Chapter 66: Stagnation

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Stagnation

Time quickly advanced to the year 2000, and Irene’s life felt as if it had been put on fast-forward. Multiple matters were progressing simultaneously, leaving her overwhelmed.

The primary task was the formal negotiation with Fox Pictures regarding the project The Italian Job. This time, the budget had climbed to 60 million dollars. Irene’s goal was clear.

She hoped to continue the previous cooperation model and secure a one-third stake for herself. However, faced with such a massive investment, Fox appeared quite hesitant, and the negotiations fell into a stalemate.

At the same time, Chen Shiyu’s team had identified several potential investment targets in the internet sector. He enthusiastically sent over several project proposals, hoping Irene would personally participate in the inspections and join him in the decision-making process.

On another front, family matters were also on the agenda. Her sister Sophia’s film, The Virgin Suicides, was about to head to the Sundance Film Festival for promotion. Her father, Francis, hoped Irene would also attend to support her sister.

Her sister’s movie was easy enough. She just needed to show up, and there wasn’t much for her to worry about. But the first two matters, the film investment and the internet layout, created a direct conflict in resources. If she were to satisfy the funding requirements of both sides simultaneously, her current cash flow probably wouldn’t be enough.

What annoyed her even more were the internet companies Chen Shiyu was currently eyeing. In her view, they were just empty shells. The ideal online platforms she had in mind hadn’t even appeared yet.

These companies with inflated valuations and unclear prospects would, according to her foreknowledge, soon evaporate along with the internet bubble. Investing now was no different from throwing money into the water.

She couldn’t explain these judgments based on her foresight to Chen Shiyu one by one. Feeling helpless, she could only adopt a stalling policy and tried her best to avoid deeper investment discussions with him.

She knew clearly in her heart that the most important thing right now was undoubtedly The Italian Job project.

Many of her future blueprints, including the grand vision for Pirates of the Caribbean, were rooted in this film. She had put her whole heart into it, but things weren’t moving in the direction she expected.

"Fox has recovered a lot of capital now and doesn’t want to accept your investment," Shelly said in Irene’s temporary office, revealing the ultimate reason why their project had stalled.

Irene leaned back in her sofa chair and said speechlessly, "As expected, every capitalist is like this. Once they get a taste of success, they want to kick us out of the game." She shouldn’t have harbored any illusions about Fox Pictures.

"That’s why I’ve always said not to get too deeply bound to a film company. They’ll take advantage of you," Shelly said as he rubbed his brow. He had been the primary representative in the recent negotiations with Fox and was exhausted from dealing with their minor maneuvers. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

"So what do we do now?" Irene asked helplessly.

Shelly took a deep breath. "Wait."

"What do you mean?"

"The massive success of 1998’s Titanic and 1999’s X-Men has made the top leadership at Fox Pictures blindly confident. They need some heavy blows to clear their heads." Shelly took some newspapers out of his briefcase and handed them to Irene. "And that opportunity is coming soon."

Irene reached out and took them. They were test screening reviews for a movie called Battlefield Earth.

"Battlefield Earth has stupid dialogue and wooden acting. It’s an amateur-level film. Don’t think that using grand themes and visual effects can fool the audience. In the genre of post-apocalyptic adventure films, Battlefield Earth makes other bad movies look like masterpieces." — San Francisco Chronicle

"An epic cinematic disaster. The audience isn’t watching a movie; they are suffering. The most terrifying thing about Battlefield Earth is the promise of a sequel." — The Washington Post

"Harsh sounds, empty content, and obscure meaning. A film with no redeeming value. Under heavy and crude makeup, the acting of John Travolta and others is non-existent. This film is worthless from content to performance." — Los Angeles Daily News

It was full of negative reviews. Irene looked hard but couldn’t find a single merit.

"Battlefield Earth cost 73 million dollars and was produced by Franchise Pictures. Fox also has an investment, though the exact share is unclear.

Test screenings were just held, and the response was a total mess," Shelly continued to explain. "They are very likely to take a huge tumble on this film. So be patient. As long as we hold out until this movie is released, the top brass at Fox Pictures will wake up to the golden rule that investment requires caution."

Irene suddenly looked forward to the release of this movie. After all, her mind had absolutely no memory of this film, so she wouldn’t even have a chance to see it in advance.

"Why don’t you suggest I switch to another distribution company? Choosing to wait instead doesn’t seem like you," Irene asked curiously. She had no complaints about Shelly’s professional abilities.

"Because you still have a movie in Fox’s hands that hasn’t been released yet. That alone doesn’t allow us to be impulsive. Besides, you’re not in that much of a hurry to shoot a new film, are you?" Shelly imitated Irene’s posture and slumped into the sofa in a relaxed manner.

Irene nodded in agreement. After all, even if she were in a hurry, it wouldn’t help. The filming of The Italian Job couldn’t take less than four months, plus two months for pre-production and two months for post-production.

Her transition piece couldn’t just be thrown into any random release slot. That would be irresponsible to herself, and Fox wouldn’t agree anyway. So, it likely wouldn’t be released this year.

"Just that? No other reason?" Irene didn’t believe Shelly Ovitz was someone who gave up so easily.

"All right, the most important reason is that although your split with MGM was ostensibly an amicable one, everyone knows the underlying reasons.

If the same situation happens again during your cooperation with Fox, it will be difficult for you to work with the Big Six film companies in the future." Shelly took a sip of water and continued,

"The Big Six have their own standards. If you don’t want to shape your image as someone who is petty, fickle, and difficult to work with, I suggest you leave The Italian Job to Fox Pictures. Of course, the premise is that the conditions they offer aren’t below the normal level. If they give it up themselves, they can’t blame us."

Irene learned another lesson, and her desire to establish a distribution company grew even stronger.

"But just waiting like this feels very frustrating. Are there any other crews looking for a director? At least let me earn some extra cash."

Shelly showed a look of surprise. "Are you short on money right now?"

"Yes," Irene answered heavily. After all, if she wanted to acquire a company with distribution capabilities, she was short a lot.

Shelly didn’t interfere in Irene’s private life. Compared to Britney’s fun-loving nature, Irene could already be called a homebody. He thought to himself, ’Is the cost of living for a beautiful girl really that high? Did she already spend the 20 million dollars she earned from Legally Blonde?’

"I’ll keep an eye out for you, but I thought you didn’t like filming commissioned projects." Those were movies where the script, cinematography, costumes, and editing were all handled by others, and the director only needed to film the required content. Such movies had a low ceiling but a high floor. They wouldn’t be too bad no matter what.

Irene’s first movie, however, was created entirely by her, which was completely different from such commissioned projects. Those had a high ceiling and a low floor, depending entirely on the director’s performance.