King of Hollywood-Chapter 601 - 9: Is There Competition?

Adrian shook his head at Little Emma after looking at the shallow imprint kicked into his pants, "That’s not something a lady should do, dear."

"I don’t care about being a lady," Little Emma still held her chin up high, "I am very unhappy, Ed—very, very unhappy."

"You’re dead meat, Ed," Small Emma chimed in from behind, sticking her head out and adding mockingly with a schadenfreude tone.

"Okay, I apologize for not being there for the New Year, it was my fault, but it’s the first time, that can be forgiven, right?" Adrian immediately lowered his stance.

"Is that all?" Little Emma was still visibly annoyed.

Adrian scratched his head, "Alright, maybe you should give me a hint?"

"Humph! What about New Year’s greetings? New Year’s gift?" Little Emma demanded with puffed cheeks, "Even if you couldn’t come to London, you wouldn’t forget these two, right?"

"Of course not," Adrian quickly responded, "but I’ve always greeted you in person, and handed you the gifts in person. You can say I didn’t see you immediately upon arriving in London, but you can’t say I forgot, that would make me very sad."

Little Emma finally nodded after stroking her chin, "Okay, you pass."

With that, she crooked her finger at him. Adrian sighed with a smile then leaned down, and Little Emma, with her hands behind her back, stood on her tiptoes and gently kissed his cheek.

"Are you letting him off just like that?" Small Emma said somewhat disappointedly from behind.

"You need to remember, Rose, when dealing with men, don’t corner them too tightly, leave some space, give them some room to maneuver, then they’ll obediently follow your arrangement," Little Emma said deliberately and proudly, with a mischievously triumphant face, which made Adrian want to cover his head and pretend he didn’t know her.

"Hey, Emma, who taught you all that?" he asked, looking at her with some annoyance. "Remember, you’re not even ten years old yet; these aren’t things you should be saying."

"What’s the big deal? I’m not just any kid," Little Emma waved her fist, "I don’t need anyone to teach me, I just need to occasionally listen to the talk of Mr. Columbus, Aunt Rowling, or Mr. Coltrane, and then I understand."

With every name she mentioned, Adrian looked their way and the onlookers, who had been either playing or expressing their surprise at the side, quickly scattered to pretend to be busy with their own affairs.

"Regardless, from now on, you can’t talk like that again, even if you now understand what it means, it’s only a superficial understanding, okay?" he pressed on her head.

"But Ed, I think Charlotte is right," Small Emma piped up at this moment.

"Emma, if you talk like that again, I’m going to stuff you into a plane back to Los Angeles right away and then tell your aunt over the phone what you’ve been saying here," Adrian pointed and warned her with his finger raised.

Small Emma’s mouth turned down immediately, and after a light huff, she turned her head and ignored Adrian. Luckily, Columbus came over to announce the continuation of the shoot, which shifted everyone’s attention. After the scene was shot, Small Emma became lively again. Kids are like that, they get over things quickly, especially since she was abandoned at birth but still received quite a bit of affection from her aunt and Adrian; naturally, she wasn’t as precocious as Little Emma.

When they got back to talking with the two Emmas, the conversation mostly revolved around the filming of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone." To Adrian, the new young actors were a complete overhaul, and he knew less about them than Little Emma, who had been shooting with them for so long. The Adosi twins, who played the Weasley twins, loved causing trouble, Eric, who played Harry, was very shy, George, who played Ron, seemed dull but became clever in front of the camera, and Little Emma recounted these facts like a treasure trove.

Of course, she didn’t forget to mention her own laughable antics, such as moving a certain prop before shooting a scene, thereby ruining and being unable to restore its original state, which forced her to hide away with her tongue out.

"I have to admit, making movies is fun, and playing Hermione... it’s just so cool. When Ed used to read ’Harry Potter’ to put me to sleep, I could never have imagined a day like this," Little Emma said reflectively after finishing work for the day.

Adrian responded with a smile and affectionately patted her head. Unconsciously, the little one who couldn’t fall asleep without him by her side had grown so much, and his own daughter was about to turn five.

"Why can’t I play an important role, like... like Ginny Weasley or something? I was born in ’91 too," Small Emma complained.

Since "The Others," she had played roles in several movies, but always as insignificant supporting characters. Her role in "The Others" had the most screen time and was her most acclaimed performance to date. That role had significantly increased Small Emma’s interest in acting. She would often twist and turn, putting on an act for Julia or Adrian, or purposely stuffing a little pillow under her clothes and then running out screaming, "I’m pregnant!"

Adrian often encouraged her, but after "The Others," he had largely stepped back and let her develop in those simple roles.

"It’s because you’re not British, and Joe wanted a British girl for that role," Adrian explained with a laugh, patting her head.

"That’s discrimination, I want to protest," Small Emma also made a fist like Little Emma, but her protest was quickly suppressed.

"Protest denied, kiddo," Adrian grabbed her in his arms and playfully "roughhoused" with her.

Even after all the shouting and play-fighting, Small Emma stood with hands on her hips, glaring at Adrian: "I want a role as compensation, Ed."

"I fully support Rose’s legitimate request!" Little Emma chimed in from the side.

"Alright, alright, I’ll consider it," Adrian had to say.

"Really?" Small Emma widened her eyes, looking at him skeptically.

"Hey, do I need to deceive you?" Adrian pretended to be annoyed and then pinched her cheek hard, provoking another loud wail.

Agreeing was one thing, but to take action was not so easy. In memory, although Small Emma was quite famous, she hardly had any truly memorable roles. It’s not that her acting was terrible—Small Emma’s acting wasn’t particularly good but wasn’t bad either—the key issue was not having the right roles.

For those actors with great talent, all they need is an opportunity, but for those with only average talent, they need not only opportunities but also roles that fit their personal images. Truly gifted top-tier actors are rare, and most need refinement. Why was Adrian able to swing so many women off their feet? Beyond the power he wielded, the media’s answer was that he was always able to accurately discover the unique qualities of each woman and place them in suitable films.

Back to the subject at hand, it would take considerable time to find Small Emma a suitable role that would highlight her image since there was no memory to reference. Had she been a little younger, she could have fit the role of the little daughter in "Winter’s Bone," but unfortunately, the few girl roles he could recall were either for too young or too old an age range.

No rush. Adrian had enough time to reminisce. Although Small Emma liked to create mischief, she wasn’t the type of child that lacked moderation. This was just a minor inconvenience. The real headache was still to come.

With a click, the door of the room opened, and a small head peeked out and back into the gap in the door. After a long pause, with another swoosh, the head peeked out once more.

"Stop messing around, Emma," Adrian sighed, leaning against the headboard and tapping on the keyboard by the bedside lamp, "At this time, you should be..."

His voice trailed off as he watched Little Emma, dressed in spotted pajamas and clutching a small pillow, hop into the room, close the door, and lock it. Adrian covered his forehead with his hand, demonstrating helpless and frustrated eyes because it was clear what the little one intended to do.

"Alright, move over," the little one said directly, going to the side of the bed, placing the pillow on it, and then climbing up while also impatiently waving Adrian away.

Adrian couldn’t help but roll his eyes, "Emma, how many times have I told you that you can’t do this now."

"Oh, come on, Ed, it’s just sleeping together," Little Emma reached for his blanket, "Last year we still slept together."

"That was before April when you were only eight. That was already pushing it," Adrian put down his laptop, held the blanket firmly, and said in a stern voice, "You’re going to be ten soon. You’re a big girl now!"

Emma tried several times but couldn’t pull up the blanket, glaring at Ed in a sudden fit of anger, "Let go!"

"Don’t even think about it, go back to your room..."

"Let go!"

"I said don’t even..."

"If you don’t let go, I’m going to scream for help!"

Little Emma lifted her leg and placed it on the headboard, folding her arms and giving Adrian a fierce look, as if to say, "Be good, or else."

Adrian was speechless for a long moment; he knew all too well that this precocious yet mischievous kid always meant what she said. Moreover, tonight, there were quite a few people staying at his new house in London—since he had bought an apartment in New York, he naturally had to have one in London as well.

However, this was the first night there, so he had invited the "Harry Potter" crew over. The party ended quite late, and some people stayed over. If Little Emma really started shouting, it would be inevitable for someone to rush in to check, and even if she said afterward it was just a joke, her outfit would still inevitably provoke a series of unpredictable reactions.

"I’ve just realized that recommending you to play Hermione was a mistake, Emma. You should’ve been cast as the robber’s daughter; this attitude of yours perfectly embodies that role," Adrian finally managed to say.

Little Emma snorted with her nose in the air, withdrew her foot from the headboard, took a cup, and lay down with her back to Adrian, turning off her side of the bedside lamp.

"Goodnight," she said, bumping her little bottom against his leg.

Adrian shook his head helplessly and rolled his eyes. Any woman is difficult to deal with if they’re unreasonable, let alone a little girl? He wasn’t going to have a good night’s sleep tonight.

Luckily, Little Emma was considerate and didn’t pester him every day, which finally gave Adrian a bit of relief.

After staying in London for five or six days and taking care of things one by one, Adrian was ready to leave. However, at this point, he received another piece of news which wasn’t very good.

"Disney and Universal Music received acquisition invitations from us at the same time?" Adrian asked with some surprise.

"You heard right, it’s indeed Disney," came Claude’s still relaxed voice over the phone, "It’s indeed Disney that’s issued an acquisition invitation to Universal Music."

"How interesting, what does Disney want with Universal Music?" Adrian was still puzzled. "Music production has never been their main goal, and even if they need to adjust the entire group, it’s unlikely they’d start with music. Or maybe they’re just taking issue with us and want to give us trouble in this area?"

"Well, here’s another piece of news for you. The abnormal stock price fluctuations of Universal Music are likely due to a block from Time Warner," Claude added.

"Is that so? They really do have the leisure for this, still mired in the merger with AOL that’s been affected by the IT bubble. Yet they find time to engage in these activities. Perhaps Warner and Disney have teamed up? It seems Michael Eisner must really hate us," Adrian said jokingly. "What about Sony, I mean Sony Records?"

"There aren’t any obvious signs as of now, or perhaps they haven’t convinced the whole group yet, but I believe they’re surely preparing something," Claude said. "So, when you’re in Japan, you might want to probe a bit."

"Me, probe? You’re joking, aren’t you afraid I might inadvertently leak something?" Adrian half-jokingly retorted.

"Alright, that’s it. I need some rest, time zones differ, you know, and besides, it seems News Corporation has been up to something lately." There came a faint yawn and the sound of a woman speaking on the other end.

"Wait, I haven’t finished... this guy!" He was a bit annoyed as he hung up the phone, furrowing his brows slightly after a careful thought.

More than ten hours later, Adrian arrived in Tokyo for the second time after almost four years... Well, actually the third, since he didn’t go to London for the New Year because he visited his uncle in New York and then immediately headed to Tokyo, as Yukie had been invited to perform at Japan’s NHK Red and White Singing Contest. Despite spending four years in the United States, Yukie was still a green card-holding Japanese, and as the most popular and accomplished Japanese actress in America, even without much singing experience, it was quite normal for her to be invited as a guest performer at Japan’s highest standard singing event.

Adrian had wanted to accompany her, but since New Year’s was always about visiting the godfather or his uncle, he only went to Japan after the Millennium. Even so, Yukie was very happy, and he went out of his way to take her on a grand tour of Hokkaido. Although Ayumi Hamasaki, who was currently soaring to fame in Japan, ardently followed him around as soon as he reached Tokyo, the Hokkaido trip remained a private affair between Adrian and Yukie.

"Ed really plays favorites," Ayumi Hamasaki had pouted in front of Adrian and then showed herself off more passionately.

In just a few short years, Adrian’s status had risen several notches. Four years ago, AC Media was only a rookie in the media group league, but now it had surpassed many, including Sony, and not to mention being one of the shareholders of Avex.

More than a month later, Adrian came to Japan for the third time with a different purpose than the previous two visits. The prior visits were for vacations, but this time was for work-related matters—well, it could also be considered a vacation, much like in London, but that was after handling business.

The first order of business was to check on the production status of "The Matrix" animation series. The original "The Matrix" trilogy contained too much to fully explain the entire world and its cause and effect, so several distinctively different animated segments were created in collaboration with Japanese animation studios for supplementary explanations.

Although Adrian had the novel as a base for this version, he recalled those animations being excellent—so why not use them? Besides, with two movies lined up for production this year, though neither were big investments, plus the post-production of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy to oversee, it was estimated that the remaining two films of "The Matrix" could not start production. Therefore, it was essential to whet the audience’s appetite with animated films and alleviate their craving.

Of course, it would be done by the Japanese. AC Media might own two top-tier animation studios, but they were all based on 3D, and besides Disney, the Japanese were the most powerful in 2D animation. Disney was definitely out of the question for collaboration, and their current focus was not on animation anyway, so naturally, it was left to the Japanese. Besides, those animations were originally completed by Japanese animation studios from what he remembered.

The second matter was the commencement of shooting for "Ju-On: The Grudge 2." Although "Ju-On: The Grudge" had been released in North America at the beginning of the previous year and had broken through the 100 million box-office threshold after two months, garnering equally impressive international figures, the sequel had not yet been scheduled.

The reason was simple: first, they needed to wait for "Ju-On: The Grudge" to fully ferment, and second, Adrian had never been entirely satisfied with the script. Although "Ju-On 2" wasn’t as good as the first, it still held value for continuation. Unfortunately, an utterly American-style "Ju-On 3" ruined the franchise. Now in his hands, it was imperative to fully exploit its value. ƒreewebɳovel.com

The current script for "Ju-On 2" was a collaboration between Japanese and American screenwriters, with some of the main storylines roughly the same as the original—about an American foster mother who hears that her Japanese foster daughter has been confined to a mental hospital in Japan. She pleads with her biological daughter, who doesn’t have a great relationship with her sister, to go to Japan and bring her back, which triggers a series of terrifying events. Of course, the director would still be Takashi Shimizu. Even though he was a newcomer during the production of "Ju-On: The Grudge," he had already shown his capabilities along the way, so there was no reason not to continue directing, right? (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote with recommended tickets and monthly tickets at qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation.)

R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freew𝒆(b)novel.c(o)m Only