บท 994: Chapter 996: Be More Content
[Chapter 996: Be More Content]
As it was late at night near Central Park, the so-called 'lungs of Manhattan,' the surrounding air felt exceptionally fresh, free from the grime of the bustling metropolis. Eric responded with a nod, allowing the precious quiet of the night to wash over him.
Stephanie Seymour, one of the most famous supermodels of the '90s, had seen countless men trying to get close to her over the years. Naturally, she carried an air of pride common among beautiful women. During her few encounters with Eric, his unflustered demeanor felt like a challenge to her charms, almost a setback.
Eric's appearance filled Stephanie with renewed confidence. She was convinced that Eric had followed her here. Although she was married, Stephanie was never one to settle for ordinariness. She enjoyed the feeling of being a celebrity, relishing the life cloaked in lights and attention. At thirty, the age traditionally associated with a woman's peak allure, the modeling industry, with its rules, insisted this was her retirement age.
However, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and various recent events had changed the game. If Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista, who were older, could maintain their influence in the fashion world through their connections and television programs, then Stephanie was determined she could too.
Of course, this required that she first get an opportunity.
Thinking about this made Stephanie a bit resentful. After the launch of America's Next Top Model and the popularity of Project Runway, her efforts to participate in both had been mercilessly rejected by the man beside her.
Now, she felt like a cat yearning to misbehave.
She smirked to herself in delight but, after a minute passed, followed by two and then five, she couldn't hold back any longer. She glanced over at Eric, who was focused on the streetlights below, wearing a look of complete relaxation, and felt frustration boiling within her.
With a forced patience, Stephanie spoke first. "Eric, don't you think this is a bit boring?"
"Nope," Eric replied, pulling himself from his thoughts to appraise the woman beside him. After several encounters, he understood Stephanie's intentions and grinned. "You smell lovely. As long as I have a beautiful, fragrant woman beside me, boredom is off the table."
Stephanie pursed her lips playfully. "Are you complimenting me, or is that flirtation?"
Eric answered seriously, "In normal circumstances, it would be flirting, but you can understand it as a compliment."
Stephanie raised an eyebrow, momentarily taken aback. "I really don't know if I should admire your boldness or condemn your cowardice."
Eric squinted playfully, his smile teasing. "Actually, I'm quite bold."
Seemingly oblivious to the 'danger,' Stephanie continued to provoke him. "Oh? Then show me!"
"Sure thing," Eric nodded, slightly shifting to the side, his hand reaching out.
Standing at the corner of the rooftop railing, Eric wrapped his arm around her waist, somewhat abruptly turning her body to push against the other rail. Stephanie didn't expect him to be so 'direct.' Her mind momentarily hazed, she leaned into the left railing, awkwardly adopting a somewhat shameful position.
Just as she started to regain awareness, she felt Eric slide closely behind her, his breath tickling her ear as he playfully reprimanded her like a mischievous child. "Women need to learn to behave themselves sometimes."
"You--"
Realizing she had been played, Stephanie flushed in embarrassment and anger, about to retort when Eric swiftly sidestepped. The quiet rooftop echoed with a sharp 'smack,' and the sting on her backside made her legs buckle slightly, almost causing her to collapse.
"Eric Williams, you jerk!"
...
In the stairwell, Eric shrugged at the exasperated voice trailing behind him as he continued his descent down the stairs.
Upon returning to the party hall, he found a guest playing the piano for everyone. Eric poured himself a glass of red wine and wrapped his arm around Giselle as she approached, joining Chris and Emily.
Once the guest finished, everyone clapped in unison, and the lively atmosphere returned to the hall.
Chris turned to Eric and asked, "What took you so long?"
"I was enjoying the breeze on the rooftop," Eric explained. "Also, John Mack just wanted us to expedite Yahoo's IPO process."
Chris nodded, not surprised. He could guess Eric's response and didn't press the matter further. Instead, he smiled, "Looks like John and the team are under a lot of pressure."
"I'm not planning to get involved in that," Eric chuckled. "We just need to maintain our own pace."
While the collaboration with Firefly and Morgan Stanley was smoothly progressing, their relationship hadn't reached a level where Eric would alter Yahoo's IPO strategies. Chris, despite working at Morgan Stanley, only had a business relationship with their management.
After being slapped by Eric on the rooftop, Stephanie didn't come back to pursue him but shot him a resentful glance from a distance instead.
The party went on until midnight, and Eric finally left with Giselle.
...
After two days of watching the ABC group's annual television show presentations, it was already Friday.
The Day After Tomorrow, after a weekend debut grossing $73.75 million, raked in an additional $37.99 million over the next four weekdays.
Ultimately, this sci-fi blockbuster achieved a staggering first-week box office total of $111.74 million, becoming the first film of the summer to break $100 million in its opening week.
In contrast, the $140 million production, Lethal Weapon 4, only crossed the $100 million mark in its fourth week, standing at $101.5 million. Facing the formidable challenge from The Day After Tomorrow, its weekly gross had plummeted to $6.8 million, and over the next two weeks, it could barely push its total earnings to the $110 million range, barely matching The Day After Tomorrow's opening weekend.
Moreover, the third-week earnings of The Patriot and the second-week earnings of The Truman Show were similarly impacted by The Day After Tomorrow, showing significant declines.
...
With two successive hits from Bad Boys, and his third film breaking the $100 million barrier in its opening week, Michael Bay was enjoying a remarkable wave of success.
On the other hand, Roland Emmerich, the director of The Patriot, found himself in a rather embarrassing position.
Everyone knew that The Day After Tomorrow was originally supposed to be Roland's project, but he had given it up in favor of directing Sony's Godzilla under the lure of a massive director's fee.
The underwhelming performance of Godzilla severely tarnished the director's reputation that Roland had just begun to establish, and now, The Patriot's reception only added to his woes.
With three weeks at the box office, The Patriot, with a production cost of $110 million, only managed to earn a meager $87 million, trailing behind even Lethal Weapon 4.
After being bombarded by paparazzi asking for his thoughts on the box office discrepancies between The Patriot and The Day After Tomorrow, Roland simply vanished, claiming a vacation and leaving Los Angeles without a trace.
Historically, Roland Emmerich peaked with Independence Day. Since the failure of Godzilla, he seemed to have spiraled downward.
Years later, he made a half-hearted comeback with The Day After Tomorrow, but that too crumbled with the dismal performance of 10,000 BC. Even his subsequent project, 2012, while achieving good global box office numbers, primarily relied on apocalyptic marketing and boasted poor reviews. After 2012, Roland's works seemed to merely serve as retirement funds.
In comparison, Michael Bay's films had a consistent commercial performance, and Eric aimed to keep him as part of the Firefly family. Therefore, even though The Day After Tomorrow had just released, over in Los Angeles, Jerry Bruckheimer had already started discussions with Michael Bay about new film plans.
...
June 12 marked the start of a new week, with the follow-up to The Day After Tomorrow being a period piece called The Mask of Zorro. Eric had never been interested in period films, but he knew this one because it starred Catherine Zeta-Jones.
If memory served right, The Mask of Zorro was produced under Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, but now Universal Pictures had taken the helm.
Universal's main focus this year was The Scorpion King, scheduled for July 17. The Mask of Zorro slotted into mid-June, seeming to have a hotter schedule than The Scorpion King yet awkwardly positioned between The Day After Tomorrow and the sequel to The Matrix.
However, due to historical changes, the production cost for this film was only $40 million, and Universal seemed to be gambling -- hoping that if the two massive blockbusters underperformed, The Mask of Zorro could pick up the slack.
Clearly, from The Day After Tomorrow's box office results, that scenario didn't occur, and given the high expectations from fans, the likelihood of The Matrix 2 failing was slim.
Eric had taken an interest in this film mainly because he had casually pushed Catherine Zeta-Jones into the lead role.
*****
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