From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Finally, the world quieted down.

However, it didn't last long—

One after another, visitors kept coming.

Since Anson entered the trailer, there hadn't even been thirty seconds of quiet, making one wonder if there was a long queue outside.

That was until James Franco came to the door.

“Wow.”

“Wow…”

“Wow!”

James didn't say much, just kept sighing in admiration, finally plopping down on the big bed, feeling the softness of the mattress with his whole body.

Actually, Anson immediately noticed the teasing behind James's behavior, but Anson didn't respond at all, sitting next to him with a calm expression.

Then, James couldn't help but start sighing and groaning, “Oh… ah… so sad…”

Unfortunately, he still didn't get a response.

James sat up straight in one go, “Hey, you, aren't you going to comfort my wounded heart? The crew specially prepared a luxury trailer for you, we have nothing, can you believe it?”

“Nothing at all!”

“Differential treatment, I must complain to the Screen Actors Guild.”

While saying that, he sat there and started acting like a spoiled child.

Anson looked on with a calm expression, marveling as if he was watching a circus performance, shaking his head, “What a pity. Someone brushed shoulders when competing for the role, fates intertwined, destiny played tricks, what a pity, what a pity.”

James was stunned, suddenly clutching his chest, “Killing and judging the heart, you, you murderer, ah, I'm dead…”

Anson didn't remind James, he stood up and walked towards Sam, “Hey, director, long time no see.”

Before Sam could speak, James's nonchalant voice came from inside, “It's no use even if you find the director!”

Anson looked at Sam, whose expression was slightly awkward. This honest man was uncomfortable all over, and he had to explain, “He's envious of my trailer.”

Sam suddenly understood and chuckled, “I'm envious too.”

After a pause, Sam felt a little more at ease. After all, he had a pleasant cooperative experience with Anson, and the two had been in frequent contact via phone and email for the past six months. He and Anson had also developed some tacit understanding.

“The entire crew is looking forward to Anson Wood.”

“You see, as soon as you arrive on set, the news spreads, and everyone is eager to come and see Anson Wood, just like water boiling.”

Just now, the endless stream of people were all crew members, who came to visit and greet Anson. At first, Anson didn't understand why, as previous crews didn't have such a habit, but he slowly realized—

After these short two or three months of development, his weight in Hollywood had quietly changed. Coupled with the weight of the “Spider-Man 2” project itself, this time the crew started up a little differently.

At this time, even Sam joked.

Anson raised his eyebrows slightly, “It's like a panda has come to the zoo.”

Panda?

Imagining the scene, Sam couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Inside, James finally noticed the abnormality. He looked up and saw Sam. He rolled off the bed in a panic and shouted, “Director, when did you come?”

“When you were shot in the chest.” Sam said calmly.

James tried to explain, but choked on his own saliva and coughed violently, “Director… Director…”

Sam and Anson exchanged a look. Sam also had a hint of mischief in his eyes, but on the surface, Sam remained calm and ignored James, “Did you just send someone to call me over?”

“Yes, the script.” Anson didn't continue the small talk and went straight to the point.

Sam wasn't surprised at all, “Expected it.”

While saying that, he sat down on the sofa against the wall, took out the script from his briefcase, and pushed it towards Anson.

At the beginning of the year, when Edgar and Sony Columbia were discussing sequel cooperation, Anson once said that he hoped to read the script in advance, give his own opinions, and participate in the creation of the script.

Edgar agreed with this, hoping that Anson could have more say and increase his influence; Sony Columbia was not surprised either, and naturally thought that Anson was trying to grow into a producer.

However, Anson had his own ideas.

He knew that “Spider-Man 2” was later hailed as a classic and became a milestone, but why didn't “Spider-Man 2” become a well-known legend like “Batman Begins 2: The Dark Knight?”

Even after the superhero movies exploded in popularity and countless works were presented in a blowout, “Batman Begins 2: The Dark Knight” was still an insurmountable monument, but “Spider-Man 2” did not receive such treatment.

The reason is that “Spider-Man 2” did create a brand new genre and inspired a series of similar films, creating a classic, but the script itself was still far from enough.

The advantage is that the character arc of Peter Parker is written completely.

The disadvantage is that complete doesn't mean excellent.

First, Peter Parker's character arc has a lot of repetitive and cumbersome narratives.

Second, the plot setting is too childish and simple, basically at the level of a campus soap opera.

These soap operas not only affect the narrative rhythm of the film, but also affect the appeal of the plot. In his previous life, Tobey Maguire's performance was too much like a soap opera. The three axes of staring, being aggrieved, and pretending to be innocent had his own problems, but also the problems of the script.

Moreover, this is not all.

The most regrettable point for Anson is that Sam Raimi is willing to spend time digging into the characters' hearts and growth arcs, but the poor narrative efficiency leads to a large number of ineffective plots in the film and compresses the performance of a group of key characters—

Family affection, Aunt May; friendship, Harry; love, Mary Jane.

Among the three lines, apart from Aunt May, who was originally playing a functional role, Harry and Mary Jane, the two important characters who needed to advance the plot and improve the characters, seemed thin, even annoying, unable to awaken any resonance, and even after spending a lot of ink, they were still cardboard characters.

Without a doubt, this is very, very regrettable.

Therefore, when people discuss classics, they will think of “Batman Begins: The Dark Knight”, but very few will think of “Spider-Man 2” at the first time.

In Anson's view, “Spider-Man 2” has the potential to become a timeless classic. If it is simply regarded as a youth campus growth film by Sony Columbia, it would be a pity.

Of course, Anson is not prepared to dig deeply into the philosophical and human levels like “Batman Begins: The Dark Knight”. Maintaining the popcorn texture, maintaining the youth campus type, and becoming a classic entertainment type film like “The Avengers” is enough, and it can still become a classic.

So, over the past few months, while Anson was touring the streets of Europe, he did not forget to communicate with Sam, constantly exchanging opinions and conducting in-depth discussions through emails and phone calls, hoping to find a balance point to make the film smoother and more concise.

However, this is not an easy thing—

It's easy to talk on paper, but when you actually operate it yourself, you understand that the work of a Hollywood screenwriter is far more difficult than imagined.