Chapter 346: Chapter 70: Wrapping Up and Returning Chapter 346: Chapter 70: Wrapping Up and Returning “I’m so happy to see you again, Ed,” Rowling said warmly, although it was only their second eting and they had not spoken many tis. She had moved out of her previous, modest, even ager residence after receiving her first royalties; though her current house was still rented, it was spacious, bright, and fully furnished. No longer having to fret about what to have for dinner was a stark contrast from before, and she was naturally very grateful for Adrian’s help.
“This is what you deserve, Joe. I’ve said before, your novel has great potential.” Adrian responded nonchalantly to Rowling’s enthusiasm, knowing that even without his help, as long as Rowling continued to strive and persevere, success was still a possibility.
Talent and opportunity are equally important; indeed, a role might make an actor, but without acting skills, the only thing they will achieve is being a decorative vase. Thus, many actress vases, aspiring to advance further, desperately seek opportunities to display their skills and shed the decorative label, lest they be forgotten in a few years.
Similarly, if Bill Gates’s mother had not been on the board of directors at IBM, developing Microsoft would have taken at least twice the current ti; but if he himself had no talent, the Microsoft Empire would never have been established at all.
Even for Adrian himself, whether it was his past life or his current one, despite his nurous flaws, he was not devoid of talent—simply replicating movies without the ability to compose shots would only be empty talk—just because, for various reasons, he either had no place or opportunity to showcase it.
Thus, facing Rowling’s gratitude, he remained calm; it was neither the first nor the last win-win situation.
Yes, a win-win. Rowling had beco famous and wealthy, completely changing her life, and Adrian had further expanded his company through the “Harry Potter” series. This expansion was not rely financial; the value created by the “Harry Potter” series was more than just money, complenting AC dia in many aspects if managed well. Moreover, there were many intangible assets, such as Rowling’s legendary motivational story, which would certainly boost the publishing company’s reputation and influence drastically, and Adrian’s foresight would beco even more esteed.
Although Adrian was calm and composed, the little one who had clamored to co along kept chattering non-stop with Rowling, eager to know the rest of the story. Despite Rowling having read to her twice, she looked at Rowling with longing eyes, her pitiful appearance making her hard to refuse.
“Alright, once Joe finishes writing it, I’ll read it to you—if I let Joe read it to you now, I won’t read it to you again,” Adrian finally got Emma away from Rowling’s ho by a combination of coaxing and threatening.
As for the entire series’ second book, Adrian did not press Rowling too much but rely expressed his anticipation slightly. Rowling was quite content with her current life and could not imagine that in a few years, the novel would beco explosively popular. Hence, if Adrian were to speak frankly, it might impose too much pressure on her, potentially leading to adverse outcos. He listened while Rowling read the story to Emma, noting that the main plot hadn’t changed much.
After returning from Edinburgh, the filming of “Emma” was also nearing its conclusion. This film, which essentially required minimal special effects and grand scenes, was relatively simple to produce as long as the director captured the essence of English charm precisely.
English charm essentially ant vintage. Alright, this way of putting it might not be precisely correct, but a serious analysis would reveal it wasn’t wrong. Almost every film featuring English charm includes traditional attire, old architecture, and a fluctuating tone of speech—if the setting is modern, omit the first elent.
After all, compared to the United States, which is less than 300 years old, the United Kingdom has a long history with so accumulation and sedintation. If this feeling can be conveyed in the film, it becos a work filled with English charm.
If special effects and grand scenes test a director’s overarching vision, such a movie tests the director’s control over details. For instance, to evoke a sense of historical atmosphere, the color palette of the film usually appears subdued. How to maintain this feeling while conveying emotions through warm and cold hues is often crucial.
For other directors, managing this might indeed require careful handling, but for Adrian, it was a simple matter. He had reference images to guide him. Additionally, his knack for detail was robust; having analyzed ten films a day in his past life and honed his skills in Hollywood for several years. Though he might still lack in orchestrating grand scenes, his ability to handle details was certainly among the best, making the production process quite relaxing.
“Alright, this is the last scene, folks. Once we’re done, we can all rest completely. Let’s not delay everyone’s ti, okay?” Adrian said loudly from the director’s chair, then sighed softly.
It was just a few simple shots, but after shooting back and forth four or five tis, not a single take was successful. It was truly a demoralizing affair.
“Cut!” Adrian shouted again, and before he could speak, Gwyneth had already embarrassedly raised her hand.
“I’m sorry, sir, my fault,” she said, shrinking her neck and looking pitiful, so Jeremy Northam imdiately took on so of the responsibility like a gentleman. “ too, sir, I got too excited and forgot the steps.”
Seeing this, Adrian, who had prepared a bellyful of ridicule, couldn’t bring himself to speak and just glared at them for a mont before suddenly standing up, walking onto the set, snapping his fingers to cue the music, and then wrapping his arms around Gwyneth’s slender waist.
“I’m going to demonstrate for you now, Gwyneth. I want you to focus, not just think about resting soon,” Adrian said, raising an eyebrow seriously as he looked at her. On set, he always addressed her by her full na, while she called him sir, even though everyone knew there was a romantic tension between them.
“Yes, sir, I promise,” Gwyneth quickly responded with the sa expression, otherwise, she might burst into laughter the next second. Indeed, Jeremy, who had stepped outside, was already snickering.
“And don’t make a mistake, or you’ll pay the price,” Adrian continued. It sounded like a normal warning, but Gwyneth saw a teasing smile in his eyes, and the way his hand on her waist squeezed lightly made his intent clear.
Being so provocatively teased in front of everyone caused Gwyneth to shiver slightly, a blush flashing quickly across her cheeks, but fortunately, she controlled herself in ti and maintained her previous expression, “Yes, sir, I promise.”
Finally, the music began, and Adrian imdiately led Gwyneth into a dance. This scene was actually very simple— just a dance at a ball— but Adrian wanted to better display the Victorian Era English style, so he chose a relatively complex social dance that incorporated British elents. However, he hadn’t expected Gwyneth and many of the extras to be unfamiliar with these steps, complicating things instead of making them clever.
“I didn’t know you could dance this, Ed,” Gwyneth said with a flirtatious and cute smile as she twirled around holding Adrian’s raised hand, then returned to his embrace.
Although they were still on set, and although the music hadn’t changed, they were no longer shooting. Furthermore, many others were dancing around them. Even though a lot of ti had been spent shooting, it all went smoothly in the end, and naturally, this provided a perfect opportunity to throw a small party on location, which had been prepared beforehand, so the two danced together once again.
“It’s just a matter of practice. Just dance it a few more tis and you’ll master it too, maybe even faster than . I still rember being stunned the first ti I t you,” Adrian said with a laugh, holding her waist tightly.
“So why didn’t you tell earlier?” Gwyneth asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Because that made such an impression, I thought it would be a piece of cake for you,” Adrian laughed out loud, and the lady realized she had walked right into a trap, imdiately punching him playfully and pretending to walk away.
“If you leave now, I’ll be without a dance partner,” Adrian said, not letting such an event occur, and held her tightly.
“You could always find your glamorous assistant,” Gwyneth said, although she resud her previous position.
“Well, Gwyneth, if you feel hurt by that, then I apologize,” Adrian said with a twinkling eye, “Clearly, I should have saved the wedding scene for last, not the dance scene before it.”
“Oh?” Gwyneth looked at him noncommittally.
“In that case, I would have inford you earlier, giving you more ti to prepare, and avoiding the awkward situation from before,” Adrian whispered into her ear, “More importantly, I could watch the most beautiful you conclude this film.”
“The most beautiful?” Even though she still appeared noncommittal, the tickle in her ear made her take a deep breath.
“Yes, you in that classic wedding dress are truly stunning,” Adrian sighed, “With the noble purity of an angel, yet the graceful loveliness of a well-born lady—so tonight, I hope the angel cos to my room in that beautiful dress that dazzles everyone.”
“What if it gets ruined?” Gwyneth’s eyes sparkled differently.
“Then we’ll keep it as a souvenir,” Adrian replied imdiately with a tone of certainty.
After wrapping up “Emma,” Adrian wanted to return to Los Angeles right away, since he had been away for several months. Despite having returned midway and even won an Oscar for Best Director, many things couldn’t be settled in a short ti. Unfortunately, he couldn’t leave just yet, aside from needing to transfer the post-production of “Braveheart” back from the London studio, there were opportunities he had to seize.
“When I returned to Los Angeles before, I had already roughly watched the entire film. Frankly, your performance was excellent, and I believe you have a good understanding of Diderot’s serious cody. This film may not earn much at the box office, but it will definitely be popular with many,” Adrian seriously said to the lady in front of him.
“Thank you,” Rachel Weisz replied faintly, her gaze guarded but filled with an indescribable complexity.
“Take your ti to read this a few more tis if you can,” Adrian didn’t say much more and handed a book to her.
“What is this?” Rachel asked, puzzled after seeing the cover.
“Guess which role would suit you,” Adrian smiled, shrugging.
“I think… I still…” Rachel hesitated, seemingly wanting to refuse.
“Don’t reject so quickly Rachel, please read the book first. Ever since the first day you ca to my office, I knew this role was ant for you,” Adrian earnestly said looking at her.
Rachel looked surprised, unsure what to say for a mont. Adrian grasped her hand holding the book and pressed firmly, “Please don’t disappoint , Rachel.”
His voice was light but carried an irresistible force. Rachel opened her mouth but didn’t utter a word, just looking at him dazed, her gaze still complex, but the guard in her eyes was now precarious.
“Alright, I must leave now, and it’s a pity I couldn’t enter your house again,” Adrian then smiled, patted her hand, and with a regretful glance around the ho, casually turned and walked to his car.
Even though he had walked quite a distance away, Adrian could still see Rachel Weisz standing idly at the doorway. He chuckled to himself, though his visit to Rachel’s ho in London, following news from the “Independence Day” film crew, had not gone as expected when she refused to let him in.
Of course, Rachel hadn’t made her refusal explicitly clear and Adrian might have walked in pretending not to understand, but that would have been the silliest thing to do. Thus, Adrian promptly abandoned all the words he had prepared, clarified everything with a few sentences, and turned to leave. Although his interactions with Rachel were not as frequent as with other won, he was well aware of her intentions, and told himself to just wait and see, doubting any good would co of this.
Unknowingly, ti had moved into early June, and Adrian had finally returned to his stronghold in Los Angeles. He had wanted to bring Emma along, as the little girl was popular everywhere and could be unexpectedly helpful, despite sotis causing trouble.
To his surprise, the little girl had declined.
“Since you’ve already been with for a few months, I’m quite content, and I won’t disturb you,” Emma had said cheerfully, pretending to consider his needs, although it might have been Rodlin who coaxed her to say so. Nevertheless, it was evident that the little girl was maturing early.
Although Adrian felt an urge to sigh, it didn’t last long. So things were inevitably going to change, as long as so didn’t, like when Emma quickly added, “But if there’s ti this year, you must co and see , holidays not included!”
Upon his return to Los Angeles, Adrian found himself busier with more tasks. In London, he could focus solely on filmmaking, despite occasional disturbances from tabloids. Towards the end, he beca involved in post-production discussions for “Braveheart.”
But now it was different. Though he had checked in on various tasks during previous brief visits to Los Angeles, he had rely skimd over them. Now that he was back, it was ti to delve deeper.
Of course, his first priority was the post-production for the two films. The preliminary editing of “Braveheart” had been completed, and now Adrian needed to intensify the process personally. The musical scoring needed especial attention—since he had focused mainly on shooting “Emma” during that period, several scores composed by Jas Horner had been rejected. Now with ti on his hands, Adrian wanted to press Horner, as he planned to recomnd him to Caron.
“Emma” was relatively stress-free. After viewing all the film reels and having extensive discussions with the editor, the project could be put aside temporarily, awaiting the completion of the initial editing.
Then there was “Small Ti Crooks,” which finally premiered just before the sumr season, the film in which Adrian had cast Rachel as the lead to warm up for her, adapting the plot from a Woody Allen work that would be created years later.
This slot perford slightly worse than that of “Fly Away Ho.” Although the latter was released in the off-season, it faced little competition from other compelling titles, and with Adrian’s backing, it had already grossed $30 million, ensuring it could cover its costs.
Now, different again, the sumr season was yet to start, but many entertainnt productions aid at the box office had already been released. They couldn’t compete with the major studios, but releasing earlier could share in so of the profits. Under these circumstances, “Small Ti Crooks” did not carry the comrcial value of those B-movies, discussing its box office potential was even more moot.
Adrian was aware of this but didn’t make any complaints about the film company. After all, the primary purpose of this movie was to warm up Rachel and elevate her visibility. How much it earned at the box office wasn’t the main concern; it was more about gaining good reviews. Besides, occasionally producing small-budget films that might lose money could also serve a masking effect.
He had indeed seen the final product of “Small Ti Crooks.” Although it differed significantly from Woody Allen’s version and so minor plot points had been drastically altered to fit Rachel’s age—yet Ian Gich, a director with nurous indie films under his belt who had been recomnded, had captured the essence of the Diderot-style serious cody Adrian had previously detailed to Rachel.
When aiming for money, spending days planning a bank robbery, and yet being distraught once possessing the cash. Rachel’s performance was indeed brilliant, adding a layer of brilliance to this dark cody. At least in Adrian’s view, this was an interesting film, and critics usually favored interesting films. So, with so effort in promotion…
How about the tagline: “In the style of Woody Allen”? Adrian mischievously thought. (
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