King of Hollywood
Chapter 453 - 174: Changing Doors

Chapter 453: Chapter 174: Changing Doors

In the circular theater hall, rows of auditionees were striving to showcase their talents to the interviewers sitting at the table. Although some had just put down their farming tools and some looked like robbers, they still puffed out their chests and held their heads high, stuttering through their lines. Despite this, each face, whether sleazy or fierce, wore a confident smile, as if to say, "Not choosing me would be a huge mistake!"

On the second floor, observing all this, Shakespeare shook his head and sighed. He suddenly felt that writing "Romeo and the Pirate’s Daughter" was a massive mistake—it was just awful. He had no idea how to develop the plot further. But if not this, then what? It was maddening, his mind still utterly blank. What could possibly unleash the torrent of inspiration within him?

He continued to clutch his head, groaning and sighing, until a voice rang out, "Very well done."

With Adrian’s applause, the entire crew instantly relaxed. Dennis stretched his body and let out a breath, quickly joining Adrian, who was speaking with the assistant director.

"Is everything alright?" Dennis asked Adrian.

"Quite good, keep up this trend, and we can accelerate our progress." Adrian nodded affirmatively and pointed nearby, "Go on, you can be at ease. I certainly don’t want anyone speaking behind my back."

Dennis, slightly embarrassed, smiled and walked straight to a young woman with medium-short hair. The woman immediately flashed a sweet smile and hugged and kissed him warmly in front of everyone. No woman could be so intimate with him, apart from Jennifer Aniston, who had come to visit her boyfriend.

Jennifer had arrived on Friday, before Adrian went to Paris. With plenty of paparazzi around, and Jennifer not doing much to disguise herself, they soon discovered that Rachel Green, the most popular character from "Friends," and Dennis Knight, who made a big splash with his roles in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Broken Arrow," were openly walking together.

Long after Winona announced their breakup, ending the love triangle, rumors had circulated that Dennis had actually chosen Jennifer, although there was never solid evidence until now, finally proving it.

Thus, during the two days Adrian spent in Paris wildly romantic with Sophie, both UK and US entertainment media were filled with reports of Dennis and Jennifer’s public romance, sparking endless commentary, especially as the past love triangle was dug up again. Initially, it was said that Winona had cheated first, then Jennifer got involved as the third party, and Dennis was indecisive until Winona initiated the breakup.

However, after these new photos surfaced, particularly with Dennis and Jennifer looking exceedingly joyful, that narrative was quickly overturned and instead became rumors that Dennis had been involved with Jennifer early on, and his dating Winona was just for fun, evidenced by his guest appearance in the first season of "Friends." But soon, counterarguments emerged, reminding that Dennis had voluntarily taken all the blame, and it was Winona who had initiated the breakup.

Then the arguments volleyed back and forth, truly a spectacle which underscored two things: first, people, or at least the general public, indeed only see what they choose to see; second, salacious gossip is indeed a vital tool for entertainment media to attract attention. Beyond that, the bustling internet was abuzz with both blessings and curses, with fans of Jennifer and Winona clashing, while most of Dennis’s fans attempted to mediate.

Interestingly, when reporters finally tracked down Winona and asked her view on Dennis and Jennifer’s public romance, after a long silence, Winona astonishingly expressed her sincere wishes for his happiness! Some called her magnanimous, others said she had moved on from the breakup, but Adrian, who knew the intricacies of Dennis’s romantic history, was slightly surprised.

He fully believed that Winona’s words were both sincere and painful. Dennis, that guy, had left such a deep impression on her. Considering that, maybe it wasn’t so odd that Jennifer would make advances.

"Are you really planning on being indifferent to Winona, Dan?" In a fancy restaurant in London, while Jennifer was in the restroom, Adrian casually asked.

Previously quite chatty, Dennis paused, then shook his head with a bitter smile, suddenly as if he had lost his ability to speak.

"Don’t worry, the paparazzi are outside, they can’t come in, and they won’t stick to the windows to take photos," Adrian said humorously as he pointed at the glass doors.

Even though the public revelation of them getting together caused a stir around the city, the two involved didn’t seem to mind. Even when surrounded by layers of paparazzi, they always kept their smiles but didn’t answer any questions. At most, they conveyed through the spokesperson of the crew to please not disturb the filming and not to cause trouble to others. After all, making their relationship public in this way must have been decided by both parties.

Given that, the paparazzi grew bolder. Though Dennis and Jennifer managed to escape several close calls, they were discovered at times. For instance, yesterday afternoon, when Dennis had no scenes to shoot, he went shopping with Jennifer and was recognized in a bookstore. Within minutes, reporters rushed over and took incessant photos outside the bookstore, which affected the business, leading the bookstore owner to be furious and threaten to file a complaint.

Considering their actions had diverted most of the public’s attention and given Adrian some relief for so long, he readily accepted their invitation to dinner.

At the moment, the rueful smile on Dennis’s face deepened as he toyed with his soup spoon before saying, "Winona is a good girl, Jennifer is a good girl, just that..."

He didn’t continue, and although Adrian was somewhat disagreeable, he still apologized with a grin, "Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought up this topic."

"It’s okay, it’s in the past," Dennis shrugged, his gesture a mix of sentiment and reminiscence.

"What are you talking about?" Jennifer’s voice came over, looking beautiful tonight in a deep purple, almost black, long dress, and her brown hair draped down on both sides, covering her somewhat broad face.

No wonder she liked to keep her hair long—seeing how Dennis had convinced her to cut it short twice, it was clear she truly loved him.

"Some old memories," Dennis quickly said, grabbing her hand and kissing it, while Jennifer returned a sweet smile.

"Speaking of which," Adrian shifted the topic skillfully, "What’s the occasion for the dinner invite? I don’t think intruding on a beautiful couple’s world is pleasant."

Dennis and Jennifer exchanged a look and both laughed, the sweetness around them intensifying.

"That’s the thing," he said, placing his girlfriend’s hand on the table, "We’re planning to get engaged, Ed. I hope you can be our witness."

"You’re planning to get engaged?" Adrian raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.

"Yes," Dennis confirmed, a brief hint of sadness flickering across his face before he recovered, gently patting his girlfriend’s hand and gazing into Jennifer’s eyes full of tenderness.

"Right before the movie starts shooting, I proposed to Jennifer. I don’t want to delay this any further," he continued. "Jennifer has never been so happy, and I’m glad too. I want her to keep being happy, which is why I suggested we have an engagement ceremony. It doesn’t have to be too flashy—just inviting a few close friends will do. You know, without you, there would be no ’me’ today, so I’d like you to be one of the witnesses."

"Hmm... obviously, I have no possibility of refusal." Watching the sweet demeanor of the two, especially Jennifer, who looked touched, Adrian shrugged and then picked up the red wine on the table. "Congratulations to you both. However, I need to remind you that I won’t release anyone until the current two movies are completed."

Although this request was somewhat unreasonable, Jennifer accepted it with Dennis’s reassurance, considering it was only for a couple of months, which would pass quickly. Adrian, observing this, couldn’t help but shake his head and then nod. He was originally joking, having planned to discuss another topic at dinner, but hearing this news, he decided to postpone that topic.

So, he intentionally made this challenging request to stir things up and to probe the primary-secondary relationship between the two. Well, the result didn’t deviate from his judgment. However, because of this, he didn’t reveal to them that he was joking—for one, to keep Dennis’s dignity intact; secondly, with this incentive ahead, it was like a carrot tied to a stick, encouraging him to be more engaged in hopes of completing the task sooner.

As for the topic he wanted to bring up, there was no rush, as there were still a few months left, and it was something that everyone knew couldn’t be changed.

"Tomorrow, take some time to call Bossworth and tell them they can start negotiating with ABC," Adrian said, leaning against the headboard in his hotel room while watching Charlize tidy up at the vanity and admiring her silhouette, her silk nightgown smooth and shiny, perfectly complimenting her beautiful, well-proportioned figure—though, of course, it would be even better if her breasts were larger.

"Do we need to inform the six main actors?" Charlize answered indifferently.

"No, not for the moment. I initially planned to tell Jenny during dinner with Dennis today, but after careful consideration, I decided to wait until their negotiations are concluded," Adrian shook his head.

This matter was actually quite simple: Adrian planned to transfer the broadcasting rights of "Friends" to ABC instead of renewing with NBC. Originally, when producing "Friends," Adrian had no television network, so he gave the broadcasting rights to NBC out of inertia, which achieved very high ratings. Inside NBC, there were no shortage of perceptive people, who immediately signed the show for four seasons.

Later, after forming AC Media and acquiring TBS and implementing significant reforms, reality shows and dramas such as "Millionaire," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and "Sex and the City" all achieved decent ratings. At that time, some internal voices proposed terminating the contract with NBC to let the popular drama air on TBS.

But Adrian refused this proposal—joking that viewers accustomed to watching "Friends" for free would hardly be willing to start paying. Moreover, giving "Millionaire" to TBS was somewhat wasteful; broadcast on a terrestrial television station, the ratings would at least double, and he was not going to make the same mistake.

Later, under Claude’s suggestion, ABC also became part of their arsenal. Although they had family sitcoms like "Everybody Loves Raymond" and reality shows like "Survivor" that increased the ratings, and Adrian continued to pick some good dramas like "Will and Grace" and conceptualized "Victoria’s Secret Closet" after acquiring Victoria’s Secret, ABC finally stopped its decline and began climbing upwards slowly. After all, a good drama series like "Friends" was exceedingly popular and always welcomed.

Hence, AC Media internally suggested moving the show to ABC, and even Claude had spoken to him about it once, but Adrian remained non-committal, just telling them to wait a bit longer. This year, as ABC had already smoothed out its operations and the contract with NBC was nearing its end, it was time to put this plan into action.

NBC was aware of this situation early on, having started lobbying since before the year began, as the high ratings of "Friends" were highly coveted by any terrestrial TV station.

Unfortunately for them, once Adrian made up his mind, he wouldn’t change it, despite them significantly increasing their share of profits, and he remained unyielding. Thus, NBC could only acknowledge their bad luck. They also considered moving "Friends" to a late-night slot next, as a TV show’s popularity is quite limited, but that would do nothing but severely damage their image.

This was one of the reasons why Adrian waited to act on this idea now; immediately ending the contract with NBC upon acquiring ABC would have appeared unsightly and greedy. No matter the country or the place, and regardless of the underlying muck, it was essential to uphold appearances.

By taking it over after the current contract ended, no one could point a finger, and with the initiative in their hands, it was highly unlikely for NBC to attempt any petty tricks.

Likewise, this was why he wanted to notify Jennifer and the six main actors before negotiating with Bossworth and ABC, if possible, to consult their opinions. It was like a vote, superficially respecting your views, but in reality, it was still going to proceed as planned.

Of course, Adrian did more, such as bringing up the salary issue earlier. During the first season, the six people only received $5,000 per episode, which increased to $20,000 in the second season, and then to $100,000 by the third season. This wasn’t because he had a conscience that capitalists lacked; maximizing profits was something everyone did, but it also involved minimizing risk.

Knowing they might strike over their salaries and demand negotiations, they had every right to do so. If one could earn a million US Dollars per episode, why not show goodwill in advance? Just like getting all sorts of rights to the Harry Potter series from Rowling, keeping the salary increase well within his control with a friendly face was certainly better than having them strike to demand more.

Unless absolutely necessary, Adrian never gave up the initiative, whether in his career or with women.

"Shouldn’t you be going back, Ed?" Charlize, who had finished packing, stood up, walked to the bed, and looked at Adrian lying there, arms folded.

"Go back? Why?" Adrian asked, puzzled.

"Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping with... them? Why come here?" Charlize shrugged.

"Well, if I said I missed you, would that mean I can lie down now?" Adrian asked with a cheeky grin.

Charlize rolled her eyes, grabbed the blanket, climbed onto the bed, then turned off the bedside lamp on her side and turned her back to Adrian. Adrian chuckled softly, put aside the information Charlize had organized for him, turned off the light, and lay down, stretching his hand to pull her into his arms.

"I’m going to sleep," Charlize murmured, yet she didn’t turn her head back.

"Yes, yes, sleep," Adrian whispered, kissing her nape, and then just held her and drifted off to sleep without doing anything else.

The reason he ran here was mainly that Gwyneth and Blanchett were not in his room. Since he returned from Paris, both women had been visibly upset, especially on the day he returned and reached the set, they had sniffed him and visibly showed their displeasure in private.

So, when Adrian tried to pull them back to his room together, there were always many excuses popping up to get out of it. Moreover, the two women had a good understanding; if one was cornered by Adrian, the other would immediately come to the rescue, and after work, they always walked together to prevent him from tricking them away. This close relationship both baffled and made Adrian reflective.

Since they were not around, it felt uncomfortable to be alone in the vast hotel suite, and he ended up spending the night here in Charlize’s room, hugging his secretary to sleep.

As for Gwyneth and Blanchett’s behavior, he just shrugged it off; a little bit of pouting was okay; they’d be back to normal in a few days. Besides, it’s not like he lacked women around him, was it? There was Charlize, and although the glamorous secretary had her unique way of expressing dissatisfaction with his thoughts, she was right beside him, wasn’t she?

Moreover, Paris and London were so close, and as Sophie had just been conquered and Adrian had left an invitation, it would be absurd if she didn’t come here before "Anna Karenina" started filming. Besides, Adrian had several women in London; oh, certainly not Keira or Emma, but— (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on qidian.com, your support is my biggest motivation.)