I am Hollywood

Chapter 557: Chapter 558: You Really Aren't Considerate



[Chapter 558: You Really Aren't Considerate]

Eric took some time to go through all the materials. Although the script for Braveheart differed significantly from the finished film he remembered, he didn't worry too much about it. During a movie's production, aside from the script, the director, cinematographer, score, and final editing could all greatly influence how the film turned out. These factors combined could lead to an excellent script being turned into a subpar film, while an average script could end up as a remarkable movie.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

After closing the document, Eric thought of Sophie, who was far away in Paris. He couldn't help but pick up the phone on his desk and dial a long international number.

The phone rang several times before a slightly groggy female voice came through. Eric couldn't understand Sophie's French at that moment, but he knew what she meant when he said, "Sophie, it's me."

Even with the speed of the signal comparable to light, the multiple long-distance transfers created a significant delay in their conversation.

It was already midnight in Paris. A dim bedside lamp lit Sophie's bedroom, and the girl didn't fully open her eyes due to being disturbed from her sleep by the phone. Her long eyelashes fluttered restlessly. Although the intervals of their conversation were only a second or two, Sophie felt as if no one on the other end was speaking for quite a while. Just as she was about to hang up, Eric's voice finally came through.

Despite the slight distortion in his voice, Sophie immediately recognized Eric's tone. In the cool midnight of Paris, hearing his voice inexplicably stirred feelings of longing, typical for a girl in love. She pulled the thin blanket over her shoulders and said, "Eric, it's the middle of the night. You're really not considerate."

Eric glanced at the warm afternoon sun outside his window, felt Sophie's emotions through the phone, and smiled. He said softly, "Maybe it's because I miss you too much. Will that reason get my apology accepted?"

Sophie, curled up under the covers, chuckled softly twice. "I don't believe you, you smooth talker."

"Okay, I think now's not a good time to discuss that," Eric quickly changed the subject. "I recently came across a really good script and thought the leading role would suit you perfectly. But since the timing isn't right, I'll have someone send the information to your agent, and you can look it over tomorrow."

Sophie sensed Eric might be ending the call and felt an inexplicable reluctance. She said, "Hey, you should at least tell me what the movie is about. If I'm not interested, then even if you personally delivered the script to me, I wouldn't act in it."

"It's an epic about William Wallace. You know William Wallace, right?"

Sophie vaguely sensed some words of information, but still half-dozing beneath the covers, her voice was assertively dismissive as she said, "No, tell me about him."

Eric didn't know much either, but thankfully he had just skimmed through a thick stack of materials, so he briefly recounted the details about William Wallace.

Sophie held the receiver to her ear, sinking comfortably into her large bed. Her mind wasn't on Eric's introduction of this so-called William Wallace. She merely felt that Eric's voice from across the ocean was very comforting. Occasionally, she mumbled a few things, clueless that Eric had already finished speaking. She didn't remember any of the details.

At that point, Eric could sense Sophie's mood. After sharing what he could about William Wallace and hearing silence on the other end, he chuckled and said, "Darling, how about I tell you the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?"

"Sure..." came her murmur from across the line, followed immediately by Sophie's playful retort: "Do you think I'm a child? And don't call me 'darling'! Who's your darling anyway?"

"Let's talk about the movie then. I'll give you a brief overview of the plot, and then you can decide whether you want to take the role."

After a while, Sophie's voice came through very softly, "Hmm..."

Eric pulled out the Braveheart script from his desk and began to recount the story slowly from the beginning. Time passed, and he eventually called out softly a few times without getting a response. It was clear to him that the girl across the ocean had fallen asleep, so he hung up the phone.

The result of this was that Eric, who happened to be staying at the Liberty City Estate that night, was naturally awakened by Sophie's call at midnight. Sophie firmly declared it was her way of getting back at him for waking her up "last night." Eric didn't mind, but the girl in his arms ended up rolling her eyes throughout the entire call.

...

The script for Braveheart, written by Randall Wallace, had been completed over a year before. It had traveled around Hollywood for quite some time before finally landing in Mel Gibson's hands.

Mel Gibson was very interested in the script and was looking to move into directing, so he immediately approached his best working relationship at Warner Bros. However, since the epic film craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s, such movies hadn't seen a successful case in years. Additionally, with Braveheart having many war scenes and high production costs, Mel Gibson had never directed before, and the combined risks led Warner to quickly reject the project.

Subsequently, Mel Gibson began shopping the project around to several other major studios. Whenever he insisted on directing it himself -- never having directed a film before -- he was met with immediate refusals. Firefly Films had received the project proposal for Braveheart earlier in the year but, like the other six studios, Firefly's rights department assessed the project's value very low, so it had never made it to Eric's desk.

When Allen, representing Eric, personally sought out Mel Gibson, Mel was quite surprised but gladly made time to discuss the project with Allen for an entire morning.

At the time, Mel Gibson was on a promotional tour for his directorial debut, The Man Without a Face, in Seattle. As one of Hollywood's biggest superstars over the past few years, he was constantly surrounded by paparazzi.

So, the next day, photos of Mel Gibson and Eric Williams's personal assistant "secretly discussing" the new film project appeared in several entertainment newspapers. Early the following morning, Eric couldn't help but feel a sense of forehead-smacking disbelief upon seeing the news in the papers. He'd been too careless. If it had simply been Firefly's production department interacting with Mel Gibson, securing the film that nobody believed in would've faced little resistance. But with the photo plastered across the press, everyone understood that it was him personally who was interested in the project.

It didn't take much thought to realize what would happen next.

*****

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