Chapter 363: Forrest Gump Sequel

In the evening, Arthur was in his study, looking at the script in his hand, the romantic comedy previously recommended by Roger Birnbaum.

The title was While You Were Sleeping, directed by Jon Turteltaub, with Sandra Bullock eyed for the lead role!

Arthur smiled, it seemed that Sandra Bullock had some fame in these romantic comedies; Although she missed the opportunity from Speed, the chance for fame was still there. Her boisterous personality was quite suitable for this type of work.

Besides, Sandra Bullock had once brought him joy. While You Were Sleeping would be produced by Galaxy, so there were no major issues!

At this moment, Christiana Reali entered the study in a sexy silk nightgown and saw Arthur still looking at the script; It seemed that successful people always took their work very seriously.

"Arthur, aren't you going to rest?" Christiana came to Arthur's side and kissed him on the cheek.

"Let's go," Arthur stood up, embraced Christiana, and returned to the bedroom together...

...

Meanwhile, the O. J. Simpson murder case was making waves. After the preliminary hearing, O. J. Simpson's team convinced the Los Angeles District Attorney to face the media together.

Furthermore, O. J. Simpson's trial would take place in downtown Los Angeles rather than in Santa Monica, where the incident occurred.

The reason was simple: Santa Monica's population was 80% white and only 7% black, while downtown's population was 30% white and 31% black.

O. J. Simpson's team certainly knew that a trial in downtown Los Angeles was most favorable to him!

With MGM's office moving from Culver City to Glendale, Galaxy Group initiated its first round of layoffs involving over 400 employees.

The second phase of Galaxy Headquarters' construction had also begun, focusing mainly on the MGM building and the Pixar building.

In Arthur's office, a representative from Eon Productions, one of the producers of the James Bond series, Michael Wilson, reported to Arthur about the script for Thunderball. "My father has already spoken with film producer Kevin McClory. He is willing to sell his partial rights of the 'Thunderball' story for $1 million."

"$1 million?" Arthur thought for a moment and then nodded, "Fine, it should eliminate any future Bond rights disputes."

Since Albert Broccoli had already negotiated the price, $1 million was acceptable.

"As for the director, New Zealand director Martin Campbell is a good choice, but Renny Harlin is not available. And the idea of turning Mr. M into Mrs. M in the script is very intriguing," Arthur smiled, "Currently, the head of MI5 in the UK is also a woman, Stella Rimington. You should consider British veteran actress Judi Dench, I think she's great!"

Michael Wilson's eyes lit up, "We were indeed inspired by the fact that the current MI5 head is a woman. Inviting Judi Dench to play Mrs. M?"

Michael Wilson genuinely thought Arthur's suggestion was excellent!

Arthur looked at him, "It's already July, there shouldn't be a shortage of filming funds, I hope GoldenEye can be released by next July. Is that a problem?"

Michael Wilson nodded, "That shouldn't be a problem, we've been preparing for a long time!"

With MGM under Galaxy, funding was not a concern, so the biggest issue was solved.

"That's good, GoldenEye will be one of Galaxy MGM's flagship projects," Arthur had halted most of MGM's projects, saving MGM a significant amount of funds.

Pierce Brosnan, the lead actor for GoldenEye, had a fee of $4 million and had signed a four-film deal with MGM and Eon Productions. The sequels would have their fees adjusted according to market conditions!

Jim Carrey, after finishing Dumb and Dumber, joined the crew of Batman Forever. Moreover, he had also signed a sequel movie deal for Ace Ventura: Pet Detective 2 with Warner Bros.

In the afternoon, assistant Anna Walker reported another matter to Arthur: Winston Groom, the author of Forrest Gump, was creating a sequel novel titled Gump & Co.

Gump & Co. mainly described Forrest Gump's life throughout the 1980s!

"Gump & Co.?" Arthur was a bit taken aback when he heard it, "How many copies did Forrest Gump sell when it was first published?"

"Now that the movie is a huge hit, the original novel's sales have skyrocketed as well; I've heard that in the past two months alone, it sold over a million copies; before the movie, Forrest Gump had only sold 40,000 copies!"

Anna Walker smiled without saying a word, everyone understood this was Winston Groom cashing in on the current Forrest Gump craze.

"What about Tom Hanks? You've reached out to him, right? What does he think?" Arthur didn't care much about the Gump & Co. novel, he was more interested in whether Tom Hanks had any interest.

Anna Walker shook her head, "Tom Hanks is strongly opposed to filming a sequel, his attitude is very firm, he believes the story of Forrest Gump is sufficient as it is. And from what I've heard, Tom Hanks is against any sequel project!"

Arthur shrugged, "Well, that's that. Without Tom Hanks, there's no Gump. What's the point of a Gump & Co.?

Given the current success of the Forrest Gump movie, Winston Groom's adaptation rights for Gump & Co. would certainly go for a high price.

It might even match the price New Line paid for the The Long Kiss Goodnight script!"

The Long Kiss Goodnight cost $4 million, but the story was truly captivating, with an amnesiac female spy gradually recalling and avenging her enemies.

However, with Geena Davis's movie Cutthroat Island set to release next year and expected to flop spectacularly, The Long Kiss Goodnight was wasted on Renny Harlin and Geena Davis. It was a pity for such a good script.

"Boss, what if Winston Groom sells the adaptation rights for Gump & Co. to another company?"

"So what, can they convince Tom Hanks to reprise his role as Gump?" Arthur shook his head, this was simply Winston Groom being envious of a profitable project.

In reality, as long as Tom Hanks was willing to continue playing Gump, the script could be adapted anytime!

However, when it came to spy movies, Arthur immediately thought of the future Mission: Impossible and Bourne series...

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.