Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Premiere Feedback
She had always been a free spirit.
Like a cat.
Elegant and playful in the company of many, yet just as content and free when alone.
She thought it would always be like this.
Until one day, one evening, perhaps the moment someone caught her wrist.
She was suddenly tamed.
He was strong enough, brilliant enough, mysterious enough, yet tolerant of her whims, indulgent of her mischief, and accommodating of her little evils.
The perfect lover.
And then she quickly clung to him.
Hum hum hum.
Watching him go to Arizona, she did not stop him, still thinking about the pranks from before, wondering if Kate could resist his temptations after being repeatedly teased by her.
But then.
When she was alone again, it suddenly felt uncomfortable.
So these days she simply stayed at his place, quietly pacing around the villa like a cat whose owner had left home.
Sleeping in his bedroom at night.
Sometime during the night, she thought she heard a phone ring.
She hated answering calls, especially those in the middle of the night. Hate, hate, hate.
Don't they know there's no one home?
She grabbed a pillow to muffle her head, and soon the call went to voicemail.
Half-asleep, a girl's voice began to ramble.
She reluctantly pricked up her ears to listen—oh, it was Sandra Bullock.
Calling at this time.
Hum hum hum.
She wondered whether to suddenly pick up the phone to embarrass her.
But then decided against it.
Listening to the girl on the phone talk about how "Run Lola Run" was packed in theaters, she felt quite proud, though she herself preferred watching movies in a private screening room than going to a cinema.
Sandra also mentioned the film's rating issue.
Equally frustrating.
Simon had been away, and as a producer's representative, she had kept in contact with Orion Pictures, so she knew the details.
Clearly, the big seven studios were playing dirty.
"Run Lola Run" was sure to secure a PG-13 rating, but in the end, it was marked as R. Moreover, due to a tight release schedule, there wasn't even time to appeal and it had to premiere with an R rating.
Thinking this, she became so infuriated that she lost all sleep after Sandra hung up.
Hmm.
A good reason for the little boy to comfort me quickly, or I'll have insomnia.
She moved to the edge of the bed to grab the phone, then remembered his recent call saying the crew was filming at night until two in the morning; he definitely wouldn't be in his hotel room now.
She had to give up.
Turning back, she buried her face in his pillow, sniffed a little—she had been diligent about washing the bedding recently, but she could still sense his presence.
And suddenly, she wasn't quite so angry anymore.
Sleep, sleep.
When she woke again, it was already bright outside.
After breakfast, she changed into a burgundy business suit and drove her burgundy Ford sedan to Orion Pictures.
Orion Pictures had recently been focusing on Oliver Stone's "Platoon."
This politically charged Vietnam War reflection film had already won several major awards at last month's Golden Globes, including Best Picture and Best Director, and had received multiple nominations at the upcoming Oscars, making it a hot contender this awards season.
Moreover, "Platoon" had also performed well at the box office, accumulating over $40 million since its initial limited release, on a production budget of only $6 million.
Although their main effort was on "Platoon," Orion Pictures had not neglected the promotion of "Run Lola Run," even setting up a dedicated office for it.
Janet arrived at the headquarters of Orion Pictures and, along with a few staff members, was busy all morning compiling feedback from the premiere of "Run Lola Run," mainly from various newspaper reviews and audience surveys.
As for the box office, that would have to wait until the following Monday to get the results of the first weekend.
The initial feedback was better than anyone had expected, with newspaper reviews almost universally laudatory and audience surveys indicating the film's popularity.
Some cinema managers had even called, hoping to increase the number of screenings the following week.
She was busy until noon before personally faxing the compiled data to Arizona.
…
During this time, although the crew wrapped up at two in the morning, they usually didn't rest until three or four o'clock, and some staff members had resigned due to the strain of long nights. Simon was in good health and hadn't felt too uncomfortable.
"Run Lola Run" had officially premiered yesterday, but Simon couldn't see it.
Although Arizona is next to California, only the state capital, Phoenix, had a few theaters showing "Run Lola Run." Staying in the small town of Coolidge, naturally, they couldn't see it.
As his first movie since returning to this era, Simon was confident but still a bit anxious.
He had gone
to bed at three in the morning and woke up before nine, eager to call Los Angeles but remembering it was an hour later there and they weren't yet at work, he gave up. He decided to drive over fifty kilometers north to Phoenix city and hurriedly bought a bunch of newspapers.
Returning to Coolidge, it was already past eleven o'clock.
Crew members gradually woke up and went to the set's designated restaurant for a meal. Simon parked his car roadside, just as Catherine and a few others came laughing out of the hotel.
Seeing Simon getting out of the car, Catherine greeted him with a smile and asked, "Simon, how's 'Run Lola Run' doing? Oh, and we were just about to go for lunch. Join us, and we can chat."
Simon nodded, holding a stack of newspapers, and greeted Jenny Wright, Adrian Pasdar, and others nearby.
Jenny Wright was arm in arm with a handsome young man, her boyfriend who had recently visited the set. Simon was surprised to learn the young man's name was Nicolas Cage.
Indeed, Hollywood is a small world.
By now, everyone was familiar with each other, and they all knew about Simon's movie premiere yesterday.
Sitting down in the restaurant, Catherine and the others turned to the newspapers in Simon's hands.
Simon simply distributed the newspapers among them.
Jenny Wright, though demure in appearance, was quite wild and a rock fan. She grabbed "The Arizona Daily Star" and quickly skimmed through, then exclaimed excitedly, "Found it, 'Run Lola Run'. From start to finish, the writer couldn't believe an 18-year-old could make such an outstanding movie. But I went into the theater full of skepticism yesterday, only to be blown away by a dazzling auditory feast. Excellent cinematography, music, editing, and above all, an outstanding cinematic vision. 'Run Lola Run' surely deserves a place in film history, and Simon Westeros is undoubtedly set to be one of Hollywood's finest filmmakers. Wow, is it that exaggerated? Simon, looks like I really need to see this movie soon. And consider me for the female lead in your next film, huh?"
In the restaurant, after listening to Jenny Wright's reading, everyone else became interested in the other newspapers Simon had brought, and they began to look through them together.
In the end, to everyone's surprise, out of the dozen newspapers Simon brought back, all but one, which questioned whether Simon had actually directed the movie himself, gave positive reviews.
Jenny Wright even joked that Simon must have thrown away any newspapers with bad reviews on the way here.
Since it was Saturday, everyone quickly agreed to go together to Phoenix that evening to watch "Run Lola Run."
After a lively lunch, when the fax from Los Angeles with the official documents from Orion Pictures arrived, Simon finally felt at ease about the box office prospects for "Run Lola Run."
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