章 36: Chapter 36: The Key is Yours

"Hey, darling, don't forget tonight's club activity at ten o'clock!"

The next morning, in a luxurious SCA girls' dormitory, "Daniel" had just finished her workout. Wearing a skimpy yoga outfit, she rested her hands on her hips and spoke to "Terry," who had just returned hungover.

"Okay, I won't forget."

This was the first cycle of events. Terry didn't know that the so-called activity was actually a surprise birthday party planned for her, so she responded weakly, which made "Daniel" frown in dissatisfaction.

But seeing that Terry was still in last night's party clothes, reeking of alcohol, she didn't say anything more. Instead, she turned around, swaying her hips as she walked towards the fridge to grab her protein powder.

"Cut!"

"Good, that's a wrap!"

As James Wan picked up the megaphone and called out, Charlize Theron's scenes were officially done.

"My movie 'Men of Honor' has its premiere tomorrow. Are you coming?"

Having wrapped up, Charlize Theron didn't rush to change clothes. She casually took a towel from her assistant to wipe off the water droplets that were used to simulate sweat on her body. She walked over to Wayne, standing uncomfortably close for just friends, and asked.

"No, I'm not interested in meaningless events like that."

Wayne, who was enjoying Mrs. Stewart's homemade chocolate cake, allegedly made by little Kristen herself, decisively declined.

Charlize Theron wasn't surprised by his response.

Although the director of "Men of Honor" wasn't well-known, it was produced and distributed by Fox, and starred Oscar winner Robert De Niro. It was a relatively high-profile release recently.

There were countless actors and celebrities in Hollywood eager to attend its premiere, just to get some camera time, create some buzz, and expand their network.

Big-name stars, if not busy with work, also liked attending such premieres to maintain their exposure in newspapers and the news.

But Wayne was different. As a production company owner, he didn't need that kind of hype, and as for networking, he didn't care about that level of connections.

However, Charlize Theron playfully said, "You're not still mad about last night, are you? I was just trying to help."

Wayne smacked her on the behind with a playful yet stern expression. "You'll know tonight whether I'm mad or not."

"No, darling, I was wrong!" Charlize Theron shivered, quickly pleading for mercy.

If Wayne really came over to "drink" with her tonight, she probably wouldn't be able to make it to tomorrow's premiere.

Even if she invited Naomi Watts to join like last time, it still wouldn't be enough to satisfy Wayne alone, and it would definitely affect her appearance at the premiere in front of so many media cameras.

"By the way, I looked at the shooting schedule. Your little girlfriend's scenes are still on it? And they've even been moved up to this afternoon. You didn't do that just to accommodate her audition, did you?"

Theron quickly changed the subject, though she was genuinely curious.

"I told you, she's not my girlfriend."

Wayne reminded her before continuing, "She's spent a few days with me, and I won't go back on our deal. It's just a minor role that can be shot in an hour. Shooting it today or any other day doesn't affect the schedule."

Theron gave him a strange look, shook her head, and said, "If only Hollywood producers and directors were as generous and principled as you."

"For a lot of girls, getting a small role like that might mean sleeping with dozens of people, trying and failing many times before finally landing it."

At this point, Theron's voice became a bit somber, as if recalling some of her past experiences.

Then, she earnestly said to Wayne, "This is Hollywood, a place that can eat you alive. Being too kind will get you hurt."

Wayne chuckled lightly and said, "I'm not kind, just principled. That's how more people will want to make deals with me, isn't it?"

Theron was momentarily speechless.

Alright, by this logic, it won't be long before Wayne becomes the most popular man in Hollywood among all the actresses.

"Come over for a drink tomorrow night," Theron said. She really liked men like him.

"Tomorrow night? After the premiere, Fox will probably throw a party for the media and guests, right?" Wayne looked at her in surprise.

"Yes, but I'll try to be back by ten," she said, throwing Wayne a flirty look. "I'm not like some idiots who, when there's a better path right in front of them, choose to take the long way around."

With that, Theron waved to her assistant standing nearby, who handed over a key that had clearly been prepared in advance. She tossed it to Wayne.

"The key is yours. Make sure you're sobered up and ready for me."

Without giving Wayne a chance to refuse, she turned and walked towards the makeup room.

Wayne looked at the key in his hand and couldn't help but laugh, casually slipping it into his pocket before returning to his script.

Of course, it wasn't the script for the film currently being shot, "Happy Death Day."

In this movie, though he's the male lead, his role isn't significant or challenging. The true protagonist is Jessica's character, Terry.

The script he was reading was the first draft of the adaptation of "The Bourne Identity" by Tony Gilroy.

It had been almost twenty days since Hamera Pictures acquired the adaptation rights to "The Bourne Identity" and, following Wayne's request, brought on the original director Doug Liman and screenwriter Tony Gilroy to work on it.

Receiving the first draft of the script after this much time was fairly average in terms of efficiency.

But since the $50 million production budget for the first "Bourne" film wouldn't be secured until "Happy Death Day" was completed and new investment funds arrived, Wayne wasn't in a rush.

After a while, Wayne set the script down and looked over at Jessica, who was already filming the next scene, and fell into deep thought.

The script was good.

He had just skimmed through it, and it was almost identical to the final version from his previous life. Tony Gilroy had clearly put a lot of effort into the adaptation, earning every penny of his high screenwriting fee.

This meant that pre-production could move on to the next phase.

Most of the work in this phase could be handled by Sarah on her own. The only decisions Wayne needed to make were the casting choices for the female lead and a few major supporting roles.

"The Bourne Identity" was a film centered on a strong male lead. The female lead wasn't just a decorative character, but close enough. The choice of actress wasn't particularly important.

If possible, Wayne still wanted to cast Jessica.

There were, of course, personal reasons for this, as Jessica was his girlfriend, but also because her acting skills were more than capable of handling the role.

However, including the upcoming "Accepted," where Jessica had been pushed to a supporting role by the addition of Natalie Portman, this would be the third film they've worked on together.

Would continuing to pair up in "The Bourne Identity" trilogy lead to audience fatigue and have a negative effect?

Such cases were common in the film industry and not a good thing for an actor.

But if not Jessica, then who?

(End of Chapter)