Chapter 64: Chapter 64 - Don't get caught
Most men like sports cars and Eric was no exception. However, he could only be at the training grounds on the first day. He was so busy that he didn't have time to drop by again.
Beverly Hills, in a temporarily rented villa, Eric and Jeffrey were directing the staff in arranging the props for an upcoming scene.
Al Pacino's acting was book-standard, while Julia – according to Eric's knowledge of his past life – tended to play more based on feel. This time, Eric had her follow Al's method, which means she would first have to get into Vivian's character completely before shooting.
Filming scenes in disorder could affect performance results, so to prevent that and let the actors immerse themselves in their roles, Eric decided to shoot in chronological order.
In the original movie, Edward was first seen at his lawyer, Philip Stuckey's party. Through the latter and a few other guests' small-talk, the viewers learned a bit about the main character's identity and personality.
Eric and Jeffrey discussed for a bit and finally decided that to shoot this scene, they would throw a real party to celebrate the start of Pretty Woman. They didn't even hire extras, inviting the majority of the crew's family to appear instead. The scene wasn't a major one, so Eric didn't worry about it going wrong.
"I went to Fox's headquarters yesterday to tell them that we wanted to release the movie on Valentine's Day. It took more than an hour to convince Carter Hunt that we would deliver in time before he finally agreed that he would launch a promotion campaign two weeks before d-day. Honestly, Eric, two weeks is a really short amount of time. Road House, the movie Richard Gere will star in, won't be out until march."
Eric was writing down something on a notepad when he heard Jeffrey's words, he said: "Don't worry, Jeffrey, right now the entire country's media circle is promoting my movie, albeit they do it with criticism and jeer. I don't think there's a lot of people in the states right now who don't know about Pretty Woman. Besides, our biggest publicity stunt has yet to come."
Jeffrey curiously asked: "What publicity stunt ?"
Eric's lips curved into a confident smile: "Do me a favor and count. How many weeks has Home Alone been trending at the box office, and how much will it's final grossing be?"
Jeffrey did a quick mental calculation, he reckoned that the movie had been screening for about 12 weeks and that the box office was likely to soon reach the 200 million $ mark.
Seeing his friend relax a little, Eric said: "Do you understand?"
Jeffrey nodded his head: "Home Alone is likely to pass the 200 million mark at the box office. Which, according to an article I saw in Variety magazine, is a feat that no one in the country has been able to achieve for three consecutive years. Once Home Alone reaches that milestone, the media will have a field day again."
"Exactly, so as long as I can make a decent movie quality-wise, there's no need to worry about it failing because of a lack of publicity. And for United Artists' to release Road House a month after Pretty Woman means that they won't even be able to ride on our coattails."
Since he had no recollection of the movie Road House, Eric wasn't worried at all.
It will be difficult for Richard Gere to rise back again after missing Pretty Woman's opportunity though. After all, as Eric remembered, the actor's acting wasn't even good enough to warrant an Oscar nomination in the past.
"Right, Eric, when I went to the Fox yesterday, Carter Hunt raised the issue of a movie adaptation for Jurassic Park. And they're also interested in the book Resident Evil that you just published. I just avoided the topic."
Thanks to Michael's efforts, Resident Evil had been released the other day and had soon started some controversy. Most newspaper articles were criticizing the novel, while some reviewers and people even wondered if Eric had only been riding on his fame's momentum, and written the book to rake in the profits as the genre was completely different from Jurassic Park.
Faced with those kinds of reactions, Eric didn't even bother to reply.
Written for profit?
With his current fame and fortune, did he really need the few royalties that would ensue?
As soon as Resident Evil hit the shelves, Michael Klaus called and told him that the book was actually selling well. And that people were very interested in this new type of zombie-related science-fiction. There were even some readers who had written to both Michael and Eric, hoping for a movie adaptation.
"Jeffrey, if someone ever contacts you for the movie rights, tell them I definitely won't let go of either novel unless they can come up with a satisfactory cooperation plan."
Jeffrey nodded, before suddenly remembering something, and smiling: "For Home Alone to actually get nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Comedy really gives us pride."
Eric followed with a laugh: "Whether the Golden Globes or the Academy Awards, they will always bow to the box office. Just wait and see, there will probably be some Oscar nominations as well."
Jeffrey tentatively said: "Your shooting schedule is so compact, I'm afraid that when the time comes we won't be able to attend the Golden Globes' ceremony."
"No worries," Eric put away the notepad and tucked the pen behind his ear, and said: "Since the Golden Globes' have done us the honor, we'll attend even if it means putting the shooting on hold for a day. They know that we're in L.A. If we refuse to attend just because of the filming, we might attract some ill will."
Thinking back to how even DiCaprio had never gotten an Oscar, Eric felt he needed to tread carefully with them.
Although some claimed that Leonardo couldn't get one because he wasn't a good enough actor. Others speculated that it was because he hadn't attended the 70th Academy Awards ceremony since he was sulking at the fact that he hadn't been nominated for Best Actor in Titanic.
The two men chatted about shooting arrangements, then went to eat lunch in the vicinity at noon. After a while, Eric looked at his watch and said: "Jeffrey, you take care of things this afternoon. I have something to do."
Jeffrey looked at him inquiringly, what could possibly be more important than the shooting right now?
Eric helplessly said: "I'm driving Drew to school. She got into some trouble last time and her principal wants to see me."
Jeffrey was stunned for a second before he smiled and shook his head: "Are you seriously thinking that the girl is your daughter?"
Eric threw his hands up: "When I signed that contract with her mother, it was similar to getting Drew's custody. So I should at least take responsibility."
"Right, I read a flattering newspaper article about how you saving Drew from her mother's greedy hands, and sending her to boarding school was a great act of heart-warming kindness."
Eric wore his jacket and casually said: "I paid a guy to write that, I was tired of people bothering me about Drew's issue. I'm a pretty okay guy, and I felt people should know that."
Jeffrey who was taking a sip of coffee, sprayed it out: "You're really…"
…..
Drew's principal was a woman seemingly in her fifties with an overall gentle feel.
Eric sat alone across the woman as he listened to her: "Mr. Williams, we usually never give up on our students. However, Ms. Barrymore seems to be quite an unusual case. All of our ladies are from respectable and influential families. If their parents were to learn that their daughters had skipped class, I'm afraid that the school would be the one at the receiving end of their ire. We cannot possibly take coercive measures against Ms. Barrymore. So if this kind of thing were to happen again, I'm afraid we will be left with no other choice than to have her transferred to another school…"
"Ms. Gillian, you can rest assured, I have severely reprimanded Drew."
"Good, good." Ms. Gillian nodded her head and proceeded to ramble some more before letting Eric go.
Outside of the office, Eric looked at Drew who was dressed in her school uniform and said: "I got an earful thanks to you. Do you plan on making me go through this a second time?"
The girl smiled and grabbed Eric's arm as she said: "Don't worry, I definitely won't."
"I don't hear any sincerity in that statement." Eric smiled helplessly. Not only did the girl not seem sorry in the slightest, but she also looked like she was enjoying herself.
At the entrance, Eric sighed. Sweeping his surroundings with his gaze to make sure no one was around, he whispered: "Don't get in trouble. I'll be busy from now on, and if you intend to skip class again, at least don't get caught."
"Oh, Eric, you know me so well." Drew tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek.
Eric smiled and patted the girl's head. He went to his car and started it, waved goodbye through his window, and drove away.
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