Chapter 360: The Saviors

Washington D.C., Hilton Hotel Suite. Arthur sat on the living room sofa and glanced at Carl Anderson. "Western Oil Company acquired an oil and gas field in Algeria."

"But that area is a bit unstable. It's not as bad as Rwanda, but stay alert."

Seraphim International is a security company and now has a mercenary team - The Saviors, which even participated in peacekeeping operations in Somalia last year.

On the surface, this mercenary team has no relation to Seraphim, but in reality, Seraphim handles recruitment, training, logistical support, intelligence, and business negotiations.

"If it weren't for the sanctions on Libya, Western Oil's investment in Libya would only need more people," Africa now is basically a powder keg, with warlords, military governments, rebel organizations, and international militants all acting as proxies for various Western powers.

"Don't worry, there are quite a few people in Seraphim willing to take risks for money. At least it's better than in Kosovo," Carl Anderson wouldn't stop anyone from becoming a mercenary, but most still preferred being security personnel or safety consultants.

Thanks to Arthur, Seraphim secured several confidential government contracts last year, responsible for training specific skills to the Marine Corps.

Moreover, Seraphim's interactions with the Pentagon have become more frequent, and they have even set up a liaison office in Arlington, Virginia.

"Also, there are two small oil fields in northern Somalia I plan to acquire, then co-exploit with Western Oil. Send someone to take over. Western Oil employees will contact you."

This was a perk from the White House. Arthur is now a shareholder in Western Oil Company, so having oil and gas fields directly translates to wealth. Just collaborate with Western Oil directly!

"No problem," Carl Anderson had no objections, of course.

After Carl Anderson left, Arthur turned on the TV news. The World Cup semi-finals were about to start.

In East Rutherford, New Jersey, the match was between Italy and Bulgaria, and in Pasadena, Los Angeles, it was Brazil vs. Sweden!

"Hmm, Arthur, are you watching soccer?" Suddenly, Madchen Amick came lazily to the man's side.

"Just keeping an eye on it casually. After all, I now own two teams, though they're not soccer teams. But I know, America is also working on developing soccer here, taking this World Cup as an opportunity to form a soccer league again." The MLS (Major League Soccer) is starting to take shape.

"I see," Madchen Amick certainly didn't doubt Arthur's words.

After spending two days in Washington D.C., Arthur returned to New York. He was more concerned with Disney now.

Madchen Amick, on the other hand, went to Europe with the Forrest Gump crew for promotion!

This summer, the hottest two movies were Disney's animated feature The Lion King and Galaxy's Forrest Gump.

Especially The Lion King, hailed as the pinnacle of 2D hand-drawn animation. It's also Disney's biggest investment to date, with a production cost of $45 million, setting a new record for hand-drawn animation!

Previously, Aladdin cost $28 million, and Beauty and the Beast only $25 million, both being Disney's major productions.

Under Galaxy, the first production, Toy Story, cost $30 million!

At the five-star Pierre Hotel in Manhattan, Arthur attended a business reception and met with Mario Kassar, chairman of Carolco Pictures.

MGM signed a movie distribution contract with Carolco last year, so Galaxy MGM now has the priority distribution rights for Carolco films!

Since Paul Verhoeven's new movie Showgirls had started filming, Arthur inquired about the progress of another major film, Cutthroat Island.

Mario Kassar was rather anxious, "The actors have been selected, but after the director went to the Malta set, he found that the original prop ship was inadequate and built a new one!"

Arthur chuckled. Carolco wouldn't get another penny from MGM for this film, allowing director Renny Harlin to rewrite the script and cast the actors as he wished.

Since Gina Davis was confirmed as the female lead of Cutthroat Island, the film couldn't get any well-known A-list male stars to be the male lead.

"Hope it goes smoothly," Cutthroat Island's budget had increased from the initial $60 million to $70 million now as production neared.

Who knows how much it will increase when filming starts?

Arthur was displeased with Mario Kassar's reckless behavior in Hollywood.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Michael Douglas's sky-high paychecks were all offered by Carolco!

Damn, it's disrupting the market rates, worse than Sony and Panasonic. Carolco doesn't even have its own distribution system.

They borrow large sums to make films, and it was the blockbuster Basic Instinct that brought substantial profits to Carolco. Otherwise, even with decent box office earnings, most profits would go to investors, distributors, and banks.

Even the preparation for Crusade almost cost $10 million, and it was halted suddenly to bet on Cutthroat Island, which took guts.

Director Renny Harlin and his wife Gina Davis, despite their efforts, even forced Michael Douglas to quit the project and select the little-known Matthew Modine.

Don't forget, the Douglas family is deeply rooted in Hollywood and has extensive connections. The negative news about Cutthroat Island definitely had backing from the Douglas family!

Hollywood has a tradition of bullying foreigners. Renny Harlin, a Brit, started his directing career mainly in Finland.

After coming to Hollywood, he quickly made a name for himself. Now, Renny Harlin is certainly one of Hollywood's top action directors!

Unfortunately, the forced couple casting in Cutthroat Island annoyed many people.

Not just that, but New Line Cinema stood out this year by acquiring the script for The Long Kiss Goodnight for a record-setting $4 million.

Breaking the $3 million record set two years ago by the script for Basic Instinct, The Long Kiss Goodnight is a female-led action film, and New Line set Renny Harlin as the director!

Renny Harlin's first demand was to cast his wife, Gina Davis, as the lead, and New Line agreed.

After finishing Cutthroat Island, this couple would immediately start shooting The Long Kiss Goodnight!

*****

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