Chapter 456: Such Disappointment

[Chapter 456: Such Disappointment]

The two women crossed through the villa's grand hall and quickly spotted Eric's figure. The last rays of the setting sun slanted through the glass wall, illuminating him. In the play of light and shadow, with his head bent as he read intently, Eric radiated a quiet and steady charm. Elisabeth and Julia instinctively slowed their pace, not wanting to disrupt this picturesque scene, but the empty hall amplified the sound of their high heels clicking on the floor.

Hearing the sound of heels lightly hitting the floor, Eric looked up and saw the two women. He smiled and said, "I was just thinking about how I was going to manage dinner, and then you both showed up."

"Ha! What do you take us for, your dinner?" Elisabeth teased, pulling Julia closer as they settled into the space chair opposite Eric. Both women were quite slender, and they didn't crowd the rather large, egg-shaped chair at all.

Eric gazed at the two women gently rocking in the chair across from him, a smile still playing at the corners of his mouth. "I meant someone came to cook for me. But if you two want to be dinner, I wouldn't mind -- feast for the eyes, after all."

The remark had a teasing undertone, causing Julia's cheeks to flush slightly. Elisabeth, however, mockingly huffed, "Do you know how much like a movie villain you looked sitting there alone in the corner, plotting against the hero?"

Eric took Elisabeth's light jab in stride and continued, "Yeah, a villain usually has a few seductive beauties surrounding him. Now that you two have arrived, the picture's complete."

Julia couldn't help but chuckle softly, observing how Elisabeth always acted like a feisty cat when around Eric. It seemed like it was instinctual for her to exchange playful banter, yet she never quite managed to get the upper hand.

"Hey, which side are you on?" Elisabeth teased upon hearing Julia's laughter, reaching out to pinch her waist.

Julia laughed and swatted Elisabeth's hand away, saying, "What's it to you? Am I not allowed to laugh? Hehe, you go on; I'll just pretend I'm not here."

Eric watched the two women as they soon began to tussle playfully. With a smile still lingering, he lowered his gaze to rummage through a thick pile of materials in front of him, pulling out a few sheets to hand over. "Here, for you."

Elisabeth had actually noticed the documents Eric had been reading from the moment she arrived. Despite only catching a glimpse, she recognized it was the contract draft between Firefly and Columbia. When Eric handed it to her, she promptly discontinued her playful banter with Julia, eagerly accepting the sheets, yet her eyes moved restlessly toward the stack of documents on Eric's lap, which contained dozens more pages.

Eric pressed down on the remaining documents, shaking his head. "You can't see these."

"How stingy," Elisabeth pouted before obediently leaning back.

Once Elisabeth sat beside him, Julia curiously leaned over to glance at a few lines but quickly lost interest in the dense text. She looked up and noticed Eric was staring right at her, causing her to awkwardly avert her gaze. Eventually, she shyly returned his look, her heart betraying an unexplainable anticipation.

"You've been lazily rebellious for a year now; Kepler must be going crazy," Eric softly asked while twirling a pencil in his fingers.

"I haven't been rebellious! I've been taking care of Emma. Besides, with all the big names Kepler currently manages, I doubt he cares much about me," Julia defended, though her tone lacked conviction. Since its inception, TG had produced very few films, yet they had all been extremely successful. Julia, owning 30% of the company's shares, received dividends significantly exceeding her acting salary, making her enthusiasm for acting dwindle considerably.

Eric appeared not to hear Julia's defense, lightly tapping the blue cover of the folder with his pencil, saying, "It's been ages since Pretty Woman released; you can pick up a romantic comedy again. I'll have someone go through some scripts for you."

Julia mumbled an obedient "Mm." Elisabeth, having quickly scanned the thin pages in front of her, couldn't help but interject, "How can you be so domineering without even asking Julia if she's interested?"

Eric shot her an unimpressed glance, silently communicating, "Do you not know me?"

Elisabeth turned her head toward Julia, hoping she would join her in opposing Eric's "tyranny." Instead, she found Julia adopting a submissive demeanor, making her frustration dissipate. What's the point in worrying if she doesn't care?

"Hey, what's the deal with all this?" Elisabeth waved the contract fragments in her hand, shifting the topic back to her main purpose for visiting.

"It's just as you see it -- collaborating to develop movies. A win-win situation for everyone," Eric replied.

"Couldn't believe your nonsense," Elisabeth retorted. "Though this contract is somewhat harsh for Columbia, if it were released, given Firefly's growing reputation, even stricter conditions wouldn't deter interest. There's definitely something fishy about this."

As she spoke, her eyes darted to the remaining documents on Eric's lap, sure that they held the answers she sought. While she had been instructed by her father to gather information, she suddenly found herself irresistibly intrigued. Even though some terms seemed unfavorable to Columbia, if the movies produced together maintained Firefly's usual box office performance, Columbia wouldn't suffer, and its parent company, Sony Pictures, could use this to gain a foothold in Hollywood.

From that perspective, Firefly was indeed handing out pillows to people trying to sleep.

"You just said there was something fishy, so of course, you can't go around blabbing," Eric replied, throwing Elisabeth into another layer of curiosity. Her eyes fixed on the remaining documents in Eric's grasp as she contemplated a surprise grab and how Eric might react if she got her hands on them...

Intrigued, Eric watched Elisabeth bounce with anticipation, even nudging the documents in her direction, almost like a serpent in the Garden of Eden.

Elisabeth's eyes darted eagerly but then lost their enthusiasm when she caught Eric's gaze. This man was truly insufferable.

"Alright, I guess that's enough of this," Eric chuckled, walking over to claim the contract from Elisabeth's hands, tucking it into his folder. He then playfully patted her cheek, as if calming a not-so-hungry kitten, "Alright, the kitchen's stocked with ingredients, so go make dinner. If you're not up for it, order takeout. I've got to make a few calls in the study."

Elizabeth shook her head several times, trying to shake off Eric's hand. Eric's eyes flashed, and his hand slid all the way down the girl's neck. Elizabeth quickly pressed her chest and exclaimed, "Ah, what are you doing? Julia... Julia is here."

Julia stared with wide eyes at Eric's hand that reached into Elizabeth's collar and seemed to be rubbing it.

But soon, the hand was pulled out, holding a soft cushion in its hand. Elizabeth's face suddenly turned red as blood, and Julia was stunned for a moment. Then she burst out laughing.

"How disappointing." Eric sighed and said calmly.

"You bastard," Elizabeth snatched the pillow away madly and cursed angrily, but she saw Eric walking towards the study on his own.

As Eric disappeared from view, Julia turned to Elisabeth with a smile still gracing her lips, "So, uh... are we supposed to make dinner?"

"Not doing it," Elisabeth said with mock bitterness, contemplating saying something mean about starving Eric but quickly added, "Let's just order takeout."

Julia couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all, "Hehe..."

"Don't laugh," Elisabeth snapped, as if she had struck a nerve.

Julia laughed harder, clutching her stomach, "Right... Haha... I can't help it."

"What's there to be smug about? Yours are not much better than mine."

Julia kept her smile on her face and proudly lifted up her breasts: "It's bigger than yours anyway."

"You damn bitch," Elisabeth playfully lunged at her, "I'll show you whose are better!"

"Ah... let go! That hurts! You really are serious. I'll stop laughing; I promise! Ah, help!"

The two women's cheerful voices echoed in the hall for quite a while before settling down into low whispers.

...

Firefly's sudden collaboration with Columbia sent ripples through Hollywood. Over the following week, the North American media focused heavily on this topic, garnering more attention than the upcoming 64th Academy Awards set for the end of March.

After all, such explosive and unexpected news was rarely as simple as it appeared; there were certainly hidden nuances beneath the surface.

Amidst all the hustle and bustle, the nomination list for the 64th Academy Awards was released on February 19, with no surprise; Eric's delayed film Dances with Wolves emerged as the clear frontrunner with twelve nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Moreover, since its premiere in December of the previous year, Dances with Wolves had remained in theaters for over ten weeks, consistently grossing around $7 million weekly. Its total box office crossed $100 million, and with such strong word of mouth, it was almost certain to see a ticket sales resurgence during the Oscar season, suggesting its total earnings might reach $150 million, and even $200 million was not beyond the realm of possibility.

Eric never anticipated the film's spectacular success. He remembered it would be a major winner at the Oscars, but due to its daunting four-hour runtime, he hadn't expected a blockbuster hit, believing it would mainly perform well in the aftermarket for tapes once it won Academy awards. Thus, last year he had casually handed over the film's theatrical distribution rights to Fox, retaining only copyright and merchandise rights.

Looking at the current state of things, Fox undoubtedly reaped massive profits, having placed far less than the $30 million paid for the film's rights, putting in a minimal investment merely to issue it as an art film. As for financing the Oscars, expenses during this era were significantly lower than they would be a decade down the line.

Eric felt slightly downtrodden; moreover, even more so would be the producers and Orion Pictures, who had sold Dances with Wolves for $30 million last year.

Having undergone bankruptcy reorganization, Orion Pictures had recently resumed production. Notably, an Orion executive publicly lambasted Firefly for employing "extremely despicable" tactics to snatch the film's rights in a magazine piece, while the film's director and lead actor, Kevin Costner, though not slack in promoting the movie, also understood the loss of substantial profit.

Able to earn just 4.5 million from the sale price last year based on the established percentage from Dances with Wolves profits, Kevin made a mere 1.5 million, but had he participated in profit-sharing, he would have received well over $10 million. This shortfall left him wishing he could smash his head against a wall in remorse.

Yet that's Hollywood -- realistic, cold, and bursting with opportunities. No one knew what would happen next. Just as Warner's first Batman -- where expectations were low and in an effort to save costs, the studio had cleverly signed a pay-per-share deal with Jack Nicholson, who played the Joker. The result? Batman shattered box office records, and the studio's agreement ultimately saw them pay Nicholson a staggering $50 million in profit share -- a figure that far exceeded the combined amounts earned by the film's leading actors and the director.

...

The collaboration agreement between Firefly and Columbia was not particularly secretive. Within a week, senior executives from other Hollywood studios had learned the gist of the deal. Essentially, the agreement placed Columbia in a position akin to that of an outside investor. Yet despite this, it was enough to generate envy from other studios. After all, typically when outside investors financed films, the returns varied greatly, often leading to losses more frequently than profits. However, Firefly hadn't failed to deliver a hit in years.

Hollywood also didn't believe Firefly would intentionally craft a bad film to shortchange Columbia, so Columbia's earnings were practically guaranteed. Moreover, many recognized Sony Pictures' active facilitation of this collaboration was primarily driven by their desire to establish foothold in North America.

While it could be speculated that there were other undisclosed deals behind this accord, other studios were eager to engage Firefly for similar collaborations, expressing their willingness even for analogous contracts.

As for Sony, after preliminary negotiations between the two parties, their headquarters displayed considerable interest in the deal, even unabashedly announcing the news in local Japanese media.

Once the final details of the contract were settled, both sides held a signing press conference.

"Hello, Mr. Ohga," Eric greeted, shaking hands with the Asian man in his sixties seated across from him, all while subtly assessing his counterpart. He hadn't anticipated Sony's significant emphasis on this partnership; the current president, Norio Ohga, had personally traveled to Los Angeles for the signing ceremony.

Norio Ohga also scrutinized Eric across the table. Although he had previously reviewed Eric's profile, he remained surprised by how youthful the owner of Firefly appeared.

*****

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