Chapter 360: Filming Wrapped

[Chapter 360: Filming Wrapped]

"Good morning, Link!"

The next morning, Juliette Binoche got up early and greeted Link as he went out for his morning exercise. She then headed to Emmanuelle Beart's room to take her out for breakfast and some sightseeing in the city.

Today, Juliette didn't have any scenes to shoot and looked forward to spending time with her friends Emmanuelle and Sophie, who had come from afar.

At Emmanuelle's room, she knocked three times at the door but received no response. Juliette felt puzzled. Was she not in?

Back in her hotel room, she called Emmanuelle but couldn't reach her after two tries, which made her anxious. Florence had a reputation for being chaotic, with frequent reports of robberies and other crimes. Was Emmanuelle in trouble?

...

Juliette quickly dialed Sophie to inform her that Emmanuelle was missing. On the phone, Sophie lazily assured her not to worry, saying Emmanuelle was sleeping next to her and hadn't yet woken up.

"Emmanuelle's with you? I thought you were in Link's room?" Juliette asked, confused for a second, then her eyes widened as she exclaimed, "Oh my God, you two were together last night?"

"Emmanuelle likes Link, you know that, so... they just ended up together," Sophie casually replied.

Juliette felt incredulous. While she knew Emmanuelle admired Link, she hadn't expected her to climb into his bed so quickly.

"Sophie, Link is your boyfriend! You don't mind him doing this?"

"Not at all. We had a great time last night! We were going to ask you to join us but weren't sure if you would be interested, so we didn't want to bother you. If you're up for it, I can call you tonight," Sophie laughed.

"No! Don't call. This is too messy. It sounds weird!" Juliette felt her cheeks heat up.

"Whatever you say. I'm too tired now; I want to sleep a bit more. We can chat once we're up."

"Alright then!"

...

After hanging up, Juliette changed into her workout clothes and went to the hotel gym, where she coincidentally ran into Link. He was dressed in a sports tee and shorts, striding vigorously on the treadmill, his legs moving powerfully, resembling a sprinter in full sprint.

After doing three sets of crunches, Juliette paused to rest while Link continued at his relentless pace. She admired his athletic physique, her mind wandering to what Sophie had mentioned earlier about Emmanuelle and how she'd fainted three times the previous night, almost asking Juliette for assist. Juliette couldn't help but bite her lip, secretly cursing them for being so reckless.

After working out for a while and working up a sweat, Juliette returned to her hotel room after Link left. She glanced at some newspapers and figured Link had gone to the film set, so she changed clothes and knocked on Sophie's door.

...

Sophie was already awake, her tousled golden hair spilling over her shoulders, dressed in a loose nightgown. She lazily leaned against the sofa, sipping milk and enjoying breakfast, her complexion radiant as she looked like she had a great night.

"Where's Emmanuelle?" Juliette asked.

Sophie pointed her chin toward the bedroom. Juliette walked into the bedroom, only to return a few minutes later, her cheeks flushed. "Isn't she going to the hospital? Emmanuelle looks..."

Juliette struggled to find the right words to describe Emmanuelle's current state; her hair was a mess, and her body had swollen marks like a damaged doll. However, she had a content smile on her face while sleeping. Overall, it felt quite odd.

"She's fine; she just needs to rest today," Sophie chuckled.

Juliette looked at her with unusual eyes. "Sophie, you used to be so serious in love. How come you've gotten so wild since being with Link? You even dragged Emmanuelle down with you."

Sophie smiled slightly, nibbling on a croissant, "I initially couldn't accept this. But during our trip to Venice, when I was with Monica and Link, I felt it was much more fun than just being with Link. We all enjoyed it. It's all good!"

"You've changed."

Juliette blushed and pointed at her but decided not to interfere too much as it was Sophie's personal matter. She planned to talk to Emmanuelle after she woke up, hoping that since Emmanuelle had only just started seeing Link, there was still a chance to pull back.

Unfortunately, her plan didn't realize. Emmanuelle woke up and wouldn't listen to Juliette at all. She just kept gushing about Link to Sophie, excitedly praising him for being strong and superhero-like, saying it in very frank terms. Juliette felt her face burn as she listened.

...

While on set in the afternoon, Juliette's mind kept replaying their conversation, making it hard for her to concentrate on filming. She had six consecutive flubs and received a dark look from Link as he criticized her a little.

"Juliette, you used to be the best performer on set, nailing a scene in one take. Today's scenes are straightforward; why can't you get them right after so long? If you're not feeling well, I can give you a day off," Link said as he took off his fisherman's hat and waved it around to cool himself.

Juliette glared at Link in frustration. If it weren't for Link's antics, she wouldn't have heard those strange things and wouldn't have gotten distracted, yet here she was being reprimanded by him. It felt so unfair.

"No, just give me ten minutes. I can get it back together."

"Alright then, half an hour. Let's film Kip's scenes first," Link waved his hand and signaled to inform the rest of the crew to focus on other scenes in the meantime.

...

During a break in filming, Link received a call from his assistant Annie in Los Angeles, alerting him that there were twelve days left until The Sixth Sense premiered and asked him if he wanted to return for the event. She mentioned they were arranging the schedule in the office ahead of time.

Link regretted that he wouldn't make it back in time, as the remaining scenes would take another fifteen days to finish. However, he could join the promotional activities in the second week.

Annie noted that was fine and also reported the box office earnings from last week.

Paranormal Activity 2 was in its third week of release, earning $16.63 million from 2,774 theaters in North America, showing a substantial drop in ticket sales compared to the previous weeks.

The significant decrease in box office numbers could be attributed to three main reasons.

First, the film had opened in over 3,000 theaters during the first two weeks, exhausting most of the market's box office revenue. Viewers interested had mostly seen it already, and future weeks were predicted to perform even lower.

Second, recent headlines in the entertainment industry were not favorable to Guess Pictures.

After Paranormal Activity 2 performed well, many media outlets began to publish negative stories about Guess Pictures, claiming the quality of the film was low and the box office earnings were solely due to media hype. This speculation had dampened audience enthusiasm to some extent.

Third, two well-received films had just released this week, also stealing some of the attention away. The first was a political romance titled The American President, produced in collaboration by Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures, telling the story of President Andrew falling in love with an environmentalist. The film starred Oscar-winner Michael Douglas and actress Annette Bening, earning $14.82 million in its opening week across 2,031 theaters, placing second at the box office for the week.

The second was Paramount's thriller, Vampire in Brooklyn, about a vampire named Max on a quest in New York City to find a mate for his offspring. The film featured comedic star Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett and grossed $7.71 million in its first week from 2,307 theaters, ranking third for the week.

Additionally, other strong contenders like Get Shorty, Powder, Copycat, and Mighty Aphrodite were still in theaters, making the box office competition fierce that week, comparable even to the summer season.

...

After hanging up, Link continued filming, first capturing scenes of Kip explaining the demining principles and then shooting Hana's reaction. This time, Juliette performed much better overall, but there were still issues. He had her come over for advice, and only on the second take did they finally get it right.

After 25 days filming in the Florence region of Italy, Link wrapped the battlefield hospital scenes, then took the crew to Lyon, France, for five more days of shooting.

The English Patient concluded successfully after 76 days in total, making it the longest of Link's ten film productions.

The main reason was that this film had been artistic on a high level, using a unique non-linear narrative interweaving themes of love and war into a montage storytelling style. The balance between romance and conflict, memory and reality perfectly coalesced, blending grand historical storytelling with delicate love stories.

To achieve that subtle, nuanced style and profound meaning requiring strict control over every shot throughout the filming process made it extremely time-consuming.

After finishing The English Patient, Link returned with his crew to Los Angeles to rest and participate in the promotional events for The Sixth Sense.

*****

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