Sunlight streamed through the window onto the bed. The weather outside was still cold, but the United States has always been the most energy-wasteful country in the world, with air conditioning running non-stop, especially in wealthy areas like Beverly Hills.
Eric leaned against the headboard, with Theron half-lying on his shoulder. Red hickeys on her neck and chest were clearly visible.
Last night's celebration was too intense. The excitement of winning Best Actress, coupled with the surprise Eric had prepared, had both of them completely swept up.
Not only were there many marks of battle on Theron, but he had just as many.
A laptop rested on Eric's lap. He clicked on Yahoo News, and sure enough, the entertainment section was almost entirely dominated by Oscar news, with other sections also having some coverage.
The only thing that could compete with the ceremony for attention was the upcoming Super Bowl.
"No way, this year's Oscar was still dull and boring? The New York Times' review is really baffling," Theron complained, pointing at a news headline.
Eric clicked the mouse and opened it. It turned out to be criticizing the Oscars for becoming increasingly timid.
In the past, they dared to make political statements and sharp satires, even fearlessly attacking the hottest topics, but in recent years, they had become more and more hesitant.
Especially after the war broke out last year, the Academy explicitly warned every attending star not to discuss politics and to watch their words, so everyone became much more restrained.
Big shots like Eric didn't care about the Academy's ban, but they were even less likely to easily express political opinions.
Ordinary stars dared not defy the Academy's orders; only high-status mavericks dared to stick their necks out.
For example, at yesterday's Oscar, only Sean Penn uttered, "There are no weapons of mass destruction," but he dared not say more.
Crystal's jokes were even more obscure and rare, so it was normal for him to be criticized as boring.
"the lord of the rings: the return of the king sweeps the 76th Academy Awards, winning all 11 nominations, unprecedented and unrepeatable!"
"Sean Penn crowned Best Actor for mystic river, finally winning after four nominations; Charlize Theron crowned Best Actress for monster, a breakthrough performance."
"As film technology continues to mature, Oscar competition will become increasingly fierce, surpassing the lord of the rings may become a fantasy."
"The battle for Best Actress concludes, Charlize Theron has the last laugh, Olsen Sisters regretfully defeated."
"blue is the warmest color fails to fulfill its dream, regretfully takes home the Best Original Screenplay award. Olsen Sisters congratulate Charlize Theron on winning the Best Actress crown."
"Vanity Fair's fashion showdown: a collection of outfits from various actresses, who is the most beautiful one."
"Eric Cooper once again defeats strong rivals to win the Best Original Screenplay award. One year into his career, he is a true film prodigy!"
"Sofia Coppola admits she's not disappointed and applauds the lord of the rings."
"Oscar favorite blue is the warmest color's dismal showing at the Academy Awards draws disapproval from the LGBTQ+ community, raising questions about the Academy's fairness."
Theron watched the news with great interest: "Darling, it seems New Line Cinema is really going to rise. Look at this news, the lord of the rings trilogy has brought New Line Cinema at least 800 million dollars in direct revenue."
"This is just direct revenue. If you include various extended revenues such as copyrights, and assuming a golden five-year period, it is expected to bring in over 1 billion dollars more."
"And besides extended copyright revenue, there are also the prequels and sequels to the lord of the rings. Tolkien's world-building is very vast."
"New Line Cinema really has hope of shedding its independent company title and charging towards a spot among Hollywood's Big Seven."
But Eric scoffed at this report, laughing mockingly.
"What's wrong? What are you laughing at, darling?"
Eric pointed to his cheek, and Theron obediently gave him a peck.
After a pleasant French kiss, Eric answered her question.
"My Best Actress darling, you can only believe 30% of this kind of bullshit report at most. It's full of speculation and unrealistic inferences."
"the lord of the rings indeed made a huge profit, but 1.8 billion dollars is too far-fetched. New Line Cinema can get at most around 1 billion dollars."
"Because it also involves dividends from Peter Jackson, Miramax, the Tolkien Estate, and other parties."
"Let me tell you a secret: Peter Jackson alone took at least 300 million dollars from the lord of the rings, especially after the first film's huge success, his share also rose accordingly."
"How do you know such a secret?" Theron was a little surprised.
Her surprise was normal; the 300 million dollar figure was simply too exaggerated. Let alone in 2004, even in 2024, it would still drop jaws.
Before winning Best Actress, Theron, although not a top Hollywood actress, was firmly in the A-list.
However, her acting fee was only around 6 million dollars; any more and no one would hire her. Producers would consider it and think she wasn't worth that price.
Even now that she's won Best Actress, the highest she would get, according to market rates, wouldn't exceed ten million, and no more than that, and she wouldn't get a share of the box office.
10 million dollars is for a commercial blockbuster, and if it flops, her price would immediately drop.
300 million dollars is enough for her to make 30 movies, and she probably wouldn't make that many in her lifetime, so her surprise was understandable.
"Don't believe it? The Big Beard and I have a good relationship. He revealed it once when he was drunk, proudly showing off to me."
"Oh my God! 300 million dollars, it's unbelievable. Do directors make so much money? Darling, I suddenly want to change careers too," Theron still hadn't fully recovered.
Eric pinched her cheek: "Being a director is not easy. If an actor is a screw, then a director is an artist. Their positions and perspectives are completely different."
"Let me ask you a very simple question: how many components should a mature film crew include? Do you know?"
"Let me count for you: including producer, director, screenwriter, executive producer, co-producer, line producer, assistant director, casting director, director of photography, assistant camera, sound crew, lighting crew, props crew, makeup crew, costume crew, grip crew, and actors."
"And also the post-production editing team, post-production dubbing team, post-production team, publicity team, distribution team, and ground crew."
"Okay, okay, that's enough, that's enough. I don't want to be a director anymore. It's too much trouble, my head is spinning just listening," Theron quickly stopped him.
Eric chuckled: "Just the names make you feel troublesome. The reality is that you must coordinate them all, and no single link can go wrong."
"To have hundreds or thousands of people operate efficiently under your command, and finally shoot the effect you want and express the ideas you want to convey, that is the ability of a top director."
"There are not many directors in Hollywood with this ability, and Peter Jackson is one of them."
What Eric was saying now was still very superficial. When actually making a movie, it is much more complicated and there are more problems to face.
For example, last summer's blockbuster pirates of the caribbean. Although director Gore Verbinski wasn't a household name, he definitely had the strength to become a top-tier director.
The most famous example in the industry is that this guy, seeing the first movie become a hit, immediately happily put together the script for the second movie with the screenwriters, just waiting for Disney to give the command to start filming.
He did wait, but what he waited for was not good news from Mickey Mouse, because the Disney boss thought just making the second movie was too slow.
If we're going to make movies, let's learn from the lord of the rings and The Matrix, and shoot the second and third parts together, striking while the iron is hot to make money. The release dates have already been set.
But the problem is that those films had all their scripts written in advance before shooting began, which allowed for simultaneous filming.
pirates of the caribbean, however, hadn't even considered shooting a third part, and there was no script to shoot anything.
It's impossible for such a commercial blockbuster to let him mess around for several years like Wong Kar-wai. Disney demands both high quality and fast production, purely brutal, just like your client!
But Director Verbinski had no choice but to obey.
To make matters worse, pirates of the caribbean had numerous filming locations, requiring visits to a large number of islands, and the shooting schedule was very tight, meaning he could only go to each island once.
In other words, he had to shoot scenes for both the second and third parts simultaneously on each visit.
But where's the script? Where the hell is the script?
Without a script, how would I know what to shoot when I get there?
So Verbinski could only urgently consult with the screenwriters. After arriving at an island, he would hastily put together a plot segment. Regardless of where this segment should fit into the movie's story, he would shoot it first.
Thus, it was a dual-line shoot, and the timelines of both stories were completely messed up.
On the fourth day of filming for the second part, the final scene of the third part's grand finale had already been shot.
Not only did the actors not know what they were filming, but no one knew what the hell they were filming!
Verbinski himself didn't know what kind of plot to shoot earlier to make the story come full circle. Most directors would have been done for in such a situation.
But unexpectedly, the final film was quite good.
What is a top director? This is it!
So they are worth the price!
"Baby, this report also missed a very important thing, and that is the copyright issue."
"Although Tolkien had many works, the one most closely connected to the lord of the rings is undoubtedly the hobbit. Other works like The Children of Húrin and The Silmarillion also have connections, but they are too far apart in time, and the stories are relatively fragmented, so they are not yet suitable for adaptation into films."
"And the copyright for the hobbit is not in the hands of Miramax and New Line Cinema. Why don't you guess who got it?"
Hearing this question, Theron immediately realized something, and surprise showed in her beautiful eyes: "Darling, the copyright is in your hands?"
Eric nodded: "That's right. This is one of the few high-quality assets left by the former MGM. Of course, before the lord of the rings became popular, no one realized that this thing could be brought to the big screen."
"That was back in the 1970s. The Tolkien family sold the copyright for the hobbit to United Artists, and then United Artists was acquired by MGM, so the copyright naturally entered MGM."
"I should thank Warner Bros. for not keeping this gold mine back then. Now it belongs to me."
"the lord of the rings swept the globe, spreading Tolkien's name worldwide and paving the way for the filming of the hobbit. Besides thanking Warner Bros., I also have to thank the Weinstein Brothers and New Line Cinema; they are also founders."
"Then let's launch this project quickly. We'll also make a trilogy. While global movie fans are enthusiastic, the project will definitely make a fortune," Theron suggested.
After the movie is released, MGM's stock price will definitely soar, and her 1% stake will more than double.
Eric waved his hand: "No hurry. the hobbit, in your eyes, is a high-quality project, but in my eyes, it's even more a bargaining chip. Someone will be more anxious than I am."
"Are you talking about New Line Cinema and Miramax?"
"Humph! It's all of Hollywood, but the most anxious ones will definitely be those two companies. It won't be long before lobbyists come knocking."
"But why co-produce? MGM is fully capable of completing it independently. Why share the pie with them?" Theron was a little confused.
Eric gently stroked her blonde hair, which still carried a captivating scent.
"I said the copyright is just a bargaining chip. New Line Cinema can join, but they need to show enough sincerity."
"Money?"
"No, I'm not short of money. What I lack is support."
"What are you talking about, darling? I completely don't understand your thoughts."
"I have an initiative that will change the global film and television landscape about to be launched. At that time, it will attract a lot of dissatisfaction and attacks. Although I have already gathered a few allies, it's not enough. I need to rally more people around me."
"I understand, it's like YouTube and Facebook, right?"
"You catch on quickly, you really are a smart girl!"
"Heh heh, I occasionally pay attention to news in other fields. There are too many reports about Facebook and YouTube. Many people say these two websites are pushing the internet era to a higher, farther future."
"They all praise you as a genius, not just a film genius. Film has actually overshadowed your talent. Some people even suggest you focus on the internet."
"Grasp both hands, both hands must be strong!"
"What does that mean?"
"I learned it in China. It means doing two things at once, and they mutually achieve success."
Theron nodded: "Now that the Oscar is over, many film crews have started shooting. When do you plan to start filming Inception?"
"I think very soon. The crew has already started setting up. Nicole Kidman's la vie en rose has also finished filming. It will definitely start shooting in March."
"Are you trying to release it by the end of the year again?"
"I haven't decided yet. I have several blockbusters waiting for release dates, so I need to plan carefully. The Christmas season is too crowded, which is not a good thing. I must talk to Spielberg."
"DreamWorks?"
"Yes, they are making an animated film for me, an A-list animated blockbuster. MGM has already invested over 100 million dollars. If all goes well, it will top this year's box office."
"Hmm? Animated film? Champion?"
"That's right, it definitely will."