Chapter 376: Spoiling You, Aren't I?

[Chapter 376: Spoiling You, Aren't I?]

Elisabeth took a glance at the check she had in her hand. The amount was $30 million. According to Eric's earlier information, the production cost of Dances with Wolves was only $18 million, and since the movie hadn't been released yet, there really weren't any promotional costs. This $30 million was enough to buy out the entire film along with the distribution contract from Orion. If the negotiation strategy was handled well, she might even have some money left over.

For most Hollywood producers, investing in a film costing around $20 million and achieving a profit of over 50% after a few years of distribution would be considered a huge success. Films with the ridiculously high return of Home Alone were rare, and it wasn't uncommon for producers to pour in millions only to recover nothing in the end.

At that moment, Elisabeth raised the check in her hand and looked at Eric with disdain. "You jerk, can you possibly be any more shameless? I played the villain, and in the end, the movie rights go to you? You can forget about it."

Eric, unfazed, shot back, "Well, do you have the money to buy it yourself?"

"I can borrow from my dad."

"Alright then, give me back the check. Just pretend I wasn't here today," Eric said, extending his hand.

Elisabeth instinctively reached to return the check, but quickly pulled it back. Eric's sudden bluntness made her feel uneasy. After a moment of hesitation, she reluctantly said, "Fine, we'll split it. You take $15 million, and I'll get $15 million from my dad."

"Give me back the check."

"You jerk, the rights might belong to you, but the distribution goes to Fox. That's fair, right?"

"Deal," Eric snapped his fingers, a smile returning to his face. "Actually, I wasn't finished. This is part of the deal -- you can use this condition as bait. Tell the film's producers that if they agree to sell the movie to you, you can persuade Fox to help distribute it. You can even promise to help them with future film releases. For those small Hollywood production companies, securing a link with a giant like Fox would be as appealing as Wal-Mart endorsing a small workshop to sell their products. Throw out that bait, and as long as the producer isn't a complete fool, they'll have to agree."

After Eric finished, there was a moment of silence in the living room. Drew and Julia quickly realized that Elisabeth had fallen for Eric's trap again. The two girls burst into laughter, and Elisabeth threw a pillow at them in frustration. "You jerk, taking advantage of my family again! I'm done! You can do the villain yourself!"

"I'm just using the resources at hand. Besides, if I were to personally get involved, this film would be seen as a goldmine by everyone. At that point, it would be nearly impossible to claw it back. So not only can I not take the lead, but I can't even be linked to this whole affair. I'll avoid any suspicion as much as possible; you should try to play along too."

Elisabeth's eyes brightened as she propped her chin on her delicate little hands, looking at Eric. "Oh, you're absolutely right. Even if the movie looks like garbage, people will treat it like a treasure. So technically, I could just go solo without you."

"Yeah, and you should also convince your dad to make sure Fox Television and Fox Films break off ties with me. Honestly, airing Friends, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and the upcoming The X-Files on Fox, I think that would really be a loss."

Elisabeth immediately countered, "You can't take the rights for Millionaire and The X-Files. Fox and Firefly share those licenses, and Friends is already locked into several seasons of contracts."

"But I could pull a stunt like earlier this year and shelve those first two projects. Worst case, nobody makes money. I have tons of ideas in my head, and I can come up with a few more TV shows. As for Friends, that's even simpler."

Elisabeth retorted, "If you did that, your reputation in Hollywood would be shot."

"If it could bring them a massive profit, who cares whether their associate is an angel or a devil?"

"Son-of..." Elisabeth couldn't help herself, nearly cursing, but Eric's threatening gaze made her swallow the last word. She pouted slightly, "You... bad guy. I can't be the villain helping you secure the rights and then walk away with no benefits. You're like the miser from Balzac's stories."

"Didn't we just agree to get the rights, and have Fox distribute? From the information I've gathered, it's a four-hour movie. Four hours! You should know what that means, right? A theater can screen it maybe four times a day, whereas movies under two hours can run six to eight shows. Just this limitation alone might cause many theaters not to want to show this film, so its box office won't likely be great. It'll depend on the home video release to recoup costs. What I'm focused on is the Oscar potential of the film. Firefly needs an Oscar-winning film to shine."

Eric spoke the truth. Although he remembered that the film won Best Picture and Best Director among prestigious awards, he still wasn't sure how well it performed at the box office. However, based on its four-hour runtime, Eric felt that Dances with Wolves wouldn't do very well.

Elisabeth gasped, "Four hours? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, four hours! Longer than The Godfather. I think it's a decent film, but it won't surpass The Godfather."

"Okay, I'll trust you this once," Elisabeth said as she glanced at the check in her hand, her eyes glinting mischievously. "I heard you made a lot of money in the oil futures market. If there's any money left after buying the rights, I'm not giving it back to you. I'll keep it for spending money."

"That's fine by me," Eric replied cheerfully.

Elisabeth widened her eyes in mock astonishment. "Wow, hard to believe! The miser actually said that."

"I'm always generous with my woman."

As soon as he finished speaking, another pillow was thrown at him.

Eric, no longer able to tolerate it, caught the pillow and got up, walking around the coffee table toward Elisabeth. "Third time's the charm, huh? Spoiling you, aren't I?"

Elisabeth screamed and tried to escape, but Eric pinned her back onto the sofa.

"Hey, hey, hey! You can't hit a woman, you jerk! Julia, help me! Wow, go hit Drew instead. She'd definitely like that! Jerk, stop it."

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.