Chapter 3: The Script.
Since they had arrived in the famous metropolis of London, sightseeing was inevitable. Big Ben, the Thames River, Victoria Tower, and Westminster Palace all bore the footprints of Ryan and Nicole.
However, the place Ryan most wanted to visit was somewhere else. After his relentless pestering, Nicole finally took him to King's Cross Station once.
This was the most famous train station from his previous life — the starting point of the magical journey for the young wizard.
That's right. The increasingly unscrupulous Ryan had set his next target on Harry Potter.
Originally, this series had not been in his plans. A novel so full of British flavor would be very difficult to write convincingly without actually living in Britain. He didn't want to invite unnecessary trouble.
Who could have thought that plans could never keep up with changes? Not only had he encountered Nicole Kidman, whose fate had completely changed, but he had also followed her to London. They would be living here for the next two years. It would be too much of a waste if he didn't seize this franchise that had created over ten billion dollars in value in his previous life. He would feel too sorry toward that fateful encounter with Nicole on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
As for whether Aunt Rowling in the future would commit suicide due to hunger and cold, that was not within his consideration. After all, she was not Nicole Kidman. She had shown him no kindness and had no connection to him whatsoever.
Besides, what did the life or death of the British have to do with him!
In the following year or so, Nicole threw herself into stage plays. Ryan went to watch her perform several times and discovered that Nicole Kidman's acting skills were already far better than when she first entered Hollywood in his previous life.
As for himself, life was dull and monotonous. He devoted class time to his pen, exercised after school, and studied all kinds of knowledge that would greatly benefit his future.
To break the bad habits he had developed over two lifetimes in the orphanage, he even asked Nicole to hire a strict British etiquette teacher. He trained for a full year in his spare time until certain etiquette habits had become second nature.
Whenever he wanted, he could become a perfect little gentleman.
He had already written and revised the first three books of Harry Potter. After entering 1988, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was officially published. Just like in his previous life, it did not cause any sensation at first.
In addition, he had written several novellas and short stories, some original and some plagiarized. The publisher simply combined them with his previously published stories and prepared to release a collection titled Ryan's Story Collection.
As the early winter season arrived, London entered a long period of overcast and rainy weather. Ryan hadn't seen sunlight for nearly half a month. Because he had beaten up several black kids at school who were looking for trouble, Nicole was called in by the principal multiple times. As punishment, he was sadly grounded.
Sitting in his room and spinning a colored pencil in his hand, Ryan suddenly heard Nicole arguing with a man downstairs. He simply put down his sketch and quietly walked out of his room.
"Why are you terminating the contract? And why are you turning down the invitation from the Royal Shakespeare Company? That's a theater troupe supported by the royal family."
The man's attitude was very poor as he questioned Nicole.
Ryan recognized the man — Nicole's agent… or rather, her former agent. He had heard from Nicole that their contract had already expired and she had no intention of renewing it.
"I've been doing stage plays for over a year. I don't want to continue. I want to return to the big screen," Nicole explained calmly.
"Return to the big screen?" A mocking smile appeared at the corner of the man's mouth.
"That's enough, Mr. Henry. Don't forget, our contract has already expired," Nicole said coldly. With her proud personality, she naturally wouldn't give him any pleasant expression and directly asked him to leave.
"Ha…" The man laughed sarcastically. "I know. You've always wanted to go to Hollywood. But you're too naive. Do you really think opportunities are everywhere there? Ah… perhaps with your beauty you could trade…"
"Whoosh~"
A colored pencil flew down from the stairs.
"Ouch~"
The man clutched his forehead and let out a miserable cry.
Ryan descended the stairs with a gloomy face and said sternly, "Next time you're rude to a lady, what comes flying down won't be a pencil — it'll be a lead weight."
"Hey! You little brat!" The man stood up, rubbing his forehead, looking like he wanted to get physical.
Nicole quickly stepped in front of Ryan. No matter what, she would never let anyone hurt the most important person to her. "Henry, please leave, or I'll call the police."
As the saying went, it was best to part on good terms, but this man's character was truly terrible. Ryan remembered clearly that there had been several times when Nicole had barely escaped being sold out by him.
"Darling, you were too reckless." Once only the two of them remained in the living room, Nicole pulled Ryan into her arms.
"Nicole, you want to go to Hollywood now?"
"That's my dream." Nicole spoke softly as she ruffled the boy's hair. "Why am I even telling a little rascal like you all this? Oh right, Ryan, I have to go back to Australia for a while soon. While I'm gone, don't cause any trouble in London."
"Back to Australia?" Ryan asked, puzzled.
"A film crew has invited me. It's called Dead Calm!"
Hollywood! Back in his room, Ryan wrote the word heavily on his sketch paper.
Having experienced the information explosion of his previous life, he knew very well that the glamorous entertainment circle was not as beautiful as it appeared on the surface. Moreover, it was a male-dominated industry. Nicole had no backing there, and getting significant roles would be extremely difficult. Was he supposed to let her fall into Tom Cruise's arms again? He absolutely refused to allow that to happen.
Alright! For the sake of our shared dream, I should start preparing seriously!
After Nicole left for Australia, Ryan simply had the nanny pretend to be nicole and call the school to request a long leave. What he was about to do was extremely important for their future.
Up until now, Ryan had only written novels. Now he was going to start writing screenplays. Thanks to his previous profession, he had read quite a few movie scripts and roughly knew how they should be written.
However, one always regretted having too little knowledge when it was needed. Although he was extremely talented, he wasn't arrogant enough to think he knew everything. He began frequently visiting bookstores and libraries, bringing back a large pile of books about screenplays and filmmaking.
The most important thing was to find a suitable movie — one in which both he and Nicole could appear together. It would serve as a commemoration of their special relationship!
Movies were heavily influenced by the social environment of their time. Bringing some classic films from his previous life into the present would very likely result in failure. Among all film genres, the ones least restricted by the era were undoubtedly horror/thrillers and unrealistic sci-fi.
Sci-fi was out of the question. He didn't mind, but Nicole was already stunningly beautiful in a seductive way. Using that kind of film to enter Hollywood would definitely turn her into nothing more than a pretty vase.
In the end, Ryan chose a thriller called The Sixth Sense. This was a classic film from 1999 in his previous life that achieved both box office success and critical acclaim, earning several Oscar nominations. Most importantly, the movie had a vague time period and reflected one of the mainstream values since the 1980s — family, parental love, and communication.
Moreover, the film's structure was unique. It pulled off a major twist at both the beginning and the end. This kind of creativity had been overused after the new millennium, but in this era, it was a genuine innovation.
Also, the relationship between the young boy and the single mother in the story closely resembled his own relationship with Nicole — half sister, half mother — making it easier for both of them to immerse themselves in the roles.
Transforming the images in his mind into script format was not easy for a beginner. He revised it several times, even putting aside his Harry Potter work. Fortunately, his talent in this life was truly outstanding. At the very least, when it came to writing scripts, he was no worse than that fat guy who used to sell videotapes.
"Scene One, Act One. Night time. A dimly lit basement.
Anna walks down the stairs and approaches the wine rack, selecting a bottle of red wine…"
Ryan flipped through the script. After a full three months, he had finally completed the first draft. He believed there weren't many problems with the scene and character descriptions, but the shot divisions still had quite a few flaws.
For now, this was the best he could do. He sighed. During these three months, Nicole had returned several times but never discovered that he was writing a screenplay. Ryan had no intention of telling her yet. He would wait until they returned to Los Angeles.
Although he now had a script, the problem remained serious. He wasn't naive enough to think that simply mailing the script to film companies would make them rush over to beg him. That was pure fantasy.
What was the foundation of a movie? Many people would say the script. But except for a handful of top-tier golden screenwriters, the status of ordinary screenwriters in the industry was far lower than most people imagined.
In 1988, Hollywood had even experienced a major writers' strike. Conditions had improved afterward, but Ryan knew clearly that in just a few years they would be beaten down again.
It was well known that it was extremely difficult for newcomers to make it in Hollywood — especially new screenwriters. Without connections or intermediaries, getting a film company to invest in your script…
Obviously, Ryan fell into this category. However, he had a strategy: the script carpet-bombing tactic. With the experience of writing one script, his speed would be much faster the next time. If one script got no response, he would send a second, a third, even eight or ten.
Moreover, he still had a heavyweight door-opener in his hands — Jurassic Park!
After all, since hitting the top of the national bestseller list in 1987, the book had stayed there for more than thirty weeks. If this young author stepped forward, the reaction it would cause could easily be imagined.
Since he had chosen to use screenplays as stepping stones, he naturally didn't want to be just an ordinary screenwriter. In Hollywood, no matter which profession, once you reached the very top, you became a powerful figure in the circle.
Ryan was not satisfied with this alone. While constantly revising the The Sixth Sense script, he also wrote down the outlines and settings of several other classic movies from his memory. He did this to prevent forgetting them. Although those scenes had been engraved in his mind for years, it was always better to be prepared.
Time arrived at the early summer of 1989. Just as Ryan was thinking of making more than ten copies of the script and mailing them to all the major Hollywood film companies, Nicole Kidman, who had been busy in Australia filming Dead Calm, finally returned to London. She also brought her new agent with her.
A woman who gave Ryan a huge surprise!