Victor had been writing numerous articles on his social media, specifically targeting Ethan's Lucy.
His criticisms were all centered on the script.
For instance, he accused Ethan of abandoning artistic value and becoming a slave to commercialism. He claimed that Ethan had forsaken deeper humanistic themes in favor of cheap thrills, which would inevitably be rejected by audiences.
Ethan took a quick glance and then closed the webpage. "Ridiculous."
"Do you want me to hack the site?" Yuffie asked.
"No need," Ethan chuckled. "Clowns like this aren't common—let him enjoy his moment. But investigate the people who support his posts. Look into those who agree with him; maybe the real mastermind is among them."
The internet was still in its early stages, and users had yet to realize the importance of anonymity. Right now, people were practically running around naked online—it was often easy to dig up a lot of information on them.
"Understood," Yuffie nodded in agreement.
Ethan then attended several meetings at the company.
This was the downside of lacking senior management—he had to be present for every meeting and couldn't free himself from the workload.
Sometimes, an entire day could be wasted in meetings.
However, with Norton's Eye now on the right track, there were fewer matters that required Ethan's personal attention.
And so, another week passed.
Miramax and Victor continued their accusations against Ethan, and the audience split into two factions.
One side believed Ethan had already provided all the evidence—it was obvious that Victor was just making a scene, trying to extort compensation from Norton's Eye.
The other side believed Ethan's reputation as a tyrant on set was already solidified. Since he was known for his sharp tongue, they assumed Victor's claims must be true.
But regardless of which side they took, no one believed this controversy would affect Ethan's films.
When journalists conducted interviews, they found that whether or not Victor sued Ethan—or even if Ethan lost in court—audiences still wouldn't abandon his movies.
And amid this media frenzy, Ethan's new film, Lucy, finally began filming.
"Is this outfit sexy?"
In a luxurious hotel in Seoul, Scarlett, who had flown in from Los Angeles, met Ethan after changing into her costume.
Ethan admired the leopard-print outfit she was wearing and praised, "It looks amazing—really suits you."
Scarlett's voluminous golden-blond hair, coupled with the wild leopard print, made her exude an untamed allure.
"Really?" Scarlett approached him, her pale fingers sliding from his forehead down to his chin. Then, she leaned forward, offering him an enticing view.
Ethan whistled.
Knock, knock.
The sudden knock on the door made Scarlett immediately step back. The next second, the assistant director and makeup artist entered the room.
"The cameras and lighting downstairs are ready, Director."
"Okay," Ethan said as he stepped out of the room. This hotel had been entirely booked for the film's first scene.
But as Ethan walked downstairs, he noticed a familiar face watching from outside the set.
"Quentin!" Ethan was surprised to see Quentin Tarantino in a cowboy hat. "What brings you here?"
"Haha, Ethan! I just wrapped up Inglourious Basterds, and I'm traveling around. Didn't expect to run into your crew here!"
Quentin was holding two bags filled with instant noodles and kimchi.
Seeing Ethan glance at his haul, Quentin joked, "There's not much else to buy around here, but they've got a lot of instant noodles. Gotta admit, the flavors are pretty good."
"But eating instant noodles every day isn't healthy," Ethan said, pulling Quentin onto the set. "I can provide you with a proper meal. But since you're here, you're not getting away—this scene has a lot of blood and gore, perfect for your expertise."
"Oh, Ethan, you really know how to put people to work," Quentin handed his bags to the crew and then greeted Scarlett with a grin. "Hey there, beautiful."
"Hi, Director Quentin," Scarlett responded.
After some small talk, the crew got back into position.
"So, Ethan, how much blood are we talking here?" Quentin asked as he flipped through the script, thinking the scene wasn't too difficult.
This was the opening scene of the film—where the protagonist, Lucy, was tricked by her scumbag boyfriend into delivering a locked suitcase. Just as he was killed outside the hotel, she was taken away by the villain's henchmen.
"What? You want to kill a few more people?" Ethan responded.
"Haha, of course! I'd love to paint the entire lobby red," Quentin joked.
"That'd be way too much blood," Ethan laughed.
The actor playing Lucy's boyfriend chimed in, "Wouldn't that make me a walking blood fountain?"
"Sometimes, aesthetic value follows logical realism," Quentin explained before discussing his ideas with the props department.
Meanwhile, Ethan oversaw the setup of the 3D cameras.
Shooting a 3D movie required specialized equipment—two cameras had to be mounted on a special rig at a specific distance to create the parallax effect. This ensured that when audiences watched the film, the 3D visuals would be immersive.
Standard cinematography techniques still applied, but the added complexity of 3D made camera movement more challenging. Coordinating two cameras simultaneously required a high level of skill from the cinematographer.
To ensure quality, Ethan had brought in Avatar's cinematographer, who was experienced in handling 3D shots.
Once Scarlett was ready, Ethan called out, "Action!"
Outside the hotel, Lucy and her scumbag boyfriend had a tense conversation.
The boyfriend wanted Lucy to deliver a locked suitcase for him, but she refused.
In response, the bastard handcuffed the suitcase to her wrist.
Lucy had no choice but to enter the hotel.
While she anxiously waited for the contact to take the suitcase, disaster struck.
Her boyfriend was suddenly shot dead outside, his crimson blood splattering onto the glass, forming an eerie pattern.
And the contact never appeared. Instead, a group of bodyguards forcibly took Lucy away.
Behind them, a gunfight erupted, with blood spraying in all directions.
"Cut!" Ethan called out.
"How was it?" Quentin reviewed the playback with him.
"This part needs a bullet effect—a round shattering the glass and grazing past Lucy," Ethan pointed at the screen and instructed the props and VFX teams. "So make the bullet holes bigger."
"Got it."
"Why do it this way?" Quentin was a bit puzzled.
"Because we're shooting a 3D movie," Ethan explained. "At the beginning of the film, I want the audience to immediately feel the charm of 3D. Things like bullets flying toward them, blades, or stones—these kinds of imminent threats can effectively enhance immersion."
"I see." At this time, Avatar hadn't been released yet, and many filmmakers had a very limited understanding of 3D movies.
Quentin thought for a moment and said, "Sounds interesting, but I probably wouldn't choose this approach in my films."
"So you're a purist?"
"Haha, not really. It's just that I'm used to shooting flat films, and 3D movies have too high of an investment cost." Quentin was well aware of his own situation—his films had never been the type to explode at the box office.
So he had to spend his budget wisely—on actors and sets, for example.
"Alright, let's do it again!" The crew quickly adjusted everything and repeated the shot.
This time, Ethan was very satisfied and approved the take immediately.
After the transition, they moved to an interior scene.
Here, the antagonist, Mr. Zhang, played by Choi Min-sik, was dressed in a sleek suit, entertaining himself with a glass of wine.
He clinked his glass against the sculptures in the room and even performed a small dance. When he turned around and saw Ethan and Scarlett watching him, he couldn't help but laugh.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Ethan didn't speak Korean, so he always had a translator by his side.
In fact, the production team had three translators—one for Korean, one for French, and one for Italian.
This was because the crew members came from different regions. Some French staff didn't speak English, while some Americans didn't understand French.
This was mainly due to the fact that Lucy was a 3D film, involving many technical aspects, so it took Ethan a long time to find the right crew members.
"Yes." Choi Min-sik nodded. "I like this room. It has an artistic feel, very fitting for a villain's style."
Unlike the psychotic killer persona he portrayed in films, Choi Min-sik seemed quite approachable in real life and enjoyed making jokes.
They chatted for a while, and then the actor playing the minor villain, Rob Sari, walked out of the room with slightly heavy steps.
His body was now fully equipped with cybernetic prosthetics.
His eyes were covered with gray contact lenses. His right arm had a red and silver metallic sheen, and his hand had transformed into a mechanical claw with retractable blades.
Half of his body displayed a silver-gray metal texture, and his legs below the knees were now hollow mechanical prosthetics.
The entire look was packed with a mechanical aesthetic—extremely cool.
"Wow!" Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
Choi Min-sik and Scarlett also approached Rob Sari and asked, "How do you feel?"
"I feel great." Rob Sari responded in a deep voice, deliberately imitating a robotic accent.
"You don't need that accent during filming," Ethan reminded him.
"Got it, Director."
Rob Sari nodded firmly. He was deeply grateful that Ethan had given him this opportunity. As an unknown stunt actor, he could already imagine the amazement his cybernetic look would bring once he appeared on screen.
This was going to be the highlight of his acting career.
In reality, Rob Sari wasn't a well-known actor. He had never had a moment of glory in Hollywood.
Before Lucy, he was a complete nobody—at best, a nameless short actor.
Because of his height, he had always played minor villain roles.
That meant characters who either had no lines and got killed instantly or who spoke a few dumb lines to amuse the audience before being taken out.
Although these roles allowed him to make a living, he had always dreamed of making it big. He never gave up and practiced his acting skills every day.
As a result, he had developed excellent skills in portraying menacing characters.
When Lucy announced it was looking for a short actor, he assumed it was just another throwaway role where he'd either be quickly killed or used for comic relief.
He never expected that after being selected, he would discover that his character had such significant screen time—a major villain with nearly thirty minutes of presence.
This thrilled him beyond words.
For this role, he turned down other jobs and spent a long time working with the props team in the studio, testing out the cybernetic prosthetics.
Now, he moved with confidence in his mechanical limbs—walking naturally without a hint of awkwardness.
Ethan was very pleased with this effect.
Only by moving as fluidly as one's own body could the distinction between cybernetic prosthetics and traditional mechanical limbs be convincingly portrayed.
And during the shoot, Rob Sari did not disappoint him.
He wielded the retractable blades in his fingers with ease, threatening Scarlett with swift, natural movements.
He even performed delicate actions using his cybernetic limbs—holding a wine glass, opening a bottle—seamlessly integrating them into his performance.
It felt as if he was born with these enhancements, with no trace of unnatural stiffness.
After the scene, Ethan did something rare—he clapped for Rob Sari.
"Excellent, Rob."
"Amazing!" The props team members were also thrilled. Seeing the props they crafted shine on screen filled them with pride.
"Thank you, thank you, everyone." Rob Sari bowed excitedly.
Scarlett, standing across from him, said, "You don't have to be so formal, Rob you earned this."
"Yeah." Rob Sari nodded firmly. He felt like this was the happiest moment of his life.
Or no… the happiest moment would be when the movie premiered and he received recognition from the audience.
Just imagining his family seeing his stylish moves and ruthless lines on the big screen made him tremble with excitement.
"Alright, let's keep filming." After encouraging Rob Sari, Ethan continued shooting.
Quentin watched from the side, constantly marveling at Ethan's creative ideas.
The cybernetic prosthetics concept was truly fascinating—both trendy and practical. Quentin had no doubt that once this movie was released, the cyberpunk genre would explode in popularity again.
If he weren't uninterested in sci-fi films, he'd be tempted to recruit these props team members to create cybernetic prosthetics for his own projects.
Meanwhile, as Lucy was being filmed in Seoul, thousands of miles away in California, Chris Hemsworth was reading a script with full concentration.
The Star Trek movie he starred in had just been released and was performing well.
But it didn't have much to do with him, as he was just a supporting character, not the lead.
So when Ethan invited him to join Lucy, he was thrilled and immediately agreed.
"What are you reading that's got you so excited?"
His girlfriend had just walked out of the bathroom, wrapped in a white bathrobe, looking incredibly alluring.
But Chris Hemsworth didn't even lift his head. He simply replied, "I'm reading Ethan's script."
"The script can wait until tomorrow…" She approached him, biting her lip, trying to sit on his lap.
But Chris Hemsworth pushed her away. "This is Ethan we're talking about—the Ethan, the billion-dollar director. I need to dedicate myself fully to this. This role is honestly very challenging."
"What about me?" His girlfriend was upset. She had finally gotten a chance to see him, only to be pushed aside. She felt like all her charm was wasted.
"Tomorrow." Chris Hemsworth answered without hesitation.
Right now, he wasn't interested in anything else—only in preparing for his role.
Women would only slow down his immersion!
....
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