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Cassius pushed the document in front of him forward, his gaze calmly sweeping over everyone present.
"Thank you! Before discussing what I can bring to Green Lantern, I would like to share a bolder direction based on my understanding of the market and some genre film laws!"
He didn't directly say modification, but used the euphemism of "direction."
Greg and Martin exchanged a look.
Normally, they would have just left, not bothering to listen to an ethnic Chinese actor speaking here.
But they were truly at a very awkward juncture right now.
The shooting schedule was extremely tight!
The casting was still undecided!
Multiple parties had been involved with the script, yet there was still only a draft!
If no turning point appeared, they could already foresee the infamy the movie would face after filming and release!
Rob sweated under the table. He thought Cassius was just here to offer modification suggestions.
Cassius threw out the core directly:
"I think we might consider not doing Hal Jordan's story."
The conference room went silent for a moment.
Rob felt his heart skip a beat!
In this instant, he even imagined his miserable life after being blacklisted from the circle!
"Not do Hal Jordan?"
Greg frowned slightly.
Beside him, Martin's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Yes!"
Cassius's tone remained unchanged.
"We can create a brand new Green Lantern, a Chinese coder from San Francisco Chinatown named Cassius!"
As soon as he said this, Rob almost wanted to reach out and cover his mouth.
Cassius didn't pause, quickly outlining the skeleton of Green Lantern: Rise of the Azure Dragon he had conceived.
The script he edited on the computer yesterday poured out.
Cassius's speaking speed was steady, but every idea exploded like a bomb in the conference room.
Initially, Greg and Martin's expressions were shock and doubt.
But as he elaborated on this brand new framework filled with grassroots flavor, cultural collision, and philosophical speculation, their eyes slowly changed.
[Speech Rhythm +3]
A blue attribute orb dropped from Cassius!
Absorbed!
[Rhythm Attribute Leveled Up! Current Level: Lv3 (1/600)]
Cassius felt as if he had jumped out of his body, reviewing his speech just now from a God's perspective in his mind.
A realization welled up in his heart.
His expression rhythm instantly rose a level; pauses and emphasis were just right, persuasiveness multiplied.
He saw the favorability above the heads of those present start to jump, generally rising by 10 to 15 points.
"So I think..."
Cassius made a concluding gesture!
His gaze looked steadily at Greg and Martin:
"The charm of Green Lantern doesn't have to be just the ring and special effects. It can be how an ordinary person uses the wisdom and resilience from his own cultural background to understand and master this cosmic power, to deal with or even subvert some inherent things!"
"This might allow us to truly stand out among numerous superheroes!"
The conference room was quiet for a few seconds.
Rob felt his palms sweating, holding his breath.
Director Martin was the first to laugh. He shook his head, as if seeing something incredible, and started clapping.
Greg Silverman froze for a second, then slowly clapped his hands too. The expression on his face changed from initial shock to the light of a businessman seeing huge potential.
"Fuck me!"
Rob heard casting director Sarah whisper an exclamation beside him.
Greg leaned forward, staring tightly at Cassius, the previous sense of distance gone.
"Mr. Cass, this has gone beyond the scope of suggestions. This is a brand new worldview! Very bold!"
He paused, trying to organize his words:
"How do you guarantee this cultural fusion won't seem out of place?"
Director Martin also joined the questioning:
"Where is the balance point between comedy and seriousness in the training between the coder and the female instructor?"
The following time turned into an intense brainstorming session.
Combining the understanding of various performance attributes brought by the system, and countless films and internet memes seen in his past life, Cassius dismantled their questions one by one.
He emphasized that comedy should stem from the character's own predicament and collisions rather than forced tickling, and even improvised the protagonist's state changes at several key nodes with different tones.
Cassius's thinking was clear and his reactions quick.
Showcasing not only acting ability but also deep thinking about the core of the story, market positioning, and use of cultural symbols.
That young screenwriter's favorability had soared to 75, looking at Cassius like looking at a god.
When the meeting ended, Greg Silverman proactively extended his hand to Cassius. This handshake was firm and sincere.
"Cass, this was truly a brainstorm! I need time to digest, but undoubtedly, you provided us with an unprecedented and impactful possibility!"
He didn't agree directly, but his attitude had completely changed.
Director Martin also patted Cassius's shoulder hard, his eyes full of appreciation and excitement:
"Young man, what kind of universe do you have in your head? Keep this creativity! We will discuss internally as soon as possible!"
Walking out of the Warner building.
Rob didn't speak for a long time. Only when he got into the car did he gasp heavily and slap the steering wheel hard:
"Holy fucking shit! Cass! Do you know you just threw a nuclear bomb in there?"
"Brand new script! Chinese protagonist! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"I thought you were just going to patch things up, but you tore down the house to build a skyscraper!"
He was incoherent with excitement:
"Did you see Greg's face? He went from 'who is this kid' to 'is this a fucking genius or a madman'!"
"And Director Martin! How long has it been since he was this excited! Fuck! Things just got big!"
[Rob Favorability +10, Current Favorability 80]
Feeling the newly upgraded rhythm and aura attributes in his body, the corners of Cassius's mouth turned up slightly.
A golden attribute orb popped out from the overly excited Rob, floating unsteadily towards Cassius:
[Trust and Loyalty +10]
Whoa!
The quality of attribute orbs produced by Rob was this high!
Cassius quickly absorbed this unexpected surprise!
He felt the partnership between him and Rob become tighter and more solid.
Cassius leaned back in his seat, exhaling a long breath, feeling his highly concentrated spirit relax a bit.
"Now it depends on whether Warner has the guts!"
Cassius looked at the traffic outside the window.
"Guts? They'd be fools if they didn't!"
Rob was still in a hyped state:
"This idea is too explosive! Although the risk is also big, once it succeeds... Bro, you're no longer an actor, you're a creator!"
The car stopped in front of the villa.
Cassius said goodbye to the still-hyped Rob and turned to enter the house.
Pushing open the living room door, he felt the atmosphere was a bit different.
Kristen was curled up on the sofa scrolling on her iPad. Hearing the noise, she looked up with a smile like she was watching a show.
And on the single sofa next to her sat not only her best friend Dakota, but also a girl with an expression of obvious excitement and nervousness.
Dakota's sister, Elle Fanning.
Elle looked about fourteen or fifteen.
Typical American teenager outfit, T-shirt and jeans.
Her eyes were amazingly bright. As soon as she saw Cassius enter, she sprang up from the sofa with a "whoosh."
Covering her mouth with both hands as if afraid she would scream, her cheeks instantly turned bright red.