Beverly Hills, Cooper Family residence.
Eric opened his eyes in bed, then covered them with his hands; the dazzling ceiling light made him uncomfortable.
He had fallen asleep without remembering to turn off the light.
He pulled back the curtains and looked out the window; the sky was still pitch black. It was only the middle of the night.
He took a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and drank it, but then Eric's expression suddenly changed, as if he had remembered something.
"Oh no, I think I talked to Theron on the phone before I fell asleep, but what did I say? I can't remember at all."
Rubbing his temples, Eric vigorously shook his head, but he could only vaguely recall calling Theron after he got home and babbling on and on, the content as blurry as a blackout.
He quickly returned to the bedroom, picked up his phone, and checked the call log.
Sure enough, the first entry was Charlize Theron.
Smack!
Eric slapped himself on the forehead. This was bad. A man calling a woman while drunk, and a beautiful woman he had coveted for a long time at that.
What he might have said was, in all likelihood, imaginable.
He might have even lost his basic manners and directly acted like a hooligan over the phone.
"It's over! The image I worked so hard to build is completely ruined!"
Eric was filled with regret. He shouldn't have drunk that night; he had messed up big time.
He held his phone, hesitating, wanting to send a text message to apologize, or at least to gauge her attitude to determine if he had said anything out of line.
But then he reconsidered that it was the middle of the night, which was somewhat inappropriate, so he put his phone down again.
He went to the bathroom and took a shower. The cold water pouring over his head made Eric even more unable to sleep.
He simply opened his laptop and started browsing the news.
On Google's entertainment section, the first headline he saw was Ben Affleck being photographed at a nightclub, causing Ben and his girlfriend Jennifer Lopez to have another conflict, and their wedding was, not surprisingly, postponed again.
Given Ben Affleck's philandering nature, this news was most likely true.
However, this couple had been dragging things out ever since their relationship was exposed last year, from the initial talk of an engagement in November to still having no definite news now. Everyone was tired of waiting for the gossip.
During this period, Eric had seen at least ten pieces of tabloid news about the two of them. He always wanted to inwardly mock this future daredevil and batman.
Men, no, women too.
Especially people in the entertainment industry, don't rush into marriage before you've had enough fun.
And don't compromise due to public pressure, family pressure, or the other party's pressure, because compromises have their limits.
Moreover, this industry has many temptations. A cat may not steal fish, but as long as the cat is good enough, fish will actively bite. Sooner or later, you won't be able to resist.
Instead of having a messy divorce later due to emotional and marital problems, it's better to get married when you're truly ready to settle down.
But once married, no more fooling around; be a good husband and a good father. This is the principle Eric adheres to.
As for when he'll have had enough fun and when he'll truly settle down, given his current age, this will be a long journey.
He didn't even have the desire to open that news item. Eric's gaze scrolled down, and then he saw news related to himself.
"transformers" Trailer Released.
Clicking on the link, no one would have expected that the trailer was actually edited by Peter Jackson.
Compared to the rough internal screening version, this one-minute-plus video was a finely polished version with complete special effects.
Just the opening, with Cybertron's electronic and mechanical planetary surface rotating in distant space, accompanied by a grand and magnificent narration, Eric felt the vibe.
And when the Autobots and Decepticons appeared one by one, the complete special effects were presented before his eyes.
As expected, it had both a metallic feel and dynamism, not much different from the images in his memory.
Even if there was a difference, it wasn't significant, after all, "transformers" was already using the highest technology in the current film industry.
With the words "Strongly landing on November 16th," the one-minute-plus trailer ended.
It was very well edited, and the music was excellent. The intense battle close-ups and flying, exploding metal parts could make one's adrenaline surge.
Eric scrolled down the mouse, and the comment section was almost uniformly positive.
Words like surprise, shock, amazing, and unexpected appeared most frequently.
Then, Eric logged into the world's largest transformers fan forum.
Sure enough, the trailer was pinned at the top.
A netizen with the username "Optimus Prime's Arms" commented: "When this trailer was released, I didn't have high expectations, but after I clicked on it, I realized I was wrong. It's the best movie trailer I've seen all year."
Megatron's Eyes: "Agree with the above. This trailer is really awesome. Now I'm full of anticipation for the movie. I really hope time fast-forwards to November."
Starscream Two-Face: "Oh my god! Who can tell me if the robots in this are real or special effects? They look so realistic! I just watched 'the matrix reloaded' a few months ago, and I think 'transformers'' special effects are even better than 'the matrix reloaded'!"
I Want to Drive Devastator: "This shows that MGM didn't deceive everyone. They said the investment wouldn't be less than 500 million dollars, and it seems this money was really well spent."
"The trailer clearly only shows snippets of the plot. So, expanding on those snippets, I predict the battle portion of the movie will be no less than 40 minutes. It's going to be awesome!"
Unicron Pioneer: "Haven't you considered a possibility? What if what's presented in the trailer is already the essence of the movie, and the rest is just a pile of crap? Like 'star wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'."
I Am Jack: "The person above is too subjective. 'star wars Episode I' and 'II' were clearly very well made. Although the dialogue isn't Lucas's strong suit, the visuals are great!"
Master Titanium Is Here: "Are you kidding? I admit Lucas created star wars, but his prequel duology also ruined star wars, and he's even going to make a third one. Get rid of Lucas, Fox, quickly replace the director."
Bumblebee Is So Cute: "Don't derail the thread! This is a transformers forum. star wars spammers get out!"
Ratchet's Horn: "star wars is number one! I'm going to spam star wars! transformers is good too, but it's far from star wars."
Bumblebee Is So Cute: "I suspect you're a spy! Everyone, come with me to the star wars section to spam transformers!"
After watching for a while, Eric was speechless. Sure enough, no matter the topic, it would eventually devolve into a squabble.
He then logged into Facebook and saw that MGM's official account and transformers' promotional account had both released relevant news, with links attached.
The celebrities who had good relationships with Eric also joined the promotional efforts.
The comments here were much more harmonious, almost all praising the trailer as wonderful and expressing their intention to go to the cinema to watch it.
Browsing through some celebrity homepages, he found that some people were quite active.
For example, Michael would share something every one or two days, sometimes photos, sometimes moods, sometimes songs or books, or promoting charity.
There were also Will Smith, Orlando Bloom, Natalie Portman, and others, who frequently shared life insights or on-set photos.
However, overall, the current focus was still on film and television stars, with very few public figures from the music industry, reality TV, business, or politics.
After some thought, James Murdoch would probably make his move soon, so he had to accelerate the pace of attracting new users and expand his user base.
He took out his phone and edited a text message to Fitz Heisenburg.
He asked him to organize a celebrity follower ranking event after Facebook had been online for a month.
Starting from the first place downwards, if there were enough, it would go to the hundredth place; if not enough, then as many as there were.
This was the first phase, and it would be re-evaluated every month thereafter.
This method was mindless and simple. If fans found their idol's ranking low, they would naturally invite friends to come and support them.
On one hand, it could effectively expand the user base, and at the same time, it would increase the exposure of these celebrities.
At the current stage, Facebook's functions were not yet perfect, and users might lose their novelty after playing for a few days.
Therefore, the celebrity effect was still an important benchmark and attraction. After a year or so of development and gradual stabilization, the celebrity effect could be reduced, transitioning to improving the general user experience.
After sending the text message, he didn't care if it would disturb Fitz Heisenburg's rest. "I'm paying you such a high salary, so it's only right that you're on call 24 hours a day."
Eric crawled back into bed and fell asleep again.
Meanwhile, also in Beverly Hills, at Harvey Weinstein's mansion, this half-orc was restlessly unable to sleep.
He walked back and forth in the living room, drinking and holding the phone.
Although the air conditioning was on full blast, his obese body still made him sweat incessantly.
On the phone, his younger brother, Bob Weinstein, advised: "Harvey, I think we should change the release date. The current situation is very unfavorable for us."
"You also saw the trailer released by MGM. It's unexpectedly brilliant. That brat Eric Cooper is really not a good-for-nothing. We underestimated him."
Harvey Weinstein gulped down half a glass of wine, casually tossing the glass on the table. After rolling a few times, the sound of shattering glass echoed in the air.
"Change the release date? That's impossible! Especially when the opponent is that sick lion, MGM. It's almost at its last gasp, and we are currently at our peak."
"Because of those damned father and son, we were forced to pull 'chicago' early, which resulted in us not winning Best Picture."
"Have you forgotten how much money we spent? A full 12 million dollars, and in the end, we only took home one Best Supporting Actress. Who would care about such a trash award!"
"After the Oscars, all of Hollywood was laughing at us, Bob. Don't forget, we set the release date first. It was that damned father and son who broke the rules."
After listening to his brother's roar, Bob Weinstein could only continue to persuade: "Harvey, I've already asked the people at ※_24_⛬, and this 'transformers' has a very high degree of completion. It doesn't look like the work of a novice director at all."
"Perhaps, as that kid said to the media, he wants 700 million dollars at the box office. This isn't just empty talk."
"Seriously, Harvey, change the release date. At least adjust the release date of 'Master and Commander: eight below.' November 14th is only two days apart from 'transformers.' This is no different from a head-on confrontation."
"Do you really naively believe that a 19th-century naval fleet story can attract more viewers than the Autobots from Cybertron?"
"But don't forget, we still have Russell Crowe, we have Paul Bettany, our screenwriter has won a Golden Globe Awards and a Palme d'Or, and directed 'Dead Poets Society' and 'The Truman Show'—Peter Weir. Whether it's the on-screen or behind-the-scenes team, we win!" Harvey Weinstein retorted angrily.
"But all of them combined can't compare to an Optimus Prime presented live before the audience!" Bob Weinstein angrily shot back at his brother.
"Harvey, in any case, we must change the release date. 'Master and Commander: eight below' has the same investment as 'transformers,' 500 million dollars. If it fails at the box office, we will lose a lot."
"Change the release date, change the release date, all you know is change the release date! This year's release schedule was obtained after I negotiated with several major companies. Next year's good slots should be given to the other party."
"Now you want to change the release date, where do you want to change it to? Unless it's changed to 2005, or are you saying you want to compete with 'spider-man 2,' 'shrek 2,' 'harry potter 3,' 'van helsing,' and 'The Day After Tomorrow' next year? Is there a soft target among these opponents?"
"Bob, it's not that I absolutely insist, but time won't give us this opportunity, or rather, let the movie be shelved in a warehouse for two years."
"But by 2005, can you guarantee there won't be 'transformers 2,' 'van helsing 2,' or 'The Bourne Ultimatum'?"
After being yelled at by his own brother, Bob Weinstein was momentarily speechless.
At this time, the two brothers were not yet in the state of conflict and estrangement that would erupt ten years later.
It is said that it was his younger brother Bob who later brought Harvey Weinstein down. At that time, the internal struggle between the two brothers had reached a life-and-death level.
Although there were conflicts at this time too, for example, Bob had advised Harvey regarding his coercion and intimidation of actresses, but it had no effect whatsoever.
But their relationship was generally still harmonious.
"But if we don't change the release date, I'm worried..."
"There's nothing to worry about. When have we two brothers ever lost a battle? This time will be no different, especially against a 20-year-old kid!"
"We need to increase our publicity efforts, and if necessary, spread some dirt. We can't let others mock the Weinstein Brothers for being afraid of a rookie."
Hanging up the phone, Harvey Weinstein still forcefully insisted on not changing the release date, wanting to confront them head-on.
Some people had already given him a title: the Film Emperor of Hollywood.
How could an emperor be afraid?
Only others should be afraid of the emperor!
"Oh dear... Ah!"
Suddenly, he accidentally stepped on the broken glass from earlier, and Harvey Weinstein painfully fell to the ground.
"Ambulance, I need an ambulance!"