Chapter 235: The Games' Adaptations

Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills is a bustling main street. After Arthur and Vivian Chow had dinner at a restaurant, he took her around for a stroll.

"Was the turmoil in Los Angeles a few months ago really serious?" Vivian asked.

Arthur wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pointed toward downtown, "The Koreatown area over there was the worst, and parts of South Central LA were also pretty badly damaged. Where I live is a wealthy area with dedicated police patrols, so the troublemakers didn't come through!"

"Let's go. Didn't you say you wanted to go to the beach? We can drive there now..."

Soon, Arthur drove his Honda NSX and took Vivian Chow to the Santa Monica Pier, located at the end of Highway 10. The pier extends into the ocean and was built in the early 20th century on Santa Monica Beach.

Nearby is the Pacific Park, which features a Ferris wheel, roller coaster, and carousel. It's a well-known beach amusement park in Los Angeles!

Arthur embraced Vivian as they stood by the railings of the pier, enjoying the sea breeze. "In the summer, this beach gets packed with both residents and tourists."

"It seems like this pier appears in a lot of Hollywood movies, right?" Vivian inquired.

"That's right. This place is a common location for Hollywood films, almost as iconic as the Hollywood sign on the hills," Arthur said before kissing her, and she passionately responded.

...

Meanwhile, at Universal Studios, MCA Universal Pictures CEO Lew Wasserman and President Sidney Sheinberg were having a chat in the office.

"The shooting of Jurassic Park has been completed. Next up is mainly post-production special effects," Sidney Sheinberg leaned on the sofa, seeming somewhat preoccupied.

Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg, didn't have any major issues. Lew Wasserman, seeing Sidney Sheinberg's worried look, asked, "Did Akio Tsuji have some new instructions or ideas?"

Tsuji Akio was the president of Panasonic, the parent company of MCA Universal.

Sidney Sheinberg shook his head, "I just regret not supporting Spielberg's Schindler's List. I'm worried he might hold it against us.

Schindler's List is currently showing in over 900 theaters, and its box office has already surpassed $42 million. With its growing reputation, the scale of its release is sure to expand.

Galaxy invested $25 million in producing and distributing this film. Given its box office trend, it'll definitely do well."

Lew Wasserman was at a loss for words since he had also doubted Schindler's List. If not, he wouldn't have refused even their old friend Steven Spielberg. Both he and Sidney Sheinberg were Jewish and should have supported this film wholeheartedly.

Lew Wasserman sighed, "Arthur Smith's foresight is incredible. Who could have anticipated that a three-hour black-and-white film about the Holocaust would achieve such acclaim and success?"

"As for Steven, don't worry. We've collaborated with him many times. He can get significant benefits from the films he directs and won't stop working with us over one film!"

Regret was indeed there. They could have used Schindler's List to deepen their cooperation with Spielberg.

They could also have garnered favor from the Jewish community and made a lot of money from the movie. Now, all those advantages belong to Galaxy!

Sidney Sheinberg casually lit a cigar and continued, "Universal's performance this year has been terrible. The two big summer releases, Far and Away and Death Becomes Her, didn't achieve anything notable."

"Both films' North American box offices stopped at $58 million, not even reaching $60 million!"

Lew Wasserman had asked if Akio Tsuji was dissatisfied again for this exact reason.

Far and Away, with a production cost of $60 million and starring Tom Cruise, didn't even cover its production costs with its North American box office.

Death Becomes Her, with a production cost of $55 million and starring Bruce Willis, Meryl Streep, and Goldie Hawn, had an unimpressive North American box office of $58 million!

October was nearing, and not a single Universal film was in the top twenty on the North American box office chart.

Sidney Sheinberg looked at Lew Wasserman and continued, "Recently, I met with film producer Edward R. Pressman. He's obtained the rights to Capcom's 2D fighting game Street Fighter II from Japan."

"Street Fighter II, released last year, received a great response. Many Hollywood production companies are interested in adapting it. Capcom's owner, Kenzo Tsujimoto, has even sent people to LA for negotiations. I'm planning to support Edward R. Pressman's development of this game adaptation!"

"A game adaptation?" Lew Wasserman didn't oppose the idea, "It seems Disney is working on a live-action Super Mario Bros. movie, right?"

Disney's live-action Super Mario Bros. movie is already completed and will be released next year.

Sidney Sheinberg explained, "Video games have grown rapidly in the 1980s, gathering large followings. Adapting such popular games into movies ensures an audience. I believe that a live-action movie will attract a significant number of moviegoers, at least maintaining the interest of game fans."

Video game companies authorize films to promote their games, aiming to boost game popularity!

The advantage of game adaptation movies lies in leveraging the game's fan base to promote the movie quickly, saving marketing costs.

Moreover, game companies are quite hands-off when their games are adapted into movies, allowing movie studios a lot of autonomy; they rarely consider the game's original meaning!

*****

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