Filming Wrapped

"Likewise, although MGM had been losing money year after year, its foundation was still incredibly strong. As long as a few films succeeded, I believe MGM would soon be able to turn its current situation around."

The reporter's expression stiffened. Rett had brought up MGM's deep foundations, and the implication was obvious: if he kept asking questions that embarrassed Rett, he should wait for trouble to come knocking.

The reporter would just have to wait for Rett to cause trouble for him later.

Offending an ordinary celebrity director would have been one thing.

But offending a film giant like MGM would have had far more serious consequences.

Seeing this, the reporter hurriedly shifted targets and went after Kevin, Tom Cruise, and Angelina Jolie, the female lead.

"Director Kevin, I heard that every time you make a movie, you make the female lead sleep with you. Is that true?"

"..."

Kevin's expression stiffened as well. This was exactly why he disliked being interviewed in public—his abilities as a director were useless against reporters.

What interested them most was gossip between directors and stars.

Right from the start, the reporters kept pestering Kevin for gossip about him. Fortunately, there was no hard evidence, and Kevin denied every allegation.

On the other side, Tom Cruise had seen plenty of scenes like this and dealt with them one by one.

At the same time, he spoke at length about Mission: Impossible, drawing the reporters' attention back to the film.

A day later, after everything had been settled, Kevin led the crew to Prague, known as the heart of Europe.

Beyond its plot, Mission: Impossible's success had also owed much to its breathtaking scenery.

Kevin certainly had no intention of changing that.

"Mission: Impossible will only be a terrible movie. A rookie director and a bunch of nobodies—what kind of good film could they possibly make?"

"..."

Kevin and the crew had barely left when the media began attacking him and the film.

However, MGM, Paramount, and Warner Bros. quickly used every resource at their disposal to pressure them into suppressing the news.

That was the advantage of having powerful backers.

With investments from three Hollywood giants, Kevin only needed to ensure that nothing went wrong within the crew. He did not need to worry about anything else.

The three giants were more anxious than he was about outside problems.

Prague was the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic.

As a tourist city, it readily agreed to a Hollywood blockbuster's request to shoot there.

A wildly successful Hollywood film could attract many tourists and bring in additional revenue.

Under those circumstances, Czechia even dispatched police officers to help them close roads for filming.

With that level of cooperation, filming for Mission: Impossible began.

Given Kevin's current status, aside from Tom Cruise being able to challenge his authority, everyone else was nervous and extremely cooperative.

And as a smart man, Tom Cruise never questioned the director in front of others, so Kevin encountered no difficulties while filming Mission: Impossible.

"Instructor Yuan, I want the action to feel more realistic—closer to Bruce Lee's fast, precise, ruthless style. I think that's the kind of movement an agent should have."

Kevin did not care what real agents were actually like. What he wanted was for the agents in the film to behave in ways that matched the audience's imagination.

This was a theory he had once heard from an author friend in his previous life, when he had been a director.

When writing a work, if the plot followed reality but differed from what readers imagined, negative reviews and haters would come pouring in.

Conversely, if it followed readers' established impressions, praise would come flooding in.

The same applied to films.

Agents should be fast, precise, and ruthless. That was the image people expected of an agent.

Kevin had no intention of overturning that image. He only wanted Mission: Impossible's fight scenes to stand out even more.

At the same time, he wanted to preserve the essence Mission: Impossible was supposed to have.

The agent played by Cruise had agile skills and endlessly changing disguises, all of which were astonishing.

With filming proceeding like this, several months passed quickly. There were occasionally minor conflicts, but Kevin suppressed them all.

Four months later, in mid-September, the time had come.

Kevin had already brought the crew back to Hollywood for the final green-screen shoots.

Naturally, Cruise's train chase scene could not be done for real the way Jackie Chan would have done it. Not only did Cruise not dare to do it, the producer and insurance company constantly following alongside would never have allowed it.

If anything happened to Cruise, it would basically mean the end of the production.

The eighty-million-dollar investment would naturally have gone down the drain as well.

"Cut!"

Watching Cruise finish the final shot, Kevin decisively called for a stop.

"Thank you all for cooperating with me during this production. I won't say much more. If the box office is a huge success, everyone here will get a bonus."

"Now, I've already arranged a party. Pack up your things, everyone. Let's go."

Kevin put away the forceful, uncompromising attitude he had displayed while directing and spoke with a broad smile.