I’m in Hollywood Chapter 193: Bargaining Chip

"I look forward to a smooth cooperation, Eric." After signing on the contract, Robert Shayne showed pleasant smiles while standing up.

Eric stood up too, holding the hand of Robert Shayne" Sure, Robert."

On the last day of August, Firefly finally acquired New Line with 15% of shares and 60 million US dollars in cash after nearly one month of negotiation. The scale of two companies was nowhere near that of Colombia Pictures that Sony wanted to acquire, nor were they like Colombia that involved many parties competing for interest, and both sides had a stronger intention of cooperating with each other. As a result, it stood to reason that they would cooperate with each other after the price was finalized.

The merger of Firefly and Newline, with the former being an emerging film studio in Hollywood and latter an old second tier film company, had attracted the attention of the media. In compliance with the requirements of those media, they held a brief press conference after the signing ceremony. Obviously, a celebration party would be held afterwards.

Eric preferred to stay quietly in the study room than attending such social events. It was inevitable to go to parties living in such a country, though he did not want to go there. If it were not for his refusal of many invitations, given his current status, he would have received various kinds of invitations to a party nearly every day.

Eric, I hear The Others written by you is popular during its audition."

"Yes, but you may know that I have already signed a distribution contract with Disney which provides a quotation so high on the revenue sharing of The Others and Steel Magnolias that I cannot reject it." Nodding his head, Eric briefly explain the situation to Robert.

He thought that Robert wanted to get the distribution right of The Others, so he explained to him patiently. As they had already signed a contract, Robert was a member of Eric's team now. He would serve as the CEO of Firefly Film Studio and work together with Jeffery, the new president of the company, to integrate the business of both companies in the next few months.

"No, I think you've misunderstood what I mean." Robert shook his head "I don't mean to obtain the distribution right of The Others. What I mean is that you are good at writing scripts about horror films as The Others written by you is popular. So I am wondering if you can write a script for the sequel of A Nightmare on Elm Street. How do you like it?"

The requirement of Robert reminded Eric of that movie's information that he had seen before. In the negotiation process, Firefly collected more detailed information which was more accurate than that in Eric's memory. As an important horror movie series, the first episode of A Nightmare on Elm Street pocked 25 million US dollars in box office, from which New Line earned a fortune. Although the distribution cost of the next three series increased gradually, it could still make a profit.

Recalling what he had written, Eric said:" Robert, the horror style of A Nightmare on Elm Street has been established, which means that I cannot create any new plots. I think we can terminate this series temporarily in light of the box office performance of the latest sequence of that movie. We will suffer a great loss if we continue to produce that series when the audience have been tired of watching the plot of Freddy killing children in their dreams. We'd better stop the series and wait some years until the young generation of audience grow up and the old one feel nostalgic about that series."

Hearing what Eric said, Robert's expression slightly changed. He understood that what Eric just said made much sense, but he still felt uncomfortable since Eric intended to stop the sequence of A Nightmare on Elm Street when he just concluded a contract with him. He a.s.sociated this situation with the purging of forces in the new country annexed by a king from another country in ancient times in order to erase the original memories of the people in that country.

Having lived through two lives, Eric quickly knew what Robert was thinking when he discovered a change in his expression. Since he didn't want to plant a seed of rift in their cooperation because of this low-cost horror film, he hurriedly explained: "Robert, it's just my personal perspective. I am new to Hollywood and cannot think clearly over many things. If you think it necessary, we can continue to produce the series. It might be an accidental mistake this time since both the third and fourth episode of that movie hit more than 40 million US dollars.

Realizing that Eric was compromising with him, Robert showed an expression of relief. Since Eric had made concessions on this issue, he wouldn't be too stubborn to change his opinions: "Eric, just do as you've said. But I don't think it is good to stop this series immediately. How about making a final sequence named as Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare to close the series temporarily. It will surely succeed at the box office with the final sequence being a gimmick.

That's a good idea." Admiring Robert's wisdom, Eric also made a promise: "Maybe I can help devise the script of the last episode."

"Really?" Robert couldn't help but confirm it again because he thought Eric had clearly rejected him just now. The value of Eric's scripts is highly recognized in Hollywood.

"Certainly!"

Eric nodded his head decisively, thinking to himself that he wouldn't have his name shown on the film since he didn't care about the fame and profits gained from being the scriptwriter of that film. He would face much criticism from cinephile if the movie had a bad reputation because he was the most striking one among all the cast if his name was on the cast list.

Though there was an old saying that goes: "Touch pitch, and you will be defiled," Eric didn't want to have any relations with stinkers when he just entered Hollywood. His best chip lied in the consistent good performance of the movies produced by him, and it would be a loss for him if the value of the chip diminished due to one or two stinkers that almost had nothing to with him.

It was also the reason why Eric only chose to copy the cla.s.sic movies he remembered instead of shooting some movies fully created by himself. Maybe several years later when his status in Hollywood had been unshakable, he would make movies never seen in his previous life