America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 40, Section 42: The Fox (Please add to your favorites and read on; please don't let the book sit unread!)

An apartment in West Los Angeles on Sunday.

"Yes, Dad, I'm doing well in Los Angeles. My daily work now consists of studying and training."

"I'm not wasting my youth. You should pay attention to entertainment news. MGM and Hasbro have announced that they're going to make a Transformers movie. Eric wasn't lying to me."

"Dad, don't be so busy with work all the time. You should pay more attention to your daughter's news. It's a blockbuster with a $1.5 million budget, more than any project you've ever done in your life!"

"Alright, that's all for now. I'm going shopping with Lefari later. Bye!"

After hanging up the phone, Gal Gadot was putting on makeup in front of the mirror. She was wearing light makeup, as Eric didn't like heavy makeup. It was their day off, and the two of them were going out.

As for going shopping with Lefari, that was obviously a lie to my dad.

Suddenly, a pair of hands pressed down on her chest, and Barrefaeli's voice rang out from behind: "Isn't this the female lead from Transformers? Getting up so early to put on makeup, let me guess, you're going on a date, right?"

Gal Gadot chuckled a few times: "Don't be silly, Lefari. If the painting gets messed up, it will take up more time, and I don't want Eric to wait for me."

"What's wrong with waiting? You're about to become a Hollywood superstar."

"But the decision is in his hands, isn't it?"

Barrefaeli picked up a comb: "Then let me comb your hair. And while you're at it, tell me, how exactly did you manage to captivate Eric Cooper?"

Gal Gadot picked up a cheap eyebrow pencil and tapped it lightly: "No, I never felt that I was infatuated with him, nor did I feel any infatuation with him. He is not the kind of rich second-generation who only knows sex. You can see that from the news."

"Besides, we were just going out to have fun, neither of us admitted to having feelings for each other. Anyway, I don't know, but things have developed to this point. The me of a month ago and the me of now feel like we've suddenly entered two different worlds."

bell.

The phone on the table rang, and Gal Gadot finished the last stroke of her painting: "I have to go now, see you tonight."

Watching Gal Gadot walk out of the apartment and get into the passenger seat of the Lamborghini, Barrefali suddenly felt a surge of anger.

Before, I only felt a kind of anger that would bother me from time to time, but since the news was released on Monday, that anger has gradually turned into a ball of fire.

She walked to the mirror and looked at herself: "Barrefaeli, why isn't that you? Your figure, your looks, you're no worse than hers!"

"Why did she get the lead role in Transformers, while you only got a damn zombie TV show contract?"

"Friends? We went out for three days and two nights, and you're telling me we're friends? You bitch!"

Staring at herself in the mirror, the woman suddenly grabbed a cup and smashed it down.

splash

"Eric, congratulations, Red Dragon's box office will be close to $3 million this week."

"I don't think it will reach that level. Its momentum is almost exhausted. It will be shown for another week before it's taken off the screens. The final box office should be a little over 3 million."

"Why not continue showing it?"

Hearing this simple question, Eric couldn't help but laugh: "I'd like to too, but the theater owners won't allow it; they want to make room for a blockbuster."

"What?"

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is coming soon, and a fierce battle is about to unfold until the Christmas season!"

"It's just that Dragon and Tiger have already been decided, and Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg both have films to be released, so the rest can only hope for the best."

"By the way, didn't you say last time that MGM also has a new movie coming out? That would be terrible," Gal Gadot said with some concern.

"It's not that serious. MGM will release 'Barbershop' in November. The movie is all black, so it won't lack a market. It won't fail even if any other movie fails."

"Universal was the main investor in 'Die Another Day,' MGM was not the main investor. 007 has never lacked a market, the only difference is how much money they make."

"Sharknado is set to be released in December. It takes a rather unconventional approach. If other movies are like rabbits trembling in the face of fierce competition, it's like a fox."

"What do you mean? I don't understand. You always say things that are hard to understand," Gadot protested.

Eric glanced at her and thought she was still too young, having just graduated from high school and having almost no social experience.

"Gadot, haven't you read fables? Foxes are cunning; they never attack head-on, but rather use roundabout methods. But as long as they achieve their goals, that's enough."

Gal Gadot nodded, still not quite understanding, so she changed the subject: "When does filming start? When can I join the crew?"

Are you in a hurry?

"No, I'm just a little bored. I'm just eager to test my learning progress."

"Then you'll probably have to wait a while longer. This is a big project, and the preliminary preparations are very complicated. If everything goes smoothly, I expect filming to begin in January next year."

"Two more months?" Gal Gadot's face fell.

"Of course, two months is fast. If things don't go smoothly, it could drag on for three or even four months."

"But as long as the preliminary preparations are done well, filming is actually very quick, and you will be able to see yourself on the big screen next year."

Eric was telling the truth. There were only two difficulties in filming Transformers: the expensive military equipment and the need to enter military bases for on-location filming, which involved considerable communication challenges with the Department of Defense.

Dad is already doing this. He can hang out with Gadot on weekends, but he doesn't have the time. He has to visit a Defense Ministry official.

Giving money is definitely a must, but if you can save a lot of money by spending a little, then it's worth it.

Secondly, there are special effects, which are even more difficult to handle than those from the Ministry of National Defense. They can't be solved with money alone; they require a lot of time.

Some viewers believe that special effects are added after the movie is finished being filmed, but this view is rather one-sided.

Only movies with very few special effects shots can do this. Real blockbusters do special effects while filming, and the special effects work even before the live-action shooting begins.

Taking Transformers as an example, the first step in the process is for the director, screenwriter, and artist to combine their ideas and work together to create these Autobots and Decepticons, bringing them to life on paper.

Then it is handed over to a special effects company, which constructs and models them, and gives them more vivid expressions and movements, such as those complex deformation movements, which are the most difficult part.

This process is lengthy, involving various revisions and often taking several months to achieve the director's desired effect.

Once this step is completed, the rest becomes much simpler.

For actual filming, it usually takes about three months to complete, and Eric is even confident that it can be reduced to two months.

Editing was easier for him, since he had already watched it many times.

"Eric, someone's filming us!" Gadot whispered, pointing into the distance.

Eric glanced at it and didn't seem to care: "It's nothing. People have been staking out me these past few days. They're just trying to dig up some dirt."

"Will you expose me? Didn't you say you wouldn't announce it for now?"

"That was a week ago. Now that the hype has died down, it's fine to let them promote it again."

Thank you so much, Qingshan Guren Xici Huanghelou, for the 100-coin donation! You're so generous, thank you!

Tomorrow, all the familiar faces will be on stage.

(End of this chapter)