Chapter 531: The Resignation Wave

[Chapter 531: The Resignation Wave]

Firefly Films had publicly announced the project True Lies during its acquisition of Disney last year, and the media had been following the developments closely. As the project moved towards production, attention turned to the male lead role that had not yet been filled. Hollywood stars like Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, and Nicolas Cage were all rumored contenders for the role. However, many people within the industry knew that Firefly's choice for the male lead was Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Schwarzenegger was well aware of this. Earlier in the year, both parties had a brief contact.

At that time, Schwarzenegger's asking price was $15 million, and he showed no signs of backing down. The negotiations stalled for a while, with Schwarzenegger feeling no urgency; after all, his previous films had performed well at the box office. He had not anticipated that Last Action Hero would face such a disastrous fate. However, it was clear that he understood the significance of a film personally selected by Eric, and thus had not rejected the offer, seemingly waiting for Firefly to compromise, especially since Firefly had made concessions during the box office talks for Terminator 2.

With Schwarzenegger not feeling the pressure, Firefly naturally wasn't anxious either. No one knew better than Eric how the box office prospects of Last Action Hero would pan out.

Now that the first-week box office numbers for Last Action Hero had come in, Eric could hardly imagine how Schwarzenegger was feeling.

Just as he was about to respond to an email from Firefly's production team, suggesting they wait another week to restart negotiations with Arnold, the phone in his room rang.

...

Eric picked up the phone, and a familiar voice came through the receiver: "Hi, Eric, it's Jim."

Eric smiled as he replied, already guessing the purpose of Cameron's call. After discussing Jurassic Park for a bit and exchanging thoughts about Cameron's work on True Lies, Cameron finally brought up the real reason for his call: "Eric, you've seen the box office for Last Action Hero, right?"

"Yeah, over $16 million in its opening weekend; that's pretty dismal. With two consecutive blockbuster failures, I bet the Germans will chill out for a year or two and won't be throwing cash at Hollywood so easily anymore. And MGM... I estimate Frank Mancuso and John Calley haven't even settled into their seats before they get replaced by Leon. MGM might just head for auction again..."

Realizing Eric was about to go on, Cameron had to clear his throat to interrupt him: "Eric, we can talk about those things later. I wanted to say something about the male lead for True Lies. You mentioned before that you hoped Arnold could take the role."

Eric smiled but felt a sense of discomfort in his tone: "Jim, you were there during that conversation. You know I wasn't much of a fan of the Last Action Hero project. Arnold's asking price was way too high, so I wanted to wait until after the film's release to discuss his salary. But I didn't expect a movie with over an $80 million investment to only gross $16 million on its opening weekend. You know Jurassic Park's production cost was only $75 million; at this rate, Last Action Hero would barely scrape $50 million in total box office. If it were just a slight failure, I wouldn't worry too much, but Arnold's drop was too severe. Under these circumstances, his next film would definitely be looked down upon by Hollywood; the risk is just too great."

After listening to Eric, Cameron promptly replied, "Eric, stop messing with me. Don't think I don't know you're enjoying this. Arnold can't reach you, so he calls me. $3 million for his salary; take it or leave it. Don't think you can sweet-talk me into anything."

Three million dollars is a massive discount compared to Arnold's previous $15 million fee. If Eric were in a similar situation, he would likely think the same. Hollywood is ruthlessly competitive; the total cost of producing and distributing Last Action Hero exceeded $100 million. In the current environment, the investors and distributors might only recover about $50 million of their investment. It wasn't as catastrophic of a loss as two years later with Waterworld, but this level of financial hit could certainly knock a Hollywood superstar down a peg, just like Kevin Costner, who faded from stardom after his flop with that film.

Thus, for Arnold now, accepting this bargain-priced deal would give him a chance to bounce back into the ranks of top stars. If he missed this opportunity, it could be a year or two before anyone approached him for a role again.

While Eric thought over these matters, Cameron's impatient voice echoed through the phone again, prompting Eric to reply, "Sure, I'll take it for $3 million, Jim. This time, let's call it a favor for you..."

"Don't look at me as a favor; I'm just the messenger."

"Alright, Jim, but you know Firefly is my personal enterprise. Unlike that big German conglomerate, every extra million feels like pulling hair out, so be careful with this."

Cameron laughed heartily, "Of course, Eric! You know me; I'll make every dime count toward the film."

Eric couldn't help but roll his eyes at how well he knew him. After some back-and-forth banter, both of them finally hung up.

...

Just as Eric intended to return to his desk to check emails, the phone rang again. Despite it being evening in London, it was still afternoon in Los Angeles, so he wasn't surprised when he answered it again. This time, it was Stan Winston, sounding anxious. After listening to Stan, Eric furrowed his brow and replied, "Stan, send me the details. I'll take a look, and if necessary, I will fly back tomorrow morning."

After a brief exchange, Eric hung up. Moments later, he received an email from Digital Domain.

After reading through it for a while, Eric's brows furrowed again. Another wave of resignations hit Digital Domain.

The last time had been during the release of Twister when Hollywood studios started investing heavily in special effects due to the massive box office success of effects-driven films. Many small special effects firms cropped up, or perhaps they were better described as special effects studios.

However, because Hollywood had somewhat underestimated the commercial prospects for effects-driven films last year, they hadn't invested heavily to poach talent from Digital Domain and as a result, the impact had been minimal.

This year, however, was different. The record-breaking box office of Jurassic Park spurred the other major studios in Hollywood into action. They began launching aggressive poaching campaigns against Digital Domain, with not only the visual effects artists but also Ed Catmull's software research team feeling the impact. In just a week that Eric was away from Los Angeles, over 120 resignation letters had arrived at Digital Domain. Initially, Stan had thought it to be just a repeat of last year's situation and didn't take it seriously, managing it in line with last year's experience. But as more and more resignation letters poured in these past few days, Stan no longer remained calm.

After reading the emails, Eric's previously anxious thoughts eased a bit. He called his assistant to arrange an early morning flight back. He then silently contemplated how to handle the crisis.

It was evident that with the growing prevalence of special effects films in Hollywood, given Digital Domain's scale, even doubling its capacity would not allow it to cover all of Firefly's special effects projects, not to mention the wider market for special effects films in Hollywood. Since they couldn't stop the special effects industry from expanding, they had to choose the strategy that best benefited themselves.

This strategy was something Eric had considered when he founded Digital Domain; he just hadn't anticipated that the implementation would occur over three years earlier than initially expected.

As he mulled over these details, night turned into dawn without him realizing it, and when he finally noticed, the sun was already rising outside.

...

Realizing it was just past five in the morning, Eric didn't feel the need for a nap, knowing he would have plenty of downtime on the plane. After freshening up, he left his hotel room to have breakfast. Knowing his flight would leave London time at eight, he had nothing pressing to do, so he flipped through that morning's newspaper.

"Hollywood's Young Mogul Romances British Aristocrat's Daughter; The Couple Tours the Thames Together."

A clear photograph graced the front page of the World News, showing Eric holding an umbrella for Caroline from the previous afternoon. The paparazzi managed to capture the perfect moment as their eyes met. Eric vaguely recalled that Caroline had probably been thanking him at that moment, yet the paper interpreted the encounter as a moment of intimate eye contact.

He laughed helplessly, suddenly remembering that the World News was also under the News Corporation and was the publication that ignited the famous 'Wiretapping Scandal' back in the original timeline.

Setting that aside, Eric remembered he had originally promised Caroline to continue their tour of London today, which was now off the table. He had contemplated asking his branch staff to explain things to the girl afterward, but since there was nothing to do at the moment and Caroline's place wasn't too far from there, Eric decided to visit her personally.

After summoning the hotel manager for a car, Eric directed the driver to Caroline's residence.

Minutes later, the car parked in front of the apartment where Caroline was staying. As Eric got out, he noticed the flash of cameras nearby. Glancing over, he realized that paparazzi were waiting there too.

Just as Eric was about to ignore them and head inside, he remembered he didn't actually know which floor Caroline was on. Seeing the paparazzi peeking around, Eric walked over to them.

One of the paparazzi, seeing Eric approaching, showed no sign of panic and greeted him with a smile. "Mr. Williams, here to pick up Miss Wilson so early?"

Eric didn't respond but asked, "Which paper are you with?"

"World News," the paparazzi replied without hesitation, adding, "But if there's breaking news, we sell it to whoever pays the highest."

Eric chuckled and asked, "Do you know what room Caroline is in?"

"Room 203, second floor," the paparazzi answered without missing a beat.

Eric thanked him and turned back toward the apartment. Just as he stepped inside, he heard a few muffled clicks from the cameras again.

Since it was still early, he climbed the somewhat aged stairs to the second floor without encountering anyone.

...

Arriving at the door of room 203, Eric gently knocked. After a moment of silence, he knocked a few more times before a somewhat groggy female voice called out, "It's not even seven o'clock yet. Who is it?"

Eric recognized the voice did not belong to Caroline and was taken aback but still said, "Hello, miss, I'm Eric Williams. I need to speak to Miss Wilson about something. Could you please let me in?"

Inside, there was a surprised exclamation as Eric guessed the person was peeking through the peephole, so he stood still.

The door was soon pulled open.

A girl clad in a light blue nightgown appeared before him.

Realizing who she was, Eric's face was immediately filled with surprise.

What a small world.

"You... Hello, Mr. Williams. Please, come in," the girl, seemingly oblivious to Eric's shock, ushered him into the room in a bit of a frenzy. "Mr. Williams, have a seat. I'll go wake Caroline; she, um, hasn't gotten up yet."

"Thank you," Eric nodded as he sat on the couch. "By the way, I don't think I caught your name."

"I'm Rachel Weisz, Mr. Williams. You can call me Rachel," the girl responded shyly.

Eric couldn't help but smile at her flustered demeanor, nodding back, "Hello, Rachel. You can call me Eric too."

"Uh, sure, yes," Rachel replied with a silly smile, then opened a bedroom door and entered.

*****

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