I am Hollywood

[Chapter 870: You Are the Devil]

Helena Christensen walked over with a glass of red wine and sat down beside Eric. She naturally leaned in closer and playfully asked, "Eric, how did I do?"

Sensing the totally different scent of a woman beside him, Eric smiled and nodded, "Well, it was pretty good."

"Just pretty good?" Helena seemed a bit dissatisfied with the compliment. She wanted to say more, but her gaze unintentionally caught Drew Barrymore's devilish smile on her doll-like face. Seemingly coming to a realization, she immediately reined in her flirtatious demeanor and, in a noticeably flattering tone, asked Drew, "Drew, when are you coming to New York again? We should hang out!"

"Sure!" Drew replied with a beaming smile, looking innocent, then yawned and snuggled against Eric, stretching her arms. "Eric, I'm so tired. I'm going to head back and get some sleep."

Eric could feel that Helena Christensen was a bit intimidated by Drew. Although he was curious, he didn't mind. He lovingly supported Drew's slim waist to help her stand. "I can't leave just yet. There are so many people I still need to greet. You go ahead."

"Okay," Drew leaned in to peck Eric on the corner of his mouth, glanced at Helena Christensen, and said with a laugh, "I'm heading back to Trausdale Manor. Whether you want to come over is up to you!"

"Go ahead, I'll come by later," Eric patted Drew on the waist, watching her leave with the twins, then smiled at Helena Christensen and asked, "Did Drew give you a hard time?"

Once Drew was gone, Helena relaxed immediately. Remembering the events that happened during the Met Gala charity ball at the beginning of the month, she shook her head and said, "No, we little ladies wouldn't dare provoke Drew."

"It seems you still got put in your place," Eric chuckled but didn't press any further. He trusted that Drew handled things with a good sense of propriety. Even if she lost her cool, that was no big deal. Scanning the room, Eric changed the topic. "So, has he left?"

Helena nodded with a bit of resignation. "Yeah, he got mad. I'll smooth things over tomorrow."

Eric shook his head. "No need to smooth things over. Just break up with him."

"What?" Helena instinctively replied, her expression shifting to one of grievance and sorrow. "Eric, I think this is a personal matter."

Eric always found it strange that most of the Victoria's Secret models would adopt that sad demeanor in front of him. Did they coordinate this behavior?

Thinking such a notion was a bit exaggerated, he shrugged off the thought. "Of course, it's your personal matter. I'm just making a suggestion. Besides, since you happen to be here, help me spread a little rumor among the Angels."

Helena, unable to follow Eric's sudden change in topic, asked, "A rumor? What kind?"

"Oh, it goes like this: any supermodel who dates Leo will be kicked out of the Victoria's Secret Angels, even the five spokesmodels won't be exceptions."

Helena widened her cat-like green eyes, hesitating as she stammered, "Is this... a rumor?"

Eric nodded. "Yep, you can try it if you don't believe it."

"But..." Helena hesitated a bit, clearly deflated now. Her expression turned back to one of melancholy as she narrowed her eyes like a disgruntled kitten and said, "Alright, alright, Eric, I'll break up with him tomorrow, and I'll help you spread the... rumor. But you have to tell me why!"

Eric replied, "Just obediently do as I say. Women shouldn't ask too many questions."

"Such a male chauvinist," Helena said, leaning back against him again, her expression returning to a flirtatious demeanor. "Eric, you don't want all of us to keep our purity like saints in the church for you, right? That's too much; you're not God."

Eric felt Helena's soft body almost against him and, without hesitation, extended his hand to gently caress her delicately made-up face. "You are mistaken. I am your God; I have never forced anyone's faith. But if you abandon this faith, you will be cast down to Earth, no longer an angel."

"Oh, Eric, you are not God. You are the devil," Helena murmured, her body feeling a little weak as if electricity flowed through Eric's fingertips. Forcing a grin, she tilted her head and playfully bit Eric's finger, flashing her bright white teeth with a threatening look.

After teasing her tongue with a few gentle strokes, Eric effortlessly pulled his finger back and patted her waist. "Let's go mingle with some guests and then hit the dance floor together."

...

The premiere of Con Air occurred on May 28, and the next day, The Lion King 2 held its grand premiere at the same theater.

Thus, on May 30, Con Air and The Lion King 2 officially hit screens across North America.

Since the North American media were closely observing the competition between the two films, many newspapers provided reviews on their opening day.

However, this time the situation appeared very unfavorable for Firefly Group.

Preliminary statistics showed that Con Air received a meager score of just 6, barely scraping by on newspaper and internet reviews. In contrast, the well-awaited Lion King 2 from Paramount Animation, which had undergone three years of development under Roger Allers, surprisingly garnered nearly a 9 rating, receiving rave reviews. The story of Lion King 2 focused on Simba's life as an adult, a shift that clearly catered to slightly older audiences.

...

After a long day, on the evening of May 30, even though it was a Friday, many top executives gathered at Paramount's headquarters in Hollywood. Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone sat at the head of the conference table, maintaining his composure. However, beside him, Paramount CEO Sherry Lansing and Lion King 2 director Roger Allers looked anything but calm.

While everyone casually discussed trivial matters, the film was already out. At this point, dwelling on any issues was futile, as they could only await Lion King 2's final box office results.

Despite the overwhelmingly favorable reviews from internet media and today's evening papers for Lion King 2, Viacom remained skeptical about the film's box office prospects due to the significant limitations imposed by Firefly and Fox during the initial marketing efforts.

At 74, Redstone was still quite healthy but rarely stayed up late like today. After finishing his coffee, he signaled the secretary for a refill, glancing at his watch to see it was just past midnight, technically June 1.

While he had a rough idea of the outcome, Redstone couldn't help but ask Sherry Lansing again, "Sherry, when do you expect the preliminary box office numbers?"

"Most theaters hold their last shows around 11 PM, so some chains begin their preliminary box office tally then. However, to get the results, we might have to wait until around 1 AM," Sherry explained. "If you'd like, Sumner, you can head home for some rest, and I'll call you with the results."

"No, it's fine; I'm not too old to move around yet," Redstone stubbornly shook his head. Remembering recent events, a flash of anger crossed his face as he addressed his assistant sitting nearby, "Jack, have we heard back from Larry Tisch?"

"Mr. Redstone, I called this afternoon. Tisch is currently in Europe and won't be back for about a week."

"Hmph, still playing hard to get," Redstone muttered.

Larry Tisch was the primary shareholder of CBS, and the network had been struggling for years. Tisch had often considered selling the network.

A couple of years prior, Tisch tried to negotiate for a buyout with Barry Diller's QVC. The deal was nearly finalized but fell apart when Diller's backer, Comcast, disapproved of the transaction, withdrawing financial support at the last minute.

Recently, Viacom had been on a buying spree, acquiring Blockbuster, Paramount Pictures, and Disney's animated studios. Many of Viacom's shareholders hoped Redstone would take a breather from expansion. However, after the marketing challenges Viacom suffered with Lion King 2, Redstone resolved to pursue a buyout of CBS to address Viacom's deficits in marketing channels.

Yet, due to the recent technological wave sweeping over the television industry, CBS found itself less inclined to sell. After Viacom expressed interest in acquiring CBS, Tisch, who had initially been eager to offload, became more reserved.

The late hours felt long as time crawled by, and after seeming like an eternity, it finally struck 1 AM.

Suddenly, the fax machine in the corner of the conference room began rattling, jolting everyone into attention, their expressions filled with anticipation and anxiety.

Brian Buckley, the head of Paramount's distribution department, sat next to the fax machine. Seeing that Redstone and the others were still motionless, he stood up, pulled out the freshly faxed data sheet, and glanced at it.

Unsurprisingly, Lion King 2's box office figures topped the list.

$12.8 million.

Seeing that number, Brian's mind quickly began calculating.

Based on typical weekend box office trends, with an opening day of $12.8 million, Saturday's figures were likely to rise a bit, with Sunday dropping again. Summarizing the day's earnings, Lion King 2's overall weekend box office projected to reach around $40 million.

Before he could consider even further, Redstone's light cough snapped Brian back to reality. "Hey, Brian, how did it go?"

Brian immediately regained his composure, noting the eyes of everyone in the room on him. He quickly smiled and said, "Very good! Opening day was $12.8 million, and the weekend total should approach $40 million."

As he spoke, Brian passed the box office data to Redstone and the others.

Redstone eagerly leaned toward the fax paper, while Sherry Lansing and Roger Allers crowded in to see.

Having already heard Brian report the numbers, the three immediately lowered their gaze to find Con Air's opening day box office figure, spotting it right away: $7.7 million.

Sherry murmured, "Opening day $7.7 million, maximum weekend $25 million. We won."

While the other company executives couldn't see the data, it was clear to them that Sherry was referring to the figures for the other film, leading them to excited whispers.

Roger Allers didn't pay much attention to Con Air's box office; many understood that the two films were not truly comparable given their vastly different genres. Instead, he was more focused on how Lion King 2 compared in its box office to the first installment.

With projections of $40 million for the opening weekend, that was substantially lower than the original Lion King's first weekend gross of over $49 million -- a drop of nearly $10 million that was decidedly disappointing.

Listening to Sherry explain the potential box office trends for Lion King 2 based on its opening day performance, Redstone had a pleased expression.

Noticing Roger Allers's disappointed face, Redstone placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Roger, don't feel down. You've done a fantastic job. Everyone knows that the reason Lion King 2 might underperform compared to the first installment isn't due to its quality; with sufficient promotional resources, its box office figures could certainly match or even surpass the first film."

"Exactly, Roger," Sherry chimed in. "Additionally, based on the reception for Lion King 2, it's even possible for its second week to see a reverse drop. There's no rule saying only Firefly can produce a blockbuster like Titanic."

As Sherry's words left her mouth, many people immediately thought of Godzilla, which was set to premier next week. With Sony Pictures' aggressive marketing campaign, almost no one doubted it would be a box office 'monster.' However, nobody dared to rain on their parade at that moment.

Looking at Con Air's $7.7 million opening, many believed that if there was an impact next week, its audience, similar to Godzilla's, would find Con Air in an even worse predicament.

*****

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