After Christina left, Eric lay in the bathtub with his eyes closed, thinking about what happened just now, and unconsciously had some thoughts in his heart.
After changing his clothes, he went downstairs feeling refreshed.
The sky in Los Angeles in December is relatively short. After seven o'clock, it was already dusk outdoors, but the hall of the villa was brightly lit and full of people.
The party has already begun.
Noticing Eric's appearance, many people came up to say hello, and Eric responded with a smile. After a while, Drew walked over with a brown-haired woman in her thirties. The people chatting around Eric recognized the identities of Drew and the woman beside her, and knew that some of them might have business to do. Talk, and leave with interest.
The brown-haired woman next to Drew is Barbara Blockley, the current head of the family behind the 007 series.
Since the production of the first 007 film "Dr. No" began in 1961, the control of the 007 series of films has been in the hands of the Blockley family. Most viewers are accustomed to linking the 007 series with MGM, but in fact, before the 1980s, 007 had nothing to do with MGM, and the copyright of this series has always belonged to Ion, controlled by the Blockley family. Production company, in the 1970s, Harry Salzman, a partner of Ion Productions, broke up with the Blockley family and sold half of the company's shares to United Artists. "The Gate" went bankrupt and was acquired by MGM, and then MGM owned half of the copyright of the 007 series.
However, although neither MGM nor Ion Productions has absolute control over the 007 series, MGM has been struggling with operating difficulties over the years, and MGM needs to continue to open the 007 series to maintain the company's operations. In the 007 series, MGM, one of the seven major film companies, was in a weak position, and the Blockley family firmly controlled all aspects of the film from script to release.
The Blockley family can be said to rely entirely on the 007 series for a living. The Barbara Blockley in front of me is about 35 years old this year, but since she was 20 years old, this woman has been working as an assistant director in the production of the 007 series , and then went from assistant director to assistant producer all the way to the position of producer, and after her father Kobe Blockley retired, he and his half-brother Michael Wilson thoroughly mastered the production of the 007 series, And for more than ten years, she has only done this one movie series.
Of course, the strong position of the Blockley family in the 007 series disappeared with MGM's merger and integration in the past year.
In the past thirty years or so, although the 007 series has experienced many downturns, none of the 17 007 films released so far have lost money, and all of them have made money. Strong dependence, had to make various compromises with the Broccoli family.
But now that MGM owns a series of blockbuster copyrights, this dependence no longer exists. MGM does not need to make various compromises with the Blockley family in order to start this project. When it was proposed to integrate series such as "007", "Mission: Impossible" and "Charlie's Angels" to create the MGM agent movie universe, the Blockley family agreed to the plan very wisely, although they were extremely reluctant.
Although he took the initiative back, Eric did not intend to kick the Broccoli family away. After all, they can say that they have spent most of their lives on creating the 007 series. The production experience must be completely unfamiliar The producer is too rich, the two women came to the front, Eric hugged Barbara Blockley very familiarly, and said: "Good evening, Barbara, you are so beautiful tonight. "
Barbara Broccoli hugged Eric gently, let him go and smiled, and said: "Thank you, Eric, this villa is really what everyone said, and now I hope that I can also There is such a house."
"Then you can come and visit often in the future, by the way, why haven't you seen Michael?"
Eric was referring to Barbara Broccoli's half-brother Michael Wilson, who explained: "He's been in the UK lately with some corporate stuff."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Drew next to him pointed to the rest area not far away, and said, "Eric, let's talk over there."
Eric nodded, took a glass of champagne from the passing waiter's tray, and sat down on the sofa in the corner with the two women.
"Eric, I'm so happy to hear that you plan to direct the next 007 movie yourself. Even Dad has personally asked about it," Barbara Blockley said immediately after the three sat down. The topic shifted to the 007 series, and said: "However, I have read the first draft of the script, and I think, compared to the previous ones, even the one just released in the summer, has the style of this 007 changed a bit?"
Eric asked unhurriedly: "Barbara, can you be more specific?"
Barbara Broccoli said: "Just like in this script, I always feel that Bond in this sequel is developing in the direction of a tough guy, and Pierce's temperament should be more gentlemanly, and, in recent years , we can all see that representatives of tough guy movies like Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger are all on the decline, and the 007 series tough guy route is not a wise choice.”
"You're saying we should stick with Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye, right?"
Barbara Broccoli nodded and said, "GoldenEye was very successful, so I don't think there is anything wrong with this."
Eric looked at Barbara Broccoli, who was staring at him without evasive eyes, recalled what he had just said, and understood the other party's intentions. In the final analysis, Barbara Broccoli still just wants to gain more control over the 007 series.
"If I remember correctly, the global box office of "GoldenEye" should be about 350 million now, and the major box countries have probably already released it, so the future figures will not change too much. The global box office of 350 million US dollars , compared to the production cost of 70 million US dollars, it is of course very profitable. According to this kind of thinking, if the production continues in a satisfactory manner, the next few films will still bring us good profits. But, Barbara, don’t you want to let 007 Going further?"
Barbara Broccoli bit her lower lip and said stubbornly: "Unless the result can be predicted in advance, no one knows whether they are advancing or retreating."
Hearing that Barbara Broccoli had a tendency to fight hard with Eric, Drew, who was leaning against Eric, raised his chin, and just about to say something, he felt Eric pat on the back of his hand, Quiet again.
"When everyone else is moving forward, if you stop moving forward, it is actually a kind of retreat." Eric comforted Xiao Nizi, spread his hands and said to Barbara Broccoli: "So, we still don't Let’s discuss these inexplicable life philosophies. Let’s talk about some more practical issues. Regarding the change of script style, on a deeper level, I don’t intend to make the Bond series a tough guy movie. I just want to shape Bond He should be injured, fail, and even cry, instead of looking like a neat and spotless gentleman after a series of fights, explosions and chasing cars."
"But Bond is supposed to be a gentleman, and the audience won't mind the details you said. They just want to see something that makes their blood boil."
"With the development of special effects technology, there will be more and more movies that can make people's blood boil, and the audience's requirements will become more and more demanding. At this time, if you can't make Bond more soulful, the audience will be disappointed. Get bored and ditch the series."
"..."
Barbara Broccoli wanted to say something more, but Eric stopped her with his hand and said, "Let's put it this way, Barbara, I can make a clear promise to you that the power enjoyed by the Broccoli family in the 007 series will If it continues, the profit share you enjoyed in the past will not change. If you want, you can also continue to be the producer of the 007 series, but the premise of all this is that the 007 series must be in line with the overall interests of MGM. If You still want to firmly control all the power of the 007 series as before. I can tell you now that this is not possible. Moreover, the current MGM will not make compromises with Ion Production Company Yes, now that we leave 007, we can still survive well, but the Ion Production Company will be left without a penny."
Hearing Eric's increasingly serious tone, Barbara Broccoli felt a strong anger in her heart, but this anger quickly disappeared.
Eric patiently left time for Barbara Broccoli to think, sipped the champagne in his hand, looked around at the guests, and inadvertently caught a small pink figure dangling around, smiled, and looked towards Christina waved her hand, and the girl floated over immediately.
"Hi, Drew," Christina came to several people, but greeted Drew obediently first, making Eric dumbfounded. It seems that the girl's weight in this girl's heart is a bit higher than his .
Drew just nodded casually, Eric patted himself on the other side, Christina sat down restrainedly, and looked curiously at Barbara Broccoli on the sofa diagonally opposite.
"Eric," Barbara Broccoli spoke again after a while, her tone seemed a bit more compromised, and said: "The 007 series is my father's life's painstaking effort, I only hope that, no matter what, you You can take it very seriously."
"Of course, if I didn't like this series very much, I wouldn't direct a sequel film myself," Eric heard Barbara Blockley say this, knowing that the other party no longer intends to seek any more control, and then assured Said, after finishing speaking, he patted Christina's thin shoulder beside him, and said, "By the way, Barbara, I have an idea recently, um, let me introduce to you first, this is Christina Aguiler Lah, Christie, this is Ms. Barbara Broccoli, all the 007 series of movies you have seen are produced by their family."
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Broccoli, I like the 007 series very much." Although she didn't understand what Eric meant, Christina got up and shook hands with Barbara Broccoli very obediently, while not Forget the small compliment.
"Hello, Christie," Barbara Broccoli was also a little puzzled, and even felt a little uncomfortable. Coupled with the compromise she made just now, her tone seemed absent-minded.
"It's like this. The second part of the "Charlie's Angels" series is already in the late stage, and there is still one left. After the trilogy, although there will be interludes, the angels will probably enter a renewal period. This is The strategy has been established in the early days, but right now, I think Christina may be one of the next generation of angel heirs."
After Eric's voice fell, Christina's eyes lit up, Drew looked up at the little girl with a smile, but Barbara Broccoli was even more confused.
Eric did not sell the lawsuit, and said: "Since 007 and "Charlie's Angels", there will be various crossovers in "Mission: Impossible", so, what do you think, the youngest Bond girl in the history of the 007 series, what about this gimmick? "
"ah?"
"Wow!"
"Really?"
Seeing the different reactions of the three women, Eric patted Christina's little head, and said to Drew and Barbara Blockley: "Of course it is true, and this is the result of my deliberation. "
Since there was the gimmick of the oldest Bond girl in the original time and space, why can’t there be the gimmick of the youngest Bond girl in this life? At this time, Christina is not yet sixteen years old. After the aura of the Bond girl in this episode, In the future, another identity of Charlie's Angels will be added, so it can even be used as a link, so that several movie series can be better connected.
Drew maintained absolute trust in Eric. Although some small eyes with unknown meanings flashed in his eyes, and the expression of looking at Christina also made the little girl have the urge to shrink her neck, but in the end, what did Drew still do? Neither said.
On the contrary, Barbara Broccoli maintained a very cautious attitude, saying: "Eric, if this is the case, the original script needs to be completely overthrown and rewritten."
"No, it won't be that troublesome, haven't we been looking for a more reasonable reason for Vesper to finally betray Bond?" Eric said, patted Christina's little head again, and said: "You Look, isn’t it there? In the original script, the reason for saving her kidnapped boyfriend was too far-fetched. Now, she has a sister who was kidnapped and then betrayed Bond because of it. This reason seems more reasonable .” (To be continued.)