"It's a pleasure to see you again, Father Costello."
In the villa's reception room, Murphy met with the religious figure he had encountered at James Franco and Lily Collins' wedding.
Gal Gadot also greeted Father Marcus Costello politely and then had tea brought in.
Father Marcus Costello sat on the sofa next to Murphy, smiling as he said, "I came to Beverly Hills this morning to see an old friend, but he had something come up. Since I was passing by your house and remembered our pleasant meeting in the Caribbean, I thought I'd stop by to see you."
"It's an honor," Murphy exchanged a subtle glance with Gal Gadot.
Such a story might be believed by the devout, but they were just listening. Father Marcus Costello was the regional archbishop of the Catholic Church in Southern California, a man with busy religious affairs. It was rumored that once his term ended, he might return to the Vatican and be promoted to Cardinal. How could he have time to pass by the Waverly Estate?
"I walked all the way from the gate of the estate..." Father Marcus Costello maintained a warm smile, "and didn't see any religious symbols."
"Ah?" Murphy thought for a moment and said, "The estate was decorated by an external company; perhaps they overlooked it."
In reality, the Waverly Estate was decorated entirely according to Gal Gadot's preferences. Gal Gadot practiced Judaism, but she knew that Murphy didn't believe in such ethereal things. Therefore, there were no Jewish symbols or decorations in the estate.
Father Marcus Costello's lips curled slightly as he said, "Mr. Stanton, if this residence could be bathed in the light of the Lord..."
"Cough, cough!" Gal Gadot suddenly coughed and then said, "Sorry, I might have caught a cold recently."
Murphy remained calm, looking at the teacup on the table next to Father Marcus Costello's sofa. He made a gesture, "Father, this is top-quality Longjing tea imported from across the Pacific. It's said that the annual production is less than ten pounds. I had to use many connections to get it."
Hearing this, Father Marcus Costello had no choice but to pick up the teacup, take a sip, and nod in approval, "Indeed, it is excellent tea."
"Unfortunately, there's too little available." Murphy deliberately changed the topic, "Father, if you're interested, you can take some back to enjoy slowly."
Father Marcus Costello quickly raised his hand and shook it, "I still prefer black tea."
As he spoke, he frowned slightly. Just like during their previous meeting, it was clear that the big director across from him had no interest in discussing religious beliefs and seemed indifferent to Catholicism.
However, his visit was not about religious beliefs.
Taking another sip of tea, Father Marcus Costello tentatively asked, "I heard that Mr. Stanton's new film is about to be released?"
"Yes," Murphy became immediately cautious, "It will have limited screenings in Los Angeles and New York next month."
Father Marcus Costello nodded slightly, "I've recently heard from a few friends in Hollywood that your film involves some Catholic content?"
Although the film was not yet fully completed and had not been seen by outsiders, keeping everything completely secret was impossible, especially since the crew had filmed on location at an abandoned Catholic church.
Murphy believed that Father Marcus Costello might have received some uncertain or vague information and wanted to make a preliminary inquiry. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so polite.
"There is some content related to the Catholic Church in Los Angeles in the 1980s," Murphy said honestly, "but it's not much. The film's theme is not religious but crime-related."
Hearing this, Father Marcus Costello glanced at Murphy, feeling that Murphy was being truthful, and his smile grew warmer, "Mr. Stanton, if you ever film a topic related to Catholicism in the future, please feel free to inform the Church. We will fully support you."
"Oh?" Murphy seemed skeptical.
Father Marcus Costello added, "We are also happy to cooperate with a renowned director like you."
Murphy nodded, "If I ever film related topics, I will inform you, Father."
"I will do my best," Father Marcus Costello said, feeling reassured. He stood up, ready to leave, "Oh, I should check on my old friend. He should be back by now."
"Then I won't keep you," Murphy said without any hypocritical pleasantries.
He stood up with Gal Gadot and accompanied Father Marcus Costello to the outside of the villa. After all, he was a guest, and basic etiquette was still required.
As for informing the Catholic Church about filming, Murphy naturally dismissed the idea. Even if he were to film related topics, he wouldn't bother them. Informing them would be like adding a big pair of scissors over his head.
At the villa's entrance, Father Marcus Costello's driver had already brought the car around. He was about to get in when he suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Father Marcus Costello stop, Gal Gadot, who was following Murphy, walked up to him, frowned slightly, and lowered her voice, "Does he have something else?"
Murphy shook his head, "Who knows?"
Since Father Marcus Costello was a regional archbishop, if he didn't leave, Murphy, as the host, couldn't just kick him out.
"Mr. Stanton," Father Marcus Costello turned back and looked at Murphy, asking, "Do you believe in heaven?"
Although Murphy didn't know the intention behind Father Marcus Costello's question, he answered honestly, "I don't believe in heaven."
Father Marcus Costello was taken aback and asked, "Why?"
"Because my current life is a hundred times better than heaven," Murphy looked to the side, "For me, wherever Gal is, that's heaven."
He spread his hands, "I am living in a real heaven right now, so why should I believe in a fictional one?"
Gal Gadot quietly extended her right hand, firmly gripping Murphy's left hand.
Shifting his gaze slightly, Father Marcus Costello glanced at Gal Gadot, seemingly unable to believe that a Hollywood director could be so infatuated with a woman.
After a brief pause, Father Marcus Costello asked again, "Do you believe in God?"
"Whether we believe in God or not is useless," Murphy said bluntly, "because God never believes in us."
Hearing Murphy's words, Father Marcus Costello gradually understood that trying to convert this Hollywood director to Catholicism was unlikely.
This was clearly a typical atheist.
Father Marcus Costello didn't stay any longer. He turned and got into the car. Under the watchful eyes of Murphy and Gal Gadot, the car drove past the fountain and along the road leading away from the villa, exiting Waverly Estate.
"He seems to have heard something," Gal Gadot said as she withdrew her gaze, "but he doesn't seem to know the specifics."
"Ignore him," Murphy knew that once the film was released, it would undoubtedly attract a lot of controversy, much like "Doubt" had done before. And given his current fame and status, the controversy and the Catholic Church's voice might be even louder. After all, his status now far exceeded that of John Patrick Shanley. Turning back to the villa, he said to Gal Gadot, who followed, "Hollywood has the freedom to make films. This is the basic rule in the industry. If the Catholic Church makes too much noise, it could actually benefit me."
Hasn't Hollywood produced many highly controversial films? And there have been more than a few about Catholic scandals. If the Catholic Church truly attacked him, he would undoubtedly become the darling of the entire Hollywood community.
This is the USA, California, not the Northeast US or Italy and other European countries.
Returning to his room to change clothes, Murphy and Gal Gadot took separate cars to the Fox Building and Stanton Studios. Murphy had handed over the daily operations of Stanton Studios to Gal Gadot so that he could devote most of his energy to filming and production.
A director distracted by too many tasks would undoubtedly affect the quality of their work.
Murphy's main task was handling sound synthesis. Once all the dialogue and selected music were completed, he had the sound editor add various sound effects to the film. With that, all the sound elements of "Diego Ross" were ready. The final step was to add the opening and closing credits to the film.
After completing these steps, Murphy produced two final edited versions of the film. One was a digital copy for later DVD production, online streaming, and TV broadcast. The other was a film copy, which was immediately sent to a film printing lab by 20th Century Fox to prepare prints for theater screenings.
By Sunday evening, all the post-production work on "Diego Ross" was completed. Murphy finished his planned tasks on time. Although the process was somewhat rushed and stressful, he managed to meet the scheduled December release.
Before the screenings, the film had to be rated by the MPAA. This film would likely receive an R rating without issue. 20th Century Fox had enough influence within the MPAA, and the film's overall content wasn't particularly extreme, certainly less so than Murphy's previous film "The Wolf of Wall Street."
Thus, Murphy's remaining tasks were to assist 20th Century Fox in promoting the film and then wait for the pre-Christmas screenings to begin.
This Thanksgiving weekend also ended, and "The End of the World" delivered a good report.
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter]