novelraw Chapter 66 A resounding victory at the preview screening!
Chapter 66 A resounding victory at the preview screening!
After a while, at the end of the outdoor corridor, a tall, thin figure with silver hair appeared.
The Warner department mid-level managers who were "invited" out all fell silent.
Ted Turner.
He is the vice chairman of Time Warner, the father of CNN, and the largest individual shareholder holding 9.5% of the media empire.
The door to the screening room opened before their eyes and then slowly closed again.
No one whispered anymore, and no one complained.
Everyone realized one thing!
The group's attitude towards this young Chinese man today doesn't seem like that of a rich second-generation who throws money around to curry favor and sets up a nonsensical studio.
This time it didn't take too long.
An hour later, the door opened.
Turner was the first to come out.
He stopped a step as he passed the head of the business development department.
"The Wood Witches project has been upgraded in priority."
The voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the hallway could hear it clearly!
"We need to cooperate well with Li's studio at Warner Bros.
The supervisor opened his mouth to respond, but Turner had already turned around and shook hands with the young Chinese man who had come out.
"Hahaha," Turner laughed kindly.
"Li, if you have time to come to Atlanta sometime, I'll show you around CNN."
Then he patted Li Shuo on the shoulder and walked away with a smile.
Semel followed behind, glancing back at Li Shuo before leaving.
His eyes were smiling.
There was also an unspoken "F**K".
When Semel first finished reading the script for "The Conjuring," he thought to himself... "The script is brilliant!"
But this kid was probably fooled by those miscellaneous notes circulating in the market.
Those so-called "real case records" are all written by trashy authors who tacitly agree not to pay for copyrights, thinking they are writing documentary literature, while the production companies consider themselves to have picked up public domain content.
Semel had considered it at that time as well.
He had asked around about the cases that the Warrens handled years ago.
But that old lady, Lorraine Warren, could talk to you for three hours about her exorcism experiences, and after that she would say, "I'll think about it," and then that was it.
At the time, I just thought that the hype was enough, but when I asked some big screenwriters to read it, none of them thought it was a good adaptation. So I put it out of my mind!
He was already planning to send someone to Connecticut as soon as Li Shuo left.
Once you get the authorization, you can then manipulate this kid...
Then Li Shuo's lawyer took a fax from his briefcase.
A few pages of paper with uneven edges.
Lorraine Warren's signature overlapped outside the grid lines.
Twenty-year option.
Perrin case, Enfield case, Small case...
There is also a small line of text: Party B agrees to serve as a consultant for the film adaptation, with credits and travel expenses to be paid separately.
Semel put down the fax and glanced at Li Shuo.
That look meant: When the hell did you do this? And what was the price for getting the license?!
Li Shuo's reply was to pick up his coffee and silently take a sip.
Having been a studio owner for twenty years, Semel has seen many people with a weak sense of copyright, and he is somewhat speechless after watching or personally handling many cases of people who rely on seizing copyrights and manipulating screenwriters for adaptations.
"Do you know Ed Warren?" he asked.
"I know," Li Shuo thought to himself as he put down his coffee cup.
And he also knew... that the couple never knew until their deaths that the stories they spent their lives compiling and depicting in "The Conjuring" would make New Line Cinema so much money!
Ed Warren.
At sixteen, he worked as an usher in a colonial cinema and met his wife, Lorraine Moran, in a dark aisle.
A good way to start a conversation is with: "Do you believe in ghosts?"
He joined the navy at the age of seventeen.
The ship sank in the North Atlantic. He clung to a piece of driftwood and drifted for six hours. When he was rescued, his body temperature was only 34 degrees Celsius.
After the war, he went to Perry School of Art to study painting.
The teacher said: Your brushstrokes are too heavy; you can only draw devils, not angels.
So he spent his whole life painting haunted houses.
In 1952, he and Lorraine founded the "Society for the Study of the Mind" at their kitchen table in New England.
There were only two members.
Over the next forty-seven years, they handled more than twelve thousand cases!
Or, to put it another way, more than 12,000 people called to say, "I have that thing at home."
Of those, zero can be verified.
"How much did you spend?" Semel asked.
Li Shuo chuckled: "Trade secret."
Haha. If I told you that Evan sent someone to negotiate and secured a contract for $7, you'd probably be dumbfounded.
If you knew the future box office figures... you'd go crazy.
Three scripts today. You don't think so yet... you're just optimistic.
Final Destination (6 films), $1 billion.
The Saw series, consisting of ten films, grossed $1.039 billion.
The Conjuring Universe, nine films, $23 billion.
To save myself trouble, I'm giving you the opportunity to collaborate on these three series.
You'll probably have to worship my studio from now on, Warner!
And this is just the movie's box office revenue.
Semel stared blankly at Li Shuo for a while.
The expression on the kid's face clearly indicated that he wasn't going to say anything.
He withdrew his gaze and quickly followed the direction Turner had disappeared in.
Evan Carter, who was watching the scene unfold, put away his briefcase, leaned closer, and revealed his characteristic subtle smile.
"Li, it's noon."
Li Shuo's lips twitched.
"A big meal, huh?"
Evan did not deny it.
Li Shuo turned to Natalie.
"Ladies first today. What would you like to eat?"
Natalie paused for a moment.
She hadn't actually thought about that question.
For the past three days, she has been battling with herself, forcing herself to "keep her distance and not cross the line!"
He picked her up in his car in the morning and dropped her off at the hotel in the evening, but she refused even when Li Shuo offered to have dinner with her.
She thought she had handled it well.
But Li Shuo's question seemed to slightly sway the balance beam that had placed her between "professionalism" and "Natalie."
She opened her mouth.
Then that thought just popped into my head, and I couldn't suppress it, it just burst out.
"...I still want to eat Chinese food."
Then... the Golden Fung Restaurant in New York.
Go up the escalator at the entrance, and the second-floor hall can accommodate 800 tables.
You have to wait in line for forty minutes for breakfast on weekends.
However, it's alright at lunchtime; at least there's no need to queue.
Li Shuo was taking shrimp dumplings, siu mai, chicken feet, and honeycomb tripe from the snack cart auntie's as if they were free...
Watching the steaming white vapor rise up, glistening with water droplets from the steamer lid.
And feel the noise around you, everyone is talking, there are sounds of carts being pushed, dishes being placed, and numbers being called.
But Natalie, who usually prefers a quiet dining environment and was sitting next to Li Shuo, actually felt... quite happy.
The corners of my mouth aren't pressed down anymore!
Let's leave it at that for now... He can adjust his mood after he returns to China. For now, let's just let things take their course.
That pesky "California avocado" probably won't be available for much longer... right?
---
At 2 a.m., in a secluded and heavily guarded mansion in Hannam-dong, Seoul, a chill filled the air.
The curtains were drawn, and the lights were dim…
A middle-aged man with a gloomy face and wearing gold-rimmed glasses sat alone in front of a huge television screen.
The screen was playing repeatedly a videotape that his employee had obtained.
On the shores of Victoria Harbour, a stage for a Chinese folk music performance.
A young boy's figure was dazzling, radiating light.
His gaze was fixed on the boy's face.
The knuckles of the hand gripping the whiskey glass were white from the force.
"Bang--!"
A crisp sound.
He smashed the crystal wine glass hard against the television screen.
The liquor and fragments exploded on the boy's image.
He thought of her.
His dearest Noona (sister).
In order for their branch to survive the infighting within the family, Nuna had no choice but to compromise and submit.
That woman who joined forces with her mother to turn the tide for their family.
A few days ago!
He actually led a group of people to raid his most private and favorite gathering place.
There wasn't a single word of rebuke... she didn't even look at him.
But right in front of him, he carefully selected a few girls with perfect leg-to-body ratios, wearing black short skirts, and whose black hair flowed like a waterfall when they danced, and shaved their heads one by one.
The haunting images of the girls' terrified, suppressed sobs and that cold gaze lingered in my mind.
This is punishment.
The most severe, humiliating, and effective family punishment.
Why?
Just for this bastard child on the screen that could potentially pose a huge "hidden danger"?
Didn't you voluntarily give it up in front of your father and mother?!
He just wanted to give a warning, is that not allowed?
Besides, I didn't want that bastard's life.
At least... we haven't reached that point yet.