Honestly, this was a bit too much.
However, after thinking it over carefully, it made sense. At this party, even though there were other well-known directors and A-list stars, Wayne was undoubtedly the most important guest, without question. So, the other attendees wouldn't have any objections.
"Oh my God! Wayne, do you know? The total box office of Mean Girls has surpassed 200 million, and it only took 12 days. I have to say, every movie you star in and that Hemera Pictures produces is incredibly popular. Your vision is always spot on!"
Harvey, who had just greeted Wayne, immediately ended his 'doorman' duties and accompanied Wayne inside, flattering him the entire way, with a tone full of respect and admiration.
In fact, Harvey had another reason for acting this way, one that others were unaware of.
So far this year, Miramax had released six films. Aside from Gifted and Mean Girls, there were four others.
One of those films he had directed, while the other three were distributed through partnerships.
The result? All four films, except for Gifted and Mean Girls, were financial flops.
This only highlighted the importance of Wayne and Hemera Pictures!
"This is Miss Anna Paquin, who played Rogue, the lead in last year's X-Men. She also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the age of 12 for her performance in The Piano in 1994."
"And this is Téa Leoni, who starred in classic films like Deep Impact and The Family Man. Her husband is David Duchovny, the lead actor in The X-Files."
"And this is Emmy Rossum, who portrayed young Audrey Hepburn in the TV movie The Audrey Hepburn Story. She's a promising young actress."
"And this is Emmanuelle Chriqui from Canada."
Every time someone came over to greet Wayne, Harvey would enthusiastically introduce them. Clearly, these "guests" had been carefully selected by him.
However... it was obvious Harvey had misunderstood Wayne.
While introductions to people like Emmanuelle Chriqui, Emmy Rossum, and Anna Paquin were fine, what was Téa Leoni's situation? And why emphasize her husband?
What did Harvey think of Wayne?
So, even though Wayne took down the numbers of Emmy Rossum and Emmanuelle Chriqui, he was still somewhat dissatisfied.
"Hey, Harvey, surely this party isn't just about these people, right?" Wayne asked with a teasing smile.
Harvey burst into laughter at his words and said, "Of course not. I've arranged for two French roses just for you~"
Wayne couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
French roses? Two of them? Could one of them be Sophie Marceau?
Wayne began to feel a bit excited.
However, just then, a female server holding a tray of drinks was accidentally bumped by another guest. Her high heels wobbled, and she lost her balance, stumbling right toward Wayne.
It just so happened that the angle was around thirty degrees from behind Wayne's left side, which was basically in his blind spot.
But Wayne, as if he had some kind of radar, slightly furrowed his brow and, in a split second, sidestepped to the right, neatly avoiding the server as well as the flying tray and drinks.
In the next moment, the tray and drinks ended up all over Harvey, who stood there stunned, before they fell onto the lawn.
"Damn it! What's wrong with you?!"
It took Harvey a full three seconds to regain his senses, and then he furiously scolded the female server, who had failed to grab Wayne's arm and had fallen to the ground.
However, since Wayne was the center of attention, quite a few people had noticed the scene.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I was bumped and lost my balance," the female server hurriedly apologized, looking up in a panic.
Upon seeing her face, Wayne's eyebrows raised slightly, and a playful glint appeared in his eyes.
"No wonder Harvey's anger looked so fake. This must've been arranged by him, right?"
"A prince and a Cinderella? Or maybe a hero saving a damsel in distress?"
"Hmm, pretty creative."
"Too bad they picked the wrong person~"
Wayne chuckled inwardly.
Many wealthy people, used to the glitz and glamor of socialites and beautiful women, might indeed find a clumsy Cinderella refreshing.
Wayne wasn't sure if he'd be like that.
But Harvey had clearly picked the wrong person because 'Cinderella' wasn't just anyone—it was Amber Heard.
Even though Amber Heard hadn't debuted in this life yet, she had already sent her portfolio and "photos" to Mike.
Wayne was sure Amber hadn't told Harvey about this.
Otherwise, with Harvey's experience, he wouldn't have made such a mistake.
That said, Amber Heard was undeniably beautiful, which was probably why Harvey chose her.
"Alright, Harvey, she didn't do it on purpose. Let's just leave it."
Wayne decided to play along with Harvey's little act, saving him from further embarrassment and letting him get back to the French roses.
"Fine, but I'll need to go change."
Harvey wisely refrained from saying anything like, "for your sake," because that would've diminished Wayne's standing.
Once Harvey quickly left, Amber Heard, who had stood up and picked up the tray and glasses, naturally thanked Wayne.
As a server, she was wearing a black skirt with stockings, a form-fitting blouse that exposed a bit of her midriff. Due to the "fall," her stockings were torn in several places, exposing glimpses of her pale skin. The buttons on her blouse had popped off, revealing an enticing hint of cleavage—quite an alluring sight for a girl her age.
Unfortunately for her, Wayne remained composed, keeping a polite distance.
Amber, realizing that her attempt to dirty Wayne's suit had failed, missed the chance to use an apology as a way to ask for his contact information.
She felt both frustrated and regretful.
But there was nothing she could do. After briefly introducing herself and forcing a slip of paper with her phone number into Wayne's hand, she had no choice but to leave.
Soon after, Wayne finally met the two French roses Harvey had mentioned.
"Hello, Mr. Wayne, I'm Sophie Marceau."
"And I'm Marion Cotillard!"
"It really is Sophie Marceau!" Wayne's eyes lit up as he thought to himself.
The other so-called French rose was Marion Cotillard, an actress who had gained some fame in France through the Taxi film series.
In Wayne's opinion, Marion Cotillard doesn't quite live up to the title of "France's Rose." After all, in terms of beauty or achievements, she's far from comparable to Sophie Marceau, and even trails behind Eva Green.
So, Wayne just exchanged a few pleasantries with her before turning his attention to Sophie Marceau.
Honestly, after the initial excitement and joy wore off, his feelings became a bit complicated.
Maybe it was because the image of Sophie Marceau in La Boum was just too stunning. Even though she's now 35, married, and a mother, Wayne's impression of her was still stuck on that pure young girl.
Now, suddenly seeing her at Harvey's party, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed, as if his rose-tinted view had shattered.
Of course, he knew that Sophie Marceau was never really that pure girl. In fact, she's a classic French woman. At 18, she was already in a relationship with Andrzej Żuławski, a director 26 years her senior.
If it wasn't for the sake of resources or advancing her career, then she was truly quite romantic and bold in love.
However, she and Żuławski divorced earlier this year.
Add to that the catastrophic failure of Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre, which was released last month and has already left theaters, and she now looked visibly weary and in low spirits.
This made Wayne lose the last bit of interest he had. After a brief chat, he walked away.
Still, Harvey had put a lot of effort into this party, even arranging a Cinderella-style event, so Wayne couldn't just leave without acknowledging it.
Thus, when he left, he took Téa Leoni with him.
The two of them went to a villa Wayne had bought but hadn't yet moved into, where they engaged in "deep conversation" for over an hour.
After Téa Leoni was too exhausted to continue, Wayne returned to Wayne Manor.
Now two days had passed, and Mia and Jessica had mostly recovered their strength. However, for the sake of family harmony, Wayne invited Charlize Theron and the Amanda sisters over as well.
Except for Mia, who had to work the next day, the rest gave it their all.
Unfortunately, they still couldn't keep up. The next morning, Wayne was up, fresh and energetic, having breakfast with Mia, while the five women in bed were still sound asleep, unable to be woken.
"Looks like Amanda and Lydia will have to call in sick today," Mia joked with a smile.
Wayne thought that made sense, so he asked Meda to call the school and excuse the two.
Of course, the reason for the absence couldn't be that they were too exhausted from last night's activities. Otherwise, Amanda and Lydia's social lives would be over.
"By the way, I've already handed the outline of your script to Avi Arad. After reading it, he was blown away, calling you a genius screenwriter."
Wayne smiled and shook his head. "It's not as great as he's making it out to be. It's just the standard formula for superhero movies, pretty average."
Mia didn't agree.
To set the right definition while everyone else is still figuring things out is already impressive.
Thinking about how talented her boyfriend was, Mia's mood improved, and her eyes narrowed into two crescent moons.
She felt so grateful to Wayne's ex-girlfriend for dumping him. If it hadn't been for that short-sighted woman, how would she have met such a great boyfriend?
Besides, unlike other women, Wayne had pursued her for nearly a year!
The more she thought about it, the happier and prouder she felt.
"Oh, Hotel for Dogs got its daily progress report yesterday. It says they're wrapping up shooting today. Do you want to go check it out?"
Wayne paused with his chopsticks in mid-air, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"Hotel for Dogs is almost done filming? In that case... I'll go take a look!" Wayne said after thinking for a moment.
After all, he had made sure everyone was satisfied the previous day, and there was nothing else scheduled for the morning.
So after breakfast, Wayne took a walk in the garden with Masami Nagasawa and the two others, who hadn't joined the "group activity" the previous night and still had their energy. Afterward, he spent some time writing in his study. When the time was right, he drove to the set of Hotel for Dogs.
"Hi, Nancy, long time no see. How's everything going?"
"Not too bad. Everything's been pretty smooth. Lily and Camilla's acting is great, and they're really dedicated. Of course, it'd be even better if you could give me more time for post-production."
Maybe it was because they had become familiar with each other, but after the hug, Nancy couldn't help venting her frustration to him.
Of course, she was just venting and didn't expect Wayne to actually agree. After all, since Wayne took over Hemera Films, all their movies had been known for their speed.
Not only was the filming process fast, but the post-production was even faster. Wayne pressed for time more ruthlessly than the capitalists of decades past.
And yet, the reason he gave was entirely reasonable: he handed over full creative control of post-production to the director, with no interference from the producers, actors, or writers. Everything followed the director's vision during filming.
That made the rush seem quite logical.
What she didn't expect was that Wayne agreed immediately, without a second thought, as if it were a joke.
"No problem. How about an extra week? Should be enough, right?"
Nancy was stunned, her smile replaced by a look of surprise, completely losing control of her expression.
"One week?!"
"That's right."
Nancy gasped. The post-production for Hotel for Dogs was originally scheduled for just two weeks. Even if she only slept four hours a day and spent the rest of the time in the editing room, it would still be tight.
But with an extra week, things would be much more manageable.
At least she could sleep for seven hours a day.
She might even have time for a coffee and a donut during her lunch break.
Thinking about this, Nancy was so excited she almost cried.
But then, thanks to her years of experience in Hollywood, she realized something was off. There had to be a catch. Wayne might be young, but he was still a capitalist!
Since when do capitalists voluntarily reduce workloads and give employees more rest time?