In April, California can already smell the smell of summer, the dry floral fragrance mixed with the fishy smell of sea water fills the air, the cloudless blue sky allows the sun to shine unhindered, the streets are filled with a lazy breeze at three o'clock in the afternoon, and a cup of black tea with a piece of cheesecake leisurely enjoy the last moments of spring.

Along Wilcher's Boulevard, past bustling shopping districts, and into the luxury residential area halfway up Beverly Hills, the hustle and bustle of the city is left behind and replaced by the tranquility that gradually settles down. Occasionally, however, you can see young men in twos and threes, holding a map in their hands, curiously exploring the streets and alleys, looking around and trying to find their way among the mansions that do not see any features from the outside.

Obviously, despite the peak tourist season, there are still a few tourists who come to Los Angeles to make a special trip to Beverly Hills to see the homes of some of the world's top superstars.

Beverly Hills is known as "the most exclusive residential area in the world", not because it is really the most "expensive", but because it is the most famous, this is a city within a city in Los Angeles, famous for its many mansions of Hollywood movie stars, which can attract countless movie fans every year.

Lance skillfully drove into the mansion-filled neighborhood, carefully looking for the house numbers on both sides, and finally stopped at the door of a mansion, opened the window, leaned out, pressed the call button at the door, and after a while, a voice came, "Hey, Lance, wait a minute, I'll open the door." Before Lance could speak, the iron door slowly opened. When you look up, you can see the monitor directly above the doorbell intercom.

Slowly drive into the carved iron gate, and you will be greeted by a field of greenery, symmetrical green lawns on both sides spread out in the line of sight, and tall evergreen trees spread out like fans, blocking the view of the street. Straight along the cobblestone path, at the end of the road is a circular driveway centered on a small fountain, which skirts the fountain and stops the car in front of the porch supported by marble columns.

It's not so much a mansion. It's not so much a manor.

A man in jeans and a white T-shirt walked out quickly, with a big smile on his face, and greeted him enthusiastically with open arms from a distance. "Hey buddy, welcome, welcome!" The person who came was none other than the owner of the estate, Tom Cruise, who stood at the top of today's Hollywood pyramid. "The car is parked here, and there are no other guests this afternoon." Tom smiled and watched Lance's movements, and said empathetically, "I'm sorry to let you come to the door in person, it's definitely rude on my part." ”

Lance smiled politely at Tom's enthusiasm, "It's an honor to be able to visit Cruise's residence in person. Tom was enthusiastic, but he was still largely distant—the two were not friends. So Lance wasn't too flattered.

"Then let me do my landlord's friendship today, I'm afraid I won't have a chance to come here again in the future." Tom said frankly. It's no secret that Tom is now peddling his Beverly mansion to the Beverly mansion. Not because Tom is financially deprived, but because this is his and Nicole Kidman's residence, and after the two divorced, Tom doesn't plan to live here anymore.

Lance raised the red wine in his hand, "I hope as a guest, I won't be too rude." This is the basic etiquette of visiting the host's house.

Tom took the wine, turned to the trademark section and glanced at it, and raised an eyebrow slightly, "Lamondo in 1996?" He looked at Lance in surprise. Truly showed the surprise, "Excellent taste!" ”

In fact, the red wines produced by Château Lamondo are not very famous - at least not as good as Lafite, Petrich, Lippon and so on, but in the eyes of true professional wine lovers, the 1996 Lamondo has won the love of countless people because of its rich and wonderful fruity aroma and long finish. Some people even compare it to the red wine of Lipon Winery, but the price is more reasonable and has not been maliciously hyped and coaxed.

This gift from Reims was clearly not chosen at random, the price was not too expensive, but it was in line with the tastes of true lovers, and at the same time showed his own taste. There was nothing polite about Tom's surprise.

Lance smiled lightly without arrogance. "I'm trying to fit myself into the Beverly Hills style." A joke made Tom laugh.

Walking into the mansion, the first floor is a huge hall, a hall completely used for decorations, and the magnificent decoration is revealed in the design of light on all sides, making people feel that the whole space is transparent. Led by Tom, he walked into the hospitality hall on the left, "I was thinking about serving in the courtyard at the back, but Penelope said that the sun was so strong today that we probably wouldn't be able to keep our eyes open. I have to admit that she was right. ”

"How come I didn't see Penelope." The whole room was quiet and peaceful, and as Tom's current female companion, she could be regarded as the hostess here, but she didn't show up, which couldn't help but be a little strange.

"Oh, she's gone to the script discussion." Tom invited Lance to sit down, and the tea set was already set up on the table, "Tea or wine?" Tom held up the gift in his hand, and Lance smiled and said, "It's still black tea, it's only three o'clock in the afternoon." ”

Tom nodded in agreement, "I'm also worried about whether it's too much of an exaggeration to get drunk next to the pool at three o'clock in the afternoon." This made Lance chuckle, "By the way, Penelope told me that you were the director of that script, and he thought you could work together this time." ”

"Oh?" Lance doesn't remember which work he became, and recently, he has been busy revising the script for the script of "Killing with a Knife". The re-creation of the script had not yet been completed, and Lance had to focus on Tom first, and Lance spent a whole week preparing for today's meeting - writing a script is never easy, and a good script is even more difficult. Therefore, for the acceptance of external information, Lance is slightly lagging behind.

Tom sensed Lance's confusion and explained, "'Saharan cavalry'? Didn't you say that you were going to direct this work? ”

"Saharan cavalry"? Lance remembered the work, of course, but after he reached a tentative agreement with Brad, Lance politely turned down Howard, thinking that the project would end there. Howard will re-seek a director, so where did Penelope get the news from?

"I thought it was a secret, who did Penelope listen to?" Lance did not affirm, nor did he deny, and played a sloppy eye.

"Uh, Howard Baldwin?" Tom handed Lance a cup of black tea, then set the sugar jar aside, "I thought it wasn't a secret. Howard emphasized that you were very happy with the script, which made Penelope happy, after all, you had just finished a great script. Tom nodded at Lance, and the two of them laughed in understanding.

Tom didn't notice that Lance had no intention of responding positively - and even if he did, it wasn't a problem, and there are countless cases like this in Hollywood, where the road from the first negotiation to the final collaboration is very long. In the end, the script was handed over to a rookie director named Breck-Eisner, who seemed to have come from a TV director. By the way, this work is co-produced by Baldwin Pictures and Diorama Pictures, I remember that you and Ryan of Diorama Pictures are old acquaintances, right? ”

Lance suddenly realized that he seemed to be missing something.

After reading the script for the "Saharan Cavalry", Lance lost interest in the project. The main story line of the script is too thin, much inferior to the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series, and it feels like all the ups and downs are spliced together at random, and it can be clearly seen that the screenwriter's understanding and reading of the original novel is still not too profound; Originally, this was not a fatal wound for an adventure movie, but the problem is that this script is also a failure for the heroic portrayal of the male lead, not to mention comparable to Indiana Jones, and even the basic personal charm is not reflected.

It can be said that the story of "Saharan Cavalry" has the potential to succeed in its own right, but it is not surprising that the foundation of the script has begun to lose its original track, and the development has become more and more chaotic since then.

Turning Howard down, Lance doesn't care anymore - mainly because he has to focus on "killing people with a knife", which is a script that must be 100% efforted, not as simple and crude as "The Day After Tomorrow".

But he didn't expect Howard to use his name to attract the attention of others. Obviously, the favor of the winner of the best adapted screenplay in Xinke is a huge attraction for a commercial script like "Sahara Cavalry". Howard's idea is understandable. It's just that Howard didn't expect that his unintentional actions would attract Diorama Pictures to the door, and this "hatred" was really level.

Now, Baldwin Pictures and Diorama Pictures are going to jointly produce the "Sahara Cavalry", and Lance doesn't know what to do. It seems that unintentionally, he stepped on Diorama Pictures again...... Or not?

"Sorry, sorry, I digressed the subject." Tom finally noticed Lance's "no response" at this point, and laughed.

"Oh no." Lance shook his head and paused slightly, "This is indeed a good work, and I had great expectations for the script. In the end, I was not able to work together, which is my regret. Regardless of whether he stepped on Diorama Pictures or not, he definitely didn't mind making up for it again, "Huge regret!" Lance said solemnly, his suffocating expression just right to express the "true" feelings in his heart, "Now, I can only hope that the regret of missing out on the 'Sahara Cavalry' can be made up for by another work." I guess Brad Gray should have told you about this script, right? (To be continued.) )

ps: Today's second update, ask for recommendations, ask for subscriptions, ask for monthly passes!