America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 151. The Girl Sudhana

"Michael, this is my sister's record, I'm giving it to you."

Little Elizabeth handed a deluxe edition to Mike.

Mike smiled and patted her head: "About seven or eight years ago, your sisters also came to Dream Manor. It's a wonderful memory. Please give them my regards."

"Yes, I will. I'll also give you this set of dolls; it's a token of my appreciation, and it even has my signature on it."

Michael happily accepted it: "Thank you, Elizabeth. You will definitely become an excellent actress."

"Of course, Eric will help me. I'm sure I can become a big star."

Gadot and Michael hugged. "I didn't bring a gift, so I can only wish you happiness every day and hope this nightmare ends soon."

"I hope so. I hope you can come to the court hearing. I hope to see you all here; it will give me courage."

"Of course, I will definitely come to cheer you on."

Eric started the car, and the two women opened the car doors and got in.

"Michael, we're off then, see you another day!"

As Mike waved, the car drove out of Dream Manor.

This trip only lasted one day; it was a very short trip.

Unfortunately, there are many things waiting to be dealt with, and both of the beautiful women, one tall and one short, have jobs to do.

Gal Gadot's "Happy Death Day" is currently in the reshoot stage. The Russo brothers are scheduled to release the initial cut of the film the day before yesterday, and the internal screening at MGM went quite well.

This design of death in a time loop is very novel and refreshing.

In addition, the Russo brothers are very skilled at using time-space illusions, so the overall quality of the film was generally satisfactory.

However, it also raises some logical issues, as movies involving time are most prone to logical inconsistencies.

After reaching an agreement, the Russo brothers could only gather the actors to quickly reshoot some scenes, trying to fix the logical flaws, or at least make them less obvious.

Then, after going through the review process, it was scheduled to be released at the end of August.

There's no rush to release "A Quiet Place," but it's Elizabeth's first big-screen role, and she cherishes it very much.

Although the little girl is young, she hopes to do her best and absolutely cannot let Eric down.

Especially now that word is circulating within the production crew that she was cast by the big boss, this has only increased the pressure on Elizabeth.

"Get Out" has been completed and is currently undergoing the review process.

James Wan and Leigh Whannell are indeed a great duo, both quick shooters and capable of maintaining high quality.

The film is scheduled for release on August 1st, 28 days earlier than "Happy Death Day," so it won't compete with itself.

James Wan plans to take a break before resuming work, while Leigh Whannell is busy with preparations for "Saw 2".

He will be one of the producers this time, and MGM gave him a 7% investment share, but the script royalties were cancelled.

As for the entire July release schedule, MGM simply gave up.

Because Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" is coming soon, the Black Pearl is scheduled to be released on July 9th.

This is a special time because it doesn't follow the tradition of releasing on Friday, which is the opening weekend; July 9th is a Wednesday.

Those who dare to go against the grain are not completely lacking in self-confidence; they're not giving up because they can't beat anyone.

It means having absolute confidence in yourself and firmly believing that you can't beat anyone.

Moreover, this film has a huge investment, is a blockbuster produced by Disney over two years, and is backed by Disney theme parks.

No one dares to underestimate this group of pirates, especially since they include popular and handsome men and beautiful women such as Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley, who are very popular among young people.

Eric, of course, knew all too well how horrible the pirates were and that he had to avoid the Black Pearl.

Besides "Pirates of the Caribbean," there's another big film coming out in July: "Seabiscuit," starring Tobey Maguire.

This is Tobey Maguire's first commercial blockbuster after the huge success of "Spider-Man".

With an investment of up to $9000 million, it tells the story of horse racing in the 30s and is also highly anticipated.

By scheduling Get Out on August 1st, the release date was conveniently chosen to avoid the opening week of Seabiscuit and also to avoid the impact of the Black Pearl.

Then, "Happy Death Day" was released at the end of August, and "Don't Breathe" was released at the end of September.

Lately, MGM's movie schedule has been filled with horror and thriller films; it's practically turning into an independent film company.

In addition, preparations for "House of Cards" need to be put on the agenda, especially the key figure Kevin Spacey, who must be secured.

Two hours later, we returned to Los Angeles and first took little Elizabeth home.

"Eric, Gadot, come to my house and play for a while."

"Maybe next time, I have something to do, little one," Eric immediately refused.

Just kidding, if Ashley and Mary met Gadot under the same roof, who knows what kind of earth-shattering thing might happen.

"It's okay, Ashley and Mary aren't home, only my mother is," Elizabeth added.

Gadot was a little confused. Why did she specifically emphasize that the two of them weren't there? What did that mean?

"Really, I have something to do, Elizabeth. Maybe next time."

Without waiting for Gadot to speak, Eric stepped on the gas and sped away.

He took Gadot upstairs and left without going inside. Last night at the Dream Manor, she had already been juiced several times and was full but not hungry.

MGM Grand, Eric's office.

He had only been sitting down for less than five minutes when Chen Xing knocked on the door, and then Judy walked in carrying a stack of documents.

He didn't even need to look; he knew it was all scripted.

After finishing her work as a producer on "Blue Is the Warmest Color," Jodie returned to her original job, once again taking on the role of screening scripts.

"Judy, Judy, my good friend, you always bring me good luck. Let me see what good stuff you've found this time."

Judy placed the scripts on the table and said, "These are all carefully selected by us. These dozen or so are either highly topical or have exciting stories, and they all have the potential to be bestsellers."

"Hehe. Then let me test your judgment this time."

As he spoke, Eric picked up the top folder, opened it, and the first notebook hit him like a punch, with "The Passion of the Christ" written on it.

He put down his coffee and looked at Judy with a complicated expression: "You're really telling the truth. The Passion of Christ—that's not just a huge topic, it's an absolute hot topic."

Seeing Judy carrying a stack of folders, Chen Xing guessed that the two were going to talk for a while, so he made another cup of coffee and brought it in.

"Thanks."

Judy took the coffee and took a big gulp: "Religion is indeed a very sensitive topic, but there are so many believers, over a billion people worldwide."

"Whether they are Catholic, Orthodox, or Jewish, there will always be some of these people who go to the cinema. As long as they go in, they are contributing to our box office."

Eric glared at her: "Have you considered that MGM might be attacked by fanatical followers, and you might be hit with stones or rotten eggs when you get off work?"

"And this is a blatant satire of Jews; I can already foresee that Mel Gibson is probably in trouble."

"In the not-too-distant future, this superstar may have to disappear for a while. In short, this movie is a hot potato."

Judy chuckled: "Even if it's not hot, it's not our turn. Mel Gibson wasn't actually looking to raise funds; filming is almost finished."

"Mel Gibson's own company invested $3000 million, and now he's looking for distribution, but many companies are avoiding religious films and don't dare to take them on."

"If he can't find a distribution company, the film will be stuck with him, and he'll lose a lot of money."

Eric tilted his head back and began to seriously recall the relevant information from The Passion of the Christ.

The movie was very popular back then, and even though he was young, he had seen it in magazines and newspapers, but he wasn't interested in religion, so he didn't watch it much.

I vaguely remember that the movie must have made a fortune, and the actresses in it were quite famous, especially in China.

That's Monica Bellucci, known as the "Ball Flower." A few years ago, the film "Malèna" finally made Bellucci, who had been in the industry for many years, a huge star.

From then on, at the age of 36, she became Italy's sex symbol and the dream girl of countless men.

The scene where countless men lit cigarettes for her was also made into a GIF and widely circulated.

Eric had naturally fantasized about this woman, but now he was surrounded by beautiful women, so he didn't have any particular attitude towards a 39-year-old woman.

Moreover, Monica Bellucci is currently married, unlike Charlize Theron who only has a boyfriend. Their marriage is a real one, protected by law, so it would be somewhat unethical for her to steal someone else's partner.

"Eric, what are you thinking? If you don't think it's appropriate, then just forget about it," Judy said.

Eric sat up straight again, patted the folder, and made up his mind: it would be a fool not to make money when it's available.

"Tell Mel Gibson that MGM has taken over the publishing work."

"However, on the surface, he signed a contract with AK Films. In any case, it's just a facade. It's like burying your head in the sand, which is still somewhat useful. And the average foolish audience is just enough to understand."

As he spoke, he picked up the second notebook, and his eyes lit up again.

This is also a very famous teen movie, Lindsay Lohan's masterpiece, "Mean Girls".

This movie directly made the lead actress Lindsay Lohan a star, and became one of the reasons why fans were still willing to forgive her despite her numerous illegal acts, including gaining popularity, drug use, alcoholism, car accidents, theft, and imprisonment.

Audience appeal is a strange thing. Winona Ryder was abandoned by the market just for stealing something and remained silent for many years. Although she participated in some excellent works, she never became popular again.

Lindsay Lohan went much further than her, yet she was forgiven many times. In the end, this crazy girl became more and more outrageous, and everyone finally gave up on her.

The script for "Mean Girls" was definitely a must-have, but the female lead didn't need to be Lindsay Lohan, that crazy, spoiled girl.

Moreover, Eric thought she was just average-looking; not ugly, but definitely not pretty either, so he didn't have a good impression of her.

In contrast, Rachel McAdams, who plays the villain in the movie, is significantly more attractive, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to cast her as the female lead.

Or just cast the Olsen twins, one as the lead and the other as the villain.

There are hardly any real villains in campus youth movies; they are all just popular character settings.

"Mean Girls is a good book. If you can buy it outright, great. If not, you can decide on the best course of action."

"Okay, I understand."

Eric continued scrolling down.

"Time Cop," haha, it's obviously garbage, but the investment was huge. It reminds him of Will Smith's terrible film "Wild West."

"Speed ​​Racer" is a doomed premise; it's all about racing cars, but it's all about motorcycles. Even "Rampage" is more believable than this.

Although it doesn't require many special effects, it involves a lot of high-speed car stunts, so the cost is not low.

He casually discarded it, and then came "The Stepford Wives," a movie starring Nicole Kidman in his previous life. Eric had probably seen a bit of it, but it was really unremarkable.

After winning the Oscar, Nicole Kidman did indeed continue the Oscar curse, with several of her subsequent films failing both critically and commercially, except for "Dogville" and "Cold Mountain," which were relatively well-received.

However, "Dogville" was critically acclaimed but not commercially successful, and she was not the lead actress in "Cold Mountain," so her career has not been going smoothly. Eric doesn't know the exact box office figures for "The Stepford Wives," but it's definitely going to be a money-loser.

But things are different now. With Eric protecting her, Nicole hasn't taken on any of those movies. She's currently preparing for "La Vie en Rose," and next year she'll naturally be filming "Inception."

I've lost more than a dozen books in a row, and the stack of scripts is almost empty.

Judy asked somewhat helplessly, "None of them will work? These are the scripts we picked out from hundreds of scripts. 'Speed ​​Racer' should have a market."

Eric shook his head: "No, motorcycles are too niche. If you want to race, race cars. The Fast and the Furious is what we should imitate."

"But we don't have the copyright to 'Fast & Furious.' No one can compete with it in the car genre. 007 can certainly make cars look amazing, but the 007 series isn't a car racing movie."

"Don't film if there's no suitable one. No, or you could take a crooked approach."

"What?"

Eric grinned unconsciously, an idea already flashing through his mind.

The Fast and Furious series is just beginning, so I can totally take it a step further and cut it in half.

For example, you could simply bring the highly acclaimed "Fast & Furious 5" to the big screen ahead of time, change the name, replace a few actors, and a reskinned blockbuster would be born, right?

Then, MGM will launch its "Fast & Furious" series. When the fakes defeat the real ones, I don't believe they can't beat Universal's "Fast & Furious".

"Eric, what are you laughing at? You're acting so strange today!"

"Nothing, I just thought of something interesting."

As he spoke, he tossed another notebook aside, then opened the last one, and his mouth, which had just been closed, opened wide again.

"Judy, you're such a lucky star to me, just like the title of this play, a million-dollar treasure."

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(End of this chapter)