Stan Winston said, "Now that you've got the idea in your mind, I think you're at least 90 percent sure that Roland and I won't play this 10 percent chance of winning with you." ”

Eric was about to continue to 'follow the rules' when a voice sounded around the three of them: "What kind of bet, did I miss any wonderful topics?"

Turning their heads, James Cameron, with his messy hair, walked towards them.

The three of them got up to greet Cameron, sat down again, and talked about the bet just now, Cameron also laughed and reacted the same as Stan Winston: "Don't bet, who doesn't know your bet with Colombia back then, besides, "Star Wars" more than ten years ago can get more than 700 million US dollars at the global box office, more than ten years later, it is inevitable that there will be a global box office of one billion dollars, not to mention one billion, two billion or three billion in the future will not be a problem." ”

Several people laughed again.

Seeing that none of the three of them jumped into the pit, Eric stopped mentioning what had just happened, and pointed to Cameron, who looked like a wild man who had just emerged from the deep mountains and old forests: "Hey, Jim, you can't be robbed, right?"

"Of course not, I've been on the boat for two months to look like this," Cameron brushed his unkempt hair.

Roland Emmerich and Cameron were not familiar with each other and were a little dazed to hear this, but Eric and Stan Winston were well aware of Cameron's diving preferences.

Stan Winston asked, "Jim, where did you dive this time?"

"In the North Atlantic, we went to see a big ship that sank to the bottom of the ocean 80 years ago. ”

"Titanic?" Eric blurted out subconsciously.

Cameron was a little surprised: "Eric. How do you know?"

Eric realizes his mistake. Hurriedly found a reason: "You just said it yourself." In the North Atlantic, the big ship that sank 80 years ago, all I can think of is the Titanic, which sank on its first voyage in 1912. ”

Cameron didn't question Eric's words, and gushed a little excitedly: "It's the Titanic, we rented a submarine and went down to watch the big ship in person, even after eighty years, it still looks like a big guy, but it's broken in two." We had planned to go into the cabin to have a look. Unfortunately, the submarine is too big to get into, so I plan to find someone to make a robot that can automatically take underwater photography in the future, and I can use the robot to enter the cabin next time I go to see what is going on. ”

"In that case, I guess your credit card has been maxed out again, right?" Stan Winston asked jokingly, renting a submarine is not something that ordinary people can afford, although Cameron's directorial salary has reached the top level, but unfortunately the number of films since his debut is not much, on average he only directs a movie in two or three years, and the money he earns is difficult to support Cameron's expensive hobby.

"So I had to come back from the Atlantic. Cameron laughed and didn't shy away from it. Turning his head to look at Eric and said: "Eric, isn't "True Lies" already included in this year's production project, why haven't you negotiated a contract with Arnold yet, if you don't plan to let Arnold be the leading actor, I think it's better to choose other actors earlier." ”

"The starring role must be Arnold's, but the contract is not in a hurry, anyway, "True Lies" will not start until the second half of the year, and it is not too late to negotiate the contract with him in June. ”

Cameron all three had puzzled expressions.

"Why do you want to do that?" asked Roland Emmerich.

Eric shook his head with a smile on his lips, pretending to be mysterious, "You'll know when the time comes." ”

Stan Winston remembered something and tentatively asked, "Does it have anything to do with Arnold's next movie?" I remember he was involved in an action film at Carlock Films, called "Phantom Heroes", directed by John McTiernan, the director of the first part of the "Die Hard" series, and it just so happened that we were responsible for the special effects of this movie, hmm...... It should be Neil's group in charge, but there are not many special effects shots, and it was completed at the end of last year, and the release time should be in June. ”

Cameron, apparently impatient, asked, "Eric, are you not optimistic about that movie?"

Since it was broken by Stan Winston, Eric did not hide it, nodded and said: "I have asked people to collect some information about this "Phantom Hero", as you all know, most of Arnold's fans are gathered through Jim's "Terminator" series, but this "Phantom Hero" is an action movie focusing on the children's market, and few fans of the "Terminator" series are children......"

With that, Eric made a shrug expression.

The other three also understood that Arnold Schwarzenegger's salary is $15 million, and now he is negotiating a "True Lies" contract with the other party, so this price will definitely not be lowered, but if "Phantom Hero" fails at the box office, in order to restore popularity, Arnold Schwarzenegger will definitely choose to reduce his salary appropriately.

Cameron thought for a while and suggested: "Eric, even if the box office of "Phantom Hero" is a little unsatisfactory, Arnold's fame is there, even if the salary is reduced, it will not be reduced too much, it is better to sign the contract as soon as possible." ”

"Wait a few months, Jim, and I'll promise Arnold will agree by then. ”

Cameron shrugged his shoulders when he heard Eric say this, and did not continue to persuade him, the script of "True Lies" was pushed to him by Eric from the beginning, compared to the original "Terminator", Cameron was not too interested in "True Lies", and the filming of this movie was purely to make money. Although he and Arnold Schwarzenegger are good friends, Firefly is an investor after all, Eric is also his friend, Cameron can't argue with Eric for Arnold, there are still a lot of action stars in Hollywood who meet the conditions of the script of "True Lies", not to mention that Cameron himself knows Arnold's acting skills, and he will not refuse to change to an actor with better acting skills.

"In that case, you just have to know what to expect. ”

Cameron finished. I was about to ask Stan Winston if there was anything interesting to be done in the digital realm lately. Eric brought up what had just happened: "Speaking of the Titanic. I remember reading in the newspaper a few days ago that CBS TV was planning a TV series about the Titanic recently, Jim, are you interested in this subject?"

"No, no, no, I don't bother directing a TV series, it's a waste of time, and the budget for a TV series is too small to make anything good," Cameron shook his head. Soon he was interested again: "But if it's a movie, I can think about it." ”

Eric said, "Movies, of course. ”

Cameron stared at Eric for a few seconds before asking, "Eric, are you sure you're serious?" ”

"Do you think I'm joking?"

"That's good......," Cameron wanted to say something, remembering that he had signed a contract with Firefly, so he had to say, "When I finish True Lies, I'll start preparing for this movie." ”

Stan Winston suddenly smiled and said, "Eric, don't be fooled by Jim, his so-called preparation must be to let the Fireflies pay for the charter of a deep-sea research ship." Continue your hobby. ”

Cameron was unconvinced, "Hey, Stan. If such a movie is really to be made, a detailed investigation of the Titanic is a must. ”

Eric said to Cameron, "Jim, if you feel the need to do so, the Fireflies can fund you." ”

Cameron immediately showed a happy expression, and made a fist gesture to Stan Winston, with the support of a big patron like Firefly, he would be able to carry out the underwater expedition that he would not have been able to afford, oh, of course, this must be in preparation for the movie.

Eric looked at Cameron's excited appearance, thought for a moment and said, "However, I have one condition. ”

"You say," Cameron was clearly in a good mood at this time.

Eric said: "I can give you the maximum authority and the most lenient budget for this film, but I want the heroine to decide. ”

Cameron showed a cautious expression, considered the pros and cons for a while, and confirmed again: "Eric, are you sure that as long as I leave the decision of the heroine to you, the rest of the film from the pre-preparation to the final editing will be decided by me alone, right?"

Eric pointed to Stan Winston and Roland Emmerich and said, "Yes, Stan and Roland are here, and they can testify to my words today." ”

Stan Winston and Roland Emmerich nodded together despite not knowing why Eric had such a whim.

"Deal, then," Cameron immediately raised his palm, as if he was afraid that Eric would regret it.

Eric and Cameron clapped each other: "That's it." ”

Cameron withdrew his hand and grinned, "Hey, speaking of which, I have a good idea right now, why don't you listen to it first?"

Eric saw Cameron's eager appearance and immediately interrupted him: "Jim, don't forget, you have to finish filming True Lies first." ”

Cameron waved his hand: "Of course, as long as the preliminary work of "True Lies" is completed, I can start shooting tomorrow, let's listen to the idea of the Titanic first, first of all, I think this has to be a love story......"

Cameron's idea for the script of "Titanic" did not deviate from the original version, and when Eric left, Cameron had even begun to negotiate some special effects details with Stan Winston.

At the pace of Cameron's filmmaking, "True Lies" was released in the summer of 1994, so "Titanic" is estimated to wait until 1995 to start, and the release time is even more unpredictable.

It's not that Eric doesn't want to make this miracle-creating movie by himself, but with his current situation, it is difficult to spend a few years concentrating on making a movie without distraction, let alone Cameron's strict requirements for the quality of the film to the point of nitpicking, you know, in the original time and space, "Titanic" only took 160 days to shoot, and it took more than two years from the establishment of the project to the final film release.

Although I don't know what will become of "Titanic" in this time and space, Eric believes that as long as the quality is comparable to the original, even if it still costs $200 million, there will be no problem in recovering the cost. Moreover, it is very important that this time Eric took the decision of the heroine in his hands in advance, and he was finally able to choose a satisfactory heroine.

Throughout January 1993, Eric spent the latter part of the production of Jurassic Park. At the 50th American Film and Television Golden Globe Awards at the end of January, Eric still didn't join in the fun, but saw the host's ridicule of him at the awards ceremony in the newspaper the next day, as well as the results of the Golden Globe Awards.

At the 50th Golden Globe Awards, Spielberg easily defeated Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" with "Schindler's List" and won the Best Picture and Best Director awards in the drama category.

And Eric's "Tornado" last year, as expected, only won two inconsequential small nominations for best sound and best visual effects, but the probability of these two nominations winning is close to 100%. The sound effects of "Tornado" received a lot of praise from critics when it was first released, and as for the visual effects, plus "Tornado" itself, there are only four nominees, namely Robert Zemeckis's "Flying Over Immortality", David Fincher's "Alien 3" and Tim Burton's "Batman Returns", no matter how you look at it, the special effects of these three films cannot compare with the devastating hurricane in "Tornado".

It's just that this time Oscar Eric still had to be absent, because from the end of March to April, the two little ones in Virginia and Joanna's womb will be born, and Eric will definitely be with the two women during that time.

In early February, as the Golden Globes passed, the popularity of the Oscars began to rise, but the launch of the annual Hollywood Power List in the latest issue of Premiere magazine once again shifted the public realization to Eric, and the reaction within Hollywood circles to this list was even stronger.

In the first two years of Eric's rebirth, because of the strong rise of CAA, almost monopolized most of Hollywood's first-line stars and script resources, and CAA's Michael Ovitz also continued to rank first on the Hollywood power list, leaving Michael Eisner and Barry Diller, who were in the limelight at the time. (To be continued......)