Chasing Stars in Hollywood

Next month, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2" will be released. As the actress portraying the film's lead female character, April O'Neil, Nicole Kidman decided to take a week off from the filming of "The Ring" in Melbourne, Australia, to return to Los Angeles just before the Oscars ceremony. 

In this era, the Oscars generally attract over 40 million viewers, second only to the Super Bowl each year.

With both "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2" and "The Ring" being key films produced by Daenerys Entertainment this year, attending the Oscars is essential for both maintaining personal fame and for film promotion.

Of course, Nicole Kidman enjoys this kind of busy schedule.

Many men and women in Hollywood struggle their entire lives and may never get the chance to sit in the Oscars ceremony hall.

Nicole returned to Los Angeles on March 25th to prepare for the Oscars. WMA also arranged a series of other work schedules for her.

At Daenerys Studios.

It was Friday, March 27th.

After attending a script audition at MGM headquarters in Century City in the morning and having lunch, Nicole Kidman hurried to Malibu's Daenerys Studios.

The design for the character Poison Ivy had been finalized last month. With Nicole back from Australia, Simon wanted to see the effects of her character's makeup in person.

After crossing the $200 million mark at the North American box office in late January, "The Flash" continued to be screened over the past two months, reaching a total box office of $251 million as of yesterday. The film's weekly box office from March 20 to March 26 had dropped to $1.78 million, and it was expected to be taken off theaters around Easter next month, with a domestic total box office of around $255 million.

Overseas, "The Flash" performed even better, reaching a total of $363 million across various international markets over three months. With the ongoing international distribution, it was only a matter of time before "The Flash" surpassed $400 million overseas.

With a global box office of over $650 million, even if it couldn't match the two "Batman" films, this box office performance was enough to make other Hollywood studios envious.

With three consecutive hits from the DC Cinematic Universe, both companies were paying even more attention to future projects.

According to recent media reports, Daenerys and Warner Bros. would soon officially announce the key creative teams for the DC Cinematic Universe's "Superman" and "Cyborg" projects. "The Dark Knight Rises" had already been the subject of much speculation.

Nicole Kidman knew some insider information that the public did not.

For instance, her role as Poison Ivy was actually a three-film contract.

In addition to being the villain in "The Dark Knight Rises," she would also join the upcoming "Suicide Squad" series.

Someone had once mentioned that if the Poison Ivy character was outstanding enough, her popularity could rival that of Catwoman.

Looking at Valeria Golino's success in Hollywood over the past two years, if Poison Ivy could indeed become so popular, Nicole believed she could maintain her status as a top actress throughout the 1990s.

Thinking back to when she almost missed her strongest support in Hollywood due to some self-righteous calculations, she felt fortunate she realized her mistake in time.

However, every time she recalled the experience at the "Batman Begins" premiere, where she had to hold her bladder for over an hour after being made to drink two bottles of water, she felt an inexplicable, strange emotion.

The makeup for Poison Ivy took nearly four hours, and by the time it was done, it was already close to the end of the workday. Simon had not shown up yet, only a set of stills and a short video were shot in the studio.

It wasn't until 6 PM that Simon and Warner Bros. CEO Terry Semel arrived together.

It wasn't just Nicole who had been busy with Poison Ivy all afternoon. Simon and Semel had spent the entire day in meetings with the DC Cinematic Universe team, further refining the storyline framework for future projects.

The DC Cinematic Universe team had a dedicated office area on the second floor of Loft 3 in Daenerys Studios.

In the previous three films, crossovers within the DC Cinematic Universe had mostly been limited to Easter eggs.

However, starting with this summer's "Wonder Woman," the entire DC Cinematic Universe would officially begin its integration, with three Mother Boxes serving as the main linking storyline.

In the first "Wonder Woman" film, the story still takes place during World War I, but the plot is very different from Simon's memory of the Gal Gadot version.

British airman Steve Trevor crashes on Paradise Island, disturbing the peace that the Amazons had maintained for centuries.

Learning that the human world outside Paradise Island is at war, and discovering that the intelligence Steve Trevor accidentally gathered resembles the Mother Box that once caused wars among the tribes, Queen Hippolyta decides to send her daughter, Diana Prince, with Steve Trevor to retrieve the Mother Box and prevent a greater disaster.

Diana eventually defeats Ares, the god of war who uses the Mother Box to incite humans to fight each other, and brings the first Mother Box back to Paradise Island.

Her ultimate mission then becomes to retrieve all three legendary Mother Boxes.

The summer blockbuster of 1993, "Superman," will feature the second Mother Box.

Clark Kent's biological parents use the energy of the Mother Box to send their newborn son away from the dying Krypton, with the second Mother Box following him to Earth.

In the plot, after a battle with General Zod, who tracks him down, the Mother Box falls into human hands, triggering the storyline for "Cyborg," set for a late 1993 release.

Football player Victor Stone's father, Silas Stone, happens to be part of the team studying the Mother Box.

After Victor is severely injured in a car accident, Silas uses the Mother Box's energy to save his son, turning him into a half-human, half-machine cyborg.

Unaware of the Mother Box's full capabilities, Silas accidentally creates 'Grid,' the antagonist of the "Cyborg" series, during Victor's transformation.

The story concludes with Cyborg accepting his new form and defeating Grid, but the second Mother Box is stolen, falling into the hands of Metropolis entrepreneur Lex Luthor, becoming a crucial element in "Batman v Superman."

The loss of the Mother Box also triggers the formation of the "Suicide Squad" by the federal government to retrieve it.

In the 1994 summer release, "The Dark Knight Rises," the third Mother Box appears.

Enhanced by the power of the Mother Box, the Joker is eventually defeated by Batman. Diana Prince, whose mission is to collect all three Mother Boxes, also appears but does not reveal her true identity, silently taking the third Mother Box at the end.

Subsequently, the second Mother Box's loss leads to "Suicide Squad," scheduled for late 1994. The team forms but fails to retrieve the Mother Box brought by Superman.

Next comes "Batman v Superman," slated for 1995.

Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman join forces to battle Lex Luthor, who has transformed into an alien hybrid using Mother Box technology and Kryptonian genes, resembling Doomsday.

However, since the 'Death of Superman' event has not yet occurred in the DC Comics timeline and Doomsday hasn't been created, the film sets Lex Luthor's transformation as the result of using Mother Box technology to enhance himself, inadvertently becoming a creature similar to Doomsday.

At the end of "Batman v Superman," Wonder Woman retrieves the final Mother Box, and all three are stored on Paradise Island by the Amazons.

In the 1996 summer release, "Justice League."

Steppenwolf invades, stealing the three Mother Boxes from the Amazons.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Catwoman, and other superheroes unite to form the Justice League and fight against Steppenwolf's forces.

Simon and Semel reviewed Nicole's Poison Ivy makeup and on-camera effects. Semel soon left.

It wasn't easy to remove the makeup after four hours of application.

In a makeup room in the Daenerys Special Effects area.

After confirming the effects, the makeup artist began removing the special paint from Nicole's body. Due to the unique nature of the paint, simply washing it off with water was ineffective. They needed to use a specially formulated cleanser to wipe off most of it first.

Simon didn't leave immediately, sitting nearby to watch as the makeup artist removed Nicole's makeup, asking about the filming progress of "The Ring."

Due to the distance, the dailies were sent back to Los Angeles weekly.

Simon wasn't too familiar with the specific situation on set.

"You know, I worked with Philip on 'Event Horizon.' He's a very serious director. He completely understands the effects needed for 'The Ring.' I'll return to Melbourne next week. At most, we'll finish shooting in two more weeks." Nicole tilted her neck slightly to let the makeup artist clean the paint from her neck, glancing sideways at the man beside her, and asked, "Simon, this morning I auditioned for a script at MGM, 'Edge of Heat.' Do you know about it?"

Simon nodded, "Yes, I know. It's a new script by Aaron Sorkin. I asked MGM to contact you. The lead female role suits you well."

Aaron Sorkin was the screenwriter for last year's hit "A Few Good Men." This new project by Daenerys and MGM, though with a budget eventually reaching $40 million due to the involvement of Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, and Demi Moore, grossed $117 million in North America alone and had a global box office exceeding $200 million, making it a big success overall

.

With the success of "A Few Good Men," Aaron Sorkin entered the ranks of Hollywood's top screenwriters. His new script, "Edge of Heat," was another collaboration with MGM.

However, this time without Daenerys Entertainment's involvement, MGM was fully financing it.

Nicole was initially surprised and delighted to hear that Simon had personally arranged this, but then she realized and asked, "Isn't this project not a collaboration between Daenerys and MGM?"

Without Daenerys Entertainment's involvement, the film's box office prospects seemed less certain.

Simon just smiled and said, "Yes, but the script is still good, and you know MGM's situation now. Whether it's a collaboration or solo, it's the same."

In his memory, the lead role in "Edge of Heat" was played by Nicole Kidman.

Simon didn't remember the exact box office numbers for this film, but he knew its market performance was decent.

Moreover, compared to "A Few Good Men," "Edge of Heat" was not intended to feature a heavyweight cast, and its budget was only $20 million. Even if it failed, MGM could afford it.

After putting the 007 series on hold, MGM planned to produce a series of well-crafted, mid-to-low-budget commercial films over the next few years. Simon intended to insert a few 'dark horses' into this lineup. Additionally, MGM would attempt to take on distribution roles, acquiring projects from Hollywood's second- and third-tier studios purely for distribution.

Simon's ultimate goal was to slowly restore this once-great but now severely weakened film studio's vitality.

In two to three years, after reaching the first-stage goal, Simon would make further plans for the company.

Hearing Simon's explanation, Nicole's eyes sparkled briefly, and she no longer hesitated.

With the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series, "The Ring," and her role as Poison Ivy, even if "Edge of Heat" failed, it wouldn't significantly impact her.

Besides, this was a direct arrangement from Westeros.

She had once promised to 'obey,' and although she didn't know if he remembered, she wasn't planning to go against his wishes.

Adjusting her position as directed by the makeup artist, Nicole noticed out of the corner of her eye that Simon checked his watch. She thought for a moment and asked, "Do you want to have dinner together later?"

Simon shook his head, "I already have plans, a cocktail party at Marvin Josephson's house. Would you like to come?"

Nicole hesitated briefly before quickly nodding.

Although she was an artist under WMA, attending a cocktail party at ICM founder Marvin Josephson's house might seem inappropriate. However, if she went with Westeros, it wouldn't be a problem.

The two female makeup artists, both attractive and well-figured, helping Nicole remove the paint silently, felt a bit envious. They had thrown some hints towards the boss earlier, but he didn't respond.

As for the conversation between the boss and Nicole Kidman, they pretended not to hear it.

There wasn't any major gossip; "The Ring," "Edge of Heat," and similar topics had nothing to do with them as makeup artists. And the boss bringing Nicole Kidman to a cocktail party was hardly gossip-worthy.

More importantly, if they gossiped, they could forget about continuing to work at Daenerys Entertainment.

At 25, Nicole was in the peak of her beauty.

With Janet not in Los Angeles and no other plans tonight, Simon certainly didn't mind enjoying the Australian beauty again.

Since Nicole agreed, Simon patiently waited for her to finish removing her makeup and even had a dress sent over for the cocktail party. They then left Daenerys Studios together in the evening.

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