After half a month in Budapest, and with no issues with the underworld crew, Charles hurried back to Los Angeles.
Capet Pictures' new location was still undergoing renovations, so they were still in the old office, but Capet Pictures had gained a new female assistant.
"Who is she?" Charles asked his mother.
"Donna Williams, a graduate of the University of Memphis with a degree in Economics and Management. She was originally an Agent assistant at ETA. I thought she was good, so I had her come to Capet Pictures to be your assistant," Evelyn explained.
Donna Williams was 22 years old, had just graduated from university, stood about 165cm tall, had long blonde hair, was beautiful, and had a sexy figure.
"Alright," Charles didn't pay much attention. He now had a beautiful female secretary, which was actually quite nice.
"Donna, you know about the renovations for the company's new address, right? Keep an eye on the progress!" Charles immediately assigned Donna her work.
"Understood!"
"Alright, come with me to see Sofia," Charles said, then left the office.
Outside was a new model black Mercedes-Benz hardtop sports car, which Charles had just bought for nearly 100,000 US dollars.
"Too luxurious," Donna Williams' eyes gleamed as she sat in the passenger seat. How much was her annual salary? It would take three years of not eating or drinking to afford it.
"Boss, Mrs. Capet said that lost in translation is almost ready and should be going to Tokyo for filming very soon," Donna Williams had done a lot of homework.
"I'm going to talk to her about it now!"
At a coffee shop in Beverly Hills.
Sofia Coppola was already sitting there, enjoying her coffee.
"Sofia, good afternoon!"
After he sat down, Sofia smiled, her expression showing surprise.
"my big fat greek wedding's North American box office has already reached 100 million US dollars, it's incredible!"
"Alright, congratulations are unnecessary. Let's talk about our new film. What troubles are there now?" Charles got straight to the point.
Sofia shook her head helplessly and said, "The male lead I chose, Bill Murray, hasn't given me a formal reply yet. I don't know what his thoughts are."
"Bill Murray, he's a veteran American comedian. He hasn't accepted your invitation?" Charles frowned.
"He just verbally agreed, who knows if he'll actually come?" Sofia shrugged.
"Alternative choices?"
Sofia Coppola shook her head, somewhat seriously, "I really admire his acting. The male lead role was practically tailor-made for him. I need him!"
Artistic young women are sometimes difficult to deal with because they always have certain convictions.
"Let's wait a bit longer. I'll send the film contract to his Agent. Bill Murray isn't busy right now. Let's wait until next month. If not, we'll replace him," Charles said, then interrupted Sofia.
"Listen to me, Sofia, this is your first directorial work. You definitely have alternative choices. The sooner we finish filming, the sooner we can find a distributor for release. Don't you want your movie to be seen by audiences in theaters?"
However, Charles felt that since Bill Murray had already verbally agreed, he should appear in it.
"Also, I want to shoot lost in translation on film. That way, the movie will have soul," Sofia no longer argued.
"That's fine. The budget is only so much. If you use film, then you'll have to shoot carefully, and the demands on the actors will be higher," Charles quickly responded, wanting more budget? No way!
With Capet Pictures' office renovation, Charle buying a new car, and other employment expenses, the remaining 1.1 million US dollars wasn't much.
"You really are something," Sofia Coppola was also speechless, after all, Charle had genuinely put out 4 million US dollars to support her film.
"What about distribution?"
"We've sent the movie script to many independent distribution companies. Everyone probably wants to see the finished product's effect before deciding!"
As Charles spoke, a commotion came from a nearby table: "Oh, God, this script of mine is filmed entirely according to the Bible, and they're targeting me like this!"
Charles eyes narrowed. Wasn't that Mel Gibson?
One of Hollywood's highest-paid actors and a man who had won an Oscar for best director.
"Don't look, he has a special project about religion, based on the Bible's story of Jesus's last 12 hours," Sofia reminded him.
Upon hearing that, Charle certainly understood. This was indeed a taboo in Hollywood. In the Bible, Jesus was betrayed by the jewish people to the Roman church.
If Mel Gibson were to film this, although he would receive support from catholicism, the Jewish power in Hollywood would not like such a truth.
Of course, that was still alright. The main reason was that religious films in recent years had generally lost money, even religious films directed by great director Martin Scorsese were money-losers.
Just like the disastrous failure of Cutthroat Island, released by MGM in '95, which drove pirate-themed films into the dust. For several years, no one developed this type of theme.
Until now, Disney's magical pirate-themed pirates of the caribbean series.
Without a doubt, this was the movie the passion of the christ.
"It's normal not to find investment and distribution. Not to mention that jewish capital would definitely refuse, investors also wouldn't invest in a movie that has a high probability of losing money," Charle had an idea, but was powerless.
"Mel Gibson's 25 million US dollar salary from The Patriot two years ago set a new record, didn't it?"
A genuine salary, not including any profit-sharing or anything like that.
"He really isn't short on money!" Sofia Coppola also agreed.
However, people in Hollywood who use their own money to develop films are rare. Unique filmmakers like Charle are very few.
In any case, Charle made a mental note. the passion of the christ was too commercially successful. If there was a chance to get involved, it would be very satisfying.
As for the Jewish power, there was no need to worry too much. Not to mention the strong Catholic power in America, judaism could not contend with catholicism anyway.
As an investor, Charle wouldn't attract much firepower. Simply investing to make money was unobjectionable.
Seeing so many good movies, the sight of having no money in hand also made him feel a little uncomfortable.
After leaving the coffee shop, when passing by a theater entrance, he glimpsed a large poster for Windtalkers.
This war epic, with an investment of over 100 million US dollars, a masterpiece by Chinese director John Woo, and starring Nicolas Cage, had been released for a month or so, and its North American box office had just barely exceeded 50 million US dollars!
It flopped. MGM's current hope rested on the upcoming James Bond film, Die Another Day, which was scheduled for release in the second half of the year.