King of Hollywood-Chapter 213 - Its a Pity
Chapter 213: Chapter 213: It’s a Pity
Chapter 213 -213: It’s a Pity
The meeting for “Interview with the Vampire” was quite successful, although Rice still had her reservations about Cruise playing Lester, she did not show it. After all, she herself admitted that in terms of appearance alone, Cruise was quite suitable.
Jordan had no further objections. In fact, he had long wanted to direct a movie related to vampires, and his only concern was that Adrian might interfere with the directing work. But Adrian had made it clear from the beginning that he would take full responsibility for the directing work, so naturally, he agreed without hesitation. Moreover, the three main actors fit perfectly with his vision, and the adapted screenplay was to his liking as well.
“I’m growing more and more fond of this character, Ed. You are a good producer,” Cruise seemed equally enthusiastic, which was not surprising as he was the only major star in the crew, and everyone showed him the respect he deserved.
In contrast, Brad was much more modest. Although he was a few years older than Adrian, he was not stingy with the word “thank you,” and he said it very sincerely. It’s no wonder he eventually became a superstar even though he started as a gopher. Unfortunately, now that he had encountered Adrian, some things might no longer belong to him.
As for Kirsten, there’s no need to say much, everyone liked her. A sweet and cute girl is always likable, and a sweet and cute girl who can act is even more so. However, after the meeting ended, she returned to New York with her mother, as there were still many scenes left for her in “No Reservations.”
If there was any regret about the meeting, it was that Cruise’s beautiful wife couldn’t attend.
After getting this done and handing it over to the movie company, Adrian immediately moved on to more important matters. Actually, if it weren’t for the fact that Rice and Kirsten both had to rush back, the first thing he would have done was this.
It wasn’t something complicated, just going out to play some ball with someone, working out, hitting the sauna, and then casually discussing some business decisions.
“The situation is not very good, Redstone clearly is determined, and I think he might be able to raise more funds, no less than 11 billion US dollars—our company is still too young,” Claude said in the steamy sauna room, wiping his sweaty face with a white towel hanging around his neck before taking a deep breath.
Adrian was less fastidious. Though he also had a white towel draped over his neck, he simply used his hand to wipe his face, which was dripping with sweat, “So, what do you plan to do?”
“If you agree to me using more funds…”
“You know that’s not possible, Crow,” Adrian interrupted before Claude could finish, and his tone left no room for negotiation, “You promised me it wouldn’t affect the acquisition of TBS.”
Claude shrugged, “Okay, I understand, just that it’s such a pity, a good opportunity.”
The acquisition of Paramount, this was the plan Claude had mentioned to Adrian at a Vanity Fair party, even before the Oscars. He had proposed the idea to Adrian and provided a feasible strategy through extensive data analysis. After long consideration, Adrian had agreed to his request, only stipulating that it should not affect the acquisition of TBS.
“No problem,” Claude had confidently answered back then. According to his analysis, if all went smoothly, no more than 9 billion US dollars would be needed to take over Paramount, and then by leveraging relationships, they could raise additional funds to acquire TBS as well.
However, he hadn’t anticipated that Summer Redstone and Barry Diller would get involved, both expressing strong interest in Paramount. These two were not easy opponents; Diller had even launched a hostile takeover bid, and Redstone, facing the threat of divorce, had persuaded his wife and issued a statement denying the divorce to maintain investor confidence.
While Adrian was in New York filming, Claude had crossed swords with them several times, but due to AC Media’s inherent disadvantages and Adrian’s “TBS first” principle, they hadn’t gained much of an advantage. If they couldn’t raise their bid, they might lose to these two guys.
“Alright, Crow, don’t take it to heart. Trust me, in another 6 or 7 years we will have better, more suitable targets,” Adrian said, patting his shoulder in a comforting tone.
He knew Claude had proposed this plan for the company’s development. Successfully acquiring Paramount would secure their overseas distribution rights and increase their influence in the MPAA, enhancing their status in Hollywood and turning AC Media into a top-tier media company. However, in Adrian’s view, it was not the best timing, as acquiring TBS was much more important than acquiring one of the top seven movie studios.
Thanks to his knowledge from the future about famous acquisition cases related to the movie industry, he remembered that several major television networks were acquired in the mid-90s, and if they didn’t act now, later opportunities would be rare. As for movie studios, there were better options available in the early 21st century, and by then, their funds would also be more ample.
Of course, if they could successfully acquire Paramount now without compromising the “TBS first” principle, it wouldn’t be a bad thing; having a renowned movie studio would make many things more convenient and easier, which is why Adrian hadn’t opposed it initially.
“A better target in 6 or 7 years? Are you making predictions again?” Claude asked with a laugh.
“If you want to think of it that way, you can,” Adrian shrugged.
“Alright then, with just one word from you, I have to hand over what could have been ours to someone else,” Claude sighed heavily, but anyone could hear he was just joking.
“With your personality, would you easily hand it over to someone else?” Adrian retorted with a snort.
“Of course not, I’m already prepared,” Claude said, wiping his face with his towel once again.
“I knew it, tell me about it,” Adrian said with a listening expression.
“Let Diller and Redstone fight it out; we’ll just watch from the sidelines. Sooner or later, they’ll notice the significance of the stocks we hold, and then they’ll start courting us,” Claude gestured as he spoke.
Adrian’s heart stirred slightly, “Which side do you think is more appropriate to lean towards?”
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“Redstone,” Claude answered without hesitation.
“Why?” Adrian raised an eyebrow, “Diller isn’t bad either.”
“Based on your plan and ideas, the benefits of collaborating with Viacom are clearly greater,” Claude also raised his brows.
“Do you plan to take this opportunity to hold shares in Viacom?” Adrian showed a surprised look.
“If possible, I would also like to join the board,” Claude said with a slight smile.
“Redstone won’t allow anyone to share his power,” Adrian reminded him.
“It doesn’t matter; we won’t conflict with him, right?” Claude looked at Adrian, “After all, cross-shareholding is common, and besides, we have you, the Miracle Director.”
Adrian immediately smiled, “Alright, I agree.”
Merely having MTV under Viacom’s control was reason enough for them to do this, not to mention the potential for further alliances in certain areas—at least, they wouldn’t be the main competitors for a long time.
“Alright, let’s go out; we’ve steamed long enough, time to get out,” Adrian said, standing up.
“Oh, Ed,” Claude suddenly remembered to say, stopping him, “There’s a cocktail party tomorrow night at the Beverly Hills Hotel, I think you should come along.”
“Cocktail party? Oh, spare me, Claude,” Adrian’s face immediately turned grim, “I attended enough of my uncle’s cocktail parties in New York. Now that I’m finally back in Los Angeles, let me have some peace.”
“Attended enough of your uncle’s cocktail parties?” Claude scoffed, his face clearly expressing disbelief.
“Of course, if you don’t believe it, you can call Uncle Anderson to confirm,” Adrian said unflinchingly, then changed the subject, “By the way, concerning the news about the Clinton administration, I have already…”
“Yes, I know, I already confirmed and moved forward after you called. The Clinton administration clearly plans to make more from the Japanese; therefore, we needn’t be too polite,” Claude waved his hand, then looked at Adrian with emphasis, “Ed, just consider it showing face.”
Adrian looked back at Claude and after a long sigh said, “You know, Claude, when I was directing a new movie in New York, even though I only attended two of my uncle’s cocktail parties, sometimes I wish I had never attended any.”
He gestured as he continued, “He invited almost all the executives from Wall Street, a few city councilors, California State Legislators, and a member of Congress. If Greenspan hadn’t been in Washington, he surely would have been invited too.”
“This is a good thing!” Claude exclaimed immediately.
“For you, maybe it is, but for me? Do you know how awkward I am around these people? I have no idea what they’re talking about! If it were about movies or even computers, networking, I could have chimed in, but finance…” Adrian gestured, “nothing but silly grins! I often think how good it would be if you were here.”
Claude burst out laughing, waving his hands repeatedly at Adrian who appeared helpless and frustrated, before asking, “I remember you once mentioned that The Godfather and your uncle didn’t get along too well?”
“Yes, actually, Uncle Anderson always wanted to reconcile but never could bring himself to do it, and then… there was no more opportunity—my aunt told me this. My uncle would never talk about it; and then how he was upset and embarrassed that he wasn’t mentioned in my Oscar acceptance speech—again, my aunt told me this, my uncle would never admit to these things. So, he tried to express this way, his apology both to me and to my father.”
“Ha, truly awkward.”
“Isn’t it? But more importantly, it was a message to my cousin, Victor, my uncle’s son: if you could be as good as Ed, I would do the same for you!” (To be continued. For more details, please visit www.qidian.com. More chapters are available there, support the author, support genuine reading!)
