King of Hollywood - Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Leave It To The Professional
“You’ll be fully in charge of everything else, but I want Tim Robbins as Andy, the male lead, Morgan Freeman as Red, the first male supporting role, and Bob Gunton as Norton the prison warden, the second male supporting role. That’s all, do you have any questions?” Adrian mentioned to everyone else present in the meeting room as he looked at his document.
The department representatives looked at each other without saying a word until the strategy department’s manager nodded a few minutes later. “I understand, Mr. Adrian. We’ll try to do our best…”
“I don’t need you to try, I need you to do it, do you understand?” Adrian cut him off.
“Yes, sir, we’ll do it.” The manager quickly changed his words.
“That’s all. Laverne, stay for a while, the rest of you may leave.” Adrian gestured.
Once the rest of the people left the meeting room, he looked at Laverne who was on his left. “Do you have something to tell me, Lave?”
“Yes, about the recent investments, but I believe that you’ll be firm on your decision, right?” Lave shrugged. Clearly, he was already used to Adrian’s way of doing things.
“You’re my general manager, Lave, so just tell me straight. I’m happy to answer all your questions, and it’ll be better for us too,” Adrian replied calmly.
“I understand.” Laverne nodded. “I think that the company’s carrying out too many projects at the same time, and we’ve been investing a lot of money. It’s too risky. We’ll suffer a terrible loss if we’re slightly careless. I know that you have enough funds, but having a loss is never a good thing.”
“What do you plan to do then?” Adrian asked instead of commenting.
“What can I do? You’re the boss, and you’ve decided.” Laverne sighed. “I can only hope that the box office sales for ‘Memento’ will increase and that the preparation for ‘Jurassic Park’ will start later.”
Adrian chuckled. He could tell that Laverne was complaining. “Alright, don’t worry. The middle-phase sales for ‘Memento’ may not be great, but it’s rising now, and we previously estimated that it won’t be too far from the final sales of ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’. Once ‘Terminator 2’ screens in July, we’ll receive the 10 million dollars invested in stages. By then, Steven would’ve just finished his work, so preparations for ‘Jurassic Park’ will only start in August or September. ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ will almost be done during that time, so everything’s just nice, right?”
“What you said is based on the foundation that everything goes smoothly, Eddy,” Laverne remarked straightforwardly. “Especially the box office sales of ‘Terminator 2’, you seem to think that there won’t be a loss at all. Yes, I admit that ‘The Terminator’ attracted many movie fans, and I believe that James Cameron will produce the sequel that would be better than the first, but a total investment of 110 million dollars is too much. Even if the sales are high, we’ll at most maintain what we invested.”
“What if the global box office sales are more than 400 million dollars?” Adrian asked casually.
Laverne was startled, then smiled bitterly. If it were to be over 400 million dollars, their company would definitely earn a lot, but very few films in the global market had ever achieved that. Furthermore, if the overseas market took up a bigger proportion, more money would be distributed to them, and their company might not even get back what they invested in the first place.
“I know that you might not believe it, Lave, but I don’t doubt my vision.” If Adrian had not worried about some issues, he would have said 500 million dollars instead of 400 million dollars.
“I think highly of James Cameron and I’m sure that he’ll bring us hundreds of times of profit in the future.” Though Adrian spoke confidently, the bitter smile on Laverne’s face did not go away.
After pondering for a few minutes, Adrian changed the topic. “I previously asked you to purchase a foreign film and the adaptation rights of two novels. How are they going?”
“Uhm…” Laverne did not know why Adrian suddenly asked about them, but he answered, “There won’t be a problem with Italy, whereas King’s College, Cambridge hasn’t replied. I’m sure that it won’t be much of a problem though. The main issue is Madam Anne Rice, she doesn’t seem like she’s going to let us handle her novel.”
“Do you have any suggestions?” Adrian asked.
“You know, women are more sensitive than men,” Laverne mentioned. “We can persuade her again after ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ screens, which will increase our success rate. Of course, if you need it in a hurry, I’m 80% confident about getting it, but we might have to pay a higher price.”
“You’re extremely remarkable, Lave.” Adrian clapped his hands. “Honestly, I didn’t expect you to get ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ from Stephen King so quickly too, you did an amazing job.”
“Thank you, but I’m sure you have something else to say?” Laverne responded.
“I’ll put it this way. ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ will be my ticket to the Oscars next year. I’m also going to be producing three films next year—it might not be these three, because I have another great idea after the robbery at the restaurant. All in all, two of the cast members involved in the films will win the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the Oscars in two years, and I’ll also be nominated as Best Director.” Adrian was sure of himself. “I can guarantee the films’ quality, and the cast’s acting, so the rest…”
Although Adrian did not finish his sentence, Laverne knew very well what he was about to say. His breathing suddenly became rapid, and he pinched his nose bridge while looking at Adrian with an indescribable look.
“I never do useless work, and I always consider what comes next with every step I take. I set my eyes on the future, and I believe my vision.” Adrian noted at the end of his explanation. Needless to say, his last sentence was his main point. “‘Terminator 2’ will prove this.”
Laverne kept quiet for a while, then nodded. “I understand.”
“No, you don’t.” Adrian stared at him closely. “What I really want to tell you is that I’m very confident and far-sighted, but I’m only human. I might see more things than usual people do, but it doesn’t mean that I see everything. Hence, when you feel like saying something, just say it because I might’ve missed something. It’s your way of trusting me.”
Laverne, who was rather startled, exhaled and looked at Adrian seriously. “Yes, I understand. It’s up to you if you want to listen or not, and it’s up to me if I want to say it.”
Adrian smiled. “That’s all for today. Once Claw completes everything, you’ll be Bosworth Film Company’s CEO, and this seat will be yours. ”
He tapped his chair, then joked, “Even I will have to be at your disposal.”
Laverne would have been quite excited a few minutes ago, but now, he only gave a short response.
“Oh right, Eddy.” He suddenly recalled something when he was about to leave. “How should I reply to the two reporters who called to ask for interviews with you?”
“That… Just reject them, I’ll be working on a new film soon,” Adrian replied after thinking about it. “I’m not a big celebrity anyway, it can be done some time in the future.”
In actual fact, Adrian did not mind being interviewed. Even though he was more willing to be behind the scenes, he chose the fastest route to gain his popularity, thus he was bound to attract much attention. Nonetheless, it was not the right time yet. The reporters who looked for him were from small to medium-scaled presses, who only looked for him because they failed to get news regarding celebrities, and were only hoping to produce quality news by interviewing a new director who produced two great films in a year. Therefore, there was no need for him to accept their interviews.
‘A director behind the scene may not be as famous as celebrities, but in two years’ time, various TV stations will be inviting me for interviews.’ Adrian shrugged. ‘Speaking of which, I should have an agent now. Claw’s working very slowly.’
Although he silently cursed to himself, he did not really mean it because Claude had actually been doing very well. In half a month, Claude purchased a publishing company that was managed poorly and also completed the first version of ‘Resident Evil’ after amendments were made.
Honestly, the amendments were pretty good. The second-rate writer who liked writing suspense novels put 200% of his passion into the work once he knew that his name would be included and that he would receive part of its royalty. He tried his best to fill in the gaps and gathered a lot of information to describe the T-virus better. While the novel could only be considered a top second-rate pop novel, it was enough to attract travelers to purchase a copy before they boarded their flight—it did not matter even if they were to throw the book after. After giving a few opinions, Adrian wondered if he should let him amend two more novels.
Other than that, negotiations were ongoing for the agency. Though the selected agency was a medium-scaled one, the benefits were great, and it would not be a problem to secure it. Additionally, Adrian noticed a few familiar names on the list of actors, directors, and producers who were under the agency. It was worth noting that Claude did an amazing job.
‘Leave everything to a trustable professional, and refrain from interfering as I like.’ Adrian always stuck to this. This was why he repeatedly emphasized to Laverne the importance of trust.
