Chapter 365: Missed Men in Black

On Hollywood Boulevard, near Barnsdall Art Park in Thai Town, Arthur and Jennifer Connelly stopped by a Thai-themed bar while driving back to Beverly Hills.

The bar wasn't big, but it was crowded with people. There was a beautiful performance on stage, deeply influenced by disco vibes!

"Arthur, what are you looking at?" Jennifer Connelly couldn't help but ask as she saw Arthur looking around.

Arthur sipped his cocktail, "Oh, I heard Thailand has a lot of ladyboys. I'm curious if there's any ladyboy performance here?"

"Unfortunately, these blonde women are obviously real women!" Jennifer Connelly found it amusing and kissed Arthur a few times. "Since when were you interested in seeing trans women?"

Arthur shook his head, "Just curious."

"Let's go. This is boring," Arthur stood up directly, feeling it wasn't much of a Thai bar without any ladyboy performance.

Jennifer Connelly had no objections. She took Arthur's arm, "By the way, I heard the NBA is in the middle of labor negotiations. How's it going?"

Arthur didn't seem too concerned, "Ah, they're still talking. The owners want to change the salary cap to a hard cap and add restrictions on rookie contracts. The players' union disagrees; both sides have been arguing in New York!"

In the bedroom of a villa on a hillside in Beverly Hills.

Arthur lay on top of Jennifer Connelly, pulling off her bra, revealing her sexy 34D chest, "It must feel better not taking many explicit roles these past few years, right?"

Jennifer Connelly, lying down, holding Arthur's head against her chest, "Yeah, I've been getting more attention since Scent of a Woman."

"Mrs. Doubtfire did so well as a comedy at the box office, and the backlash from The Rocketeer has dissipated!" Arthur kissed the lady, then rolled to the side.

"Now, we just have to wait for Addams Family Values to be released." Although Arthur had changed the main storyline, he wasn't sure about the result.

Jennifer Connelly laughed, "The first one was so successful; the sequel shouldn't do too badly."

She lay on Arthur's chest, kissing slowly.

"Who knows?" Arthur said as he reached out, touching the lady's softness, calming his restlessness.

Currently, MGM was adapting Elmore Leonard's novel Get Shorty.

Since it was a dark comedic thriller, they chose Barry Sonnenfeld, the director of The Addams Family series.

As for the male lead, Bruce Willis, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Dustin Hoffman all turned it down!

Arthur himself had high hopes for Barry Sonnenfeld. He was excellent at directing dark Gothic-style works.

After all, Barry Sonnenfeld was also chosen to direct the movie adaptation of the comic Men in Black.

In 1990, when the Men in Black comic was published, Walter Parks and Laurie MacDonald bought the adaptation rights from Lowell Cunningham in 1992. They partnered with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment for development, with Sony Pictures Entertainment handling investment and distribution.

If Barry Sonnenfeld hadn't been preparing to film Get Shorty this year, he'd be directing Men in Black.

After choosing several directors, Walter Parks and Laurie MacDonald still felt Barry Sonnenfeld was the most suitable. They decided to wait until he finished making Get Shorty to start preparing for Men in Black.

"Arthur, what's on your mind?" Jennifer Connelly lifted her head. "Not feeling well?"

"No," Arthur held Jennifer Connelly in his arms, "Honestly, I'm also optimistic about Sony's comic adaptation Men in Black."

"I deeply regret missing out on this comic adaptation!" At the time, Arthur had focused on acquiring Spider-Man adaptation rights from Marvel, not realizing Men in Black was worth considering.

It was only when he heard about Get Shorty from Barry Sonnenfeld that he realized.

"Comic adaptations, eh," Jennifer Connelly had her say, noting that Disney's The Rocketeer and Dick Tracy weren't very successful comic adaptations.

However, with the recent successes of Batman and The Mask, many film companies were turning their attention to comics!

"Galaxy has the adaptation rights for Marvel's ace superheroes, Spider-Man and the X-Men series," Jennifer Connelly was a bit puzzled.

"The script for Spider-Man has been in development for a long time, right?"

"That's true," Arthur still wasn't ready to start working on it. Too many comic adaptations in the early '90s flopped.

Although special effects technology had advanced now, it didn't meet Arthur's expectations! After learning that James Cameron was helping 20th Century Fox prepare Titanic, Arthur had been closely following the project.

He was waiting for Cameron to overspend, and for 20th Century Fox to seek an external partner when he would step in.

At that moment, MGM would replace Paramount in co-investing in the blockbuster Titanic!

Missing out on co-investing in Titanic would be something Arthur would deeply regret.

"Arthur," Jennifer Connelly guided Arthur's hand to her chest, clearly aroused.

*****

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