America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 262, Section 261: Sneak Attack!

"Boss, something's happened to the 'Walking Dead' crew, Barrefaeli has gone missing!" Chen Xing said anxiously.

"Missing? What do you mean? Were they kidnapped?" Eric was startled upon hearing this.

Although Barrafali was a bit of a snob, she was brought to America by Judy, who herself had sent her there.

If something really happens, Eric will definitely be questioned, and he'll also feel guilty.

Chen Xing hurriedly explained, "She's either been kidnapped or she's gone missing; we can't find her."

"We couldn't get through on the phone, they weren't replying to text messages, and no one was home. The production crew couldn't contact us, so they notified us."

"Where is her agent?"

"We've tried, but her agent can't reach her either. We're still looking for her."

"What about her mother? Have you asked her mother? And Gadot, Barrefaeli lives with Gadot, and Judy, she and Judy are also very close."

"Not yet. Barrefaeli took leave from the crew last week because she wasn't feeling well and needed to rest for a few days."

"It just so happened that she didn't have many scenes to film those days, so Darabont agreed to film the other people's scenes first."

"Then until Friday, when it was time to film her scenes, Balefali said she would return to the set on Monday, but she didn't show up on Monday."

"Drabbond was furious about this rule-breaking behavior, but all he could do was ask his agent to find someone."

"It's already Wednesday, and she still hasn't been found. Everyone is worried that something might have happened to her."

"Could we really have been kidnapped?"

Eric's mind conjured up images of Wu Ruofu, Carina Lau, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and others, which eventually transformed into scenes of John Lennon and the tragic deaths of Polanski's wife and children.

Whether in China or abroad, cases of celebrities being kidnapped are commonplace, especially those who are wealthy, famous, and whose schedules are easy to track.

Although kidnapping will generate severe public pressure, the high risk and high reward make it a target for many ruthless kidnappers.

But then he thought again, wait a minute, if it really was a kidnapping, the kidnappers would have already contacted Barrefaeli's mother or agent to ask for money.

Even if someone is accidentally killed in the process, they should still make use of the waste to earn money.

Eric was also encountering this situation for the first time, and he was a little confused. He picked up his phone and called Gadot.

The call was finally answered after a while.

"Honey, what's wrong? I'm on set. My assistant saw your call and asked the director before letting me answer."

"Gadot, do you know where Lefari is? Have you seen her these past couple of days?"

"Lefari? No, not these past few days. I think I last saw her last Tuesday or Wednesday, I can't quite remember. What's wrong?"

"She's missing, and many people are looking for her."

"What! Missing!" Gadot exclaimed in surprise.

Barry Fali came to the United States with her, and the two were close friends. Upon hearing the word "missing," she was immediately terrified.

"What does 'missing' mean? I remember she said she was going to do something last week. Damn it! I can't remember!"

"Don't rush, think about it carefully."

After a while, Gadot still didn't respond.

"I'm sorry, darling, I told you as soon as I thought of it. By the way, did you ask her mother? Lefari and her mother are very close; she tells her mother everything."

"I just found out about this too. You should focus on filming first, and let me know if you have any ideas."

"Barrefali has been missing for at least two days. Why haven't they contacted her family? Why haven't they called the police?"

Chen Xing hesitated before answering, "Drabunt said he only found out recently, and this matter should be handled by Barrefaeli's agent and the Screen Actors Guild."

"Her agent is still looking for someone, until this morning when Darabont really couldn't wait any longer, and the rest of the scenes had to be done by Balrefali."

"He had to urge the other party again and again before the agent told Darabont the truth, and we only just found out ourselves."

"Damn it, are these guys' brains filled with shit? Go contact that agent, what are they doing?!"

Chen Xing rarely saw Eric get angry, and hurriedly left the office, regretting that he shouldn't have gotten involved in this mess.

Click!

Eric called Judy only after the office door was closed and no one else was around.

Judy's sexual orientation has not been fully disclosed yet; people are only speculating that she has a sexual orientation that is not suitable for others to know.

"Eric, what is it?"

Come to my office.

"It might take a little time. I'm out there talking about a script that's really good and I'm sure you'll be interested."

"Hold on a minute, I have a question for you. Do you know where Lefari is?"

"Yes, I know, she went home."

"Israel?"

"Yes, I left last week to visit my mother. What happened?"

"are you sure?"

"I'm absolutely certain. Lefari called me to let me know she was safe after the plane landed. I heard her mother's voice on the phone. There's no mistake, Eric. Why are you asking these questions? What exactly happened?"

"The Walking Dead crew can't find her; many people are looking for her."

"What! Didn't she finish filming?"

"How do you know? Who said that?"

"Lefari told me that she said her scenes had finished filming and she hadn't been home for a long time, so she wanted to go back and rest for a while."

"Eric, I don't understand. Are you saying the filming wasn't finished, and Refaeli is lying to me?"

"That seems to be the case at present."

Eric had a few thoughts running through his mind, and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"Eric? Eric?"

"I don't know either. Finish your work first, and we'll meet again when you get back."

"good!"

After hanging up the phone, Chen Xing came in again a moment later: "Boss, Bar Refaeli's agent contacted her mother, and her mother said she has never met Refaeli either."

"But something is a bit strange. It seems that Barrefali's mother is not very worried about this, and she has not suggested calling the police."

Eric nodded, took out a pen, and wrote down the known information on a piece of paper.

His brow furrowed more and more as he looked at the information, and suddenly a person came to mind—Hong Kong actor Tsui Siu-keung.

Xu Shaoqiang got the great opportunity to play the male lead, Yun Feiyang, in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

This TV series was produced with great effort by RTV (Rediffusion Television), and it became an instant hit, making Tsui Siu-keung a synonym for chivalrous hero at the time.

In an attempt to compete with RTV, TVB cast Adam Cheng to film "The Legend of Chu Liuxiang," but it still couldn't beat "Reincarnated" in the ratings.

Seeing that they couldn't win in a direct confrontation, TVB resorted to underhanded tactics. They secretly approached Tsui Siu-keung, gave him a large sum of money, and promised him a host of benefits.

Xu Shaoqiang had just become famous, and he got carried away. He couldn't resist the temptation and chose to take the money and disappear, thus going into hiding.

At that time, "Reincarnated" adopted the same filming and broadcasting model as American dramas. When the male lead suddenly went missing, ATV was almost frantic.

In the end, they had to temporarily bring in Gu Guanzhong to fill in, but this inevitably led to a drop in viewership.

Xu Shaoqiang also met a bad end; his untrustworthy behavior was exposed and he was scorned by the industry.

ATV kicked him out, and TVB failed to deliver on its promises of leading roles and other benefits. The once promising hero Yun Feiyang was reduced to taking minor supporting roles and villainous characters to make a living, and he never rose again in his life.

The sudden disappearance of Barrafali is somewhat similar to Xu Shaoqiang's disappearance, especially when comparing Judy's information with Chen Xing's words just now, the whole thing immediately seems very strange.

Eric tried calling Barrefali, but the phone was switched off.

He then called Delabont again.

"Eric, you already know about this, don't you?"

"Um, Frank, what do you know?"

"I don't know. Barrefaeli is doing perfectly fine on set. She's a well-known actress now."

"The Walking Dead and House of Cards made her very popular, and she gained more respect. Nobody disrespected her."

"Eric, I can assure you that the crew has absolutely nothing to do with this, and Barrefali has not been wronged in any way."

"Don't get upset, Frank. I don't mean to blame you. I just have a bit of a headache and there are some things I can't figure out."

"Eric, but how do we solve this problem? With Barrefaeli gone, we can't film the rest of the scenes, and the production has come to a standstill."

Taking a deep breath, Eric gently tapped the table: "How's the progress? How many scenes does she have left?"

"It's mostly finished, but the remaining scenes are all related to Balefali. Everyone's waiting for her, and it's already delayed for several days."

"Eric, I know you're waiting for The Walking Dead to be on Lionheart, but things are a bit messy."

"Is there any way to salvage this? If she's not here, we won't wait for her!"

"You mean change the character? Or kill the character?" Darabont immediately understood.

"That's fine, do it your way."

"If there's really no other way, my suggestion is to kill off the character. After all, Balrefali has been filming for a while, and replacing her would create inconsistencies between the characters."

"Unless you want to reshoot, it means the entire series will have to be remade."

"What would Grimm do if Maggie died suddenly?"

Darabont scoffed, "Eric, The Walking Dead is an apocalypse. People have died suddenly all the time. Let the governor kill her."

"Then save another female character, reunite her with Green, and replace Maggie's role."

"Of course, you also need to be mentally prepared. The survey results from the first season showed that Maggie's character was still very popular with the audience. Her sudden departure from the show might attract some viewers' disgust and criticism."

"It seems you've thought about this before."

dong dong dong.

There was a knock at the door, and Judy rushed back.

"Frank, let me think about it. I'll call you later."

"Um."

In the office, Judy asked anxiously what had happened. After Eric told her, she immediately took out her phone to call Barrefali, but it was switched off as well.

Then I called Balefali's mother, but her phone was still off.

Judy was instantly devastated.

"How is it?"

"Their phones are all switched off. That shouldn't be happening. We were still in contact just a few days ago."

"A few days?"

"Last Saturday, she said she was going to accompany her mother on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, so we haven't been in contact since. I don't know anything about religion."

Eric sighed and shared his guess, which made Judy's face turn even worse.

"But why? There's no reason! Why would Lefari do this?"

"Because of desire, because of ambition, because of profit, because of many things, Judy, is your relationship stable?"

Judy nodded: "Although we argue occasionally, I think it's fine."

"So at least she was willing to tell you that she had returned to Israel, but she didn't say anything to anyone else, not even Gadot."

"Saying this might damage your image of Barrefaeli, but there's no need to hide it at a time like this."

"Judy, Barrefaeli has tried to seduce me many times, but I've refused her every time. She's not as simple as you think!"

Upon hearing this, Judy was shocked. Given their relationship, Eric had absolutely no reason to lie to her, and the beautiful image she held in her heart was suddenly shrouded in shadow.

Feeling somewhat agitated, Judy paced back and forth a few times before looking up and saying, "Eric, give me some time. I'm going to Israel right away, and this matter will definitely be resolved."

Eric nodded: "The crew has been waiting for her for several days, so if Balefali doesn't show up by next Monday at the latest, she will lose her role."

"I'm not just talking about the character in The Walking Dead, but also the character in House of Cards, and MGM will no longer consider her for any projects."

Judy knew that Eric was still able to talk to her calmly and without getting angry, which was already a sign of respect for her and showed that their relationship was strong enough.

Otherwise, try someone else, even someone like Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans who were personally discovered. If they're going to be kicked out, they should be kicked out immediately!

So she didn't plead for her anymore. Not to mention pleading, if things really turned out as Eric predicted, Judy made up her mind instantly: she would personally send Barrefaeli away, just as she had personally brought her into Hollywood.

Let Delabont wait a few more days and keep this matter quiet for now; Eric's attention should be diverted to other matters.

This Saturday, the big-budget blockbuster continues to target "Million Dollar Baby," followed by 20th Century Fox's big-budget production, "The Day After Tomorrow."

Directed by Roland Emmerich, the renowned disaster film director who also directed "2012," both of these works are considered disaster masterpieces that have made their mark on film history.

Compared to the director, the lead actors Dennis Quaid, Jake Jerlenhaal, and Emmy Rossum received less attention.

From a scientific point of view, the scenes conceived in the movie are absolutely impossible to realize, but they are indeed very good, and Eric watches them every year.

Under the impact of such a blockbuster, "Million Dollar Baby" was naturally affected again.

However, the Polar Express also fared poorly, suffering just as much damage; in any case, no one was going to survive.

When the box office results came out the following week, "The Day After Tomorrow" unsurprisingly took the top spot, grossing $6500 million, and also received very positive reviews.

"Million Dollar Baby" grossed $2100 million, but its excellent reviews resulted in a drop of only 30%, which was lower than expected.

The Polar Express fared even worse than being cut in half, grossing only $2600 million. The predicted $3.2 million box office will likely have to be lowered again.

On Sunday, Judy had not returned, and Eric's face was extremely gloomy.

Several magazines were placed in front of him, and the covers of them all featured him and Gadot.

(End of this chapter)