Capítulo 450: Chapter 451: The Trailer
[Chapter 451: The Trailer]
Just two days after the completion of the Twister trailer, the biggest television extravaganza in America, the Super Bowl, was quickly approaching. On this day, nearly half of Americans would be glued to their television sets to watch the National Football League Championship game.
Because she was the lead actress in Twister, Eric had originally invited Joanna Pacula to his estate to watch the Super Bowl together and enjoy the trailer he had edited. However, as evening approached, a white limousine rolled into the estate, and two stunning women emerged from the car.
"What brings you both here?" Eric asked, surprised to see Joanna and Virginia together.
Virginia, wearing a black V-neck gown, shot him a look and replied, "What, don't you welcome my company?"
"Of course I do," Eric shook his head and gestured for them to enter, but his eyes soon caught sight of the prominent rose-colored rings on both women's left ring fingers, making a smile creep onto his lips.
Seeing Eric following them, Joanna softly explained, "Vicki and I were supposed to go to Minnesota for the live game, we had tickets, but we canceled last minute after hearing your call."
Eric politely opened the villa door for the two women. "I'm just curious when you two became so close?"
"It was that time Vicki came to Oklahoma to visit the set. After that, we stayed in touch regularly. You're so busy that we hardly get to see you," Joanna replied with a hint of fondness in her tone.
Eric heard a faint hint of wistfulness in her voice and awkwardly smiled. "That's not a bad thing. You two are about the same age, so you must have plenty to talk about."
"Why is it still so quiet here?" Virginia surveyed the estate, commenting. After the release of The Others, she moved out of Malibu and bought another place in Beverly Hills, so her visits to the estate had become infrequent.
Eric remarked, "Because I like it this way. You wouldn't want me to hire a bunch of pretty maids, would you?"
"We can't control you," Virginia laughed, lifting her left hand to show off her ring, "So, how many have you sent out?"
Upon hearing this, Joanna's eyes lit up with curiosity.
"I'll invite you both when I gather everyone so you'll know then."
"You're just being ridiculous. The day I reach my breaking point, I'll move to San Francisco," Virginia teased, though her eyes twinkled with amusement, clearly not genuinely angry.
"Hang a rainbow flag outside, ha! Then you'd be famous," Eric joked.
They chatted for a while about everyday life and then started preparing dinner together.
...
For the average American, that night, the main focus was still on the matchup between the Washington Redskins and the Buffalo Bills. However, for the top executives at the seven major Hollywood studios, many of them were fixated on the upcoming Super Bowl trailer airings.
Warner Brothers' Batman Returns, Sony-Columbia's Tom Cruise-starring prequel to Running Out of Time, Universal's Death Becomes Her, and Fox's Alien 3 all chose to showcase their films during the Super Bowl. However, the most anticipated was Firefly's upcoming summer blockbuster, Twister.
Unlike the other films that had begun various promotional campaigns, Twister had only released a simple cast list up to this point. Firefly had not revealed any specific details about the film. Known for his high output, Eric hadn't directed a single film all of last year, making the anticipation for this visually stunning feature even more palpable.
...
Night had already fallen, but Michael Eisner hadn't clocked out yet. He was still in his Universal Pictures office, watching the Super Bowl live stream with a few of his trusted executives. Though unspoken, his close associates understood that Michael's primary interest lay in Eric Williams' Twister.
After taking over management from Panasonic, Michael had managed to gain a tenuous grip over the studio with an iron fist. But he was very aware that everything was only temporary; if he couldn't quickly improve Universal's operational status, those forces he had suppressed would inevitably push back harder.
...
Similarly, the top executives at Sony-Columbia, Peter Guber and Jon Peters, gathered in a luxurious mansion in Beverly Hills to keep an eye on the Super Bowl.
In the two years since Sony acquired Columbia, they had produced several hits, including Total Recall and Hook. This summer, they planned to release the prequel to Running Out of Time, for which they had secured all rights from Eric. Their performance had been booming, but everyone in Hollywood knew that Sony Pictures had been operating at a significant loss, despite all those blockbuster investments. Any profits they managed to scrape together were mostly siphoned off by famous filmmakers like Spielberg.
What's more, Peter and Jon squandered Sony Pictures' funds on parties, yachts, private jets, and even high-class escorts. When Sony Chairman Akio Morita inspected the situation and was brought aboard a yacht filled with Hollywood stars, he had no doubts about the company's performance. Instead, he happily attributed their losses to normal fluctuations caused by acquisition.
In the past, Peter and Jon would never have wasted such a splendid night's entertainment watching a football game. However, after Panasonic's stern takeover of Universal's management, they felt the looming threat.
The Japanese didn't lack intelligence; if Sony Pictures continued suffering immense losses, there would be more consequences when Sony HQ woke up to the implications of Panasonic's earlier actions.
In addition to Universal and Sony, executives from Warner, Paramount, Fox, and other companies were also closely tracking the Super Bowl.
...
Compared to the anxiety of others, Eric felt quite relaxed. After dinner, with an array of snacks prepared alongside the two women, they all snugged up on the living room couch, comfortably watching the live finals on television. Eric and Joanna weren't really into the Super Bowl; they just offered the occasional offhand comment and cheered randomly for any mistakes, while Virginia appeared a bit more enthusiastic.
"When I was 12, I distinctly remember, my brother brought me to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Unfortunately, we didn't get tickets, so we could only watch from a small cafe outside the stadium. I cried out of frustration. To cheer me up, my brother took me around Los Angeles with the leftover cash, even took me to Disneyland. We hitchhiked back to New York, fortunately without incident. Otherwise, I would have regretted it," Virginia recounted.
The American enthusiasm for the Super Bowl was something outsiders found hard to grasp. Many companies or schools even offered Super Bowl tickets as rewards.
Eric comfortingly rested his hand on Virginia's waist and laughed, "Your brother doesn't seem like a bad guy. What trouble could he possibly get into? Your worry is clearly unfounded."
Virginia shot Eric a scornful glance, "My brother may be a bit rough around the edges, but he's a great guy -- unlike you, who looks good on the outside but is just a charming cad on the inside."
Listening to the lady's playful teasing, Eric leaned in and kissed Virginia's cheek. "Generally, I take that as a compliment."
Virginia pushed his face away, playfully chiding, "What a narcissist."
Though she had a great relationship with Virginia, Joanna couldn't help but feel a bit left out and asked, "Eric, when is the Twister trailer going to start?"
"After the third quarter. We couldn't secure a good ad slot, but don't worry, you'll both be super surprised later," Eric assured.
As they spoke, the second quarter concluded and the customary ad break began. Eric was taken aback to see an ad for Apple's laptops. Given the hefty profits the recent PowerBook release had brought Apple, it wasn't surprising that they would advertise during the Super Bowl.
After Apple's PowerBook ad ended, the screen faded, and Warner's logo appeared. Eric perked up, knowing that the next was surely the promo for Batman Returns.
In the dark, grimy sewers, a figure holding an umbrella slowly emerged. Voiced over, the Penguin showcased that sinister, hooked-nose character described in the comics.
"How disgusting," the two women felt a wave of discomfort and leaned closer to Eric, who remained unfazed. Watching the screen's vivid comic-style visuals, exaggerated sets, and dark aesthetics, he internally sighed. It seemed this sequel hadn't changed at all. Warner might avoid losses, but they'd undoubtedly lose significant popularity due to Tim Burton's bizarre style. After this sequel, it was reasonable to believe Warner would clean house, replacing both the director and the lead actor altogether.
After several clips, Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman appeared, an urban white-collar worker who fell from a building and was surrounded by wild cats, a mad woman who drank milk crazily because of persecution by her boss, and a sexy Catwoman who stood in front of a store and made strange cat calls accompanied by violent explosions... It wasn't until then that Michael Keaton's Batman finally showed up in the Batmobile.
After the 1-minute 30-second Batman Returns trailer aired, Virginia expressed her disappointment, "Catwoman looks so sexy. Warner invited me once to play Catwoman, but unfortunately, I wasn't available at that time."
"Catwoman isn't really your style. If you want to play a superhero, I'll find you a role in the future," Eric suggested.
"Oh, which superhero do you think would fit me?"
Eric mentally reviewed DC and Marvel superhero movies and shook his head. "Never mind; you might as well play a ghost. Being a superhero isn't that easy."
At Joanna's laughter, Virginia playfully punched Eric's shoulder.
...
In front of television sets across North America, in contrast to Eric's mild response to the Batman Returns trailer, many DC comic fans reacted with extreme excitement.
In the original comics, the Penguin was an even graver threat to Batman than the Joker, with significantly more popularity. Moreover, the stunning Catwoman was undoubtedly another high-profile character, having a romantic yet complicated relationship with Batman, thus accruing a large fanbase. The appearance of these two heavyweight comic characters in this sequel was enough to send many comic and movie fans into a frenzy; many had decided to see this new film as soon as they could after watching just half of the trailer.
"It's too dark, and the style is a bit exaggerated. Even if this extreme style might earn positive reviews from critics, it would struggle commercially," assessed Michael Eisner after watching the Batman Returns trailer in Universal's office.
Universal's Death Becomes Her was slated for a simultaneous release on June 19, a date which had initially faced some internal disapproval. However, upon seeing Batman Returns lean towards such an extreme bizarre style, Michael's original concerns and worries had eased significantly.
Michael Eisner was even more apprehensive about the releases of Twister, set to open two weeks earlier, and Firefly's other film, The Mask, timed for July 3. Though both releases were two weeks apart, since they were related to Eric -- who historically had impressive records -- Michael didn't dare to relax.
...
Initially, Eric had some expectations for the famed Super Bowl halftime show, but the performance from the unfamiliar star left him quite disappointed. He could only look forward to next year's Super Bowl halftime show; if he recalled correctly, the guest would be Michael Jackson. In fact, 1993 would mark the peak of Jackson's career, but it would also become a turning point in his life as that infamous child abuse case was about to unfold.
After the halftime show, the game entered the second half. Eric and Joanna continued playing the role of the casual onlooker, occasionally receiving some insider commentary from Virginia.
As time ticked away, the three of them munched on snacks, finally making it to the end of the third quarter.
Following that popular intro from Firefly, lively music accompanied a scenic aerial shot quickly sweeping over Oklahoma's vast farmlands.
After enjoying the delightful visuals, the scene quickly shifted to the tornado research team led by Jo Harding. Joanna, wearing a white tank top with a jacket tied around her waist, stood atop a vehicle, flashing an alluring smile at the male lead before jumping down.
After several montage clips, the female lead finally spoke her first line: "The biggest storm cluster in twelve years is heading this way!"
Suddenly, the music's rhythm became urgent and intense.
*****
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