King of Hollywood
Chapter 457 - 178 Games and Movies

Chapter 457: Chapter 178 Games and Movies

Throughout history, numerous art forms—novels, plays, sculptures, paintings, photographs, comics, films, and more—have emerged, developed, and become popular for various reasons, yet fundamentally, they all share an unavoidable commonality originating from people’s desire for voyeurism.

Since ancient humans began wearing animal skins, privacy has been one of the cornerstones of society, correspondingly giving rise to the desire to peer into others’ lives. How do others live? Have they encountered anything interesting, terrifying, or thrilling? Are they as mundane as oneself? Among all artistic mediums, film and television undoubtedly best satisfy this curiosity, with the camera serving as a small window allowing audiences to fully observe or step into the protagonist’s experiences.

No matter how detailed a novel’s description might be, readers always supplement it with their imagination, which is invariably linked to their own life experiences. Theater, though more concrete, feels overly exaggerated when performed, giving a sense of unreality. This is why television and film are so popular; the more realistic the depicted environment, the more appealing it becomes. This also explains why these media have developed so rapidly.

"Big Brother" is a reality TV show built upon the foundation of voyeurism, where a group of young people live in a large room for a period, continuously filmed by cameras, edited, and then broadcasted on television. Each week, viewers vote by phone to eliminate two contestants, leaving the ultimate winner as the champion.

While voyeuristically observing their lives, one manipulates their competition; thus, this program is quite popular, making it perfectly suitable for ABC to produce. However, although Adrian quickly decided on it, he didn’t plan to roll it out immediately. Firstly, the assessment for "America’s Next Top Model" had just been completed, and introducing another promising reality TV show right away, even though he’s known as the Miracle Director, would likely draw undue attention. Secondly, the show initially had many issues such as lacking engaging minor competitions like fighting for the master bedroom or food battles, and had relatively long and loose broadcast times. He needed to take the time to recall and organize a more complete plan.

Therefore, Adrian quickly sat down and pulled up the files he needed to handle from his computer. He soon sighed with slight frustration, regretting leaving Charlize in London; had she been by his side, she would have organized and labeled these during his conversation with the department head. Now he had to manage everything himself, as the temporary assistant could hardly help.

"This is a lesson," Adrian muttered to himself as he looked through the files.

Fortunately, some things he only needed to inquire about, understand the situation, like the sales of "Chamber of Secrets" in the United States, the development of the publishing companies, and which new games the game studios were releasing. He had delegated most of this to Claude and other managers in the company who were doing a good job. The publishing side had already targeted two major companies, pondering which one would be best to acquire.

As for the gaming side, the highly talented Blizzard’s unstoppable upward momentum continued. "Warcraft," with Adrian’s input, had its universe more fully fleshed out, with the release of expansion packs and the accelerated development of the second installment promising a "renewed" brilliance. The well-known "Diablo" had already been released and achieved considerable success, with "StarCraft" soon to be released as well.

Similarly, Eidos’ "Tomb Raider" also received considerable favor. Laura, as remembered, was hugely popular among adventure puzzle game players, and the related novels also sold well, although there were some remarks about "second-rate novels being adapted into first-rate games." No matter, the initial aim had been copyright acquisition, but the adaptation into a film would have to wait.

Yet another game adaptation that Adrian had scheduled was "Resident Evil," which he had interfered with less during its development.

Of all the games produced and distributed, Adrian’s micromanagement on "Resident Evil" was the most extensive; he questioned all plans and demanded revisions for any detail not to his liking, even insisting on reflecting an Asian style in the character designs. This caused much grumbling among the studio developers, but no one could contest it—the studio was formed from Blizzard’s downsized staff and a canceled Pixar game division, entirely funded by Adrian. His word was law; if developers felt offended in their profession, they were free to resign and leave.

Yet, the game produced under these circumstances received considerable acclaim worldwide, particularly surprising in Japan, where, due to current relations with Sony, the game was ported to the PlayStation, naturally boosting its sales significantly higher than if it had been PC-only.

"I think we might as well have been disbanded," one employee of the studio’s planning department once said half-jokingly, half-seriously, showing just how surprised they were.

Thus, in the development of "Resident Evil 2," all of Adrian’s demands were more thoroughly implemented.

However, he didn’t make many modifications or adjustments. After all, the first three installments of the game had their merits, and Raccoon City held a significant place in the hearts of many Resident Evil fans, so there was no need for major changes yet. Nevertheless, for the movie adaptation of "Resident Evil," some tweaks were indispensable.

Adrian didn’t plan to stick to the original movie’s script. A film adapted from a game would be doomed whether it adhered strictly to the game’s plot or completely deviated from it. The success of the original film series was more due to its zombie culture than its gameplay. Therefore, this version would be a completely new film, closely related to but entirely different from the game. If future technologies allowed, interaction between the game and the film wasn’t out of the question.

The movie’s protagonist would no longer be the superpower user Alice but rather the Fourth Survivor from the original "Resident Evil 2" game, "Death God" Hank!

In the original game, Hank didn’t have much screen time but he was quite popular, which made him an excellent choice for the film’s main character. Of course, changes would be needed here; first, in the game, he wouldn’t appear wearing a gas mask but would have a complete head model; second, after completing the game, no airplane came to rescue him, but a few people surrounded him, and his fate remained undisclosed. Want to know more? Go watch the movie.

If there was anything from the original film to be retained, it was the amnesia plotline. Hank, known as "Death God" and one of the best in the Umbrella Company’s recovery team, was gravely injured by the mutated Dr. William while reclaiming the G-virus and fell into a coma, waking up with no memory of his identity. Thus, whether it was the U.S. military sent to Raccoon City or Umbrella’s special combat squad, everyone was looking for him, and Hank started to flee to recover his memories and identity.

A clichéd plot, right? No worries, most commercial works are clichéd. Adrian chose "The Battle of Raccoon City" as the main plotline, where Hank could interact with game characters, Leon, Claire, Jill, Ada, and others while escaping, providing game fans an interesting way to complete the story.

"Of course, the script and the director are key," Adrian muttered as he wrote these two words on his notepad.

Finding a director was easy; although he had no interest in directing, there were suitable candidates, and Luc Besson was an excellent choice. Coincidentally, the leading lady in his film "The Fifth Element" released that year was Mila Jovovich, who had played the main character in the original "Resident Evil," and their collaboration was reportedly going well.

However, creating a logically sound script that could also lay down some clever groundwork was no easy task. Even with his ability to integrate ideas developed through imitating and plagiarizing others, he couldn’t guarantee a relatively perfect story

"Let’s wait and see, have the scriptwriters draft a detailed framework based on the game and the roughest outline first," Adrian jotted down casually.

"Resident Evil 2" was expected to be released around Halloween without any setbacks, preventing the mistake of halting production halfway and starting over, which Mikami had done. Thus, he had enough time to choose a good script and still let the studio’s planning staff join in; he certainly didn’t want the "Resident Evil" developers to think they could only succeed with Adrian’s involvement, although initially, he had produced the novel early just to tease the Japanese. But now that it had already taken shape, why not treat it as a brand and manage it well?

"Mr. Adrian, Miss Gisele Bundchen has arrived," the voice of his temporary assistant came through after he pressed the communicator.

"Good," he glanced at the time, "I’ll be right out."

He put on his coat and straightened his attire, then Adrian promptly walked out of his office, where Gisele stood up with a beaming smile.

"I hope you weren’t waiting long." He bowed slightly and offered his arm.

"Of course not." Gisele naturally took his arm, and the two of them walked intimately out together without any hesitation.

It cannot be denied that having a stunning figure is a trait of all Latin beauties, whether it’s Lopez, Shakira, or Gisele. He was deeply impressed by her long, firm legs the previous night, so naturally, he continued to pursue her today. Since Gisele had already ended up in bed with him, how could she refuse his invitation?

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"I have to admit, you’re an exceptional man, Ed—both barbaric and gentle." Gisele ran her fingers through her hair and lazily rolled onto her back on the bed, naked except for a blanket held against her chest, displaying her enticing form.

With a swoosh, he drew back the curtains, and as the morning sunlight poured in, Adrian, also naked, stretched and turned around with a smile, "Thank you for your compliment."

The sunlight hit his body, perfectly accentuating his muscular physique—if it weren’t for something visibly bulging, it would have been perfect. This wasn’t a photo that could be edited, but it had its benefits in this form, as Gisele couldn’t resist licking her lips, cursing the massive thing that had tormented her for the last two nights.

"No wonder they call you a playboy; indeed, not many women escape your palm," she sighed and then said.

"Is that also a compliment?" Adrian shrugged.

"I guess," Gisele pondered, "after all, even for a playboy, no one does it better than you."

As she spoke, she sat up, looking at him with a complex expression, "I have to leave, Ed—my trip is over, it’s time to go home."

"Oh?" Adrian raised an eyebrow, "So that means..."

"I agreed that staying here would be a good choice, but that would have to wait a few more months..." she sat cross-legged, resting her hands on her calves, her ample bosom particularly prominent.

"Understood." Adrian didn’t wait for her to finish, nodded, returned to the bedside, and lifted her chin, "I told you, you are a very charming woman."

"Thank you, you are a very charming man too." Gisele smiled as she knelt up, reached out to wrap her arms around his neck, pressing her chest against his, and after staring for a moment, she leaned to his ear and whispered, "So, before I leave, how about I give you one more lasting impression?"

"What kind of lasting impression?" Adrian smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You’ll find out soon," Gisele whispered into his ear, "don’t think I don’t know what’s on your mind."

She giggled, took two steps back with her knees, and looked at him as he bent over: "Remember, this is my first time."

I like first times. Adrian thought to himself after taking a cold breath, also giving this woman a thumbs up. Gisele Bundchen was said to have a good head for investment in his previous life, and it seemed to be true now.

Once she realized that she couldn’t benefit more from him for now and also couldn’t be his only woman, she left immediately without any lingering attachment. Yet, she didn’t show this outwardly but rather left something for the future—quite smart, wasn’t it? However, she made two mistakes, first, she underestimated what Adrian might achieve in the future; secondly, Adrian didn’t have too many expectations from her.

Otherwise, even women like Nicole Kidman could be completely manipulated by him, how could he let such a young woman escape from his grasp? Adrian’s interest in Latin beauties was still only at a platonic level, and although he wouldn’t mind keeping one or two if appropriate, none had caught his eye yet, so it was fine for Gisele to leave, especially since as long as she was advancing in Victoria’s Secret in the United States, wasn’t it easy to have a friendly match?

After enjoying the oral pleasantries of this Brazilian model and having a passionate encounter while the weather was still fine, Adrian sent her off on a plane. Then, he immediately headed to the post-production studio. Coming back to Los Angeles, there were two main things: first, to consult on the company’s progress and suggest some ideas, like adapting Marvel Comics movies or pushing ahead with the movie adaptation of Resident Evil, and second, to supervise the post-production of The Matrix.

The basic editing was almost done, but montage editing required the director’s personal involvement. Of course, he could remotely direct from London when he found the time, but if there were issues, correcting them would be a hassle, so he might as well come back and do the editing himself. Besides, he needed to finalize aspects like special effects, CGI, and music.

"Overall, it’s pretty good, but I hope this wheat field can be bigger, like those real wheat fields, with the camera moving upward to give a boundless and somewhat desperate feeling," Adrian said to the folks from Industrial Light & Magic after reviewing some of the CGI. As a veteran effects company, responsible for all the CGI dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, they excelled in this regard.

Moreover, their method of combining models and CGI made the overall effect more layered and realistic.

"No problem, we can make the edges more blurred, though this might cause some distortion in the image," the other party responded, aiming for realism as Adrian always demanded.

"Let’s do this," he thought for a while and then said, "Render two effects, one that showcases exactly what I initially wanted and another that keeps the image as real as possible while approaching that same effect."

Of course, such rendering costs money, but for Adrian, this expense was insignificant, even if the budget for The Matrix exceeded one hundred million, it would still make a profit.

After dealing with these details, he started the formal editing process, which was now routine work for him, far more efficient than an average person could manage. Even so, the daily progress wasn’t very fast. Besides overseeing the post-production, he had many other things to handle. For company matters, he could generally understand and give suggestions for them to execute, and if the results weren’t satisfactory, they could revise them. However, he valued film and music production highly. Although he delegated many tasks to Claude and others, he was much more detailed in these areas.

For instance, he was currently having Bossworth assess the production of CSI. Though he had prepared the reality show Big Brother for ABC and soon new talent would join in the talk shows apart from Stuart, and Friends would also air on ABC next year, exceptional TV dramas were always welcome. By starting a bit earlier, there was no need to worry about certain issues; besides, ABC was already his, so why not let it surpass the other three networks in ratings?

Besides that, the production of The Expendables was also scheduled. Stallone had already agreed, as in the late ’90s, he began to decline gradually. Despite not knowing if this idea came from Miracle Director, he was still very interested in the theme. Willis, needless to say, though his decline wasn’t too apparent based on Adrian’s friendship with him, had also agreed early. Now, the only issue was with the future governor-to-be. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations or monthly tickets on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)