Chapter 29: It's just crazy
In the conference room of the Century City Fox building, the monthly meeting of the 20th century Fox has come to an end. After discussing a series of film projects, these Hollywood heavyweights have turned their attention to Lucasfilm.
"I will arrange for the preview of Speed tomorrow morning."
The head of the distribution department, Tom Rosenthal, is the person in charge of contact with Lucasfilm and is also the person who advocated for the introduction of this film. "George himself will attend the screening, this is our chance. I suggest expressing moderate respect for the film to further win George's favor and let him restart the Star Wars series as soon as possible."
"Rosie..."
"Cancel my morning appointments tomorrow," the CEO said to his secretary as he sat at the head of the conference table. "I'll be receiving George personally."
The man across from Tom Rossman is Tim Feisal, and their relationship is as close as the seats they're sitting in. Tim Feisal's brow has been furrowed the whole time, although he didn't pay attention to it before. But after hearing the name Speed repeatedly, some memories gradually surfaced. He opened the file in front of him and quickly scanned the relevant information. Finally, he remembered the script that he had thrown to his assistant casually.
That CAA orphan actually got investment and directed his own script?
Tim's brow furrowed tightly. As someone who had once refused this script, he certainly didn't want Fox to sign this movie in the 20th century, but the company had to beg Lucasfilm for Star Wars, and it was undoubtedly foolish to oppose it.
He thought for a moment and tapped the table lightly to get everyone's attention. "Jeff, there's something you should pay attention to. Last year, the director of Speed was dropped by CAA. We now have a close relationship with CAA. They've just packaged Alien 3 for us and snatched the adaptation rights to Interview with the Vampire from Warner Brothers. CAA and Fox will have a new joint venture very soon. Is this going to affect the good relationship between Fox and CAA? It's something we should think about..."
George Lucas is an important partner, and CAA's share is not small. As CEO, Jim Gianopulos considered it for about half a minute and said. "We'll look at the sample first. If the quality of the film is too poor, it will be pushed directly to the video market. If the quality of the film is guaranteed, arrange a trial screening to see the market response."
"The meeting ends here today." He announced the adjournment.
No one objected to Jim Gianopulos' decision, which is the most normal thing to do. If the film can't make a profit, Fox naturally won't invest resources in it. If the film can make a profit, they won't pass up the opportunity either.
This already satisfied Tim Fisher. Is this new director worth devoting many resources to? In his opinion, even if Fox signed this movie in George Lucas's name, it was just to arrange for it to be shown in a few remote areas for a week and then push it directly into the home video market.
Back in his office, he took the time to call Martin Bouchard, the head of CAA.
""Speed? Duke?"
The voice of Martin Bob on the phone told him clearly that the other side didn't remember this small character at all. After a long pause, Martin Bob on the other side remembered, "The little boy of Rosenborg's family?" "Don't worry about him, he's just a small fry!"
Tim Fisher has put this aside for now; there's no need to waste too much energy on such a small character.
---
Once again, as he entered the Fox building, Duke experienced a totally different reception. A few of Fox's top executives were waiting in the lobby, but of course they weren't waiting for him. They were there for George Lucas, who was walking in front of him. Duke was just a nobody to Fox's management.
Even when shaking hands with Duke, a few Fox executives didn't even pay attention to him.
No one paid attention to Duke, and he wasn't stupid enough to say anything. He understood that he wasn't the lead in this audition and followed behind George Lucas and Robin Gland silently. They took the elevator to the top floor of the Fox building and walked into a small screening room.
"Hello, George..."
Duke knew the person who came to shake hands with Lucas. That was Jim Gianopulos, CEO of Twentieth Century Fox. When George Lucas introduced him, the other party just nodded.
Because of George Lucas's presence, the event was attended by many high-ranking Fox executives, including CEO Jeff Zucker, head of distribution Tom Rothman, and producer Tim Feess, as well as some unfamiliar faces who are probably Fox's film selectors.
These people will decide the release terms of Speed!
Different promotional activities will bring about completely different market reactions. If 20th Century Fox does not invest in Speed the film will only be a flop. Although Duke is a new Hollywood player, he is not stupid enough to think that a movie is enough to sell.