America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 132. Successful Adaptation, Winning the Championship

The release of Mike's interview video naturally sparked widespread discussion.

True fans were both excited and heartbroken, feeling like they were rolling in the abyss. The song title itself is very sad, which perfectly reflects MJ's current situation.

Haters and Eminem's supporters are equally excited. Once the new song is released, they'll nitpick and criticize it—that's standard practice.

The only thing that surprised both sides was that the lyricist was Eric Cooper.

On a certain music forum, many people expressed their opinions.

"Did you see the interview? The lyricist for MJ's new song is Eric Cooper! Isn't he a rich kid? And he knows music?"

"Eric Cooper is not only a rich kid, but also a director and screenwriter. As a die-hard MJ supporter, he certainly wouldn't do anything reckless."

"You're right, they're birds of a feather; they might both be pedophiles!"

"Hmph! All Eminem's brat knows is personal attacks. Go back and ask your parents; they'll teach you who Michael Jackson is!"

"Mom and Dad? This kid probably doesn't even have parents, otherwise he wouldn't only know F-words and couldn't even speak a logical sentence."

"FUCK! An outdated relic singing stale songs from the last century, he's nowhere near as good as Eminem. Look at the numbers for Eminem's new song, it's climbing steadily and will soon be at the top. Even pedophiles will be kneeling down and licking Eminem's boots!"

Just as any group eventually evolves into a pornographic group, any topic eventually devolves into a fight.

Aside from the verbal battle between the two sides, there's a neutral group of onlookers who don't like either side and are only interested in the song, not the person.

If a song is good, even if the person has terrible character, these people will still listen to it.

Even the biggest stars only listen to a few of the highest quality songs, since it's impossible for every song to be a hit.

"I've already listened to 'Just Lost It,' the rhythm and the music are great, Anteater is an excellent rapper, and now I can't wait to hear Michael Jackson's new song."

"A battle between a veteran superstar and a top singer of the new era—this is truly an exciting showdown. I just wonder what the loser will do."

"Hahaha, what else can we do? That scoundrel Eminem is the type who won't apologize. We'll just have to play dumb and pretend we're mute."

"If Jackson loses, it will be a huge blow to his current situation, and I can't imagine what he might do."

Beverly Hills, the Cooper family home.

Mom carried the tray upstairs to the second floor: "Eric, your breakfast."

Click!

The door opened, and Eric took the tray. Today was May 31st, his sixth day in seclusion.

Eric Cooper now has a stubble beard and bloodshot eyes, looking very decadent, but he also possesses a different kind of gothic beauty.

"Son, are you alright?" Mom asked with concern.

"Yes, that's great. I'm incredibly excited right now. I just finished the first draft of the House of Cards script in just six days. That's a miracle."

Hearing this, Mom breathed a sigh of relief: "Then let's go downstairs. We've been worried about you staying in your room all day."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mom, I made you worry, but I'll just check the script one more time."

"Shall we continue?"

"Yes, this is a very important project, and we cannot afford to fail. I wouldn't feel comfortable entrusting it to someone else."

Eric closed the door and sighed. It wasn't just his family who cared about him.

During my seclusion, Gal Gadot, the Olsen twins, Nicole Kidman, Seville, Judy Hopps, and others called or texted me.

In other words, we are not yet in the mobile internet era, and mobile phones are not very functional. Otherwise, one would have to lock the phone in a safe to concentrate on writing the script.

During this time, Andrea called on behalf of the "Blue Is the Warmest Color" crew, and at that moment she also felt the pain that Patty Jenkins had felt back then.

Damn it, what kind of director would abandon the crew and run away for more than ten days without a word, even if it's just directing from a distance?

When this movie is made, is it yours or mine?

Andrea wasn't sure about some of the more challenging scenes. Unlike Patty Jenkins, she wasn't bold enough to take the plunge. The production was slow, and everyone was waiting for him, their pillar of strength, to return.

Patty Jenkins also sent word that she had convinced Charlize Theron to star in "Monster" and called him to ask for funding.

Eric generously approved $800 million for her.

In Eric’s opinion, the biggest expense for “Monster” was probably the makeup.

For a film based on a true story without large-scale scenes, $800 million is already a considerable sum.

This was only because of Patty's loyalty and hard work; otherwise, it could have been done for five or six million.

Ashley and Mary complained that he broke his promise, saying he would come to their house for dinner this week, but he disappeared for several days, leaving little Elizabeth disappointed again, and the two sisters' hormones were also running high.

Gal Gadot's hormones were also running wild; she even wanted to run to Beverly Hills, but thankfully her reason told her she couldn't do that.

Nicole, on the other hand, maturely expressed her support for Eric, saying that men should prioritize their careers, regardless of whether what he said was true or false—that's the attitude of a mature woman.

Liu Yifei and her daughter also arrived in Los Angeles. Eric certainly didn't have time to see them and just brushed them off with a few words.

Warren reported on the opening weekend box office of "The Purge," and this time Eric approved the release in 1720 theaters, a much more generous move than with "Sharknado."

Although the number of viewers at the premiere was not large, the film critics and online reviews were very positive.

The film currently has a 6.9 rating on IMDb, which is considered a high score for a commercial film that cannot be analyzed too closely.

The rotten tomato's freshness rating reached 81%, a figure that shocked Eric; it was far too high.

The audience comments below mainly focused on the confrontation between the government forces and the rebels, with many hoping that this would be the plot of the next installment.

The audience's reaction proves the success of Eric's adaptation, but it might be difficult to make the next one.

Once a confrontation between two forces is involved, the costs will definitely skyrocket. The key now is how much box office revenue the movie can generate.

Currently, "The Purge" grossed $2218 million in its opening weekend and $4590 million in its opening seven-day run.

This figure surpassed the $3322 million earned by "The Matrix Reloaded," successfully securing the top spot for a weekend.

Even though it's already the third week of The Matrix Reloaded, it's still not easy.

Compared to the $300 million production cost and less than $100 million in publicity expenses of "The Purge", it has undoubtedly made a fortune.

The impressive results have once again attracted the attention of many companies.

The success of "Sharknado" initially sparked merger ideas from New Line Cinema and Lionsgate, but later, when people in the industry learned about the relationship between AK Films and MGM, naturally no one had such thoughts anymore.

Eric also heard that Dimension Films was planning to set up its own bad movie company, trying to replicate MGM's approach. The road to making bad movies is full of competition.

After spending several more hours refining the script and marking any parts that felt inappropriate, the first draft of the "House of Cards" script was finally completed by evening.

The next step is to find a script doctor to refine and polish the script, and then it will be almost ready.

After thinking for a moment, Eric opened his email and sent a message to Billy, who was far away in England, asking him to ask Michael Dobbs for his opinion.

"OMG!"

Having done all this, as if he had completed a major project, Eric stretched out his arms and yawned, then fell asleep immediately.

I was half asleep when the phone rang and woke me up. I picked it up and saw it was Mike.

"Hey Mike!"

"Eric, do you have time to come out?"

"Of course, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I have an interview in Los Angeles tonight. It's still early. Have you eaten?"

"No, but isn't it too conspicuous outside, especially for a big star like you? Why don't you come to my house instead?"

"Thank you, but I didn't bring a gift. Let's visit another day. I know a private restaurant where we can go."

"No problem, just tell me the address."

See you later.

Michael is a very shy and easily embarrassed person, so it was really inappropriate to suddenly invite him to my house. He would feel uncomfortable if there were too many people around.

After getting up and washing up, Eric, who hadn't showered in a week, pinched his nose in disgust at the smell on his body.

After washing away the dust and shaving, he transformed back into that young and handsome man.

"Eric, are you done with your work? Going out again?"

"I'm having dinner with a friend, so don't worry about me."

When Eric got to the garage, he suddenly realized his car was gone.

"He must have been driven off by Joshua to pick up girls."

He shook his head, rubbed his still somewhat dizzy temples, and decided not to drive. He was severely sleep-deprived, and if an accident happened, wouldn't his rebirth have been in vain?

Eric hailed a taxi and got in.

"Sir, where are you going?"

"New Walter Street, Leonard's restaurant, do you know this place?"

The driver nodded: "Of course, there's nowhere I don't know."

"Heh. That's a private restaurant, you seem to know that quite well."

"I didn't know it was because I work in Beverly Hills, but as more people go there, they'll find out. Would you mind if I played some music?"

"It doesn't matter, just release it."

The driver stepped on the gas and started the car, at the same time, a lively melody blared from the car's loudspeaker.

As he listened to the intro, Eric couldn't help but chuckle. The song playing was "Rolling in the Deep."

There's a fire starting in my heart

Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark

But you played it

You played it

You played it

You played it to the beat

As the song played, Eric hummed along. Adele and Michael's singing styles were, of course, different, but it made Eric understand why good singers are so diverse.

For truly top-tier singers, musical style and melody are absolutely not a reason to limit them.

Even if it is due to the limitations of their physical abilities, they can still find a suitable way to sing.

Moreover, "Rolling in the Deep" is not particularly difficult to sing, and Michael Jordan can easily handle it; his singing skills are top-notch worldwide.

Through his performance, the song not only retained Adele's feeling but also incorporated Jackson's musical style.

It's impossible to judge which version sounds better; they each have their own unique characteristics.

"How is it? It sounds great, right? This is Michael Jackson's new song, it just came out."

Eric nodded. "It really sounds great. Are you a Jackson fan?"

The driver chuckled: "Look at my age, young man. I came from the Michael Jackson era. Back then, he drove the whole world crazy. Many of my friends and I followed his concerts all over the country."

"Sigh! But Michael's situation isn't good right now. I absolutely refuse to believe those child molestation rumors, but what can we do? We can only hope that Michael can get back on his feet."

Listening to the driver's words, Eric couldn't help but sigh, as a large number of Michael's fans are concentrated in the 30-40 age group.

These people are busy with their own lives, so they can't possibly keep up with their former idols like young people do.

But this group has another characteristic: they are rich. They actually hold social capital and real power of discourse, but they need to be guided out in the right way.

Just look at the strikes of major unions to see that a trucking union strike can bring transportation capacity across the United States to a standstill, a teachers' union strike can close schools, and a port and dock union strike can paralyze ports on the East and West coasts, and so on.

"I'm also a fan of Michael Jackson, and I'm definitely going to buy his new song," Eric said.

"I'll buy it too; this is the only way I can support Mike now."

The car arrived at Leonard's restaurant, where Mike was already waiting.

Eric ordered himself a lavish dinner, and Michael asked in surprise, "Eric, are you very hungry?"

"A bit. I've been busy with a script lately, and it's taken up a lot of my energy."

"I see. I remember you're a screenwriter. Your name is on the credits for the recent film, 'The Purge.'"

"You still have time to watch a movie?" Eric asked, somewhat surprised.

"People can't be tense all the time. Just like a string on a musical instrument will break if it's stretched for too long, we all need to relax. I'm planning to go see 'Finding Nemo' in a couple of days. I love animated movies."

Eric nodded: "Although Finding Nemo is my competitor, I still recommend watching it. It's a really good movie."

"Michael, did you come to Los Angeles to chart?"

"Pretty much. Actually, it's a music interview. I've been doing similar things these past few days, which will help with the single's sales."

Chart ranking is something that newcomers and less famous singers in the music industry often use, but superstars like MJ usually don't need to do it, except for the current special circumstances.

Has the CD been officially released yet?

"DreamWorks is ready, and the release is scheduled for tomorrow."

Eric chuckled: "That's great. Facebook is launching tomorrow too. You can promote it yourself, and I'll help you promote it."

"As for that scoundrel Eminem, I'll teach him a lesson. He'll never be able to use Facebook or any of MGM's social networks again."

Michael frowned slightly: "Is this a good idea? Doesn't it infringe on freedom of speech?"

"Freedom? Freedom of speech doesn't mean you can talk nonsense. What he said and did was a bad influence on the next generation. It's perfectly reasonable for me to ban him for that reason. If you're not happy, then sue him. Besides, given that scoundrel's personality, I don't believe he would choose to sue."

"That's true, Eminem will most likely write another song specifically to criticize us," Michael laughed.

"By the way, what's your current ranking on Billboard?"

"The billboard rankings are mainly based on sales volume. The results will be available in a week after sales begin tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)