Chapter 373

"You surprised me again, Eide, although you've surprised me many times." After looking away from the crowd, Spielberg suddenly said with a sigh.

"Maybe it's because I'm different from you and Stanley in some ways." Adriaan shrugged and did not react much.

"That's what surprised me the most." Spielberg shook his head and said, "Of course, I know you're different from Stanley and me, Eide, but you can convince Stanley to take over his new film, and it's almost completed. I know Stanley, he's slower than anyone else when it comes to making movies. He's too perfectionist, and every film will take at least one or two years to complete. That's why he has so few films, but you … "

He sat down and did not continue, but looked at Adriaan with bright eyes, as if waiting for his explanation.

"It's just persuasion. We'll only know the specifics after the production is completed. Maybe it'll be very different from what Stanley wants to express, or maybe it'll really become a second-rate pornographic film like some media said. Who knows?" Adriaan waved his hand exaggeratedly and did not directly answer Spielberg's question. Anyway, he did not ask directly.

"Don't think I'm a fool, Eide." Spielberg laughed. "I said I know Stanley. If he didn't see something in you that he approved of, he would never agree to let another director take over his work, even if he might leave this world with regret. He's more stubborn than you think."

"Well … Okay, to be honest, I've read 'Dream Stories' before, but that was when I was in university." Adriaan scratched his head and smiled bitterly. "The tabloids should have told you that I was a complete prodigal at that time. This book was also read as a pornographic novel. After I pulled myself together, as I went deeper into the film production, many of my views gradually changed. Coupled with some of my own personality, when I read this novel again, I had a completely different feeling. For example, the inexplicable sense of crisis between husband and wife. "

Upon hearing this, Spielberg suddenly softly said, "Oh." Then, a look of understanding appeared on his face. Adriaan also laughed. His reputation as a playboy was basically known to everyone. However, people in the entertainment industry knew it better than ordinary people. Not to mention that two of Spielberg's goddaughters had slept with him.

"At that time, I had the idea of turning it into a movie, but I also knew that Stanley had already gotten the rights to adapt it. Besides, Stanley and I had different ideas, so I just thought about it. That day, I heard from Clarkson that he unfortunately had a stroke and was bedridden. He might not be able to complete the movie." Adriaan continued, "At first, I just wanted to give it a try. After all, it was a good opportunity. Later, I got to know more about Stanley's life, and my interest grew. However, it was no longer about how to get the production rights from Stanley, but how to make it into a movie that Stanley wanted."

Speaking of this, he paused, looked at Spielberg, and took this opportunity to weigh his words before continuing, "Maybe I wanted to prove myself, or maybe I just wanted to pay tribute to Stanley. After all, he was a director with a unique style. For this reason, I locked myself in my room for five days and came up with some ideas based on the script. Fortunately, these ideas were approved by Stanley, and I finally got the guide for 'Eyes Wide Shut'."

Letting out a long sigh, Adriaan smiled and patted Spielberg, who was thinking about his words. "Well, Steven, don't delve into these things anymore. Sometimes, even I don't understand it. Those pictures seem to appear in my mind out of thin air, and all I have to do is connect them together. Maybe I'm fundamentally different from you in some ways, but I'm also fundamentally the same in some ways. So, let's change the topic. Today is the premiere of your new work. I missed the visit and the test screening. I can't miss this. "

"Okay, then let's go in." Spielberg, who originally wanted to say something, let out a sigh, then smiled and made a gesture of invitation. He couldn't help but sigh. A few years ago, Adrian was still respectfully asking him to play "Jurassic Park" for a long time in his office. Now, he vaguely felt like he was looking up to him.

Spielberg sought out Katzenberg and Geffen to set up DreamWorks. He wanted to expand in the business world because he had won the Oscar for Best Director with Schindler's List. He had achieved success and fame at the same time, and he had also been influenced by Adrian. Unexpectedly, after they formed a new company, Adriaan's AC Media had acquired ABC and became a large media group.

Well, maybe Spielberg couldn't compare with him in business, but he still had his say in film production. However, Adriaan quickly became the youngest Oscar winner for Best Director, and now he was recognized by Stanley Kubrick to produce an unfinished film for him. Spielberg had heard about the condition that the film could not be released without Kubrick's approval. What's more, the script of the film that premiered today came from Adriaan. Spielberg suddenly felt old. No wonder he asked so many questions.

However, he quickly adjusted himself. Although Adriaan was young, there was only one person like him, so it didn't matter if he had to look up to him in the future. Spielberg was a good businessman, and AC Media also owned DreamWorks. Adriaan had always respected him, so why should he care about this?

Adriaan was clear about Spielberg's thoughts, so he tried his best to make up such a long story. Just now, he realized that he had gone too far. From the moment he took over the film, some directors and producers who were familiar with him were surprised by his behavior. Many people knew Kubrick's style in film production. What would people think if he made a film that was "almost" similar to Kubrick's style in such a short time?

Even if he was a miracle director, even if he had created many miracles, even if people would always subconsciously find explanations for the unexplainable, but … one had to know that Adrian's purpose for taking over wasn't just for Nicole Kidman. He also wanted to use this opportunity to add more brilliance to his halo. If he added too much, it would be too dazzling, and he wouldn't be able to reach this level in the future, which wasn't a good thing.

Adriaan was able to get to where he was today smoothly. In addition to the advantages of luck and rebirth, he was always calm, able to control his desires, and able to do things as flawlessly as possible.

Of course, these were all possible things, which meant that they might not happen, but there was no harm in being cautious. So instead of letting people speculate, it was better to take the initiative to explain and lead the topic. As long as a well-known person in the circle accepted his explanation and spoke for him, then even if there was a problem, it would be much smaller. And Spielberg was a good target.

Well, now was not the time to talk about this, and this could not be done in one or two times. So after finding his seat, Adriaan chatted and laughed with others while waiting for the movie to start. The main show tonight was the premiere of "Saving Private Ryan."

Needless to say, the opening ten minutes were still very violent, bloody, and realistic. Although the fierce scene at Omaha Beach was not 100% replicated, it was more brutal than the battle scenes in any other war movie. DreamWorks Animation put in a lot of effort for this premiere, and they specially communicated with the cinema. The sound effects were excellent, making people feel as if they were on the scene. There was even a woman who screamed when the flamethrower was hit and exploded.

Spielberg's control of the rhythm was indeed first-class. After the fierce scene, people did not relax. The appearance of rows of female typists and the random narration with a heavy feeling continued to capture the hearts of the audience. He also knew how to cater to the mainstream American values, such as Ryan's mother receiving three death notices at the same time, and the subsequent debate about whether to rescue the youngest child, which reached a climax when Eisenhower took out Lincoln's letter.

Needless to say, Captain Miller, played by Tom Hanks, led eight people on a journey of rescue. Along the way, all kinds of things happened one after another. The cruelty and coincidence of war, and the paradox of eight people rescuing one, were all reflected one by one. When they finally found the youngest Ryan, he refused to leave, saying that he had received orders to guard the bridge, and here he showed his responsibility as a man.

This was a difficult battle, perhaps not as intense as the previous battle scenes, but the cruelty was no less than the landing battle at the beginning. Especially when the German soldier stabbed the dagger bit by bit into the body of a member of the squad of eight during the fight, Adrian heard the long-awaited cry of surprise again.

The movie finally ended, and the eight-man team was wiped out. Ryan survived in the end, and then followed Captain Miller's instructions to live well, marry a wife, and have children. Steven Spielberg was indeed a first-class director to be able to flatter the mainstream American values, and at the same time, show the cruel war scenes to oppose the war. Even Adriaan couldn't help but think, "What a pity."

However, he quickly adjusted himself. There were many good movies, and he kept a lot of good things for himself, so this didn't prevent him from praising it in the lounge afterward. "Very good. Although I know this will be an excellent movie, it still exceeded my expectations. If I were to direct it, it definitely wouldn't have such an effect."

"If someone else said this, I would definitely agree, but you …" Spielberg shrugged, and his half-joking look seemed to have some hidden meaning.

"I'm serious, Steven." Adriaan shook his head. "For example, after the landing battle, Captain Miller holds a kettle with trembling hands and drinks water. I imagined this scene when I was writing the first draft. In my mind, it should be from top to bottom, first showing his trembling hands holding the kettle, and then his somewhat unfocused eyes. But your idea is obviously better. "

He said this sincerely, because this was originally produced by Spielberg. In his previous life, he had a deep impression of this scene, and it naturally emerged in his mind when he was writing the first draft. Now, although this version was still produced by Spielberg, there was a lot of change. He chose to cut in from the side, and then switched fast and slow when Captain Miller raised his head to drink water. As a result, this scene felt more like a survivor of a disaster.

There were several more scenes in the whole movie that changed and became better, so Adriaan sighed.

"And Tommy's excellent acting." Spielberg laughed. "He was at his peak at that time, and that's why there was such an effect. When we repeated the scene the next day, we couldn't reach that situation again."

"That's true. It looks like you'll have another masterpiece, Tommy," Adriaan turned his head and said to Hanks.

"Thank you. It's my honor to work with you." Hanks was as humble as ever.

"Hey, Steven, is Tommy flattering you?" Adriaan raised his eyebrows and asked deliberately.

"Generally, we never deny our credit, so … it should be," Spielberg said with a smile.

"Fine. Well then …" Hanks had a helpless look on his face. "Do you feel honored to work with me, directors?"

Adriaan and Spielberg looked at each other, and then the three of them burst into laughter. After talking for a few more minutes, the number of guests in the lounge began to decrease. Perhaps the number of reporters outside had also decreased with the end of the movie, so Adriaan said goodbye and left. But he was not going back.

"Hey, Rui Fan, Joaquin, how have you been?" He went straight to the Phoenix brothers.

"Hi, Eide, it's nice to see you." Rui Fan smiled and shook hands with Adriaan. He had always been grateful to him.

"I have to say, you both did very well in today's movie, although you didn't appear for long." Adriaan patted the two of them.

Joaquin Phoenix played the doctor in the eight-man team, and he was the first to die. Rui Fan played the person who was saved, and he only appeared at the end of the movie. Although they didn't appear in the movie for long, their performances were eye-catching.

"Thank you. It's all thanks to your recommendation." Rui Fan shrugged.

"Come on, Rui Fan, I'm not blind. The media's evaluation of you is almost back to what it used to be," Adriaan said with a smile and shook his head.

Although the slow pace of Gunner's Wire was criticized a lot, and the showdown between the two Best Actors also attracted most people's attention, Rui Fan still had a lot of highlights. After that, he acted in a low-budget movie. This time, he played the role of an honest young man who was seduced into committing a crime in his ignorance. Then, he struggled desperately to jump out of the trap. It was a far cry from his previous slightly unrestrained image on the screen.

Although the movie didn't do much at the box office, its reputation was quite good, especially Rui Fan's performance, which was praised by many critics. The negative news about him being hospitalized for drug abuse was almost erased.

"Frankly speaking, you and Joaquin are both very good. Silver's debut film is about to be released. If it weren't for the fact that you two are his brothers, I might have arranged for it to be released before Saving Private Ryan," Adriaan said jokingly.

As one of the two prime movie seasons of the year, how could Adriaan not arrange for a movie to make money? He had been waiting for The Sixth Sense for a long time. As the youngest child of the Phoenix family, Silver had inherited a lot of acting skills. His performance in the movie was definitely not inferior to that of Haley Joe Osmond.

"We're very grateful to you, Eide, really," Joaquin said, pretending to be serious.

"Thank you on behalf of Silver," Rui Fan said with a smile, shaking his head for his brother.

"If you really want to thank me, you might as well talk to Silver. He's very talented in acting, but his greatest interest is in singing. Well, there are indeed a lot of people who make movies and record albums. You two probably occasionally make a guest appearance in Keanu's band, right? But if you develop both at the same time, the final result may be mediocre in both. " Adriaan said, "Personally, I really hope that he can go further in acting, but it also depends on his own choice. If he really wants to develop both at the same time, it doesn't matter. Maybe he can achieve amazing achievements in both areas in the future."

"I'll talk to him, Eide." After exchanging a look with Joaquin, Rui Fan nodded and promised.

"Great." Adriaan clapped his hands and then looked at Rui Fan with a smile. "So, let's talk about you, Rui Fan."

"Me?" Rui Fan looked at him in confusion. "Is there anything else?"

"A role." Adriaan's smile did not change. "A good role. I don't think there's a role more suitable than you, so I really hope that you can agree to it."

As he said that, he spread out his hands to Joaquin. "Sorry, Joaquin, there are no main characters in this movie who died before they met."

"Well … it doesn't matter …" Joaquin immediately laughed.

This joke came from Spielberg. He once complained to Adriaan that although Rui Fan and Joaquin did not look very similar, they could still be seen as brothers when they stood together. So, Spielberg had a headache about how to arrange them. This was originally a story about saving the Ryan family's youngest child, so it was obviously not appropriate to let two brothers die on the battlefield together. So, after much consideration, he finally arranged for Joaquin to die first.

"May I know what kind of role it is?" Rui Fan interrupted.

"It's very simple, an upright policeman," Adriaan replied with a smile. "An upright Los Angeles policeman in the 1950s."