Chapter 137: Get Lost

In downtown Los Angeles, where skyscrapers stood in dense clusters, a street roughly five hundred meters long near the Santa Monica Freeway had already been sealed off, with outside vehicles prohibited from entering. Starting from eight in the morning, large amounts of filming equipment were unloaded from trucks.

The nearby residents were already used to film crews moving in. This was Los Angeles, after all. Countless productions started filming every day, and because this street was not particularly bustling yet still surrounded by tall buildings, many productions chose it as a filming location.

But this time, there were clearly more onlookers than usual. It was not only because the movie featured two famous superstars, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, but also because of director Eric himself. Plenty of people had seen living directors before, but a young director who had achieved such enormous success before even turning nineteen was absolutely unique, so it was only natural that he aroused strong curiosity.

Mixed among the crowd surrounding the street were many paparazzi with cameras hanging from their chests, hoping to capture something valuable. Even if they failed to photograph some explosive incident involving the production crew, simply getting a few close-up shots of the stars would still make the day worthwhile.

“Are all the extras in position yet?” Beside three yellow taxis, Eric watched members of the camera crew install cameras on the hoods and asked his assistant as he walked over.

“Fifty people. They’ve all arrived. Royce asked me whether preparations should begin.”

“Have the extras familiarize themselves with their marks first according to the plan. We’ll shoot some street scenery shots first.”

“Mm.” Allen responded, then added, “Also, the community organization said we have to reopen the street for one hour at noon. Their reason is that pedestrian traffic will increase during that time and people need to pass through this street.”

Eric rubbed his temple in frustration. This was simply making trouble for nothing. Noon was not even rush hour, so how much could foot traffic increase? But he did not want to deal too much with those troublesome organizations. In any case, the crew also needed to eat lunch at noon. “Tell them it’s fine. We’ll stop filming from twelve to one and reopen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the street.”

After Allen left, Eric shifted his attention back to the taxis. The three taxis all had identical license plate numbers. This was only to prevent continuity errors from appearing on camera. Once filming was completed, all three cars would switch back to their original plates.

Among the three taxis, one required no modifications at all, since the cameraman would shoot from the front passenger seat. The other two had cameras installed outside the hood and on both sides of the rear windows respectively.

Today they would shoot the scene where Sean drove Andy toward the police station for the first time. In the script, this scene lasted less than two minutes, but according to Eric’s estimates, the accumulated footage from fully filming it would total nearly an hour. So if they managed to finish this sequence in one day, things would already be going smoothly.

After all the camera rigs on the taxis were ready, Eric picked up a walkie-talkie and began issuing orders to the entire crew. Only then did Cruise and Hanks, who had been waiting inside their trailers, finally step out. The paparazzi who had been waiting nearby immediately began frantically pressing their shutters. Neither man’s outfit was particularly special. Cruise wore an all-black casual outfit, while Hanks was dressed like a delivery worker, wearing a baseball cap and a plain white work uniform.

After Eric gave them another brief round of instructions, the two entered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the first taxi, the one without modifications. The first scene would be exterior shots of the taxi driving through the streets.

Eric walked behind the wireless monitor and glanced at the image on the screen, which measured less than seven inches. After confirming the lighting and framing were correct, he once again spoke into the walkie-talkie. “Allen, has the crowd been cleared from the filming area?”

“They’ve all been cleared out. Right now, every camera position only has our actors in frame.” Allen’s voice came through the walkie-talkie, mixed with crackling static.

Eric had to confirm this personally. If, after the movie was completed, some random face that did not belong to an actor appeared on screen, then things would become troublesome.

Even extras in America were considered actors, and they were quite expensive. Still, Eric absolutely could not film real pedestrians. Setting aside whether actual passersby would cooperate with the cameras, even if they did, once the movie was released and someone discovered they had appeared on screen, with American personalities, they definitely would not feel vanity like I’m in a movie! Instead, they would immediately contact their lawyers and sue the film crew for violating portrait rights or similar reasons. If things escalated, even paying a million dollars in compensation would count as getting off lightly. Worse, the movie might even be forcibly pulled from theaters midway through release.

Therefore, although Eric confirmed things here once, after post-production editing was complete, they would still organize people to thoroughly verify the identities of everyone appearing in the footage, ensuring that no “outsiders” who were not actors had slipped into the movie.

So when you see a Hollywood movie where the protagonist moves through crowded city streets filled with people, do not doubt it. Even if there are hundreds or thousands of pedestrians in the shot, every single one of them is definitely an actor, not a genuine random passerby.

After Hanks drove the taxi around several times to familiarize himself with the route, filming for the day officially began with Eric’s command.

Eric stared intently at the monitor, watching the performances of the two men inside the taxi while listening to their dialogue through his headphones. Though the sound was not especially clear, it was still audible enough. This section would definitely be dubbed over later, but the original audio still needed to be preserved as reference material for the dubbing process.

It was already afternoon, and Eric had lost count of how many retakes they had done. In any case, there had been many NGs. At the moment, Eric was standing while filming. The crew had specially raised the monitor to eye level for him. Although he felt exhausted, Eric had no choice but to keep enduring.

Cruise and Hanks, on the other hand, had ample rest time. After every hour of filming, the two were given a break. Inside the camera frame, both men still looked energetic and showed no signs of fatigue at all.

But while they rested, Eric still had to arrange other shots. The community organization had only granted them one day of filming time, so they had to accumulate enough footage for many scenes in case problems arose during post-production that required expensive reshoots.

Inside the shot, Andy slowly lowered his jacket zipper, pulled out a handgun, and casually asked, “Where to?”

“The nearest police station.” Sean glanced at the rearview mirror, calmly watching as Andy slowly screwed on the suppressor.

Andy smiled while looking out the window. “You alone?”

Sean shrugged indifferently. “Enough for this.”

“You don’t even have a gun. Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”

“Then shoot me.” Sean turned his head slightly and looked at him. “The car’ll flip.”

“Yeah, very dangerous.” Andy’s relaxed smile did not change at all as he slowly rolled down the car window. “If you can get me to the police station, you win.”

A handgun fitted with a suppressor extended out the window, and Andy pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Only after the scene reached this point did Eric call for a stop. The taxi came to a halt. Cruise and Hanks both got out of the car, while Nickell, who had been cramped into the passenger seat, also climbed out carrying a camera on his shoulder.

After the three left the taxi, crew members immediately rushed over and drove the cab back to its original position. Many of the prop vehicles on the road also turned around in an orderly manner and returned to the starting point, waiting for filming to begin again.

Eric then discussed the flaws in the previous take with the three of them and instructed them on points to pay attention to during the next shoot. Once everything returned to its original positions, Cruise and Hanks climbed back into the taxi, and Nickell once again squeezed in carrying the camera.

Soon, another take began.

Running Out of Time was not a film with much depth. It was simply a seventy-two-hour battle of wits between a cop and a robber. During promotion, it would definitely be described with phrases like “full of twists and turns,” and to ordinary audiences, that would indeed be true.

But to Eric, compared to those brain-burning blockbusters from his memories, this film had no plot points that required much thought. It was simply an extremely cool commercial film. Therefore, filming it did not place particularly high demands on the acting abilities of the two leads. Especially during the movie’s exterior scenes, there was basically no need for complex acting. With Cruise and Hanks’ abilities, they could easily handle everything.

From mid-April to mid-May, the crew spent most of their time rushing through the streets and alleys of downtown Los Angeles. Sometimes they stayed on one street for two or three days, while other times they completed all the shots in half a day. In short, the process could only be described as tedious.

After accompanying the crew of The Others to England for a few days, Jeffrey returned to Los Angeles and soon flew again to the New York set of Scent of a Woman. As for Firefly’s employees, aside from the security staff and a few clerks who remained at headquarters to handle mail and daily business, everyone else was basically working with Eric’s production crew. If one ignored the terrifying profits generated by Firefly Films, the company was no different from many small independent film companies in Los Angeles.

Although filming the exterior scenes for Running Out of Time was extremely tedious, they had not encountered any major problems so far. The filming progress basically matched the previously established schedule, and it was expected to officially wrap around May 15. Columbia had already begun small-scale early promotion, and scattered news about Running Out of Time occasionally appeared in the media.

Because of Columbia’s ongoing negotiations with the wealthy Sony conglomerate, the company’s market value had already surged to 3.5 billion dollars. The Japanese could only watch helplessly as Columbia’s stock price rose day after day. A massive acquisition involving billions of dollars could never possibly be completed in just a few months. Media estimates suggested that even if everything went smoothly, the contract could not be signed before September at the earliest. Moreover, even after a successful acquisition agreement, the following transfer procedures would still take several years.

Therefore, the summer box office became Columbia’s final opportunity to push its stock price even higher.

Warner originally had two major productions scheduled for release, namely Batman and Lethal Weapon 2. But because Running Out of Time had been scheduled for July 7, Warner was forced to postpone Lethal Weapon 2, which had originally also been planned for a July release, until the end of the year.

The first Lethal Weapon earned more than sixty million dollars at the box office in 1987 and was considered a major success. As a result, the budget for the sequel this year had doubled. To recoup costs, the film needed to earn at least one hundred million dollars. Under that kind of pressure, Warner executives had absolutely no intention of competing head-on with Running Out of Time, which featured Eric, Cruise, and Hanks, three major stars. They proactively moved the release to the end of the year.

As a result, Columbia became the only major film studio with two blockbuster releases planned for the summer season. The other major production was Ghostbusters 2, a sequel fans had eagerly awaited for a long time. The first Ghostbusters had been released in 1984, five years ago. As for why Columbia had suddenly launched the project at the beginning of this year, with a filming schedule nearly identical to Running Out of Time, the purpose was self-evident. After all, this was the only franchise Columbia really had worth showcasing.

“Eric, should we hire more people?”

In late April, after Jeffrey finished inspecting the two productions and returned to Los Angeles, the two met for the first time in half a month. The location ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was Firefly’s conference room, and the time was eight at night. During the daytime, Eric simply had no time to come to the company.

At the moment, Eric was reading the documents Jeffrey brought back from Scent of a Woman and The Others. Without even lifting his head, he replied, “No need. After Scent of a Woman and The Others are finished, I’ll have Jonathan and Martin recommend some crew members to join Firefly.”

“Alright then. But what about the television series? That thing you mentioned… Friends. Time’s getting tighter and tighter. Fox executives even contacted me and hoped you’d provide the script. They’re willing to help with pre-production.”

Eric smiled faintly. He had already made things very clear to Barry Diller. Friends would be produced independently by Firefly, yet Fox still had not given up on trying to get involved. This was understandable. After all, it was a sitcom with an extremely low production cost. If they could co-own the copyright with Firefly and the show became successful, Fox could also prevent Eric from using it as leverage against them. And even if it failed, it would only mean losing a few million dollars, which was nothing painful for Fox.

“Reject them. Look, the fact that they approached you instead of contacting me directly already proves Fox understands my personality.”

Jeffrey hesitated for a moment before speaking anyway. “Eric, you… the way you do things isn’t very good.”

Eric finally looked up. “Hm?”

“You… you’re too independent in everything you do. You don’t allow others to interfere with your films, and you won’t allow it with television series either. That won’t work in Hollywood. Nowadays, even many low-budget films bring in multiple investors. They share the risks while also sharing the profits. That’s the orthodox Hollywood survival model. Even the six major studios, although they compete fiercely, still hold cross-shares in one another.”

“I understand what you’re trying to say.” Eric scratched his head. “It’s just that… maybe the timing still isn’t right. In the future, I’ll definitely share with others. But while I can still eat alone right now, of course I should enjoy it a few more times. Once other people can’t stand it anymore, I’ll share some with them.”

Jeffrey revealed a helpless expression. “Fine then. So when do we start preparing Friends?”

“Tomorrow,” Eric said. “The reason I called you here tonight is to discuss this. We have to start this project as soon as possible. I plan to insert several Friends scenes into Running Out of Time.”

“Insert Friends scenes into Running Out of Time? Eric, are you talking about embedded advertising? Even if Columbia agreed, that still wouldn’t be worth it. It might even annoy audiences.”

“It’s not embedded advertising.” Eric denied it and carefully explained the purpose of several scenes to Jeffrey.

“That’s actually a pretty good idea.” Jeffrey nodded, then questioned, “But there’s less than two months left. And you also promised Fox you’d personally direct the first two episodes. Do you really think you can finish all that?”

Eric shook his head. “No. I don’t need to finish filming any episodes. All the concepts are already in my head. We just need to finalize the cast quickly, complete the sets, and shoot a few interesting clips.”

Jeffrey felt the plan was highly feasible, and he could also see that if it succeeded, it would produce unexpectedly effective promotion for Friends.

“But Eric, I don’t have any experience producing television dramas. Maybe you need an experienced TV producer.”

“I already said I won’t let Fox interfere in this.” Eric spread his hands. “So, Jeffrey, you’ll just have to work a little harder.”

Jeffrey revealed a rather meaningful smile containing both teasing and ambiguity. “Actually, among the people you know, there happens to be someone who’s worked as a television producer.”

Eric’s thoughts turned for a moment, and very quickly, the stubborn girl’s pretty face and the figure of John Aniston, whom he had met several times, appeared in his mind.

“He… John should be with NBC, right? And most of his energy is still focused on acting.” Eric’s first reaction was resistance. Fathers-in-law and sons-in-law were naturally mutually repellent creatures.

But Jeffrey said, “Still, he definitely has more experience than I do. I’m completely clueless when it comes to television production. If we had enough time, I could slowly figure things out. But since you’re setting such a tight schedule…”

Eric rubbed the document pages between his fingers for a few moments before finally nodding slightly. “Then I’ll contact him as soon as possible and see. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠If it doesn’t work out, you’ll still have to step in.”

Jeffrey nodded. “Then what about the cast?”

“Jenny’s role is already confirmed,” Eric said. “We still need five more roles. I’ll write down the requirements tonight and give them to you tomorrow. Start casting as soon as possible. This time, don’t make the scope too large, otherwise auditions will become too troublesome. At the very least, we need actors with performance experience. That way, I don’t think as many people will come to audition as with the previous films.”

“There won’t be that many to begin with,” Jeffrey said with a smile. “Television series don’t have the same irresistible appeal as movies.”

The discussion continued until nine at night before Eric finally left Firefly’s office building. If he wanted to invite John Aniston to serve as producer, the best approach was still through Aniston herself, so Eric drove toward Aniston’s apartment.

When he arrived at the apartment door, Eric did not knock. As usual, he retrieved the spare key hidden inside the flowerpot beside the door. But after turning it several times in the lock, he realized it had been locked from the inside.

This couldn’t possibly be aimed specifically at him, right?

Eric smiled bitterly to himself, returned the key to the flowerpot, and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” The girl’s voice faintly sounded from inside. A moment later, the door opened slightly. Just as Eric was about to push it open, he realized there was now a security chain across the gap.

That thing had definitely been installed recently. The chain was gleaming.

This was absolutely targeted at him.

While thinking that, Eric leaned against the doorframe in what he believed was a stylish pose and stared at Aniston with a deliberately flippant tone. “Girl, the night is long and sleep won’t come. Need a strong man to comfort your lonely little heart?”

“Get lost!” Aniston glared at Eric and slammed the door shut with a bang.