Chapter 242: True Freedom

[Chapter 242: True Freedom]

After a brief half-day break, the crew chartered a flight to New York the next day. Once again, it was Jeffrey who had come to pick them up at the airport. There was also a team from Firefly Films present, responsible for the pre-production work on Sleepless in Seattle and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

Compared to their time in Seattle, most of the scenes primarily focused on Nicole Kidman. Shooting in New York would be much more complicated. The scenes for Sleepless in Seattle in New York included not just Annie's family, but also her friends, colleagues, and so on.

Eric thought that this plot design likely aimed to diminish the presence of Annie's boyfriend, Walter. It resembled the way Sam's late wife, Maggie, received only a few brief glimpses on screen. While it indeed created a very romantic love story for Sam and Annie, it was heartbreaking for Walter, who had already gotten engaged to Annie. To be dumped on Valentine's Day for a rather "mysterious" reason felt especially cruel.

Eric remembered seeing some film reviews from his past life that commented on this, generally criticizing Annie's disloyalty and expressing sympathy for Walter. However it seemed that most people were not too concerned about these aspects. To put it bluntly, whether it was in politics or love, people pursued freedom.

Eric recalled something he had once come across, a saying that true freedom was not about doing whatever one wanted, but rather not doing what one did not want to do. Though the phrase sounded a bit pretentious, it fit Annie in Sleepless in Seattle quite well. Even though she was engaged, the moment she realized Walter wasn't her destined partner, she refused him without hesitation.

"How did the discussions go about the Empire State Building and Twin Towers?" After getting off the plane and sitting in a business vehicle with Jeffrey, Eric's first question focused on those two topics he cared about most. These were related to Sleepless in Seattle and Home Alone 2. Jonah and Kevin would each shoot at one of New York's tallest buildings, but as of the start of filming Sleepless in Seattle, those arrangements had yet to be settled.

"All sorted out," Jeffrey assured Eric with a reassuring look. He continued, "However, the time allotted by both building managements isn't very generous."

"No problem, anyway, there won't be too many shots. The major focus is the Empire State Building, and for the Twin Towers, we only need a few aerial shots," Eric nodded with satisfaction.

Jeffrey added, "There's one more thing concerning the snow. I checked in with the weather department, and the earliest first snowfall in New York won't be until November. It might come in the first week of November, but that's not certain. You know how weather forecasts can be. If we're lucky, maybe it will snow by the end of October; if not, it might not snow at all until after Home Alone 2 is released in New York. Either way, you need to be prepared for that."

Eric nodded, "That's fine. Just prepare the artificial snow, and I'll try to schedule the outdoor scenes for Home Alone 2 at the end. However, even if it gets pushed back further, we won't delay by much time, so I think there's a 90% chance we'll have to use the artificial snow."

"I've already estimated based on your script. Although we won't need to cover the entire scene, to achieve a convincing effect with the artificial snow, the budget will increase by about $1.5 million," Jeffrey said, revealing a hint of pain in his tone.

Eric could tell that Jeffrey felt the pinch. He patted him on the shoulder, noting that although Firefly Films was growing larger, Jeffrey still had that frugal personality he remembered from the first time they met. But that kind of character was what made him a great producer.

"Jeffrey, things are different from last year. When we made the first Home Alone, we had to be extremely frugal, even running off to a remote northern town in Canada to save money. But our budget for this film is very generous, so there's no need to cut corners."

"I know, I just instinctively think that if we swapped the release dates for Sleepless in Seattle and Home Alone 2, maybe we could save that $1.5 million," Jeffrey remarked.

Eric chuckled, "If we end up getting natural snowfall, we could indeed save that $1.5 million. But by moving the release of Home Alone 2 to Christmas, we might lose tens of millions at the box office. You know, based on the box office performance of the first Home Alone, this film is perfect for a long run. We really need to maximize its exposure during the holiday season, and late November marks the beginning of the peak Christmas box office period."

"Then why not schedule Sleepless in Seattle for late November too? Even if it doesn't directly compete with Home Alone 2, I think a week's delay would be fine," Jeffrey asked.

"Because Sleepless in Seattle is not just aiming for the Christmas slot; it's also targeting that February Valentine's Day date. It's a romantic comedy. If we push it back a month, by February, the buzz for the film would likely die down. But if we release it around December 24, after two months in theaters, it could rebound in the box office when Valentine's Day hits. You know how my films pull off significant box office runs, usually lasting over eight weeks. Just like last year's Home Alone, which maintained the number one spot for ten weeks. Other films like Pretty Woman and Running Out of Time followed the same pattern."

Jeffrey laughed, "I really have no idea where you learned all this. I initially wanted to discuss the release date for The Others with you. You persuaded Michael Eisner to release it on November 1. I find that very unwise. Halloween is indeed a fitting season for horror films, but those are usually small productions with little box office ambition. Though The Others is also a smaller production, we certainly have high hopes for its box office. It seems you have your own thoughts on this now."

Eric nodded and didn't elaborate further, and Jeffrey didn't press him for more details. In fact, the concept of film release schedules had matured in America by then, but compared to twenty years later, it was still rather primitive.

And Eric, who had yet to direct a feature film or work in distribution, had absorbed enough through the information explosion of that era to naturally understand some of the distribution patterns in Hollywood.

*****

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