Chapter Seventy-One: 20th Century Fox

  Tabloids, especially those under News Corp, are all about sensationalism, Ryan knew that all too well. The New York Post might not be as well-known to some, but the Sun is probably universally recognized, and both papers share a similar style of reporting under Murdoch's umbrella.

  After the lawyer's letter was sent, the tabloid newspaper became much more subdued. It wasn't until the early 1990s that they became as rampant as they did later on.

  Ryan immediately threw the matter to the back of his mind. He couldn't be bitten by a dog and then go bite the dog back, could he? Besides, there was no need to rush. If he had the chance in the future, he would naturally settle this account with the News Group. He wasn't someone who could be intimidated by the Prime Minister.

  As for going to court, forget it. Those tabloids would love him to sue them, that's free publicity and a boost to their influence.

  Originally, Ryan had wanted to find time to visit Natalie, but unfortunately the Long Island girl was not in New York. After her summer vacation began, she attended a drama summer camp and left early for Tennessee.

  After traveling around the major cities in eastern North America, on July 29th, the crew arrived at the final destination of this trip, Miami, a seaside resort city in Florida.

  As time went on, Terminator 2's box office accumulated more and more terrifyingly, after taking in nearly $60 million in ticket sales in the first four days of its opening week, in the second week's full seven days, although the box office experienced a slight decline, it still achieved over $47 million in results.

  The film grossed over $100 million in North America within two weeks of its release, a feat that is quite rare even if it didn't match the success of Batman, which had a huge following of comic book fans before the movie was even released.

  As of today, Terminator 2 has been released in North America for four weeks and has achieved a box office revenue of nearly $160 million. The North American box office is expected to exceed $200 million. At the same time, the film has also been released in Europe and Japan, South Korea and other countries in the Far East, with equally impressive box office results.

  To put it bluntly, this film swept through the summer box office and many films have changed their release dates because of its existence.

  The two teams of people from the East and West coasts promoting the film crew have become the focus of attention in the entertainment media. Wherever they go, there are crowds of fans and dozens of reporters from major and minor newspapers. The footage they've shot in the past month could stretch from New York to Los Angeles.

  James Cameron solidified his position as a master, Linda Hamilton became a first-line actress, and the people who benefited the most from the film were naturally Schwarzenegger and Arnie.

  It goes without saying that as the movie continues to sell out, more and more media outlets are dubbing him Hollywood's first child star, including big-name publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post. And at least half of the fans surrounding the film crew during promotions have come for him.

  Of course, the biggest gain is Arnold Schwarzenegger, T800 made him a Hollywood superstar overnight, and it's said that there are already producers offering him $20 million in salary to join their films.

  Unfortunately, Schwarzenegger turned them all down because he had a script that was even more suitable.

  There are movie fans who have said in an interview, "I wasn't interested in movies at first, but I went to the cinema just because I liked Ryan. However, after the movie started, the intense plot and suffocating atmosphere made me excitedly tremble. The fatal shot that T800 gave to T1000 was even more exciting for me. I will always remember the ending of the movie, it moved me to tears. I like Ryan's portrayal of John Connor, this rebellious and kind future savior, and also like Schwarzenegger's portrayal of T800, they accompanied me throughout the entire movie."

  "Especially T800, I like his leather jacket, sunglasses and that shotgun; I like the human heart under his metal shell. The scene of Terminator sinking into the smelter is still lingering in my mind, the slow descent of the rope, the scorching smelter, watching the shattered Terminator slowly melting in the smelter, I don't know what made my eyes wet, when he was about to be incinerated, that thumbs up suddenly crushed my heart, although crying in front of others seems pretentious and embarrassing, but I really couldn't help it."

  Fine! His own brain-dead fans are starting to turn into Ah-nold's brain-dead fans! That was Ryan's thought after reading the report, however, he didn't mind. Even if he was the one with the best acting skills in the movie, this film would only leave behind a classic image - that is T800.

  After a dense publicity trip, Ryan's body was also gradually unable to bear it, after all, he was in the stage of growing up.

  After returning to Hilton Hotel from the theater that day, I really wanted to lie down on the bed and have a good sleep.

  Cameron didn't let Ryan have a moment's peace, dragging him to a café and finding a quiet spot to sit together. The big bearded man just smiled at him, leaving Ryan bewildered until it finally clicked after more than ten minutes.

  A middle-aged man walked into the coffee shop and came straight to their table. After shaking hands with him, James Cameron introduced, "Ryan, this is Grant Hill, the producer of 20th Century Fox."

  Then, Ryan was introduced to them as well.

  Grant Hill? Ryan furrowed his brow, he only knew there was a basketball player with that name, okay, he didn't like basketball and didn't remember clearly, however, he was certain he had never seen the other person before, after all, due to the news group's relationship, he rarely dealt with 20th Century Fox.

  After exchanging greetings, everyone sat down again. Ryan, being clever, took a look at the two who were whispering to each other and roughly understood what was going on.

  20th Century Fox is a subsidiary of News Corp and also the most pleasant film company to work with James Cameron, Ryan knows that if it weren't for his appearance, future "True Lies", "Titanic" and "Avatar" would all be their collaborative products.

  Due to the constant attacks from tabloids like the New York Post, Ryan had no good feelings towards News Corp. During the promotional activities for the film crew, he complained more than once and Cameron must have seen something that led to this private meeting.

  Actually, Ryan was very clear that most of the attacks from those newspapers were just their nature and had nothing to do with the film company. Moreover, hype is one thing and business is another, these are two different things.

  Here in North America, people are more concerned with efficiency. After a few simple pleasantries, they quickly get down to business.

  "Ryan, 20th Century Fox has expressed interest in investing in 'True Lies', I came this time to ask for your opinion." Grant Hill said.

  "I gave the script to Jim, he wants to cooperate with which film company I won't interfere, as for the script price and other matters, you can let someone discuss it with Pete." Ryan originally wanted to invest a part of this movie, but thinking about the terrifying budget of the previous life, and then thinking about the little money in his hand, he gave up.

  "What advice do you have?" Hill asked again.

  "This is Jim's movie, I'd better keep my opinions to myself."

  Seeing Cameron's gaze, Ryan said, "Okay, there is a bit. This movie was inspired by an old French film that I own the copyright to, so you'll probably have to spend more money."

  The two were still staring at him in a daze, Ryan sighed and said again, "Talk to the Pentagon, get a few real Harrier jets, it's best if Arno can learn to pilot them, at least we can guarantee takeoff and landing."

  "Actually..." Cameron tweaked his sideburns, "I've been thinking of changing the daughter in the movie to a son and having you play the role."

  "Alright, Jim, that means the role would have to be recast and besides, I'm not even the right age for it anymore." Ryan didn't want to work with him again as an actor unless absolutely necessary.

  Moreover, during the filming of the previous life, Alisa Dushku, who played the role of daughter, fell from an airplane and broke several ribs, lying in the hospital for several months. God only knows what would have happened if he had acted in it.

  Grant Hill didn't think things would go so smoothly, of course, they only needed to reach an intention and the specific things would naturally be discussed by the agent.

  After a few more sentences, the conversation quickly turned to the investment in this film. Grant Hill knew that Ryan and Nicole had set up an empty shell of a movie company and politely asked, "Ryan, actually we can cooperate with each other."

  Ryan naturally understood what he meant and smiled, shaking his head, "Grant, I'd like to ask, how much budget did you guys open up for this movie?"

  "It's currently a billion dollars," Hill said without batting an eyelid.

  Indeed, the huge success of Terminator 2 made people see James Cameron's strength and realize that to achieve high box office sales, large investment and production would be inevitable.

  But Ryan knew that the $100 million was absolutely not enough for Cameron to squander, and the investment would have to increase by at least 20%, and he heard from Big Beard that this film would not start production until next year at the earliest, and he didn't have that much money tied up in just one project.

  "Never mind, you should know that we cooperated with Warner on 'The Bodyguard', and with Miramax on 'Braveheart', currently there is not enough funding." Ryan directly refused.

  When saying goodbye, Grant Hill solemnly shook hands with Ryan, completely in the manner of dealing with peers. "Alright then, Ryan, I think we'll have more opportunities to work together in the future."

  "It will definitely happen." Ryan replied politely.

  Back in the living quarters, before entering his room, Ryan said a few words to Mario Casas, who was coming from the opposite direction, that he wouldn't be following the crew's activities tomorrow and would instead go to scout locations on the beach in Miami.

  Nicole Kidman is following the crew there to shoot some naval scenes.

  Seeking collection and recommendation votes~ Two updates today~