Chapter 257: What to do?
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"Mr. Jaffe," Bruce began again, "since "The Others" was successful with its ghostly perspective, I think a love story with a ghost as the main character could certainly be worth exploring."
The middle-aged man with gla.s.ses, who appeared to be in his forties, had not finished his sentence when the one he referred to as Mr. Jaffe interjected: "Alright, Bruce, I understand that you have been trying to pitch your script, but I"m really not interested at the moment. I"m currently in the process of pre-production for another movie."
The others around the table nodded in agreement. "Bruce, let it go," one of them said. "Don"t you think it"s a bit far-fetched to have a love story with a ghost as the main character, and moreover, it"s a tragedy."
"Many iconic stories are tragedies," Bruce argued.
"What"s the use of having a good memory?" asked the brunette with curly hair. "I heard about your script too. It"s going to use a lot of special effects and require an investment of no less than 20 million dollars. That"s already a medium to high investment for the producers – a big risk. Bruce, since you"re interested in ghosts or supernatural phenomena, why don"t you put in some effort to write a horror script like "The Others" instead of coming up with a ghost love story?"
Eric approached and heard the brunette"s words. His heart suddenly stirred.
With just the two keywords "ghost" and "Bruce", Eric was already confident of his suspicion. In his previous life, wasn"t the scriptwriter of the heartbreaking movie "Ghost" named Bruce Joel Rubin? And if he hadn"t appeared, perhaps the movie would have already gone into production.
Although Jonathan Demme was the director of "The Others," Eric was the most eye-catching person at the party. When he approached the buffet table, the people chatting nearby immediately gathered around him. They warmly introduced themselves, and Eric courteously exchanged business cards. He asked casually, "I heard something about a "Ghost," what were you all discussing?"
At a loss for how to establish a connection with Eric, the middle-aged man presented by Mr. Jaffe quickly responded, "It"s a script about a murdered bank clerk who turns into a ghost to protect his girlfriend from evil."
Eric remembered the self-introduction of the middle-aged man named Charles Jaffe and thought he must have been educated by the concept of Barry Del"s high-concept movie. He summarized the plot of "Ghost" in one sentence, which convinced Eric of his guess - that the middle-aged man wearing gla.s.ses who was pushed to the periphery of the crowd must be Bruce Joel Rubin, the screenwriter of "Ghost".
After some investigation, Eric found that many movie copyrights had been taken by major film companies, and some of the films he had gone through a repeated sorting and recollection of the well-known films of the past few years in Hollywood, and had tried to get the filming rights of, were nowhere to be found.
One of the scripts that was nowhere to be found was "Ghost". Before this movie, Bruce Joel Rubin was unknown in Hollywood. After Eric"s inquiries, he couldn"t even find this person. Finally, Eric decided to take one step at a time. According to the general production process of movies in the parallel universe, "Ghost" should have started preparations that year, and the script should have appeared earlier; perhaps it had already appeared before he crossed over, making it impossible for Eric to copy it and use it directly. Eric showed no interest in the script and casually glanced at Bruce Joel Rubin before turning his attention to idle conversations with those around him.
Don"t be deceived by how these executives and renowned producers are now so warm and welcoming to him, given his history of producing multiple box office hits. Had he been brave enough to publicly show his interest in the script of "Ghost" right then and there, they would have instantly altered their att.i.tude and competed with each other to secure the script.
After they exchanged some pleasantries, Eric and the others went their separate ways, and he never again had any contact with Bruce Joel Rubin. Since he had been seen, it would have been simple for them to locate him later.
But things don"t always go as expected. Just as he was leaving, Bruce Joel Rubin rushed up to him and said: "Mr. Williams...
The red-haired middle-aged man behind Eric, who had just given Bruce Joel Rubin a beating, saw his move and smiled at Charles Jaffe, saying, "It looks like Bruce is still unwilling to let go. He"s bothering Williams again."
Charles Jaffe gazed deeply at the middle-aged man chasing after Eric and asked, "Brian, do you think William will take a look at that script?"
"Who knows, but with Eric"s eye, if he takes a look at that script..." Brian, the red-haired middle-aged man, stopped here and exchanged glances with Charles Jaffe before they both went their separate ways.
The two were just nodding acquaintances, and Charles Jaffe was the vice-president of Paramount while Eric was employed at Warner. If Eric identified the potential of the script, they would become rivals if they competed. Upon hearing the conversation between Charles and Brian, several people around them all directed their gazes towards Eric.
Eric was now in a dilemma, as Bruce Joel Rubin had already started to narrate the plot of "Ghost". What could he do?
Act as if he didn"t care and ignore it? After the party, Eric sent people away warmly, as Bruce Joel Rubin was not a fool and it would be more troublesome otherwise.
Criticizing the script harshly likely means no chance of cooperation. Neither of the first two methods can be used, and if he expresses his interest in the script on the spot, Eric cannot help but look around, noticing the attention of many people, particularly those who had just discussed it. These people are all shrewd. If he dares to divulge his thoughts, it will undoubtedly be fiercely contested. Among a group of tigers and wolves, the firefly can only be considered a thin and weak jackal.
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