King of Hollywood

Chapter 395: Chapter 117 Ready to Go

“Don’t overthink it, it’s just a matter of a few days, Kubrick won’t delay too long.” Adrian wanted to say something more, but eventually just waved his hand. Of course, as always, a light slap sounded on Charlize’s perky behind. Charlize gave him a glance and swiftly walked out of the room, not looking back, amidst Adrian’s cheerful laughter.

In the following days, Adrian didn’t do much but took Emma around for sightseeing. The little one was thrilled about his return, and even learned a dance to perform in front of him, singing and dancing adorably. Besides that, Adrian made a special trip to Edinburgh to discuss the publishing issues with Rowling, who was wrapping up the second book of the Harry Potter series, “Chamber of Secrets.” Though “Philosopher’s Stone” wasn’t selling very well in the United Kingdom, it was doing quite well in the United States, even making it to the “New York Times” list of 100 best-selling books. Rowling had completely escaped her financial hardships and moved into the middle class.

“No need for this, Joe, it’s all what you deserve, isn’t it?” Facing Rowling’s repeated thanks, Adrian said and, after some thought, decided he would wait until “Chamber of Secrets” was published before discussing the movie adaptation. It seemed a bit early now.

On the fifth day after the visit, Kubrick’s eldest daughter, Anya, once again invited Adrian and Clarkson to the small manor. The old man, who had been bedridden and unable to speak or move, had finally agreed to it after much deliberation.

“In principle, father allows Mr. Adrian to take over, and he also allows Mr. Adrian to make adjustments as per his requirements, but, once the movie is completed, it must first be reviewed by father. If he is dissatisfied, the movie cannot be distributed through any channel.” In the bedroom of their last visit, Anya stated the conditions in front of her father, who was propped up in bed, and other family members.

“I think that’s fine, right, Pine?” Adrian looked at Clarkson, as Warner had left this matter entirely to him since he was the one Adrian had consulted initially.

“It should… be fine, I guess,” Clarkson sighed helplessly.

“I suddenly feel like I’ve made a big mistake. Are you so sure you can satisfy Stanley? He’s a picky guy. I’ve dealt with him more than once; sometimes he isn’t even satisfied with his own work, let alone… this unprecedented act of letting someone else take over his work.” Clarkson said grimly as they left the small manor.

If Adrian took over the production and Kubrick ended up dissatisfied, and if the box office was poor, they could still recoup some of the costs by distributing video tapes, but if it wasn’t distributed at all, it would be a total loss.

“Being 100% satisfied is definitely impossible, but I believe it won’t cross his bottom line,” Adrian confidently asserted, then burst into laughter seeing Clarkson’s distressed expression. “Come on, Pine, making movies is often no different from gambling; you don’t know how it ends until the last moment. You yourself admit, this time letting someone take over is unprecedented for Kubrick, so why not believe that I can create a miracle?”

“Indeed, you are the Miracle Director, so I hope a miracle really does happen in the end,” Clarkson sighed again and smiled in self-comfort.