Billy had been spending far too long filming displays of this talent—mega-productions that seemed determined to be more than merely ambitious. For a long time now, he had understood that everything had to be done. Billy officially began filming for this year, and this year brought with it a role as O'Connell, a bandit who had fought in France during the Great War and days later became a mercenary who cared about nothing, not even himself, living day to day off a task that paid a hefty sum of money.
Everything translated into money, and money was therefore a price. The City of Gold, Hamunaptra, is a city where everything is beautiful and welcoming. Billy held a rifle in his hands while filming and practiced with care for one to two hours, repeating it as much as he could. And when there was nothing left to do, he devoted himself to practicing his lines again and again.
-I'll do everything possible to make sure the scene is shot over the course of two days; you have to do what you can so the shots take shape. – Stephen Sommers replied, informing him that many scenes would be filmed here. The chronological line would blur a little, but essentially, between ten and twelve takes would be shot of him, and then, no less than ten meters away, the same scenes would be filmed again in a straight chronological order. The only sequence that would not follow an ordered timeline was the boat journey, which is why they would leave that for the end. A bitter taste in the mouth, but none of that mattered now, since Billy's main strength was ordering everything to tell a story without interruption.
-Don't worry. I have my lines memorized. —Billy commented, then gave a deep look with a simple gesture. —Thank you for accepting my new lines. I think that even if the role is a bit more serious, I can bring it to life in the way I imagine—
-It's no problem. I have faith. You don't become a box-office star for nothing. Nothing is gained by luck alone; you must have enough talent to make miracles happen, son. Personally, I'm a fan of your work, and this makes me happy. —
-Scene one. Take two. -
HAMUNAPTRA – 1923. For three thousand years, men and armies fought over this land, never knowing what evil lay behind it. Darkness rises into the air, and all that remains is dust. A magnificent life born from the greed of people who desire only to bring evil. And for three thousand years, we—the Magi, descendants of the sacred bodyguards of the Pharaoh—have watched over the land and protected the legend of evil. – Billy's voice-over.
Rick O'Connell: You've just been promoted. The offensive is upon us. I want you to cover the lower line with your shots.
Benny: I don't understand it!
Rick O'Connell: Calm down! You're with me on this, right?
Billy stared fixedly at Benny, who watched him calmly, and without the right to retreat, he nodded with comic gestures.
Benny: Your strength gives me strength.
Rick: Easy!
Wait! Wait for me!
Rick: Easy!
Fire!
The riders charge, but there are too many of them, from too many directions; they overwhelm everyone. It seems unreal, and men fall and die. The gunfire is, in essence, a guide. It is the third time they perform the stampede, but the first time they do it without dialogue, acting only, to layer thousands and thousands of images into a single action shot.
Rick: Run, Benny! Run! Get in! Get in!
But he realizes he is alone. His eyebrows rise, and he tries to run or flee, but the people following him from every position attack and create chaos. Rick runs and tries to escape, only to be betrayed by Ben, who slams the door in his face.
Rick: Hey! Don't close that door! Don't close that door! You'll die. You'll die.
Rick escapes into the desert, trying to flee as danger stalks him. Rick jumps into a maneuver cushioned by a mat, rolling as best he can, without letting himself be seen by those trying to follow him.
Ardeth Bay: The creature remains undiscovered. —A man comments. —
Shadow Guard: And what about this one?
Shadow Guard: Should we kill him?
Ardeth Bay: No. The desert will kill him.
The shot shows Billy running, without looking back, using everything he has left, trying to escape, staring toward the horizon.
-Cut. –
-We'll do another take. – They shouted to Billy from afar; he could only nod in response.
Raimon wore on his chest a long chain he played with—the silver symbol of Lux Animation. All that remained now was to sign a real estate investment contract. But not today. Today, he was at Marvel, in a meeting with Jim Gianopulos, alongside other people. The first chapter of the X-Men was a vivid image, an all-or-nothing gamble. X-Men was pushed forward with the sole purpose of suspending everything else in midair.
Tom DeSanto as writer, though he was also a writer and producer. Truth be told, Raimon felt they needed a better writer, so Billy only committed if they assembled a team of advisors to improve the script and then carry out a third superproduction, involving three to four key figures.
-You have fifteen to twenty days. —Raimon commented.
-We have more time. The budget is around 150 million dollars, and there's talk of turning it into a trilogy, marking the beginning of the end of an animated series, following the entire lore. —Bryan Singer replied.
Raimon whistled.
-How much will you make? —Raimon asked.
-We have several scripts and several ideas, but I think we'll position ourselves at the end of all the comics, explaining how everything, unfortunately, led to an ending no one could escape. —Bryan replied. He was chosen as director, though later he became only a co-director, because the lens they demanded required a counterweight, a balance, and that's why they chose an art director. Jim promised a payment of two million and a free pass on any film after finishing the shoot.
-We'll definitely need another person to coordinate the action scenes. —Jim Gianopulos commented. Two years to make an action series was sheer madness. Everything required work that would even pass through Lucasfilm.
-From Fox, we agree with the entire production. —Gail Berman of Fox replied, now acting as the guiding vision. The genre division provided a certain satisfaction; Fox would supply the studios, while Lux Animation would hire the actors and cover part of the payroll.
-Two years to plan. —Raimon sighed, completely defeated.
-Stan Lee and Kirby will help us with the script. —Jim replied. They were already improving all the scenes. And beyond hiring just five or six actors, the idea was to create a slower line of films and begin Wolverine's origin story right away. Therefore, they expected to hire many actors with strong acting ability.
-I think it's better if we do this big. —Raimon whispered to Jim. He was already planning to add a small range of contracts that would bring everything to life; with Universal and Fox entering the scene, everything else fell away.
....