Chapter 400

It was not surprising that the British media and critics reacted so fiercely. Although Adriaan had a British grandmother, although he was a British citizen, and although his first movie was shot in London and full of British black humor, he was still an American!

Britain and the United States were allies in politics, but most of the time they looked down on each other culturally. Americans felt that the British were hypocritical and rigid, while the British felt that the Americans were rude and uneducated. As time went on, it would be unimaginable if they didn't quarrel with each other. Perhaps this strange situation was ridiculous in the eyes of outsiders, but it was normal for the middle class in Britain and the United States.

As an American, Adriaan's movies all had a strong Cult style, and he even won the Palme d 'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Such a person wanted to adapt Edward Morgan Foster's work, one of the most famous novels, "Howard Manor," which was known for its freshness and elegance, to the screen. It was a joke on God! It was no wonder that the British media were so indignant and almost one-sided.

As for the American media, they were very embarrassed. Generally speaking, they should speak for their own people, but this time Adriaan was really too whimsical. If the style of this novel was even the slightest bit similar to the style of his previous movies, they would defend him, but the fact was …

"To be frank, we are looking forward to seeing a different and different 'Howard Manor,' full of bloody violence and black humor, in a few months. It must be very cool." It did not mean that the tabloids could not speak, but such comments would only add fuel to the fire.

With this clue, it was much easier to find the clues. To adapt this novel to the big screen, they had to rent the manor. Unless there were special circumstances, the rented manor could not be too far away from London. So, after some effort, the reporters finally came to the door.

"I hope you can keep it up. The scenes in the manor are about to end. Don't let these guys disturb you. Of course, I will also send people to chase them far away. " Adriaan had the reporters driven away and called Hopkins and the others for a small meeting in the living room.

Although he was aware of the situation outside and had made some preparations, he still did not expect the reporters to come so quickly. It was indeed the birthplace of the paparazzi.

"I don't think it will be a problem," Hopkins said first.

After the reporters appeared, Adriaan briefly told him and Thompson about the situation outside, especially the British media's criticism of him and them. Because Hopkins and Thompson were British, the British media were much more tolerant of them. Except that they did not dare to cooperate with this "stupid" and "arrogant" director, they almost did not say anything else. Most of the criticism was focused on Adriaan.

Hopkins knew that Adriaan was seeking support. He and Thompson were the most important actors in the crew. After working together for a period of time, he had already acknowledged this genius director in his heart. Naturally, he would support him.

"Yes, it's not a difficult task," Thompson added. Although she had expected such a situation to happen when she chose to work with Adrian, she still agreed in the end. Adrian gave her a strange feeling when he brought little Emma along. Her intuition made her believe that she could work with such a person. As for the risk, as a talented actress who was preparing to become a producer, how could she not know that every movie was risky?

With the support of the two leading actors and the most important supporting actor, Kate would certainly stand on her boyfriend's side. The other actors and staff also chimed in. After the internal team was united, Adriaan waved his hand, and the whole crew began to work again.

The reporters were very reluctant to be driven away, but there was nothing they could do for the time being. The view outside the manor was very wide, and the camera would capture a lot of things when shooting long-distance shots. If the reporters accidentally broke in, it would be understandable if they did it once or twice, but if they did it too many times, they would get into trouble. Therefore, no matter what kind of reporters they were interviewing, they would not deliberately disturb the shooting. This was also one of the unspoken rules.

Even so, they still took pictures from afar, and then wrote down what they saw and heard and sent it back. Of course, there was no lack of embellishment, so the British media became more aggressive.

"Obviously, Adriaan is very confident in himself. He stubbornly refuses to reveal any information related to the movie, and chases the reporters far away. Although it seems like — yes, it seems like — he spent a lot of time on the costumes and props, the deep meaning contained in Forster's novel can't be expressed with a few fancy costumes and contemporary props. Oh, it's really unfortunate for the whole of England that no director wants to adapt this novel into a movie, "a report in the famous British tabloid The Sun wrote.

Although as an entertainment tabloid, it was quite funny to raise the matter to such a high level. Don't forget that sensationalism has always been the purpose of The Sun, even if it was still a few years away from its most arrogant period.

However, Adriaan, who was busy shooting in the manor, did not care about this. He was now focusing all his energy on his work, and there was no need to refute. It was already like this, no matter how much he said, it would be better to wait for a few months and let the facts speak for themselves. Besides, the criticism caused by the film was within Laffern's plan. For a movie to achieve a high box office, marketing accounted for at least 40% of the credit. If there was no marketing, how could the audience obediently pay to go to the cinema? How could the film critics pay attention to the movie? This was why many new directors who wanted to make a name for themselves liked to make movies with easily controversial themes. The economy of eyeballs existed from the day the media appeared.

The budget of Howard Manor was about 10 million dollars, and this was because Hopkins only took 4 million dollars for the sake of Forster's novel. Otherwise, with his status as a new Oscar winner, he would definitely be paid more than this. As a film with a literary plot adapted from a British novel, such a high budget was already relatively dangerous. If a lot of money was spent on publicity, it was very likely that the cost would not be recovered. After all, this kind of movie was too niche.

In this case, he had to find a way to do some free but effective publicity, such as causing a huge controversy as mentioned before. People's curiosity would never fade, and the more controversy there was, the more people wanted to see it. However, Adriaan did not need to shoot some taboo themes. Just the gimmick of a director famous for gangsters and violence directing a fresh and elegant literary film in the style of the Victorian era was enough to attract attention.

These things were handled by Laffern. Adriaan only needed to ensure the quality of the film, so no matter how much the British media criticized it, it was none of his business. The only thing that made him feel lucky was that Emma had been picked up by his aunt three days before the reporters arrived. Although she did nothing but play every day, it was not appropriate for her to stay on the film set for a long time. Otherwise, God knew what the media would write, which would not be good for the little fellow.

Emma was very unhappy when she left. As for the reason, it was obvious. After that night, the little fellow desperately snuggled into his arms when it was time to sleep. During the day, she completely clung to him, as if she was announcing that this was her territory, and no one was allowed to invade it.

In this regard, Adriaan could only shrug helplessly. Fortunately, no matter how reluctant the little fellow was, even if she looked at him when she left, she still left the manor in the end. So that night, he "grabbed" Kate back to the dormitory and had a good time with her.

Unfortunately, only a few days later, the reporters who were sharper than dogs came again. Although he could block them outside the manor, although they did not dare to disturb the filming, there were still situations where they took photos with the long lens during breaks. If an intimate scene was filmed, it would be somewhat troublesome. So although he wanted to continue, he hesitated again and again and suppressed it.

"Anyway, the most important thing now is work, so let's wait until we return to London." Kate comforted him in private, which made Adriaan a little surprised. After all, when they were making out that night, she kicked and struggled for a long time before she was tamed.

Aware of his thoughts, Kate immediately made a face at him, turned around, and ran away. Adrian shrugged his shoulders and threw the matter to the back of his mind. Kate was right. Let's talk about it after I finish my work.

The extra reporters did not affect the operation of the crew. After all, they could only observe from a distance, and they would not take photos during the filming. As for the various attacks that were spread to the crew because of them, although it caused some minor disturbances among the British employees, it was basically dissatisfaction and indignation. Although most of the British employees had worked with Adriaan for the first time and had only worked with the crew for three weeks, they still thought that such words were completely irresponsible.

"Don't be angry. We just need to do the work at hand." Adriaan saw it and comforted them more than once. As long as there were no internal doubts, any problems would be solved.

After the reporters swarmed in, it took about another five days. When it was officially July, the scenes of the manor were finally finished. But Adriaan was only slightly relieved. Because the plan was disrupted, he was afraid that there would be a lot of difficulties in the shooting of the remaining scenes.

These scenes had to be filmed in the city. Although there were many locations to choose from in London, after all, it was not as convenient as the studios and movie studios in Hollywood. If they ran around, there would be opportunities for the reporters to take advantage of.

Generally speaking, if the reporters waited outside the crew for a few days without getting much news, after leaving a few people to pay attention to the situation, most of the reporters would leave, and this was a treatment that only big productions had. But it had been five or six days, and the reporters waiting far away had not decreased. Obviously, they were determined to dig up something.