Chapter 46: Chapter 46 Deviation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Although Spielberg’s face remained calm, a storm had brewed inside him. He had seen Michael Crichton’s novel, which occupied a high position on the New York Tis bestseller list, at the end of last year. After a cursory glance, he already had the idea of bringing it to the big screen.
Spielberg then had soone contact Crichton, but to his surprise, the answer was that the film adaptation rights had already been sold. This response left him sighing regretfully, and he didn’t think about it further. Unexpectedly, today a young director, whom he had t only once, ca forward hoping he would make this novel into a movie!
“Why do you think I’m suitable to make this film?” Spielberg asked without revealing any emotion after flipping through the book, though his feelings were exceptionally complex at the mont. “Aren’t you a good director yourself?”
“If it were 7 or 8 years later, I wouldn’t deny that I would have the ability to make this film perfectly, but not now. I can grasp the plot well but am powerless when it cos to large-scale scenes.” Adrian shook his head. “As for why I chose you, I think there’s no need to explain further, Steven. You have an imagination and ability to control films that set you apart, and you can balance art and comrce well. Besides you, I can’t think of anyone else who could make it.”
“There are many directors other than ,” Spielberg responded ambiguously with a smile. “I have to admit, your persuasion is quite tempting, but, unfortunately, I might disappoint you, Ed.”
“Can you tell where your concerns lie?” Adrian raised an eyebrow, not showing any sign of disappointnt.
Not bad, quite calm. Spielberg praised in his heart.
“There are many, like how you plan to operate, what’s the budget? Besides, just creating realistic dinosaur models is a challenging problem,” he cited a few examples simply.
But Adrian was obviously prepared: “Before now, we had already done a detailed budget. The investnt would be about 50 to 60 million. My company can co up with about 20 million, and I can pull in another 20 million investnt from my friends. Universal can also contribute 20 million if they wish to participate. If they don’t, I personally can contribute 20 million. As for operations, we will hand over all authority to you. The company will only supervise financial operations. The screenplay will be jointly written by Michael and . Of course, if you want to use your own people, that’s fine, but Michael must be involved.
“Quite a big bet.” Even Spielberg couldn’t help but be slightly surprised by his plan. Although the trend of significant investnts had been growing since the late 70s, movies with 50 to 60 million investnts were still not that common.
Adrian smiled lightly and moved on to other aspects: “And for the dinosaur models, I think Mr. George Lucas’s Industrial Light Magic would be very willing to take on this task. Moreover, Steven, don’t you think making a realistic dinosaur with computers is more appealing to the audience than a model?”
“Using computers?” Spielberg squinted his eyes thoughtfully.
“Yes, that’s right, computer generation,” Adrian nodded. “Because the company is now planning to invest in a movie, yesterday I specifically went to the workshop to see it. They created a liquid tal man with computers, not flawless but impressive enough to shock. I believe that with sufficient funding and the technology from Industrial Light Magic, it’s entirely possible to create dinosaurs on screen that are indistinguishable from reality!”
“Liquid tal man? Are you talking about the ‘Terminator 2’ that Jas Caron is working on?” Spielberg took a long breath and suppressed his emotions, deliberately asking in a relaxed tone. Honestly, there were a few seconds when he really wanted to agree.
“Yes,” Adrian confird. “We have reviewed a lot of data and consulted many professionals. Near-realistic CGI is theoretically doable, and most of the 60 million investnt would actually be spent on this. If you’re willing, I can imdiately have the relevant plans and reports brought over, and you can decide after reviewing them.”
Spielberg fell silent. He sat in the chair with his hands together, his thumbs occasionally twiddling. Behind his round glasses, his eyelids drooped, giving no clues about his thoughts.
A few minutes later, he finally looked up and exhaled a deep breath: “I’m sorry, Ed, but my answer won’t change.”
Adrian’s brow finally furrowed: “May I know why, Steven?”
“I’ve been troubled by so things recently, and there’s also a film in post-production waiting for . I don’t have the ti…”
“We can wait.”
“That’s not the key, Ed… Unfortunately,” Spielberg finally spread his hands, though his refusal had been vague from the start to finish. Actually, the reason was simple: he didn’t like the feeling of being controlled or calculated.
This feeling was subtle; from another perspective, it could also be construed as trust. Everything was ready and up to you to command. The key point was that Spielberg had a rather contradictory perception of Adrian.
On the one hand, Adrian’s manners, qualities, and interesting ideas about movies left a good impression; on the other hand, he felt the young man was a bit too utilitarian and impatient. Plus, there were many issues troubling him, like a failed marriage, etc. So even though he was tempted, he also felt sowhat dissatisfied and didn’t want to agree just like that.
This was contradictory, so Spielberg eventually chose to refuse. It was almost by chance, like tossing a paper ball when you can’t make a choice, but many things in the world are coincidental like this.
Silence fell in the office, then after a few minutes, Adrian spoke again: “Actually, there’s another condition.”
Spielberg couldn’t help but show a look of surprise. He already refused directly, and what else could he say to convince him? He made a gesture of “go ahead.”
“Before I say it, I beg you, Steven, not to think I am threatening or forcing you,” Adrian looked at Spielberg, his tone full of sincerity. “Originally, I intended to bring this up at the end, after you agreed to take on the director’s role. I have no other intentions.”
He paused and then spoke word by word: “If you agree to take on the role of director and producer, Steven, half of this movie’s net inco will be used to invest in the film you have always wanted to make.”
“Invest in the film I have always wanted to make?” Spielberg repeated, his body giving a slight tremor.
“Yes,” Adrian nodded. “Schindler’s List!”
After coming out of Spielberg’s office, Adrian let out a long breath. He finally got him to agree, which was no easy feat. Although he couldn’t guess what was going on in the other’s mind, he still noticed two things.
First, Spielberg did like the novel Jurassic Park and was very interested in adapting it into a film. Second, he seed to have so minor opinions of him, not much, but enough to possibly affect his judgnt. Needless to say, this was a leftover issue from his impulsiveness that night, but there was no other way since ti was never enough in his plan.
Fortunately, that trump card still worked. Although Adrian left out one point—Spielberg didn’t know how much box office Jurassic Park could achieve, nor would he know what half of the net profit might be. But he still agreed after seriously looking at Adrian for a long ti.
“Are you sure?” he asked him.
“I am sure!” Adrian’s face was all seriousness and solemnity.
Then, after a lengthy silence, Spielberg finally nodded: “Alright, it seems I no longer have any reason to refuse… but that will be a few months later.”
Although Adrian’s proposal had loopholes, Spielberg filled them in his mind. The more the film earned, the more investnt he could get!
Adrian realized this after Spielberg agreed, and naturally, he had no intention of adding any supplentary explanation. This was to his advantage, wasn’t it? He had to admit that Schindler’s List held an extraordinary place in this great director’s heart. It’s just that this might cause his impression in Spielberg’s mind to lean slightly toward the negative, no matter how sincerely he spoke before presenting this argunt. The behavior was still sowhat coercive.
But it didn’t matter. When Jurassic Park officially started its preparation, he could completely tell him that even if the box office wasn’t good, he guaranteed to secure 20 million in investnt for shooting Schindler’s List. On his way back, Adrian told himself this in his heart. Moreover, he had only played half of his trump card, and there would be plenty of chances to play out the other half, making it no problem to win Spielberg over then.
Going all out to build a good relationship with this Jewish elder was still for the network and connections and other things. Considering his relationship with Lucas and others and his influence in Hollywood. Especially that Jewish connection network, although there were quite a few anti-Semitic extremists in the United States, it was undeniable that Jewish people still had significant power. The upper echelon of Arican society had a dual attitude of caution and wooing toward Jews. If Adrian utilized his identity, it wouldn’t be a problem to navigate smoothly.
Having managed to win over Spielberg and Jurassic Park, incidentally, Schindler’s List was also settled. After investing in Terminator 2, Adrian took a few good days of rest and watched the 63rd Oscar ceremony at ho on March 25th.
Not much difference from mory, Dances with Wolves beca the big winner, taking ho awards for best film, best director, best adaptation, best cinematography, and several others. Unfortunately, Kevin Costner’s fate was as miserable as Clint Eastwood’s, never winning the best actor in this lifeti.
Adrian, who watched from beginning to end, didn’t feel particularly moved because he knew that by this ti next year, he would be at the awards ceremony. After resting, he quickly began prepping his new movie—The Shawshank Redemption!
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