Chapter 144: Independent Films

This year is the first year Panasonic officially acquired MCA Universal, and now it's September, but Universal's performance hasn't been very impressive.

So far, nothing has really stood out except for the sequel script for American Pie 2 that Arthur sold earlier, which performed quite well.

Next up, there's the highly anticipated film by the famous director Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, and Jessica Lange, Cape Fear!

Cape Fear will be a remake of the work by Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, which was exchanged with Spielberg's Schindler's List.

Cape Fear is scheduled for November, and it will compete directly with Orion's The Addams Family.

Unfortunately, Schindler's List had already been invested in by Galaxy, which should have been a great unexpected success for Universal, but they perfectly missed the chance.

As for next year, Universal has some big releases like Far and Away starring Tom Cruise, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot starring Sylvester Stallone, and Death Becomes Her starring Bruce Willis, Meryl Streep, and Goldie Hawn slated for release.

Arthur knew that these projects wouldn't meet Universal's expectations!

However, the Universal project that Arthur was most interested in was the adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park.

The Jurassic Park novel had been a bestseller on The New York Times Bestseller list for a long time since its release last year!

MCA Universal President Sidney Sheinberg had already persuaded Steven Spielberg to direct this sci-fi movie before the novel was even published at the end of the year before last.

Spielberg's Hook would be released at the end of this year, and now Spielberg was busy developing Schindler's List.

Jurassic Park was still in the preparation stages, but the script had been adapted, and Spielberg would start production on Jurassic Park immediately after finishing Schindler's List!

Arthur had thought that convincing Spielberg would take Universal more time, especially since someone had already invested in Schindler's List, but he overestimated Spielberg's considerations.

Also, Spielberg works as a producer on many projects besides directing his own films every year!

"I heard Tokyo is still lit up and busy?" Arthur and MCA Universal President Sidney Sheinberg were standing on the deck, admiring the beautiful Pacific night view.

Sidney Sheinberg laughed, "By the end of this year, the Japanese stock market is estimated to drop by 40%, but most Japanese still believe that their economy will continue to rise."

"The land prices in Japan are dropping, and the index, too!"

"They just think their incomes have reduced a bit. Japan is still crazy!"

Arthur nodded, "Yes, look at Akio Tanii's vigor. Panasonic belongs to the Sumitomo Group in Japan, Sony belongs to the Mitsui Group, and Itochu, interested in Time Warner, belongs to the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Group. The newspapers aren't wrong. Japan is indeed buying America!"

Arthur's Galaxy company collaborated with Japan's Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and Fuji Bank, so he ought to visit Japan.

Sidney Sheinberg patted Arthur on the shoulder, "Economic development requires a strong power to back it. The U.S. is a superpower, it's different from Japan!"

Arthur smiled meaningfully, "Given the current situation in the Soviet Union, soon the U.S. will be the only superpower on Earth."

The Soviet Union's situation was looking pretty bad now!

"By the way, how's the preparation for Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park at Universal?"

Arthur was really curious about Jurassic Park and couldn't help asking.

"Steven is currently focused on Schindler's List, and the special effects for Jurassic Park aren't easy to do - they're using prop models, which are costly. Right now, they're working with some special effects artists to figure out how to bring the dinosaurs to life on screen!"

Sidney Sheinberg said, looking at Arthur, "Once Steven finishes filming Schindler's List, the progress of Jurassic Park will surely speed up."

Seeing Arthur's expression, Sidney Sheinberg knew he was very interested in Jurassic Park.

Unfortunately, Universal had to compete with several other film companies to get the adaptation rights from Michael Crichton, and Spielberg's reputation played a big role!

"I see!"

After finishing the conversation with Sidney Sheinberg, Arthur returned to the yacht's hall and found Jennifer Connelly resting nearby, "How are you feeling? Settling in?"

Jennifer Connelly shook her head, "I don't attend many events like this. It feels like everyone here is a big shot!"

"Isn't it all the same," Arthur laughed, "Showing your face at events like this is good for you."

Then, Arthur sat down, holding Jennifer Connelly.

Not long after, Director Oliver Stone came over to chat with Arthur and asked if Arthur was interested in producing independent movies.

Oliver Stone, now 45, is known as a master of controversial topics and had studied filmmaking under Martin Scorsese.

His fame soared with the Vietnam War trilogy's Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, as well as masterpieces like Wall Street.

His movie JFK set to release at the end of this year is also directed by him!

"Please send the script to Galaxy. I will take a look at the script first, and if possible, Galaxy can invest in it."

Nighttime, in a beachfront villa in Malibu.

On the bedroom bed, Jennifer Connelly was sitting on Arthur, her long hair draped over her shoulders.

Arthur, lying on the bed, looked intoxicated and reached out to feel Jennifer Connelly's 34D!

"Hmm," after an unknown amount of time, Jennifer Connelly lay on top of Arthur, panting, and said, "The company now develops films on its own, but still needs to support independent film companies outside?"

Arthur smiled and patted Jennifer Connelly on the back, "In the '80s, the emergence of videotapes allowed many independent distributors to thrive. The '87 stock market crash and economic downturn led to the bankruptcy of several film companies, you know that, but there's another important reason!"

"What reason?" Jennifer Connelly, an alumna of Yale and Stanford, understood what Arthur meant.

"These distributors forgot they had made the mistake of getting into buying films for distribution and producing films themselves. Independent distributors rely on the reputation of their own projects to attract audiences. The screening scale is not large, and because of the subject matter and setting, the box office will not be very high either.

Buying films for distribution requires much less investment, but film companies couldn't resist the temptation to produce films themselves, which increases the investment significantly. The losses are much greater compared to just distributing a film!"

Again, distribution now is much simpler than production, whether it's in terms of financial or manpower investment.

Unless you're a major Hollywood studio trying to establish its own international distribution network overseas - now that's a significant investment!

Even if you can only get a few theaters to screen your movies, that's still viable, as there are plenty of small North American chain cinema companies now.

Jennifer Connelly kissed Arthur on the lips, "Whether we develop it ourselves or buy works externally, it all comes down to vision, right? Look at the few projects Galaxy has developed, how popular they are. Scream's box office is so impressive; they've already started preparing for the sequel!"

"Alright," Arthur said as he massaged Jennifer Connelly, "come on, darling, let me see if your skills have declined recently."

Jennifer Connelly laughed, "Let's see how long you can last."

With that, Jennifer Connelly slipped under the covers...

*****

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