CHAPTER 61 GET-TOGETHER

The Runkle didnt come ? At a corner of the party, Jeffrey seemingly casually asked while holding a glass of red wine.

The next day after his return to L.A, Eric had decided to hold a get-together at his Beverly Hills mansion in order to thank everyone he had gotten to know in the past six months. He had invited James Brooks, Penny Marshall, Jeffrey Hanson, Michael Klaus, Edward Lewis, as well as the17 AgainandHome Alonecrew, and several other acquaintances.

Since each guest was entitled to a plus one, there was around fifty people in total. It was fortunate that he had moved away, his old house probably wouldnt have been able to accommodate so many guests without feeling crowded.

Hearing Jeffreys words, Eric indifferently shook his head: I personally called to invite them, Charlie rejected me.

Jeffrey couldnt act as nonchalantly as Eric, he said: I heard that Stuart Runkle has signed with the CAA, and that theyve already arranged for him to act in three different movies by the end of next year. What are you gonna do about it ?

Eric reassured him: Relax Jeffrey, the CAA wanting to keep Stuart away fromHome Aloneis simply wishful thinking. Youll understand once those movies he stars in are released.

In his past life, Macaulay Culkin had also taken up quite a lot of movies after his rise to stardom, but the results were absolutely mediocre. Some producers, who had granted him a huge paycheck thanks to his fame, had even tons of money.

Youre implying that other movies that Stuart Runkle stars in wont do as well ? Jeffrey asked.

Eric nodded: Everyone thinks thatHome Alonewas a miracle, and I wont deny this point. But Stuart Runkle is, all in all, a newcomer, he cant compare to those veterans in the industry. Wait til next year, he needs us to stabilize his fame, by then, whether it be the CAA or his parents, they wont have a choice but to turn to us. The Runkle couple.

Eric slurred his speech, unable to hide his disappointment. When he had called to invite the Runkle family, Charlies attitude had been chilling cold, even somewhat disdainful.

Eric could definitely guess what was on the mans mind, he probably thought thatHome Alonesuccess was due to his son. Some people were like that, they felt like the world revolved around them.

What if one of the movies he does ends up becoming a blockbuster ? Jeffrey asked.

Not mentioning the fact that its highly unlikely, if it did happen, then good for him. Jeffrey, oncePretty Womanis released, youll understand that I couldnt care less whetherHome Alonegets a sequel or not.

At this moment, Eric caught a glimpse of Drew in her red dress, nonchalantly taking a glass of wine from one of the waiters tray. He glared sharply at the girl, and she froze, before hastily putting the glass back and fleeing towards a group of young people.

Jeffrey chuckled when he saw this: Youre so good to her, it feels like Im looking at a parent and his child. Youll probably be a good father one day.

Hey thats too far in the future, Im only eighteen, you know ? Im in no rush to get married and have kids.

&nbs

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Right then, James Brooks along with some other guests came over to greet them.

James, thank you for doing me that favor. Eric said as he raised his glass towards the man.

James laughed: Hahaha, that was nothing. Right, that photo of yours was also featured in the Los Angeles Times, you guys looked really good together.

Jeffrey also laughed and added: Eric, are you sure you didnt specifically ask for it ? I can hardly believe that a passing amateur photographer was able to capture something like this.

Whether you believe it or not, its a fact, I even had to spend 1,000 $ for the negative. But well, it did inspire me a new script.

James suddenly became interested: Oh ? Do you mind disclosing a bit about its content ?

Sure, no problem. Eric said: Its a story about a single father and an already engaged female reporter.

Eric took a few minutes to narrate the synopsis ofSleepless in Seattleto him.

It seems to me that youve also taken inspiration fromAn Affair To Remember. James said.

Eric didnt deny it: The script will be written so that the heroine will have seen that precise movie, and the theme song will pay it tribute.

James thought that if the script was really good, then the Fox could buy it over, or they could produce it jointly with the Firefly Studios. Since Eric owed him a favor, as long a he asked, he was sure to get his way. But after listening to the synopsis, he decided it wasnt worth it.

Eric hadnt gone too much into the details of the plot, so James saw it as an ordinary love story.

Its not that Hollywood had never done romantic comedies, its just that it usually didnt do that well at the box office. At this point in time anyways, people preferred action or science fiction movies, even thrillers did better than rom-coms.

Noticing that the man seemed to lack interest after hearing about the scripts content, Eric breathed a sigh of relief. If James had asked for it, he really wouldnt have been able to refuse him.Sleepless in Seattlewould do wonders at the box office, so giving it up to the man just because of a small favor made him really reluctant.

The topic of the conversation soon changed andSleepless in Seattlewas also temporarily put aside. It goes without saying, that when the movie was released and made over 200 million $ at the box office worldwide, James wept until no tears were left.

Eric, I heard that you plan on releasingPretty Womanon Valentines Day, which would mean that you plan on doing the shooting in five weeks. If you include the post-production and the reviewing, I think youre taking a huge risk time-wise.

Eric confidently said: Dont worry, Ive already started the preparations two weeks ago, so well start shooting next week. Theres really not that much to film either, well be able to submit the movie in time.

In his previous life, it had taken twelve weeks to shootPretty Woman, but the movie had then be subjected to lots of changes, even the script had been tweaked beyond recognition.

Normal directors usually used up dozens hours of film rolls, some even went past the hundred hours, thereby wasting both budget money and valuable time.

However, Eric was different, he had seen the edited version of the movie and remembered each second of it. To him, shooting was simply a formality.

Granted, there was still the fact that some of the actors were different, but he was also confident that as long as they did their jobs correctly, he could at least reduce the used up film roll to about ten hours, therefore leaving enough time for the post-production.