Chapter 163: Invitation from International Film Distributors

"Kerry, I owe you an apology."

After listening to Kerry Mulligan's tearful recount, Mike sighed heavily, his tone laden with sincerity, "It was my client who secured the lead female role."

Kerry Mulligan's gaze snapped towards him, her eyes wide with shock.

Mike had already planned his next move, "You know her, Murphy's former assistant, Jessica Chastain. She's now my signed client."

"Her?" Kerry Mulligan's gloom darkened even further, "You two..."

Seemingly oblivious to Kerry Mulligan's mood or her words, Mike continued, "Kerry, you shouldn't complain about this, nor should you confront Murphy. Jessica served him for a long time as his..."

He emphasized the following word heavily, "personal assistant. Isn't it normal for him to choose Jessica over others?"

This statement immediately diverted Kerry Mulligan's attention. She turned away, silently staring into the distance.

"That's Hollywood for you," Mike added, "Everyone chooses those closest to them."

Kerry Mulligan sat in the passenger seat, lost in thought. After a while, she finally spoke, "Mike, can you drop me off in Santa Monica?"

"Of course," Mike agreed without hesitation, remembering that Murphy Stanton's new home was there.

Among the group of agents exiting the dispatch room, he had been the most promising, recognized by the company and his peers for his abilities. Otherwise, Bill Rossis wouldn't have chosen him to scout potential clients together. Yet, everything had changed recently.

He knew what Bill Rossis relied on for his current status.

These events might not drag Murphy Stanton down, but they would surely affect him, and Mike felt no need to intervene.

After dropping Kerry Mulligan off in the Santa Monica valley, Mike drove towards Century City, feeling pleased.

Upon returning home, Kerry Mulligan entered the main living room, kicked off her sneakers, and upon seeing Murphy's photo frame on the console, grabbed it without thinking and threw it. Fortunately, it landed on the carpet, preventing it from breaking.

Her phone suddenly rang. Picking it up, she saw it was her agent, Bill Rossis. After listening to him for a few moments, her already somber face showed no sign of improvement, "All for some nonsensical reasons? Liz is my best friend! How could you do this?"

Kerry Mulligan's voice rose again, "Don't tell me what real Hollywood is like! I can see for myself! I'm not blind!"

After hanging up, she carelessly threw her phone onto the ground.

Collapsing onto the long sofa, her face buried in a pillow, tears streamed down uncontrollably, feeling a profound sense of injustice, uncertain how to explain to Elizabeth Banks.

Liz had been so kind to her, even if she only offered words of caution during her conflict with Keira Knightley, but after that day, Liz had unhesitatingly stood by her side, protecting her in every way.

They had treated her best friend, such a good person, so poorly!

After receiving Bill Rossis's call, Murphy immediately returned home. Upon entering, he saw Kerry Mulligan sobbing on the sofa and sat beside her.

"Still angry?" Murphy gently rubbed her shoulder.

Kerry Mulligan looked up, her face streaked with makeup, glaring, "I don't want to talk to you!"

"Hey, dear," Murphy, inexperienced in handling such situations, tried to soothe her, "Don't be angry, okay? I didn't mean to push you away, it just wasn't the right time to discuss this."

In such moments, no woman could listen to rational explanations. Kerry Mulligan sat up, her tears stopped, but her face remained dark.

Murphy patiently said, "Did Bill call you?"

Kerry Mulligan continued to glare, refusing to speak.

"I did this because..."

"For my sake?" Kerry Mulligan interrupted, "The whole world is looking out for me! Julian Firth does! My parents do! You do too!"

After saying this, she grabbed a pillow and threw it at Murphy, then ran towards the stairs, heading upstairs.

As Murphy picked up the pillow from the floor, a loud door slam echoed from upstairs, sounding as if it could bring down the building.

Just as he considered going upstairs to explain further, he noticed a phone on the carpet. Picking it up, he saw more items near the coffee table.

Placing the phone on the table, he bent down to pick up the photo frame. Murphy turned it over, noting the frame was intact but the glass had a large crack running through it, splitting his image in two.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

Loud noises came from upstairs, sounds of objects being thrown. Murphy sighed, placed the frame properly, picked up the phone, and headed towards the stairs.

This was the first real conflict between him and Kerry Mulligan since they started dating. Initially, Murphy had the patience to persuade, but Kerry Mulligan's anger eventually ignited his own. Both young and impetuous, they saw things from different perspectives, with Kerry Mulligan appearing more unreasonable.

In the following days, Kerry Mulligan locked herself in the master bedroom upon returning home, refusing to speak to him. Murphy decided to temporarily move into a bedroom in the auxiliary building, planning to talk things over once Kerry Mulligan calmed down.

However, her defiance matched Murphy's initial predictions, not speaking to him for nearly a week.

Initially, Murphy tried to create and find opportunities to ease the tension and reconcile, but as the preparation for "Terror Planet" increased, his directorial duties demanded more attention, pushing this issue aside temporarily.

He, along with Erica Stanberg, Kim Clemen, Paul Wilson, Phil Raschel, David Roby, and Helena Espora, left Los Angeles for a desolate area on the California-Nevada border to scout locations suitable for filming.

Unlike the previous films, "Terror Planet" required extensive outdoor scenes, with many action sequences filmed outdoors.

They parked two vans by a bridge. Murphy was the first to exit, leaning on the rusty metal guardrail, peering at the dark waters below before looking across to a fenced area leading to a vast, typical wilderness.

"Helena, Phil," Murphy called them over, pointing towards the fence, "What do you think about setting up the barbecue scene there?"

"The setup should be fine," Helena Espora responded.

Phil Raschel looked up, noting, "The direct afternoon sunlight here could affect long shots, making post-production color correction difficult."

Murphy nodded, "We'll adjust the plan, shooting long shots in the morning."

The film, set entirely at night, wouldn't be filmed as such; daytime shooting would be followed by post-production color correction using DaVinci Resolve.

Erica Stanberg joined the discussion, and after a brief conversation, they chose this location as the primary choice for the barbecue scene.

"What about the town?" Helena Espora asked, "Are we building sets for that too?"

"No, no, no!" Kim Clemen, who had been quiet, objected, "Building sets would be too expensive and exceed our budget."

He was firmly against any plans that might go over budget.

Standing at the bridge's end, he pointed east, "I've been here before. There's a small town in that direction, neglected and rundown, fitting your filming requirements."

Murphy and his team, after scouting many places with a representative from the bonding company and Erica Stanberg's location producer, preferred not using built sets.

Nodding, Murphy headed towards the vehicles, "Let's check it out."

The town, about five miles away, was very small, more of a village, fitting their needs well. After a tour, they contacted the town's administration, who, unlike Hollywood's depiction of remote communities being hostile to outsiders, welcomed them warmly and agreed to cooperate with the filming.

In reality, the production wasn't shooting for free; they would pay a fee, and the influx of people would bring some income to the town.

After spending five days in the California-Nevada border area, Murphy wrapped up all outdoor shooting and returned to Los Angeles. Apart from continuing film preparations, he met with international distributors brought by Harvey Weinstein. Since the film had some overseas pre-sale investments, reassuring these distributors was essential.

"Director Stanton, we're eagerly anticipating your new work."

A representative from an Israeli film company expressed enthusiasm, "Saw was hugely popular in Israel. If possible, we hope you and the crew can come to Israel for promotions when 'Terror Planet' releases."

"I hope so too," Murphy replied vaguely.

As a Miramax-funded and distributed film, decisions on overseas promotions were up to Miramax.

After bidding farewell to the international distributors and granting the crew a Christmas break, the new year began with Murphy leading the crew out of Los Angeles to start the filming journey.

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