King of Hollywood

Chapter 236: Chapter 234 Status

Chapter 236 -234 Status

“Don’t even think about it, James, you should know that the initial budget I gave you was $100 million! You should be grateful. Look at Joe and the others, who has ever been treated like you? Even I haven’t produced a film with a budget over $100 million yet.” Holding his cup, Adrian leaned against the wall and teased James Cameron, who once again sported a beard.

“Hey, it’s just 10 million more, and I only wanted to make it better,” Cameron defended himself, feeling aggrieved.

“Don’t even dream about it, James, unless you want to pay out of your own pocket—what do you think, Trent?” Adrian said, turning to look at Sean Waters, the general manager of Fox.

“I totally agree,” Waters laughed heartily. Being the general manager of Fox and having supervised the entire production of “True Lies”, he knew Cameron’s style all too well.

“Come on, James, Ed’s right, there aren’t many directors who get to splurge a $100 million budget like you do.” Seeing Cameron was about to speak again, Jonathan Demme chimed in from nearby, his tone also teasing.

“Alright, James, give up on your wild fantasies,” Adrian continued, cutting off Cameron before he could speak, “Just focus on finishing this film for now.”

Cameron eventually shrugged with a laugh, then suddenly asked, remembering something, “Do you remember what we said that day, Ed? When we left the bar, Sean was there too, though he left early.”

“Of course, I remember; I never forget what I say,” Adrian chuckled, “If this movie hits the expected targets, then I’ll invest two billion for your next film!”

“Really?” Cameron’s eyes instantly lit up with excitement, “Then how much box office would count as hitting your targets?”

“Well, we’ll talk about that after the movie’s out,” Adrian spread his hands, and everyone around laughed, thinking he was just joking. A look of disappointment flickered across Cameron’s face, but understanding seemed to dawn on him after catching Adrian’s meaningful gaze, and he joined the laughter.

“Speaking of which, I’m suddenly a bit envious of Arnold and the others; not everyone gets to play the lead in such big investments,” Denzel Washington said half-jokingly from the side.

“Who knows? No one can predict the future,” Tom Hanks said with a smile as he patted his shoulder.

“I can predict,” Adrian responded immediately, then after catching everyone’s attention, added seriously, “However, I can only predict the near future, like the prospects for ‘Philadelphia Story’.”

This comment sparked another round of laughter, and then Todd Browning, an executive from Universal, standing on the other side, asked, “So, what are the prospects of ‘Philadelphia Story’?”

“I believe anyone who has seen the previews would think it’s good; maybe Joe will get another Oscar nomination for Best Director,” Adrian speculated with utmost sincerity.

“Is that a prophecy? Should we take that as the Miracle Director’s prediction?”

“Ha, looks like we should congratulate Joe in advance, possibly getting another nomination after a year,”

“Oh, come, on, that’s just Ed’s prediction; do you all really think it’s true?”

The conversation among the guests spread and strayed further. These were the attendees of the party, executives from several amicable film companies, a number of well-known directors and actors, even Spielberg and Lux had come—although they had only stayed for thirty to forty minutes before leaving—not to mention those second and third-tier directors, actors, producers, and agents.

Moreover, Frank West, the head of NBC’s Los Angeles division attended since “Friends” was a hit on their network, while other television networks were also trying to get in on the action—like how certain guests always brought a few friends to the party, including Adrian’s target, the Turner Broadcasting System.

These well-informed folks all understood that since Bossworth Film Company had produced such a popular television series, it would surely continue to grow, especially with Adrian, the Miracle Director or Miracle Screenwriter as he was called in the industry after the success of “Friends”—though since he was still primarily producing films, with most of his screenwriting consisting of providing ideas and letting other screenwriters finish the job, this nickname remained an inside term.

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In any case, with such an individual involved, the TV series produced were somewhat insured, and naturally, these networks also hoped to get a piece of the action, given that competition was also fierce.

This goes to show that even though Adrian was relatively new to Hollywood in terms of time, his status and identity far exceeded the titles of newbie director or producer. After all, he was also the chairman of AC Media, and although AC Media couldn’t compete with the big conglomerates yet, the notion of a media company’s chairman taking on directing was nearly unheard of, securing a status beyond compare to regular newcomers.

“Do you remember what you promised me, Tom? There’s a film next year that I hope you can star in,” Adrian found an opportunity to say this to Hanks in front of everyone.

“No problem, I’ll clear my schedule for you,” the other party agreed at once, without any hesitation.

“It looks like the workaholic is at it again,” someone quipped, followed by a barrage of new topics.

This, too, was a display of power and status. If it had been someone else inviting Hanks, the response would definitely not have been as prompt. Of course, this was related to the fact that Hanks had not yet reached his peak, and neither had Adrian. Otherwise, Adrian would have said “I hope” rather than “I need.”

However, such status, identity, and power are also relative. Although he was considered a big shot in front of these people, in front of certain others, he was still unequivocally a newcomer. Just the other day at The Godfather’s party, Redstone, the old man, condescendingly called him and Claude “two nice young men.”

Although slightly displeased, Adrian quickly put it out of his mind. Redstone certainly had the right to say that. In fact, most of the celebrities at The Godfather’s party could have said the same about them; they were indeed young. But this did not mean that young people were inexperienced; Claude quickly pulled a fast one on Redstone.

“I neither accept nor reject his proposal, what a joke, thinking he could easily get shares of Paramount from me.” After a few words alone with Redstone, Claude said this to Adrian, “Although we both agree to lean towards Viacom, it’s certainly not now. Let’s wait till they battle it out.”

All Adrian could do was laugh helplessly.

“Hey, Ed, so you’re here.” Suddenly a hand clapped on Adrian’s shoulder.

“Dan?” Adrian turned his head and then deliberately showed a look of relief. “I thought it was someone else.”

“What’s up?” Dennis asked, puzzled.

“No, nothing. Are you having fun?” Adrian shook his head, steering the conversation elsewhere. After chatting with Cameron and others for a while, and then fending off the numerous TV network executives who came to chat, he was hoping to stay in this quiet corner for a few minutes before finding Julia to leave together. He hadn’t expected Dennis to come looking.

“Oh, sure, having a great time, and so are they.” Saying this, Dennis stepped aside to reveal Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, and the other six leading actors, along with several screenwriters and a few directors approaching.

“Hi, Ed, long time no see, you seem to have gotten even more handsome.” Jennifer, being more familiar with Adrian, greeted him with a beaming smile first among the other five actors.

“Hi, Jenny, you too, even more beautiful than before.” Adrian smiled and hugged her, then hugged the other five in turn, “Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations.”

“We owe it all to you, Ed.”

“That’s right, if it weren’t for you, we would never have had the chance to star in such an interesting TV show.”

Matthew and the others were bustling with words of gratitude and respect; David Schwimmer was particularly expressive. After all, Schwimmer had almost refused when Adrian approached them to star in the show, and if not for Adrian’s persistence, he wouldn’t be here today, and might have been at home, filled with regret.

Adrian conversed with them amiably, graciously accepting their gratitude. To be honest, he really wanted to know for a few minutes if, ten years later, when they found their roles completely limited to Friends and any attempt at transformation was in vain, whether they would feel any resentment.

“By the way, Ed, have you considered making a guest appearance in Friends?” After chatting for a few minutes, a screenwriter suddenly said this to Adrian, which immediately turned everyone’s attention to him.

“Do you have a good idea, Braga?” Adrian asked, unfazed.

Apart from the interesting language and life-oriented humor, Friends had a knack for inviting popular stars for guest appearances. With the original cast performing, this highlight was certainly not overlooked, but he hadn’t expected them to target him for it.

“I have a concept,” said the screenwriter, known as Braga, grinning. He was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, quite young, no wonder he was so bold.

“Matt’s character Joey is a soap opera actor. We just design a scenario where he’s auditioning for a movie.” Braga put it this way, “You can play the director or even yourself. Think about it, Joey is auditioning for the Miracle Director.”

Friends had already shot 11 episodes, and there were at least 13 more to film. They were planning to start this round of guest appearances with him—a clever plan.

“How about it, Ed? You just need to be yourself,” seeing him deep in thought, Braga continued to persuade, “You know, Dan is right behind you, and as soon as Jenny spoke up, he agreed to make a guest appearance.”

“Dan agreed already?” Adrian looked at Dennis, who nodded at him.

Interesting. Adrian squinted his eyes. Speaking of which, Dan had been very close to Jenny all evening, and there were several times when Noni wasn’t around him… Really quite interesting. (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. There are more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)