Chapter 208: The Anticipated Summer Vacation

"Hey," Charles Capet was woken up by the person next to him in his sleep.

"Annie, what time is it?" He blinked sleepily and looked at Anne Hathaway lying next to him.

"It's already 9 o'clock!"

"Didn't we sleep really late last night? How come you woke up so early?" Charles remembered they had a late night.

"I told you to rest early in the evening, but you wouldn't listen," Anne Hathaway said as she playfully kissed Charles a few times.

"It's you. If it weren't for your teasing, we would have gone to sleep early. I almost fell asleep in the bathtub," Charles said, a bit speechless, as he gently patted the woman's back.

"Do you want more?" Anne Hathaway whispered in Charles's ear, "Didn't you like being woken up in that way before?"

"I'm full of energy now!" Charles smiled and playfully tickled the woman, "Come on, let's make the storm even fiercer."

Charles and Anne Hathaway didn't leave until noon.

...

As the summer blockbuster season approached, movie studios were gearing up to rake in the box office revenue. For years, Charles had only been a spectator, but this year Capet Pictures could finally participate.

Anne Hathaway only stayed in New York for three days before flying back to the UK to continue shooting Becoming Jane.

Charles drove his Mercedes SLR from their lakeside villa to personally take Anne Hathaway to John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"Bye, Charles. Becoming Jane wraps up filming in June, just in time to promote The Devil Wears Prada. I will stay with you then," Anne Hathaway kissed Charles as she bid farewell.

"Don't worry; we can see each other anytime we want!"

Charles's custom Gulfstream G550 private jet was ready for use anytime.

Driving through Brooklyn, Charles saw a lot of Mission: Impossible III movie posters. Paramount had clearly put a lot of effort into its promotion as the summer blockbuster season opener.

Back at the Capet Pictures office on Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan, Phyllis Jones quickly reported on their work.

"The Da Vinci Code will hold its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and then roll out globally. In North America, it will premiere at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles before its wide release."

This summer, Capet Pictures had releases scheduled for May, June, and July. However, the July release, The Departed, was being distributed by Universal.

Currently, Capet Pictures' major focus was on the summer blockbusters it was distributing: The Da Vinci Code and The Devil Wears Prada.

Of course, The Da Vinci Code was a mega-budget film costing over $125 million, while The Devil Wears Prada was a lower-budget chick flick workplace comedy.

"How are the overseas distributors coming along?" Charles asked.

"In the UK, France, Germany, we can handle distribution ourselves. In many other regions, we have distribution agencies," Phyllis Jones replied.

"Alright, take it slow."

"Boss, Mission: Impossible III starts its wide release this Friday. Next week, Warner Bros' disaster film Poseidon comes out. Our The Da Vinci Code will be released a week after Poseidon, so the competition is pretty intense," Phyllis Jones reminded.

"No need to worry about Poseidon. Last year's remakes of War of the Worlds and King Kong were both big-budget remakes, and Poseidon will flop just the same," Charles recalled this expensive disaster film flopped badly.

"Nicolas Cage has starred in excellent movies like National Treasure and Lord of War in recent years. The Da Vinci Code could elevate his career to new heights," Charles had high hopes for Nicolas Cage, believing he was perfect for the role of Professor Robert Langdon.

"By the way, boss, Sony is developing our Marvel's Ghost Rider movie, aiming for a release next year. On top of that, they also have Spider-Man 3, Fox has Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and we have Iron Man - all four Marvel adaptations are coming out next year!"

Charles listened to Phyllis Jones. Four Marvel movies in one year - it was the previous head of Marvel Entertainment who had made that happen.

"Forget about it. Marvel can still make some money from these films," Charles said, having no choice since Marvel had sold those hero rights to other companies.

Charles put down a copy of The Wall Street Journal, which featured an article about Relativity Media's announcement of its second Gower Street film fund, adding $1 billion in investments to Sony Pictures and Universal Studios, covering 19 film projects.

Earlier this year, Relativity Media's first Gower Street film fund had already sealed a $600 million slate financing deal with Sony and Universal.

"The TV production department has a strong start: AMC has picked up the first season of Mad Men, which is already in production. The first episode of The Big Bang Theory is set to premiere on CBS in September. USA Network has also picked up the second season of Prison Break. Last year, the first season of Prison Break had excellent reviews and was very popular in international distribution!" Phyllis Jones reported, although someone else mainly managed this, it was still good news.

"Our TV production department is off to a great start, and talks about adapting The Walking Dead comic are going smoothly, too!"

"George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire adaptation rights are still tricky to secure?" Charles had been eyeing that TV adaptation.

Phyllis Jones shook her head, looking helpless. "George R.R. Martin needs a producer to convince him to hand over the adaptation rights. Many producers have tried and failed."

"The Gossip Girl novel adaptation project can begin preparations after The Big Bang Theory premieres. We need at least two TV series next year," Charles knew they couldn't rush things. Starting with around two TV series a year was manageable.

Later, they could increase the number of projects gradually.

*****

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