I am Hollywood

Chapter 517: Chapter 518: Complications



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The electric cart carried both of them straight to the entrance of the studio. As soon as they stepped out, Charlize Theron eagerly asked, "Michelle, did you get any results?"

Michelle Simmons nodded. "Let's talk about it in the car."

Seeing her manager's gesture, Charlize finally felt a wave of relief wash over her. After the initial excitement, however, it soon faded into a slight disappointment. She had prepared for this meeting for so long and owed her manager a hefty sum of money. To her surprise, throughout the meeting, Eric Williams spoke only polite but meaningless pleasantries, barely even casting a glance in her direction.

People's thoughts often drifted this way; despite Charlize's outward compliance with her manager's arrangements, she still harbored her own calculations. Unfortunately, she had no chance to implement any of her little schemes during the entire meeting.

Once they got into the car, Michelle was lost in her thoughts until they had driven out of Santa Monica, at which point she noticed that Charlize hadn't said a word for quite a while.

"Feeling a bit down?" Michelle glanced at Charlize in the passenger seat.

Charlize instinctively wanted to deny it, but seeing her manager's smile led her to give a slight nod instead.

"Let me clarify," Michelle organized her words. "Mr. Williams said he saw your audition for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it went quite well, so you've successfully landed a role in the movie. However, there are three main female leads, and you're just one of them."

A joyful expression briefly crossed Charlize's face, but Michelle could still see the disappointment in the girl sitting next to her. She explained, "This is definitely a film centered around the main female characters. Its budget is comparable to Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and it's spearheaded by Eric Williams himself. You should be grateful for your luck; if this film had auditioned for the leading roles publicly, it would have driven every eligible actress in Hollywood crazy. You wouldn't have had any chance at all."

"Then..." Charlize pondered for a moment and asked, "If he's not interested in me, why did I still get the role?"

"Who knows? Maybe it was just your lucky break," Michelle thought about this question too, though she was also puzzled. However, she had no intention of delving deeper into it. Unless Eric Williams himself explained his reasoning, no one could truly know what he thought.

As they spoke, Michelle spotted a large Blockbuster video rental store along the roadside and pulled over. She took Charlize inside with her.

After searching for a while, Michelle finally found a complete set of the Charlie's Angels TV series on VHS. Instead of renting, she decided to purchase it. Although she had watched the series over a decade ago, she needed to brush up on it since she had taken on the task of selecting the female leads. Michelle intended to watch the show thoroughly and prepare well.

Seeing the three sultry actresses on the box of the video, Charlize understood that she was likely set to star in the movie version of the series. Charlie's Angels had first aired in 1976, just as Charlize was born, and she had been living on a small farm in South Africa far removed from such entertainment.

The two of them returned to the car with bags full of videos. Michelle started driving while picking up the conversation from before. "Well, you have the role now, so there's no need to dwell on why you got it. After all, there isn't anything about you that anyone else would covet. If Eric Williams had ulterior motives, he wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to land you this part. Just focus on doing what you need to do."

Holding a box of videos, Charlize read the back cover while absorbing Michelle's words. "So what do I do next?" she asked.

Michelle contemplated for a moment. "I remember you don't have a driver's license, right? Spend the next two months learning how to drive and getting your license. This is an action film after all, and you'll have driving scenes. I'll also need to be away from Los Angeles for a while. After two months, your schedule will be set by the film company. Williams said there would be three months of training for you."

Michelle added, "He mentioned that the training would be very tough and strict. If any of you can't handle it, it's better to bow out beforehand."

Charlize certainly wasn't planning on bailing out, but she did catch on to something else in her manager's words. "Did you just say 'any'?"

Michelle hadn't expected Charlize to pick up on that so quickly. "Yes. Besides you, I'll also need to find two more girls. According to Williams, I need to go to Europe. If all goes well, it shouldn't take more than two months; that's the deadline he gave me."

"What about me?" Charlize hadn't had the chance to consider how she would handle competition. She knew that if her manager left, she certainly couldn't stay at Kepler Hyde's mansion in Beverly Hills, as she wouldn't have enough money to live in Los Angeles for the next two months.

Michelle understood Charlize's concern. "I'll arrange everything for you; the expenses will be deducted from your salary later. Before I leave, I'll get your contract signed with Firefly so you'll have an official film role."

This was the first time Charlize had heard the term "salary" in relation to herself since Michelle signed her last fall, so she felt a genuine thrill. "Michelle, how much do you think my salary will be?"

Michelle absentmindedly tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she considered it. "For a major film like this, even for a newcomer, the salary shouldn't be too low. However, salaries for actresses are generally less than those for actors. Plus, there are three leading women in Charlie's Angels. I'll have more information once I talk to them. I estimate your salary should be between $100,000 and $200,000. Of course, if the movie becomes a big hit, the studio will definitely offer some bonuses."

There was one thing that Michelle didn't mention: among the three leading actresses, Charlize's salary would likely be the lowest, with the other two roles being filled by rising stars from Europe, meaning that even if those actresses weren't well-known in North America, their salaries would naturally be higher.

While this figure was a far cry from the multi-million dollar salaries of the biggest stars she saw in magazines, Charlize was still delighted. At the very least, it was a solid start. She wasn't one of the stars, and this amount should be sufficient to keep her from worrying about finances for quite a while, allowing her to focus entirely on preparing for the movie.

A few days later, Michelle Simmons, representing Charlize, signed the contract for Charlie's Angels with Flower Pictures. Although the unfamiliar production company made both her and Charlize somewhat apprehensive, the $200,000 salary came as a pleasant surprise. While that amount wasn't much compared to the production budget of over $50 million, it was the best- case scenario Michelle had anticipated. Perhaps because of this rather 'generous' pay, the contract also included an option for Charlize, which stipulated that after she starred in the first Charlie's Angels film, she would have to appear in two sequels over the next five years.

...

By early March, after an intense period of hard work, Eric successfully completed all post- production on Jurassic Park.

After watching the finished film, Eric felt confident about its box office prospects. Compared to his memories, this version of Jurassic Park had a plot just as thrilling as the original, but its special effects were even better. After all, the version from this timeline was Spielberg's work following the failure of Hook. While it eventually became a great success, the studio had not been entirely confident during production, hence the tight budget meant some details

couldn't be perfectly refined.

However, the version Eric produced burned through $75 million just for the project budget. Determined to deliver superior special effects for the series, Digital Domain, since its inception, had been engaged in developing related technology, spending a significant

amount of funds in the process.

After wrapping Jurassic Park, marketing plans for the film quickly kicked into gear. A week later, Firefly released the first poster for Jurassic Park, and Disney's themed stores began setting up displays for Jurassic Park merchandise. With Disney's hundreds of stores across North America and Europe, as long as the film achieved its expected success, Firefly would reap profits from merchandise sales in no time.

For the summer release, Firefly had three films: Jurassic Park, Deep Impact, and A Bug's Life. Eric

knew the box office sensation that Jurassic Park would be, so to avoid impacting the box office of the other two films, he scheduled Jurassic Park to release on June 4. Then three weeks later, on June 25, A Bug's Life -- completely different in genre from Jurassic Park -- would premiere, while the special effects-themed Deep Impact was set for July 2. This timing ensured that while Jurassic Park's box office momentum would still be present, it wouldn't overshadow Deep

Impact too much.

...

The films released by Firefly over the past few years had become a focal point for other studios. Many people noticed something unusual about the schedule Firefly had set after announcing the films. Historically, Firefly had maintained a release pattern of launching films at two-week intervals during peak periods.

However, with A Bug's Life being a 3D animated film distributed by Disney, this summer's release saw a staggering month between releases for the two films. Observant people quickly realized that Firefly was exceptionally confident in Jurassic Park. The almost $700 million global box office of last year's Twister was still fresh in many Hollywood minds, and the emphasis Firefly placed on Jurassic Park clearly outshone their attention to Twister. Given these concerns, some more flexible mid-tier film companies chose to postpone their summer releases to avoid Jurassic Park's spotlight. Meanwhile, Michael Eisner faced pressure from Universal's executives and decided to push back the planned late-June release of The Fugitive to mid-July, swapping its date with a medium-budget romantic film.

Although many publicly criticized Michael Eisner for being overly cautious, he insisted on not explaining too much to others. Upon hearing this news, Eric couldn't help but admire Michael Eisner's boldness; had Eisner insisted on keeping The Fugitive's original release date for fear of losing digntiy, it would have made for quite a spectacle. With some stepping back, others chose to confront the challenge. Two films were even set to "attack" Jurassic Park directly: Cliffhanger starring Sylvester Stallone and Last Action Hero featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, both produced by the German-backed Carolco. One film was scheduled to release the week before Jurassic Park, and the other a week after.

Eric had noticed these two potential box-office failures, which was why he paused negotiations for Arnold Schwarzenegger's salary on True Lies. He hadn't anticipated that these two films would so recklessly rush into the jaws of Jurassic Park.

After completing the post-production of Jurassic Park, Eric found himself swamped again with a slew of tedious tasks that required his personal attention.

At David Geffen's recommendation, the lead role in Interview with the Vampire was ultimately secured by Tom Cruise, while the second lead was taken by an Australian actor from Pat Kingsley's agency. Eric couldn't recall much about the actor named Jack Slater, likely due to the butterfly effect. The only actor he personally intervened with during casting was the young Kirsten Dunst, who at that time was just eleven years old, yet her audition impressed

everyone involved, including director Neil Jordan.

*****

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