This new job gave Roy a strong sense of fulfillment—so much so that he'd casually mentioned it to Laila once. He never expected she'd remember and ask him to choreograph Black Widow's fight scenes.
What kind of moves should I use? For a female fighter, the choreography needed to show both strength and beauty. It had to be fluid but not weak, graceful but not brutal. This needed careful design!
While Roy threw himself into what would be his first off-camera role with enthusiasm, Laila continued polishing the script.
Black Widow had always been one of her favorite characters from her previous life, and the fact that she was portrayed by her beloved Scarlett only fueled her desire to keep adding to her screen time.
Of course, not every scene would make it into the final cut—they would choose only the best for the finished film. But even so, a covert fangirl like her couldn't resist writing more for her idol!
Laila was revising the script faster than she'd expected. No doubt this had a lot to do with her years of experience. After all, someone who'd won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay wouldn't be lacking in skill.
It took her two weeks to complete the script's first major revision. In the remaining three weeks before production began, she spent her days on production prep and her nights fine-tuning the script—determined to capture the best of everything on screen.
She didn't deliberately keep things secret, so word soon leaked to the press that the script was already complete.
A full script in just two weeks? Critics didn't buy it. Is this the kind of attitude someone has when they claim they're going for the highest-grossing film in history? As the saying goes in the East, this was downright unprofessional!
Look at James Cameron, for example. Every script of his took years to write and refine. And here comes Laila, claiming she finished in just two weeks? If writing a blockbuster script were that easy, Hollywood screenwriters would be drowning in money! What about those who spend years writing a single script—how were they supposed to feel?
Plenty of others thought the same. Even some film critics who had previously been supportive of Laila's bid for the top box office spot were beginning to doubt. They speculated that maybe Laila had made those bold statements during the press conference just to save face—and that she didn't believe she could pull it off. Otherwise, why would she present a script that took only two weeks to write?
But not everyone was so skeptical. Some pointed out that it wasn't impossible. What if she'd already written it years ago and was just modifying it now? After all, The Avengers had been in the works for years—why assume she hadn't started planning the script back then?
Then there were Laila's die-hard fans, who backed her without question. To them, it didn't matter if she wrote the script in two weeks—or even in a single day. As long as she directed it, they believed she could take the number one spot. Because she was Laila—their favorite director, who had never once let them down.
Meanwhile, Cooper tossed the newspaper aside with a sneer after reading the article about Laila's new script.
So this was her grand plan? He had thought she might have something huge up her sleeve, but it turned out to be just hot air—a script finished in two weeks? What a joke. Still, he had to admit, bluffing like that took real skill.
If it were him, he'd at least drag things out for a month or two before showing the script off—maybe even fool a few more people that way.
Any concern he had before was now gone. Even if Laila were a genius, there was no way she could write a $3 billion script in two weeks. If she were really that amazing, then why stop at Earth? Why not go build a base on the moon?
Faaris had also seen the news and came to Cooper to ask about it.
"That's impossible," Cooper said bluntly, eager to share his opinion. He'd been in Hollywood for years and had never heard of anyone being that capable. "If she had that kind of talent, Hollywood would've already handed her all its money."
A script written in two weeks pulling in $3 billion at the box office? Just imagine how many scripts she could write in a year. How much money would that be?
"And if she could earn that much just by writing, why would she bother going through the grind of directing films?"
Faaris found that convincing. From his perspective, if writing scripts were that profitable, she wouldn't need to work herself to the bone making movies. Who wouldn't want to make tons of money the easy way?
They simply couldn't understand Laila's passion for filmmaking. Their logic wasn't wrong—it just didn't account for what drove her.
What they also didn't know was that the "two-week" script had only taken two days to draft. The rest of the time had been spent relentlessly revising it, refining every last detail. Even now, she hadn't stopped editing.
On the other hand, Laila's DragonSoul Studios had been around for years. During that time, they'd put out one hit after another—nearly every film had been a big earner.
So when it came to forming a production crew, it was almost effortless. After all, they also had one of the top talent agencies in Hollywood backing them. Need actors? They could throw a whole stack of résumés at you. Short on crew? They had plenty of experienced hands on call. And post-production? That was even easier—they had access to a talent pool that would blow your mind.
Whether the budget was big or small, they had the connections to find the right people. Big budget? They could bring in Oscar-level talent. Low budget? There was no shortage of skilled newcomers looking for a chance.
In short, everything at DragonSoul Studios was thriving. If you had the skills, you'd never have to worry about opportunities—they'd come to you.
Laila also had her elite "golden team"—a crew of seasoned veterans with shelves full of awards. With their history of collaboration, assembling them was no trouble at all. Louise was in charge of casting, so Laila only needed to show up once the set was ready.
On paper, a month seemed like plenty of time—but in the film world, it was razor-tight. Yet somehow, the production did enter filming right on schedule. Naturally, this made headlines again.
In the eyes of many, Laila was simply being ridiculous. Writing a script in two weeks, assembling a team in one month, and launching filming—it all sounded like something a kid would do playing pretend.
You say you're aiming to break the all-time box office record? Well then, how long did Avatar and Titanic take to plan and shoot? Years. Every step is meticulously prepared. If Cameron had written his script in two weeks and prepped in a month, would those box office numbers have happened?
Many were outraged in online discussions, feeling like they'd been played. Maybe Laila had no real intention of hitting number one at all. Maybe she was just like those shameless directors who stirred up hype, pushed out a buzz-heavy film, and cashed in quick.