While it was difficult for executives such as Katzenberg and Frank Wells to approve of Eric's plan to sell The Matrix, they also had to admit that in the current situation, cashing out of the project in advance was a solution.

Now that the boss had made up his mind, Katzenberg began to discuss the best course of action, saying, "Well, I'll get the news out tomorrow to at least divert the attention of the media and the public." ”

Frank Wells also said: "It's not bad to deal with it, if you drag it out to the end and you can't find a buyer with the right bid, then it's better not to sell or not to sell." ”

Frank Wells was obviously still a little unwilling, and Eric didn't want to be too stubborn, so he nodded in agreement.

Some more details were discussed, and the crowd ended the topic.

Katzenberg added: "Eric, at the end of the month, Cameron will be able to come up with a director's cut of "Titanic", I have seen some sample films, and this version may be more than three hours long. I talked to Cameron and wanted him to squeeze the set to 150 minutes or less, but Cameron insisted that you see the dailies for yourself before deciding. ”

Katzenberg's tone was full of helplessness, and it was clear that the process of the confrontation between the two was not as light as he said at this time.

Eric thought about it, and the filming cycle of "Casino Royale" was a total of five months. According to the schedule, the next stop of the crew will be to the Czech Republic, and the filming time will be two weeks. Subsequent filming in Italy will take place for a month. The crew will spend the final two months of filming on UK soil, while also doing some post-production work at the famous Pinewood Studios in London, England.

After thinking about it for a moment, Eric turned his head and asked Kelly beside him, "What is the Venice Film Festival this year?"

Kelly said, "August 28th." ”

Eric nodded, and said into the conference phone: "I don't know if it's too late now, if possible, let "Titanic" participate in this year's Venice Film Festival, it doesn't matter if you participate in the competition or not, it is best to be able to operate as an opening film, in addition, I happen to be in Italy next month, let Jim bring the sample to Europe in advance, I will see it first." ”

Katzenberg said, "Alright, Eric, we'll do our best. ”

The efficiency of the Firefly Group is still very high, and the next day, the Los Angeles Times appeared in the news that Firefly may sell the production rights of "The Matrix".

Subsequently, Katzenberg, who was surrounded by reporters at the entrance of the Firefly Group headquarters, personally proved the news.

For a while, everyone from the media to the fans was in a state of confusion that didn't know what was going on.

Several other major Hollywood studios were even more surprised, they did make a lot of small moves from this matter, these people just wanted to cause some trouble for the fireflies on this project from beginning to end, and no one thought that the fireflies would pick on them if they disagreed.

Moreover, this time, from the very beginning, Firefly has done a good job of Yulun public relations plan.

But after the news was released, fans immediately boiled, and under the guidance of the media, they shifted their attention to several other big Hollywood productions, and Burbank, Warner Headquarters, Universal Studios, etc., which are not too far from the Firefly headquarters, immediately appeared Fans who were originally squatting outside the Firefly headquarters, asking the executives of these two film companies to ask for forgiveness, hoping that they could buy the production rights of "The Matrix".

Of course, some media questioned that Firefly did this to divert attention, and some fans also suspected that Firefly was confusing the public, and actually had no intention of giving up the production rights of the sequel to "The Matrix". After all, can you imagine Warner selling "The Batman" or Universal selling "The Mummy"?

It's just that these doubts are difficult to hold on to for too long under the public statements of Firefly's top management.

Although I was surprised, the other major Hollywood studios were definitely much faster than the media and the public. On the day the news broke, there were countless phone calls to Firefly's top executives and Eric in the Bahamas to find out the truth.

In the Bahamas, the crew rested for three days, and some of the crew had already rushed to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, in advance. Eric will also be flying out this afternoon with the last of them.

At this time, in the study of the villa where Eric lived on the paradise island, he was answering a phone call from Bill Gates, and he had lost count of the first calls in two days.

"Yes, Bill, of course it's true," although there was all kinds of competition in private, the two sides did not tear their faces after all, and maintained a superficial harmony, and Eric's tone was very warm: "However, if Amberlin is interested in this project, you may want to talk to Jeffrey, I've been too busy lately to take care of this matter." ”

There is no doubt that Bill Gates, or Amberlin Studios, a collaboration between Microsoft and Spielberg and others, took an interest in The Matrix.

From the contract signed between Amberlin Pictures and Paramount a few months ago, everyone can roughly guess the ambitions of the other party.

The contract of eight films in three years is definitely not too much for a latecomer who aspires to become a big studio, but too little. Any major Hollywood studio, including MGM, which has now recovered, produces more than eight films a year.

Since Microsoft is ambitious, Amberlin Pictures must have produced more than eight films in three years, so Amberlin Pictures must have used the extra films to expand its own distribution channels.

It's just that although Amberlin Pictures has Spielberg, it doesn't mean that every film he directs will be strongly sought after by theater companies, not to mention, Spielberg can be said to be relatively low-yielding in recent years, and after taking over the operation of the new Amberlin Pictures, it may be good to be able to direct a film in three years.

In this case, Amberlin Pictures is desperate for a film project that can have a strong appeal to the theater company, and using the influence of such a project, Amberlin Film can also quickly build a distribution network through close cooperation with the theater company.

As a result, the sequel to "The Matrix", a project with a very guaranteed box office and influence, is undoubtedly what Amberlin Pictures dreams of.

Bill Gates on the other side of the phone said something more.

Eric just shook his head and said, "Bill, I really can't just give you an offer, this needs everyone to sit down and have a good talk." However, you have absolutely no doubt that as long as Amberlin bids the right price, we will definitely sell it, eh...... 250 million, hehe, Bill, although I don't want to talk about it now, but if you only offer such a price, I don't think there is any need for us to talk about it at all. ”

Eric was chatting with Bill Gates when there was a few knocks on the study door, and Kelly pushed it open, revealing Miranda Kerr's somewhat flattering little face outside the door in addition to her.

Eric waved his hand at the girl, and Miranda walked in, but Kelly didn't follow, just closed the study door again.

Seeing that Eric was talking to someone on the phone, Miranda's mood relaxed a little, and she walked hesitantly to the desk, her eyes drifted from side to side, and she looked at the sofa on the left, but she didn't dare to take the initiative to sit over, holding her little hands behind her back, like a schoolboy who made a mistake, standing obediently in place, looking at Eric pitifully.

Eric looked up at the girl, smiled, and held down the mouse to manipulate the computer on the desktop while talking to Bill Gates on the phone.

The printer placed next to it quickly buzzed.

Miranda squinted her eyes and looked cautiously, until the humming stopped, and she could make a general view of the contents of the A4 paper, which were credit card expense slips.

Obviously, it was the Citi black card in his hand.

Shrinking her neck, she looked at Eric with some concern, but the girl's mind couldn't help but think of the experience of the past month.

When she first grinded a black card from Eric, Miranda didn't actually have anything else in mind, she just happened to hear that this kind of credit card is very high-level, and can even be infinitely overdrawn, so she asked Eric out of curiosity.

Miranda thought to herself that she was a very smart person, and even when she later found the eight-figure balance on the credit card at the bank, the girl was not too excited, because she knew that the money was not her own, and she could neither nor dare to squander it.

It's just that what happened next is still out of her imagination.

It turns out that such a Citi black card represents definitely not only the tens of millions of dollars in the account, but a symbol of social power.

Because of this black card, her experience in the past month can almost be described as a 'responsive'.

From the moment she arrived in the Bahamas, because of this black card, she has been enjoying the most meticulous care, the VIP lounge at the airport, the 24-hour luxury car and driver in Miami, the personal butler of the top hotel in Orlando, and the personal service of the manager of the Chanel store.

Even, when she was in Orlando, because she had a cold, she called out at midnight, and within half an hour, a medical helicopter personally took her to the top hospital in Orlando.

Since she was a child, even her parents have never been so attentive to her.

Miranda has thought many times that perhaps, even the life of a princess of a country, is nothing more than that.

Although precocious in mind, she was still just a little girl after all, and these extremely satisfying vanities soon made her lose herself, and after a round of Miami and Orlando, the girl flew to New York on the advice of a travel consultant, and also attended a sorority of rich children on the Upper East Side, although she did not know her identity, but because of the black card, those originally proud Upper East Side boys and girls were very attentive to her.

In the end, Miranda didn't dare to check the credit card bill anymore, she only occasionally felt that this kind of princess life, even if it was a month, was enough.

So, just after a month, I was very happy and sad.

Waking up in a state-of-the-art suite at a New York Hilton hotel, the lobby manager handed her a direct ticket to the Bahamas.

Eric chatted with Bill Gates for more than ten minutes before finally hanging up.

Putting down the microphone, Eric looked up at the girl who was bowing her head and tiptoeing, and pointed to the credit card statement on the printer next to him: "Take it, I'll take a look." ”

Miranda walked over with a worried expression, sorted out a few pages, and slowly moved to Eric's side, handed it to him, thought about it, and dared to rub it up, but saw Eric point to where she had just stood.

"It's over!"

With a sigh in her heart, Miranda stood back obediently, but she still took the initiative to say: "Eric, I, I'm sorry, I was wrong." ”

Eric looked at the long bill in his hand.

Luxury car rental, private chauffeur, medical helicopter, continental breakfast, Prada limited edition girl kun bag, Carlton Hotel, Dior dress......

Shaking his head from time to time, he sighed a few words of admiration.

In the end, the monthly bill turned out to be $110,000.

At the income level of an American, a middle-class family where both husband and wife work does not necessarily earn $110,000 a year.

Eric looked up at Miranda, who was pitiful, was this really just a Lolita, no matter how she looked at it, it looked like an out-of-control Persian cat, and it was still very expensive.

Eric suddenly remembered what he had seen on the Internet in his previous life, a cat owner installed a GPRS recorder for his pet, so the next morning, he saw a series of jaw-dropping routes for his cat.

"Now, what did I say?" finally asked Eric after a few moments.

"No, don't spend a lot of money, play for a while and go back to Los Angeles," Miranda whispered in obedience.

Eric put down the bill in his hand: "And now?"

"Eric, I was wrong, can you forgive me?"

Of course, Eric doesn't mind the money Miranda spends, with his current net worth, Miranda maintains the current rate of spending money, and squandering it for a hundred years is unlikely to have much impact on him, but the girl's performance is really out of proportion.

Without saying anything more, Eric held out his hand to the girl, "Bring it." ”

Miranda was stunned, and suddenly realized that Eric was asking her for the black card.

Thinking of the experience during this time, and the scene of being beaten back to her original form like Cinderella once she lost this black card, Miranda subconsciously took a step backwards.

It's just that she quickly realizes that Eric's desire to get this card back is not something she can resist at all.

After hesitating, Miranda cautiously pleaded: "Eric, I, I promise never to spend a penny in the future, you, will you let me keep this card?"

Eric stared at the girl's appearance, having experienced two lives, how he didn't understand the girl's thoughts.

Terrible vanity. (To be continued.) )