Chapter 318
Chapter 318: Insider information at the dinner table #
Francis Coppola hurriedly said, “No, no, no, Sofia, believe in yourself. You have great potential. Don’t listen to that kid’s words. He’s only 19 and has achieved so much. Of course, my daughter can too.”
“Dad, I think William’s right,” Sofia Coppola’s brother, Roman Coppola suddenly spoke up.
“Roman!” Francis Coppola frowned disapprovingly at his son.
Roman shrugged and quickly lowered his head. Cage, on the other hand, had no intention of speaking. Although he agreed with Eric’s opinion because he had seen his cousin’s performance before, he didn’t want to say anything.
Seeing the atmosphere beginning to change, Sofia quickly intervened, “Dad, let’s not talk about this anymore. I know you love me, and I love you too. So, I hope ‘The Godfather III’ will be even better. I have made up my mind to try like Nick, starting with small roles. Didn’t Tim Burton recommend a girl named Winona Ryder to you before? I heard her performance is excellent. Maybe you can let her try.”
Francis Coppola glared at his son and quickly turned to his younger daughter with a doting expression, “Alright, Sofia, I’ll let Winona Ryder try.”
Roman was helpless with his father’s favoritism. He thought for a moment and then smirked at his sister, “Sofia, since Eric Williams made the suggestion, you should make him pay for a role.”
“Hmph, I’m not as shameless as you,” the girl snorted and buried her head in her breakfast.
Francis Coppola sighed, “Indeed, Eric Williams’ star-making ability in movies is too strong. From the little boy in ‘Home Alone’ to that Australian girl named Nicole Kidman, who has become a first-line actress. I heard Tom Cruise not only refused the invitation to ‘Ghost’, but also criticized the movie. He’s a foolish guy.”
“Hey, Dad, Tom Cruise is one of my idols. How can you say that about him?” Sofia protested, lifting her small face.
“Sister, Dad is right. Tom Cruise’s behavior this time is indeed foolish. Although he has been popular for ten years, his personal box office performance is very unstable. Moreover, Tom Cruise has a fatal flaw. He doesn’t have any hot-selling series of movies to rely on. In this case, once the movies he stars in encounter several consecutive box office failures, he will quickly step down from the position of a first-line star,” Roman explained.
The girl protested, “But there are many famous actors in Hollywood who don’t have a series of movies to rely on, right?”
Roman Coppola continued, “Many people don’t need to, like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, these actors known for their acting skills, they can gain enough popularity based on their talent alone. But Tom Cruise is different. Do you remember the very popular movies ‘Grease’ and ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’ from a long time ago?”
The girl nodded, “Yes, I know.”
“The male lead in ‘Grease’, John Travolta, and the male lead in ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’, Richard Gere, were both considered idol-type stars at that time, but in recent years, who can still see them in Hollywood? The reason is that after these two representative works, they had bad luck and did not encounter any more big-selling movies. Tom Cruise’s route is similar to theirs, but his luck is good, he can encounter a big-selling movie every few years, which has kept him in the forefront of Hollywood. But in Hollywood, luck is the most unreliable thing.”
Francis Coppola also nodded approvingly at his son, and Sofia Coppola looked thoughtful, “Are you saying that if he has another hot franchise, even if his popularity declines, he can gather his popularity again by rebooting the sequel?”
“Of course. Look at Harrison Ford, his popularity took a big hit a few years ago. But last year, he easily returned to the A-list with the Indiana Jones movie,” said Roman Coppola. Suddenly lowering his voice and using a slightly gossipy tone, he added, “And, I heard at a party before that Tom Cruise’s very capable agent, Paula Wagner, had already selected a series of film projects for him, but the adaptation rights of the related TV series were taken by Eric Williams.”
Sophia Coppola immediately leaned over to her brother with a gossipy look and asked, “What TV series? Can I find the videotape and watch it?”
Roman Coppola stirred his food on the plate in front of him with his fork before saying, “It seems to be called ‘Mission: Impossible,’ but that TV series is already very old, and you definitely won’t find the videotape.”
“Cough, cough, let’s stop talking and eat,” Francis Coppola looked at the two children with their heads together, whispering like two plotting little mice, and said discontentedly. Then he turned to Cage on the other side and said, “Nick, make an effort in ‘Ghost’ this time, try to build a good relationship with Eric Williams. It will definitely help your future development.”
“I know, uncle,” Nicholas Cage nodded.
Jennifer Connelly listened to this family chatting about various Hollywood insider rules that most people wouldn’t know. Although the Coppola family always talked to her from time to time, making her feel not left out, the girl still felt that she shouldn’t be here at all.
After breakfast, Jennifer Connelly hurriedly said goodbye to the Coppola family. She still had another thing on her mind - the matter of Eric asking her agent to meet him at Firefly at 10 o’clock today.
Just walked out of Coppola’s mansion, Jennifer Connelly saw a silver car parked far away on the west side of the gate, and her agent Tim Lester was anxiously looking towards the gate. As soon as he saw her, he excitedly waved at her and Connelly quickened her pace to approach him.
After receiving Eric’s call last night, Tim Lester had not slept well and was in a slight state of excitement all night. However, he could not contact Connelly until the next morning when he mustered the courage to call Tony Brent. Although the other party’s tone was bad, he still told him where Connelly was.
Therefore, Tim Lester came to Coppola’s mansion early in the morning, but after arriving, he became uncertain. How could Jennifer Connelly be staying here? This was Francis Coppola’s house, one of the four major directors in Hollywood.
Therefore, he didn’t even have the courage to approach and could only wait foolishly near the gate, hoping that Jennifer Connelly would come out early. He wanted to take her to the Firefly film company, although Eric did not say they would go together, Tim Lester naturally thought that Eric meant it. And with Jennifer Connelly, he would have more confidence.
“Morning, Tim,” Jennifer Connelly walked to her agent’s side and greeted him nervously.
The agent didn’t have time to chat with her and quickly said in a hurried tone, “Jenny, get in the car, we’ll talk on the way.”
“Um, do I… do I have to go too?” the actress asked hesitantly.
Tim Lester nodded, “Of course, Eric Williams definitely wants to see you.”
The girl was pulled onto the car by her agent while feeling dizzy, and soon arrived at the headquarters of the Firefly Movie Company with Tim Lester. Tim led the girl to the front desk and said a few words to the receptionist.
The receptionist looked at the records and politely said, “Sir, you are Tim Lester, right? Mr. Williams has greeted you and you can go up and find him directly, but he didn’t mention this young lady.”
Jennifer Connolly’s gaze suddenly became a bit dim, but Tim Lester said, “Mr. Williams must have forgotten. Can you inform him that Jennifer Connolly is also here? I believe he will let us go up together.”
The receptionist looked at Jennifer Connolly and reluctantly nodded, picked up the phone and made a call before saying, “You can go up now. Mr. Williams’ office is on the 7th floor, room 706.”
After thanking the receptionist, Tim Lester led the girl to the elevator.
“Jenny, please don’t be willful this time, okay?” Tim Lester hesitated for a moment in the elevator, but finally said.
Jennifer Connolly fell silent and nodded quietly.
Tim Lester breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn’t help but comfort her, “Eric Williams is single now. There are countless women in Hollywood who have their eyes on him. Moreover, he clearly likes you. If you can become his girlfriend, it will be a great help to your future development. Hollywood is very realistic. I think you must have realized this during this year.”
“Um…”
…
In the office, Eric Williams was multitasking, listening to Alan’s explanation of his work arrangements for the past few days while quickly flipping through the materials on the Hollywood special effects company submitted by the consulting company. Eric did not look at the specific details, but was looking for any outstanding special effects crew that he remembered from his past life.
He still believed in his memory. If someone did an excellent job in his past life, with his help in this time and space, they would definitely be able to do even better.
Sure enough, Eric found a familiar name in the information, the Stan Winston Studio.