Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 212 Vacation

"Ethan~ look~ the sun is coming out~"

Early morning of August 20, 1978, London.

When Ethan looked in the direction of Evelyn's finger, a deep orange color connecting the sky and the earth suddenly came into view. The not-so-bright sun peeked out from the end of the Thames like a child who had just woken up. Under the breeze, the slowly flowing river surface sparkled.

Such a scene made Ethan quickly raise the Leica camera in his hand. With a click, the beautiful scenery of the water and sky merging into one and everything being warm was preserved forever by him.

The next second, a smiling face suddenly appeared in the world in the camera. The girl's head was slightly tilted, and her golden hair fell like a waterfall, as if a layer of gauze blocked the warm sun, but it was more like winter mist, sparkling against the sun.

Press the shutter again to record faithfully.

The incessant thud and bang is the whine of film, but also the joy of girls.

It wasn't until Ethan put down his camera that the girl who had been posing came up to him and asked expectantly, "Did you take all the photos? How is it? Does it look good?"

"Of course it looks good." Ethan replied without even thinking.

"That's what you said! If you don't look good when you rush out, you will be finished!" The girl wanted to take responsibility.

Ethan was not at all worried about this kind of rogue behavior. "That's impossible!" He shook his head and said, "Photography doesn't involve any technique at all. As long as the person is good-looking, the photos taken will be good-looking."

After hearing Ethan's confident rebuttal, the girl wanted to continue emphasizing the topic of whether the photo was good-looking or not. But after Ethan said that beauty was more important than technique, the girl who was still staring at him suddenly smiled, looked around and wanted to take more photos.

Playing in public made the surrounding security guards look nervous. Although they knew that the mission abroad would not be easy, no one expected that the employer had no awareness of being a wealthy man at all.

A guy with a net worth of hundreds of millions likes watching the sunrise as much as a commoner?

Alas - this is really -

They can’t figure out the thoughts of rich people!

After the sun had completely escaped the constraints of the horizon and climbed into the sky, the two of them returned to the Savoy Hotel where they stayed after watching the sunrise. After having breakfast and resting for a while, they went straight to the British Museum to watch the monuments of the Empire on which the sun never sets. 'collection'.Regardless of whether it is the mummies of ancient Egypt or the carvings of the Parthenon Temple in ancient Greece, it will open the eyes of the two bumpkins.

In the afternoon, the two bumpkins went to St. Paul's Cathedral again. Even though the building no longer had its original Roman style and had been rebuilt into a Baroque-style building, the majestic dome and grand sculptures still gave people a sense of the weight of history.

Standing at the entrance of the rear hall and looking at the high altar, the golden glow that looked like the Pantheon made Ethan smile and ask, "What do you think?" He tilted his head to look at Evelyn.

"It looks like it has a history than our country." Evelyn said truthfully.

"Hahaha——" Ethan laughed out loud.

Since he had decided to take a break, Ethan wanted to leave America, that hard place, and go out for a walk and wander around. That was what he wanted to do most.

The reason for choosing John Bull was very simple: first, in his previous life, he was born in Asia, set foot in America, and went to Oceania where New Zealand was located, but before crossing over, he had not touched Europe and Africa. In this case, he could try to make up for it in this life; second, the "Alien" project team under Destiny Pictures was madly rushing the progress of John Bull...

That's right, although Ethan wanted to relax, but did he really let him put down the company in his hands and ignore it?

He admitted that he was not as awesome as little Joseph.

He would go on vacation if he said so. Even if Hawaii burned down, he would not care.

After touring London for three days with his sister and visiting all the places Evelyn wanted to go, Ethan dragged the satisfied girl to Surrey, near London, and entered the Shepperton Studio.

This is an old film studio. Founded in 1931, it has a history of nearly 50 years. Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange", Attenborough's "Young Winston", and Zinnemann's "The Day of the Jackal" were all filmed here.

When Ethan and Evelyn arrived here, the container building with white walls and red tiles first came into their sight. After revealing their identities to the staff, they followed their guidance and the Nostromo that would sail on the screen in the future appeared in front of them.

While they were trying to watch the filming, Steven Spielberg, who had heard the news, came over and said, "Wow - Ethan - long time no see -"

The sudden shouting disrupted the order of the scene. Director Ridley Scott, who was explaining the play to the actors, frowned and looked around. The actors around him also cast doubtful glances in the direction of the voice. But when they found out that the person who spoke was the film producer, and the VIP he was welcoming was the largest investor and copyright owner of the entire film...

All the troubles will disappear.

Instead, there was a sudden burst of enthusiasm and curiosity.

no way.

There is no one else in the world who can freely dispose of 100 million US dollars in cash at the age of 23.

"Oh - you guy, why did you suddenly shout out?" Ethan glared at Spielberg unhappily, but at the same time smiled and opened his arms to hug him.

"I'm just expressing my surprise at your arrival!" Spielberg explained with a laugh.

"But after you shouted, how can I observe the filming scene?" Ethan was dissatisfied.

"Oh, forget it—" Spielberg shook his head, "You'd be interested in making a movie? I'd rather believe that wild boars can climb trees than that you want to make a movie!"

The confident words made Ethan shake his head helplessly, and patted the other person's back.

After the two of them let go, Spielberg also turned his gaze to Evelyn, "Hello Evelyn."

“Hello Steven.” Evelyn took the initiative to extend her hand.

Only then did Spielberg hold her lightly, and they broke up instantly.

Just as Spielberg said, Ethan was not interested in the filming of the movie. He greeted the director and the staff, and then he talked to Spielberg about the progress of the project.

The "Alien" project officially started filming on the 1st of last month. According to the plan, they will shoot most of the scenes in the Shepperton Studios. Only the surface of the alien planet, the engine room of the space cargo ship, and the medical room of the space cargo ship in the movie need to be filmed outdoors.

And the filming crews have already found these filming locations. The last two are in England. One is an abandoned power station in the western suburbs of London, where there are equipment in the engine room, and the other is an abandoned hospital in Hertfordshire. Can be used as a medical room.The only thing that needs to travel far is the surface of an alien planet...

"The surface of the alien planet needs to be filmed in Wales, and the Welsh National Park there fits the setting of the movie." Spielberg said: "If everything goes well, the movie will be completed in October this year, and then Industrial Light and Magic will fully provide post-production services, next summer..."

Spielberg pointed out his finger and said, "Eight months of production should be enough. I am 70 to 80 percent sure that the film can be released during the summer of next year."

"Don't worry, we won't relax on the quality of the film."

Although Spielberg did not guarantee it, Ethan was already very satisfied with the chance of a summer release in the 1970s or 1980s. After all, their previous plan was to strive for a Christmas release next year.

And after Ethan’s roar, with Spielberg personally keeping an eye on it, the production schedule was shortened by four months?
Wow--

This is truly a medical miracle!

Now that the movie is expected to be released in the summer, Ethan will not stay in the studio anymore, because he has discovered that with his appearance, the staff present will secretly glance at him from time to time.

Although he knew he was handsome, this kind of distraction was not something he, a capitalist, could tolerate.

So, he took advantage of the fact that it was already noon and asked Spielberg, who was knowledgeable about business, to treat him to a meal at the restaurant next to the studio. While waiting for the meal, the two chatted about other things.

"Thank you for your hard work this time." Ethan, who was sitting there, smiled and said, "If you hadn't been watching over here, I think the movie might have been delayed until 1980."

"Oh - that's what I should do."

Spielberg shook his head and said with emotion: "If I hadn't taken you to Columbia, this project might not have encountered so many troubles..." "Let's not talk about the past."

Ethan waved his hand, interrupting the other person's words.

"I didn't take it to heart."

Ethan admitted that when he learned that the head of Columbia had a close relationship with Spielberg, he was very unhappy about the suspension of work due to concealment.

But this dissatisfaction does not affect the relationship between the two parties, or in other words, even if Spielberg hides something in his previous personal network, Ethan can tolerate it.

Firstly, Spielberg's hiding was just to protect himself, because his personal network had been exposed, but Columbia just suppressed it;

Secondly, Spielberg had helped him a lot before, whether it was the connection with Ralph Baer or finding out what Philips was planning, Spielberg had taken the initiative to help before he did anything. This might have been mixed with a little personal selfishness, but at the same time, the benefits Spielberg brought him were absolutely unique.

With these, Ethan is willing to ease the relationship with him.

Uh……

To put it more simply...

Business is business.

When Ethan said that he didn't care about what happened before, Spielberg, who was sitting opposite him, immediately nodded apologetically. This made the atmosphere a little awkward, so Evelyn spoke up to help him out: "Steven, I heard that you turned down a project for Alien?"

"This behavior won't affect you, right?"

"Oh - no -" Spielberg understood what Evelyn meant and continued with a smile: "Sidney didn't want me to take that project in the first place. Sidney was very happy when I turned it down."

"Why? I heard you say that the project seems to belong to Universal?" Ethan was a little curious, "The CEO of Universal doesn't like his own project? Isn't this a bit outrageous?"

"Hahaha—that's because I wanted to do that project myself." Spielberg explained: "It was a comedy movie about the war, it was about things after Pearl Harbor, and Sidney felt that part History must be serious, so from the very beginning I opposed my filming..."

As Spielberg told the story, Ethan realized that the movie he turned down was "1941".

This is a movie about WW2. It tells the story of how the Japanese planned to attack Los Angeles after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In order to destroy the glory of Los Angeles, they decided to destroy Hollywood.

Under Spielberg's planning, he decided to make this film into an absurd comedy. He wanted to play a black humor, but before the film project was approved, countless people raised objections to it, including even Kubu. Rick, as a predecessor of the same ethnic group, told Spielberg that this movie can only be made from the perspective of official history, and cannot be marketed with comedy.

But Spielberg didn't want to make a historical film, so he wanted to use his power in Universal to do it his own way. Even his mentor, MCA CEO and Universal CEO Sidney Sheinberg, came forward and he didn't listen. Just when everyone was at a loss and couldn't pull this stupid donkey, Columbia Pictures collapsed, and Ethan's roar brought him to John Bull.

"To be honest, Sidney wants to thank you."

"Because he thought this movie would be the Waterloo of my career."

Spielberg smiled and spread his hands, "But I don't believe it..."

"Although I didn't get to shoot it this time, I don't mind. I'll just find another opportunity to shoot it in the future."

Ethan's mouth twitched slightly at the stubborn words. After finding the relevant information in his memory, he realized that this movie was indeed Spielberg's Waterloo.

Although he really wanted to tell Spielberg, 'The people around you are really saving you,' he didn't know where to start without having read the movie script.

Therefore, he could only say: "There is a chance."

"After all, Universal has given you great authority."

Just when Ethan thought that the topic would end, Spielberg shook his head and said, "No, no, no, after this year, I won't have a chance."

“Why?” Evelin, who had been listening, didn’t understand.

"Because my contract with Universal expires this year." Spielberg said, "We signed a yearly contract, not a project contract, so once the contract expires, Universal can no longer restrict me, and I can make movies anywhere I want. In this case..."

"I don't think any studio would accept my idea."

"After all, they were against it before."

“The same thing goes for Universal.”

"Sidney wants to renew his contract, but I want to think about it."

This news made Ethan and his sister look at each other.

Both of them saw surprise in each other's eyes.

Because they remembered that Roy Disney had offered an olive branch to Spielberg and Lucas through them! With this invitation in front of him, wouldn't Spielberg have some ideas?
Otherwise——

Why didn't he renew his contract with Universal?
Thinking of this, Ethan asked tentatively, "Roy?"

"Yeah~" Spielberg did not hide it, "It's him."

"I'm very interested in what you told me before. Being in charge of all operations of a live-action film company? Wow, that's really challenging..."

"Of course, if you want to buy a film company? Then I will definitely be more excited!"

Although Spielberg had been very kind in previous exchanges, Ethan knew that this guy was never the kind of person like Wozniak who regarded money as nothing.

It is true that Spielberg loves movies, but at the same time he will not give up greater interests. Otherwise, there would be no DreamWorks in Ethan's previous life.

And when Ethan caught Spielberg's eager gaze...

He immediately shook his head, "Acquire a film company?"

"Wow, this is still too far away for me. Our company is already running enough businesses, and I need to take care of them before I can consider other things."

"After all, acquiring a film company and establishing a company are two different concepts. The former has a lot of people to support, while the latter can focus on the development of a single project like an independent film company."

"But with your current size, it's very easy to run a Hollywood company." Perhaps because the two sides entered the stage of small talk, Spielberg mentioned Columbia again, "Take Columbia for example, MGM's offer to them was only $24 per share."

"When a Hollywood mogul is worth only 200 million, you..."

“You can buy one after operating it for two years.”

Spielberg raised an eyebrow at the two.

And this matter...

Ethan actually knew it very well.

Note: ① The real Alien was filmed from July 1978 to October 7, 5. The editing took 10 weeks and was completed in the spring of 21. The preview was on May 1979, 5, and the full screening was on June 25. ② Spielberg's title of the Prince of the World is not a random one. When he was filming 6, Kubrick came out to persuade him not to shoot it that way (the information comes from Kubrick's personal documentary "Life in Pictures" in 22), but he didn't listen. Even so, Sidney Sheenberg approved him 1941 million. To put it bluntly, if you say Spielberg's last name is Sheenberg, people will believe it. It's really good for him. ③ Kubrick is also Jewish. ④ Columbia's market value in 01 comes from the MGM history compiled by the Los Angeles Times. On November 1978, 1978, MGM formally made an offer to acquire Columbia, purchasing 11 million shares at a price of US$20 per share, which is 24%. Working backwards, it comes to 175 million shares, with a total market value of 20 million yuan.

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(End of this chapter)