章 145: Chapter 145: New Game: "Star Wars"! - Part 1
The sight was so beautiful that Ethan blinked his eyes.
He didn't understand why Spielberg would walk out with his pants up early in the morning.
That's... too sleazy, right? Although puzzled, Ethan still took the initiative to greet him.
"Hey! Steven! Where are you off to?"
The sudden shout made Spielberg stop in his tracks.
"Oh, Ethan, what brings you here?" he asked in surprise, then glanced at his watch, "Eight in the morning? Oh my God! Did you drive all night to get here?"
Though he asked, he didn't wait for Ethan's answer, adjusting his belt while continuing, "Did you come so early to see me about something? I have some urgent business and need to go to FOX. If you're not in a hurry, then..."
He paused, realizing the issue.
Slapping his forehead, he said in annoyance, "Oh my heavens! What am I even saying!"
"If you're here at this time, you must have urgent business with me! Okay, don't wait here for me. Come with me to FOX. You can talk to me on the way, as I don't know when I'll be back..."
Despite Spielberg's somewhat disjointed speech, Ethan didn't hesitate to join him in the nanny van provided by Universal.
With a roar, the Volvo business vehicle carrying them sped out of the park. It was only then that Spielberg truly relaxed, and Ethan took the opportunity to inquire about the reason for the rush.
Spielberg didn't hide it and shared the whole story.
Turns out, Spielberg had received an invitation a week ago to attend a friend's new movie screening at FOX today. But because his new movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was in the midst of intense rough-cut editing work, requiring his full attention, he had completely lost track of time until his assistant asked him this morning why he hadn't gone to FOX yet. Only then did he remember he might have missed the appointment.
Then—
"I splashed my face with cold water, changed clothes, and ran out with my pants in hand."
Leaning back in his seat, Spielberg turned his head, saying helplessly, "If it weren't for the lack of time, I'd even have liked to take a shower first..."
He shook his collar, "I haven't showered for several days!"
"I'm almost stinking to death!"
As he moved, a rich scent of men's cologne wafted into Ethan's nostrils.
Although Ethan wasn't a germaphobe, the fact that Spielberg hadn't showered for days instinctively made him shift a bit. This subtle movement made Spielberg raise an eyebrow—
"Hey! Ethan! What's that supposed to mean!" he exclaimed loudly.
"Are you disgusted by my dirtiness?"
"Huh?"
"No no no..." Ethan hurriedly said, "I'm just allergic to cologne."
Ethan knew Spielberg was joking, so he responded quite casually before changing the subject, "Oh Steven, was the internal screening you mentioned very important?"
"Important enough that you didn't even have time to shower?"
Bringing up this matter made Spielberg quite annoyed.
"Of course!"
He said, "The movie I'm going to see today is actually George's! He's already made a rough cut of his work and called me over today to witness his grand vision!"
"Oh—you might not know how excited I was when I received this call!"
Hearing Spielberg say this, Ethan immediately understood.
So, the movie was "Star Wars"!
When this movie appeared, Ethan, who was already anxious about Magnavox and Atari suddenly switching tracks, became excited. He had decided last year to use "Space Invaders" to ride the coattails of "Star Wars" popularity.
Although this could be done anytime, now was obviously the best moment.
Because he needed a game to attract North American players' attention!
To make them forget about Magnavox and Atari's machines! "Oh—then I'm really lucky—"
Ethan said happily, "If I remember correctly, you mentioned before that George will use even more impressive visual techniques in this movie?"
"If that's the case, being one of the first to review it, am I not very honored?"
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"
Mentioning this made Spielberg very excited.
"Oh Ethan—you might not know how amazing George's ideas are! When he was writing the script, I was already deeply shocked by his grand vision! At that moment, I even felt he was the real genius, and I, just an ordinary person looking up to him!"
"And now, he's already finished an epic story?"
"Oh—I really can't wait!"
Ethan smiled and nodded at Spielberg's enthusiastic words.
Having memories of his past life, he of course knew how great a work "Star Wars" is.
Though it wasn't the first movie with special effects in film history, it was a pioneer of the special
effects era. George Lucas elevated the visual effects of movies to a new level by himself, shocking people of his time as much as seeing "Terminator 2" and "Jurassic Park" in the early 1990s and "Avatar" in the early 21st century.
There are many things that change the world, but opportunities to witness them are rare. So, when Spielberg discovered Lucas's concept was incredibly dreamy, his excitement was only natural.
And after Spielberg excitedly vented his emotions, he suddenly realized Ethan had business with him. So, he slapped his thigh and apologetically said, "Oh brother, sorry, I got too excited. I haven't even asked you what you need from me?"
This gave Ethan the chance to speak.
When Spielberg learned that Ethan was worried about Atari's new machine because he didn't know what games Atari would include, Spielberg immediately assured him that he would find someone to inquire for him.
"Oh Ethan, leave it to me."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure it's taken care of!"
"We have our own people inside Warner, it might be difficult for others to ask, but for us..."
"Their office is as good as unguarded."
This fact made Ethan laugh happily.
Since Spielberg answered so easily, Ethan was reassured.
"But... you'll have to wait for me a bit," Spielberg added.
"We can't go back now."
Wait a bit?
"Oh, no problem, Steven. I'm not in a hurry."
In Ethan's view, if Atari really did copy, then getting back sooner or later made no difference. So, when he had already boarded the "Star Wars" viewing vehicle...
Taking the trip was the best choice.
After all, opportunities to witness history are rare.
And after half an hour of driving, the two arrived at FOX's headquarters, located on Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City, Los Angeles.
Upon arriving at the entrance, Ethan saw the large FOX logo, about two stories high, painted on the wall of the production studio in light brown paint. At first glance, it really felt a bit like a fox. Entering further, the vast grounds were as grand as Universal Studios, just short of having "wealthy and ostentatious" written on their faces.
After a quick look around, Ethan followed Spielberg into a four-story building. After a series of twists and turns, they finally stopped in front of a screening room.
At this moment, several people were already inside.
Besides George Lucas, the father of Star Wars, whom Ethan recognized at a glance, the viewing team also included FOX executives, two other friends of Lucas, and two Marvel comic artists.
With Spielberg's introduction, Ethan also learned their names: Lucas's two friends were Brian De Palma and John Milius, both Hollywood professionals, and the Marvel comic artists were Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin.
The presence of Ethan surprised everyone on site.
But the next second, they extended their right hands, smiling warmly.
"Oh Ethan—pleased to meet you, thank you for the gift you brought—" George Lucas said with a smile, "The signed wish from Akira Kurosawa is the best gift I've ever received in my life!"
"Oh, don't mention it—glad you liked it—" Ethan nodded with a smile.
"Steven has been very good to me, and you're Steven's friend, so we're all friends."
Ethan smoothly climbed up the conversation.
Though Ethan wasn't on the invitation list for this screening, and the screening of a new movie actually involved trade secrets, it wasn't important.
Because he came with Spielberg, that was enough.
After brief greetings, Ethan sat down following Spielberg.
Then, he asked what he had been wondering.
"Steven, what's the deal with those two from Marvel?"
It's no wonder Ethan was curious, given his past life's knowledge of Marvel's huge impact in the film industry. Although they were just a small fish in this era, they would become the only company to turn movies into a TV series in the future.
"You mean Roy and Howard?" Spielberg didn't hide anything, explaining directly: "After George finished the screenplay for this movie, he was so confident in it that he contacted Marvel, hoping they would help him create a comic series..."
"At first, Marvel thought George was crazy, because no one had ever done something like this before. Before the movie was even released, let alone filmed, George wanted to turn the movie into a comic? To them, that was utterly incomprehensible!"
"But after reading George's screenplay, Marvel was immediately convinced by his genius idea. They said, if George could bring the content of the screenplay to life, they would definitely create a short comic series based on George's movie. So..."
"They came."
'Is that so?'
Ethan was stunned.
Because in his past life memories, he couldn't find any information related to "Star Wars" comics.
He wasn't sure if it was because he was out of the loop or if
it really didn't exist.
But...
That wasn't important, right? Hearing this gossip, Ethan just pursed his lips and smiled.
Because he realized, George Lucas was a madman!
Although "Star Wars" indeed became a national IP in America, as Spielberg said, before the movie was officially released, no one could guarantee it would be a hit. And in this situation, George Lucas directly contacted Marvel to make comics?
Oh—
That was really being confident in his own work! And Ethan, who was already interested in witnessing history, was even more excited because he knew—
George Lucas was definitely going to face a setback today!
Ethan had heard a report in his past life that "Star Wars" was doubted by many in the industry until the last second before the box office results came out, asking what kind of trash movie it was?
Because many industry insiders didn't understand it.
Including the distributor, FOX!
And because FOX didn't understand the movie, they didn't want to spend much money when buying the rights, just purchasing the distribution rights for "Star Wars" as a single movie, without considering any potential future developments.
Therefore, when "Star Wars" exploded at the box office, George Lucas rocketed to the top, becoming one of the most powerful directors in Hollywood, without a doubt.
The reason was simple: he held the rights to the strongest movie franchise in America! Knowing all this, Ethan wanted to see how badly the future great director would be criticized now, and after the movie officially started...
Well!
Even with mental preparation, Ethan was still stunned. In the first half hour of the screening, he didn't even know what he was watching. The movie seemed to have no plot; other than some unique landscapes, Ethan remembered nothing.
But that wasn't the point. As he watched further, Ethan became even more confused.
Because this version of the movie didn't even have special effects.
The memorable shockwave effects from his past life were now just a few wooden arrows; the Millennium Falcon's battle scenes were just historical footage of airplanes Lucas had somehow obtained; and when Darth Vader appeared, Ethan even laughed out loud...
Although he was an outsider, he could tell that the movie used the actor's original voice.
The Dark Lord's unprocessed voice really had no sense of oppression! The plain dialogue was no different from playing house!
When these facts emerged, Ethan immediately understood why so many people in his past life didn't have high hopes for "Star Wars."
He also understood why FOX became known as the loser in Hollywood.
Without his past life memories, he would definitely curse out loud!
This was way off!
And just like his critique, as the movie screening ended, whether it was FOX executives, Marvel artists, or Lucas's friends, they all gave the movie poor reviews.
Marvel's Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin diplomatically stated—
"Oh George, forgive us for being blunt, but your movie and the script's content..."
"Still have some discrepancies..."
Brian De Palma and John Milius were George Lucas's friends.
So they chose to be brutally honest: "Brother, if we remember correctly, when we first entered the film industry, our mentors would always tell us the same thing, which was how to make our work understandable to the audience, and now... we don't know if the public will understand, but we certainly didn't..."
If the previous comments were somewhat gentle, leaving Lucas some dignity, when the FOX executives spoke, they were utterly furious—
"Oh my God, George! What the hell did you just make us watch! Was that even a movie? It was just a pile of shit! We have no idea how you managed to spend millions on such a thing! How could you produce something like this with millions? Even a primary school student could do better than you!"
"Can this movie even be released? Oh! Sxxt!—What am I even saying! What I mean is, do you really think any theater would want to distribute your movie?"
"No! I can tell you now! No!"
The furious yelling, with Lucas standing there dumbfounded, showed he had been ready to receive flowers and applause.
"Everyone... are you... serious?"
The young man with a beard asked stiffly.
"My movie... is it really as bad as you say?"
His halting speech revealed his inner turmoil, but just as everyone was about to nod in agreement, Spielberg suddenly raised his hand, saying, "Oh brother—"
"I really like your movie!"
"Truly!"
"This is the greatest movie I've ever seen!"
With that statement...
Everyone on the scene! Including Ethan was shocked!
He never expected Spielberg to blatantly lie!
How could this level of completion be called a movie? It was really just a pile of poop! As everyone looked surprised, Spielberg continued: "Oh friends, I know what you're thinking. You think this movie has no highlights, or even fails to meet the minimum standard, belonging to the kind of trash that makes people walk around it. But
I want to say, the reason this happened is that George hasn't finished the visual effects. Once he completes all the content..."
"This will definitely be the best movie in film history!"
'...'
Alright then!
Ethan was convinced.
He thought he was here to enjoy the show, but unexpectedly, Spielberg demonstrated what it means to be a world-renowned director right in front of him, turning what was clearly a pile of trash into a potential masterpiece with completed visual effects?
Oh—
This was utterly nonsensical—
Similarly thinking it was nonsensical were the FOX executives.
After hearing Spielberg's rallying cry, a chubby middle-aged man immediately said:
"Oh Steven, we all know you're a great director, but we also know you're George's good friend. So, your words are of reference to us, but they hold no value."
"You're saying the poor screen performance we just saw is because the visual effects aren't finished?"
"Then please tell me..."
"What about the terrible story content?"
"To this point! We still don't know what we just watched!"
"Can any of you tell me what story George was trying to tell with this movie?"
"Who can explain?"
"Huh!"
The FOX executive yelled at Spielberg. Even if Spielberg was the hottest director in Hollywood at the moment...
That was useless! Because it couldn't change their view that "Star Wars" was a pile of crap!
And his words also made everyone around him nod slightly.
Yes!
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