From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

As the lights began to twinkle, and the night descended, the sky over Los Angeles wasn't the vibrant purple of "La La Land," but a bewitching peacock blue, tinged with a clear, translucent quality that made one want to gaze at it forever.

After saying goodbye to Jake in the parking lot, they both set off on their journeys home. By the time Anson arrived, his stomach was staging a fierce protest, front pressed against back, ravenously hungry, his blood sugar about to give out.

From afar, he could see the lights of his residence blazing.

Pushing open the door, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the hall. James Franco's steps were particularly light and quick as he rushed down the stairs, arms overflowing with a pile of clothes.

Like a hurricane.

"Hey, Anson!"

James saw Anson as he passed the doorway, offering a greeting, but without pausing, he continued to rush into the living room.

Chris Evans, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, straightened up slightly and waved at Anson. "You're late getting off work today?"

Anson casually replied, "We wrapped up filming, and went out for a bit afterwards. But, are you planning a trip?"

At a glance, he could see two open suitcases in the middle of the living room, with James stuffing clothes into them.

Compared to "The Princess Diaries," "James Dean" was a small, independent production. The entire filming period was much shorter, wrapping up in just over a month, after which James had been free for a while.

However, James was someone who couldn't stay idle. His idleness was different from others; he was always out early and back late, tinkering with something.

This scene was unexpected, yet not surprising. Anything seemed plausible when it came to James.

Anson finally understood. This was good news, unequivocally good news. "Wow!" he exclaimed, unable to resist exclaiming again, "Wow!"

In his previous life, James had indeed starred in "Spider-Man," but not as Peter Parker, but as Harry Osborn, the Green Goblin's son, and he had become an overnight sensation with the role, opening up his career and becoming a Hollywood artistic oddball.

So, Anson wasn't surprised by this news.

However, reality was a different matter.

Living with a group of fledgling young actors who were still struggling through auditions, rejections, and more auditions, the days stretched on, and one could truly feel the frustration and helplessness before fame. The long wait was far more difficult than imagined.

Now, the dawn that had been waited and suffered for had finally arrived. The joy and happiness were so overwhelming that they instantly filled his brain—

Even though Anson already knew the audition result, he was still genuinely happy for James.

"Congratulations!"

"Wow, I mean, congratulations!"

James could feel Anson's sincerity, and his smile blossomed without restraint. He said with feigned modesty, "It's just an audition, just an audition."

Anson waved his hand, not caring at all. "Trust me, you'll definitely succeed. They'll definitely discover your charm. They should give you a chance."

Although not as Peter Parker, they did give James a chance.

James couldn't help but rub his hands together in anticipation. "Do you think so too? Me too, haha." But after saying that, James still felt a little nervous. "But this time, the competition might be fiercer than imagined."

Anson immediately realized, "They didn't keep the project name a secret."

This meant open competition.

James nodded. "This project, it's impossible to keep it a secret even if they wanted to."

"I heard from my agent that they started preparing for the project in 1985, and it even ended up in James Cameron's hands last year. Cameron even wrote a forty-five-page script for the movie, but the two companies holding the rights had disagreements."

"In the end, it didn't happen."

"Over the years, the adaptation rights have been transferred to several film companies and independent studios, finally landing in the hands of Sony Columbia Pictures, but the choice of director has also been difficult."

The preparation for "Spider-Man" had been far more tortuous than imagined. After all, this was an era when science fiction and romance movies were all the rage.

The root cause was still the lack of originality.

From the nineties to the first decade of the twenty-first century, the film market was still thriving, with strong original capabilities, and different types of themes emerged endlessly. Although superhero movies were also released one after another, their vitality was no stronger or more prominent than other types of movies.

It wasn't until 2008 that the film market's originality entered a bottleneck, with the quality and quantity of original scripts declining across the board. "Iron Man" seized the opportunity to rise, so major Hollywood film companies turned their attention to the adaptation market, from novels to comics to games, and even live-action adaptations of animations.

This is what subverted the entire market pattern.

In 2000, superhero movies were just ordinary members of the genre film market; two-dimensional comics were still a niche interest.

It is conceivable that the project of adapting comics into movies would face many difficulties in the preparation process, not only "Spider-Man," but other projects as well.

In addition to James Cameron being infinitely close to directing "Spider-Man," Roland Emmerich, Michael Bay, Tony Scott, Tim Burton, Chris Columbus, David Fincher, M. Night Shyamalan, and Ang Lee had all discussed the project.

Among them, David Fincher and Chris Columbus were the closest.

David Fincher prepared to create a story based on the night of Peter Parker's first love, Gwen Stacy's, death, but it was rejected by Sony Columbia.

Chris Columbus discussed with both Sony Columbia and Warner Bros. at the same time, and finally he chose the latter, becoming the director of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

After much back and forth, Amy Pascal, the co-chairman of Sony Columbia Pictures, decisively made a decision and found Sam Raimi to direct the film. Sam, who had loved the "Spider-Man" comics since he was a child, readily agreed.

However, what no one expected was that Amy Pascal's decision was opposed by Marvel, the owner of the original comics, who didn't like Sam.

The reason was simple: Sam Raimi came from directing horror movies, and they didn't think he was suitable for adapting comic book superheroes.

The result!

Sam, who was passionate about "Spider-Man," ignored his agent's obstruction and brought his storyboard and ideas to the meeting.

The meeting lasted a full hour, and Sam successfully persuaded the executives and producers of both companies, using his ability to win the job.

After many twists and turns, the director of "Spider-Man" was finally determined, and the casting work could officially begin.

Second update.