Chapter 99

As August arrived, Charles Carpe's Mr. & Mrs. Smith was about to restart filming. He was confident that the extra investment would pay off manifold.

Early in the morning, Evelyn Carpe had just gotten out of bed when she received a delivery call - Charles had bought a car and had it delivered as a gift.

The butler opened the gate to reveal a red Ferrari sports car, a recently released limited edition Ferrari Enzo.

Evelyn was overjoyed after receiving the car. This limited edition Ferrari Enzo had been produced since 2002, with only 400 units worldwide.

Selling at over $600,000, Evelyn received a call from Charles on her way to work.

"Did you get the car? How is it?" Charles asked.

"Hehe, it's very nice, I love it. At least you remembered your mom!" Evelyn replied.

Sitting in his office, Charles smiled as he put down the phone. It was just a car, after all, a limited edition Ferrari at that. Even a Bugatti would be fine.

The DVD and VHS rentals and sales of Saw had achieved great success. Now the DVD market for The Passion of the Christ was also opening up, and it was expected to provide a substantial cash inflow in a short period. After that, it would become one of the continuous cash sources for Carpe Pictures, along with other movie rights.

We need to seize profits as much as possible before the DVD market collapses!

The major films that Charles was now concerned with were The Departed and The Da Vinci Code, both high-concept movies with big investments, big stars, big markets, and big promotions.

However, Charles often faced disappointments too. I Am Legend, a novel by Richard Matheson, had already been adapted into movies by Warner Bros. in the 60s and 70s.

As for that memorable Hancock, the script was called Tonight, He Comes and had been completed years ago. However, many film companies refused to develop it because it was a story about an anti-hero.

Currently, Warner Bros. held onto it, and Charles could only wait for Warner Bros. to give it up. After all, he remembered that this movie was eventually produced by Sony.

Warner Bros. had just gotten hold of the script and seemed interested in developing it. Something must have changed for sure.

Around noon, Charles' other assistant Phyllis Jones came in to remind him of the afternoon meeting with the executives from Universal.

"Phyllis, how long have you been with the company?" Charles asked the beautiful girl standing before him, with her long black hair and graceful posture, whom Dona Williams had recruited as an assistant due to her heavy workload.

"Since February, for about half a year, Mr. Carpe!" Phyllis Jones had initially joined as a receptionist and was then promoted by Dona Williams.

"Just graduated from college?"

Phyllis Jones nodded, "I've just graduated this year, and my internship period at the company just ended!"

Charles nodded, then instructed, "Arrange a place for the meeting with Universal and notify them of the location."

Phyllis Jones left after answering.

Dona Williams was in New York, overseeing the acquisition of Marvel shares for Charles. Since Spider-Man 2 hit the box office, its stock price had risen.

In the afternoon, Charles invited Universal Pictures' President Stacey Snider and production head Donna Langley to a boutique Italian restaurant in West Hollywood.

Although Universal Pictures' production base was in Hollywood Universal City, its distribution headquarters was in New York, with only a few people in the Los Angeles distribution office.

Most of the films distributed by the Big Six in Hollywood each year were purchased from other film production companies, with only about one-third being their own productions or co-productions.

"Charles, you and Martin have differing opinions?" Stacey Snider asked.

Charles nodded. Donna Langley frowned and asked, "I heard you have a disagreement over the lead actor?"

"Indeed, I don't think Leonardo DiCaprio can do this role justice. His acting skills are still a bit lacking," Charles said bluntly. After all, the script of The Departed was excellent and couldn't be handled casually.

"Phyllis, bring out the script!" Charles asked his assistant.

Taking the script from Phyllis, Charles handed it to Donna Langley. "This is the script jointly adapted by Martin and the original writer. There have been significant changes to the story, and it's pretty good;

But I don't want the story to take place in Boston. There are gangs everywhere; I want to shoot the movie in New York. So, I'll change the story to New York's Mafia, and typical characters like Italian and Jewish gangsters will do. There's no need to stick to an Irish gangster story!"

Stacey Snider didn't read the script, but after thinking for a moment, she said, "New York offers a 15% tax rebate, which we need. Filming in Boston would definitely be more expensive."

Universal, as the global distributor of the film, had its own requirements for the film.

"We also received Martin's ideas; he wants to invite Robert De Niro and Mel Gibson to join the movie, along with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio," Donna Langley laughed.

Charles was taken aback. How big would the budget need to be then? Universal, as the distributor, certainly wanted to do the most work with the least amount of money. The rest of the funding would have to be figured out by themselves.

If he did all the hard work, Universal would undoubtedly make money from distribution; the director would gain fame and fortune with a good story and cast. What about Carpe Pictures? How much of the pie would they get after doing all the dirty and hard work?

*****

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