America: Child stars start with The Shining

"F***ing! You can't do this! This is trespassing! Get out of here, or I'm calling the police!"

Trevor stood in the middle of the living room, shouting and yelling, his face filled with terror and rage.

He had only been back from the detention center for a short time, barely had time to sit down, when he entered his house to find a group of burly black men barging in, each with a cold and hard expression, completely disregarding him.

Seeing that things were not going well, he tried to remain calm and intimidate the people, then turned around to look for a landline phone.

"Hey, I advise you to be honest."

A black man, half a head taller and with a muscular build, stepped across and blocked his path.

The other person also had a conspicuous pistol tucked into their waistband, the butt of which was blatantly exposed without any attempt to conceal it.

Trevor swallowed hard, but before he could make a move, he was shoved onto the sofa and froze, unable to move.

He glanced subconsciously at the headscarf on the other person's forehead and the gang logo on it, and his expression immediately turned even more unpleasant.

This is definitely a group of people you absolutely shouldn't mess with, but the problem is, he has no memory of ever dealing with this group before.

Fuck, what the hell? How could a guy who stays at home all day and gets arrested the moment he steps out of the house have offended these black guys?

Just then, a white man in a sharp suit strolled in through the door.

He first looked around the room as if to confirm something, then slowly walked up to Trevor, bent down slightly, and smiled just the right amount of his face.

He began:

"Let me introduce myself. I am Sean, the assistant to the president of Sinclair Oil Company."

His tone was very gentle, and he appeared very polite, but in this setting, coupled with the several unfriendly-looking black men behind him, it sent a chill down one's spine.

After saying this, Sean stood up.

Trevor stared at him, his mind a complete mess.

Sinclair Oil Company?

Of course he had heard of the name. Even someone like him who hardly ever reads financial news knew that it was a behemoth that had been entrenched in Oklahoma for many years, a true family business of oil tycoons.

Their businesses span oil, gas, transportation, and chemicals, and they have close ties with state governments, banks, labor unions, and even local gangs.

Trevor just couldn't understand how a nobody like him could be involved with such a multinational, old-money family business.

He asked, trembling with fear:

"You guys...you must have the wrong person? I'm just an ordinary, model citizen of Los Angeles. I haven't done anything illegal or disorderly!"

"If you're here to collect debts, there's even less reason for you to come to my door. I can't even get a credit card!"

Trevor suddenly remembered the huge debt that Charles's parents owed, but the problem was, it was a bank loan, how could it be related to the oil company in front of him?

Sean smiled, seemingly enjoying Trevor's behavior, and said:

"We haven't come to the wrong person, Mr. Trevor, but don't worry, we're not here for you."

After he finished speaking, he handed a photo to the other person, loosened his grip on Trevor a little, but still stood there.

Trevor took a closer look at the person in the photo and was immediately dumbfounded.

"Ciel, what do you want with him?"

Sean took back the photo and said:

"Trevor, there are some things that we both understand, there's no need to spell them out in person."

"You are now Ciel's guardian, right?"

Trevor nodded like a chick pecking at rice. Although Ciel had run away from home and his whereabouts were unknown, legally speaking, he was indeed Ciel's only guardian.

Sean nodded in satisfaction, and then continued his conversation with Trevor.

......

After returning to Los Angeles, Charles became extremely busy.

First of all, the test screening of "The Shining" was well received. Although Warner Bros. has not yet officially launched a large-scale promotion, media articles have been released one after another, and some newspapers and TV stations have even done special features in advance.

Ciel was also taken to do some special interviews. Of course, the production team had prepared a speech for him in advance, after all, he was still just a child.

Moreover, "The Shining" is a horror film, and they dared not let Shire improvise freely, because the American Motion Picture Association has a series of regulations to protect child stars in this type of film, such as not allowing children to perform horror scenes.

Although everything was compliant during filming... it's hard to say, as Kubrick sometimes had a habit of doing things outside the rules.

Therefore, if Charles says something wrong during the interview and offends those old guys in the Film Association, he'll be in big trouble.

If things get serious, it could very well prevent the film from being released in theaters at all.

Therefore, Ciel's speech was basically written with very safe and generic phrases, which sounded like things a child would say, such as "Filming is a lot of fun," "Everyone takes good care of me," and "Jack is very interesting."

Fuck, what the heck was that last line? Jack must have secretly added it.

Charles twitched the corner of his mouth.

He also noticed something else: the promotional campaign for Friday the 13th was significantly more aggressive than that for The Shining.

Paramount seems determined to make this film the next commercially successful horror blockbuster like Halloween.

Posters, TV commercials, and theatrical materials were released quickly and frequently. Even entertainment news outlets would single out this horror film when discussing similar horror movies.

In contrast, Warner's publicity department, while also putting in effort, seemed somewhat restrained and clearly couldn't compete with Paramount.

Charles initially thought it was just a difference in the two companies' budgets, but Ovitz told him that things weren't that simple.

In fact, at the beginning, Paramount and Warner Bros. were competing for the domestic distribution rights of the film "Friday the 13th".

For some reason, Paramount eventually acquired the rights, but as a trade-off, Warner Bros. gave the film's overseas distribution rights to Warner Bros.

Therefore, Warner Bros. would naturally not compete with Paramount at this crucial juncture before the film's release, since they could profit from both films. Naturally, they would choose the easiest method: let Paramount spend more money so that Warner Bros. could earn more in the end.

But this doesn't have a significant impact on his current plans.

Charles sat on the sofa, carefully reviewing the "Friday the 13th" videotape copyright sale agreement in his hand.

Just then, the landline next to him suddenly rang, and he picked it up without thinking.

"Feed..."

"Judy?"