No matter how envious and jealous the major Hollywood studios were, they could not stop "Titanic" from continuing to stay in the top 15 of the North American box office, breaking its own record.
Adriaan did not put too much effort into this. He only told his subordinates to continue to promote the movie moderately, at least until the Christmas and New Year period.
"As long as we get past this period, we can make this miracle even more difficult to surpass," Zhang Heng said.
"Titanic" had made a lot of money at the box office and was crowned the best-selling movie in history. There were many fans who watched ten consecutive screenings, but it was impossible for it to continue to make a big profit or even return to the top ten at the end of the year. Adriaan also knew this. He made this arrangement because he wanted to make the miracle more miraculous. After all, the movie had not even reached the original record yet.
Of course, the outcome of this matter could not be seen yet. They had to get past the current schedule. So, he paid more attention to other things, such as the schedule of the three upcoming movies. Among the three movies, "Doomsday" was the most suitable for the whole family. "Moment of Slaughter" was a drama film, and "Luoyang Confidential" was for the nostalgic crowd. If they could not arrange the release time reasonably, it might have the opposite effect.
As for "The Matrix", if he paid a lot of overtime, he should be able to complete all the post-production in mid-December. However, there might not be enough time for the promotion. After thinking for a long time, Adriaan gave up on the idea of releasing it this year. This also reminded him that as "The Big Ship" was released, there would be more and more movies with special effects as the selling point. The production cycle, especially the post-production, would be longer and longer. So if he wanted to direct such a movie in the future, he had to take this into account.
In addition, he also had to ask about the preparation and production of several new movies. After buying the movie adaptation rights, he had begun preparing for the blockbuster. Over the past year, Adriaan had talked to the person in charge many times. Although the progress was not very fast, don't forget that there was still a year until next year. The movie that he had prepared for Monica had also been put on the schedule. If everything went well, it would start shooting next summer. Adriaan had also made ample preparations. He would let some people understand the meaning of implicit seduction. Of course, he still had to prepare a stunt double.
"Swordfish Operation", which was originally planned to recruit Wolverine, had officially been set up. The production of this movie was quite good, but unfortunately, it was unlucky and encountered a rather bad schedule. Otherwise, even if it did not sell well, it would not have been a problem to recoup its costs from the box office. As for the actors, they hadn't contacted Jackman yet. They had to wait for Ovitz to sign him first. Sean Penn had already agreed after reading the script. As for Halle Berry, Adriaan would personally find time to talk to her.
As for the rest, the script of "The Expendables" had been officially completed. It completely abided by the rules of Hollywood commercial movies. At the beginning, there would be a scene to introduce the team members, and then they would hand in the mission and receive the money. The fish that escaped the net wanted to take revenge, so they kidnapped Captain Stallone's daughter. During the rescue, they discovered an unknown secret and exposed it. There was no need to use too much brain power. The main thing was to see the tough guys flex their muscles.
"I'm looking forward to working with them." In the end, Schwarzenegger agreed, and the salary was easy to negotiate. As for the reason why he was so generous, it was needless to say.
However, this was just the beginning. There were still more team members to be confirmed. Even if they could not get all the action actors on the list, at least more than half of them had to be selected.
All these preparations had begun, but "Spider-Man" was slightly delayed. Adriaan arranged for it to start shooting at the end of next year. Although Sam Raimi was looking for a career change, he had no schedule for the time being because he still had to direct and produce the movie. Since he did the original version well, why not let him continue to be in charge? Moreover, the female lead role, Kirsten, also had a new movie to complete: "Pretty Girl Cheerleaders"!
Thanks to his habit of flipping through the scripts of various film companies, Adriaan found the script of this movie from New Line last year. He then held it in his hands, planning to let a young girl play the role. However, since Kirsten did not want to spend this awkward age too peacefully, it did not matter if she was the female lead. When the time came, she would know that it was not so easy to change from a pretty face.
Of course, this series would be handled by New Line. Yes, that's right, this could be made into a series. In various competitions in the United States, cheerleaders were unique scenery, and the cheerleader in school was usually the most popular girl. Therefore, this movie was positioned as a medium investment, aimed at the youth market, and it was perfect to promote those newcomers.
As for "Spider-Man", the copyright was in his hands, so why should he care about when it would be released, right?
However, these things could not be done immediately. It would take a lot of time, so the most urgent thing for Adriaan at the moment was …
"This, it's not delicious." The little guy shook her head like a rattle, then stretched out her little hand and pointed to the fruit salad on the other side of the table. "That, I want it."
"Lily." Adriaan put down the knife and fork in his hand and whispered in a reminding tone.
"It doesn't matter, as long as she likes it." Martha smiled and waved away the servants who wanted to come up to help. She personally put a small plate of fruit salad in front of Lily.
"Thank you, Grandma." The little guy called out in a childish voice, then slipped out of the seat, then ran to the head of the long table with the plate, and pushed the fruit salad in front of the old man.
"This is … for me?" Anderson looked at the little guy in surprise.
"Yes!" The little fellow nodded her head vigorously. Her bright eyes stared at him without blinking, full of hope.
"… Why … are you giving it to me?" Her uncle, who had a straight face since Adriaan entered the door, couldn't help but soften his tone in the face of the obedient Lily.
"Grandpa's face is expressionless. This is not good." The little guy tilted her head and thought for a while before answering seriously, "Grandpa has never eaten this. It's delicious, and he will be happy after eating it."
"So you brought a plate for me, right?" The expression on the old man's face became more and more gentle. He reached out and stroked the little guy's head, then said softly, "Thank you for your gift. You are really a little lady. If you don't mind, can I kiss you?"
Although Lily didn't quite understand, she roughly understood what her grandfather meant. She hesitated and shrank her neck, but then she straightened her chest, closed her eyes, and looked as if she was facing death calmly.
"What … what are you doing?" Anderson looked at her curiously, then looked at his wife at the table, as well as Adriaan and Kate. They all looked confused.
Even so, Anderson still bent down and gently touched the little girl's face, and then the little girl giggled.
"It's very different." Lily grabbed the place on her face where her grandfather had kissed, and looked at him curiously with her curved eyes.
"Oh? What's different? "Anderson asked hurriedly.
"It's very soft, and ticklish, unlike the other grandfather, who was very hard." The little girl pointed to the circle of beard on Anderson's chin.
Anderson chuckled and touched her head again, "I'm glad you like it, Lily. Go back to your seat."
After a pause, he looked at Adriaan and said, "Give your father a fruit salad too."
Unexpectedly, Lily shook her head very firmly, "No, Daddy doesn't need it!"
"Oh?"
"Daddy is a bad guy!"
Compared to some of the previous sentences, which were still a little vague, this sentence was quite clear and smooth. Obviously, he had said it many times. Anderson was stunned for a moment, and suddenly burst into laughter. The way he shook his head made it seem like he hadn't been this happy in a long time. His hearty laughter quickly infected the others in the room. Not only did Auntie and Kate laugh, even the servants at the side couldn't stop laughing.
The only one who didn't laugh was Adriaan. He glanced gloomily at his daughter, who didn't know what everyone was laughing about, and stuffed a large piece of Thanksgiving turkey into his mouth. "Alright, I'm a bad guy."
After the Thanksgiving feast, Anderson naturally called Adriaan to the study and left, leaving Kate with his daughter and Auntie Marsha to chat in another room.
"You're not married, right?" After entering the room, Anderson asked bluntly, and the expression on his face returned to its previous old-fashioned expression.
"Yes," Adriaan answered frankly.
"So Lily is an illegitimate child?" the old man asked further.
"According to the traditional meaning, then yes." Adriaan smiled slightly.
Anderson snorted heavily. How could he not understand the meaning in his words? After walking around the study twice, the old man sighed, "You said before that she's two years old. Are you going to be like this forever?"
Then he muttered in a low voice, "I actually found out later than that old guy Benedict."
Hearing this, Adriaan almost laughed. He really didn't expect the uncle who spoke without mercy to have such a side, but it also meant that Lily was welcomed everywhere. Previously, when he decided to bring his daughter to New York, Kate was a little worried. She had been here a few times and knew Anderson's temper, but Adriaan didn't take it to heart. The phenomenon of cross-generational relatives was very common. Even if his uncle was dissatisfied, it would only be directed at him.
Now, the behavior of his aunt and uncle proved that his judgment was correct.
"Almost." Adriaan shrugged, still maintaining his frankness. From the moment he decided to bring Lily to his uncle's house, he knew that these things couldn't be avoided.
"You really know how to say it?" Anderson sneered, "You are the first in the Kewell family to be able to say such things openly. Well, even if you don't think about your … lover, you have to think about the child, right?! Not daring to bear the responsibility of the family is the behavior of a coward! It also goes against our tradition! "
"It's not that I don't dare, I just don't want to." Adriaan replied lazily, "I won't give up the whole forest for a tree, uncle."
Anderson suddenly frowned, showing obvious dissatisfaction, but then Adriaan raised his hand and shook it, "I know what you want to say, uncle. If you look at it completely literally, I very much agree, but the problem is how many people really do it? There are more than one person who has a lover after marriage, even … my father once had one. "
At this point, he chuckled softly, and Anderson coughed dryly, frowning and not saying anything.
"If I want to do it, then I must do it. I also believe that I can do it, but the problem is that I don't want to do it. I still want to experience a more colorful life, why must I do it now?" Adriaan spread his hands, maintaining that calm expression, "No matter what, Lily is the daughter of me and Kate. No one can deny it, and no one can separate us."
After a long silence, Anderson sighed again, looking at him with a complicated expression, "In this aspect, you are not at all like your father, although when your father and I were young … we had the demeanor of your grandfather."
Adriaan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He had never learned about his grandfather's affairs, but when he flipped through the diary left by his father, he vaguely knew that his grandfather was still dissolute until his middle age, and his relationship with his grandmother was not very good, probably because of the marriage alliance, but he was still very concerned about the two children.
If he was still alive, we might have a lot in common. Adriaan couldn't help but think so. Listening to his uncle's tone, his grandfather was probably far more than that. It just so happened that there was a very reasonable explanation for what he did.
"How was your conversation?" Kate, who returned to the bedroom after he and Adriaan coaxed their daughter to sleep, asked.
"It's nothing. Although uncle is old-fashioned, he is not a person who is inflexible." Adriaan shrugged, took off his coat and threw it aside.
"Is that so?" Kate's tone was indifferent, but there was a hint of something in it.
"But he wants me to marry you." Adriaan suddenly said with a smile, sat down next to her, put his arms around her waist, and put his head on her shoulder to smell the fragrance of her hair, "What do you think I should do?"
"Do you think this is interesting?" Kite glanced at him and snorted softly. She then turned to her reflection in the vanity mirror and let out a long sigh before saying, "Back then … when I was pregnant, I had thought about it, but … I knew very well that you would never agree. When you refused to even lie to me back then, I already knew what kind of person you were."
"Oh? Then what kind of person am I? "Adriaan gently blew in her ear.
Half of Kate's body suddenly softened, and she glared at him with some annoyance, then looked at herself and Adriaan in the dressing mirror for a moment, and her eyes became confused, "I don't know, or rather, I can't describe it … Probably because of this, I easily fell into your carefully woven trap."
"Do you remember what I said, Kate?" Adriaan laughed, "You actually understand. Why do you have to use other excuses to deny it?"
"… Maybe there is still some unwillingness," Kate murmured in a daze.
"Then, there is a party tomorrow in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Would you like to accompany me?" Adriaan suddenly said.
"Party? What kind of party? "Kate was also happy to change the topic.
"What else can it be? The upper class gets together, talks about each other's recent situation, and communicates with each other. Maybe we can seize some good opportunities." Adriaan lay on the bed and said gloomily, "God, I really hope Krau is here."
Adrian wasn't averse to such gatherings. Many a time, a lot of things were finalized in such places, and his network was also expanded here. It was just that he wasn't that good at business, after all. A slightly deeper topic might make him lose his cool. When it came to such topics, it was usually Claude who would start the conversation, and he would add on from the side. But if Claude wasn't around …
"Then what do you think, Eide, about the impact of Thai Baht's crisis?" The old man asked with a smile. He had a square face, and his hair was neatly combed. He was slightly plump, but his 5 '11 "height made him look very strong. He had a kind smile, wore a pair of simple glasses, and was dressed in a suit and leather shoes. He looked very refined, just like a university professor.
"Without a doubt, the financial crisis will spread in Asia." Adriaan shrugged his shoulders. "The countries from East Asia to Southeast Asia are almost the same as Thailand."
"You seem to have missed out a country, Eide." The old man reminded him.
"Yes, I know. But if the international speculators go and provoke them, they might be at a disadvantage." Adriaan casually said. "After all, that country is different from us, and they are good at concentrating their efforts to achieve big goals. No matter how big the international speculators are, they will not be able to recognize a sovereign country's power."
"I have to admit that what you said is a good reference." The old man thought for a while and nodded. "You seem to know China very well, Eide."
"A little, but not a lot. But among the Americans, I know quite a lot." Adriaan laughed. "My Chinese is also quite good."
"Ha, that's good news. If you didn't have your own company, we might be able to hire you as a consultant on China issues." The old man laughed.
"Alright. If one day I am no longer the Chairman of AC Media, and Goldman Sachs still needs me, I will be happy to help you, Mr. Warren." Adriaan bowed.
"You are really outstanding, Eide. My eyes are rarely wrong." The old man continued to laugh and patted him on the shoulder. "Well, I have other things to do, so I won't talk to you anymore."
Adriaan then made a "please" gesture and watched the old man walk into the crowd. He then let out a long sigh. If he continued to talk, he would be emptied. This was why although he had met this old man a few times before, he rarely talked for a long time. It was not that he did not want to. Buffy did have the temperament of a scholar, but it did not mean that he was really a scholar. Just like how generous he was in charity, the nature of a businessman would not change.
He was quick-witted and had considerable insight. This was Adriaan's evaluation of him. Fortunately, he finally left.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
