Chapter 430: New Tricks

"Charles, shouldn't you deal with Summer Redstone?" Kate Beckinsale lay in Charles' arms, noticing that he had taken a few calls but had no intention of handling them.

"They're just business people. Who would do something without profits, especially if there's a loss?" Charles shook his head. Even if Summer Redstone went crazy, the board of Viacom would stop him.

However, it was different for Charles. Capet Pictures was his one-man show. He could do things even if there was no benefit, and if it made him happy, he could harm his opponent at his own expense.

Kate Beckinsale smiled, propping her head with one hand and drawing circles on Charles' chest with the other.

"It's hard to imagine. That's the famous Summer Redstone, Hollywood's media tycoon second only to Rupert Murdoch. Now you can talk to the two of them on equal footing!" Kate Beckinsale couldn't help but sigh.

Since she became famous in Hollywood with Pearl Harbor, both the reviews and the box office were double failures. She just got labeled as a trophy actress (pretty but useless), and another failed romance movie the following year made her situation very awkward.

Coincidentally, the newcomer Charles Capet teamed up with director Len Wiseman to create Underworld, stabilizing her career.

The failure of the blockbuster Van Helsing dealt her another heavy blow. Besides the Underworld series, she couldn't get any other resources.

Charles' Capet Pictures developed The Departed and let her participate. Most importantly, the role of Pepper Potts in Iron Man completely cemented her position in Hollywood!

"Hey, what are you thinking?" Charles turned his head and saw Kate Beckinsale giggling at him.

Kate Beckinsale's smiling lips were unreserved as she said, "I was just thinking about the scenes when we were shooting Underworld in Budapest."

After Underworld started, because of the low production budget, they had to combine Gothic horror aesthetics with 21st-century dynamic shootouts and complex mythological stories about vampires and werewolves.

The crew didn't have much budget for CG effects, mainly using traditional wire rigs for filming.

"Luckily, I went to Budapest during the film shoot to inspect the crew," Charles said, stroking her neck. "Otherwise, you'd probably be someone else's wife by now!"

Kate Beckinsale kissed Charles' shoulder a few times. "You mean Wiseman's wife? I was almost 30 at that time, and you were only 20. Who would have thought you were interested in me?"

"Why not? You're so beautiful!" Charles responded with a smile.

"I didn't know. At that time on set, I thought you wouldn't look for me once the movie was done," Kate Beckinsale laughed. "And also, I didn't feel like I lost out!"

"How about now? How do you feel?" Charles asked again.

"Not bad. Successful career, daughter growing up," Kate Beckinsale looked at Charles again. "And I still have a young, handsome, famous man to rely on. It's nice!"

Charles whispered in her ear, "Shouldn't it also include a good life in bed?"

"Ah, haha," Kate Beckinsale grabbed Charles. "Not good enough?"

Charles raised an eyebrow. "You need to help it!"

Then, Kate Beckinsale ducked under the covers...

...

Summer Redstone's 85th birthday celebration quickly made the papers, with Charles Capet featured prominently as Hollywood's new type of tycoon.

At the top levels of Hollywood's capital players, like Summer Redstone and Charles Capet, media reports were targeted.

Unverified information or image-damaging news were not casually reported by major newspapers.

Gossip tabloids didn't care as long as they didn't attract attention.

However, Charles Capet's outright rejection of Viacom's merger offer with Capet Pictures got reported.

Additionally, Capet Pictures' offer to General Electric's board for NBC Universal was reported.

Viacom's internal power struggles, especially the deterioration of the father-daughter relationship between Redstone and his daughter, also caught attention.

No matter how big the Hollywood news was, it wasn't the headline. The 2008 U.S. presidential election was about to start.

Not just in America, but the whole world was watching the U.S. presidential election, as the only superpower was choosing its president.

This year's U.S. presidential election day was November 4th, and it was already late October, less than ten days away.

Therefore, Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain were sparing no effort to campaign.

The U.S. Electoral College consists of 538 members, equal to the number of Congress members.

According to U.S. law, the president is elected by the Electoral College, not directly by the voters. The president is the candidate who receives more than half the electoral votes, at least 270.

Moreover, when voters vote on election day, they select electors representing the 50 states and Washington D.C., totaling 538 members to form the Electoral College.

Most states and Washington D.C. practice the "winner-takes-all" rule, where the electoral votes go entirely to the presidential candidate with the most votes in that state or district.

Electors must swear to vote for the state's winning candidate on December 15th in the Electoral College vote.

Therefore, the presidential election results are usually known on election night, and after the December Electoral College vote, the new president is officially announced. The new president takes the oath of office in January of the following year.

...

Meanwhile, Capet's Matrix Pictures annual Halloween hit Saw VI had an opening weekend earning of $22 million.

The Saw series reached its sixth installment, and it had already exhausted the most violent and gory gimmicks. Now it included political metaphors and financial crisis reflections!

"It's getting harder to make. Next year, we need a new director and new elements," Charles said, looking at Saw VI's results, knowing the movie's creativity was running out.

"Phyllis, increase the production budget for Saw VII to $20 million and make it 3D!" Charles ordered. Such an IP couldn't be abandoned, so trying new tricks was necessary. Besides, there would be Piranha 3D next year, so adding Saw 3D was normal.

"Got it," Phyllis replied.

*****

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