King of Hollywood

Chapter 300: Chapter 25 Various Arrangements Chapter 300: Chapter 25 Various Arrangements Having New Line handle the production of “The Rock” was not a whimsical decision. After the successive releases and great successes of “True Lies,” “Twisters,” and “Bad Boys,” AC Media’s other two film companies could not help but be green with envy. Especially after getting the same boss, the flow of information between companies improved, and everyone knew that two more films were slated for release just before the end of the summer, both bearing Adrian’s name as producer. Naturally, it went without saying what the result would be; after this summer, no one would question the Miracle Director’s vision anymore.

As a result, both New Line and Miramax inevitably felt a sense of favoritism. Although they understood the reasons, they were all part of the same group and deserved a share of the pie. After all, you are the renowned Miracle Director and a renowned screenwriter too—coming up with ideas and stories for new films to invest in and shoot shouldn’t be difficult, right?

Of course, neither New Line nor Miramax made any explicit demands, but they constantly hinted at Adrian in various contexts. Adrian could easily see through these hints; they were fairly obvious after all. It seemed the right moment to support New Line and Miramax. Even though he still had plans to dilute Robert Shaye’s shares in New Line and to fully integrate Miramax into the group, they were, after all, already his companies.

Moreover, the number of profitable films to be produced in the future would only increase; it wouldn’t be feasible to have Bossworth Film Company handle them all, would it? Bossworth had received plenty of attention over the past few years. Had it not been for investments from other major companies in the previous two films and DreamWorks drawing attention, who knows how many more gazes would have been drawn. Even so, after the release of the two films at the end of the summer season, pointing fingers would be unavoidable. Therefore, it was necessary to distribute some work to New Line and Miramax, allowing them to develop as well.

So the screenplay for “The Rock” landed in Robert Shaye’s hands. Since “Seven Deadly Sins,” which should have belonged to New Line, was now being produced by Bossworth, Adrian wanted New Line to regain its status from his memory of the same period, and a big moneymaking production was indispensable.

Robert Shaye was shocked when he received the screenplay and the budget proposed by Adrian. A $70 million budget in ’94 was no small sum. For a time, he suspected that Adrian deliberately sought to bankrupt New Line and then fully merge it into AC Media. However, after seeing the cast list provided, he quickly dismissed the idea.

No need to mention Michael Bay, whose directorial debut “Bad Boys” was currently a hit in theaters, with producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson on board. As for actors, Nicholas Cage and Ed Harris might be overlooked, but Sean Connery was definitely heavyweight; these concerns were entirely unnecessary.

“We do indeed intend to take full control of New Line, but we will do so openly and honestly, not with these trivial tricks,” Adrian said, having read his thoughts.

Claude, however, expressed dissatisfaction after hearing this, “While you seem forthright, it doesn’t necessarily put him at ease but might make him even more cautious. Such matters clearly call for an ambiguous answer—you did well with this before, how could you forget now?”

“Because we have the power,” Adrian replied. “Do you understand what an ‘open strategy’ is, Claude? It means that even if I plainly tell the opposition what I plan to do, they still can’t come up with an effective response.”