[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman":3,"chapter-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-264":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1721870,2198,"Chapter 264 - 264 — An Unreliable Project","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-264",264,"\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Patreon - Twilight_scribe1\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wait—did you say your name is Henry Brown?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lauren Bacall confirmed again, narrowing her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Audrey's little assistant, that Henry Brown?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, that's me,\" Henry admitted. Then, a bit uneasy, he asked, \"Why? Is something wrong?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Audrey Hepburn's final recommendation… Love Across Alien Cultures—that Henry Brown?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first Henry was confused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then it hit him—oh, that book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The one Audrey had taken his manuscript to publish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The title was something the publishing house had chosen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had handled all the editing and production.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry had negotiated not to participate in promotion or book signings, so the royalties he received were modest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He kept the copyright but ignored everything after.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing someone suddenly mention the book startled even him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rubbed his neck awkwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I heard its sales weren't great. Didn't expect someone here to actually have read it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Katharine Hepburn looked amazed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Henry, don't tell me you don't know that book is extremely popular within a certain niche.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry replied flatly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you put it that way, doesn't that just mean it didn't sell well—only a small group liked it very much?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But of course, if you enjoy it, I'm honored.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That book—at best I'm just the translator. The stories weren't mine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If anyone deserves praise, it's the original authors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though most of them have been dead for a few hundred years.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You child…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Katharine rubbed her forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You always approach things from such odd angles, leaving everyone speechless. Do you find that amusing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Honestly? It's very amusing,\" Henry smirked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Katharine sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Such a troublesome temperament… Is it too late to fix it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I would really like to meet the parents who raised a boy this maddening.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you saw the people who raised me, you'd think my becoming a decent person was a miracle sent by God.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said it with a smile, but everyone present was elderly and worldly—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They all heard the bitterness behind the joke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, with tacit understanding, they changed the subject.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lauren Bacall stepped in:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Have you ever thought about screenwriting? Adapting one of the stories into a movie?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some studios are very interested in the stories from your book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You still own the adaptation rights, don't you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry paused only a moment before shaking his head firmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Everyone knows how screenwriters are treated in Hollywood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Directors change things as they please.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actors change lines when they feel like it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Producers have a hundred excuses to revise the script.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And the stories aren't even mine originally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If someone wants to adapt them, they should partner with people from the source culture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I'd rather not take the blame for a disaster.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lauren blinked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You don't think the studios could do a good job?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry chuckled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra is the perfect example.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So many scenes stuffed with Egyptian 'elements'—yet most were wrongly used.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Putting tomb-guardian statues inside a queen's bedroom?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In reality half the palace staff would've been executed for such an outrage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course, scholarly complaints were the least of that film's problems.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the mention of that notorious Hollywood catastrophe, all the old-timers fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lauren sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So it really would end up the same?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry nodded seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's practically inevitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Look at the book's sales—it's niche.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adapting it means the budget must be strictly controlled to turn a profit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The cultural background is foreign, so proper costumes and sets require investment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too little investment, and it looks cheap—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>both the source culture and American audiences will complain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But spend too much, and the box office becomes a suffocating pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cleopatra didn't fail solely because of Taylor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was just the easiest scapegoat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If I spearhead the adaptation,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>even if it doesn't crash as spectacularly—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>even if it merely loses money—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I'll be nailed to the Wall of Eternal Hollywood Shame.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised a finger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Best-case scenario?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Years after I die, people still remember the idiot who thought an 'authentic foreign cultural tale' could charm self-important American audiences.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm not denying there are open-minded people…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but they're not the majority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And once the cost exceeds a certain threshold,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the only way to profit is to persuade conservative audiences to watch a film promoting foreign mythology.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just imagining it makes me despair.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lauren exhaled, disappointed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I really thought it could've been a good project.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry put on his most innocent face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I wish it could be too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But different cultures come with incompatibilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without solving those, disaster is guaranteed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If some annoying person wanted the rights, I'd just take the check and remove my name entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since you asked, Miss Bacall, I have to explain honestly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I'd rather not become the annoying person afterward.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Katharine chimed in:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Child, next time tell me in advance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I could've negotiated you a hefty adaptation fee—and you wouldn't be blamed for the failure at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isn't that ideal?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lauren's earlier enthusiasm finally faded into regret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What a pity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was even imagining teaming up with Katharine to play Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For context:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lauren Bacall, born 1924—seventy years old in 1994.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Katharine Hepburn, born 1907—eighty-seven years old.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These two wanted to play White Snake and Green Snake…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, by age alone—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An 87-year-old and a 70-year-old playing a thousand-year-old fox spirit and a five-hundred-year-old snake demon…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, from one angle, they are appropriately ancient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry had no idea where to begin roasting this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hollywood casts twenty-something actresses with faces full of collagen to play thousand-year-old vampire queens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for Eastern mythology?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They want to call in the Golden Age grand dames…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is beyond a beauty filter—this is a frosted bathroom window.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless Xu Xian is blind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which would explain why, in the original tale, he begged the monk to take away the two demons…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>🎉 Power Stone Goal Announcement! 🎉\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I'll release one bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones we hit!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Let me know what should I do\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your support means everything—let's crush these goals together! Keep voting, and let the stones pile up! 🚀\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>",1006,"2026-06-06T15:31:22.542Z",1,"novelbin.me","039db463ec7cb72704fbd2e60131270855b8abd7c203427012504cfed52592ec","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-265","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-263",556,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmarvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-cover.jpg"]