As for the third installment, Chronicle 2, Chen Chen was going to experiment with the capabilities of the USB drive.
In a private room in a five-star hotel in Los Angeles, Chen Chen sat casually on a chair and tapped on the laptop in front of him.
The room seemed to be filled with the fragrance of sandalwood. Chen Chen could not help but frown when he smelled it.
After a while, there was a soft knock on the door of the private room.
"Come in."
Chen Chen did not look up and only said lightly.
Immediately, two beautiful waitresses walked in.
One of them was holding a silver tray with a bottle of Romanee-Conti on it. The other was holding several crystal containers that had been polished until they were shiny.
"Sir, the wine you ordered."
The older waitress said politely, "Would you like me to open it for you now?"
"Open it. But when the people I invited arrive, remember not to pour me any wine. Just add water to my glass," Chen Chen said without looking up.
"Yes."
Although Chen Chen's request was a little strange, it was at most a quirk of the rich. The waitress who had undergone rigorous training did as she was told without any hesitation.
As the wine that had been sealed for twenty-one years was opened, the room was instantly filled with a rich fragrance – this was not one of those cheap knockoffs in the bar, this was the real thing, Romanee-Conti 2002.
In this year, Romanee-Conti produced a total of 6,100 bottles of wine and this was one of them.
After pulling the cork out, the older waitress observed the wine inside under the light with great familiarity. After confirming that there was no sediment floating to the surface, she slowly poured the wine into the decanter.
At once, ruby-like liquid flowed out of the bottle. Under the reflection of the overhead lights, it emitted a magnificent luster...
Exquisite carpets, gorgeous crystal lamps, and the splendid decorations in the room, coupled with the rich and strong wine fragrance, together painted a dreamy scene that was like a poem or a painting.
However, just as the waitress carefully poured the red wine, a flurry of footsteps suddenly came from outside the door. Only then did Chen Chen look up.
In the next second, there was another knock on the door of the private room.
"Come in."
Without needing Chen Chen's reminder, another waitress opened the door of the private room. At this time, there were two men of European and American descent standing outside the door.
"La Romanee-Conti, oh my god, did I go to the wrong box?"
The two men were not old, at most 35 or 36 years old. As the two of them entered the room, one of them whistled, "This smell is definitely not wrong. Let me guess which year this is from, 10 years? Year 08? "
"It's from 2002."
Chen Chen stood up from his seat. "I was the one who invited you. You didn't come to the wrong room."
"Josh Trank." The carefree man shook Chen Chen's hand. "The 2002 Romanee-Conti isn't cheap. You're too kind."
"It's nothing. The reason why I chose this year is because I was born in this year."
Chen Chen shrugged and turned to the horse-faced man. "You must be Mr. Max Landis. I've heard a lot about you."
"Thank you." The other horse-faced man was obviously distracted.
After pouring the wine into the decanter, the waiters once again served the fruit platters and left, leaving the space for the three of them.
"I believe the two of you already know why I invited you here."
Chen Chen took a contract from the table and handed it to the carefree man. This man was none other than the director of the movie Chronicle, Josh Trank.
After reading the contract, Trank could not help but raise his eyebrows. Then, he handed it to the horse-faced man beside him, who was the screenwriter of Chronicle, Max Landis.
From Chen Chen's perspective, it was obvious that the relationship between the two was not very good. It could even be said that there was some animosity between them. At this time, they were just maintaining a polite facade.
After handing the contract to Landis, Trank smiled. "How surprising. You're willing to spend tens of millions to buy the movie rights from that bloodsucker at Fox Pictures. This is comparable to the investment of a movie. Does it have that much potential in your heart?"
"I just love this movie too much."
Chen Chen said solemnly, "When I first saw this movie, I was amazed because it encompassed almost all of my childhood dreams. So, I've been looking forward to the day when there would be a sequel to it."
"So, after finding out that it was hopeless, you decided to invest in the movie yourself?" Trank added with a smile.
Chen Chen nodded and personally poured wine for the two of them. "Although there's not enough time to sober up, it's about time for you to taste it..."
The two of them took the goblets and expressed their thanks.
"I believe that to the two of you, this movie is like your child." Chen Chen continued. "Although I've bought the rights, if I have a choice, I still hope that the second movie will still be directed by the two of you."
With that, Chen Chen took out two more contracts and handed one to each of them. "Mr. Trank, this time, I'll invest one hundred million US dollars in the early stages of the movie. If that's not enough, I can increase it. As for your salary, I'll pay you an additional ten million US dollars. This money can be transferred to your account at any time. Regardless of the final box office of the movie, as long as you do your best, that's enough."
"As for Mr. Landis."
Chen Chen looked at the horse-faced man. "As the screenwriter of this movie, I'll give you a salary of three million US dollars. All you have to do is come up with an excellent story based on the framework I've given you. Can you do that?"
The two of them exchanged a glance when they heard this. They were somewhat surprised by Chen Chen's generosity. The price Chen Chen offered was almost the same as that of a top-tier director or screenwriter in Hollywood.
"I'm very satisfied with this price. As long as you don't have any other special requests, I'm fine with it." Trank agreed readily.
"Wait..."
However, Landis, who was beside them, mused, "When you said to give me a framework, do you mean that I can't create an original story?"
"Yes."
Chen Chen nodded and said solemnly, "I'll give you a general framework, such as the beginning and ending of the second movie. You can fill in the framework with appropriate details, but you can't violate it."
Landis immediately fell silent when he heard this.
Looking at Landis who seemed to be struggling internally, Chen Chen calmly took a sip of water and made no move to persuade him.
The reason why he hired these two again was just to add an additional layer of insurance.
Since the first movie they filmed could be stored in the USB drive, then under the current situation where the director, screenwriter, and even the lead actor remained the same, the second movie should also be accepted by the USB drive... Right?
As for Landis's internal struggle, Chen Chen was well aware of it.
As early as ten years ago, Landis had suffered a similar setback. When Chronicle was a worldwide hit, he originally wrote the script for the second movie. However, the plot of the second movie was too dark and the producers were worried that it would affect the box office, so they asked him to make some changes.
However, the stubborn Landis was unwilling to make any changes to the plot. In the end, he angered the producer and was kicked out of the crew.
"It's time to grow up, Landis."
Trank suddenly sighed. Although he despised Landis's lifestyle, he still had to remind this talented old partner of his.
Hearing Trank's advice, the struggle in Landis's eyes slowly faded. He looked up with a dejected expression. "Understood, I'll do as you say..."
"Very good."
Chen Chen applauded, then raised a glass of water in front of the two. "Happy working together?"
The two of them raised their glasses of red wine and clinked it gently. "Happy working together."
After the three of them had met, the atmosphere was much warmer than before. Chen Chen opened the laptop next to him and said to Landis, "Mr. Landis, please tell me about the original setting of the movie. I'll decide the plot based on the original setting."
"You're going to make up a story frame on the spot?" The two of them were a little taken aback.
"That's right, that's my wish." Chen Chen smiled.
"Alright, if you insist."
Landis scratched his head. "It's been so long, many of the ideas from back then have become blurred. Please allow me to sort through them from the beginning..."
As he spoke, Landis downed the wine in his goblet in one gulp, then poured himself another glass. After a long time, he slowly said, "This story, I have to start from that extraterrestrial crystal …"
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