The My Hollywood System
Chapter 99

"This is certainly a difficult decision for me."

Lucas muttered and scratched his beard, a habit he often showed when in urgent situations. If she agrees with Will's condition, then she feels like she's losing control of her own movie.

He doesn't want Will, a young director, controlling the film from behind just because he's the producer. Giving up control is not something that many directors like.

To be honest, no director likes it.

Will, who felt worry in Lucas' eyes, spoke.

"You can take the time to think. But you don't have to worry about me trying to get in between the shootings or giving you orders. I just want you to give me the clue I've chosen and besides, you'll be the head of the movie."

"Many producers say that to me. In the end, they all tried to change the film as they wished. A man even threatened me to edit it in a certain way. The movie worked, but I was always skeptical about the producers. After that."

"Is the movie [Black Sky]?"

"I can't tell you that."

Lucas laughed, then shook his head. His eyes looked at Will's office and inevitably he felt envious. At such a young age, he was already a recognized producer and director.

In Lucas's eyes, he himself has achieved many things but the one thing missing from him is time. It took him years to truly master his skills.

"Say one thing. Why didn't you direct [1917]?"

He asked this, thinking about Will's status as a director. One of the reasons Lucas thought about it was that he was too young to properly direct a war movie.

But once again, Will was also too young to direct a film that grossed 1 billion dollars at the box office.

So, the curiosity in his eyes was quite obvious.

"I wrote it thinking about producing it. I never intended to direct it. I know the story is one of the best I have ever written and I even thought a lot about how someone could record this movie. But right now, I'm not in the mood to direct."

That was half the reason Will gave. In Lucas's eyes, [1917] is probably the best story Will has written and will remain that way for many years. But in Will's eyes, it was just one of the great stories of his world.

Lucas did not doubt it either. In any case, Will had shot [The Blair Witch Project] and [Sherlock Holmes] simultaneously and it was clear for him to break.

"So, what do you think? I really want you as a director."

Will asked, back to the topic.

"I've got a few things I need to finish first." Lucas thought for a while and then took out three fingers. "One, if the actor you choose is not up to the mark, I will change it. Second, this film will cost a lot to make very well. The style of cinematography and everything else will make it unique but still, it's good. Maybe even more than your last movie. I hope you understand that."

"I'm not stingy about my investments, Lucas. And what's the third point?"

Lucas smiled before revealing.

"I'd like to make this film for the Oscars, so I want you to support this film."

His last film [Black Sky] was only nominated for an Oscar and Lucas lost the prestigious award in the end. This is also partly due to the fact that the winning film was backed by Allen Pictures.

The influence of the Big 6 studios is huge in Hollywood and even The Academy is not left behind.

In fact, they could not use much of their influence. Something is better than nothing.

"It's okay for me. I want [1917] to perform well at the Oscars as well. But before that, you have to make a long-lasting film."

"Give it to me, young man."

Lucas shook hands with Will. Although there was still doubt in his heart, he decided to trust Will and Dream Vision for now.

Moreover, he just didn't want to lose to a movie like [1917].

***

When Lucas agreed to join [1917], one of Will's projects began. Pre-production started behind the door with Lucas in charge and Jeffrey helping him.

With this, one of his projects finally went ahead. For the distribution contract, Will must wait until Spencer's health improves.

But once he gets back to work, this won't be a problem.

For [500 Summer days], there are three directors available. Two of them are recognized people with a lot of experience in directing comedy and romance films. The third was a rookie who had won an award at a film festival a few years ago but struggled after that.

Dream Vision had sent a proposal to the three of them and was now waiting for a response.

If everything goes as Will wishes, he will be able to release [500 Summer days] at the end of the year.

In addition to all of this, Alexia had told him that many of the publishers she had submitted copies of Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone had not retaliated.

That was something Will had expected as well.

But on August 31, Alexia knocks on her door and says that Warden's book has sent an email, requesting a meeting.

'Oh, so finally someone is interested.'

Will thought because it had been almost a month since Alexia had sent her script to various publishers.

He told her to give him all the information about the Warden books and for a day, she checked them out.

Warden books is a medium sized publisher that is quite successful for itself. They mostly focus on publishing fantasy and science fiction books and they also get a bit of success.

After getting all the necessary information about the publisher, Will finally meets Terry Warden at a cafe.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Will Evans, author of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone."

When Terry, a middle-aged man with a distended stomach sees Will enter the cafe, he cannot hide his shock.

One of the novels she published would be a movie and because she knew how much potential Hollywood had for writers, she always watched her.

So, he clearly knows Will, the rising star in Hollywood.

"You ... Are you the author?"

Terry stuttered, feeling a little unreasonable. But thinking of the pen name written on the manuscript, Evans W, he knew it was no joke.

"Yes, so let's talk business."

Will said and sat down. Terry followed him, still a little shaken. But he also sees it as an opportunity.

As an old fox who had seen all sorts of great people and people who could potentially be great people, he knew that being in a relationship with one of them was very good for his business.

So after the initial surprise, he smiled and started talking.

"I'm quite surprised this book belongs to you, Mr. Evans. I expected an unknown writer to appear."

"I'm also an unknown writer, at least in the novel industry. And you can call me Will."

He said and over the next few minutes, Terry told the story of how the book was first liked by his daughter who made him read it in person.

Thinking it had great potential, he sent an email asking to meet.

"I want Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone published by me. We can discuss the contents of the contract right now."

Seeing Terry like this, Will signals him to stop talking. Although the excitement was good, they needed to discuss more about the book first.

"Terry, first of all, I want you to know that Harry Potter is not my short-term project and if we're going to do business together, Warden books needs to be a great cooperation partner."

"What do you mean?"

Terry asked, confused by his words.

"Harry Potter is a series that I have been planning for many years now. And I have completed the plot for the whole series. The second book in the Harry Potter series and the Chamber of Secrets is something I've written."

As Will says this, the gears in Terry's mind begin to spin. He quickly asked.

"How many books will there be?"

"A total of seven books. It's going to be a long journey. I'll also make a prequel set before the events in Harry Potter."

"It seems like this is something you've been thinking about for years."

Will nodded his head.

For the first book, it is almost the same as the original version. Will doesn't change anything in the context of magic or the Hogwarts academy.

There was a slight change in Harry's character and some of the other characters. But other than that, there's not much change. Although he had thought of many changes, he took them back after thinking how they would eliminate the fantasy element of teenagers.

After some thought, Will came to the conclusion that since Harry was going to attend Hogwarts in the 1990s, not much had changed about it. Will wants to maintain the mystery of the castle because it is one of the features of the entire series.

Though, slowly at the end of the series, she plans to add a little science into the magic. In fact, it would only be an untested concept.

With this, Will plans to build on it by making half of the original series take place in the future with a new protagonist.

Although there is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child set in the future, Will does not like it very much and plays a lot with time travel.

Rather than that, he wanted to create an original that happened in the Magic world but at the same time was his.