Chapter 59: ‘Terminator 2’ Screens

When it was July, London’s temperature began rising toward the previous year’s peak temperature, but the highest was only at 72° Fahrenheit, thus it was quite pleasant. Apart from the morning and night when it was cooler and coats were needed, the weather was generally decent, and one only needed to bring umbrellas along in case of possible rain.

Additionally, July was also the sign of a busy season for tourism, fashion, entertainment, etc., hence merchants were trying their best to attract more attention through advertisements. Despite that, for the film market, many films that were supposedly going to be screened on the first day of July secretly changed their slot, because a film would be screened on that day too—’Terminator 2′!

Through various publicizing works before this, the distributor successfully drew the attention of many people for this film that had a total investment of over 100 million dollars. Visual effect fans were very surprised by the liquid metal cyborg, the T-1000 that was shown in the trailer, and since ‘The Terminator’ that was previously produced by Cameron as well gained a lot of movie fans, the film grossed more than 30 million dollars in North America on the first week, and the total box office sales for that week was 60 million dollars!

Many movie critics were in awe at the film, whether it was the plot or the visual effects. Some even pointed out that the scene when the T-1000 walked out from the flames created an impact that was not at all inferior to ‘Star Wars’ from 1977. Regardless of whether it was an exaggerated statement, it was true that ‘Terminator 2’ caught the eye of countless people in the shortest time.

“You can see many things in this film, be it the industrial civilization that was slightly mocked, the film atmosphere that becomes heavier due to the religious aspect, and the unconventional relationship between a father and a son. The director controlled the film’s tempo very well throughout, and it was neither too fast nor too slow, but is constantly attracting the audience. Additionally, the casts did a spectacular job, Linda who highlighted her part as a feminist, the 14-year-old Edward who acted perfectly, and congratulations, Arnold, for finally finding a performing method that suits you. Needless to say, the scene when Robert, the T-1000, walks out from the fire will definitely leave a deep impression in the film history!”

This was part of the review by a critic, which was displayed on the special column in the ‘New York Times’. It was evident that ‘Terminator 2’ was breathtaking. Therefore, in the second week the film was screened, the box office sales in North America exceeded 100 million dollars!

“Do you remember what I told you, Laverne? This film will cause a frenzy in the world,” Adrian said through the phone as he sat on the couch with his legs crossed. Although he was still in London, and that ‘Terminator 2’ would only be screened in England after a period of time, he paid attention to it.

“Indeed, it’s an outstanding film, but it can’t say much for now.” Laverne sounded very calm. He was always steady, unhurried, and able to maintain a good mentality at every point of time, which were his traits and his strengths.

Sure enough, having box office sales of more than 100 million dollars in the first two weeks was worth celebrating for any film, except ‘Terminator 2’. After all, its total investment amount was the first in history. According to the profit allotment that was set, the film would undergo a loss if the sales could not exceed 200 million dollars.

Instead of defending himself, Adrian mentioned a few more things then hung up. Honestly, he wanted to watch the film at the cinema once it was screened. He knew that the extra 10 million dollars invested would not go to waste, because he saw the enhanced CG of the T-1000 at Cameron’s studio before he came to London, which was different from what he remembered from his past life. Thus, he was eager to know if it would seem more perfect and shocking on the big screen.

Nevertheless, it was not too much of a big deal since it would be screened in England after half a month, so he could just watch it then. Speaking of which, Cameron was really good at spending money. While it seemed like he was satisfied after securing another 10 million dollars for the film’s investment, Adrian knew that he kept thinking about finding more investments.

He was a crazy fellow, but it was also this crazy fellow that dared to spend 240 million dollars during the mid-’90s to produce ‘Titanic’. Though ‘Terminator 2’ kick-started the film CG era, and it was ‘Jurassic Park’ that developed and promoted it, the trend of high-investment production started from ‘Titanic’.

“So I should get a hold of that fella too,” Adrian mumbled.

Later, his ear hurt for a while, and he saw little Emma looking at him angrily.

“Alright, what is it this time?” Adrian asked helplessly. The disaster had passed for over a month, and the little girl seemed to be out from the dark already. Not only was she smiling more, but she also began interacting more with other people, and was sometimes similar to a normal 2-year-old child.

The reason she was only like that sometimes was that she still stuck with Adrian. Even if she no longer needed him to accompany her to the washroom, she would feel unsafe and anxious if she left his side for too long. Other than that, her perception of Kate remained the same, and she still excluded Kate no matter how much Kate tried to please her.

“Origami!” The little girl raised the item in her hand, then uttered, “Frog.”

“Is it done? Ha, Emma, you’re so smart.” Adrian took a look at the folded paper frog in her hand, then took it to wave it at Kate who was curled up on the other side of the couch.

Kate rolled her eyes at him, then continued reading her book.

“Is it so interesting?” Adrian could not help but ask.

“Of course, it’s ‘Resident Evil’.” Kate teased.

The novel ‘Resident Evil’ was officially published at the end of June. Since it was written in English, the British version hit London’s market very quickly, followed by the Japanese version. After all, Adrian’s initial motive in writing the novel was to disgust the Japanese a little.

Of course, he explained it as the Japanese were known for being interested in zombie novels, and that they could test the Japanese market by distributing in small amounts. Even though the distribution company found it odd, they followed his instructions.

However, the novel’s sales were… Not satisfying. Among the 300,000 copies that were printed for the first batch, roughly 200,000 were sold, hence the distribution company printed another 100,000 copies, but the sales became stagnant. There were still profits gained, but they were not much. It was worth noting that Adrian purposely put together the plot of ‘Resident Evil 1’ and ‘Residence Evil Zero’ in one novel to enrich its content, which was quite interesting after he made it more concise, but the sales turned out to be so average—of course, it was somewhat related to the fact that he used his pen name, or the phrase “new wizard director’s first science fiction novel” would surely get a lot of attention.

While Adrian was dissatisfied, he did not say much, because the success of ‘Resident Evil’ lied within its game, so the sales for the adapted novel were considered decent. Besides, he did not lack the money. As for Ben Arndt, the second-rate writer who polished the novel for him, he did not have any opinion too, because he did not do much, yet the royalty he received was higher than what he got in the past. The distribution company was fine with it too, because their business was in danger when they were purchased, and it was ‘Resident Evil’ that stabilized them. On top of that, the new asset injection gave them hope to rise again.

“But I want to read another book.” Kate’s tone suddenly changed, and a vague smile could be seen on the corner of her mouth. “I wonder when I can read it.”

“It won’t be too long, and it should be more interesting than ‘Resident Evil’, I guarantee.” As soon as Adrian smiled at her, he felt Emma pulling the corner of his shirt.

“Eddy!” The little girl in his arms lifted her hands and pouted her mouth. “Shower!”

“You want to take a shower? Okay…” Adrian looked toward the corridor. “Madam Marsen, the little fellow wants to take a shower.”

“No! You!” Emma quickly shouted, then cast an unfriendly look at Kate.

“Hey, be good, Emma, we talked about this.” Adrian did not give in, and he handed the little girl to Madam Marsen once she came.

“Alright, Emma, it won’t take too long,” Marsen comforted her, “You’ll see Eddy very soon.”

Though she was reluctant, and she kept looking at Adrian with an upset face, she was taken away.

“How does it feel to have an admirer, Eddy?” Kate sighed lazily.

“Pretty good.” Adrian turned to look at Kate after the little girl left.

Kate scoffed, then walked to the other side of the corridor, and was followed by Adrian. Once they entered the study one after another, they hugged and kissed intensely.

Their tongues intertwined passionately as they began caressing each other’s body, and creaking sounds were heard when they moved from one spot to the other. At last, Kate who sat on the table locked her legs around Adrian’s waist, then Adrian thrust his hips hard. A heated activity began.

All sorts of sounds echoed in the room as they vented their accumulated passion for each other. After a long time, the trembling bodies stopped, and they slowly caught their breaths.

“Jesus, we’re making use of every bit of time now like we’re unpresentable,” Kate complained while hugging Adrian.

“We have no choice, Emma’s too clingy, and I can’t just leave her.” Adrian kissed her cheek. “Alright, this will be better soon—oh, did you mention that your application to the California Institute of the Arts was approved? Once this is over, we’ll go to Los Angeles together, and we can do whatever we want then.”

“That’s all you want!” Kate scorned at Adrian who was teasing her, then tightened her legs that were still around his waist. “We still have time, do you want to do it again?”

Adrian raised his brows. “As you wish.”

Following that, the different sounds that were heard earlier filled the room again.

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