"Put together a movie for the May holiday slot."
There was even a trace of exhaustion in Mr. Harold's voice.
The main reason was simple: the New Year season had been far too disappointing.
And May did not look much better either. There was no obvious blockbuster on the horizon. If two major box-office windows collapsed back-to-back like that, then the industry really would become a joke.
To borrow a famous line from an old football captain, national cinema had completely lost its shame.
"Mr. Harold, you can't treat me like a workhorse, can you? The movie I'm filming right now still needs at least another month before we wrap. You can't seriously expect me to throw together an entire film in two months."
Alex sat back down. If Nadia had still been around, she would probably have offered her lap as a pillow at exactly this moment, thoughtful and attentive as always.
Unfortunately, his current assistant was Luna.
And their relationship had not reached that stage.
Besides, even though Luna had only appeared on a talent show once, she was not so naïve that she knew nothing about Alex's reputation online. Anyone who had ever spent time on the internet had heard at least a little about his romantic scandals. So, during the nearly one month since she had taken over as his assistant, Luna had always maintained a cautious attitude toward him.
Yet after that month passed, Luna gradually discovered something that left her strangely uncomfortable.
Alex seemed to have absolutely no interest in her.
Of course, the pressure from filming One Punch Man had already drained him enough. If he wanted to release some stress, he would naturally look for someone like Emily or Scarlett, women who could understand his intentions with a single glance, sparks already waiting for dry firewood.
Why would he waste energy teasing a young girl he had only just officially met?
That would be a waste of his damn time.
And that, somehow, made the whole thing even harder for Luna to accept.
She might not have much confidence in other parts of herself, but she knew very well that the most valuable thing she had was her face. Back in her hometown, she had practically been the prettiest girl in the whole area.
"Who is the boss talking to on the phone?"
Luna asked Will, the actor playing the second male lead, in a quiet voice.
Will jumped as if he had been shocked and hurriedly took two steps back.
Luna stared at him, utterly baffled.
Was she some kind of monster? Why was his reaction so exaggerated?
What Luna did not know was that, although her official identity was only that of an assistant, everyone on set had already placed her in a very delicate category in their minds. With a face that pretty, and with Alex's personality taken into account, almost anyone would reach the same conclusion.
Because of that, young actors like Will and Perry instinctively kept their distance from her, afraid that one careless misunderstanding might draw Alex's attention in the worst possible way.
"Mr. Harold."
Only after retreating a full three meters away from Luna did Will feel a faint sense of safety return. Then he answered in a low voice.
"Who is Mr. Harold?"
Luna blinked her large, watery eyes.
Will fell silent.
Director Alex's newly hired assistant… could she actually be a little slow? How could someone working in this industry not know who Mr. Harold was?
After that New Year season filled with bad movies, the entire film industry's expectations for upcoming releases had been raised to an almost unreasonable level.
Alex truly did not want to throw himself into the line of fire at a time like this. Even as someone who had crossed over from another world, he did not dare guarantee that every movie he made would explode at the box office.
Mr. Harold spoke as though heaven itself had placed a grand mission on Alex's shoulders, as if no one besides him could save national cinema.
Alex felt speechless inside.
He had no interest in saving the national film market.
Just as even a legendary singer could not single-handedly save an entire music scene, he, Alex, could not save an entire film industry either. Carrying that kind of burden would be exhausting.
All he wanted was to properly expand his two-dimensional entertainment empire and spread otaku culture to a wider audience.
As for saving national cinema, that sounded like a job better left to The Wandering Blue Star.
On the other end of the call, Mr. Harold fell into thought for a long while before asking, "I recently heard that they're working on a film overseas, and the screenwriter seems to be you. It isn't just someone with the same name, is it?"
Alex silently rolled his eyes.
He had not expected the old man to investigate things so clearly.
That was right. It was Initial D, the script he had sold to Jaylen.
When some people in the industry saw the screenwriter credit, they did not immediately connect it to Alex. Most assumed it was just someone else with the same name. After all, if it really was this Alex, why would he not star in it himself? Why would he not be involved in the filming?
"Uh… yes. It was me."
To be honest, the fact that no one had connected the film to him was exactly what Alex had wanted.
After all, he was not especially optimistic about a heavily trimmed version of Initial D that had removed an important male supporting character from the original and cut away a large amount of Keisuke Takahashi's essence. But Alex had no way to change that. The pacing of the original anime's first season was already tight, and forcing it all into a two-hour film meant that this adaptation was already pushing the limit.
Compared to the disaster that would come from cramming Attack on Titan into a single film, this was practically a masterpiece.
Even so, replicating the miracle of Death Note was impossible.
If it could reach a little over a billion at the box office, that would already be quite good.
"Then do this. Find a way to help promote this movie. As for your own new film, release it during the summer holiday slot."
Mr. Harold gave the suggestion calmly.
Alex's face darkened.
He liked Emily, but that did not mean he wanted to become Emily. Why work himself to death like that?
However, Mr. Harold did not offer only empty words. He immediately promised Alex that when his film was released, it would receive at least a thirty-five percent screening share.
Alex nearly laughed in disbelief.
That much consideration?
Back when major patriotic productions were released, their screening share was only around forty-five percent. Giving Alex thirty-five percent was, without exaggeration, an enormous show of respect.
"Which one are you planning to shoot?"
When Alex suddenly went silent, Mr. Harold immediately knew the boy was tempted and asked impatiently.
"If I want to play it safe, Your Name. If I want to break records, Cells at Work or Dragon Maid."
After thinking for a short moment, Alex replied.
A campus romance like Your Name had the broadest audience. But precisely because of that, it carried its own problem: there were far too many bad films in that genre. For most viewers, the moment they saw labels like school, youth, and romance, they would swipe away on the spot and mentally mark the movie as another piece of trash.
Still, Alex had great confidence in Makoto's representative work. Reaching the two-billion range, perhaps even breaking through three billion, should not be too difficult.
Cells at Work and Dragon Maid, on the other hand, carried the taste of risk. They were gambles made on a blade's edge.
Everything would depend on whether they could break out of their niche.
If they broke out, they might be able to recreate the kind of box-office miracle that had once stunned an entire market in his previous life.
If they failed to break out… then the box office would be hard to predict.
And in the worst-case scenario, if the audience could not accept that kind of style at all, the film might die a brutal death.
"Which one do you want to choose?"
Mr. Harold also thought for a while, but in the end he decided to respect Alex's decision. There were already too many examples of foolish investors forcefully interfering with creative works and turning promising projects into unrecognizable disasters.
Besides, he was not Alex's client.
After a brief moment of thought, Alex answered, "Then…"
While the filming of One Punch Man continued, it unsurprisingly triggered massive discussion online.
After all, with the shadow and pressure of its predecessor, Bleach, hanging over it, the project was destined never to be ordinary.
Yet just as the public's attention was fixed on One Punch Man, the official account of the two-dimensional film and television division suddenly announced another piece of news.
Alex's new film, Cells at Work, had officially entered development.
The audience members who were still discussing what kind of work One Punch Man would be received the news almost immediately.
"Holy crap! How is he this productive? This is exactly the kind of man I like."
"I already thought One Punch Man was a pretty unusual title, but now he's brought out something even more abstract. I can't guess what kind of movie this is at all."
"The New Year season tortured me half to death. Alex, you scumbag, you're going to save national cinema, right?"
"Scumbag? Show some respect. Call him Brother Alex!"
"This one should definitely be released domestically, right? I'm still waiting for the second half of Death Note."
"Bro, did you just get internet access? The HD version has been out for ages. There's even 1080p."
From the title One Punch Man, people could at least vaguely guess that it was probably a passionate action battle series. But Cells at Work…
Everyone stared at the title in confusion.
What the hell was that supposed to be?
If it was not a martial arts or action film, then it did not seem to be the kind of project Alex was best at. Could this be the one where he finally crashed?
Yet the moment that thought appeared in the minds of many netizens, they immediately slapped themselves for it.
Death Note had not been an action film either. Had it not still created a box-office miracle?
And that was not the end of it. Soon after, Jaylen's management company released an official announcement.
Initial D, written by Alex and starring Jaylen, had been scheduled for the May holiday slot.
In an instant, countless netizens cried out over the dream collaboration. For fans of both sides, it felt like two favorite worlds had suddenly collided.
Just like many people in the industry before them, when they saw the screenwriter of Jaylen's new film listed as "Alex," most of them assumed it was just someone with the same name.
After all, if it really was that Alex, why would he not direct it himself?
And Jaylen was the lead actor too.
No matter how one looked at it, that alone should have been explosive news.
But regardless of the reason, seeing two giants from the film and music industries cooperate on the same project was enough to give countless movie fans, who had been tortured nearly to death by the miserable New Year season, a new reason to look forward to May.
After finishing his discussion with Mr. Harold, Alex called Jaylen directly and asked about the filming progress.
Since Mr. Harold wanted Alex to find a way to raise the heat around this racing film, the best methods were simple. Either Alex personally stepped in as director, or he appeared in the film as an actor.
The first option was not very realistic. The current director had already been filming for quite some time. Kicking him out all of a sudden would be a little too excessive. Besides, the man was fairly capable and had not made any serious mistakes.
As for the second option… the movie had already been filming for nearly two months. How could there still be any meaningful role left unassigned?
Even so, Daniel, who had taken over the role of Ryosuke Takahashi, silently swallowed.
Although his face might be one of the few capable of threatening Alex's in terms of looks, when it came to box-office appeal, Alex could leave him eight streets behind without even trying.
If Alex opened his mouth and said he wanted Daniel's role, both the investors and the producers would immediately tell Daniel to get lost.
"Relax. He doesn't want your role."
After finishing the call with Alex, Jaylen turned to Daniel and reassured him.
"Really? Whew…"
Daniel let out a long breath of relief, but curiosity quickly appeared on his face.
"Then which role is he playing? It can't be Kyoichi Sudo, right?"
The moment those words came out, Jordan, the actor playing that role, shuddered.
Damn. No way, right?
Jaylen smiled bitterly.
"No, not that either. He said he wants to play the guy driving the Mercedes."
Pfft.
The moment he said that, the main cast members nearly choked on their own saliva.
Even Jaylen himself was speechless.
Especially because Alex had also said, "If the 86 can climb a mountain, then the Mercedes can climb a tree," and "No matter how fast the 86 is, it still can't catch up to uncle's Mercedes."
Jaylen simply did not know how to react anymore.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Additionally, more chapters exclusive content are available on Patreon: https://patreon.com/ImmortalEmperor?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
- CHRONICLES OF THE ICE SOVEREIGN
-PLAYING ANIME LEGENDS
-THE OTHER WORLD'S ANIMATOR
Join now and help shape the future of the story while enjoying special rewards!