King of Hollywood

Chapter 445: Chapter 167: Imagination is Powerful

“I have to admit, your insight is quite sharp, Ed,” Lucas said as he drank his beer by the lit fire, “James Cameron did an amazing job, quite a fascinating movie. No wonder it could create such a wonder. I bet this box office record will stand for a very long time.”

“Who knows, maybe it’ll break when ‘Star Wars’ prequel is released,” Adrian remarked noncommittally, swinging his beer bottle back and forth between two fingers.

“I’d totally believe that if the ‘Star Wars’ prequel was just one movie instead of a trilogy,” Lucas laughed. “I do have that much self-awareness. Plus, ‘Titanic’ still has room to grow.”

Indeed, during Lux’s time shooting exterior scenes in Italy, ‘Titanic,’ which had already been released there, although not quite causing streets to empty, was more popular than any other movie. In Tunisia, it might have been slightly less accepted, but he could still feel the ordinary people’s enthusiasm. Coupled with ‘Titanic’ still dominating the top spot in the North American box office and the increasing likelihood of surpassing one billion, excluding various splits and costs, Adrian would net at least 150 million US dollars, a feat unmatched in cinema history, even by the ‘Star Wars’ series.

Of course, Lucas didn’t really need to compare on a single film basis; the series had already generated over 20 billion US dollars in profits, with few able to compare.

“Alright, I’ll pass the message to James,” Adrian said, laughing as he clinked his beer bottle with Lucas’s before rising and wandering casually around the set.

Since they were quite far from the local town and had some scenes to shoot at night, Lucas had everyone stay outdoors overnight. Given that the crew had hired quite a few bodyguards upon their arrival in Morocco, and it wasn’t a nightly occurrence, he wasn’t overly concerned about safety. Naturally, after a tiring day, people started a bonfire party as night fell, singing and dancing around the roaring flames in the desert, which could also be quite charming.

“Hey, Nata, you were really impressive today,” Adrian said after chatting briefly with the actor playing Qui-Gon Jinn, then moving over to Natalie.

She was chatting and laughing with a few young people, dressed simply, her cheeks rosy and looking charmingly delicate in the flickering firelight, her smile especially enchanting.

“Hey, Ed, congratulations,” she said, raising her cup, a barely noticeable, knowing smile flashing in her eyes, shared only between the two of them.

“Thank you,” Adrian nodded and then stretched his neck to look into her cup.

“Juice,” Natalie said with both amusement and laughter, shaking the cup in her hand.