"I've said it before—this so-called up-and-coming director Edward is just some rich kid fooling around. You don't seriously think he's some amazing director, do you?"
At this moment, on the video platform PoképokéTV, a man named Kendall was arguing with viewers during a livestream.
He was a middle-aged man with not much hair, wearing a cap, and looked quite ordinary. However, the active chat and viewer count in his livestream made it clear that he had a decent fanbase.
[LOL. Sure, Edward's the heir to Devon Corporation, but launching two huge IPs—Sherlock Holmes and Tom & Jerry—is enough to make some people bitter for life.]
[He's so rich, who knows if he just bought those scripts? I saw people online claiming he paid someone else for them.]
[Yeah yeah yeah—throw money at the screen and boom: Tom & Jerry and Sherlock Holmes 😂]
[Kendall must've run out of brand deals. But how does a food-blogging content creator with only 3 million fans have the guts to go after the Stone family?]
[Before getting paid: "This is trash." After getting paid: "That's authentic! Just like Mom used to make!"]
"Heh, you trolls better keep your mouths shut," Kendall snapped back, ignoring the on-screen taunts. "Forget all those old internet rumors—let's talk facts. Which of Edward's films can truly be called a successful art film? Do any of them have depth? None! He just relies on cheap scares to get attention."
He wasn't concerned by the hostile comments. The moderators would take care of them anyway.
"Let's be real—every great director today made a name for themselves through meaningful work. They created films with artistic value. Edward? He doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as those legends!"
Kendall's nose was practically in the air at this point.
[Are Sherlock Holmes and Tom & Jerry not deep? There's real meaning behind the comedy—don't you see it?]
[No lie, my favorite episode is the one where Tom, Jerry, and Spike split the loot. Classic.]
[Great use of metaphor there.]
[LMAO. You delusional stans. What "depth"? Edward just throws money at everything.]
The debate raged on in the comments. Other content creators and influencer accounts also started clipping the livestream and posting the highlights.
Soon, the internet was in an uproar. The question exploded across social media:
Is Edward a director who lets his work speak for itself—or a rich kid buying up other people's scripts?
Naturally, this online storm caught the attention of the PR departments at Ghost Film Pictures and Devon Corporation.
"Boss, there's a guy named Kendall online who's stirred up some heat around your name," Zoroark reported urgently.
Edward raised an eyebrow and set down the design plans he'd been studying—blueprints for the spaceship interior. He had been planning how to set up the next scene, especially the classic chestburster moment from Alien.
But now, it seemed like some drama had cropped up.
"What kind of heat?" Edward asked. Honestly, he hadn't been keeping up with online chatter lately. He'd been swamped with company affairs and Alien's production schedule—every day was a grind. So he wasn't all that aware of the internet gossip.
Zoroark explained everything with some agitation.
Edward, however, stayed calm.
He had expected this sort of thing from the start. The moment he chose to become a director, he knew people like Kendall would show up. And it wasn't just because he was a filmmaker—if he had inherited Devon Corporation directly, people would still badmouth him behind his back.
In his previous life, even players of toxic gacha games would flame CEOs like Steve Jobs.
And filmmaking, after all, is a subjective art. One movie might be adored by some and hated by others. That was completely normal.
So to be honest, Edward wasn't all that bothered. That so-called Kendall wasn't even worth his attention.
Still, the buzz had generated traffic, and if Edward didn't respond, it might cause some PR issues for the company. Thinking about that, he started forming a plan.
"Well, in that case... let's shoot a little extra." Edward said calmly.
He had an idea: since someone was begging to be "proven wrong," why not oblige them?
He'd make something that would silence the doubters—and he'd stay in his preferred genre: horror-thriller. Something like Buried.
It was a low-budget film, with few actors and barely any scene changes, yet it had strong storytelling and even some philosophical depth. It was the kind of project that really interested him.
Even though he wanted to shoot more, he didn't plan on using a huge set or going overboard with production. He already knew who the lead would be—Daniel Clovis.
Daniel was a great actor, and Edward felt that Sherlock Holmes hadn't fully showcased his talent. He had been planning to film a performance-heavy project for Daniel in the future anyway, hoping to land him a Best Actor award.
Now that Kendall had popped up on his own, it just made things easier.
Buried would require Daniel to carry the entire film alone, and his performance would make or break it. It was a perfect test.
Edward pulled out his laptop and began typing up the script for Buried. It was still a rough draft—he'd need to discuss details with Daniel before finalizing it. The original film had some parts that weren't quite suitable, so Edward would have to adapt it slightly. But nothing too major—it would be manageable.
"Boss, are you really planning to have Daniel play the lead in this script?" Zoroark asked, noticing that Edward had written Daniel's name under the lead role.
"Yeah," Edward nodded. "Daniel needs a film that fully displays his acting range. It'll help him expand his roles in the future."
"Won't that be... a bit risky?" Zoroark asked hesitantly.
Edward glanced at Zoroark and immediately understood the concern.
"It won't be a problem. Sure, Daniel played Sherlock Holmes, but this is a completely different character. Audiences won't necessarily link the two." Edward smiled.
Of course, once the movie was out, some people might still say stuff like "Why is Sherlock so weak in this one?" But that didn't worry him at all.
Most viewers could distinguish between roles—unless the actor had an extremely unique face that reminded people of certain famous figures, in which case they really would get typecast.
(End of Chapter)
Buried - 2010 ‧ Thriller/Mystery
A civilian truck driver in Iraq, Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) falls victim to a band of insurgents. An unknown length of time later, Paul awakes in a coffin, with little more than a lighter, a cell phone, and his ever-growing anxiety. Faced with a dwindling oxygen supply and a dying battery, Paul must fight panic, despair and delirium as he awaits a rescue that might not arrive in time.