King of Hollywood

Chapter 436: Chapter 158 Ready

There was no suspense, Keira agreed, but her personality hadn’t changed much in two years—she was still arrogantly self-effacing. Moreover, there had been an agreement beforehand, so how could she possibly give up and admit defeat?

This was exactly what Adrian wanted to see, so even though there was a bit of regret, he didn’t take it too seriously. The role promised after passing the test was that of a body double for the handmaiden in the “Star Wars Prequel,” but due to an oversight, he forgot that Lucas had started shooting in ’96, turning it into a test question.

However, no problem—there would always be roles available, and besides, she also had a clever mother. Shawen indeed had an eye for things, as could be seen by her choosing “Shakespeare in Love” instead of “Elizabeth,” because “Elizabeth” was about concocting stories based on history. If there were significant divergences at key points, it was very likely the project would be scrapped and started over. On the other hand, “Shakespeare in Love” had a nearly completed script. She just needed to make revisions according to Adrian’s wishes.

Indeed, the “Shakespeare in Love” script had been essentially completed by Mark Norman in the mid-80s, and it almost went into production in ’91, intending to cast Julia in the female lead. However, Edward Zwick, the director, wasn’t satisfied with the original script and planned to invite Tom Stoppard for revisions, leading to conflicts with Mark Norman. Combined with issues from the investors, the project was unfortunately shelved.

Then, the script fell into the hands of Miramax, but it was put on ice due to a bleak outlook. Later on, AC Media acquired Miramax. Just like Bossworth, Adrian regularly checked the scripts they held, and New Line did the same, so eventually, the script ended up in his hands.

After coming full circle, it came back to him. To say this wasn’t fate was impossible, so Adrian happily accepted this gift and brought out “Elizabeth” in front of Gwyneth and Blanchett as well. As the boss, acquiring the rights to a shelved script was a simple matter. The Weinstein brothers quickly sorted it out—they were all too adept at securing full rights and then pushing out the original holders.

Sorting these things out only took a few days, and then Adrian was ready to return to Los Angeles. Emma was naturally unhappy about this, and it took Adrian a long while to appease her. He promised he would bring her to the United States as soon as she had summer vacation and wouldn’t return until the holiday ended. Only then did the little girl finally show a smile.

“This is what you promised; you can’t go back on your word.” At the time of departure, Emma pointed insistently at Adrian with her little finger, pouting her lips.

“Don’t worry, I swear to God.” Adrian had no choice but to keep reassuring her and then sighed inwardly—With this little troublemaker, the summer vacation was unlikely to be easy.

Although the filming of “The Matrix” was nearing its end, after Adrian returned, the completion date was delayed by a few days—relative to his usual speed, this movie was slower. Yuan Heping didn’t disappoint his expectations and directed the subway fight scene with intense tension, but the issue was that after all, he had directed too many Hong Kong films and this was his first time participating in a Hollywood movie production, so some elements were too “Hong Kongized.”

“It’s not that I don’t like it, Yuan, you have to know, this is an American movie,” Adrian said with a mix of laughter and tears.

Thankfully, this problem wasn’t too serious. After watching the video tapes, Adrian and his assistants discussed and reshot about a dozen shots. Then they just needed to be careful with the editing and special effects. Fortunately, the set hadn’t been dismantled yet, so it didn’t cause much delay. As long as the final scene where Neo and Trinity rescue Morpheus during the gunfight in the building was completed, “The Matrix” could wrap up.