Chapter 462

The year 2009 had arrived, and the New Year atmosphere in Los Angeles was still quite strong.

At the luxurious SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, glasses clinked, fashionable and sexy young women mingled through the crowd, and Hollywood entertainment stars attended the party with smiles on their faces!

"This scene, even Jesus couldn't say this is a time of economic depression," Charles casually picked up a piece of crystal-clear fruit from the table and put it in his mouth.

Expensive champagne, fresh seafood, top-quality caviar, and exquisite artisanal dishes were laid out on the long table.

Donna Langley took a sip of champagne and casually said, "Economic depression? What does that have to do with the high-profile stars? Top actors earn twenty million dollars per movie; that's a substantial amount of money!"

"In a few days after the Golden Globes, Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader, and The Wrestler should be able to expand their screenings to grab more box office," Charles commented. As long as these movies created some impact at the Golden Globes and then got nominated for the Oscars, leveraging their good reputation to expand screenings and earn box office revenue was the company's goal.

Charles' objective was clear; winning awards was also about box office sales, DVD sales, and TV rights.

"Now that I think about it, no wonder Harvey Weinstein could run rampant in Hollywood. I really underestimated the power of the Golden Globes and the Oscars," Charles said as he sat on the sofa next to Donna Langley.

Donna Langley laughed and said, "Compared to some years ago, the Oscars are less influential now. Hollywood competition is fierce, and stars need awards to raise their ranks. There are only so many blockbuster films, and most people don't have the chance to participate in them!"

"By the way, has Harvey Weinstein's trial ended?" Charles hadn't followed the guy much and only heard occasional accusations coming up.

"It's mostly over. Since it erupted last year and up until the end of the year, this guy lost about 80 million dollars to avoid jail," Donna Langley had kept tabs on him before, but now there's no place for him in Hollywood.

Charles nodded, "I heard Mel Gibson is looking for a buyer for Icon Productions?"

Icon Productions, founded by Mel Gibson and his partner Bruce Davey in 1989, produced films like Payback, Ransom, The Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto.

"Charles, are you interested?" Donna Langley didn't find it strange; Icon Productions still held several film rights and had its script library.

"Yeah, let's acquire it. Now that Mel Gibson's situation won't allow him to participate in major films, selling Icon Productions will at least keep the company from disappearing," Jewish forces did ban Gibson, but he could still engage with low-budget indie films, although he shouldn't expect much box office success or awards.

The rise of a film company inevitably involves acquisitions to continuously enrich its film library and develop more and better movies to thrive.

Maybe, once Charles was strong enough, he could bring Mel Gibson back and give the Jewish forces some headaches; anyway, to Charles, it was just a dog-eat-dog fight.

Donna Langley had no objections; it was just an independent production company, and now in an economic crisis, nothing beats cash.

Lavish parties are forever a part of Hollywood, and Charles was long used to it.

"Charles," a shout made Charles turn his head.

"Hey, Naomi, you're back already?" It was Naomi Watts joining the party.

Naomi Watts, who had her second son last November, was now back to work after a little over a month?

Naomi Watts warmly hugged Charles, her face glowing with maternal joy, "I've had too much time off these two or three years; I want to get back to my acting career soon. And The International is about to be released!"

The International, an action thriller by Columbia Pictures starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, would release in March this year.

"True, after The Painted Veil, you had fewer projects due to having two kids in a row," Charles said, thinking about The Blind Side, which had originally cast Naomi Watts as the leading lady, but her pregnancy made that impossible last year.

During that time, Naomi Watts did act in some indie films or made cameos but nothing major.

Naomi Watts smiled, "Looks like you still remember me; I thought you would've changed."

Charles shook his head and laughed, "We've known each other the longest, and I was once your assistant too; that's a unique honor!"

Soon, Nicole Kidman also joined the conversation.

"You were right, Australia bombed at the North American box office with just 47 million dollars, a total flop!" Nicole Kidman commented. After giving birth last year, she starred in The Blind Side, and Australia, an epic war romance film aimed to be the Australian Gone with the Wind, released in late November but grossed less than 50 million dollars stateside, reinforcing her reputation as box office poison.

"What about the international market? Otherwise, 20th Century Fox would be facing heavy losses," Charles asked with a smile.

"Overseas, it's over 100 million dollars," Nicole Kidman was quite helpless; no one dared to cast her as a lead anymore.

"Didn't you switch agents? Spend more time selecting scripts, and wait for The Blind Side to release!" Charles wasn't too worried about Nicole Kidman; she was an Oscar-winning actress with significant international fame and could easily make a comeback.

Much luckier than Naomi Watts' career, after all, Nicole was Tom Cruise's wife for ten years.

"Alright, you two are mothers now; exchange some parenting tips!" Charles chatted a bit more and then moved on, as it was a big party organized by Capet, and he had to attend to others too.

After Charles left, Naomi Watts remarked, "Capet Pictures is developing too fast!"

"I just saw the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association; seems like Capet is really going to shine at the Golden Globes in three days!" Nicole Kidman said, winking.

*****

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