"Would you like something to eat? I have some here...um, chocolate, and apples?" Eric asked as he opened the somewhat empty refrigerator.
Sitting on the sofa, Stuart Lankel shook his head and said, "No, it's not a good habit to eat late at night. If you have milk, you can give me a glass. Drinking milk at night is good for sleep."
Eric raised his eyebrows, poured a glass of milk for Stuart and handed it over, and asked, "Who told you all this?"
"It says in the book, Eric, please don't treat me as a child who doesn't understand anything. I'm already seven years old."
Eric nodded with a smile: "Okay, big boy, then, why are your parents arguing today?"
"Dad resigned, saying that he wanted to start his own company. My mother quarreled with him. Hey, women are really troublesome. When my father didn't resign, my mother always nagged that the company where my father worked was too small and had no future. Now my father After finally making up my mind to resign, my mother immediately turned on me and said that my father was irresponsible to the family by giving up his stable job like this.”
Eric leaned on the sofa, he didn't care too much about the house affairs of the Lankers, he gnawed on an apple and said with a smile: "I think, you little guy has heard and seen too many things that are not suitable for your age. "
Stuart grinned, as if hearing a compliment, rolled his eyes, jumped off the sofa, ran to sit next to Eric, and asked, "Eric, are you making a movie now?"
Eric nodded: "Yes, the filming is almost over. Then you can ask your mother to take you to see it together."
"So, Eric, do you think I could do a movie?"
"Huh? Stu, why did you suddenly have such an idea?"
Stuart said with hope in his eyes: "I heard that movie stars are paid a lot. If I become a movie star, I can make a lot of money for my family. If I have money, my parents won't quarrel."
If the Runkels were here now, I wonder if they would be ashamed to hear these words.
Eric thought for a while and said: "But now you are too young. You may not know that children are one of the most difficult factors to control in movies. In many movies, children's roles are minimized as much as possible. Even when filming, the director I will also be trembling, because once those children start crying, the whole crew will be paralyzed. And you have a great "Child Protection Act", and the contract signed by the crew has no mandatory effect on children. So, I think it's better to wait Let's talk about it when you grow up, at least until you are eighteen, like me."
"Hey, Eric, I'm not one of those naive little kids, I'll be very obedient. I heard that you are the screenwriter of the movie, help me write a role, I will be very grateful to you." Stuart's eyes sparkled Looking at Eric, although compared to children of this age, Stuart Lankel is a bit too smart, but after all, he is only seven years old. He naively thought that as long as Eric, a screenwriter, helped him write a character, he would You can go to the movies. .
Eric jumped slightly in his heart, sat up straight, and carefully looked at the little boy in front of him. Someone had just popped into his mind: Macaulay Culkin. The super child star who became popular all over the world with "Home Alone".
At this moment, a bold idea came out of Eric's mind involuntarily. Although it was not clear enough, Eric knew that if the plan was successful, he could easily skip the most difficult stage of primitive accumulation and break through directly. Restricted by a series of factors such as age, funds, and seniority, realize your ideals. Although this plan is very difficult for me who is poor and white at this stage, how will I know if I don't try it? It's rare to fight a few times in life!
Moreover, looking at Stuart, whose IQ is at least ten years old, the biggest uncertain factor in the movie is gone.
"Then, Stu, to be honest, I do have a suitable role for you, and it's the protagonist."
Stewart lay on Eric's lap with a look of surprise, raised his head and asked, "Eric, what is the protagonist?"
"Uh, the protagonist is... the one who gets the most pay in the movie."
"I act, I act."
Eric said: "However, we must obtain the consent of your parents. Then, I will take you home and talk to your parents by the way."
As soon as he walked out of Eric's house holding Stuart's little hand, he heard the voices of the neighbors, the Lankers.
"I tell you, Charleson Runkel, if anything happens to Stu, I'll divorce you!"
Charleson Lankel, who always seemed a little weak in quarrels, suddenly yelled: "Shut up, you bitch, if you didn't start the quarrel, would Stu run away secretly? Go to the basement first, Stu Are you hiding inside?"
Mary Lankel was frightened by her husband's sudden roar, and it was indeed her own fault. For a while, she silently followed behind her husband, and was about to look for it, when Eric's voice sounded from the next door.
"Hi, Mr. Runkel, don't worry, Stu is here." Eric hugged Stu, and the couple breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the son in Eric's arms.
After sending Stewart back to the Lankel's house, and hearing Eric's general account, the couple regretted a little and promised not to quarrel in front of the children.
"Actually, Mr. Lanker, there is one more thing. Just now Stu said that he wants to act in a movie. It just so happens that I have a script here that is very suitable for Stu. Moreover, with Stu's intelligence, I think playing that role is perfect." no problem."
The couple were a little surprised. If they didn't know about Eric's recent situation, they would probably take Eric's words directly as a joke. However, Eric's news appeared in the newspapers now, so although they were surprised, they also had some expectations.
The life of the couple is a bit unsatisfactory, otherwise there would be no mid-life crisis. If his son can act in a movie and become a star, it means self-evident.
"Eric, can you roughly tell me what movie it is?"
Eric said: "Of course, this is a comedy, roughly a little boy is forgotten at home by his careless parents..."
It took five minutes for Eric to roughly tell the storyline, and then said: "I chatted with Stu for a while, and found that Stu's current IQ is higher than that of the little boy in the movie, so , if you agree, let Stu try."
Several people looked at the boy sitting next to him who looked very well-behaved or pretended to be very well-behaved.
"Daddy, Mommy, I think I can, this story is great."
"The child is still too young, I think..." Charleson was just in the middle of speaking, when Mrs. Lankel pinched him covertly.
"Eric, can we think about it?"
"No problem," Eric nodded, and added a fire: "But you must answer me as soon as possible. This movie is planned to be released during Christmas. If the results are good, it is likely to make a series. If you agree, without accident, the protagonist will be Stu."
For a series of movies, even ordinary people know that the salary of the protagonist will definitely get higher and higher.
At the same time, Eric very flatteringly did not tell the Runkels that he would direct the movie himself. Now that everything is still unclear, Eric is not even sure whether the plan will be successful. He does not want to make "Home Alone" "The script of 20th Century Fox or other film companies, but intends to completely independently produce, for him who has only half a foot in the circle, the difficulty can be imagined.
Back home, the excited Eric didn't fall asleep. He sat in front of the typewriter and typed the script of "Home Alone" while thinking about the specific implementation process of the plan.
First of all, in terms of funds and actors, in addition to Stewart, the two stupid thieves are also the top priority. Eric did not intend to invite Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern from the previous life. Both of them are relatively famous now. Joe Pesci, a famous movie actor, was nominated for an Oscar for a supporting actor. With his little money, he couldn't even pay the salary of the two of them.
Eric plans to find two TV actors who act in comedies. The status of TV actors in this era is completely incomparable with film actors. When greeting people, they are embarrassed to say that they are acting in TV dramas, so the salary is quite low.
The filming location must be Canada. Los Angeles has just entered autumn, and many places in northern Canada have already snowed.
And other messy stuff...
The lights in the bedroom were on all night, and when the sun shone into the bedroom, Eric stood up and stretched.
After thinking about it all night, the cost of "Home Alone" in the previous life is said to be 18 million US dollars. From Eric's professional perspective, it is entirely the cost of shooting plus the cost of publicity. The pure shooting cost is only about several million, most of which are the remuneration of actors and directors.
But now, because the complete "Home Alone" is already in his mind, all Eric has to do is transfer it to the film completely, so a lot of unnecessary waste can be saved.
In terms of publicity, Eric also has other plans. But no matter how careful the budget is, the movie cannot be made without a million dollars.
One million, "Returning to Seventeen" will be completed in a few days. Eric can get a salary of 500,000 U.S. dollars, plus the original script remuneration, there is still about 90,000 U.S. dollars left. $600,000.
Well, "Jurassic Park" is selling so well now, discuss it with Michael Krause, maybe you can get 200,000 US dollars, and there is still a shortfall of 200,000 US dollars.
Based on the idea that the boat will be straight when it reaches the bridge, Eric decided to try to prepare first.