Chapter 264: ER

"These reporters just love to stir things up!" Arthur sat in the office of Galaxy and saw many newspapers making a big deal about Galaxy Film Company after the Oscar nominations were announced.

Although the increased attention on Galaxy was a good thing and expanded the influence of Galaxy Films, his name was mentioned way too much.

It was all gossip and movies. Arthur shook his head and rubbed his eyes!

After a while, Anna Walker entered Arthur's office. "Has the donation to the Holocaust Memorial Committee been accounted for?"

"It has. In the name of Spielberg and Galaxy, the total is 5 million dollars!"

Arthur nodded. Schindler's List had a North American box office of 95 million dollars, and reaching 100 million was pretty difficult.

But overseas, it made more than two hundred million, and globally it was about 320 million, bringing huge profits to Galaxy!

Just from the box office, it made 100 million, and overseas television broadcasts and video sales added another 50 million.

Later, it would be broadcast on Galaxy's own USA TV station, and with video distribution, Schindler's List was worth every penny.

"The progress on Forrest Gump is going well, right?"

After all, it was a big film with a 60 million dollar budget, and Arthur was keeping a close watch on it.

Of course, promising a 60 million dollar budget was partly thanks to Tom Hanks. If he wasn't the leading man, Galaxy wouldn't have agreed to such a figure.

"Tom Hanks has joined, so now it's in the pre-production phase..."

With the script, director, and leading man, Forrest Gump was now in formal pre-production and could likely start filming in four months.

Arthur nodded and handed her another script project. "This is a TV script recommended by Spielberg, a medical drama written by Michael Crichton, ER. Let Galaxy Television and USA jointly develop this series. USA needs its own original series too!"

Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park, was also a Harvard Medical School graduate.

Arthur originally had his eye on another movie script by Michael Crichton, Disclosure, but Warner Bros. had already snatched it up.

"By the way, how's Quentin Tarantino's new film Pulp Fiction progressing?" Arthur remembered the movie had a very low budget, just 8 million dollars.

That was understandable. Quentin Tarantino's debut Reservoir Dogs released last year, only grossed over 2 million dollars, and he hadn't proven his worth yet!

Anna Walker's eyes lit up. "It's progressing very smoothly! John Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Samuel L. Jackson have all agreed to join, and other actors have voluntarily lowered their salaries.

Especially Bruce Willis, who loved Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs so much that after seeing the Pulp Fiction script, he insisted on playing a role.

Although Bruce Willis is just a cameo, he's a superstar, and it will help promote the film a lot!"

"Quentin Tarantino really is a Hollywood genius. He seems to have some charm," Arthur wasn't surprised. John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson have more screen time in Pulp Fiction.

Samuel L. Jackson had performed well in films like Jungle Fever, Strictly Business, and Patriot Games over the past few years, establishing himself as a rising supporting actor.

As for John Travolta, he became famous in the late '70s with musicals, but as musicals faded in the '80s, his success also diminished.

"How's the progress on Little Women?" Arthur asked again, as it was Winona Ryder's project.

The novel's influence was huge, and Galaxy had given a 20 million dollar budget, more than the previous British literature adaptation Emma.

However, Emma's North American box office was 22 million dollars, which wasn't high but the cost was only 8 million dollars!

"The progress is a bit slow, and the script is being re-adapted," Anna Walker replied.

Anna Walker recalled something and reminded him, "Now that Miramax has Disney's financial backing, they seem to be more audacious in the independent film market. Harvey Weinstein is aggressively buying the North American distribution rights for art films!"

Arthur laughed. "Don't worry about them. Do they really think casting a wide net will make them successful? Does he hope to find another Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Cinema Paradiso, or My Left Foot like a few years ago?"

The highest box office for a Miramax-distributed film was Sex, Lies, and Videotape with 33 million dollars a few years ago.

How much did The Crying Game make? 62 million dollars, and combining the box office and video sales brought Galaxy net income of no less than 40 million dollars.

Such a good movie, with both critical acclaim and commercial success, was snatched by Galaxy. Otherwise, Miramax wouldn't have sold to Disney for less than 50 million dollars this year.

More importantly, Harvey Weinstein's future ace, Quentin Tarantino, was now collaborating with Galaxy. Even if he turned to Weinstein after the three-film contract with Galaxy, who knows how many years that would be?

Disney? Arthur shook his head. Pixar Animation Studios now belonged to Galaxy, and Pixar's first animated feature Toy Story was already in production.

Arthur couldn't wait to see what Michael Eisner's face would look like when it was released!

In the evening, Brentwood, Arthur leaned on the bed, caressing Sophie Marceau's body and hair.

After a while, Sophie Marceau lifted her head and looked at Arthur while gasping for breath. She grabbed a tissue to wipe the corner of her mouth, climbed onto Arthur's chest, and teased, "You seem to be in a good mood these past few days?"

Arthur smiled and stroked her softness, "I've been doing the annual financial statements recently. Galaxy had impressive earnings last year, and all its businesses are doing great. How can I not be happy?"

"I see," Sophie Marceau said, kissing Arthur's chest. "I recently received a script from France. It's a historical adventure comedy. Should I accept?"

"An adventure comedy?" Arthur looked at Sophie Marceau in his arms and laughed, "Are you planning to do action movies?"

Sophie Marceau chuckled. "Well, I guess there are some action scenes. I haven't tried it before. I'll go get the script for you to review!"

With that, Sophie Marceau got out of bed naked to fetch the script.

*****

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