My Hollywood System

Chapter 159:

OP Pictures, Hollywood.

Currently, in the office of Micheal Williams, the current CEO of OP Pictures, a middle-aged bald man was sitting on the chair opposite Micheal as he sipped on his tea and listened to Micheal’s report.

“It’s funny how Will Evans rose to the top in such a short time.”

Micheal said in a cunning and sarcastic voice. Obviously, he didn’t seem to be very happy about Will’s rise.

The bald man, Richard Persons, was one of the major shareholders of OP Pictures, and ultimately, one of the bosses above Micheal Williams.

Micheal had been ranting about Will’s current meteoric rise to the top ever since Richard came here as if he was trying to suggest something.

“He became too big too soon, to the point that it’s become a problem now. Insider news’ are already telling that some of the Hollywood bigshots have already started planning out what to do with Will.”

This time, Micheal gave an even clearer signal, but yet again, Richard ignored all this as if he didn’t even hear a thing.

“I heard many of the big shots also want to work with him, including the big six. Is that true?”

Richard asked something else entirely. Micheal, although displeased, answered his query.

“Yes, they do want to work with him. Even OP Pictures has talked about a deal with him for which they have received a confirmation already. But that doesn’t mean that nobody is scared of his talent and his current upward climb in Hollywood. Some people are already thinking of dealing with him and cutting down his wings to bring him down. So that he doesn’t grow a lot in such a short time. They know that if he grew too much, then they could only do so-so about it later on. So it’s better to take action earlier.”

Again, Richard ignored everything from the latter part as he asked.

“Which project has OP Pictures signed with him? What’s the name and what is it about?”

“We received confirmation yesterday that the official title will be [Friends], and it’s going to be written by Will Evans himself. He calls it a sitcom or something.”

Micheal replied, clearly unenthusiastic about the project and more interested in talking about Will’s rise and downfall.

A sitcom means a television series that involves a continuing cast of characters in a succession of comedic circumstances

In this world, the concept of a sitcom was yet to be invented, which just gave more reasons to Will to make [Friends], which could mark the start of sitcoms in this world, as it was a phenomenon in Will’s previous world.

“Will has personally pitched the idea in a meeting, but that’s what worries me. I am worried about the contract now.”

Micheal said as Richard raised an eyebrow, finally seeming interested in something else other than Will’s project talk.

“Why are you worried about the contract?”

He asked, curious.

“Well, with Will as a brand backing the series, the series is surely going to get a lot of approval. But some fresh rumours say that Dream Vision is planning to expand a lot now and it won’t be just the movie market they’re going to aim for. According to some insider info, Will Evans is going to enter the series and animation market too. With all this on the table, it hardly seems impossible that Will won’t add his own terms and conditions in the contract, which, I dare say, wouldn’t be in our favour.”

***

In Will’s office, he was currently sitting with Leo as he handed over the script of the next movie that he has specially prepared for Leo.

The script was for the movie [Catch Me If You Can].

The story was about a teenager from 1963, Frank William Abagnale Jr. who lives in New Rochelle, New York with his father Frank Abagnale Sr., and his French mother Paula. During his youth, he witnessed his father’s many techniques for conning people. When Frank Sr. encounters tax problems with the Internal Revenue Service, the family is forced to move from their large home to a small apartment.

One day, Frank discovers that his mother is having an affair with his father’s friend Jack Barnes. After his parents’ divorce, Frank runs away. Needing money, he turns to confidence scams to survive and his cons grow bolder. He impersonates a Pan Am pilot and forges the airline’s payroll checks. Soon, his forgeries are worth millions of dollars.

News of the crimes reaches the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and agent Carl Hanratty begins tracking Frank. Carl finds him at a hotel, but Frank tricks Carl into believing he is Secret Service agent Barry Allen. He escapes before Carl realizes that he was fooled.

Frank begins to impersonate a doctor. As Dr. Frank Conners, he falls in love with Brenda, a naive young hospital worker. He asks her attorney father for her hand and also wants his help with arranging to take the Louisiana State Bar exam, which Frank passes. Carl tracks Frank to his and Brenda’s engagement party, but Frank escapes through a bedroom window.

Before escaping, Frank asks Brenda to meet him at Miami International Airport two days later. There, he sees her, but also spots plainclothes agents and realizes she has given him up, then drives away. Re-assuming his pilot identity, he stages a false recruiting drive for stewardesses at a local college. Surrounded by eight women as stewardesses, he conceals himself from Carl and the other agents walking through and escapes on a flight to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, Spain.

In 1967, Carl tracks down Frank in his mother’s hometown of Montrichard, France. He is incarcerated in a French prison in Marseille where he becomes very ill due to its poor conditions. Carl takes Frank on a flight back to the United States. As they make their approach, he informs him that his father has died. Grief-stricken, Frank escapes from the plane and reaches the house of his now remarried mother who has a daughter. Frank surrenders to Carl and spends 12 years in a maximum-security prison.

Carl occasionally visits Frank. During one visit, he shows him a fraud check from a case he is working on. Frank immediately figures out that the bank teller was involved in the fraud. Impressed, Carl convinces the FBI to allow him to serve the remainder of his sentence working for the FBI bank fraud unit. Frank agrees but soon grows restless of the tedious office work.

One weekend, Frank prepares to impersonate a pilot again and is intercepted by Carl, who allows him to carry on his act, assuring him that no one is chasing him. As Frank returns to work and discusses another fraud case with Carl, the post-script indicates that Frank has lived for 26 years in the Midwestern United States with his wife, with whom he has had three sons, remains friends with Carl, and has built a successful living as one of the world’s leading experts on bank fraud and forgery.

All in all, it was a very great movie and one of the movies that cemented Leonardo Dicaprio in Hollywood.

(A/N – It’s honestly good, if you haven’t watched it, then you should watch.)

“It’s a script that I specially prepared with you in mind. And only you can perform the best in the movie with great charms.”

Will said as Leo was busy reading. Suddenly, Leo frowned as he asked.

“First a gangster and now a conman, I am not really getting morally good roles, you know?”

Will laughed hearing that as he tried to put some sense into this kid.

“It’s not just a conman, it’s a stylish conman. The audience won’t think anything bad about you, they would even laugh at times. The movie will go into production soon, so you should take your time to familiarise yourself with the script.”

Leo happily nodded his head as soon as he heard it was a stylish role. After all, teenagers could sell their souls to the devil to look cool.

Robert had also gotten roles in two original movies. One being a rom-com and the other being a drama about the relationship between a father and a son.

“Oh one more thing, I have another role that I think will suit you a lot.”

Will said as Leo gave him a questioning look.

“Well, it’s the role of Spiderman.”

“Spiderman?”

“Yep!”

Will confirmed as he told Leo about how Spiderman was a character from Marvel comics and that he thought that Leo would be perfect for the role. In Will’s previous life, it was a known fact that Leo was offered the role of Spiderman but he rejected it.

“Uh, well. I am not really sure.”

Leo said, somewhat nervous.

“Well, it’s not something like I don’t want to play in a movie offered by you. But it’s a superhero movie and it’s sure to have a whole franchise rather than just one movie. As a viewer, I like watching many parts of different movies, but as an actor, I want to end the journey of a character in one part, and not go back to it again, which will surely happen in a franchise.”

Will didn’t comment anything on that as it was a decision based on Leo’s artistic side. Will was sure Leo would play the role if he insisted but it would be difficult to get him to play all three Spiderman movies, not to mention after his popularity rises.

“It’s fine. It was just an idea, you don’t have to play it if you don’t want to.”

Will said and Leo smiled. To Will, keeping the current Leo happy was very important, so as to maintain an extremely good relationship with him in the future.

…

//DreamNote//

Andrew Garfield won.

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