Chapter 474: Chapter 475: The Promise
[Chapter 475: The Promise]
[T/N: I will be adding the current date every few chapters for better readability. Current date: June 15, 1992.]
Eric thought that Catherine Zeta-Jones would sleep in late after her hangover, but to his surprise, when he got up, he found her in the kitchen wearing a pink bathrobe, making breakfast.
"Good morning, Catherine," Eric said as he sat down in the small dining area connected to the kitchen, smiling toward her.
Zeta-Jones seemed a bit startled and looked over, finally replying, "Good morning, Mr. Williams."
"Is there breakfast for me?"
"Of course," Zeta-Jones replied, quickly serving up the fried eggs from the skillet onto a plate and bringing it over along with the other already-prepared food.
"Thanks," Eric said, grabbing the utensils without hesitation and was about to dig in when he noticed Zeta-Jones sat down next to him.
Realizing Eric's confusion, she responded, "I don't eat in the morning. This is specially made for you."
Eric chuckled as he divided the breakfast into two portions, pushing one toward her. "You can pour yourself a glass of milk."
Zeta-Jones didn't argue, getting up to walk to the fridge and bringing back a glass of milk, sitting down in her previous spot.
"How did you get so drunk last night?" Eric casually asked as he spread jam on his bread.
At this question, Zeta-Jones paused, glancing at him with a somewhat annoyed expression before saying, "Some guy at the party was a nuisance and messed things up for me."
"Oh, that's unfortunate. Landing a president from one of the Hollywood majors isn't that easy. But I believe John Peters wouldn't flip on you so easily. What did you do next?"
"I turned down his proposal," Zeta-Jones admitted softly.
Eric was momentarily taken aback before bursting into a hearty laugh. "A proposal, ha! That's quite something. To have a Hollywood veteran propose to you!"
She shot him a look, listening to him casually discuss something that was typically not meant to be so openly discussed. Feeling a bit defeated, she thought about how she, a regular girl from a small town in Wales, had fought her way to where she was: "Mr. Williams, are you gloating over my misfortune? I thought you were a gentleman."
"Where did you get that idea?" Eric asked, stopping his laughter.
"For example, from last night..."
"Oh, so you were awake last night? I thought you were completely out of it," Eric said, narrowing his eyes to look at the woman next to him. The woman in the pink bathrobe radiated a faint scent of perfume. "You may have misunderstood -- I just found your drunken state pretty uninteresting. What I really like are women who are half-drunk and half-awake; they tend to struggle."
Zeta-Jones smirked. "The more you struggle, the more you enjoy it, right?"
"Bingo," Eric snapped his fingers.
Even though Zeta-Jones knew Eric was mostly joking, she still shot him a disdainful look.
Eric completely ignored her gaze and asked, "Now that you've lost that golden goose, what do you plan to do next?"
Zeta-Jones gave him a wistful look. "There's still one in front of me. I plan to see if I can hook him. If that fails, I'll go back to the UK and wait for another opportunity."
Eric pretended to shudder as if shocked. "I advise you to give up that idea. Young people tend to go to extremes. What if you lure someone to propose to you again and then cruelly reject him? It's hard to predict what kind of tragic outcome might happen."
"If he really does propose, maybe I would actually say yes?"
"Don't do it! You're still young. Once you step into the grave of marriage, you probably won't be able to climb out. Just continue your mischief among Hollywood's older men. Once you've stepped over those old bones to climb to the peak of Hollywood power, I'd gladly write you a biography for free. I've already thought up a title: The Legendary Life of Catherine Zeta-Jones."
"The title lacks creativity, but it's understandable since Hollywood directors often lack talent in writing," she quipped back.
Eric gritted his teeth, as if wracking his brain for a moment before saying, "How about My Struggle?"
"Hitler would be even more furious..."
Eric sighed and shook his head. "Ah, women!"
Zeta-Jones looked at the 'defeated' expression on Eric's face, her lips curving into a charming smile, though it faded quickly. She suddenly wanted to ask Eric if he looked down on her, but then realized that perhaps this young Hollywood mogul didn't care about her at all. If that were the case, what was there to be looked down upon? But how could someone like him, who seemed to have been favored by the gods, ever understand the struggles she went through to escape poverty, climbing her way up carefully and determinedly?
Noticing that Zeta-Jones had fallen silent, Eric turned to look at her, noticing her expression and asking, "What's wrong? Weren't you just fine?"
"Nothing," Zeta-Jones blinked rapidly a few times. "It's nothing."
"Oh," Eric didn't pry any further. "Do you want me to have someone bring you a set of clothes?"
Zeta-Jones shook her head. "No need. I'll just wear the dress from last night when I leave. And thank you for bringing me back last night, Mr. Williams."
"Not at all."
After Zeta-Jones finished her breakfast, she elegantly wiped her lips with a tissue and then, as if making up her mind, said, "If one day... don't forget today's promise."
"What promise?" Eric asked, confused.
"The promise of helping me write my autobiography. Whether it's The Legendary Life of Catherine Zeta-Jones or My Struggle; either way, when that day comes, I'll definitely make you fulfill this promise."
Eric noticed the determined look on her face and smiled, nodding. "Sure, but we didn't discuss my fees. I can be quite expensive."
"I'll star in one of your movies for free," Zeta-Jones said confidently, "By then, my pay will surely be substantial."
Eric pretended to be torn for a moment before putting on a look of reluctant acceptance. "Alright, I'll make the sacrifice and agree."
After Eric finished his breakfast, Zeta-Jones carefully washed the dishes clean before heading back to the bedroom to change into the dress from last night.
When she came out, Eric asked, "Should I have the driver take you?"
Zeta-Jones didn't refuse his kindness and expressed gratitude; the two walked out of the villa side by side.
As she was about to get into the car, Eric pulled out a business card and handed it to Zeta-Jones. "A card from a good friend of mine. He's a senior executive at ICM. You can go see him and just say I recommended you."
Zeta-Jones hesitated for a moment.
Eric smiled, "If you mind, I can guarantee this detail won't appear in your autobiography."
Zeta-Jones smiled back and took the card from Eric, glancing at it. It had the name Kepler Hyde on it -- she vaguely remembered it being the name of a top Hollywood agent. "Thank you, Mr. Williams, but you can write this incident truthfully in my autobiography."
"Okay," Eric nodded, stepping forward to personally open the car door for her. Zeta-Jones lifted her skirt and got in. Eric closed the door and approached the driver to give him a few instructions, watching the black BMW drive away.
...
Due to significant changes in the film's style, Running Out of Time: Prequel only earned $40.3 million in its first week. Throughout the week, ticket sales showed a clear downward trend, with box office forecasters predicting a drop of over 60% in the second week -- this was a conservative estimate because, on June 19, the much-anticipated sequel Batman Returns was set to release, amidst the ongoing strong performance of Twister. It was clear that Running Out of Time: Prequel was destined to become a tragic casualty.
Compared to the misfortune of Running Out of Time: Prequel, Twister, in its second week, surprised many with its box office performance -- a true shock. In its second week, Twister's earnings only dropped 15%, hitting a high of $55 million, which was about $15 million more than Running Out of Time: Prequel's first week earnings. With this box office trend, Twister was very likely to become another film surpassing $300 million in North America.
Twister had accumulated $120 million over those two weeks, which allowed Hollywood studios to see the potential box office profits of CGI films. In no time, besides the extremely sought-after Digital Domain, Industrial Light & Magic became a target for other major film companies, while newly established small CGI companies in Hollywood frequently received acquisition offers from major studios.
In this context, Eric, after consulting with Stan Winston, quickly made the decision to expand the scale of the Digital Domain, planning to increase the number of fixed CGI artists by 1,000. The rationale behind this decision was not solely based on the expected increase in workload for the digital division.
There was also consideration regarding the MAYA software. If they could train 1,000 CGI artists proficient in using MAYA, those who eventually left would play a significant role in promoting MAYA in the visual effects industry.
Recognizing the importance of CGI effects, other special effects companies started developing their own effects software. However, lacking sufficient film projects to accumulate experience, Eric understood these programs would likely never surpass MAYA. Waiting a few more years and choosing the right moment to commercialize MAYA could bring him a significant fortune.
...
On June 19, under close scrutiny and anticipation from countless fans, Warner Bros. released Batman Returns, the second major film in the Batman series after two years.
With Running Out of Time: Prequel having declared box office failure, most people shifted their focus to the box office battle between Batman Returns and Twister. While Twister had already entered its third week, its phenomenal earnings in the previous two weeks meant that even with a 20% drop in its third week, it would still reach over $45 million.
As Eric had expected, although Batman Returns retained Tim Burton's dark style, the audience no longer accepted the increasingly bleak tone after being dazzled by the first film. While Batman Returns still earned over $55 million in its first week, audience reviews were notably less favorable than the first. Meanwhile, Twister pulled in over $46 million, reaching a total of $166 million. In comparison, it seemed that this year's box office champion would undoubtedly belong to Twister.
In the second week of Batman Returns, the ticket sales dropped by 45%, a significant increase over the first film's decline of just over 20% during the same period. Although this sequel would likely still manage to recoup its costs based on current box office trends, in light of overwhelming fan criticism, Warner Bros. was already considering replacing the director and leading actor for the Batman series.
Perhaps to maintain relevance, during the second week of Batman Returns, Michael Keaton, the lead actor, voluntarily revealed to the media that he planned to exit the Batman series. Warner Bros. did not respond directly to this.
Eric soon heard this news and knew that Warner Bros. had undergone complete reboots of the creative teams for the third and fourth installments of their Batman films in the 1990s. He could understand that Michael Keaton was seeking an easy way out for himself. However, without the Batman persona's glow, it seemed unlikely that Michael Keaton would achieve any major developments in Hollywood again. Years later, reminiscing about the past, this former superhero actor would star in a film called Birdman, reflecting on his experiences, while making a run for the Oscars.
However, these were not the matters that concerned Eric. July was approaching, and all preliminary preparations for Jurassic Park were complete and ready to shoot. But after some consideration, Eric decided to wait until Firefly's other film released during the summer to head to Hawaii's Kaua'i Island, the main filming location for Jurassic Park.
*****
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