I am Hollywood

Chapter 499: Chapter 500: Days Involving Vampires



[Chapter 500: Days Involving Vampires]

In the kitchen, Eric dismissed the estate's chef and personally poured the last of the corn sweet soup into a large porcelain bowl. He carried it into the dining room where Kathryn sat stiffly at the table, looking a bit uneasy. As Eric set the soup down and prepared to crack a joke, he noticed that the little girl beside him was also sitting up straight, her thin lips pressed together in a manner that clearly imitated Kathryn.

Seeing this, Eric stifled a laugh and ruffled the girl's hair, warning her with a playful tone, "Drew, no shenanigans or I might just kick you out."

"Here we go again... ah, let go! Always that line; can't you come up with something new?" Drew shouted as she swatted Eric's hand away, abandoning her imitation of Kathryn.

Eric settled onto the other side of the long table, ignoring the girl, and turned to the woman opposite him. "Sorry, Kathryn. Drew sometimes likes to be a bit of a handful. Please don't mind her."

"It's fine," Kathryn replied, shaking her head, though she still looked a bit uneasy.

Eric glanced at both women, slightly regretting his decision to keep Kathryn around. Drew and Kathryn were polar opposites; one was carefree and wild, while the other was composed and proper. Eric could imagine that if another woman had been sitting there, Drew would have imitated her too, and the mood would have taken a completely different turn.

With Drew being such a bright distraction, Eric was left with no choice but to have a serious discussion about movies with Kathryn. After dinner, he gentlemanly escorted her to her car. The atmosphere didn't seem to head in any other direction. Still, this environment had evidently eased Kathryn's nerves, as with Eric present, Drew didn't act out anymore.

"Like a statue," Drew finally blurted out as she watched Kathryn's car pull away from the estate, the tension she had been holding all evening dissipating.

Eric shot a glance at Drew, her slim waist cinched by a light blue fitted trench coat, and lowered his voice as if threatening her. "Kathryn's lifestyle is the healthiest. If you continue down your current path, by the time you hit thirty, you'll start piling on the pounds, tipping the scale at a hundred fifty, and wrinkles will creep onto your forehead and smile lines. Your hair will lose its shine, and you'll sport bags under your eyes all day..."

"Ahhh!" Before Eric could finish, Drew shrieked and jumped onto him, covering his mouth with her tiny hand. "Don't scare me like that! I won't end up like you said -- I've changed a lot!"

Eric laughed, patting Drew's back to encourage her to let him go. "Okay, alright, I was just kidding. I was referring to those stars who got addicted to substances; that's what really wrecks health."

"It's been years since I touched that stuff..." Drew said, tugging at Eric's arm in a faux innocent manner.

Eric was reminded of some Hollywood stars he knew from his previous life, including the girl beside him. They had struggled with addiction and while some managed to free themselves from those vices, their bodies were often the ones to pay the price. Some were severely skinny and had a hard time putting on weight (not that Angelina was starving herself...), while others struggled to lose weight and ended up needing makeup to create fake abs.

...

Some time before Thanksgiving, Eric felt as though he had inexplicably been dragged into the world of vampires.

First, Neil Jordan, the director of Interview with the Vampire, contacted him. A week later, Neil handed Eric a production proposal along with a script he had personally written. After a quick skim, Eric made a few modifications based on his memory and handed it over to Firefly Films' production department for a budget assessment, all while contacting Geffen Pictures regarding the film's rights.

...

Then, he accepted Francis Ford Coppola's invitation to attend the premiere of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

The film was produced by Columbia Pictures. Given that Coppola's previous works hadn't met great success, Columbia wasn't too optimistic about this one either, scheduling its release just a week before Thanksgiving, on November 13.

To their surprise, however, Bram Stoker's Dracula generated excellent buzz in early screenings, leading to a box office take of $38 million in its opening weekend. It was a great way to kick off the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

Eric wasn't initially very interested in the film; however, since Drew and Elisabeth insisted on attending the premiere for the sake of their preparation for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, he reluctantly brought them along.

The movie wasn't too different from what Eric remembered. However, due to his role in Speed, Keanu Reeves hadn't portrayed Jonathan Harker, and Monica Bellucci's chances to make her Hollywood debut flew out the window as another unknown actress took her place. As for the stunning Italian beauty, Eric had no idea where she was now. During these past years, many Hollywood stars who should've been debuting around this time had yet to surface.

After attending Bram Stoker's Dracula, it was immediately followed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Though Eric had never been obsessed with dramas, he could recall dozens of classic series, so when the three women took charge of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he didn't feel too disappointed -- the show wouldn't be missing out on anything significant.

However, over this period, Elisabeth and Drew had hired several screenwriters to draft outlines. Even Tina Fey, who was assisting Drew, attempted her hand at writing, but all their efforts yielded less than satisfactory results. Eventually, they circled back to Eric.

"Demanding me to be the producer? I charge quite a bit," Eric said with a chuckle as he looked up from his desk, which was littered with documents.

Elisabeth cleared a small space on Eric's desk, pulling out a stack of scripts from her bag to hand to him. "This is the original script by Joss Whedon for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's brilliant; it was just butchered in production. If the film had adhered to the script, the results would surely be better. That's why when I asked Joss to write the series script, he turned it down. The other writers have produced disappointing work, but today I contacted him again, and he said he would only agree to write if you were the producer."

During this time, Eric had hastily watched through the film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and he was rather disappointed. Calling it childish would not be excessive, especially during the part where the vampires attacked a school party, which felt more like a prank than a horror scene no blood was shed at all. Eric understood the reason behind it was to adhere to film rating rules, but the director had clearly gone overboard.

As he read through the script in his hands, Eric felt like he was looking at a completely different story. Just as Elisabeth had said, the original script was significantly more engaging than the film. Joss Whedon was undoubtedly a talented director and writer in Hollywood, but before helming the Marvel Avengers series, the films he directed mostly flopped, and he was lingering mostly in the world of television. Still, his captivating sci-fi and fantasy elements garnered him a loyal following among the geek community.

Speedily flipping through the script, Eric finally glanced at the woman across from him. "I'm just a tad curious -- this series you're producing can't possibly end up on Disney Channel, right? And besides, I've never even met Joss Whedon. By all accounts, this really doesn't concern me; how could he think of me as the producer?"

"Of course, they want to ensure the quality of the series," Elisabeth answered quickly.

Eric caressed the script, a slight smile creeping across his face. "Drew came with you, right? She's definitely downstairs now. Do you know why the little girl didn't want to come upstairs

with you?"

Elisabeth instinctively revealed too much. "Why?"

"Because I can usually tell when the girl is lying; she knows it, too. That's why she didn't want to come up, fearing she might slip up," Eric replied, pointing at Elisabeth and smiling more broadly. "But you're the same, Liz. When you lie, you unconsciously speed up your speech, plus a few other little nuances I won't mention, or else you'll just change them and I won't

catch you next time."

Elisabeth shot a glare at Eric for a moment before finally relenting. "Okay, you're really such a nitpick. Joss Whedon's initial condition was he wanted to direct, but he has no experience, so I obviously couldn't trust him and tried to negotiate."

Eric scrutinized Elisabeth, rolling with her tone. "And then you conveniently pushed me in,

right?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In Hollywood, credentials really mattered. If Joss Whedon could work with Eric -- even if that work was just indirect -- it would still add sparkle to his resume, particularly with Eric's

current standing in Hollywood.

Elisabeth, who often sensed pressure in Eric's gaze sharper than the rest, habitually bounced back, raising her chin with confidence. "Yeah, just want you to lend your name; no need to

chase me down like that."

Noticing that Elisabeth was beginning to bristle, Eric reached over and handed her a nearby coffee cup. "Alright, alright. Go make me a cup of coffee, and have Drew come up too." Automatically, Elisabeth grabbed the dainty bone china cup from him. Once she stood up, she seem to realize what she was doing, shooting Eric an eye-roll. Yet, she left the office a bit smug, clutching the cup as if she'd won a small victory.

...

A few minutes later, Drew pushed open Eric's office door, poking her head in with a cheeky grin before bouncing fully into the room. Elisabeth followed behind, and lastly, Tina Fey strolled in with a cup of coffee.

Now that Eric had decided to agree to be the producer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he clearly wouldn't just slap his name on a project. The two women in front of him didn't seem willing

to let him off easy.

However, Eric noticed something else. Now that he was involved in television production, the initial developmental plans he had for Firefly were no longer applicable. This was merely a reflection of the normal trend for individuals to climb higher in their careers. Just like Miramax -- Disney acquired Miramax hoping the Weinstein brothers would focus on art films to make inroads at the Oscars, but ultimately, Miramax began to eye big-budget projects, resulting in a split from Disney due to their differing visions.

The box office performance in Hollywood over the recent years had been noteworthy, and both Elisabeth and Drew didn't naturally possess a calm demeanor. Their ambitions to push things forward were understandable. With Firefly and Fox supporting them, Eric wasn't too concerned that generating more productions would lead to distribution issues.

"Let's cast a female lead with a sweet look, someone with that girl-next-door vibe. Forget

about Christina Swanson from the film version. Once we find the right actress, we can have her undergo some physical training. You guys can get in touch with John Woo; his stunt team should still be in the States before heading back to Hong Kong," Eric suggested, and Tina Fey

took notes diligently.

However, Elisabeth interrupted, "Eric, this is a vampire movie; wouldn't adding kung fu elements seem a bit odd?"

Hearing her, Eric laughed. "Hiring Hong Kong action directors doesn't mean we have to incorporate kung fu. Primarily, they can design some really cool action sequences, which will attract viewers. The series will feature plenty of fight scenes between Buffy and the vampires,

and if we keep the same awful fight choreography from the film, I think it's better not to make the series at all."

Elisabeth and Drew nodded furiously as Eric spoke, instructing Tina Fey to jot down their

progress.

After discussing several more details and bouncing around ideas for about an hour, Eric concluded, "That's all for now; I'll let you know other things as I think of them."

The three women left his office, satisfied. In the following days, they quickly began casting

for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

After experiencing one of the busiest stretches just before Thanksgiving, with Firefly's marketing department tirelessly working for two major holiday releases, Eric wrapped up most of his work for the year. On November 19, after attending the premiere of Speed, he rushed off to New York to join the two women he had been expecting for Thanksgiving, who

were taking some time off in East Hampton.

*****

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