Chapter 130: A Small Favor
Chapter 130: A Small Favor
Johnnie To was one of the few Hong Kong film directors Eric rather liked. If “White Dove Wu” had stumbled into forming his own set of violent-aesthetic tricks after the great success of A Better Tomorrow, then Johnnie To only formed his mature and distinctive personal style after exploring and tempering himself through dozens of films. His films contained their own noir philosophy, blending elements such as cold severity, violence, fate, and tragedy.
Running Out of Time was one of the rare works in Johnnie To’s filmography that carried an air of ease and openness amid its tragedy. If ordinary viewers were asked to evaluate this film, the most common word would definitely be one thing: cool. That was the main reason Eric chose this film.
At the same time, this was also a bold attempt for Eric. He wanted to see whether a film that had never existed in Hollywood history could succeed.
In his memory, the rights to many Hollywood blockbusters from the next ten years already had owners. If Eric wanted to snatch food from the mouths of those giants, the difficulty would not be ordinary, especially after others knew he was optimistic about a film. Meanwhile, there were actually not many overlooked blockbuster films with no rights ownership. If he kept filming at his current pace, perhaps he would finish them all within two or three years.
Of course, this was also a fairly safe attempt. First, the story of Running Out of Time was excellent, and it had also gained the approval of two major stars, Cruise and Hanks. This showed the story did not have a problem of differing tastes between Eastern and Western audiences.
Second, the two male leads Eric had cast were both very reliable at the box office now. Tom Cruise had just experienced the success of Rain Man, and his popularity had once again reached a small peak. Tom Hanks had also just received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor with last year’s Big. Combined with the box office appeal Eric had accumulated from his previous films and this extremely cool script, Columbia’s data department analyzed that it would be very easy for the film to earn a hundred million dollars during the summer season.
On April 5, in a large soundstage at Columbia Pictures, Running Out of Time officially began filming. The first scenes to be filmed were a series of interior scenes. This time, Eric did not plan to shoot in chronological order the way he had with Pretty Woman.
The two protagonists in Running Out of Time both had very distinct images, and neither changed from beginning to end. One was shrewd and capable, while the other was wickedly intelligent. As long as the actors could smoothly enter their roles, it would not matter too much which scene they started filming from. Therefore, Eric set a filming process that moved from simple to complex, from indoors to outdoors.
In the hospital room, Andy, played by Cruise, learned that his illness had worsened, but his expression did not change as he got down from the hospital bed and slowly began dressing.
“How long?”
“Four weeks. If you have internal bleeding, you could die at any time,” the energetic doctor answered hoarsely from behind his desk.
Andy’s movements did not pause at all after hearing this terrible news. After fastening his belt, he handed the doctor a stack of bills. “It doesn’t matter. Just give me four weeks’ worth of painkillers.”
After taking the painkillers, Andy finally put on his coat and prepared to leave. The doctor, seemingly emotional, said, “I don’t think we’ll meet again.”
“Only in this life,” Andy replied calmly.
“Cut!”
After the shot was fully completed, Eric called for a pause. He did not say “good” or “no good.” Sitting behind the monitor, he frowned slightly, as if thinking about something. Although he had already been discharged from the hospital, Eric still had bandages wrapped around his head. He occasionally had headaches as well, but after several repeated examinations, no problems were found, so Eric stopped worrying.
There was nothing particularly strange about Cruise’s performance in this scene. With his acting skills, he could easily complete it. Later, this shot would be combined with Andy’s rooftop scene. The editing would use montage techniques, along with fast-motion and slow-motion processing. In just two short shots, there would be two switches between fast and slow motion.
The reason for doing this, along with the tense soundtrack mixed with the ticking of a second hand, was to subtly give the audience the suggestion of time passing. Andy had only four weeks left to live. Through these few short visual expressions, the audience would feel tension and curiosity. With only four weeks left, what would he do?
The staff present were all old crew members who had worked with Eric several times before. They had seen Eric fall into this kind of thought during filming more than once, so everyone tacitly avoided disturbing him. They quietly adjusted the equipment and patiently waited for Eric to come back to himself.
But after waiting for a minute, Cruise finally became somewhat impatient. He felt there had been nothing wrong with his performance just now. If it worked, then pass it. If it did not, Cruise did not mind doing it a few more times. What was this current situation supposed to be?
“Hey, Eric, how was that shot? Do we need to do it again?” Cruise finally could not resist walking to Eric’s side and gently nudging him.
Eric sensed a figure suddenly appear beside him. Because they were inside a soundstage, all the lighting was artificial. When Cruise appeared beside Eric, he happened to block a large lamp behind him, casting a faint shadow before Eric’s eyes.
Shadow!
Eric suddenly realized something and looked up. Seeing Cruise’s expression, he explained, “Sorry, Tom. I thought of something and got distracted.”
“It’s fine.” Cruise gave a generous smile. “How was that shot just now? Do we need to redo it?”
“I’m afraid we’ll have to do it again,” Eric answered. “Give me a moment, alright?”
Cruise shrugged and stepped back. He watched Eric call over the lighting technician and give instructions. Then the lighting on set was slowly dimmed. It was no longer the previous scene simulating sunlight. Eric stared at the monitor until the lights reached a level he was satisfied with, then told the lighting technician to stop.
“Okay, everyone get ready. We’re doing the shot just now again,” Eric loudly instructed.
A moment later, the clapper loader stepped forward and clapped the board. Filming began again.
Eric seriously watched the image of Andy and the doctor on the monitor, silently comparing this shot with the rooftop shot in his mind.
This shot was used to explain Andy’s current condition in the film, and it also felt like Andy’s memory on the rooftop. After watching this section, the audience might even misunderstand that Andy wanted to jump off the building. They might even think this could be a film told in flashback, with Andy using four weeks to fulfill all his wishes before losing attachment to life, climbing to a building rooftop, and leaping down.
Since it was used for explanation and memory, Eric felt the lighting in the original version had been too bright. It was exactly the same as the sunny rooftop scene, giving the audience no sense of difference, so the expressive effect was much weaker.
It was not that Eric wanted to complain, but the use of lighting in Johnnie To’s films was like White Dove Wu’s three tricks. Aside from common high contrast and stage-like lighting, there were not many variations. In this respect, it could not compare at all with Wong Kar-wai, who also had a strong personal style but used light and color at a masterful level. Of course, Wong Kar-wai made art films, so their films could not really be compared directly.
After solving the lighting problem, Eric began focusing on Cruise’s performance. There was truly no room for much elaboration in this small scene, and Eric did not intend to nitpick. If Cruise’s performance brought unexpected surprises, Eric would naturally be very happy. If not, he would not be disappointed either, as long as it reached his personal standard.
In any case, the opportunity had already been given to Cruise. Whether he could rely on this film to receive nominations, or even win some acting awards, still depended on Cruise’s own effort. What Eric valued more was the film’s box office.
As for the Oscar prospects he had described earlier to persuade Cruise to agree to the cross-dressing scenes, heh… didn’t all directors and producers say that when fooling actors into joining a production? Eric felt no guilt at all. What he cared about more was still the film’s box office. After all, he was still so young now, and his desire for Oscar awards was not especially strong. Burying his head and earning money was the real principle.
The subject matter of Running Out of Time was definitely fresh, but whether it could please the Oscar voters, only God knew. If one thought carefully about Andy Lau winning his first Hong Kong Film Award in his previous life, perhaps publicity had played a larger role. In addition, by 1999, Hong Kong cinema had already declined across the board and there were not many outstanding films, which allowed Andy Lau to finally fulfill his long-held wish of becoming a Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor.
After only two or three NGs, the shot passed. The crew began moving to another room in the soundstage. This process alone took more than half an hour. In a film, the time truly used for shooting shots was not much. Most of the time was spent on long scene setups.
Most of the shots over the next two days were Cruise’s solo scenes. In his room, he would complete scenes such as studying Sean, played by Hanks, making women’s clothing, vomiting blood while drinking, and disguising himself as Andy’s father Peter to confront the villain.
Although the original film existed in his mind, Eric still designed additional shots and scenes so that there would be enough material during post-production. After all, this was already a brand-new Hollywood film. Eric could not possibly make it exactly the same as the version in his memory.
According to the shooting plan, this process would last three days. After the fourth day, there would be group scenes involving Hanks and the others. Only then would the indoor scenes between Cruise and Hanks appear. Eric was looking forward to that moment. In his previous life, these two major stars had never overlapped on screen, which had to be considered a pity.
Because the film’s shooting schedule was very comfortable, the crew wrapped after exactly eight hours. After instructing the assistant director to send the filmed material to the editing room, Eric left first in a hurry. Other than the movie, he had far more things to do than everyone else. Post-production for Running Out of Time would also have to wait until the film fully wrapped.
The initial casting work for The Others and Scent of a Woman had already been completed, and he still needed to make the final decisions on the actors. He also had to keep an eye from time to time on Steel Magnolias, which was filming far away in Louisiana.
Steel Magnolias had already been filming for a month, but with Herbert Ross, an elderly director from Hollywood’s older generation, being so slow and meticulous, the filming progress was not even halfway complete. At least another month would be needed before the film could wrap, and post-production would take at least another month.
Moreover, this film might even run over budget. Eric was happy to see that happen. Steel Magnolias was not independently funded by Firefly. There was also the three million dollars Herbert Ross had separately raised earlier.
Therefore, Eric did not mind investing another one or two million dollars into the film to increase Firefly’s profit share. Eric was now waiting for Herbert Ross to open his mouth and ask for money.
“Hi, Eric. Is the injury on your head alright?”
When Eric returned to Firefly’s office, he saw Jonathan Demme already waiting there. Jonathan’s face showed obvious fatigue, but his voice was still full of energy.
“Thank you for your concern, Jonathan. It’s much better. Did you bring the materials?”
“They’re here. According to your requirements, I filtered out dozens of alternate actor candidates. It really exhausted me.” Jonathan smiled.
He had indeed been the most exhausted person these days, and it was all because of The Others. Because the script had two child actors, and because of the stimulus caused by Stuart Runkle, Firefly had successively received more than five thousand child actor profiles.
Many children whose files were sent in had no acting experience whatsoever. Their parents had only sent in their children’s files while fantasizing about getting rich overnight like the Runkel family.
There were also falsified profiles. Some unscrupulous parents deliberately fabricated lies that their children had cameoed in certain films or television dramas. Staff had to spend a great deal of time confirming the authenticity of these files. Under these circumstances, one could imagine how difficult it was to identify promising child actors.
It was not as if Eric had not thought about relying on the memories in his mind to directly have people find those promising children.
But the difficulty of doing that would probably be even greater than filtering promising child actors from five thousand people.
Although Eric’s mind had fully copied his previous life’s memories, he still did not know information he had not originally known. If he casually said the name of a famous Hollywood star from later generations, the staff might find hundreds of children with the same name in this country. Western people’s lack of creativity when naming children was well-known.
Eric took the thick stack of folders Jonathan Demme handed over. Inside were not only the alternate lists for the two children in The Others, but also actors for the three servants, Victor’s family in reality, Grace’s husband, and others.
Although Eric had already let Jonathan decide several less important supporting roles on his own, he still had to personally look them over.
The first files he opened were the more important profiles of the two child actors. Eric glanced at the list of ten little boys and was surprised to see Macaulay Culkin’s name. The other nine boys were all unfamiliar to him.
He directly turned to Culkin’s profile. Although there was no Home Alone, the boy still had experience appearing in two films, which explained why he appeared on this list. Eric directly pulled out Culkin’s profile. Jonathan glanced at it curiously. “Eric, have you taken a liking to this boy?”
Eric shook his head directly. “No. This one is eliminated.”
“Uh, I think this boy named Macaulay Culkin is the cleverest among the ten children…”
Eric could not possibly tell Jonathan that he did not want Macaulay Culkin to become as famous as he had in his previous life. Although The Others could not bring the same level of fame as Home Alone, its influence would definitely not be low.
The best choice was to let Macaulay Culkin maintain the state of occasionally appearing in one or two not particularly outstanding films. After the boy became an adult, he could choose his own path in the future.
If he pushed the boy up now, those bizarre parents of his would definitely, for money, stir up a series of disasters like in the previous life and ruin the poor boy.
“Jonathan, have you forgotten? The boy Nicholas in The Others has a rather dull personality. Looking at this boy’s big eyes in the photo, I already feel he’s too clever, so he won’t do.”
Jonathan looked over the photo according to Eric’s reasoning and found it was indeed so. “Alright, I did overlook that.”
Eric continued browsing the remaining nine boys’ files. Suddenly, he raised his head and stared at Jonathan Demme sitting opposite him. “Jonathan, among these children, is there anyone you know?”
Jonathan Demme’s gaze dodged a few times, and his face reddened slightly. In the end, he still nodded, stood up, and pulled out one boy’s file. “This… this Brian Beck is the youngest son of an actor friend I worked with before. Sorry, Eric. I shouldn’t have done this, but I swear, I only added the boy after seriously auditioning him and confirming he qualified.”
As Jonathan spoke, he was about to crumple the boy’s file and throw it into the wastebasket, but Eric stopped him. Taking the file and carefully examining it, Eric nodded in satisfaction. “Jonathan, let’s use him.”
“Mm, I’m really sorry… uh, Eric, what did you say?” Jonathan came back to himself and looked at Eric in disbelief.
Eric smiled. “I said, let’s use him. You know, I don’t have time for auditions now. And I believe you wouldn’t joke around with this film, right?”
“Of… of course.” Jonathan nodded firmly. This film concerned his future in Hollywood. Whether he could leap through the dragon gate depended on it.
“Then, is there anyone else?” Eric asked again.
This time, Jonathan shook his head firmly. “Absolutely not, Eric. None of the remaining alternate actors have anything to do with me.”
Eric had made this decision on a whim and sold Jonathan a small favor. Although he had already given the man a very large opportunity through The Others, Eric did not mind giving a little more when it cost him nothing. Jonathan Demme was a very good potential stock. Eric had already decided to draw him under his command. Aside from the future The Silence of the Lambs, the film that first won Hanks an Oscar, Philadelphia, was also directed by him.
Since the boy had already been confirmed, there was no need to keep looking at the rest. Eric directly took the folder containing the alternate young actresses and opened it.
It seemed the saying that Hollywood was actually very small was truly correct. This time, two familiar future actresses appeared.
Kirsten Dunst and Sarah Michelle Gellar.