[Chapter 637: Charlie's True Identity]
"Charlie's Angels delivered a pink explosion of visual delight for movie fans while also leaving us with a plethora of entertaining hidden details. We could see a character and world setup that was entirely different from the TV series. One could imagine that this was an ambitious hint from the producers for a sequel.
As fans of the 007 series eagerly discussed whether the black figure escaping in a propeller plane during the film's post-credits scene was to be the next Jas Bond, gossip magazines debated whether Penelope Cruz's character, Lucienne Baker, had an Oedipal complex. anwhile, geeky young folks pored over the film's last segnt, analyzing the realistic yet complex exhaustive algorithm. Amidst this, many likely overlooked a very discreet detail. In the first three minutes of the film, Morgan Freeman's character, John, seemingly offhandedly told Lucienne, 'You have thirty minutes to drive the car to Malibu 10880, or I'll turn you and these photos over to the cops.' After that, we never saw any ntion of Malibu 10880 again, nor did the film explain why John wanted Lucienne to drive the Buick to that location. Investigating further, it appeared there was no such address in Malibu. This abrupt dialogue initially seed like a completely pointless redundancy.
But is that really the case? Everyone knows that the plot of Charlie's Angels was ticulously constructed. The producers paid great attention to details. Even the program code typed by the genius girl Gill Monroe in the final scenes was reportedly written by Steve Mitnick, the Chief Technology Officer of Yahoo. Thus, in the film's critical opening segnt, a aningless dialogue could not possibly occur.
After extensive investigation by our magazine's reporters, we finally uncovered the 'true identity' of Malibu 10880. Many readers might have already noticed the prominent photo of a shell-shaped villa in our illustrations and speculated about it. Indeed, the so-called Malibu 10880 refers to Eric Williams' luxurious private estate in Malibu. According to several insiders, while the actual occupant number of the estate is not 10880, Eric Williams has referred to it as 10880 on multiple occasions. Moreover, we found the most straightforward evidence. A project docunt from the architectural design firm responsible for the estate labeled the 'Liberty City' villa project with the codena 10880.
For now, let's not delve into why Kate Beckinsale's character, Selina Gattler, imrsed herself in the brutal underground fighting scenes or what kind of turmoil she and her forr partner encountered. These behind-the-scenes stories will likely appear in either a prequel or spin-off. Back to the film, after the formation of the new angel trio, their first task was, of course, to et with their elusive boss. Although this mysterious BOSS never revealed their true identity, according to this logic, John's instruction for Lucienne to drive to the 'fictional' 10880 received an explanation. At the very least, in this film, the identity of the master of 10880 undoubtedly hinted at the undercover boss of the detective agency, Charlie Townsend, who never appeared throughout the movie. Based on the real-world existence of '10880', it's clear that Charlie Townsend was Eric Williams' persona in Charlie's Angels.
Perhaps as the screenwriter for the film adaptation of Charlie's Angels, Eric Williams set up this little detail on a whim. But when we shift our focus to today's Hollywood, many would be surprised to find that the youthful boy who gained fa from Ho Alone six years ago had now beco an omnipresent figure in Hollywood, much like Charlie Townsend in Charlie's Angels. This influence was even more pronounced in this sumr's film lineup.
Starting from the end of May, all the films that had been released -- Saving Private Ryan, True Lies, The Lion King, Charlie's Angels -- achieved remarkable box office success, regardless of whether they were produced or released by Firefly Group. Each film bore traces of Eric Williams' personal touch. Upcoming sumr blockbusters like Dumb and Dumber 2 and n in Black were also works of Eric Williams. This new Hollywood mogul's influence extended across four out of the seven major studio chains, including Firefly, MGM, Columbia, and Fox. Such overwhelming influence nearly surpassed that of any film tycoon in Hollywood's century-long history. Given that this miraculous young mogul was still under twenty-five, one could speculate that soday, Eric Williams might unify Hollywood and beco the true king of the industry."
...
Eric placed the article that had been reprinted by several newspapers in just two days down on his desk and chuckled as he continued reading other materials.
After a week in theaters, Charlie's Angels had comfortably grossed over $49 million. Although this figure couldn't compete with the opening weeks of previous films like The Mummy or Saving Private Ryan, the buzz surrounding this female action blockbuster far exceeded that of last month's hits.
The reason for Charlie's Angels' lower ticket sales wasn't due to the sumr rush ending or factors like screening frequency or film quality. Just like Buffett ntioned at the premiere about not understanding certain plot elents, the movie contained nurous high-tech components that might leave older audiences and children in the dark. Charlie's Angels thus failed to attract viewership from all age demographics. However, the sa high-tech elents generated extraordinary appeal among viewers aged 14 to 28, creating an imnse impact within that group.
Moreover, due to its stellar reputation and massive buzz, Charlie's Angels managed to maintain box office revenue in its second week, unlike any film in the sumr of 1994, where increases were absolutely unheard of. Box office forecasting agencies predicted that Charlie's Angels' second-week earnings might even exceed $50 million, making a total of over $100 million within two weeks nearly assured.
Charlie's Angels also perford admirably in several overseas markets that screened simultaneously with North Arica, particularly in Japan, a country famous for its comic culture. The character of Selina, a cartoonish bandaged girl, incited a frenzy among Japanese manga enthusiasts, with the film's first week in Japan nearing North Arica's, reaching $46 million. Following this, the related rchandise of Charlie's Angels, including several action figures of Selina, faced consecutive sellouts within just a week. The once-unknown Kate skyrocketed to beco the most popular Western female star in Japan, leading to a flurry of collaborations and endorsent offers flooding into ICM.
Thanks to the success of Charlie's Angels, MGM finally pulled itself back from the brink of bankruptcy. European investors anticipating substantial returns were equally jubilant. After the first-week box office results of Charlie's Angels were released, both sides eagerly contacted Eric to initiate preparations for a sequel.
Simultaneously, two other companies completely unrelated to the film industry also unexpectedly benefited.
...
After a week of release, due to the movie's powerful advertising effect, Yahoo's online mailbox users increased by 1.1 million within seven days, most of whom were highly valuable new Internet users. The daily traffic on Yahoo's portal site also experienced a significant uptrend in a short period.
On July 1, Yahoo officially launched its instant ssaging software, YCR, which saw explosive growth spurred by Charlie's Angels. Within a week, this chic and avant-garde remote chatting software surpassed 10 million users. Despite thorough advance estimations and preparations, Yahoo still struggled with the massive data influx caused by the surge in YCR users, temporarily causing server outages on the evening of July 5. Although they faced teasing from other high-tech giants competing for the title of 'the world's largest data processing center,' user enthusiasm remained unfazed.
...
The other benefitting company was undoubtedly Buick.
The previously business-focused Buick sedans, which were not especially favored by the youth market, experienced a sales surge of more than double within the week following the release of Charlie's Angels. In addition to the repeated displays of the Buick LeSabre in the movie, sales for several other models from Buick also saw a significant increase. Thanks to the influence from Charlie's Angels, Buick not only opened doors to the young consur market that had previously eluded them but was also set to increase its car sales by at least 30% in the latter half of 1994.
It's worth ntioning that because the film included the line, 'Don't you think Buick's "tri- shield" logo is cool?' Buick was initially reluctant but still managed to muster up a $5 million placent budget. After the movie's release, Buick's president promptly contacted MGM, which handled the film's distribution, expressing willingness to invest an additional $20 million for joint promotion -- a kind of deal that previously only the 007 series could afford. Subsequently, Buick's competitors, including Ford, Chevrolet, and even Japanese brands like Toyota and Honda, hurriedly reached out to the production team, vying for exclusive product placent rights in the sequel of Charlie's Angels.
...
The knock at the office door pulled Eric from his engrossed reading. Responding, the door gently opened, revealing his assistant in a professional outfit stepping inside. Eric smiled and waved the copy of The Hollywood Reporter he had just read, asking, "Kelly, do you think I can
unify Hollywood?"
"From an antitrust perspective, that's impossible," Kelly said, carrying a stack of docunts as she sat across from Eric. "Yet from the perspective of miracles, that may not be the case."
Eric replied, "I can tell you're complinting and not using as a scapegoat like this
article, right?"
Kelly smiled with a knowledgeable and feminine grace, "Yes, but this article also did Firefly a
big favor. According to the finance departnt's forecasts, the financial report for the first half of the year needs to be postponed until next month due to the rger with ABC. This article's release has boosted morale as much as a positive financial report would. The impacts of the animation departnt's restructuring are now negligible, and we expect to complete the sale of all long-term bonds by the end of the month."
Eric inquired, "Speaking of that, any updates from Peter Schneider and Roy Disney?"
"I ca to tell you just that," Kelly handed Eric one of the docunts. "These are their
proposed conditions."
Eric opened the docunt and briefly skimd it. Aside from significantly increasing salaries and budgets for the animation departnt -- a series of expected demands -- Peter Schneider and Roy Disney also requested the construction of a Disney animation studio comparable to Pixar, along with autonomy similar to that of Pixar.
Closing the docunt, Eric wore a faintly sarcastic expression. "They opened with a demand to double the employee salaries; it's clear they have no intention of resolving this matter
quickly." Kelly responded, "Since they chose to team up with Ron Perelman, Ron needs enough ti to rally the creditors on his end as well."
"Good, we also need enough ti to lay our plans," Eric suddenly laughed and remarked, "In that regard, they're contributing their last help to Firefly."
Kelly couldn't help but feel pity for both Peter Schneider and Roy Disney, particularly for Peter. This executive from the animation departnt was quite capable. If he followed Eric's plan for reforming the departnt, he might still have a chance at a higher position within the Firefly system in the future. Yet now, even if the animation departnt found a new owner, his current act of betrayal would surely expose him, and Firefly absolutely had no obligation to keep this matter a secret from the new owners.
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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