Chapter 448: Of Course He Did

[Chapter 448: Of Course]

Unlike Sumner Redstone's content-driven approach, Rupert Murdoch leaned more toward channel expansion, which explained why News Corp had a broader reach than Viacom.

With the rise of Fox Television Network and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, Murdoch gradually focused his business efforts on North America.

The departure of Barry Diller left a crucial void in News Corp's media operations in the United States. Murdoch had no choice but to take charge himself. These days, Murdoch has been in charge of the overall situation at Fox headquarters in Los Angeles.

The success of Friends, The X-Files, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire allowed Fox Television Network to develop more smoothly than in the previous timeline. Inspired by Warner Bros.'s initiatives and bolstered by News Corp's inherent resources, Murdoch had begun preparing to launch the Fox News Channel.

As another busy day came to a close, Murdoch's assistant suddenly knocked and entered his office, handing him a document. "Mr. Murdoch, this is a news release just faxed over by Mars Allen, the editor of the New York Post. You might want to take a look."

Murdoch trusted his assistant to not deliver trivial news releases. Since it was placed before him, it clearly had some significance.

"Just leave it here; I'll look at it later," Murdoch waved his hand, and the assistant politely exited the office.

After quickly reviewing a few remaining documents, Murdoch picked up the news release. As he glanced at the headline, his brow furrowed slightly. As a media mogul who built his empire on news, he could tell from the first few paragraphs that it was nothing but baseless gossip. While it might entertain readers, it would undoubtedly provoke discontent among the parties involved.

He skimmed through it, unable to resist picking up the financial report he had just reviewed. It detailed the media content expenditures for Fox Television this year.

His eyes quickly landed on the section about Terminator 2. In Hollywood, after theatrical runs, the next phase was VCR releases, followed by the television broadcast on major networks, cable channels, and local stations.

Once Terminator 2 completed its theatrical run and VCR distribution, it began the bidding process for broadcast rights. Typically, to maximize profit, films would air first on pay cable networks before considering free broadcast on over-the-air stations.

However, due to the ownership connection between Firefly and Fox Television, Firefly made an exception, selling the first-round broadcasting rights to Fox. The price was steep, though: for just four airings, Fox had to pay a whopping $16 million in licensing fees, which averaged $4 million per airing.

Fox and Firefly had always enjoyed a productive partnership. However, if this article from the New York Post were published, not only would Eric view it as a provocation, but other media outlets would also interpret it as a sign of a rift between Firefly and Fox, which was surely a scenario many people delighted in.

While realizing this vulnerable position in his collaboration with Firefly made Murdoch uncomfortable, he wouldn't react too rashly. He called for his assistant again and instructed, "Tell Mars Allen that for similar news releases about Eric Williams, just suppress them. Make sure other reports are handled with care."

"Got it, Mr. Murdoch," the assistant nodded and left.

Checking the time, Murdoch stuffed the document into his briefcase and headed home.

...

Last year's, Thelma & Louise had received five Oscar nominations. Elisabeth had initially planned a publicity party with Drew but received a call from her father that evening, requiring her to rush back to the Murdoch family's residence in Los Angeles for dinner.

After dinner and seeing her daughter, who appeared somewhat distracted, he couldn't help but scold, "You're all grown up, and you still can't be more composed?"

Sitting on an office chair with her legs crossed, Elisabeth casually remarked, "You should be telling that to my two brothers! Ugh, I heard James has recently taken a liking to rock music. I wonder what kind of people he's hanging out with -- hope he doesn't show up with a pale-faced, pierced girlfriend one day. Oh, and by the way, that 'girlfriend' may not even be a woman!"

Just mentioning the two sons gave Murdoch a headache. Looking at his daughter's teasing expression made him even angrier. "What about you? At twenty-four, you should be considering marriage."

Elisabeth's expression shifted, and she impatiently changed the subject. "Dad, what did you call me back for? If it's nothing, I'll be on my way. I have a ton of things to do!"

Murdoch knew he couldn't push his strong-willed daughter further. He was aware that if he kept talking, she might just leave, so he reluctantly moved to the point.

"Well, recently, I've noticed that Fox's content production seems a bit lacking. What do you think about Fox acquiring your film company?"

Elisabeth shrugged. "Dad, you know full well that this isn't something the three of us girls can decide; that guy needs to approve. Plus, even if you did acquire it, it wouldn't matter. We already signed a distribution deal with Firefly. Also, don't set your sights on Firefly. Even if they do have quality projects left, they'll likely hand them over to Disney. Bottom line, Fox needs to make its own moves."

Murdoch certainly understood Elisabeth's reasoning. However, with film investment costs escalating and risks climbing alongside them, Fox hadn't turned out many successful big-budget films in recent years. Last summer's box office failure of Cutthroat Island and Spielberg's underwhelming performance with Hook had made many film companies cautious about hefty investments. Meanwhile, Firefly boldly announced four projects with combined investments exceeding $300 million, showcasing Eric's confidence and initiative in film investments.

"Firefly announced those four film projects, right? Do you think Fox might invest? After all, that's $300 million, and Firefly just acquired Disney, so they must be cash-strapped."

Elisabeth shook her head. "Not likely. Film companies typically seek external investment when they're uncertain about a project. If he personally selected it, he must have the confidence. Plus, that guy's become known on Wall Street as an extremely conservative businessman, advocating low debt and ample cash flow. If he didn't have the capital, he wouldn't propose such a plan."

Murdoch sighed and shot a glance at his daughter, his unspoken words implying, "So what good are you then?"

Elisabeth glared back discontentedly. "Old man, you're not suggesting I sell my body, are you? Don't even think about it!"

Murdoch found this absurd and chuckled, shaking his head. He took the document from his briefcase and tossed it to Elisabeth. "This was handed over by the editor from the New York Post this afternoon. Take a look."

Curious, Elisabeth flipped through it. Though she knew much of the report was nonsense, she still couldn't help but vent, "Here we go again -- what a jerk! He's bound to end up in trouble with women sooner or later."

...

"Asshole," Elisabeth vented again the next afternoon at Julia's Beverly Hills mansion after lunch as the women discussed the incident.

"Asshole," Julia echoed from the other side of the sofa, laughing.

Tina Fey cradled a little girl in her arms, smiling but refraining from adding her voice to the conversation. Meanwhile, the toddler babbled, "Dada!"

Drew flipped through the document in front of her and remarked, "You all know the situation. Let's think about how to handle the aftermath instead."

"Who's going to clean up his mess? Hand him the document and make him deal with it."

"February 10 is the Super Bowl, and Eric has been busy editing the trailer for Twister. Better not bother him with this nonsense," Drew replied seriously as she read the document twice before tucking it into her bag. Then she asked Elisabeth, "Do you have the contact information for the reporter who wrote this? We need to retrieve that recording first."

Noticing Drew's serious demeanor, Julia said, "Isn't it too much trouble? The report's already suppressed."

"Absolutely necessary. Plus, we need to warn that girl's father; opportunistic people can be quite troublesome."

Elisabeth laughed. "You seem to have plenty of experience handling this."

"Of course, because I come from a pair of parents like that. I know what kind of things those people can do," Drew quipped self-deprecatingly, her tone shifting to a husky and sinister one as she added, "No one can get in Eric's way, and they certainly can't hurt him -- not even you."

For a moment, Julia felt like Drew resembled a cat from a horror film, her gaze foreboding and ready to pounce.

Elisabeth felt a chill running down her spine and nervously said, "I only said a few things to him, and I wasn't even accusing him. He just..." she paused, "All right, I'll find that reporter's contact information for you."

Elisabeth quickly found the contact details for Cole Anderson. After Drew noted them down, she left Julia's house with Tina Fey.

Hearing the sound of Drew's car leaving the neighboring villa, Julia smiled at Elisabeth. "What a little maniac. She really scared me just now."

Elisabeth listened to the car engine fade away, turned to assess Julia, recalling herself, shrugged, and walked back to her room.

Julia followed her with the sleepy little girl in her arms, commenting, "Liz, you seem a bit off. You're not going crazy too, are you?"

"I still have to go to the set of The Mask this afternoon. No time to go nuts. But you're just lounging at home; soon you'll go stir-crazy. Better start filming soon."

"I've been looking at scripts recently. By the way, do you think there's a part for me in any of those films?"

"Are you saying you want to play a crazy woman like Nicole Kidman?"

"Wow, your tone sounds rather sour. Still sulking over Eric not giving that project to TG? Drew's already said he has other plans."

"How dare I complain about him? I'm scared Drew will come after me!"

...

After exchanging a check for that interview's recording, Drew hurried to Disney's production center with Tina Fey.

Because of Drew's connection with Eric, Billy Clark, from the Mickey Mouse Club program, came out promptly to greet them upon hearing the studio gatekeeper's announcement.

"Hello, Ms. Barrymore," Billy Clark said, somewhat puzzled. "I thought Mr. Williams was just here the other day. I didn't expect to see another visitor so soon."

Drew flashed a charming smile, shaking hands with Billy Clark. Once they reached Billy's office, Drew pulled out the document and the recording.

Billy read through the document and listened to a portion of the recording. His expression turned uneasy. He recognized that if this information got out, it would create trouble for Eric. After all, just recently, renowned director Woody Allen had found himself in a scandal involving his adopted daughter, and similar news would grab the media's attention. If such a thing happened, the show would surely suffer as well.

"Ms. Barrymore, what do you... what do you mean?"

"Clark, this isn't your concern; you don't need to worry," Drew reassured him with a smile. "Just call that girl's father over. I'll have a word with him -- also, could you pass me the details for the young actors who visited Eric's house that day? "

"Of course, of course! I'll get right on that," Billy Clark said, leaving the office in a hurry.

In no time, Drew received the details of seven teenagers, quickly scanning through them and eliminating five, leaving only the profiles of Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears.

After scrutinizing the photos of the two girls, Drew smirked at Tina. "What do you think of them?"

Tina looked at the photos and said, "They're adorable! The kids chosen for Disney's children's channel are always a delight. Drew, I don't think Mr. Williams is that kind of person. He likely just invited these kids to his estate."

"No, you don't understand," Drew shook her head. "Once you've been around Eric long enough, you'll see how he often gazes at some people with these strange, unexplainable looks -- as if he knows them well, despite the short acquaintance. I'm sure one of these seven kids might just be that kind of character."

"Ah..." Tina said, surprised. She opened her mouth to say something but instinctively asked, "Did he look at me like that?"

Drew glanced at Tina, a smile on her lips. "Of course he did."

*****

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