I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1131: Major Exposure]

"Iron Man is absolutely a perfect superhero movie. At the same time, Eric Williams demonstrated once again his 'Pandora's Alien' ability to take everything to the extreme. The character of Tony Stark, shaped by this tycoon himself, exudes a captivating charisma, whether he plays a genius, a jerk, a playboy, a billionaire, or a superhero. It's hard for the audience to take their eyes off him." -- The Times

"The dazzling CGI effects in Iron Man make Batman & Robin from two years ago look like a poor B-movie. Perhaps, the powerful special effects will increasingly become a reflection of Hollywood's major film companies' core strength. Compared to the stunning level of effects being displayed in the Digital Domain, there's clearly a significant gap for Warner, Universal, and Paramount to catch up with." -- The New York Times

"In the first fifteen minutes, I was completely captivated by Eric Williams' brilliant performance. This real-life super-rich man turned the character of a self-indulgent jerk into a believable superhero savior." -- Variety

"While Eric Williams' performance in Iron Man received overwhelmingly positive reviews, this young billionaire's net worth continued to astonish the public."

"As the Nasdaq index approached 3,500 points, Eric Williams' personal wealth also soared, nearing the $400 billion mark."

"Perhaps, Eric Williams would become the first trillionaire in the history of the country. If inflation does not severely hit the federal currency in the short term, for many years to come, Eric Williams may be the only billionaire eligible for the title 'Trillionaire.' Before this, we only had billionaires and millionaires. This is indeed a staggering miracle." -- Businessweek

...

At the villa restaurant on Kensington Gardens Street, it was already noon the following day.

Eric browsed through the reviews from various media outlets that Merissa Mayer had been organizing that morning when he read the Businessweek piece. He looked up at his assistant sitting across from him and asked, "Mary, do you think I will become the first Trillionaire?"

Merissa glanced up from the folder on her lap, assessing Eric for a moment before saying, "If it were in another currency, you would already be one."

"Who's going to engage in such a boring activity?"

"Yeah," Merissa replied, then lowered her head again.

It had to be said that she was definitely the woman with the most fluctuating emotions around Eric. Something must have triggered her in the past couple of days.

After studying her for a moment, Eric got up and walked over. Merissa sensed his approach and immediately raised her folder protectively in front of her, saying, "Eric, it's noon."

"If it were Australian time, it would be evening."

Eric mimicked the subtly sarcastic tone Merissa had just used, then sat down on the couch and pulled her delicate figure onto his lap, kissing the sensitive spot on her neck.

After a moment, Merissa melted into his embrace, but Eric suddenly halted all movements.

The instinct to lean in for a kiss made Merissa pause. She looked up to catch Eric's teasing gaze and, with an innocent grin, made a playful bite towards any part of him she could reach.

Eric quickly blocked her, laughing as he picked her up and said, "I just figured we should change places."

"You still have to meet BMG's CEO Leonard Riggio in twenty minutes."

"We have nineteen minutes to wrap it up; we can take the last minute to walk from the villa to the garden hotel restaurant."

...

In the end, they were still a bit late.

Merissa Mayer, tired after their moment, refused to leave the bedroom, so Eric had to go alone to the meeting.

BMG was the parent company of BMG Records, and compared to EMI, BMG's operations accounted for only about a third of the group. Naturally, Eric's agenda with Leonard Riggio revolved around discussing potential collaborations related to Yahoo's music store.

However, the tides had turned -- in light of Eric offering an equity stake in Fireflyer, despite the major record labels not having finalized an agreement, their demeanor had noticeably warmed. Even Universal Records had begun to re-engage with Firefly Electronics.

While all four major record labels, Sony aside, expressed cooperative interest, Eric planned to pass shares to no more than two of them. Thus, the initiative now lay with Firefly Electronics.

...

After a meal with Leonard Riggio, Eric thoughtfully brought back lunch to the villa, finding Merissa already present in the living room, dressed neatly and typing on her laptop.

"Here's lunch," Eric said.

Merissa took it and placed it on the coffee table, handing over another file, "This is the latest box office report for Easter films from Los Angeles."

"Let me see; you should eat first."

Merissa nodded, grabbing her lunch and heading to the dining room.

Eric chuckled helplessly and opened the folder in front of him.

Today was April 27, and from March 26 onwards, the Easter season had neatly spanned four complete weeks, plus an additional weekend.

This Easter, although Firefly's three films -- Enemy of the State, American Pie, and Never Been Kissed -- performed well, the star of the show remained The Blair Witch Project, which premiered before Easter.

As of last week, after eight weeks in the box office, while The Blair Witch Project had faded to weekly earnings of just over a million dollars and was nearing the end of its run, it had accumulated $162.17 million in North America.

This figure placed it just behind The Fast and the Furious at the beginning of the year, ranking as the second highest-grossing film in North America for 1999.

Also, compared to its $60,000 production cost, the return on investment from The Blair Witch Project presented a miracle that would be hard to beat for many years to come.

Outside of The Blair Witch Project, Enemy of the State had accumulated earnings of $82.36 million after three weeks, and its North American box office would likely reach around $100 million as anticipated.

Conversely, the performance of Firefly's trio of Easter films was led by the crude comedy American Pie, which, in its two weeks since April 9, grossed $63.75 million. The final earnings could even surpass Enemy of the State, yet its production cost was only $11 million, merely an eighth of what Enemy of the State cost, and while it did not match The Blair Witch Project, MGM still made a hefty profit.

Moreover, unlike The Blair Witch Project, which would be impossible to create a sequel for in the short term, American Pie would easily be developed into a series.

After last year's wildly successful Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Fox's Never Been Kissed had performed only mediocrely.

This romantic comedy, produced for $25 million and released in the same week as American Pie, grossed only $24.99 million in two weeks, and although it received positive reviews, its final box office would likely be around $50 million, just enough for Fox to break even.

...

Despite Easter films continuing for a few more weeks, the atmosphere of summer releases grew increasingly strong due to Iron Man's massive marketing campaign.

Eric had to record an episode of Late Show with David Letterman on the 29th.

Thus, after staying in London for one extra day, Eric flew back to New York on the 28th.

However, shortly after departure from London Heathrow Airport on the morning of the 28th, Eric received some rather alarming news.

It appeared that just as Iron Man was about to release, news about two little guys suddenly erupted on the media scene, seemingly targeting Eric's movie explicitly.

"Probably around six in the morning on the East Coast, a staff member at Yahoo noticed a site called 'Hollywood Gossip' had posted several articles about three children in quick succession. They promptly reported to Ms. Brown, but within an hour, these articles were picked up by many more prominent media outlets, including AOL and MSN, which featured the news on their homepages."

In the airplane's front room, Eric listened grimly to Merissa Mayer as she detailed the current situation while flipping through a stack of articles about the children.

"Eric Williams' Illegitimate Child Exposed!"

"The Super Tycoon's Absurd Private Life: Twins Born on the Same Day!"

"Emma Roberts Murdoch Barrymore Williams: The Real Firefly 'Little Princess'!"

"Eric Williams Spent Lavishly to Conceal Secret Children's Luxurious Lives, How Disgraceful!"

"..."

"..."

After casually flipping through the articles, Eric picked up the phone to call East Hampton.

Merissa discreetly reminded him, "Eric, Ms. Pacula and Ms. Madsen have already taken the kids onto Ms. Barrymore's plane."

Eric paused for a moment before quickly connecting to the video call from the plane.

...

Moments later, Emma appeared on the screen, her tiny hand playfully waving at the camera, her sweet voice asking, "Daddy, can you see Emma?"

"Of course," Eric responded, his tense demeanor softening into a smile upon seeing Emma's innocent face. He pulled up a chair, speaking gently, "Has Emma been behaving?"

"Yep, Emma's been very good, but I'm sleepy. Auntie Joan said we're going on vacation, and I haven't woken up yet."

"You can sleep on the plane; Aunt Drew's plane is super comfortable."

"Okay," Emma nodded, "Daddy, when are you coming to see us?"

"Soon."

"Don't forget to bring Emma a gift!"

"Of course! Daddy never forgets."

After chatting for a bit, Virginia reluctantly hugged Emma goodbye, who shot Eric an annoyed look before Joanna settled in front of the camera.

"I'm so sorry, Joan," Eric said, looking at the typically calm woman with an apologetic smile. "How are the kids doing?"

"Kevin is still asleep; Vicky rarely lets him sleep in, but Elia is with a tutor reading," Joanna replied with a smile. Turning her head slightly, she added softly, "Eric, Vicky is actually very happy."

Eric chuckled; he understood.

Though he had reassured the women many times that Kevin and Elia were his kids, heirs of the Williams family, Virginia had always worried that Eric might suddenly reject Kevin's paternity.

Now that the news was out, Eric could no longer "deny" it.

Of course, Eric had never thought that way.

For years, he had tried to keep the kids' existence under wraps solely to give them a calm and secure environment to grow up in, and he rarely avoided discussing them with those around him.

However, seeing Virginia and Joanna's reactions now, Eric felt relieved.

The impact of this incident on the women and the children clearly wasn't as severe as he had imagined.

It was quite understandable too -- if this happened to an average person, even a typical millionaire, given such revelations, they'd likely be besieged by media, possibly even leading to a breakdown. But these two women merely needed to take the children onto a private plane to easily evade the chaos, and the kids weren't in any real danger.

"So, where are you headed now?" Eric asked.

"First, we're stopping to refuel in Ventura, then off to Australia. Everyone is preparing to spend the summer there; Liz and Julia already took off from Ventura," Joanna replied in a gentle tone, tinged with mild irritation. "The rest is up to you; we can't handle it."

Australia is where the Murdoch family established its stronghold, and the local media was largely monopolized by them -- bringing the women and children there was certainly fitting.

Eric began to relax, "Of course, I will handle everything. You all enjoy yourselves."

"Mhm," Joanna nodded, then said, "Drew is on the plane too; luckily, she's recently in New York. Should I have her come over?"

"No need, I still need to deal with these matters. It's good just seeing you are alright."

"Then we'll leave it at that," Joanna said, taking a moment to examine Eric before saying, "Eric, don't overexert yourself."

"I know. Goodbye for now."

"Mhm."

After ending the video call, Eric's expression turned cold again. He got up and left the front room, heading into the plane's largest conference room while instructing Caroline and Merissa to connect with Chris, Ian Gurney, and Jeffrey Katzenberg for video calls.

With this sudden unfolding of events, it was clear everyone had received the news. The core executives from the Firefly group soon appeared on the large screens in the conference room.

*****

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