The internal screening for 17 Again went very smoothly as both Fox executives and theater reps were unanimously optimistic about the high-school comedy. Originally, before Eric appeared, Fox was planning on releasing just the office comedy Working Girl, starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith, on the 23rd of December for the Thanksgiving/Christmas schedule.

Now, with 17 Again, their once empty Thanksgiving schedule was filled up. After discussion, they agreed upon releasing it on November 18th which Eric found very satisfactory. As far as he recalled, there were no interesting movies that had been released in November of 1988, so it would be smooth-sailing for 17 Again. If it had been released in December, however, it would have to go against top grossing movies such as Rain Man, Twins and The Naked Gun.

***

Around noon, James Brooks introduced Eric to a middle-aged man with rimmed glasses who was Fox’s Head of the Distribution, director Carter Hunt. James introduced the two of them a bit before quickly leaving. Although he had a good relationship with Eric, he wouldn’t go so far as to ask for favors on his behalf.

“Hello, Mr. Hunt,” Eric shook hands with the man who politely praised Eric’s performance in 17 Again.

However, once Eric explained his intentions to Carter Hunt, the latter immediately refused, “I’m sorry, Eric, this year’s release schedule is already full. We can’t afford to squeeze in a low-budget comedy, I’m really sorry.”

The reason was definitely bullshit, if the movie had been directed by Spielberg instead, he was sure that Carter Hunt would be so happy he’d start jumping.

Although he had been rejected, Eric didn’t give up, “Mr. Hunt, please take a look at it at least. I have brought a copy; it will only take a little more than an hour, but I guarantee that this is a great movie.”

Carter Hunt shook his head once more.

A lot of small film companies tried to sell him such films on a daily basis, especially now that it was the holiday period. Since small production studios lacked a distribution channel, they would constantly seek him out.

Carter knew that such films had little to no commercial value, let alone a low-budget comedy directed by an eighteen-year-old; it would simply be a waste of time.

“Eric, you know, I’m very busy with work right now, and I have to go back to the headquarters this afternoon to handle the distribution of 17 Again. I’m sorry.”

Eric was really unwilling and cheekily continued to insist before Carter Hunt finally lost his patience and found an excuse to leave.

“Eric, how did it go?” Penny Marshall asked once he returned.

Eric shook his head as he wryly smiled and Penny patted his shoulder before comforting him, “Don’t be discouraged, Eric. You know, the cost of distributing a film is sometimes even higher than the cost of producing it, and if the film doesn’t earn a good box office, the one to shoulder the responsibility would be the Head of Distribution, so you see, Carter has his own difficulties. I understand that you made that movie with your own money, so after the release of 17 Again, while the hype is still ongoing, I can help you get back some of your money by having your movie released direct-to-VHS. But after that, I think you should focus more on acting and writing; you shouldn’t let your talent go to waste.”

“Thank you, Penny,” Eric replied gratefully, but his heart was slightly bitter. Everyone seemed to regard Home Alone as the experimental film of a rookie, while he just wished he could tie all the people present to their seats and forcefully make them watch it. Unfortunately, such a thing was impossible.

He dejectedly went home and decided that since Fox had no interest in his film, he could only try other studios.

***

Jennifer was curled up like a cat on the living room sofa, watching a BBC soap opera. When Eric opened the door, she propped her small head up and asked, “Eric, how was it ?”

Eric came to her side and hugged her. Rubbing her back, he said, “Fox rejected it, but it’s okay, I’ll try somewhere else.”

Jennifer realized that Eric’s tone was slightly disheartened, so she clung to his waist and lifted her head as she softly said, “You know what Eric? Home Alone is so good. After it is released, they will definitely regret their decision today.”

“Baby, you always know the right words,” Eric said as he lovingly squeezed her face.

Soon, they began kissing, but were interrupted by the ringing of the phone. Eric who had been about to push Jennifer down reluctantly let go of her as he answered the phone.

“Hey, you’ve reached the Williams’ residence.”

“……”

“Oh hey Jeffrey, what’s up?”

“……”

Eric listened to the voice on the phone when suddenly his eyebrows perked up. Jennifer knew that this always happened when her boyfriend was happy, so she curiously looked at him but she couldn’t hear anything.

Eric nodded a few times, hung up the phone, then took Jennifer in his arms as he swirled around with her.

“Ugh, Eric, I’m getting dizzy, put me down and quickly tell me, what’s the good news?”

Eric put Jennifer back on the sofa before saying, “Jeffrey ran into a friend from Columbia Pictures this morning. He talked to her about Home Alone, and apparently his friend was so interested that she said that if I didn’t reach an agreement with Fox, I could come to her.”

“Columbia Pictures? Is that……” Jennifer asked as she made a Statue of Liberty pose.

“Yep, that one.” Eric nodded.

***

“Amy was a good friend of my late wife. She’s only in her early thirties and already an executive at Columbia; she helped my wife distribute two of her films in the past. I met her yesterday, and when I mentioned you, she seemed to already know who you were, so I told her about Home Alone.” In a cafe, Jeffrey Hanson explained everything to Eric.

Sitting opposite him, Eric curiously asked, “You said Amy? The friend you talked about is a woman?”

“Yes.”

Eric felt that this was too much of a coincidence, and she even worked at Columbia Pictures, so he couldn’t help but ask, “That Amy, what’s her full name?”

“Amy Pascal.”

Sure enough, it was her. Historically, the female film executive who shined throughout the ‘90s was the CEO of Paramount Pictures, Sherry Lansing. Her presence as “Hollywood’s Matriarch” was nothing to laugh at, but if one looked at achievements, Amy Pascal was no less than her. In fact, she had ran Columbia Pictures for an even longer period of time.

Eric and Jeffrey were still chatting when Amy Pascal entered the cafe in a hurry, slightly tardy. About 5’8” in height, donning a dark suit with brown hair and delicate features, she gave a good vibe overall.

After a brief introduction, the three of them sat down together.