Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – Good News

 

After finishing the Jurassic Park novel, Eric spent all his spare time on writing and modifying the script for 17 Again.

The film’s plot mainly focused around the topics of family, love, friendship, and life choices, so there wasn’t really anything conflicting when it came to that, but he had to change everything that had to do with the pop cultural references and the scenes where cellphones and laptops were used as it clashed with the current era.

Eric turned Ned Gold into a successful entrepreneur and hardcore movie fan who liked to collect film props. Obviously, the many references to the had to be discarded.

After putting the script together, in accordance with their previous agreement, Eric went to look for Jeff. Ever since he had read the Jurassic Park novel, Jeff no longer belittled Eric. He earnestly read the script a few times and truly found a few inconsistencies such as when Mike O'Donnell went to school wearing a t-shirt who Jeff didn't know.

Eric carefully searched through his memory only to realize that ’ second ex-husband was just a ten-year-old boy right now.

After modifying a few other inconsistencies that Jeff had pointed out, Eric handed the script over to Michael Klaus.

Having completed a novel and a film script, Eric was in no hurry to begin working on anything else and instead began practicing basketball. There were a lot of cool and flashy basketball moves in the film, but Eric barely knew the basics of basketball, so he had to start from scratch.

Although Zac Efron’s acting performance in the film hadn’t been particularly praiseworthy, his basketball stunts and tricks were quite cool, especially in the cafeteria scene where he taunted and played around with the villain Stan.

***

A week later, after two hours of training in the community basketball court, Eric returned home where he continued working on his fancy moves when he was interrupted by the loud ringing of the phone.

Over the past few days, Eric had received countless calls from Michael Klaus, who kept him up to date in regards to the publication of Jurassic Park as well as the 17 Again script.

Regarding Jurassic Park, everything went very smoothly, and it was only a matter of time before Eric could see the book, however, when it came to 17 Again, things weren’t looking so bright.

Although several studios had shown interest after reading the script, when they heard of the scriptwriter’s condition of starring as the film's male lead, most of them just straight out rejected the whole ordeal.

Honestly, it wasn't too surprising to Eric since no studio executive would be willing to take the risk of casting a newcomer with no box office appeal in a film with an investment of more than $10 million.

Eric had informed Michael Klaus that he didn’t have to set his sights solely on The Big Six, and that he could also approach medium-sized studios such as and .

"Hey, you’ve reached the Williams residence," Eric spoke after adjusting his slightly panting breath.

"Hey, Eric, it’s Michael."

Eric calmly said, "Michael, it’s almost ten. For you to call me this late at night, I take it you have some good news?"

Michael Klaus couldn’t help but complain on the phone as he said, "Don’t even mention it, do you know how many times I called you? You never answered!"

"Sorry about that, I was practicing at the community basketball court."

"Practicing basketball? Wow, Eric, now that’s what I call determined. Right, I do remember that the script had a lot of basketball scenes."

"Well yeah, I don’t just train at the court, I also practice every morning for an hour in front of the mirror."

"I have to say, Eric, I deeply admire you, not many people would be able to persevere like you. Anyways, take tomorrow off, we have an appointment."

Eric's hands trembled slightly as the basketball that was spinning on his index finger fell to the ground. After it made some muffled bouncing sound, he finally asked, "This is… good news ?"

"Of course, you lucky guy, I received a phone call today from 20th Century Fox's . They are very interested in your script and didn’t directly reject your condition, but you have to give an audition."

"That's… Thank you, Michael."

"You're welcome," Michael Klaus laughed and continued, "Of course you understand that since they have agreed to letting you audition it's as good as a done deal. Well, unless your performance completely sucks, and in that case, even I would be unable to do anything for you."

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"Absolutely not, don't worry, I've been practicing a lot."

***

Eric was ecstatic the whole night, and drove his car to meet Michael Klaus at the agreed place the next morning.

"This is Fox's lot?" Eric eyed the huge warehouses with longing.

Michael Klaus walked out from his car and stood next to Eric as he also looked up and said, "Yes, it's very impressive… Ah, but the  lot is definitely more spectacular than this, you know? You should visit them sometime."

Eric recalled some films produced by Warner Bros. and nodded, "I will."

Soon, they were both guided by a staff member to an office door. After their guide knocked and spoke a few words, the two of them were ushered inside.

***

When they saw the two men walk in, the two middle-aged individuals in the room - a man and a woman - who were discussing something, stood up to greet them.

Michael Klaus shook hands with them, then did the introductions, "James, Penny, this is Eric Williams. Eric, Mr. James Brooks is a producer and Mrs. Penny Marshall is a director."

After introducing her, Michael Klaus smiled at Penny Marshall and said, "You know Penny, a week ago, Eric told me that you would soon become the first female director in history to direct a film that earned more than $100 million at the North American box office."

Eric first extended his hand to James Brooks, who only lightly shook it before quickly taking it back.

Eric realized that this well-known producer didn’t seem to like him much, possibly due to Eric claiming the lead role as his own.

Eric didn’t mind as he turned to Penny Marshall, a forty-year-old blonde woman. While she was also an actress, she was a little chubby, so she probably had it hard when it came to being cast which may have been why she moved behind the scenes to film direction.

"Hello, Mrs. Penny, I loved your film Big."

"Thank you, Eric," Penny Marshall's expression didn’t change much when Eric mentioned Big. The film's screening was still ongoing and almost everyone felt that it was almost certain that the box office would exceed $100 million as in recent weeks the number of entries hadn’t decreased but increased, instead. However, the film was already in its fourth week of screening, and a lot of new films were being released recently, so the unnatural box office growth would probably soon die down.

After the introductions, James Brooks, Penny Marshall and Eric began sizing up each other. They would soon have to cooperate together in order to assure the success of 17 Again.

Eric smiled confidently as he sat down next to Michael Klaus on the couch.

A beautiful female assistant served them coffee before withdrawing from the office.

James Brooks didn’t touch his cup, but instead crossed his hands on the table as he stated, "Mr. Eric… your script is indeed very good, but I have to say, the condition you have brought up is a little… You’re just a high-school graduate with absolutely no acting experience. So, at first, we had wanted to refuse, but Mr. happened to see your script and liked it so much that he personally agreed to your request. Of course, you still have to give an audition and even if you pass, you will also have to take some basic acting classes for a short period of time."

Eric nodded to express his approval. Still, he was quite surprised that Barry Diller had personally approved his script. Who didn’t know Barry Diller? Even the current CEO and Production Head of , and , respectively, had once worked as assistants to Barry Diller during the latter’s time at .

Barry Diller had been in Hollywood for more than thirty years. From his rise at Paramount to his prosperous days at Fox, from the movie industry to the nationwide television networks, he had left his mark behind everywhere.

While he was lost in thought, Michael Klaus gently nudged him and Eric realized that he was still in James Brooks’ office with the latter looking at him with dissatisfaction.

Since the beginning, James Brooks didn’t have a favorable impression of Eric. When it came to filmmaking in Hollywood, everything was decided by the producer, from the casting to the editing during post-production. Eric’s condition to be cast as the male lead had been a direct threat to his authority.

"I’m sorry, I got distracted," Eric quickly apologized.

"Never mind, boy," When it came to speaking to this youngster, James Brooks’ tone turned firm as he said, "Before we begin discussing anything else, let’s first start with the audition."

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