Hollywood was known to adapt a lot of movies from novels. A lot of the famous and Oscar winning movies were taken from books and were adaptations. So, the relationship between the literary industry and Hollywood was very close.
In the 90s, there were a few fantasy novels that got adapted into movies but hardly any of them worked because of high budgets and a lack of technology available for the filmmakers. It changed in the 2000s as technology improved by a lot and early superhero and fantasy movies showed the limits of fantasy stories on the big screen.
Fighting a dragon or jumping through buildings in a seamless motion was a cool thing to watch for everyone.
Though, it was still rare back then.
Any trend would get oversaturated with time and with technology only improving, more and more movies of similar type popped up. Some were original but majority of them were taken from novels as adapting a popular novel meant you already have a fan base.
But a lot of these were bad adaptations as directors just changed a lot of things.
They infested the stories with their own viewpoint and not what the original writer wanted. It created dissatisfaction among fans as a lot of stories that could have become big franchises bombed right at the start.
Some of these even gave out statements like how they didn't like the original novel and wanted to do it their way or how they wanted to show the stories in a modern day. They would do it even for stories that stood the test of time.
That's why Olio was careful.
He was someone who had seen the bashing movies would get if they stray away from the source. In the first place, he liked the whole series a lot and wouldn't want to show his own ideas in the middle of it.
He was also aware that since the announcement of [Hex], people were already critical of it.
You would find negative comments on every post of it online. A few common ones were always there.
[Saturday Adams: One more novel series of mine that I grew up with would be ruined soon. I really hope Hollywood producers stop adapting novels.]
[Hollywood's Daddy: Can't wait to see the main character stuck in a bad situation only to be saved by a random female character in the end in the name of progressive mentality and modern movies.]
[DJ Bobby: I really hope it stays true to the source material please. I really want a good adaptation of it and Olio Fermen is capable. Please just don't make it weird due to politics and what not.]
Although these types of people would generally be thought to be in the minority, there were actually a lot of neutral audiences who also think like this. In the end, they just wanted to see the book they have read in live action.
They didn't want anything more.
Olio also wanted to give them just that.
That's why, after Aiden completed the modified screenplay, he wondered how to talk to Olio about it. The worst case scenario here was Olio throwing out his script and telling him to not try to interfere in the movie.
That was something that Olio could do.
He was not a director who liked to talk nicely with actors. It was purely a strict work relationship for him.
Aiden had already seen a few arguments on set that actors had with Olio but mostly, they were one sided and the actors would just cuss him after the shooting to let out their anger.
He has been in Olio's good books till now but that could easily change. That's why Aiden was apprehensive.
***
[Hex 7 April-2020 Act 8 Scene 2 Take 4]
Blaze looked at the room that was filled with smoke. He had barged into a noble's mansion to steal a secret document regarding the prophecy that connected him. Apparently, the noble was an important member of the church and he had been told to keep the document safe.
The ex thief had managed to steal the document but while leaving, guards saw him and Hazekillers surrounded him. Hazekillers were special knights that used smoke as a way of blinding their enemy .
In the mist, they would attack from every direction and hardly anyone had managed to beat them in a clash.
'I need to focus or I won't make it back.'
He thought in his mind as he saw the mists in front of him move a little. Almost instinctively, he jumped back and escaped a sharp blade.
The blade managed to cut a piece of his robes. In the next few seconds, more and more blades came towards him. Blaze tried to fight them with his dagger but the smart option here was to dodge.
Several blades touched him but his armour saved him from getting injured.
'They are annoying.'
Blaze thought and under the mask he was wearing, his eyes suddenly started glowing. Suddenly, cards appeared from his pocket.
The cards that one would use for playing a game of poker. These cards glowed with a strange energy and the Hazekillers became guarded seeing them.
Suddenly, the cards started to spin and in an instant, the smoke was cleared. Hazekillers widened their eyes seeing that and got an idea of who the person in front of them was.
"Don't let them get close to you." One of them said, proclaiming it to everyone.
"Those cards are emitting a strong energy." Another Hazekiller nodded.
But Blaze just smiled seeing that. Without hesitation, he controlled the cards to strike the Hazekillers in an instant.
The cards moved through the air as if a person was skiing through snow. The Hazekillers tried to block the cards but Blaze was one step ahead of them.
He controlled the cards to dodge the swords and directly aim at their necks. The cards were actually sharper than blades and in an instant, all the Hazekillers fell on the ground. A deep cut on their necks and blood seeping out of it.
They weren't going to survive.
He looked at them with cold, emotionless eyes. If it was him a few years back, he would have been disturbed by such a scene. But now, it was nothing special.
He wasn't just Blaze now. He was also 'The Smiling Joker', an alias that was becoming extremely popular in the underworld these days. About a person who uses cards to slice your neck.
It was then that he heard the voice of the director.
"Cut."
The scene ended like that and Aiden's immersion broke.
***
After the scene ended, everyone dispersed. Aiden sat down in a corner after making sure that there was no need for a retake.
Then, he checked his character affinity with Blaze.
It stood at 84 percent and he felt like he had a good grasp on him. Though, it was nothing compared to when he was playing Kai. Still, it was much better than the time he used to be at 78-79 at best in affinity.
By the end of the shooting, he was confident that he could move it towards 90. He also felt like he was going to level up soon in acting.
Despite all this, he was more focused on thinking of a plan to make Olio agree to divide the movie into two parts. But he hadn't yet found a way to do so as Olio was very firm in sticking to the source material.
'The only option is to talk directly to him. Although, I know for a fact he would reject me. Not like there's any other way.'
Aiden thought and it was then that his eyes saw a man walk up to Olio. The man was wearing a blue shirt and looked pretty fit even though his hair and beard were completely white.
He was someone who knew how to groom himself. In Aiden's eyes, he looked pretty much like a director of superhero movies he had once met. At least he got the impression that he had seen him before.
The thing that surprised him wasn't at his appearance but the fact that when Olio saw him, he got a bright face, like he was someone he knew very well.
Wanting to know who the strange man on the set was, Aiden walked up to Tom who he had already realised to be something of an informer.
Since Day 1, he had cozied up to most people on the set and was getting every small detail from them. Wade had once told him that Tom had over 10k contacts on his phone alone.
"Tom, who's that man?" He asked as he got close.
"Oh, you don't know him. I was pretty sure you would recognise him. Can't be helped since you never met him before. He's never been on the set too."
Aiden was confused hearing that but at least Tom seemed to know who the man was.
"So, who is he?"
"Samuel Davidson, the son of the original author of <Hex> and the one who completed his dad's series. He's an author himself too."
