Chapter 706: Dead End

"Are you crazy? Do you hear yourself? You're completely out of your mind right now! Are you really going to court? Do you know how badly it's doing to your reputation? Look at Michael Jackson , even if he wins the *** case, those negative impressions can never be erased! What we should do now is to end this as soon as possible and stop it. You don't want to be like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, entangled with negative news! George, tell me, is Lance telling the truth? Did he write this script?"

Mark Johnson only felt that his whole body was about to explode. Looking at George Clooney who was sitting on the sofa, he wished he could strangle him by the neck and vent his anger, but he couldn’t, he had to calm down down.

Not only because George is now facing the biggest crisis in his career, once this stigma is tainted, he will bear it for a lifetime, especially because George is now seeking a breakthrough in directing. If he is not careful, George's acting career may be silent. Also because he knew they were dealing with Lance, the man who could never be underestimated. When Ben Affleck entered the "Sin City" crew, he underestimated Lance, which led to his dereliction of duty. , Now the company has transferred Ben and Matt Damon to another agent.

"If the lawsuit is won, there is no problem." George did not answer Mark's question directly, but insisted.

Mark only felt that his breath was blocked in his chest and he couldn't breathe. He put his hands on his waist and took two big breaths before calming down again, "So, Lance is lying?"

George could feel Mark's burning, determined eyes, staring at him unflinchingly. George stepped forward calmly, and repeated again, "Everything else is not important. As long as the lawsuit can be won, we can completely reverse the situation, right?"

"Grass!" Mark said calmly, and responded by hitting the wall, which made George choke, and then felt that Mark's eyes were locked on him motionlessly, and George let out a soft breath , avoiding Mark's sight, "What he said is true."

"Grass! Grass! Grass!" Mark became furious, turned around and kicked his desk fiercely, swearing one after another, wishing he could turn into a Hulk and tear down the entire office.

After all the emotions were vented, Mark rearranged his tie, finally regained his composure, turned around and looked at George again, "I don't care what kind of grievances there are between you and Lance, and I don't care How stupid you are to not see how ignorant your actions are." George opened his mouth to speak, but Mark raised his voice slightly, and pressed George down forcefully. Embarrassed, "I need you right now, go to the Copyright Office to re-register immediately, and add the name of 'Lancelot-Damn-Strello' to the list of screenwriters! Immediately!"

"Doesn't this mean that I admit the truth?" George's elegance and calmness began to lose control at this time, and he couldn't help sitting up straight, and said loudly to Mark, "Tell you, I am I will never admit it! I will not even die!" George gritted his teeth and looked at Mark, "Lance has no evidence, he has no evidence to prove it!"

"Damn God, did Lance reject your courtship at the beginning? Why can't you find your reason now?" Mark roared angrily, the veins on his neck began to burst, and he used every muscle in his body to express his At this moment, my heart is surging, "If Lance doesn't have any evidence? Will he go to court? You are not a fool, and Lance is not a lunatic. He is not fully sure. Will he go to court directly? If it is true It’s like this, isn’t Hollywood going to mess up?”

From time to time, someone in Hollywood will be involved in the issue of plagiarism and copyright infringement. But now it’s not the 1930s or 1940s. The copyright system is perfect now. Although the situation of ghostwriting by gunmen still exists, it is far less rampant than before. For real plagiarism and infringement, corresponding evidence must be provided, and things are no longer without rules and regulations.

"He has no evidence!" George still insisted, yelling with his neck stuck.

He didn't want to admit it, he refused to admit it, the target could be anyone, but it couldn't be Lance, who was abandoned by him back then. For a long time, George has shown enough wisdom and calmness in front of Ryan, Tucker, Jason, etc., as if he didn't care about Lance at all, but as proud as George, he never really accepted Lance's resurgence. fact. At the beginning, George made a calm judgment, chose Ryan and gave up Lance. This was a decision that condensed wisdom and strategy. Once he admitted Lance's success, it meant admitting his own failure. What's more, he admitted that he was far from being as good as he imagined.

George refused to admit it.

"If there is no evidence, what do you think Lance should do? He should call you, argue with you, and hope that you can stand up and tell the truth! He should come to Los Angeles in person, confront you head-on, look you in the eye, Expose your lies! He should seek reporters, seek paparazzi, and even seek Warner Bros. to expose your evil deeds! But in reality, how does he do it?" Mark did not give George any breathing time, and severely suppressed Seeing George's pride and self-confidence, he said one sentence after another, until he cornered George, "He went straight to the court! No one knows his plan until the court summons comes out! So, tell me , Does he have evidence!"

"No, it won't..." George shook his head subconsciously. He didn't even react, but stubbornly denied it. Then, George raised his head abruptly, "Then what if he didn't have any evidence and just tricked me into surrendering? After I admit my mistake, and then he comes to mock my mistake, what should I do?"

At this moment, Mark laughed back in anger, just shook his head lightly, and sighed, "George, you are not twenty years old!" George's cheeks were hot and cold, and he was very embarrassed.

They have to take risks. If they stick to the end and pin all their hopes on the lawsuit, then things will be very simple, or Lance has evidence, and then George's career will be ruined, and he may not even have a chance to turn around-because he made it clear that he knew he was wrong No change; or Lance has no evidence, and then George turned around and really stepped on Lance again, especially Lance's "slander" behavior, coupled with the blockade of Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, George You can use your own connections to make Lance fall into the abyss completely.

However, this kind of extreme behavior of either survival or death has never been the choice of truly smart people. If it is too strong, it is easy to break, and if it is too rigid, it is easy to break. Smart people will choose a safe way to end the matter with the smallest loss, control possible potential harm and benefits within the effective range, and everything is under control.

"You go to the copyright office now, put that damn name in it, and then put all the blame on me, on the producer, saying that we made a mistake when we registered the copyright, and didn't fill in Lance's name, Use this to quell the negative comments." Mark said earnestly.

In fact, those really smart people would not believe this way, it is plain nonsense, as George said, this is tantamount to admitting his plagiarism. But on the other hand, this method can fool those ignorant people, calm down the chaos as soon as possible, and minimize the damage. As long as time passes, the matter will disappear and people will soon forget about it, and only remember George- Clooney is a handsome, charismatic actor.

This is the correct public relations method, not leaving no scars, but minimizing the scars, and then smoothing them out slowly, instead of bandaging and plastering after a big cut.

"But..." George only felt that he was going to be out of breath, "But, people in the industry will not believe it, they all know that once I do this, it means that I admit the fact of plagiarism, and I still I have spent countless efforts to cover up the truth, and the image and connections I have worked so hard to build are ruined!"

Lost and ruined, if he really re-entered Lance's name on the list, it would not only be a humiliation to him, Lance, who he tried his best to suppress, finally achieved a fight back; more importantly, his fame and His reputation will completely collapse, how can he stand up straight in front of those producers, how can he talk and laugh in front of those screenwriters. This will deal a fatal blow to his status in the industry.

"I don't know if Lance is slopping your ass, you hate him so much. But, George, listen to me, you should know that fame in the circle is important, but the support of the audience is more important. As long as you You can overcome the difficulties and regain the support of the audience, even if those big film companies hate you, they will find you to film." Mark said earnestly, "Look at Lance, almost half of Hollywood hates you. He, but no one really rejects him, why? Because he can make money, because he is a fucking genius!"

George raised his head, the blankness in his eyes was struggling, but Mark felt that he hated iron, that George, who was usually the wisest and most intelligent, was stupid and stubborn, arrogant and arrogant like Ben. He let out a long breath, "George, Warner Brothers has announced that if the matter is not resolved within three days, they will take action."

Seeing the wind makes the rudder, throwing stones at the well, retribution is not good.