King of Hollywood-Chapter 280 - 8 A Heart-to-Heart Talk
Chapter 280: Chapter 8 A Heart-to-Heart Talk
Chapter 280 -8 A Heart-to-Heart Talk
“Can you… explain that?” Rachel was a bit confused.
“You’re captivating, Rachel,” Adrian said sincerely, his gaze remarkably clear, “You possess an aura utterly distinct from other actresses, an indescribable scholarly aura that gives you a unique charm. This is both good and bad. The upside is that you’re perfect for roles with a strong literary essence, such as female scholars or researchers. The downside, however, is that you may find yourself confined to these types of roles and struggle to break out—simply put, your range of roles could become quite narrow.”
“That’s just your assumption, right?” Rachel raised an eyebrow, clearly not agreeing with Adrian’s opinion but also reluctant to outright contradict him, so she simply asked.
“Yes, which is why I feel regretful. If you were willing to play that role, perhaps it could refine your acting skills and broaden your range,” sighed Adrian. “You haven’t done many films yet, and your potential is still very malleable.”
Rachel was surprised and felt a slight stir of emotion, but she was also cautious and remained silent with pursed lips. Adrian didn’t say anything more, just quietly watched her as if he’d found something interesting.
After a few moments, feeling somewhat uncomfortable under his gaze, Rachel was about to clear her throat to remind him she was there when she suddenly heard Adrian murmur, as if in a dream, “If it were Anthony Minghella directing…”
Although it was said quietly, Rachel, with ears perked up, still heard it and her heartbeat sped up. She hadn’t been in Hollywood for long but she knew enough about Adrian to understand the implications.
“Did you say something?” Rachel nonchalantly brushed her hair, asking in an offhand tone.
“Oh, no, nothing,” Adrian, coming back to his senses, chuckled and lowered his head, taking a sip of his tea to cover up.
Rachel paused, wanting to say something, but after a moment of silence, she just sighed inwardly, a sense of disappointment welling up inside her. It’s okay, he must have other considerations. Rachel comforted herself, not allowing the feeling of loss to show. She was completely unaware that her emotions were entirely within the other’s grasp.
“Here’s an idea, you might want to try out for a role,” Adrian suddenly proposed with a light clap, “It’s a minor supporting role in a commercial film, though.”
He paused before adding, “Even so, I hope you’ll give it your all, alright?”
Rachel’s breathing hastened slightly; she was too clever not to grasp his underlying message. The shift in mindset left her momentarily speechless, and it was only after she collected herself that she realized Adrian was holding her hand, earnestly nodding, “I will.”
=================================
On the spacious ring, there was a continual slapping sound. Claude had fallen clumsily to the ground, his forearms wrapped in protectors held together in front of his face, as a relentless barrage of punches rained down on them.
“Look at you, Claude, I can’t even tell if Thomas is your sparring partner or if you’re Thomas’s,” Adrian jeered from below the ring, wearing shorts that revealed his muscular upper half, a white towel draped over his shoulders.
“That’s easy for you to say… Why don’t you try it!” Claude roared laboriously from under the oppressive barrage.
Ten minutes later, the one pinned to the ground was Adrian, and the one smirking from below the ring was Claude.
“Hey, buddy, get up and fight back, lying on the ground just gets you beat passively.” Claude casually said while drinking water, which was met by Adrian’s roar, “Shut it, Claude.”
“Where did you find this guy?” After coming down from the ring, Adrian asked his best friend, shaking his arm that had gone numb from the beating. Although he had enough protection, he still had some bruises from the opponent’s heavy punches. However, the guy’s strength and skill were quite impressive, and his aim was accurate, always avoiding vital points. His sturdy body was extremely agile, which was rare. But his downside was that he wasn’t talkative, hardly saying more than three sentences from start to finish.
“Realize how tough he is now?” Claude still didn’t forget to tease as he handed over a towel.
“He really is tough, but don’t forget, I lasted much longer than you, and if the rules allowed, using my legs could have made the outcome very different.” Adrian wiped his face with the towel.
“Give me a break, Ed, this isn’t mixed martial arts.” Claude shook his head large, “Are you really fallen so low that you’re scared to admit defeat? It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Hey, I’m not refusing to admit defeat; that’s just what you think. It’s also a nice cover-up for the fact that you were knocked down in two moves.” Adrian laughed as he elbowed him, “Alright, go take a shower, no more beatings.”
Turning on the shower, the perfectly tempered water immediately cascaded over his body, and Adrian stretched his arms and let out a long breath. Though he had fought a few matches on the training ring, his body had no sprains or twists—just a bit worse for the wear from getting hit, but that was normal.
Adrian regularly worked out and, with the guidance of a professional nutritionist and fitness coach, was in great shape. His strong pectoral and abdominal muscles exuded masculine beauty, complemented by his 6 feet 1-inch stature. The women he had slept with, whether Monica, Julia, Drew, or Cameron, all said his body was incredibly sexy. His private doctor also said he was much healthier than average, colloquially, “strong as an ox.” But these were to ensure even development; compared to someone like Thomas, who trained exclusively for boxing, he was sure to be lacking.
“What do you think about those three teams?” Claude, wrapped in a towel, came out drying his hair.
“My opinion? Sell them, of course. Why keep them?” Adrian shrugged.
“I agree, but Ted probably won’t. After all, it’s his life’s work, and TBS’s headquarters are in Atlanta,” Claude said as he got dressed.
TBS owned a lot more than just CNN and New Line, including a couple of film production companies, which Claude was planning to merge. Then there were the three sports teams: one of the NBA’s oldest 17 teams, the Atlanta Hawks; the Atlanta Braves who had won the World Series in baseball; and the Atlanta Flames, a middling team in the hockey league.
It wasn’t unusual for large corporations to own one or two sports teams, some for the owner’s hobbies, others for the company’s development since the major sports leagues—NFL, MLB, NBA, or NHL—all had widespread influence within the United States. But aside from the NBA’s somewhat valuable Hawks, TBS’s other two teams were almost dispensable, especially being based in Atlanta—neither Adrian nor Claude had much interest in managing them.
“Do we need to consider Ted’s opinion?” Adrian countered.
“At least for now, we have to,” Claude sighed.
“Okay, then. We keep the Hawks but must sell the other two teams,” Adrian said after some thought. “Tell Ted we’ll have better opportunities in the future.”
“Oh? You already have a target in mind?” Claude’s expression showed keen interest.
“Our headquarters are in Los Angeles; naturally, we should consider the Los Angeles teams,” Adrian spread his hands.
“Really? The Clippers or the Lakers? If it’s the latter, Jerry Buss probably wouldn’t sell,” Claude thought aloud.
“Not right now,” Adrian shook his head, “Our current goal is to seize every opportunity to expand, concentrate resources to ensure the company develops smoothly—that’s also why I think we should sell those three sports teams.”
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Priorities matter for establishing one’s media empire was the most important task at hand. Only after its near completion, should one consider other pursuits. Jerry Buss won’t sell? But would he really hold out against a high enough offer? Besides, here in the United States, the NFL is the most popular sport.
“By the way, I’ve got some not-so-good news.” Claude, now dressed in pants and a shirt, changed the subject.
“Let’s hear it.” Likewise, adorned in a t-shirt, Adrian glanced at him.
“Both HBO and Warner directly refused,” Claude said, shrugging regretfully.
“Is that so?” Adrian frowned, the refusal from Warner was expected, but HBO’s direct rejection was somewhat surprising. He had assumed that HBO had become a subsidiary of Warner following their merger with Time and that it wasn’t fully developed yet, so the negotiations should have been straightforward. It seemed he was mistaken.
“What’s your opinion?” Adrian asked Claude.
“My opinion?” Claude smiled, “Remember, TBS also has a subscription cable network similar to HBO, but it mainly specializes in sports broadcasting, and they acquire TV series from other networks.”
“You mean TNT?” Adrian recalled, “I’m afraid that won’t work, you’ve said it yourself, they mainly broadcast sports events, which is quite different from HBO’s approach to producing TV movies and series.”
“Then we’ll restructure it following HBO’s model, just like we restructured the talent agency after CAA’s model,” Claude suggested, “I think I have an idea why you need HBO, Ed, but I believe that if TNT’s restructure is successful, we can achieve the same effect.”
Adrian stopped his work and sat on the bench, deep in thought for a moment, and ultimately nodded, “All right, we can try that.”
If TNT could really be restructured following the model of HBO, it would indeed be a welcome development. All he really had in hand were a number of high-quality TV series concepts, as long as he could replicate them as closely as possible, it wouldn’t matter which network broadcasted them.
“Additionally, there’s something about Marvel Comics.”
“Oh, don’t tell me there’s trouble with this too, Crow.”
“Of course not,” Claude laughed, “This is good news. Acquiring Marvel Comics will be easy, but we can wait a bit longer. Given their current predicament, it will be even easier in another six months to a year.”
“That sounds quite promising,” Adrian smiled, “Alright, you handle it as you see fit. These matters are under your charge, just…don’t mess anything up.”
The two men dressed and walked out of the gym into the garden where the butler had already prepared afternoon tea.
“How is it going on Milan Max’s side?” After a sip of coffee, Adrian asked.
“Two companies are going all out to compete for it; the Weinstein brothers naturally enjoy watching from the sidelines,” Claude shrugged, “But there are signs that Disney has started to relent.”
“Signs that they are relenting?” Adrian couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, “Would Michael Eisner give up something that’s almost in his grasp so easily? That doesn’t sound like his style at all. Or could this just be smoke and mirrors from Disney?”
“The likelihood of it being smoke and mirrors is about 30 to 40 percent. Michael Eisner seems to be focusing on something else. And you know, at the beginning of the month, his right-hand man Frank Wells died in a plane crash,” Claude analyzed. “So, it is possible that Disney could give up on Miramax.”
After careful thought, Adrian realized this could indeed be possible. The goods originally belonging to Miramax had already been divvied up by him quite a bit, and accordingly, its value in the eyes of other companies had also been reduced significantly. Considering that Disney had been negotiating since last year, and now with this big incident, it was foreseeable that Eisner might give up on Miramax.
“However, I have an idea,” Claude then said, “an idea that’s somewhat bold and even crazy.”
“Oh? Let’s hear it,” Adrian’s interest was piqued. A suggestion from Claude described as “bold” and “crazy” would certainly be surprising.
To his disappointment, however, Claude shook his head: “No, it won’t do. The idea isn’t ripe yet. I still need more information and intelligence, and… I still need to observe the situation.”
“So cryptic, it must be important.” Adrian probed persistently, but Claude just smiled and said no more about it. Since it was so, Adrian didn’t ask further; he knew that if Claude decided to put the plan into action, he would surely inform him.
They then discussed other topics, such as whether to merge the production companies under TBS into New Line or Bossworth. Claude wanted to merge them into New Line to dilute the remaining shares in the hands of New Line’s president, Robert Shaye. Even after New Line was acquired by TBS, it still retained independent operational rights. However, New Line’s current reputation couldn’t compare to Miramax’s, and having one film company with independent operating rights in AC Media’s portfolio was enough.
But after careful consideration, Adrian objected. First, the production companies under TBS were not large, so even merging them with New Line wouldn’t significantly dilute the shares; secondly, the trademark horror film “Scream,” originally owned by New Line, had already been preemptively sold by Adrian to Universal, and its first A-level production “Seven Deadly Sins” was now also being churned out, so it would remain a second-tier film company for a substantial period and any potential issues wouldn’t be too grave.
Besides, Robert Shaye was a capable man; having him on board could be beneficial. Moreover, if Adrian’s long-term plans were successful, diluting Shaye’s shares would become much easier.
After spending a quite pleasant afternoon at Claude’s, and having exchanged opinions on these work-related matters, Adrian felt his time in Los Angeles was about to end. David Fincher had no major objections to Gwyneth playing the female lead, even offering several compliments, but filming had to wait as the preliminary preparations were not so easy to complete. Also under preparation was “Little Women,” which was going to start a bit faster since Adrian had already set the production schedule for the film last year.
Another matter was the role for Rachel Weisz upcoming in “Mission: Impossible” – that of Sarah Davies, the female spy killed outside the Prague Embassy by Jean Reno. Although the film production rights had been handed over to Cruise’s production company, there is no such thing as a free lunch in the world. In matters like casting choices, Bossworth had a significant say, and Tom Cruise didn’t object. Although he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, he understood the rules.
The entire team was mostly the original crew, except for his wife Nicole Kidman playing Claire Phelps, Rachel Weisz as Sarah Davies, and Anthony Hopkins as the villainous Jim Phelps – Heaven knows how the past producer convinced the old man to take on the role; Adrian was taken aback when he found out. Overall, Cruise was quite satisfied with the team, so naturally, he wouldn’t have much to say.
The reason for arranging Rachel’s role like this was mainly because there were no better parts available at the moment. Although Adrian had thought of two suitable scripts, they were nothing more than ideas without even a basic outline, so filming was not a viable option anytime soon. He thus decided to keep her around with this role.
Rachel was unlike those Hollywood-grown women such as Gwyneth; a Cambridge graduate, she was both intelligent and somewhat proud, which was evident from her coming to him now. Fully winning her over was not going to be easy, and bait like that used on Gwyneth wouldn’t work. But as long as she wanted to advance in Hollywood, she wouldn’t escape Adrian’s grasp. Intelligent women tend to think a lot, but that very contemplation often leads to confusion, and then…
Leaving Claude’s, Adrian drove to Julia’s secluded villa for a passionate night together, before flying back to Alabama on a chartered private jet the next day. There were still some things in Los Angeles he had not managed to handle, such as using the preparation of “Little Women” as an excuse to meet the enticing little fairy or to check on how Blanchett was doing, etc. But the filming of “Forrest Gump” was also crucial.
Nevertheless, it would be fine; he would be returning to Los Angeles after the filming was complete. It could all be discussed then, especially since communication with them had never ceased. (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. There are more chapters there supporting the author and legitimate reading!)
