"Do we have a winner or just a time bomb that's going to blow up on us? Though, for the second option, it's like we are ourselves committing suicide. Ain't there a better term for it in Japanese?"
An old man stared into a newspaper article and muttered in a profound manner. The glasses he was wearing were making him look like a philosopher who was asking something life changing.
But to the people around him, it was a bunch of nonsense.
"What? I didn't understand a word you said. The first half was at least better."
A woman said. She was one of the project managers in the production house.
Another man, one of the producers butted in.
"Yeah, what's you on about?"
"This."
"[The Black Saint]? It's costing us 60 million dollars to make. The first movie earned over 200 million and we would at least break even. I don't think you should be worried about a—"
"It's not that."
The man looked at his boss with an odd eye. Was he getting old faster? That thought brushed his mind as he looked at Anthony McCarthy, the CEO of Granite films.
It was the production house that was working on the sequel of [Black Saints]. They also worked closely with Titan studios for distribution.
"I feel like the movie would get cancelled. It's not like the first part. A simple crime thriller with talented people at helm, making it a good risk. It paid off too but this sequel is not a crime thriller. It's going to slowly make headlines when it is released."
"It's not a comedy, you know."
The woman said. In Hollywood, only comedians were getting cancelled and it was common knowledge. Some comedy directors don't even want to direct comedy movies because somebody might cancel them for it.
"It's not a horror either but it scares me."
Anthony laughed, thinking about the script he had read. The first time he read it, he felt like a psychopath had written it.
It wasn't even about a psychopath. It was about becoming that.
"Yeah. The script is pretty peculiar but I think we will be fine. Our estimates just say that it will be a good grosser and would be well liked by critics. Titan studios said the same thing."
"Ah, they don't know anything." Anthony snorted. "They just want to get money off a sequel. They don't see anything else."
"Then, what do you see?"
The man asked Anthony and his eyes shined like he was just waiting for that question. He smiled as he said it.
"I see a story that would cater to the countless people who think their lives are mundane. It won't give them a purpose but the movie… it's going to tell them that there's someone out there who's like them. I am pretty sure it will become a case study in the future. Moreover, Aiden, he missed the table read right?"
There was a script reading session that was organised for the cast but Aiden missed it as he was still locked in the room.
"Ah, yes, he did. His agent apologized and said that he's somewhere off, preparing for the role. A few cast members didn't like it but Zavier and Ray let it go, so no one said anything. He's the lead, so have influence too."
Hearing that, Anthony looked down on the newspaper article. His eyes hung on the title.
<Zavier Lamb said that [The Black Saint] will give a different look at Kai August. Something that no one would expect.>
"I really hope the article stands true."
Anthony muttered, thinking about something.
***
Chicago was the place where the first [Black Saints] movie was shot and it was also the place for the second movie as the franchise was based only in one fictional city that was based on Chicago.
At the end of February, most of the cast had already landed here, joining the crew which had been here for two months. The movie was divided into two different timelines, showing the events after the ending of [Black Saints] and the origin of Kai.
The former was a small portion of the movie but was connected to the origin. It was mostly just Ray Hardy's character, Charlie Morgon, trying to find out about Kai's goal and to know whether he was truly dead or not.
At the same time, he also worked to show the point of view of how the city had transformed since Kai's death.
There were also new additions to the cast, including a few well known actors who were going to play various important roles. One of them was Judy Vance who was playing the role of one of the gangster bosses.
He was a very old and intimidating person who had grown a beard for the role.
Currently, he didn't look like he was in a good mood even though it was the first day of shooting.
"I have never seen a person like him. Shouldn't he be here at least a week ago? He hadn't backed out, right?"
He looked around him and asked. His voice was pretty tough and sounded heavy.
Everyone around him knew who he was talking about.
One of the actresses who was playing the role of a love interest Kai muttered.
"I don't think so but we don't know for sure. I am actually scared of that too."
"Nah." Ray said. "He should be here soon. Aiden won't back out of this role. I'm pretty sure he just got caught up somewhere."
"He should inform the cast about it then." Judy looked at Ray. "The behaviour is very unprofessional. You should talk about it too, Ray. You have worked for a long time."
"I know but Zavier looks pretty relaxed." Ray pointed towards the director who was squinting his eyes at the camera, probably thinking of the shot. "If there was something like that, he would be the first to be worried."
Judy didn't say anything as Ray's words made sense. Thinking of wanting to talk to Zavier about it, he stood up but suddenly, he saw the director walking towards him.
"Judy, how are you doing? All fresh."
"Ah, yeah. Looks like everything is ready."
He said, looking around the set. The first day was inside a studio but from tomorrow, they were going to shoot some outdoor scenes. Zavier wanted to keep most things natural and not use CGI too much in the movie.
There was even a lounge area for the cast to go check out [Black Saints] to know about the first part and a few more movies that Zavier was taking inspiration from.
"Anyway, I was hoping we could have an important scene between you and Aiden today. You know the confrontation scene with Kai."
Judy was surprised to hear that. That was an important scene but there was a problem.
"I'm sorry but I have not really practiced with Aiden yet. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about it. Where is he? I have not even gotten the chance to have a talk with him yet. Is he even here?"
"He's in the vanity van, getting his makeup."
"What?"
Judy was very surprised to hear that. He was expecting to hear that Aiden was still in the flight or that he had left the project. If he was already there, why he haven't seen him yet?
"He came very early in the morning. An hour before you and the others. He's almost ready. I have a talk with him and he seems to be in character already."
"No, still, even with him here, I have not rehearsed it with him yet."
Zavier shook his head hearing that.
"You are a good actor to get it done even without rehearsing. If you can't do it, we can delay it."
Zavier left after that and Judy kept standing there, a bit stupefied and wondering what was going on with Aiden.
"I have never seen such an actor like that before. If he was already here, he could have at least greeted me."
***
The door to the vanity van suddenly opened up and a few makeup artists walked in. All of them have strange expressions on their faces.
One of them muttered.
"Those were some very intense eyes. I don't think I have ever seen something like that before."
"Yeah, it was scary yet hollow. I felt a strange attraction."
"Yeah, he wasn't even smiling. It was just a… smirk. Is he always like that?"
"No, I have heard from other makeup artists that he's very friendly. But he was nothing like that today."
"Maybe he's in the character. I have seen actors like that."
"If that's the case, then I'm pretty sure this movie will be a huge hit."
They walked as they talked like that. Inside the vanity van, two pairs of dark eyes stared into the mirror.
Aiden was wearing a pitch black suit. One would think that he was preparing for a funeral but it wasn't the case. On top of it, a smirk was plastered on his face.
Eyes that were saying a lot, a suit and a smirk — Several features of Kai.
Opening his mouth, he said in a low pitch voice.
"Let's get the game started."
