King of Hollywood-Chapter 586 - 307 Because You Are Our Daughter

The opening scene featured the protagonist waking from a coma in the sewers. Then came the time-tested trope of the movie—amnesia. Having forgotten who he was and what he had to do, the male lead had no choice but to start figuring out how to regain his memory, and the story unfolded from there. After some exposition, as the camera pulled back, any game enthusiast present would have been compelled to shout out, because the male lead’s attire was nearly identical to those special forces soldiers vying for the G-virus in "Resident Evil 2."

Next came the natural progression of emerging from the sewers, encountering zombies, and fighting them. After skillfully dispatching these creatures in a reflexive response, the male lead’s further attempts at recollection failed, until he ran into two game protagonists exhausted from evading the encircling zombies, Lyon and Claire, not far from where he had emerged near the police station.

During introductions, the male lead finally recalled his name: "Hank. My name is Hank."

Although the name of the fourth survivor was never disclosed in the game, truly dedicated and passionate players could definitely find clues, like the significantly different large caliber handgun among the character’s gear. Once they noticed this detail, it triggered a chain reaction, further propelling other game fans to support the movie.

Hank didn’t spend long with Lyon and Claire. After getting some intel about the city from them, which also gave viewers not interested in the game a preliminary understanding of the setting, they were separated during an accident. However, the conflict did not end there. Soon enough, he encountered several more groups, another survivor from the Umbrella Recovery Team, the US Army soldiers called in to clear the obstacles, Umbrella’s mercenary Carlos, and... Jill Valentine, the female protagonist from the first game and a member of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team.

Of course, they didn’t all meet at once. First, the Recovery Team was in a standoff with the US Army soldiers, and Hank burst in. Then the other two survivors asked him if he had obtained the item, and with his memory gone, Hank naturally couldn’t remember anything, followed by Jill and the mercenaries on the run crashing in, leading to a chaotic battle—of course, their pursuers didn’t show up; instead, there were hordes of zombies and hunters.

Faced with this situation, the group was forced to cooperate. After the melee, the African American soldier paid with his life—standing on the side of righteousness, it was certain that a black person willing to sacrifice for others would appear, as this was political correctness—earning them time to escape. Afterwards, Hank, having learned of Umbrella’s deeds from Jill, showed a conscious alienation from the Recovery Team members, but his instincts still drew him close. However, as soon as this sentiment showed, without any hesitation, the Recovery Team’s members opened fire, completely burning bridges.

Following another frantic escape, Hank and Jill also parted ways, but the Recovery Team kept a tight grip on him until he encountered the short-dressed red-clad Ada Wong. Compared to the relatively low-key entry of the other three game characters, Ada Wong’s appearance was much more stunning. Not to mention her seamless teamwork with Hank in taking down the Recovery Team’s survivors, her conflict with Hank, though brief before he overpowered her, attracted attention with her agile movements.

Especially the slow-motion shot where a backflip kick knocked the weapon from Hank’s hand, along with the specially designed moves made her seem ethereal and dynamic. In recent years, kung fu had also been getting quite a lot of attention in Hollywood, and it was believed many viewers would cheer inwardly.

However, watching this, Adrian sighed inwardly. There was no doubt that this scene was from the "Resident Evil 4" CG in memory, pity that Lin Zhiling wasn’t wearing a cheongsam in the footage, or else it would have been even more enticing.

Of course, this thought merely flickered through his mind before disappearing. The idea of wearing a cheongsam for escape in the midst of Raccoon City’s environment was undoubtedly foolish; even an exaggerated story had to maintain basic logic. He had thought about adding a cheongsam outfit for Ada Wong in the game, but unfortunately, although the graphics processing of "Resident Evil 2" was quite good, it couldn’t compare with what came years later.

It didn’t matter. Adrian glanced casually at Lin Zhiling sitting gracefully beside him. His hand was reaching through the slit of her cheongsam, gently caressing her elastic thighs. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

The movie on the big screen had already begun entering its second half. Hank might have lost his memory, but his long-term training instincts were not something a rookie like Lyon could match. So he quickly sensed something off about Ada Wong. But at that moment, he ran into Lyon again, along with Claire and a little girl they were escorting. Since Lyon seemed quite familiar with Ada Wong, Hank didn’t say much.

They immediately discussed how to escape from this damned place and formulated a plan. However, Hank was destined to go it alone. Ada Wong appeared to sense something, and she also noticed something about the little girl, Sherry, that Claire was escorting. After creating an accident, the five were split into three groups and had to make promises to each other before setting off separately.

In the end, as Hank was fleeing, he ran into a man clad in a green coat from the game, a bio-weapon created by the Umbrella Company using the T-virus. Despite Hank’s cunning efforts to contend, the continuous battles had depleted too much of his strength. In the end, he was overpowered and sent flying by a punch, crashing heavily onto the ground, with his head striking something hard.

Without a doubt, the male lead was about to erupt, using a term from his past life, it was "to go beast mode"—not surprising for a movie, they’re all like that. Hank, who had woken up and rolled away when the bio-weapon stomped down, although still agile after overcoming the initial sluggishness, was no longer plagued by the confusion that had always troubled him.

"SVN-II Modulator..." He stared intently at the bio-weapon and these words escaped from his mouth. Then, after a struggle, he leaped violently, delivering a fierce blow to its weak spot, and after a desperate fight, he finally took down the bio-weapon. He stood there in tattered clothes but exuding a killer aura that was particularly captivating on the big screen.

At that moment, the radio came to life—Lyon and the others had found a way to escape and hoped he would hurry over to meet up. Hank once again looked confused, but when the voice came through the radio, "Hank?" his eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Yes, I am Hank, Death God Hank," he responded with a cold, firm voice and then cut off the communication. After finding a computer to pull up the map and identify an escape route, he began to withdraw quickly, and with that, the movie came to an end. It was still the usual Hollywood blockbuster tactic, a relatively open ending, setting up for a sequel.

To be frank, the movie version of "Resident Evil" was above the standard for a commercial blockbuster—with a smooth plot, rich action, and satisfying sensory stimulation, the logic reached a minimum consistency. Plus, it was a complement and extension to the game plot, so the box office would definitely not be too bad—"The Ring," which had already been on for almost three weeks, was indeed inching close to the hundred-million-dollar mark in North America.

Some film critics also gave it decent reviews, while others criticized the film for not being friendly to non-gamers.

"We don’t understand what the point of characters like Lyon, Claire, and Ada is; their appearances and departures are so abrupt. Keep in mind, more people haven’t played the game than those who have," reported USA Today.

Indeed, this was a problem, but there was no better solution—after all, the content of the movie couldn’t mismatch the game. This is where the difficulty of adapting video games to movies lies; pleasing both general audiences and game fans is almost an impossible feat, which is why the movie version of "Resident Evil" in Adrian’s memory eventually bore no correlation to the game.

Even now that he had a reference, the adaptation was still not great—but nobody had done it better. Regardless, if you ignore those problems, the movie was still worth watching and might even draw some people to play the game. As for a sequel, there would be no consideration of it for a long time, even if the costs were recouped. Don’t worry, whether it’s the game or the movie version, he had people establish the basic worldview and storylines early on.

For example, the game version was built around the storyline of Albert Wesker, the most charismatic villain in his memory, while the movie was centered around Death God Hank. Many games or movie series end up riddled with plot holes, mainly due to the continual expansion of the story. This isn’t to blame them; after all, no one knows how popular a game or a movie will be until it’s released and building a complete worldview and main storyline in advance are both troublesome and a waste of time and energy; few studios are willing to do this. And what if a certain setting needs to be removed because it’s not popular, but it conflicts with the main setting? In the end, they still have to patch things up.

However, designing a worldview and main storyline from scratch is not easy, but modifying it based on a reference is easy. Therefore, not only "Resident Evil" but also "Tomb Raider," "Warcraft," "StarCraft," and "Diablo" had built relatively complete worldviews and main storylines under Adrian’s guidance.

As a result, the best response to the film was among game fans, whether it was the expansion of the Fourth Survivor’s storyline or the cameo appearances of Jill and others midway through, and according to the official website, it was likely the third generation’s storyline. They were very pleased and enthusiastically discussed it everywhere. However, the most debated was which live-action character suited the game image best, whether it was River’s Lyon, Sarah’s Claire, or Love’s Jill, gamers often vigorously argued for their favorite characters, except for one—Lin Zhiling’s Ada Wong; after all, Eastern faces all look similar to Westerners, right? Of course, the fact that Lin Zhiling’s short hairstyle indeed matched Ada’s appearance was also a reason.

Even among non-gamers, the film found considerable popularity, so the first-weekend box office took in $21 million, more than "The Ring." As long as there’s no drop next week or the drop is very small, there should be no problem with the box office. Essentially, Lin Zhiling’s debut was successful; she may not have gained a lot of popularity, but certainly not less, and the role of Ada also helped her get a good feel for action scenes and how to highlight a cold charm, which would help her with her next role to some extent.

The shooting date for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was already roughly set, starting right after Thanksgiving, with full support from the fully integrated Universal, preparation progressed very quickly. The mainland side had also already approved the application. Ang Lee’s selection of actors was nearly the same as before, after all, Anderson Zhou and Michelle Young were also considered outstanding actors at this stage, with some international recognition—although two years ago, Anderson Zhou’s "Anna and the King" had flopped spectacularly.

If there are no major changes, as long as Lin Zhiling works hard, her popularity will inevitably be much higher than it is now, not to mention her notoriety.

Of course, that was something for later. After the successful premiere of "Resident Evil," Adrian was finally able to relax completely, whether it was challenging visits to his women’s homes one by one or taking Lily to see her little sister.

"Wow, they’re so cute," Lily, held by her father, exclaimed in an exaggerated tone as she looked at the two little ones in the baby crib, almost shooting stars from her eyes. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

"Of course, everyone is adorable when they’re born, including you," Adrian said with a smile.

"They look so little..." Lily stuck out her tongue, her eyes wandering before she suddenly asked with a grin, "Then, when I was their size, was I cuter or were they cuter?"

"You were both very cute, my little troublemaker." Adrian unapologetically pinched her little nose, and although Lily pouted and hummed in protest, her attention quickly returned to the two little ones dancing around in the crib.

"Daddy, can I touch them?" Lily suddenly asked.

"Of course, but be gentle, newborns are very delicate," Adrian cautioned, then leaned down while holding Lily.

Lily chose Deva, the little one with eyes wide open, appearing very curious about the two people who were getting gradually closer. After a gentle touch with her fingertip, Lily withdrew her hand and marveled, "Wow, they’re so soft!"

Adrian laughed, just about to say something, when the little one below suddenly started crying without any warning, causing Juliet in the next crib to cry as well, and the loud wails scared Lily.

"I... I swear I didn’t press hard!" Lily exclaimed in a panic.

"Yes, I know, dear, it’s not your fault," Adrian said as he gently set down his daughter and picked up Deva from the crib.

"Marcia, could you check on Juliet? She probably needs a change too." After the nanny came at the sound, Adrian said this to her, then laid Deva on the nearby table, adeptly removing the soiled diaper.

Upon lifting Deva’s tiny legs, a lump of green poo appeared on the diaper, smearing her little bottom. Throwing the diaper into the trash can next to him, Adrian began to wipe the little one’s bottom with a moist baby wipe. Once the diaper was off, Deva’s crying subsided a lot, and even more so after the poo was cleaned up, until only whimpering remained.

After Adrian cleaned her up and put on a new diaper, he held and soothed her for a while, and Deva finally stopped whimpering and fell asleep in his arms. Lily, watching all this, was astonished, especially at the sight of the green poo; her eyes widened while her face also showed a bit of disgust.

"When I was that little... was I like this too?" Lily asked hesitantly and uncertainly.

"Of course, what’s there to say?" Adrian said with a laugh as he placed Deva back into the crib, "You were much more of a troublemaker than they are. You often cried and fussed at three or four in the morning, and I had to get out of bed to take care of you carefully. If I can change Deva’s diaper so quickly, it’s all thanks to you, Lily."

"I... I didn’t... couldn’t have been like that..." Lily said with an insecure look.

"Mr. Adrian is right, Miss Lily. Mr. Adrian’s proficiency in changing diapers for children is even better than mine," Marcia, who had finished changing Juliet, added with a laugh.

"I was... that bad?" Lily pouted, asking with a somewhat sad tone.

"That’s quite good, dear. You should know that you even peed on my face once," Adrian bent down and pinched his daughter’s cheek, "You did something your mother once wanted to but never managed to do."

"What?" Lily gaped and widened her eyes, then jumped up after a while, her little face turning bright red: "Liar! I would never do such a thing!"

"Is that so?" Adrian chuckled heinously, pulling out his wallet from his bosom, opening it in front of his daughter, the photograph he had taken then was always with him.

Blinking her eyes, Lily’s little face suddenly fell, and her mouth also turned downwards, looking as if she was about to cry. In the end, she stamped her foot with a tearful look and turned to run out.

Adrian chuckled, turned his head to glance at Marcia, who was soothing Juliet and about to say something, but Marcia immediately turned away, pretending she heard nothing. Being a nanny here, naturally, all had signed some contracts.

Following the corridor to the living room, before he entered, Lily’s wailing reached his ears: "Daddy is so hateful! So hateful!"

Chuckling, Adrian stepped into the kitchen. Lily, who had buried herself in Sophie’s arms, turned to look at him and immediately turned her head away, as if she didn’t want to acknowledge him.

"Ed, how could you say such things to a child?" Monica walked over and reprimanded him in a low voice.

Adrian smiled and waved his hand dismissively, crouched down in front of Lily: "Hey, dear."

Reluctantly, the little one loosened her hug from Aunt Sophie and turned her body around, but her head was turned away, not looking at her dad.

"Do you know why I tell you these things?" Adrian pinched his daughter’s cheek without remorse, "It’s simple because I want to tell you how much I love you, how much your mother and I love you. Do you know, the pain your mother went through giving birth to you is far higher than what I had to endure. There are ten levels of pain, and the pain of childbirth is at the highest. Can you imagine? But no matter what you’ve done, no matter how naughty or troublesome you are, we love you so much and are willing to give up everything for you, because—you are our daughter!" (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)

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