved the label of "asshole," and no one knew whether he was joking or not.
With too many people around, Eric couldn't make any intimate moves and chatted casually with Virginia. The crowd began to enter the Los Angeles Music Hall.
"What a coincidence, we sat together last time," Eric said as he sat down next to Virginia after finding his seat in the music hall lobby.
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