Chapter 46

Because both were busy with work, the date they had agreed on hadn't happened yet.

……

After saying goodnight to each other, Xu Can had just hung up the video with Taylor when his phone rang again.

"Baby, I miss you."

Emma Stone greeted him in a sweet tone.

Xu Can had always been surprised: where did the Stone who used to be "one of the guys" on set, downing a large glass of rum without changing her expression, and speaking bluntly, go?

The current Stone had completely turned into a clingy little woman in front of Xu Can.

"Baby, I miss you too."

"You don't miss me at all. It's been three whole days, and you haven't called once."

"Huh? Three days? I've been filming lately and lost track of time."

"Forget it, you didn't hang up on me, I'm already very happy."

Oh, this...

Her tone was so gentle that it made Xu Can feel a bit guilty.

He really didn't intentionally avoid calling; he was truly busy filming from morning till night and had to discuss the plot with the Nolan brothers on set.

Taylor's album production progress, *John Wick* promotion, the Marvel movie script...

Xu Can had to worry about all of these, so naturally, he couldn't spare time to flirt.

"I'm about to go film a new movie. Is *Zombieland* really okay?"

"Of course, you showed me the script last time; it will definitely succeed, at least 100 million at the box office."

To take advantage of Emma Stone's popularity before it faded, Sony Pictures planned to start a low-budget zombie movie early.

Emma Stone would play the female lead, starring alongside Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg.

In his past life, this was Stone's work, and it was a success in both word-of-mouth and box office—a good choice.

"Also, the premiere of *Twilight* is set for early May. Can you accompany me to the premiere then?"

"Of course, I'll accompany you... wait! Early May?"

Xu Can suddenly realized!

Wouldn't *John Wick* be competing with *Twilight*?

That was a phenomenal film that swept through over 100 countries around the world!

This just got interesting!

Many excellent films were released in Hollywood in 2007.

January had *Night at the Museum*;

February had *Ghost Rider*;

Both *Ghost Rider* and *Spider-Man* were in Sony's hands, and the two films were filmed almost back-to-back.

In Sony's original vision, if *Spider-Man* failed, *Ghost Rider* might have been the last straw.

They hired the former superstar Nicolas Cage to create a decent story.

The explosion of *Spider-Man* incidentally made *Ghost Rider* a bit popular, taking the North American weekend box office champion at the end of February.

March had *300*;

Theoretically, this work was also a comic book adaptation. Besides DC and Marvel, there were other large and small American comic companies.

This was the second film Zack Snyder took on after directing *Dawn of the Dead*.

At this moment, Snyder couldn't imagine that Xu Can would find him in the future to start a cinematic universe.

The April market would be relatively cold; the comedy *Blades of Glory* and the thriller *Disturbia*—Xu Can didn't have a deep impression of them.

According to the original timeline, the blockbuster in May should have been *Spider-Man 3*!

The one where Tobey Maguire's black Spider-Man shows off his hot dance moves...

The parallel world had changed; *Spider-Man 1* had just been released, and theoretically, there were no competitive films in the same period.

Therefore, Xu Can felt at ease putting *John Wick* in early May, which could warm up the summer season and bring in good box office numbers.

He didn't expect *Twilight* to come out of nowhere!

If it were any other film, it would be fine, but this was Emma Stone's second film as a female lead.

Her share of scenes in this film even surpassed Gwen's.

Xu Can didn't want to compete directly with Stone.

"Should I talk to the studio and have them schedule it for the summer?"

Emma Stone also realized at this time that Xu Can's new film was in early May, right?

"Forget it, let fate decide. We might not necessarily clash directly; the target audiences for the two films are different."

*Twilight* attracted 16-year-old teenage girls more, while *John Wick* was the romance of adult men.

"Then let's bet on whose box office is higher."

"Okay, let's bet. North America or global?"

"Let's just do North America." Stone hesitated for a moment.

*John Wick* was rated R, so it couldn't be shown in many regions; he would definitely be at a disadvantage.

"Okay, then what if you lose?"

"If I lose, I'll agree to one thing for you, anything that isn't illegal."

"Fine, same for me. If I lose, I'll agree to one thing for you."

The two of them set the bet while laughing, waiting for the films to be released—*John Wick* vs. *Twilight*!

Before hanging up, Stone sighed softly with reluctance and whispered in Xu Can's ear:

"Compared to these, I'd rather film a movie with you. The time we filmed *Spider-Man* was probably my happiest time."

Listening to Stone's coquettish tone, Xu Can couldn't help but recall the time he first met her.

It was indeed very happy; the joy on set never stopped, and after it ended, they would drink together and roam Los Santos together, seemingly having endless things to say.

Neither of them was famous, and they imagined a beautiful future together.

Now they were famous overnight and were a famous screen couple—Spider-Man and Gwen!

It was just that they were often apart, both busy with their own things, and it was hard to find the simple happiness of the beginning.

"Aren't there plenty of opportunities this year and next? We'll start filming *Spider-Man 2* in the second half of the year, and next year I want to create a musical, and you'll be my female lead."

"Really? What musical?!"

*Spider-Man 2* was in the plan, but a musical was completely unexpected.

Emma Stone was quite pleasantly surprised!

"Tentatively titled *La La Land*, it's a story about a couple pursuing their dreams in Los Santos."

"Wow, it sounds so romantic! It's a bit like us! It must be a beautiful love story, I want to act in it!"

"Okay, once this stage is busy, we'll start the plan."

Xu Can held back his smile.

It was a love story, alright, but whether it was beautiful... that was not necessarily the case.

……

"Ha, ha, ha, ha... I thought my jokes were cold enough, but today I've been opened up by you guys."

"How about I perform a magic trick for you? I can make this pencil disappear."

"A year ago, no one dared to arrest you. What's going on now? Have you been castrated?"

"...Are you really Batman? No? Ahahahahaha, why are you wearing the same uniform as him? Hahahaha! Woohoo!"

Thanks to Xu Can joining, the filming progress of *The Dark Knight* was exceptionally fast.

Previously, when everyone heard that the *Spider-Man* crew's progress was far ahead of schedule, industry insiders in the film circle didn't quite believe it.

Who doesn't have delays when filming a movie?

There are so many situations on set—actors forgetting lines, bad weather, venue problems... there are always factors that slow down progress.