Chapter 746

"I've had enough, Eide!" Gelum's face was red. He waved his fists in the air and shouted angrily, "I've said so much and given so many opinions, but you won't listen to a single word. Have you ever respected me?!"

"Of course I respect you, Winston." Adriaan spread his hands behind the desk as if he did not see the angry look on the other party's face. "I've been trying to solve our differences."

"Solve our differences?" The old man's eyes widened and his lips trembled slightly. It was obvious that he was furious. "You threw my opinions aside like air and kept changing the plot according to your own ideas. You call that solving our differences?!"

"But the problem is that your opinions and the tone of the plot don't match, Winston." Adriaan said calmly. "I've said this many times. You always want the script to be political satire and highlight the two sides of the protagonist, but I don't want to have anything to do with politics at all."

Gelum rubbed the sides of his head and suddenly raised his hands. "So, we can't reach an agreement at all? Very well, then I quit. Eide, I'm not doing this! "

He looked at Adriaan with a "we're done" expression.

"You're quitting?" Adriaan raised an eyebrow. He was waiting for this sentence. "Okay, then I'll finish it alone."

"Finish it alone?" Gelum sensed something was wrong. "It was clearly stated in the contract..."

"Article 11 to Article 14 of Section 7 of the contract clearly states what I can do in this situation." Adriaan interrupted him with a brisk voice. "So I don't think there's any problem."

"How... how can you do this?!" Gelum's already red face began to turn purple. His facial features became a little distorted. After a long while, he finally said, "This is a trap. I'm going to sue you!"

"Whatever you want." Adriaan's face suddenly turned cold. He looked at Gelum and sneered. "Anytime, Winston. There are so many movies to be made anyway. This one doesn't matter. Besides..."

He sat up straight and looked at him with a playful look. "You sold me 15 years of access."

Gelum glared at him. His expression was unusually ugly. His breathing became much heavier. His fists were clenched tightly as if he would swing them at any time. But in the end, he let out a long sigh and gritted his teeth as he walked out without a word.

With a bang, the office finally returned to silence. Adriaan leaned back in his chair and snorted disdainfully. He had planned to make Gelum's Best Adapted Screenplay Award a reality show, but the old man's stubborn temper could not be changed. No wonder he was also kicked out in his previous life. Once this kind of person became stubborn, he did not care who you were or how capable you were. Not to mention nine bulls, even ten bulls could not pull him back. So it was better to deal with people who knew when to advance and retreat.

But it was better now. Now that he had shed all pretense of cordiality, it meant that he could revise the script more quickly. He did not have to put part of his energy into persuasion and dispute like before. Besides, Adriaan had done his best. If Gelum really filed a lawsuit, he would not be courteous with him, and no one else would say anything.

After settling this matter, Adriaan began his leisurely life again. For example, he corresponded with Natalie, visited the record company from time to time, flirted with Charlize, and went on a date with Monica. Julia gave him a hard time for a few days after he rejected her invitation to spend Thanksgiving with him.

The promotions for several movies were already on track. Needless to say, "The Piano Class." "Philadelphia Story" also attracted a lot of attention due to its homophobia and discrimination against people with AIDS, but it was still not as good as "Schindler's List." The black-and-white trailer was shown on major TV stations a week before Thanksgiving. The trailer, which was edited by Spielberg himself, immediately attracted a lot of attention, followed by a lot of comments.

There was not a single line from beginning to end, only a sad and heavy soundtrack. All kinds of black and white images alternated from time to time. The Jews who were randomly insulted, the train car that was packed to hell, the gold tooth poured out of the bag, Steyn's calmness, Armon's arrogance, and Schindler's contemplation appeared one after another. It made people involuntarily feel pressured.

"Usually, the trailer is the essence of a movie. It's only a few minutes, but it's the most worth watching, but 'Schindler's List' seems to have broken this rule," someone wrote. But there were also people who thought that the trailer was quite amazing.

"Spielberg made a bold attempt. In his opinion, using black and white was a better way to express the sad environment at that time." That was what they said. Then, many people agreed with this view, while those who opposed continued to oppose it. The two opinions began to argue again, further whetting the public's appetite. The rhythm of the argument was very good.

Needless to say, it was obvious who was behind this. With Laffern's ability and the secret help of those old men, "Schindler's List" would definitely receive more praise than the version in people's memory. Other than that, Viacom's acquisition of Paramount had also been finalized. Although Sam Lei Shidong had already settled the deal with Barry Diller at the end of October, he used the funds he had on hand to buy Blockbuster and used it as collateral to borrow from the bank. In the end, he finally offered a price of 11 billion dollars. However, it was not until mid-November that he officially took over Paramount.

During this period, he was basically negotiating with Claude. Claude wanted to use this opportunity to enter Viacom's board of directors. Even if he could not do anything, he wanted to at least have a seat on the board. However, Lei Shidong obviously did not think that AC Media was qualified to do so, so the two could not come to an agreement.

Claude was not in a hurry. He slowly negotiated with Lei Shidong until he submitted a letter of intent to acquire Turner Broadcasting Company in mid-November. Many people were surprised by AC Media's actions. This was especially true for Ted Turner, who was immersed in the joy of successfully acquiring New Line Films. This little-known media company had quietly acquired almost 40% of TBS's shares. Claude thought that 30% would be enough, but Adriaan insisted on 51%. Unable to win, the two came up with a compromise: 40%.

Not everyone knew about their background. Therefore, although some people in the industry were surprised, they were not optimistic about this acquisition. However, Lei Shidong was obviously not one of them. After thinking for a long time, he agreed to Claude's request.

"He's optimistic about us." Claude said to Adriaan, "If Diller hadn't obstructed the acquisition of Paramount, he might have targeted us after acquiring Paramount. He's very interested in you."

"Thank him for me, and tell him that I'm very happy that we got a seat on Viacom's board of directors," Adriaan replied.

As for the acquisition of TBS, they had been waiting for a long time, so there was no rush. Claude had made ample preparations. Ted Turner could not win this battle no matter how unwilling he was. At least, that was what he said. Adriaan, who was not proficient in this area, naturally handed the matter over to his best friend and enjoyed life in peace.

Thanksgiving Day 1993 finally arrived. Adriaan and Monica went to Italy as promised. Because they kept a low profile, no one noticed them. The two walked around Central Italy together. Of course, as a tradition, they spent Thanksgiving Day at Monica's parents' house.

"My parents like you very much," Monica said to Adriaan as they strolled on the streets of Milan. After hearing that Adriaan had never been here before, Monica immediately dragged him to Milan. She had participated in many shows in Milan when she was a professional model, so she was very familiar with everything here.

"Thank you, they're really enthusiastic." Adriaan smiled and tightened his grip on Monica's arm.

They were indeed enthusiastic. His well-mannered manner won the favor of Monica's parents, so much so that Monica's mother privately asked her daughter when she planned to get married. It was the day after Thanksgiving. When Adriaan was about to ask Monica to leave as planned, he overheard it from outside the half-closed door. At the same time, there were also some embarrassing topics. For example, her mother asked her if she couldn't stand screaming so loudly at night.

It had just snowed heavily in Milan, and the winter sun shone on the snow that hadn't been cleaned yet, making everything look so clean. Although people were wearing thick clothes, they were still very tasteful when it came to dressing up. It was indeed a fashion capital.

Monica didn't say anything else. She just walked quietly with Adriaan, their feet squeaking in the snow.

"What are you thinking about?" Adriaan took the initiative to ask. "You think the small fashion show wasn't exciting?"

Although this year's International Fashion Festival had long passed, they were in Milan. There were big and small fashion shows all the time. Plus, Monica had spent a lot of time in Milan, so she naturally went to watch a few shows. But when she was watching, Monica's attention was obviously not on the fashion show. As for where it was, it could be guessed from the conversation just now.

"Probably," said Monica. Then, she suddenly smiled with a carefree look on her face.

"Eide." She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "If one day, I want to leave you, will you let me go?"

"Of course not." Adriaan replied without hesitation. "You know, I'm a bastard. I'm greedy and possessive, so I'll never let you go."

"That's … a standard Eide answer." Monica pouted, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Unless." Adriaan suddenly said, "I can't give you anything anymore. You'll feel that you have no reason to stay by my side."

Monica immediately looked up and stared into Adriaan's eyes. He looked back at her with a serious expression.

"Sure enough, you're always …" The girl sighed. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Thus, there was another passionate couple kissing on the streets of Milan.