Chapter 846: Chapter 847: Daddy''s FavoritismChapter 845: Chapter 846: The Sudden RefusalChapter 844: Chapter 845: Are You Sure You''re Normal?Chapter 843: Chapter 844: Taking Control of the FutureChapter 842: Chapter 843: Three Animated FilmsChapter 841: Chapter 842: The ck RoomChapter 840: Chapter 841: A Chance to CoborateChapter 839: Chapter 840: UnprecedentedChapter 838: Chapter 839: I''m Afraid They Will Hit MeChapter 837: Chapter 838: Overseas Box Office ExplosionChapter 836: Chapter 837: Going Against the GrainChapter 835: Chapter 836: The Rise of the Media OligarchsChapter 834: Chapter 835: A Little RegretChapter 833: Chapter 834: Wedding InvitationChapter 832: Chapter 833: An IdeaChapter 831: Chapter 832: The More Developed, The Harder It is To ChangeChapter 830: Chapter 831: A Decent Financial ReportChapter 829: Chapter 830: You Really Did It On PurposeChapter 828: Chapter 829: Always Remind YourselfChapter 827: Chapter 828: Music CopyrightChapter 826: Chapter 827: Explosive NewsChapter 825: Chapter 826: Issues in Digital DomainChapter 824: Chapter 825: The Controversy of the Golden Globe AwardsChapter 823: Chapter 824: What HappenedChapter 822: Chapter 823: DaydreamingChapter 821: Chapter 822: Setting SailChapter 820: Chapter 821: Opening Weekend Box OfficeChapter 819: Chapter 820: Going with the FlowChapter 818: Chapter 819: How Could This Happen?Chapter 817: Chapter 818: Golden Globe NominationsChapter 816: Chapter 817: How Could Elves Not Be Beautiful
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[Chapter 817: How Could Elves Not Be Beautiful]
After discussing Titanic with Katzenberg, Eric rode back to Liberty City Manor.
As dusk settled, he entered the vi, walked through the hall, and arrived at the ss wall where he spotted Nicolezily sitting on the sofa, engrossed in aic book.
Yes, it was indeed aic book.
Around the sofa, where Eric often rested, there were thousands of variousics stacked high. Back in America, while working on the post-production of Casino Royale, Eric had also begun preparations for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although the first Marvel superhero film, Spider-Man, wouldn''t debut until around 2000, he needed to start strategizing for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe n. Eric was keen on avoiding the same mistakes that led to the rushedunch of the DC movie universe, which ended up with a string of box office flops and critical failures.
The main responsibilities for setting up the Marvel Cinematic Universe rested with Marvel itself. However, Eric wanted to be involved in its creation, so he needed to thoroughly understand theic book characters under Marvel.
The thousands ofics before him had all been pulled from the New York Marvel archives. When Eric called for theseics, Stan Lee had repeatedly reminded him to return them after reading, as many had be valuable collector''s items over the decades. Many Americans were avidic collectors, and superfan Nics Cage had spent millions on his collection. Thus, this pile ofics, some appearing somewhat outdated, certainly could tempt any seasonedic enthusiast into theft.
Noticing Eric''s arrival, Nicole looked up, smiled, and removed the earbuds hidden in her hair, saying, "Eric, you''re back."
Eric nodded, took off his coat, and walked over. Nicole shifted slightly to make room as they both squeezed onto a single-person sofa.
He put on one of the earbuds Nicole had just taken off and asked, "Where''s Famke?"
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, that girl had been busy promoting Mission: Impossible 2. Eric was nning to spend Thanksgiving with Nicole and Famke. After Thanksgiving, once Mission: Impossible 2 was released, he would take the young girl to New York to enjoy Christmas with the women and kids.
Nicole recently had taken a liking to the new pocket-sized MP3 yer developed by Firefly Electronics. She slipped the other earbud on and enjoyed the music, then said, "She went to the supermarket. By the way, before you came back, Ms. Haynes had someone deliver a few documents from New York."
Eric wrapped his arm around Nicole''s slim waist, leaning back in the chair. "Let''s leave them for now; I don''t want to see anypany documents today."
After hearing a string of bad news about Titanic that afternoon, Eric had no mood to deal withpany affairs.
Nicole understood the immense pressure that Titanic had brought upon Firefly recently. She had noticed the fatigue on Eric''s face and didn''t bring it up again. She picked up the thinic resting on herp, leaned against Eric, and said, "Eric, I found something interesting: Peter Parker''s parents were both CIA agents, and they even saved Wolverine!"
Eric knew Nicole was intentionally choosing a lighter topic and replied with a smile, "If you read all these thousands of Marvelics around you, you''d find that almost every character in the Marvel universe can connect to one another. Creating plot crossovers for popr characters is a great gimmick used byicpanies to boost sales."
"That sounds a lot like MGM''s spy movie universe," Nicole tilted her head and remarked. "Or maybe the inspiration for the spy movie universe came from theic bookpanies?"
Eric nodded in acknowledgment. "That''s right."
Nicole didn''t expect her random guess would hit the mark and felt a bit excited. She waved theic in her hand and asked, "So which superhero do you n to shoot first?"
"Spider-Man has been confirmed, but in addition to that, I will coborate with MGM and Fox to initiate several other projects. In the future, I n to bring all the popr characters from the Marvel universe to the big screen."
As the most popr superhero in the Marvel universe, Spider-Man would certainly remain with Firefly. However, Eric hadn''t figured out which superheroes MGM and Fox would each be responsible for yet. The allocation of Marvel superheroes in the original timeline couldn''t simply be replicated, so a detailed n would be necessary.
Compared to DC, which had already developed several sessful live-action superhero films, Marvel had little to no poprity as a foundation in films. Thus, Eric had determined that bringing sessful superhero characters from the original timeline to the big screen first -- like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the X-Men -- would quickly open up the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After establishing sufficient market interest with these characters, new superheroes could be introduced, improving the likelihood of box office sess.
Nicole didn''t know Eric''s detailed ns but couldn''t help but exim. Although she''d only been casually readingics recently, Nicole had developed some understanding of the Marvel characters. If Eric''s n could fullye to fruition, it would undoubtedly be grand in scale.
"Well, if all of them hit the big screen, it might be dozens of films," she said.
"Of course," Eric remarked, ncing at Nicole as her lips parted slightly in surprise. He reached out and gently touched her,ughing, "You''ve been readingics for several days now. Are there any characters that interest you?"
Nicole pretended to bite his hand as he instinctively withdrew. "Not really," she said. "By the way, it seems Marvel doesn''t have a female superhero as popr as Wonder Woman from DC."
"Poprity is built gradually. If a female superhero from Marvel had a sessful TV series like Wonder Woman, she would definitely be quite popr now," Eric exined. He chose not to dwell on this topic further. Even if Nicole expressed interest in a female character, it wouldn''t be so easy for her to join in. Nicole''s current sry was already more than $15 million, the highest for actresses, which didn''t align with Eric''s n for the Marvel franchise to primarily feature second- and third-tier Hollywood stars.
Suddenly reminded of something, Eric continued, "Speaking of which, I have a character I hope you could support."
Nicole disyed a puzzled expression, keenly catching a keyword in Eric''s tone. With a teasing smile, she asked, "Support?"
"Yes, it''s a trilogy series, which might evolve into a six-part series. There''s a character with a key role, not much screen time, but crucial. Among all the actresses I know, I think you''re the most suitable. However, I could probably only offer $3 million for it since it''s an ensemble cast, and while your role is important, you''re not the protagonist."
Nicole blinked her light blue eyes and smirked, "Three million for a trilogy? I think if I agree to this, Pat might go crazy. But since you say I''m the one you think is perfect for it, I''ll ept. So, what role is it?"
Given Nicole''s current value, her manager, Pat Kingsley, would indeed likely flip at the news. It wasn''t just about themission being significantly reduced, but the contract posed an unpredictable risk to Nicole''s status as a top-tier actress.
Eric gently cupped Nicole''s chin, admiring her wless face. Nicole was 29 this year, at a woman''s most vivacious time. Her long eyshes, rounded face, petite nose, and luscious lips were all so perfect.
Unable to resist, Eric kissed Nicole''s lips before saying, "Your character is an elf, Gdriel.
Know her?"
"Oh, it''s from The Lord of the Rings," Nicole promptly realized.
Eric nodded. The actress who originally portrayed Gdriel in the films was Cate nchett. While Cate was certainly a stronger actress in terms of craft, Nicole''s beauty far surpassed
hers.
To Eric, as the embodiment of nobility and elegance, how could elves not be beautiful?
"MGM will unveil their ns for The Lord of the Rings series next fall. The trilogy will be filmed back-to-back and will take over a year in New Zend, but your scenes should only take two or three weeks, so it won''t take too long."
From this summer''s blockbuster season to next summer''s premiere, MGM nned to release three heavyweight films as part of its spy movie universe. As long as these three films performed well at the box office, MGM would have enough confidence to announce The Lord of the Rings trilogy, an ambitious project involving $300 million. With the support of the spy movie universe''s performance, other MGM shareholders wouldn''t strongly oppose. Nicole had heard some rumors about The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but she hadn''t paid much attention. Instead, she focused on Eric, curiously asking, "If I y Gdriel, who would y
Arwen?"
Eric didn''t hide his answer, squeezing her chin. "Diane Kruger. What do you think?"
"You really have a thing for gorgeous women," Nicole teasingly retorted.
In the past couple of years, the Victoria''s Secret Angels had frequently appeared in Hollywood films, sparking much conversation. Everyone knew who was pushing this, leading to countless versions of gossip and spection about Eric and the Victoria''s Secret Angels, with some exaggerated rumors iming he had "captured" the whole group.
The woman next to him had teased him about it more than once, but Eric didn''t mind. "I just
want this film to be perfect. Since it''s about elves, they should ideally be beautiful. Plus, the earliest legends about elves were originally from Germanic mythology, and Diane is German. It fits the character perfectly."
"I really don''t want to hear your exnations," Nicole shot him a look and took the earbud back from his ear, just as Famke Janssen walked in, carrying two overflowing shopping bags while cking in her high heels across the hall.
Seeing the cozy scene of Eric and Nicole on the sofa, Famke teased, "I run out to get food, and
you two are cozy here."
"Ha,e on, let''s get in on the fun!" Eric said, pulling Famke beside him as she set the bags
down.
Famke sat down on the armrest of the sofa on Eric''s other side and asked, "So what were you two just chatting about?"
Eric casually replied, "Speaking of you, what ns do you have after New Year?"
The seventh season of The X-Files was airing on Fox, marking the end of this ssic sci-fi series. Despite Fox offering generous terms, both Brad Pitt and Famke Janssen, the two leads, were unwilling to renew contracts. Brad wanted to seize the chance to enter film, while Famke had grown weary of the grueling schedules that required her to spend months in Canada each year as they filmed to save budgets.
Sci-fi TV shows were usuallypleted in one go, so even though the show was still airing, Famke hadpleted all her work and was in a resting phase.
"Not really any ns at the moment. I''m thinking about taking a year off to do some charity work. I n to visit refugees in Africa with a charity team after New Year."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Eric immediately disyed a worried expression, taking Famke''s small hand. "Honey, please don''t go adopting any African kids like some Hollywood actresses do. If you want one, we can have our own--maybe next year?"
Famke''s face flushed. Initially, she thought Eric was going to convince her not to go to Africa, feeling touched, but upon hearing his words, she smacked his hand away. "You heartless jerk!
I''m going to ignore you for the rest of the day. Nicole, could you help me take these into the
kitchen?"
"Of course, it''s time to prepare dinner," Nicole shot Eric a gleeful look, got up, and grabbed one bag while Famke took another as they headed to the kitchen.
Eric watched the two women''s tall figures whispering to each other as they walked away and
chuckled to himself. He leaned over and flipped through theics until he found an
interesting one to read.
The cover prominently disyed a few striking words:
Phoenix Rising.
Jean Grey, the strongest and mostplex female superhero in the X-Men universe, held
depths far richer than DC''s Wonder Woman.
*****
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