King of Hollywood-Chapter 588 - 309 The Enviable Spider Man

"Thank you, Martin. Good job, that will be all. Please fax the materials to my secretary." Having ended his call with Martin Modimmer, Adrian leisurely looked out through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Although there was no sound, he could almost hear the pitter-patter of the raindrops hitting the ground. Rain was rare in Los Angeles due to the Pacific warm current; sometimes they would hear thunder roaring, but no rain would follow. The sight of light, continuous rain was especially rare, especially in winter.

However, Adrian’s mind was clearly not on the weather.

"Do today’s youngsters all play such intricate games?" he sighed softly, as the image of Leighton Meester, huddled and weeping before him a few days earlier, came back to his mind.

To be honest, her acting was quite good, and she had seized the opportunity well, having not sought his attention with her sobs the first time he passed by. Instead, she waited patiently for a long time, aiming to avoid giving the impression of being contrived. Plus, there were moments when her emotions were genuine, like when she spoke of her mother during parole, or the tears she shed after being rejected by Adrian.

If it had been someone else, he might have been hoodwinked, but unfortunately for her, Adrian’s insight was much keener than most. When she was huddled and weeping, there was a small yet telling glance outside that did not escape his eyes. Moreover, her surprise upon noticing someone at her side was a tad overdone, and Adrian also faintly caught a whiff of something stimulating when she cried.

Such an elaborate act clearly indicated that the girl was indeed in dire need of the role, and gaining Adrian’s favor would have been a bonus. No wonder, for a child raised in such a family, it would almost be impossible to lack cunning—according to Martin Modimmer’s investigation, this Leighton Meester was indeed the one Adrian remembered, and the story about her mother was true. She did need a role to solve an urgent problem, but God knows why she should have gone to New York but ended up in Los Angeles.

In the past, Adrian might not have concerned himself with such a manipulative young girl, but after that incident, his thoughts began to change. Since she liked to play these games, why not engage in an interesting one, especially since Martin Modimmer had also found another lead in Tashanna and Burbank—a much easier target to gather information on compared to Leighton. Indeed, having the plots of novels and dramas come to life in reality was definitely a pleasure.

Of course, this would take time and effort, gaining Leighton’s trust and eventually getting her into Burbank High School was no easy feat. But it was certainly not impossible; a few days earlier when he took her to re-audition, although he claimed he was merely giving her a chance, he had actually signaled the producer and discreetly informed Leighton of the audition topics. The look of surprise on the girl’s face was quite evident.

"What are you looking at, dear Ed?" A soft voice sounded from behind him, followed by a pair of hands reaching around to hug his waist.

"Of course I’m watching this rain. It’s a rare sight here in Los Angeles," Adrian replied, taking her hands and turning his head to grin at her, then he winked meaningfully, "And it easily stirs up one’s impulses."

There were many cunning girls, but only one was daring and explicit over the years. Adrian slightly turned his body and pinched Kirsten’s cheek tenderly.

"Spider Man is premiering in two days— are you ready, Qiqi?" he asked with a smile.

Thanksgiving was approaching, and the highly anticipated "Spider Man" was set to premiere at this time. The film had been promoted since its inception. The release of "Blade" in the interim had brought Marvel superheroes to the big screen and caught the public’s eye. Moreover, the media had not had any previews, leaving everyone’s appetite whetted. It was certain that the premiere would be a bustling affair.

"I’ve been ready for a while, but why are we talking about this now?" Kirsten giggled, her hand already undoing his fly while the other slipped inside.

"Hey, my little fairy, wasn’t the swing outside satisfying enough?" Adrian inhaled deeply and did not resist her motion.

The arrival of Thanksgiving dramatically increased turkey sales, as families prepared to spend a pleasant and happy holiday. However, for some people, all holidays brought a period of exasperation. For example, before and just after Lily’s birth, Adrian could ignore the holidays or use the excuse of being with the child, but with two more daughters, it wouldn’t be fair to be inconsistent.

So after much thought, Adrian invited Kate, Monica, and Sophie to his largest mansion, including the three little ones. Despite the slightly awkward atmosphere on that day, with Charlize and Yukie present and Mrs. Galen lending a hand—though the old housekeeper was very displeased with his unwed fatherhood to three children, by three different mothers—their presence ensured that the scenario he dreaded did not materialize.

Thinking about it, Sophie’s overreacting due to Lily that day was mainly because it was her first time as a mother. Had it not been for Adrian’s intervention, she should have had her first child, a son, back in ’95. First-time mothers can be a bit neurotic, and later on, she did apologize to both Adrian and Lily.

That small episode passed quickly, and the day after Thanksgiving "Spider Man" finally premiered on 3,500 screens across North America. There’s no need to describe the grandeur of the premiere, attended by executives from several film companies under AC Media, Marvel’s executives, as well as big-name directors like Spielberg, Cameron, and Fincher, and star actors like Willis, Schwarzenegger, and Cage. There’s no need to detail the screening process either, even though the applause was continuous and Sam Remy’s control of the story was quite apt. One fact is enough to show how popular the movie was—over the weekend, it took in $104 million at the North American box office!

No one was shocked when this data came out; it was the first movie ever to break a billion at the box office in three days! "Spider-Man" accomplished what even "Jurassic Park" and "Star Wars Prequel" had not! It’s no wonder, considering that Spider-Man is the most popular superhero in Marvel Comics. Even Cameron was once obsessed with it, which gives you an idea of how many people love it. However, when Adrian got this data, he sighed, knowing that "Spider-Man" had already set many records in his past life, so he had collected detailed information; the first "Spider-Man" movie had a weekend box office of 110 million in just three days!

In fact, it was already quite impressive. The first "Spider-Man" movie was made in 2002, and before that, "Blade" and "X-Men" had already built up a huge fan base for Marvel’s superheroes—especially "X-Men," which played a significant role in fully showcasing the charm of Marvel Comics. Now, with only "Blade" paving the way, a North American box office of over a billion in three days was already quite remarkable. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

The media was full of praise, too. Clark from "USA Today" couldn’t say enough about Maguire’s performance, claiming it was almost on par with Christopher’s portrayal of Superman in 1978. Eric from the "Houston Chronicle", who had originally thought him unsuitable, admitted that within a few seconds of the opening scene, he changed his mind, "It’s hard to imagine anyone else more fit for the role."

Of course, not everyone was focused on the lead actor. Kirk from "Hollywood Report" thought the movie’s effects were astonishing, almost surpassing the limits of human imagination. Pine from "Empire" praised Kirsten for becoming a beautiful young woman, no longer precocious as seen in "Interview with the Vampire," but now pure and sexy, a perfect match for the role of Mary Jane.

There were critics as well. "Los Angeles Weekly" believed that Spider-Man was entirely unsuited for a live-action movie because it seemed neither interesting nor lively. A reviewer on IMDb said that while the movie was thrilling, the Green Goblin’s outfit was just too terrible: to kill Spider-Man, all he needed to do was show up, and Spider-Man would die laughing.

However, none of these criticisms could stop "Spider-Man" from sweeping across America, so after the first week’s box office numbers came out, Adrian threw a celebratory party at the Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills and invited quite a few people.

"What a lively night," Adrian said to himself as he finally broke free from some persistent guests and relaxed in a corner.

With "Spider-Man" becoming a huge hit, major movie studios began setting their sights on Marvel Comics. If the success of "Blade" had shown them Marvel’s potential, the surge brought on by "Spider-Man" laid bare Marvel’s value for all to see—a gold mine just starting to be tapped!

Unfortunately, while the gold mine looked dazzling, getting a share was no easy feat. Everyone knew that AC Media had acquired Marvel, and they quickly reclaimed various rights. Getting the rights to Marvel’s superheroes from AC Media would probably not be an easy task. Universal was the happiest as a subsidiary of the same conglomerate, it would have a much easier time adapting Marvel’s superheroes compared to other studios. The most frustrated was Sony-Columbia, which regretted its decision to sell back the rights to Spider-Man, realizing that even a lack of creative control during production could have yielded substantial profit, not to mention a potential larger settlement in any legal battle with AC Media.

Thus, executives from several major movie studios had all come to the party, hoping to latch on to some opportunities, but Adrian remained noncommittal. He didn’t mind sharing some things with other studios, but everything had to be done with proper rules, and now was not the time to discuss such matters. The Millennium was just around the corner, and all the big studios were busy competing for the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year’s movie season, so it might as well wait until next year—besides, he had some plans for Marvel of his own.

After resting for a bit, he spotted two interesting figures and took the opportunity to walk over, undisturbed: "Hey, two beautiful ladies, are you discussing something interesting?"

"Hi, Ed," Jessica Alba and Alexander Ambrosio turned their heads in unison to greet him.

Perhaps because of their complexions, although one was an actor and the other a model, they chatted happily together. Both Jessica and Alexander had become even more attractive, especially Alexander, who, after signing with Victoria’s Secret, had received a lot of grooming and was steadily rising—naturally the most appealing time for a woman. And Jessica, she had continued to use the makeup techniques Adrian taught her in New Zealand. As her facial features gradually matured and began to exude their charm, the right makeup approach took her to the next level.

It seemed that she had not yet been plucked by anyone, probably time to make a move. Adrian thought to himself.

"Eller told me a lot of stories about models, and I never realized modeling could be so tough," Jessica chattered away. "There was a time when I thought about modeling too. In fact, when America’s Next Top Model was on, I even considered joining, but I never signed up. I guess, compared to that, I prefer acting."

"It’s good you didn’t choose modeling, Jessie, even though you’d indeed make a great model," Alexander laughed in response. "I saw Dark Angel, and though I’m not a big fan of sci-fi TV shows, your performance really stood out. Honestly, after hearing you describe it just now, I can’t wait to see this movie."

She was much more mature than Jessica, her compliments delivered with just the right touch, a smile lurking on her lips, her gaze flickering between Adrian and Jessica, wondering whether she was trying to guess the nature of their relationship or Adrian’s intentions.

"Oh? Is it ’Save the Last Dance’?" Adrian asked nonchalantly, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I really loved that movie, especially the dance scenes in it," Jessica’s eyes immediately lit up, and she went on and on.

Adrian, who was paying attention to her, was well aware of the film’s shooting progress, but he didn’t show any sign of impatience and listened quietly. Since the plot had significantly changed and closely resembled ’Save the Last Dance,’ they simply took that name for the movie, and the plot was also adjusted to fit ’Save the Last Dance,’ which was very suitable for Jessica—no wonder she was so excited.

The original ’Honey’ would have been suitable for Jessica too, but firstly, the plot conflicts were insufficient, and the setup was just too poor; secondly, there were already many movies of a similar type around that time. Although the choreography was quite good—choreography is crucial in dance movies—the overall quality just wasn’t enough, and naturally, it disappeared without a trace like a small stone dropped into a pond.

What frustrated Jessica slightly was that most of the difficult moves were performed by a stunt double. This was only natural; no actor could perfect high-level dance movements in just a few months, especially ballet, even if she had some dance background as a child. Otherwise, wouldn’t all those professional dancers who have been training since childhood be out of work? The old saying "use it or lose it" is not without reason. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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