"The 56th Emmy Awards concluded, with house of cards and angels in america becoming the biggest winners."
"The Emmy Awards showed people the current situation: the fierce competition between HBO and Lionheart Network continues."
"Drama series and mini-series have become the battleground for large-scale shows, leaving public television with only comedy categories to contend for. This situation is unhealthy."
"Eric Cooper once again made history, winning Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Series for house of cards! the sopranos suffered a crushing defeat!"
"The boldest people at this year's Emmy Awards appeared: Jim Carrey complained that the Academy didn't give him an Oscar, and Eric Cooper threatened the Academy to give him an award."
"The cost of silence plus a potential threat: Eric Cooper's acceptance speech made the whole audience roar with laughter."
"Sandra Bullock laughed so hard she 'sprayed water,' and a brilliant moment was captured."
"The Emmy Awards viewership reached 36.6 million, a historical high. The biggest contributor was Eric Cooper. Although he didn't attend, he was the most eye-catching star of the awards ceremony."
After the live broadcast of the Emmy Awards, many people realized that Eric Cooper was actually so humorous and charming.
It's rare to see a star who dares to directly confront the Academy and doesn't thank it throughout, especially after receiving so many awards.
Damn it, money truly allows one to do whatever he wants!
In a Los Angeles coffee shop, Eric was chatting with David Fincher.
Ever since the latter expressed his strong liking for house of cards at the awards ceremony, Eric had an idea.
He certainly wouldn't have too much energy to worry about so many works, so he might as well invite David Fincher to direct the second season of house of cards.
His dark style is very suitable for thriller dramas, and he originally directed the first season, so it was a return to his rightful owner.
"A clever story, and a more interesting political game. I like this script."
"David, you can look at it more carefully, and you can make revisions too, because I think you are very suitable to direct it."
David Fincher laughed: "I don't know why, but I also feel like I can skillfully handle this job, as if I've done it once in a dream."
"But I have a question, Bar Refaeli's character died. Was that a last-minute change or was it designed early on?"
"Haha. Does that question even need to be asked? I can't let her continue to live. When filming, just find an actress with a similar build and don't show her face."
"Hmm, the audience will definitely understand. What surprised me is that you managed to tie the story back together so smoothly. They really should have given you the Best Screenwriter award."
"So, you're going to take this job?"
"Why not? My last movie was in 2002. I've had enough rest, it's time to get back to work."
"And I'm very interested in such an excellent script, and there are good actors. I've long wanted to collaborate with Kevin Spacey again."
"Kevin Spacey is indeed great. Your last collaboration was for Seven, right?"
"Yes, that was in 1995. In a blink of an eye, almost ten years have passed. Unfortunately, besides Fight Club, I haven't made any satisfactory works since then."
Eric chuckled: "David, if you say that, many directors will be jealous of you. Panic Room, I remember, grossed 200 million globally, right? And you're still not satisfied?"
David Fincher hesitated for a moment: "Although the box office was good, sometimes that's not what you want to express. Relatively speaking, I still prefer Seven."
"Of course, who doesn't? I still remember seeing the female protagonist's head in the box at the time."
"OMG! That was a truly shocking setup. Thankfully, you didn't give a close-up, otherwise I would definitely have been traumatized. I was probably only thirteen or fourteen at the time."
David Fincher immediately clapped his hands in delight: "Hahahaha. Many people have complained to me about that. Actually, I really wanted to give a close-up, and the props were made, but the shot was deleted."
"When New Line Cinema gave me the script at the time, I read it and thought it was pretty good, but there were still loopholes, so I said I could consider it."
"Then New Line Cinema informed me that they had given me the wrong script. What I got was the discarded first version, and the one to be filmed now was the newly revised second version."
"After I read that second version, it was, damn it, absolute garbage. All the interesting plots were removed, and it became like children playing house."
"So I threatened them, saying that if they wanted me to direct, they had to film the first version, otherwise there was nothing to discuss."
"And in the end, guess what? New Line Cinema compromised and let me revise the script myself. Except for overly explicit scenes, I could shoot it however I wanted."
David Fincher recounted with relish, as if saying, 'Look how awesome I am, even capital has to compromise with me.'
But Eric looked at him like he was an idiot: "Well, David, your story is very interesting, but as the chairman of MGM, how about I review it from an investor's perspective?"
"Review what?"
"I think the original story should have been like this: New Line Cinema really wanted to film Seven, but you were a very busy man, with so many scripts in hand. How could they attract your attention?"
"So they decided to use a double-script provocation. You are an excellent director, and no excellent director can stand by and watch a good script be turned into waste paper."
"So you fell for it, you agreed!"
"Huh?" David Fincher froze instantly.
Bang!
After a while, he slammed the table: "Motherfucker! Those old connivers! At that time, I still had a bunch of good projects like Heat and The Usual Suspects in my hands."
"I've been bragging about this for almost ten years, and it turns out I was the one being played?"
Eric patted his shoulder: "But the outcome wasn't bad. Seven is a classic, isn't it? A win-win!"
In September, MGM released two films, both sequels.
One was Don't Breathe 2, and the other was happy death day 2.
Don't Breathe 2 still featured veteran action star Dolph Lundgren as the blind veteran.
The story takes place a few years after the first, continuing its clues, but completely different from the original plot.
The original Don't Breathe 2 was very mediocre, changing the thrilling confined-space game into a brutal, fist-to-fist fight.
The action scenes were indeed very satisfying, but it lacked the intense, cat-and-mouse suspense.
The plot also couldn't withstand scrutiny, full of loopholes, leading to both box office and critical failure after its release.
To be precise, it failed critically but not entirely at the box office, still making a small profit, as the cost was low, but the sequel was completely ruined.
This is also a common problem for low-budget films: the first part can surprise the audience, but a surprise is called a surprise precisely because the audience didn't expect it to be so good.
For the second part, expectations are already high, and all the suspense has been revealed, making it difficult to find new ideas.
So how can you get the audience excited again?
The answer is to introduce new characters, create new surprises, and at the same time, logically follow the plot clues from the first part.
So Eric's new thrilling point designed for Don't Breathe 2 was a child.
The veteran wanted a child, and he finally realized his dream, having a daughter.
Of course, she wasn't his biological child, nor was she kidnapped, but rather the orphaned child of a former comrade, whom he adopted.
However, according to legal regulations, a poor, blind old man like him was not qualified to adopt, so the veteran never dared to let the child go to school, fearing his daughter would be forcibly taken away by the government.
Instead, he taught her limited knowledge himself, and more importantly, imparted to her the fighting and survival skills he excelled at.
"Dakota Fanning looks really cute," Nicole whispered in the cinema.
"She is indeed very cute, and her acting is good, and she is very dedicated to her work."
"Dedicated? Is a child's acting difficult?"
"At least in this movie, it's not simple, but effort will be rewarded. I guarantee she can broaden her acting range and find more opportunities for future development."
As the plot progressed, Nicole quickly understood where the difficulty lay.
The wealthy girl who was kidnapped in the first movie, her father searched for several years and finally confirmed that his daughter had died at the veteran's hands.
So the revenge began. The rich man sent people to kidnap the veteran and his daughter, imprisoning them in his mansion.
What followed was torture and interrogation. The veteran was subjected to cruel torture, and one of his legs was directly crippled.
Many viewers began to worry: with one leg gone, he could barely walk, how could he fight back?
And the movie quickly provided the answer, because it wasn't the veteran who fought back, but the little girl.
She seized an opening, taking advantage of the enemies underestimating her, snatched a machete, and cleanly sliced open one person's neck.
Immediately after, a spinning blade was thrown, instantly damaging the power supply in the basement.
Darkness was the best camouflage for the father and daughter.
Bang bang bang!
Gunshots erupted in the basement, accompanied by human screams. Although there were no direct killing scenes, the screams and metal crashing sounds indirectly showed the horror of the battle.
When the rich man rushed into the basement with his men, and the lights came back on, several people were seen lying scattered on the ground, blood splattered everywhere.
Gunshot wounds, slit throats, gouged eyes, exploded testicles—their deaths varied, like a scene from hell.
Then, recalling Dakota Fanning's tender face, smiling with pretty dimples, the huge contrast stimulated every audience member's nerves, and a chill involuntarily ran through their hearts.
Too fierce! Too ruthless! Too satisfying!
Eric looked to his side, only to see Nicole's eyes wide open, her mouth slightly agape.
"Now you know why I said little Fanning was dedicated, right? There are even more intense action scenes later, many of which she performed herself."
Nicole let out a deep breath: "Darling, this character is a bit too much, isn't she? The movie will definitely get a lot of criticism."
"Criticize me for what? For having a negative impact on teenagers? Let them criticize, I get plenty of criticism anyway."
"Usually it's film critics who criticize you, but this time, I'm afraid many parents will criticize you too."
"Hmph! I just ask you, is this character cool? Is she charismatic enough?"
"She's awesome! Dude!" Nicole hadn't spoken yet, but a young man in the front row had already answered for her.
"This character is so cool, the screenwriter is a genius!"
Eric shrugged, meaning, 'See? Plenty of people like it. I'll make a Hit-Girl out of her in the future.'
The rest of the plot was simple: the father and daughter returned home to set up traps and wait for the enemies to arrive.
Then, using their home advantage, they eliminated all invading enemies, and finally returned to the mansion to finish off the rich man.
But the rich man's death was not the end. He established a revenge fund that would be activated after his death, summoning assassins from all over the world to hunt down the father and daughter. The killing continued.
After Eric's adaptation, the sequel had completely deviated from its original direction, transitioning into an action film.
He didn't know if the audience would accept it. If they did, he would continue filming; if not, it would end there.
Relatively speaking, Eric did not interfere with the other film, happy death day 2.
Due to the involvement of sci-fi elements like time travel, the difficulty of filming this sequel was much higher than Don't Breathe 2.
So he fully entrusted it to others. If the reviews were great, that was their brilliance; conversely, he wouldn't take the blame.
When MGM had films released, The Big Six naturally followed suit, with films such as Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Princess Diaries 2, Alien vs. Predator, and King Arthur all hitting cinemas.
However, although MGM and The Big Six launched another fierce competition, both sides knew that the champion would not belong to either, because DreamWorks' super ace, Shrek 2, also scheduled its release for mid-September.
In the blue sky, a small passenger plane was flying along its route towards New York.
Liu Yifei came out of the restroom and sat back next to her mother.
After a while, Eric also came out of the restroom and sat in the adjacent seat.
Liu Xiaoli's gaze swept back and forth between the two, but she ultimately said nothing. She couldn't control it anyway, so whatever happens, happens.
However, from the recent series of events, she could tell that Eric Cooper was definitely not the kind of heartless person who would discard someone after he was done with her.
Even if her daughter didn't get any official title from him in the end, financial compensation would certainly not be lacking.
"Eric, look at the reviews here. Dakota Fanning has unearthed an unexpected side, giving everyone a huge surprise. Don't Breathe 2 is an excellent sequel."
Eric waved his hand: "Forget it, I already know the reviews. They're mixed."
"Don't be discouraged, at least the box office is pretty good."
"Heh heh. Don't comfort me. Shrek 2 is too fierce. Fortunately, The Big Six are also suffering along with us. If we're going to die, we'll all die together."
"Then do you think Shrek 2's box office can surpass frozen?"
Eric shook his head: "Impossible. frozen had no competition at all in its third week, taking a huge advantage. Now look at how many enemies Shrek 2 has around it?"
"What's more, next month, a bunch of blockbusters like the hunger games, van helsing, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 2, and Alexander are clustered together. It would be good if it even reaches the box office of the first film."
"Actually, I hope it's a bit higher. MGM is responsible for overseas distribution, so the higher it is, the more money I make."
"The Big Six are hurting the enemy by eight hundred while losing a thousand themselves. Let's see who loses in the end."
In the evening, the plane landed in New York, and Zhou Wenqiong drove to pick them up.
Tomorrow is the reopening ceremony of the Hudson Theatre, symbolizing the official competition between MGM and Disney in the field of stage plays.
Eric came to show his face and cheer up his employees.
Sister, younger sister, niece, tsk tsk.