King of Hollywood-Chapter 600 - 8 Something Strange

With the unprecedented success of "Spider-Man" becoming the first movie to break $100 million in its opening week and raking in $400 million in North America in just two months, Marvel Comics immediately became too hot to handle. Numerous movie studios cast their eyes upon it like it was a gold mine, while more companies beat their chests and stomped their feet in regret for giving up their adaptation rights in a series of rights-reclamation actions after Marvel was acquired by AC Media, with Sony being one of them.

Even so, they still hoped to get a piece of the pie from Marvel. It was not an impossible task, after all, Marvel was not like DC. DC had been bought by Warner back in the ’70s and, with various other factors at play, had exclusive control over the Superman and Batman series. But Marvel always liked to recklessly sell their characters; it was common for a superhero to be bought by several companies. Although AC Media started trying to reclaim these rights after acquiring Marvel and achieved very good results, there was bound to be some intricate relationships left behind. Arguing over them was a troublesome affair; it couldn’t benefit oneself but could harm others.

Adrian knew this and didn’t mind sharing with others, but first, they had to show sincerity. Without a satisfactory price, don’t even think about getting characters from AC Media. All things considered, the only companies that could truly get involved in nearly hundred-million-dollar investments were a few long-established film companies. Among them, Warner Brothers had DC—so don’t even think about it; Disney’s approach and positioning were different from Marvel’s, so they could be ruled out; MGM had its own troubles and better stick to their James Bond trademark.

Therefore, after much consideration, only Paramount, Sony-Columbia, Fox, and Universal under their umbrella were vying for a deal. How could you not negotiate the terms properly? That was exactly why, in January, Adrian let it be known that they were preparing for "X-Men" as a collaboration with other film companies. However, despite the internal excitement within Marvel due to the success of "Spider-Man," there were doubts about Adrian’s proposal to turn "X-Men" into a massive franchise. Hence, today’s meeting—of course, they just hoped that the Miracle Director would explain the entire plan in detail.

"We all know that the power system of Marvel’s superheroes is very chaotic. In fact, all superhero comics with a series are like this, which is why parallel universes exist. In different universes, different stories unfold. DC has worlds where Superman and Batman have become villains, and worlds where Luthor and Joker represent justice and fight against them. Marvel, too, has a world where Dr. X dies early, and Magneto inherits his will to create the Mutant School. These parallel universes are something you all recognize." After mentioning "The Avengers," Adrian immediately continued talking about "X-Men." Although marvel reverently listened, their curiosity was piqued.

"Despite advancing technology, where realistic CG animation can bring many previously unimaginable scenes to the big screen, there are still many things that can only exist in comics, unless there is unlimited investment. However, there’s a peak for all movie profits. The miracle of ’Titanic’ can only happen once or twice, so it’s very necessary to set up a version of the X-Men and the entire Marvel Comics superheroes that fit the movie medium. For example, Dr. X and Magneto are friends divided by ideals, taking different paths. In comics, we have plenty of space to describe their conflicts and emotions, but movies only have two to three hours, so amplifying the dramatic conflict is very necessary. Like the reason Dr. X is paralyzed is because he was injured by Magneto when trying to stop him from retaliating against someone who wanted to kill him." Adrian kept talking at length.

Indeed, this final concept came from "X-Men: First Class"; in fact, his basic pitch was built on "X-Men: First Class." As for the movie, "X-Men: First Class" is fairly self-consistent and also highlights the relationship between Dr. X and Magneto—how should we put it—in previous life online reviews, this was... a love-hate relationship... Okay, that’s nonsense, but it undoubtedly leaves a memorable impression in terms of dramatic tension.

Regardless, Adrian always insisted on one point: a good movie must have a good story, which is why he proposed a trilogy based on "X-Men: First Class." Of course, the outline was very rough; people like Stan Lee and Bob Harris knew how to build Marvel’s universe.

"The entire ’X-Men’ can’t keep being filmed forever; the increasingly high budget would overwhelm us. So first we need to set up a complete universe that is suitable for film production, and then create a trilogy on this foundation—I’ll involve film screenwriters—three stories that are both independent and interconnected, ending with a clear conclusion. Then, the most popular characters need to have their relatively complete stories. After the trilogy, we can still make related stories for these characters separately. In short, I can fully cooperate with other film companies to turn ’X-Men’ into a series, as long as the overall image rights are in our hands," Adrian stated.

In essence, it was still his old method, like when he made "Resident Evil," "World of Warcraft," and "Tomb Raider," convincing game companies to flesh out every setting right from the start—even ones that might never get used. The already filmed and successfully box-officed "Resident Evil," as well as the soon-to-be-produced "Tomb Raider," both followed this model.

Undoubtedly, Adrian’s proposal received support from the Marvel side. Since it was the Miracle Director who said it, there surely wouldn’t be any problems.

"I like your concept, Ed, it’s pretty good," Stan Lee said to Adrian after the meeting ended; of course, he wasn’t just looking to greet him, he was also carrying out the task others had entrusted to him.

"By the way, you mentioned ’Avengers’ before, didn’t you?" he immediately asked.

"Did I say that?" Adrian asked in surprise and then burst into laughter after he saw the old man choke up.

"Don’t worry, Stan, let’s focus on doing the ’X-Men’ series well first. Even ’Spider Man’ hasn’t completely solidified Marvel’s position. But you really can start planning for ’Avengers’. We have plenty of time to prepare, and I believe a carefully crafted ’Avengers’ will be very popular," he said in conclusion.

Adrian never revealed his own thoughts about ’Avengers’, so the higher-ups at Marvel had to study it themselves, but it was an exciting prospect. Imagine, bringing all of Marvel’s superheroes together on the big screen at the same time—it would definitely crush those DC guys.

However, even so, if they were going to make it, it would be a long time from now. Despite ’Avengers’ being so popular in Adrian’s memory, without nearly a decade of promoting Marvel Comics, it would have been impossible. The Marvel executives should see this, so there was no need to worry about them becoming reckless, although there might be some changes in the members of ’Avengers’, since, after all, Marvel held the rights to all the superheroes.

After communicating with Marvel executives about the ’X-Men’, although some things were still undecided, such as which film company to partner with and potential suitable actors, Adrian immediately set off for London. Other film companies would come knocking on their own—the initiative was in the hands of AC Media. As for the actors, the complete script hadn’t come out yet. Besides, Adrian already had several in mind.

There were quite a few tasks in London, such as the ongoing filming of ’Sense and Sensibility’. Director Simon Langton was British, and maybe not as delicate as Ang Lee, but he had experience in directing films adapted from Jane Oscar’s novels, and the reputation was still not bad, so there was no need to worry that he would handle it terribly, especially with Adrian around.

Of course, Blanchett and Gwyneth also gave him a surprise. The poor Eleanor and Marianne sisters, after being kicked out of the estate with nowhere to go, were targeted by the villainous American businessman Adrian, who schemed against them and ultimately tricked them into falling into his hands to suffer... humiliation?

"This is indeed a surprise, a wonderful surprise," said Adrian, contentedly lying in bed with Blanchett and Gwyneth on either side of him after the passion.

But it didn’t matter, Liv couldn’t run away, having Gwyneth and Blanchett by his side wasn’t too bad either. The only regret was that Blanchett’s belly still showed no signs of movement. Adrian couldn’t figure this out—did he really have to wait until December to conceive? Well, that was okay too. As long as he persisted, success was certain, and even if it had to be until December, it was just a matter of time. The only thing was, a repeat of the ’two birds with one stone’ incident must absolutely not happen again.

Apart from visiting the "Sense and Sensibility" set, Adrian had other business in London while also keeping an eye on the situation in Los Angeles. That’s when he received some not-so-good news.

"Universal Music’s stock price is fluctuating abnormally," Claude told him over the phone.

"What do you mean by ’abnormally’?" Adrian asked, a bit puzzled, "Are you suggesting someone is targeting us?"

"I can’t be certain. It might just be a coincidence. Anything can happen in the financial market," Claude sighed.

"So what’s your plan?" Adrian inquired.

"Of course, to invite further investment. We’re already prepared and have been in talks with several small shareholders of Universal Music. Starting a bit earlier won’t affect much," Claude sounded very relaxed.

"Alright, just be careful. I am absolutely determined to get Universal Music," Adrian added one final remark.

The matter indeed sounded a bit strange, but as Claude had said, anything could happen in the financial market; it was best left to the professionals. Therefore, Adrian put it out of his mind and went to another woman’s home.

"You should have read the script for ’The Mummy 2.’ It’s no less than the first one, so you can focus most of your energy on it this year. Additionally, for the second half of the year, I’ve prepared a substantial role for you, adapted from a British novel published in ’96, though you might need to put on some weight," Adrian said, legs crossed, sitting on a sofa in Rachel’s bright living room. freewёbnoνel.com

"Frankly speaking, Ed, it’s not an easy task. Since we started filming, we’ve been to at least a dozen locations to scout for scenes," Chris Columbus said somewhat complainingly to Adrian in a soundstage on the outskirts of London.

No wonder he was making such comments; the entire "Harry Potter" crew had searched the entire United Kingdom for places that matched the descriptions in the novels. Often, several real-life locations had to be combined to create just one from the novels, like Hogwarts which included Durham Cathedral, Bodleian Library of Oxford University, Alnwick Castle, and more.

Moreover, these were either ancient buildings or busy places, not somewhere one could just show up and start shooting. Plus, despite amendments to the Child Labor Law, the child actors still couldn’t work as persistently as the adults. With the story being so long, even with a script approved by Rowling, the director had to make decisions about what to keep or cut, and those decisions had to get Rowling’s agreement, so the progress was slow, likely not to be completed until after the summer vacation.

"Don’t listen to him, Ed. Chris gets incredibly excited once he starts directing," Rowling interjected at this point, and Columbus immediately broke into laughter.

After last year’s "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was released during the summer, the entire series truly took the world by storm. Columbus was naturally overjoyed to be directing the first movie of such a series.

"I know full well, but let him vent. Once he’s let off some steam, he can better focus his energies on directing," Adrian chuckled and patted Columbus on the shoulder.

He truly was a dedicated director; he’d even moved his household to London for this movie, and his children had cameos in the film as Hogwarts students.

"That’s great. From now on, I will vent all my frustrations to you," Columbus said right away.

"No problem, as long as I’m here," Adrian chuckled and then turned to Rowling, "How about it, Jo? Plenty of people can hardly wait for the fourth book."

"Don’t worry, Ed, I’ll deliver the manuscript on time," Rowling said with a smile, "I estimate it will be the longest in the series and perhaps the most thrilling."

With the series’ bestseller status, she’d already shed her original appearance, glowing with a rejuvenated youth and vitality, looking considerably better.

"That’s wonderful, so I look forward to the day of the final draft delivery." Although he knew the general story—the series hadn’t changed much because of his intervention—Adrian still said this, as from an overall perspective, "Goblet of Fire" was indeed enthralling.

Just as he was about to say something else, his shin suddenly hurt. Turning around, there stood Little Emma in full Hogwarts uniform, her arms crossed, wearing a fluffy wig, standing tall and proud, the spitting image of Hermione straight out of the book, while Small Emma stood behind her, covering her mouth with one hand and giggling secretly. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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