Kristen's eyes widened.
It was as if she was meeting Cassius for the first time.
She knew Cassius could act, had talent, and worked hard.
But she never knew he had such clear and professional insights into script structure, deep character psychology, and even the narrative logic of commercial genre films.
This completely exceeded her perception of an actor.
"You wrote all this?"
Kristen's voice carried disbelief as she pointed at the sharp analysis and constructive modification ideas on the screen.
Cassius rubbed his nose. He naturally couldn't say these were analyses from film critics and netizens in his past life.
"Just random thoughts. Since there's a chance to get this opportunity, I have to do some homework. Can't jump in with my eyes closed knowing there might be a pit ahead!"
"Random thoughts?"
Kristen's pitch rose. She picked up the structural diagram full of arrows and symbols from the desk, tapping her finger on the clearly marked nodes.
"You call this random thoughts? Cassius, this is work a professional screenwriter would do!"
"When did you understand all this? Learned it at USC?"
She looked at Cassius, her eyes full of amazement, as if looking at a treasure that suddenly unlocked hidden skills.
She recalled Cassius's successful shaping of the character Han Lee before, and now this in-depth structural analysis of Green Lantern...
Linking it all together!
Kristen realized the man beside her was far more than what she saw on the surface.
Cassius felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze and mumbled vaguely:
"Just watched too many movies and summarized blindly. And from an actor's perspective, sometimes you can feel where the script is uncomfortable more easily!"
"This isn't simply feeling uncomfortable!"
Kristen shook her head, her tone full of admiration.
"You're pointing directly at the lesion and prescribing medicine. Holy shit, Cassius, I feel like I picked up a treasure!"
She put down the paper and couldn't help but rub his hair, her movements carrying doting affection and disbelief.
"I'm starting to suspect, do you have some other hidden identity? Like a super straight-A student with countless degrees, or possessed by the soul of some legendary Hollywood screenwriter?"
Cassius laughed and grabbed her messing hand. "Read fewer fantasy novels!"
Kristen leaned into his embrace, looking up at him, her gray-green eyes shining.
"Seriously, Cassius, these ideas are great!"
"If those people at Warner have any brains, they should listen to you seriously. This isn't just modifying a character; this is saving a project that might crash again!"
She paused, her tone becoming serious.
"Do you need me to introduce you to anyone? Although I'm not very familiar with DC, there are always a few people I can talk to!"
Cassius felt warm inside and shook his head.
"No need for now! Let Rob test the waters first and see their reaction. Ideally, they have the will to change themselves. If not..."
He shrugged. "Then I won't play this Green Lantern!"
Looking at Cassius's calm and confident profile, Kristen's feeling of having picked up a treasure grew stronger.
She always knew Cassius had clear goals and acted steadily, but now, he possessed an additional confidence that made her feel reassured.
"Alright!"
She stopped dwelling on it, yawned, and became languid again.
"Anyway, whatever decision you make, I support you!"
She pulled his hand towards the bedroom.
"Now, Mr. Genius Screenwriter, time to rest!"
Cassius smiled, turned off the computer, and let her drag him out of the study.
The lights went out, plunging the study into darkness. Only the momentary reflection before the computer screen went completely dark illuminated the outlines of the papers full of thoughts on the desk.
...
The day before the meeting with Warner.
Cassius arrived at Rob's agency office as agreed.
He had been here a few times before.
It was very simple, without exaggerated decorations—standard white walls, desks, reception sofas.
And several bookshelves stuffed with documents, with some unopened scripts piled in the corner.
Different from before, a huge character poster was pasted right at the entrance!
It was a still of Boss Han Lee played by Cassius!
Cassius: "???"
Rob was obviously very proud, his expression like he was asking Cassius for credit!
Cassius ignored this, sat down directly, and signaled Rob to talk business.
Rob also returned to seriousness, scratched his messy hair, leaned forward, and lowered his voice:
"Tomorrow is key! Besides the casting director, a vice president responsible for DC film development named Greg Silverman will also attend from Warner's side. He's someone who can make decisions."
"This guy is known for being tough, but also a realist. As long as you can convince him you can make money, everything is negotiable!"
Cassius nodded.
This fit his impression of these Hollywood businessmen.
Race?
Asian?
As long as it makes money, it's not a problem!
"You know the rules, but I have to nag again!"
Rob held up a thick finger.
"First, be confident, but you're there to show value, not to teach them how to make movies!"
"Even if you think so in your heart, don't show it!"
"Most importantly, absolutely cannot leak any details about the script and project! We signed a confidentiality agreement; we can't afford the consequences of violating it!"
"I don't want to be blacklisted by Hollywood with you!"
"Understood!"
Cassius was concise.
He knew Hollywood was almost paranoid about project secrecy.
"Okay, serious talk over!"
Rob rubbed his hands together, a mix of excitement and sneakiness on his face.
"Now let me show you something good. I used some old connections, talked my lips off, and finally got this..."
Like a magic trick, he carefully took out a document sealed in a kraft paper bag from a locked drawer in his desk.
It was stamped with eye-catching "Confidential" and Warner Bros. seals.
"First draft of the current Green Lantern script!"
Rob's voice dropped even lower, almost like a breath.
"Can only read here, no photos, no copying, no taking it out of this door! After reading, we must return it and pretend nothing happened."
Cassius's heart skipped a beat.
First draft script!
This was exactly what he needed most!
All his previous analyses were based on past life memories and general genre film logic speculation.
With the script, he could cross-verify and know if his prescription was right for the illness.
Rob really went all out this time!
"Got it!"
Cassius took the heavy kraft paper bag, his palms sweating slightly.
He took a deep breath, broke the seal, and took out a thick stack of bound script pages.
Rob consciously walked to the window, pretending to look at the scenery, giving Cassius space to read.
Only the rustling sound of Cassius flipping pages quickly remained in the office.
He read extremely fast, almost scanning, focusing on capturing story structure, character settings, and key scenes.
The script had a very high degree of overlap with his past life memories and his own analysis!
Hal Jordan's portrayal was flat!
Opening as a talented, slightly rebellious test pilot. After being chosen by the ring, although briefly confused, he quickly accepted his fate, lacking profound internal motivation transformation and depiction of fear.
Supporting roles, like Carol Ferris, were almost standard girlfriend plus motivation function cards, with weak presence.
The villain Parallax's setting was still simple and crude, just a huge energy body wanting to devour everything, with almost zero philosophical opposition.
The third act was indeed large chunks of CGI bombardment. The Green Lantern Corps appeared collectively like going through the motions, with pitifully weak emotional impact.
So many points to roast that he simply wanted to say "Are you kidding me?".
This script felt like formulaically piecing together superhero movie elements, lacking a soul.