King of Hollywood
Chapter 463 - 184: Guessed Right

Chapter 463: Chapter 184: Guessed Right

Adrian gently closed the door of the room, making hardly any noise. But then again, even if he had made a huge sound, the two women in the bedroom locked in a 69 position were probably too lost in their own world to hear anything. After all, Adrian had been secretly watching at the bedroom door for quite a while and he even intentionally coughed lightly, but Gwyneth and Blanchett, immersed in their same-sex desires, had completely failed to notice him.

No wonder they always acted so nonchalant in front of him, though he wasn’t sure when that had started. Adrian stroked his chin and thought. He had to admit that this approach was somewhat useful, if it weren’t for his plan to surprise Gwyneth, and they just happened to return to Gwyneth’s room, their standoff might have continued for a while longer.

Actually, Adrian didn’t mind admitting defeat; it wasn’t a big deal since they were already his, and it was only proper for lovers to exchange sweet nothings. However, having unwittingly spied such a scene and overheard the dialogue between the two women, he decided to abandon that thought. He didn’t want to miss this opportunity to sort them out properly; God knows what they’d do next time.

Of course, that wouldn’t be now, they needed to be indulged a little longer, wait until they became a bit overconfident... Adrian chuckled softly, then stopped in front of his own room. He didn’t go in but thought for a moment and then turned and walked to the other end of the hallway. It was a good thing Little Emma was back home today, otherwise... But Small Emma seemed to be showing similar tendencies too, so just to be safe, he decided to head elsewhere.

Thump, thump, thump—the door opened after three knocks and then there was Charlize with a somewhat surprised look, "What’s up?"

"Nothing serious, I just want to stay over for the night," Adrian said with a grin as he pushed open the door.

"Don’t you have your own suite? Plus, there are several other suites you can choose from," Charlize asked as she closed the door.

"Because I missed you," Adrian shrugged then looked at her with interest, "You’ve already taken a shower, planning to go to sleep this early?"

Charlize’s blond hair still looked a bit damp. She was wearing only a thin T-shirt, revealing softly firm curves that were barely hidden, very evident nipples, and was donning a particularly short pair of hot pants, almost no different from underwear, striding around the room on her long, shapely exposed legs.

"Of course, I did a lot today, unlike you who seems to have endless energy. I’m exhausted; of course, I need to rest early," she said, crossing her arms.

"Alright, I get it, I just want to sleep for the night," Adrian chuckled and got up walking towards the bathroom.

Charlize watched him enter before humming softly to herself, then moved to the bed to prepare two pillows and crawled on, turning on the bedside lamp to read a book. Soon, Adrian, wrapped in a bath towel, came out, turned off the main bedroom light, and also got into bed, casually picking up a book to read. They occasionally exchanged words, Charlize also occasionally responding, their interaction resembling the typical pre-sleep routine of a married couple.

"I thought you were planning to give Gwyneth a surprise tonight," Charlize suddenly asked as she closed her book, ready to turn off the light.

"Ha, I thought you weren’t going to ask," Adrian’s tone was teasing, knowing Charlize couldn’t help herself, she glared at him, turned over, and pulled up the blanket intending to lie down.

"Gwyneth is currently having an enthusiastic deep conversation with Katherine," Adrian then added, "I wouldn’t want to disturb them, so..."

"You mean," Charlize turned around looking at him slightly astonished, she could not mistake the implication in his words.

"That’s right, just like when you pushed Kate onto the bed. I was hiding in Gwyneth’s room, initially planning to give her a surprise, but instead, she and Katherine surprised me," Adrian smacked his lips, his tone reflective, "Oh, I have to admit, both Gwyneth and Katherine just now, and you and Kate back then, were incredibly tempting."

Upon hearing the first statement, Charlize coughed awkwardly but soon looked at him with a half-smiling expression, "And then you sneaked out to my room? Do you think I’d believe that, Ed? Do you really think I’d believe a lecherous jerk like you could restrain himself after seeing that? Moreover... he has a history!"

"The problem is, I actually did restrain myself, although it was somewhat difficult," Adrian shrugged, "After all, they weren’t like you guys at that time, and I wasn’t sure how they would react if I suddenly joined in, even though personally, I really wanted to."

His words were half-true, half-false. Unlike Charlize and Kate back in the day, Catherine and Gwyneth were kissing passionately without knowing he was outside, and rashly joining in truly might have unpredictable responses, especially after hearing those words, Adrian had already decided he needed to give them a good scolding, naturally, he wouldn’t startle them and make them defensive now.

Charlize didn’t say anything and, after watching Adrian for a long while, she half-warned him, "I’m going to rest now, don’t touch me, understand?"

Saying this, she turned to turn off the light and lay down, and Adrian chuckled, shaking his head as he also lay down and turned out the light, "Understood, just like last time, I won’t do anything inappropriate."

As he spoke, he reached out to wrap his arms around Charlize’s waist, pulling her into his embrace. Charlize struggled slightly then stopped moving, just like last time, but she warned again, "If you dare try anything, Ed, even if you’re my boss, I’ll kick you out."

"Understood, understood," Adrian laughed internally, she was just like that, never willing to be verbally outdone, even if... But this side of Charli was also interesting and lovable, wasn’t it?

"Goodnight." He kissed her on the back of her neck and then closed his eyes, and the room quieted down, and a peaceful night was about to pass by... right?

"...Ed."

"What’s up?"

"Can you... can you not let that... get in between my...?"

"Um... Oh, sorry, dear, but you know, some things don’t shift by the will of humans. Just now, you made me think of the scene of Gwyneth and Katherine passionately entwined, it’s only natural to react, right?"

"But still... isn’t it lasting too long?!"

"Oh, you know, I’ve always been proud of my stamina."

"Ed!"

"How about this, just ignore it and try to fall asleep as soon as you can. Once you’re asleep, you won’t feel it anymore."

"..."

"..."

"Hmm... I think using just hands isn’t enough, I don’t mean your hands aren’t skillful—in fact, the feeling is great—but it’s not enough to make me..."

"I’ll handle it, don’t get any other ideas!"

"But if you keep going like this for another half an hour, it won’t work, I won’t make any other moves, everything will be under your control, okay?"

"Ah! ...Ah!! ...Ah!!! ...Ed! How could you... on my... butt!"

"This... isn’t entirely my fault, you always told me to completely relax, and I did relax completely, how could I control myself in this situation?"

"This... Ah... What you’re doing... Ah!"

"Come on, we’ve done this before, and you really liked this intense, burning sensation, didn’t you?"

"Ed!"

----------------------------------------------------

The filming of the two movies continued under Adrian’s leadership, working overtime and catching up not only with the previously fallen behind schedule but even surpassing it by a lot. This relaxed many people, especially those like Dennis and Rush who had to commute between two sites; they were able to completely ease up quite a bit.

"My God, if I had another chance to choose, I would definitely not take on two roles at the same time," Rush said with a pledge, even though he had just finished shooting "Elizabeth" and still wore a grim expression on his face, the joy in his tone was very apparent.

Dennis wanted to say the same, but he didn’t vocalize it. Even if given another chance, could he refuse an invitation from Adrian? Moreover, his duties in the "Elizabeth" crew were far less compared to "Shakespeare in Love." Adrian, who had equally heavy responsibilities, didn’t complain, so how could he casually sigh about it?

Speaking of which, nobody in both crews didn’t admire Adrian. Although specific tasks were handed down to assistant directors, director assistants, and various department heads, a director’s job was still a lot. Yet Adrian, working almost the same amount in both crews, not only managed most of the affairs well but also maintained good spirits. Even if his glamorous secretary assistant had helped a lot, he was truly impressive, truly deserving of the title Miracle Director.

"To put it simply, when you’re dealing with things, just divide yourself in half, one half fully immersed in passionate creation and the other half calmly observing from the side, always reminding of mistakes," Adrian casually answered when someone asked.

Indeed, it was simple, but everyone’s reaction was to roll their eyes, jokingly. Who could achieve such a state? Even some master directors might not be able to manage.

"This entirely depends on personal insight, just like some drama school teachers will tell students that a director doesn’t need to draw storyboards, because that’s rigid, the real picture is in your head, which is actually a huge misunderstanding. Every director will draw storyboards when directing films, even Steven Spielberg, and the difference lies in how many they draw and whether they are detailed. The higher the director’s level, the fewer and rougher the storyboards they draw, but they definitely draw, depending on how much you understand and integrate. Of course, real master directors indeed don’t need to, but there are too few such people, and more often, those who don’t draw are just posturing," explained Adrian.

However, someone quickly wanted to tease him: "You draw some of your storyboards in great detail, does that mean your level isn’t very high?"

"My level certainly isn’t high," Adrian laughed in reply, "I just want to tell stories through films, not the meaning of life."

No one knew that he was also posturing, another kind of posturing. Had he not had the advantage of foresight, and had his experiences from two lifetimes not allowed him to maintain calm, clairvoyant thoughts, Adrian would have never intended to challenge himself by simultaneously starting production on two films.

Of course, though he postured in public, in private he was well aware of what he was doing, and he never denied it. Even though it took a lot of effort for Adrian to produce, or rather reproduce, these classic films, it wasn’t just about knowing a script that would sell well. Handing it over to someone who had seen the films did not guarantee it would sell well. Even with a remake, a lot of effort was required. Had it not been for his considerable past life experience and deep familiarity with these films, analyzing them over and over, and using low-budget films to hone his skills, he wouldn’t have been able to do it so smoothly.

However, this couldn’t change the fact that he produced these films because he knew in advance that they would sell well or receive high praise. To succeed, one had to have a clear understanding of oneself, otherwise no one would say that the greatest enemy is oneself. If one couldn’t even face these facts, even a fortunate success would soon lead to downfall.

Thus, Adrian was able to make big strides forward on his own path, unstoppable by anyone.

Okay, getting back to the current two film projects, all the accumulating internal issues had been resolved, but outside matters began to stir again. The Sun suddenly published a news article proclaiming that the Miracle Director was not making one film, but two separate films about Shakespeare and Elizabeth I!

It was the same old tactic, citing someone "in the know," but the report was quite detailed, for instance, about the two Miracle Girls, one playing Shakespeare’s lover and the other portraying Elizabeth I, rather than being from the previously speculated same film; and also revealed some plot details such as Shakespeare, who faced a creative drought, meeting a lover who could make his inspiration flow like a spring, and Elizabeth I’s transformation from a naive princess to the virgin queen.

This news immediately sparked an intense discussion among the UK media, with nearly everyone’s first reaction being disbelief. Although Adrian was known far and wide as the Miracle Director, and had already produced numerous miracles, and although Shakespeare and Elizabeth I lived in the same era, giving him a basis to shoot both films simultaneously, executing this was still extraordinarily difficult.

"Let’s imagine, since it’s simultaneous shooting, the director has to constantly run back and forth between two filming crews, and his thoughts also need to switch between the two films continuously. Maybe it could work initially, but over time, it’s easy to mix up the plots, which could lead to confusion and might ultimately stop production. Of course, if the two films had very similar plots, this problem would be lessened, but then what’s the point of Adrian shooting two films?" This was a comment from The Guardian.

Yes, he once set a record by making two and a half films in a year, not only released in the same year but also successful in terms of box office and critical reception. Even so, he worked on them separately. If he were a slower director, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but everyone knew his efficiency in filmmaking was second to none, so it was no wonder people were puzzled.

Some were very cautious, such as a critic named Marcos Pike who wrote in his column, "We must acknowledge that Adrian is indeed a director who often surprises us, always managing to achieve what seems impossible, even by ordinary standards. So if he’s really shooting two films at once, we shouldn’t be too shocked. We just need to know what kind of films they are."

This perspective also had an audience, especially since he had already created many miracles, the latest being Titanic, which continued to be shown in major theaters. Initially, many said he was insane, that he was spending money frivolously, but now, Titanic had broken the $600 million mark at the North American box office, and surpassed $1 billion internationally! It was undisputedly the highest-grossing film in history at the global box office.

Even so, the film still had room for growth, which was just unbelievable.

In such circumstances, one had to be more cautious with words, otherwise, Adrian might prove them wrong. Also, although many opinions and speculations had emerged following the report, they did not conflict too sharply, partly because the production team’s spokesman had said, when asked about the matter, that they had no comment on The Sun’s reporting.

This made it difficult for many mainstream media outlets to publish stories, allowing them to only skirt certain topics, but how could they compete with tabloids? Therefore, the tabloids, especially The Sun which first reported the story, were very active during this period, and their sales rose significantly.

Interestingly though, although The Sun vowed to dig deeper, its subsequent reports did not indulge in wild speculation or mock as they had done before with reports about the "child king." This left many puzzled. Weren’t they the ones who specialized in digging up celebrity secrets and various gossips? How had they changed now?

However, after the report came out in The Sun, some of the production team’s managers immediately advised Adrian to tighten up management. Although Adrian agreed, he didn’t take it to heart and then did nothing further. Considering who their boss was and who The Sun’s boss was, everything became very clear.

Even though The Sun had also reported on Murdoch’s gossip to show it treated everyone equally, those lightly touched-up gossips did not impact Murdoch. Only a fool would believe that the media is uncontrollable.

In fact, they guessed right. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation.)