Chapter 785: Chapter 191 Phoenix Brothers
“Nice to et you, Vera, Rachel,” Claude imdiately extended his hand. “You don’t mind if I call you by your first nas, do you?”
“Of course not, I’m glad to et you, Claude.”
“ too.”
Though they responded in this manner and maintained smiles while shaking his hand, a simultaneous and noticeable expression of reluctance passed across both their faces. This gave Claude a mont of surprise, but after catching Adrian’s smirk, he realized the jest and couldn’t help wanting to shake his head. Why bother teasing them like this?
“Vera cos from a beautiful little town in New Jersey,” Adrian continued with a twinkle in his eye, “She has a charming accent, but did you know, she only started speaking English at the age of six. Vera might not be considered very pretty, but she has a remarkable presence, probably because she loves the piano and dancing. We chatted quite a bit about the piano. I’ve told our producers more than once that when looking for actresses with potential, they shouldn’t just focus on their looks, but it seems my words fell on deaf ears.”
After a pause, he turned his attention to Rachel: “Rachel is different, she cos from Canada, and sotis I can’t help but wonder, are all girls nad Rachel this adorable and outstanding, even if it’s just a na they use in a TV show. She has a kind of charm that attracts you at first sight, to the point where I can’t resist wanting to strike up a conversation with her, and then… once again, grumble about those producers and talent scouts. Perhaps I should consider a career change.”
“Alright, Miracle Director, everyone here knows you have an excellent eye, so stop showing off,” Claude shook his head, he had no obligation to play along, “I’m about to head back, Ed.”
“Going back? Why? You just got here less than an hour ago,” Adrian looked surprised.
“I know, but as the head of the group, it’s enough for to drop by, and furthermore…” Claude frowned and made a few hand gestures, completely ignoring the two won.
“Ha,” Adrian imdiately grasped what he ant, and his smile beca sowhat sardonic. “Which girl is it this ti? Let guess…”
“No need to guess, it’s Helen llon,” Claude sighed, apparently with so reluctance.
“Helen? Wow wow, which month is this now?” Adrian beca even more excited. “Looks like the cage of marriage is hanging over your head, dear Claude, this is just too…”
“Shut it, Ed,” Claude glared at him, “you enjoy yourself here, I won’t disturb you.”
Glancing at the won again, they clearly breathed a sigh of relief. Claude couldn’t help shaking his head internally. It had been at least five minutes since they had arrived, and despite their resistance, they showed no intention of leaving—not even a hint of it. Of course, that was normal, so Claude patted Adrian on the shoulder and left without looking back.
“Do you… always talk like this?” Rachel asked cautiously once Claude’s figure had disappeared, her light brown eyes rotating, seemingly deep in thought.
Fittingly, “Lost” was about to start shooting, which could offer her a chance to play the female lead. As for movies, well, that would depend on her future performances. Speaking of which, there seed to be a South Korean role in this TV series; Jim Tae-Hee might be a bit young, but perhaps this could be an opportunity to subtly probe Samsung.
Despite the final episode of “Friends” reaching a staggering 60 million viewers, its conclusion indicated that the future battle for TV ratings would beco increasingly fierce. Thus, Adrian made FOX more wary—if he maintained his usual standard, then most of the high-rating TV shows or reality shows would continue to be dominated by production companies under AC dia, while CBS and NBC would remain in their orbit.
Unfortunately for News Corporation, there was nothing they could do about this for now. Why had God allowed such a freak onto this earth? However, Adrian wasn’t currently focusing on TV shows, despite many high-rating ones being in production this year. He had plenty on his plate, like finalizing the acquisition of Chelsea.
Although the transaction was completed last month, it hadn’t been publicly announced, with the club vaguely hinting to the dia that Arican capital was eyeing Chelsea. Only after the smooth transition and everything was settled, was it revealed. Even so, it still caused an uproar in the United Kingdom, especially among Chelsea fans. So followed the team wherever they trained to protest and show dissatisfaction, with about a dozen fans demonstrating outside the Chelsea club every day.
The UK dia couldn’t help but ridicule or satirize. The Tis expressed concern that the new dia tycoon might act too much on his whims, implying that if his enthusiasm for British soccer waned, he would neglect Chelsea, only worsening the situation for the already troubled club. The unabashedly direct Sun suggested that Mr. Cowell would be better off producing movies or sticking to Arican football, as British and Arican football were entirely different gas.
Interestingly, the forr Chelsea chairman Kenneth Bates issued a statent saying that he believed Adrian could lead Chelsea into a brand-new future. It was worth noting that in his previous life, he had begun to criticize so of Chelsea’s policies shortly after stepping down. But this was not surprising—status changes perceptions, and while Adrian might not compare to News Corporation in the UK, AC dia was strong in North Arica. There was no need to offend such a magnate.
Yet, his statent backfired. Bates had had an unpleasant tenure with many and had even been sued by the Chelsea Fan Association for inappropriate comnts the previous year. Thus, it was easy to imagine how fans felt about his words.
Thankfully, Adrian quickly issued a statent saying that Chelsea was a team with a rich history, and he would respect all the traditions of the team and try his best to build it into a remarkable team. Of course, these were not the main point; the focus lay in his belief that British football was very interesting, sotis it sparked his inspiration, and he already had a concept in mind to potentially make a British football-thed movie in the future.
Imdiately, the originally grand-scale boycott movent significantly scaled down, as the “Miracle Director’s” na was also well-renowned in the United Kingdom.
“This isn’t just to placate the fans, I really do have an idea, to make an inspirational movie with Chelsea as the main setting, which would be a great way to promote the team. FIFA would like it too,” Adrian, who had made a special trip to London to attend the club’s internal eting, said when discussing the matter.
Of course, the topic of the eting wasn’t this. Adrian mainly promised the managent that he would not easily alter any internal affairs, except for one thing—
“I want this person to co over as the head coach, no matter what it takes, get him here.” As Adrian spoke, Ivanka, acting as secretary, placed José Mourinho’s profiles in front of each executive.
The managent, although not quite fond of the Portuguese man, and still wishing to hold onto their opinion, was strongly overruled by Adrian. He was now the absolute majority shareholder. His temporary non-interference in the club’s internal matters was rely a gesture of respect, not an indication that they could deceive him with their ignorance.
Enough of that, Adrian was pretty much still at leisure throughout May. The post-production of “La Vie en Rose” was going smoothly, whether it was editing, scoring, or dubbing, there wasn’t much to worry about. Sophie also began preparing to direct her new short film. She perford major surgery on the script, changed many parts, and didn’t even seek Adrian’s opinion, declaring she would show him once it was finished.
Out of respect, Adrian had no choice but to avoid inquiring. After all, he still had several concepts for short films, so letting her practice with this one was no big deal.
However, he still had so thoughts about films. As the plan progressed, so matters needed to be brought forward, so Adrian went to the Phoenix brothers’ ho. Even though the three brothers each owned their own hos, they mostly still lived together, which suited Adrian just fine.
“You an…” River made a gesture, pointing first to himself, then to Joaquin, showing a rare look of surprise, “both of us?”
“Is there a problem?” Adrian spread his hands.
“Of course not, it’s just…” Joaquin followed with gestures, also wearing a shocked look, “what you said earlier is about making two movies.”
“Yeah, two movies, both scheduled to be released next year, neither with particularly high budgets, could be called sowhat artistic,” Adrian said in a casual tone, as if making two movies to be released next year was completely normal—well, for him it really was.
“Speaking of which, I’ve never worked with you guys before,” he laughed, “and now’s the perfect opportunity to rectify that, plus you can compete to see whose acting is better.”
With that, he seed to rember sothing and his smile faded: “You guys don’t have any other commitnts, do you?”
“Not at the mont, but…” River said with a wry smile as he scratched his head, “to be honest, I’ve always wanted to work with you, Ed, but it seed you never considered it, so… it’s a bit sudden now.”
“Co on, River, this is an invitation from the Miracle Director, what’s there to hesitate about,” Joaquin was more open-minded and slapped his brother’s shoulder hard, “you’re not scared of my challenge, are you, River?”
He was clearly excited. Indeed, although River starred in more indie movies, and Joaquin had his share of comrcial films, last year’s “The Bourne Identity” was highly praised. However, many still referred to Joaquin as River’s younger brother. River indeed had charm, even though he was no longer the youngest winner of the Venice Best Actor award. Now faced with the chance to compete against his brother, Joaquin wouldn’t pass it up no matter what.
“When can we see the scripts?” Joaquin asked imdiately, “you know, Ed, I’ve already signed with Universal for the next two films in ‘The Bourne Identity’ series, so the sooner I can see them, the easier it would be to adjust.”
Although River had not yet formally agreed, he also showed an attentive look.
“It might take a bit more ti, there’s still a lot of preparatory work to do, and it’s not possible to shoot both movies at the sa ti. I need to consult with Universal, maybe the one with Joaquin as the lead will start first,” Adrian explained, “probably by the end of July at the latest you’ll be able to see the scripts. I can reveal that Joaquin’s is a biopic, and for River…”
As he spoke, a mischievous smile suddenly appeared on his face, making River involuntarily lean back.
Just as Adrian was about to continue, a voice ca in from outside: “I swear, if you make see you like that again, I won’t accommodate you anymore, I’ll take you straight to the police station.”
At the sa ti, there were high-pitched screams: “Let go, let go! I don’t want you to interrupt!”
Following that, the door banged open, and two familiar figures, a man and a woman, appeared right in front of River, Joaquin, and Adrian. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian to cast your votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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