Chapter 288: What a Lack of Principles

[Chapter 288: What a Lack of Principles]

"Eric, we all know how this is, why do you have to--"

Eric interrupted Murdoch directly, asking, "Who led this? I need to know. I know for sure it wasn't Fox. Not only do we have so much cooperation between us, but Fox also gained enough benefits from it. Plus, if you were going to do this, you wouldn't choose to do it at this time of year. The box office of Sleepless in Seattle was greatly affected by this incident. So, who instigated it?"

Murdoch paused for a moment and said, "Eric, even if you find out, what difference does it make? This method is a bit severe, but it's just normal industry competition."

"Who is it?" Eric coldly asked again.

Elisabeth, who had been listening with mild boredom, slammed her cutlery down on the table and shot a reproachful glare at Eric. "Hey, Eric, how can you speak to my dad like that? He's still an elder!"

The tense atmosphere completely dissipated with the young lady's low reprimand.

Murdoch wanted to pat his daughter's head and compliment her. His daughter was naturally loyal to her father. Of course, Elisabeth had grown up, and he couldn't do that anymore, so he just smiled, lifted his wine glass, and took a sip.

Eric looked helplessly at Elisabeth, who defiantly glared back at him.

What a feisty little woman; what was she doing interrupting when the men were talking?

Eric took a deep breath, softening his tone. "Mr. Murdoch, Home Alone 2's box office has been impressive, although it doesn't quite match the first film, it should easily surpass $300 million worldwide. And considering Stuart's age, this sequel could still produce three more films or so. What do you think?"

"Michael Eisner," Murdoch blurted out without hesitation.

Elisabeth looked at her father in shock, incredulous that he would throw one of his own under the bus like that. Just when she had been trying to defend him.

She shot a few glances between the two "despicable" men. Puffing up her cheeks in a sulk, she downed her glass of wine in one go. She vowed to herself that no matter what happened next, she wouldn't say another word.

Eric didn't notice her action; his mind was occupied with shock.

He had thought about this multiple times already. The real instigator behind this could be Warner, Universal, Columbia, or perhaps even Paramount, which wasn't doing too well at the moment. He had the least suspicion about Disney's Michael Eisner. In fact, he doubted that Disney was involved in this at all, even behind Fox.

After all, although he hadn't met Michael Eisner many times, Eisner had always shown admiration toward him. Moreover, Disney had been quite earnest in their collaborations on movies like The Others and Steel Magnolias.

Seeing Eric's incredulous expression, Murdoch said, "Eric, if you don't believe me, feel free to verify it. It's all in the past, and I had no reason to lie. From the beginning, it was Michael Eisner who initiated this. He led the execution, and we others just tried our best to cooperate."

"How could it... be like this?" Eric murmured in disappointment.

Murdoch pondered for a moment and slowly replied, "Of the three outstanding executives who left Paramount back then, Barry Diller was the most pragmatic. He believed that as long as he gave his best efforts, he would certainly be rewarded. That's why I think he was also the most naive, which is why I let him take the reins at Fox. Jeffrey Katzenberg was the most passionate about film production, focusing most of his energy on movies, making him unsuitable for leadership. As for Michael Eisner, he can be ruthless; he would do anything to advance his career. So, I think in the future, Eisner will achieve the most, but I personally wouldn't know how to control him, so I never considered bringing him on board."

Eric sighed lightly, shaking his head. "I just think it's too shocking."

For some reason, Murdoch couldn't help but defend Michael Eisner. "Eisner was just doing what any standard businessman would do."

"Yeah, a standard businessman," Eric laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Well, Eric, regarding the Home Alone series..."

"Firefly Films can sign a deal with Fox for the distribution rights of the next three Home Alone films. However, I won't direct them anymore. I'll take on a producer role."

Murdoch showed a mixed expression of joy and concern. "Eric, why don't you want to direct it?"

"After directing two films, I got somewhat tired of it, so I wanted to save time for other projects. Plus, the brand of Home Alone belongs to Stuart, so as long as the style remains unchanged, it doesn't matter who directs."

Eric replied, though that was only part of the reason. The main one was that in his previous life, only the first two Home Alone films had been major successes, with the third film failing because it had a different lead due to Macaulay Culkin growing up.

Although in this timeline Eric had cast Stuart well, given that Stuart was just nine years old, he could continue the series. Yet Eric felt no confidence in the future of that franchise, prompting him to generously sign off for the next three films with Fox.

Hearing Eric's explanation, Murdoch couldn't find a rebuttal. Most directors at Eric's level in Hollywood didn't enjoy making sequels. So he easily accepted Eric's reasoning.

"Eric, even if you don't want to direct, I hope you can continue to take charge of the script," Murdoch said, settling for something less.

Eric nodded. "I'll definitely be involved in that."

At this point, the three of them had finished dinner, and the waiter cleared the dishes, replacing them with coffee.

Now that Eric had gotten the answers he wanted, Murdoch began discussing several Fox television programs. Firefly Films was still a shareholder of Fox, and Eric readily agreed to personally oversee the production of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, ensuring it would air by the end of the month. The show was already in a well-prepared state, with the question bank nearly ready. If not for this incident, they might have launched by early March. The X-Files was in a similar situation; the first episode should have been completed by now.

Although this delay from Firefly violated the agreement they had signed, Fox had originally thought that if Firefly caved, they could acquire the complete rights to several programs. Thus, they didn't react too strongly to Firefly's breach. Now that both sides had come to an understanding, Fox had no intention of pursuing this matter further, lightly glossing over it with a few casual remarks.

After discussing business matters, Murdoch took a few sips of his coffee before casually asking, "Eric, do you have plans for your movies this year? How many do you intend to make?"

Hearing this question, Elisabeth, who had seemed distracted, now turned her curious gaze toward him.

Eric leisurely sipped his coffee, considering before he replied, "Two, I've confirmed one, but the script is at a standstill. The writer is asking for a ridiculous price, and with everything happening, I haven't had the chance to discuss the script."

"Is it that script about the ghost?" Elisabeth couldn't help but interject.

Eric looked curiously at her. Had this story spread that widely already?

Under Eric's gaze, Elisabeth felt her cheeks flush slightly as she said, "I heard you... were pretty optimistic about this script, so I inquired a bit."

Eric could see right through her; she had definitely considered swooping in but it seemed she hadn't succeeded.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, yet compounding, she continued, "But... when I tried to contact that writer named Bruce Joel Rubin, he said the script had already been sold."

Eric stood up in surprise, looking at Elisabeth. "Sold?"

"Yeah, didn't you buy it?" Elisabeth raised her chin, looking at Eric in confusion.

"Sorry, I need to make a few calls," Eric muttered to the two of them, picking up the phone and walking to a quiet corner.

Watching Eric stand there dialing numbers frantically, Murdoch turned to his daughter and asked, "Liz, what script is this?"

Elisabeth glanced at Eric's figure and said with a hint of schadenfreude, "It's a love story script. I didn't get to see the whole story, but from what I gathered, it's about a bank employee who gets murdered by a coworker and then becomes a ghost, protecting his girlfriend and seeking revenge or something like that. That's the gist of it."

Murdoch studied Eric thoughtfully, his gaze flickering with contemplation.

After some time, Eric returned to his seat with a dejected expression.

Murdoch calmly sipped his coffee, showing no intention to speak. Finally, Elisabeth broke the silence. "Eric, who bought it?"

"Michael Eisner," Eric helplessly squeezed out the name.

She asked again, "What are you going to do?"

What could he do? Eric could almost imagine that with Michael Eisner's savvy, if he bought this script, he certainly wouldn't proceed to shoot it himself at Disney but would aim to collaborate with him instead.

*****

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