Rewind With A Superstar System

Chapter 217: Premiere Disaster

<🎧 Song Recommendation: Be My Baby by The Ronettes>

...

The moment finally arrived on screen. It was the scene where Aiden and Camila shared their first kiss.

It was a highly complicated and tense moment, layered with the forbidden nature of the act, especially knowing that Camila was still dating Xander at the time.

The primal ferocity between the two characters made the audience feel a rush of emotions. It was so raw and genuine that it felt like they were experiencing it in real life.

That single moment left almost the entire audience, including those who had come specifically to hate-watch, completely speechless.

Many people in the theater silently agreed that this might just be the best, most passionate kiss they had seen on film

’No way... He’s not just perfect to play Aiden,’ Griffin Tyler thought, his eyes glued to the screen.

’He is Aiden!’

That was the exact thought running through the original author’s mind as he kept watching the movie unfold.

The later scenes were truly satisfying and perfectly captured the essence of his book.

There was a highly comedic scene when Aiden and Camila tried to spy on Xander and Bella on Camila’s birthday, only to end up entirely losing his car to a tow truck in the process.

The theater had erupted into laughter at Von’s comedic acting.

That was also the exact same day Camila and Aiden officially got together. They shared another meaningful kiss before the movie transitioned into showing them having the absolute best time of their lives through a vibrant montage.

The montage was another really beautiful moment in the movie.

Thanks to the lockdown protocols during filming, the production crew had gained exclusive access to a lot of amazing, completely empty city sceneries and locations.

They had all the time in the world to take the best, most breathtaking cinematic shots.

Accompanied by the upbeat, trending track of One Dance, the montage quickly became one of the best and most memorable parts of the entire movie.

But the lighthearted joy didn’t last forever. Very soon, the movie progressed to a heavy mood when the semester break arrived. Camila had to return to her hometown.

After dodging Xander’s calls for several days, things finally went terribly wrong.

Xander managed to corner her and actively held her hostage inside his house. The tension in the theater spiked as the thriller elements of the story kicked in.

However, the dark situation didn’t last for too long. Aiden, showing a completely new side of his character, managed to break in and rescue her.

In a thrilling escape sequence, they drove off with one of Xander’s own expensive cars, speeding straight to the airport where they boarded a flight to his home country to stay with his extended family in Spain.

The movie seemed to end on a bright, happy note as the plane took off into the sunset.

But that wasn’t the end.

The screen cut to black for a second before opening on one last, final scene. It showed Xander standing in a dark, dimly lit room with his terrifying thugs standing quietly around him.

Scattered across the large wooden table in front of him were several pictures of Aiden and Camila together.

Xander picked up one of the photos. A dark, evil grin slowly spread across his face and he said with a chilling calmness.

"You can run now, Camila. But when the time is perfect, you’ll be mine again. And I won’t spare your little friend either."

The movie ended abruptly with Xander’s boisterous, evil laughter echoing through the speakers as the screen cut to black and the final credits began to roll.

It left many people completely glued to their seats.

For those who hadn’t read the books, not many had expected that kind of dark, open ending.

And Kerry, who played Xander, had delivered that last scene so incredibly well that the audience truly felt a shiver of fear when he spoke those final words.

It was a brilliant way to close the film. As the credits continued to roll up the screen, many viewers couldn’t believe that the movie had just ended.

Surprised gasps and excited whispers filled the room. The audience was stunned, still trying to process the intense emotional rollercoaster they had just experienced.

Eventually, the reality set in. Griffin Tyler was among the very first people in the theater to stand up. He began clapping his hands with genuine pride.

Soon enough, almost everyone else in the regular seating rows immediately began getting to their feet to join him.

The movie had not just met their high expectations; it had exceeded them greatly.

Many fans were still left replaying the movie in their heads, trying to wrap their minds around how well Von had actually acted as Aiden. He was a complete natural.

Down at the front of the hall, Von and the rest of the main cast, including Director Marcus, stepped out into the spotlight to receive the standing ovation.

Looking out at the cheering crowd, it was truly a great, heartwarming experience.

However, it was at that exact moment of triumph that something strange happened.

Right in the middle of the standing ovation, some of the most important VIP visitors and top-tier critics sitting at the very forefront abruptly stopped clapping.

They crossed their arms and began taking their seats extremely early. Some of them didn’t even sit down; they just grabbed their coats and actively walked out of the hall while the cast was still on stage.

"What’s happening?" Von whispered to Marcus out of the corner of his mouth, his smile faltering as he noticed the sudden shift in the front rows.

"I don’t know, but it’s not looking good," Marcus added in a hushed voice.

And truly, that was a terrible sign. There was an immediate ripple of confusion among the clapping fans standing behind the VIP section.

In the film industry, the crowd relies heavily on the critics to set the tone. Seeing several prominent critics actively leave the hall or sit down in apparent boredom caused the entire ovation to quickly lose its energy.

Feeling the awkward tension in the room, the regular fans slowly stopped clapping and returned to their seats out of second-hand embarrassment.

Deeply disappointed and confused, Marcus had to awkwardly lead Von and the rest of the main cast off the stage and back to their seats.

The standing ovation had only lasted for one minute and fifteen seconds. For a massive festival premiere, it was an absolute disaster.

***

{The Worst Adaptation of the Year}

{Director Marcus thought that all he needed was a massive budget and a trending musician to adapt a beloved romantic drama, but he got it entirely wrong. Perfect Ruins is a visual treat dragged down by a completely mediocre act that didn’t seem to show enough passion for the movie.

Von Varley brings nothing but a blank stare to the complex character of Aiden. Even the live audience will agree with me, and it clearly goes to show from the length of the standing ovation.

At just over one minute, it was the absolute shortest ovation among all the major films shown in the entire festival thus far. A tragic waste of resources.}

— Jennifer Maguire, Toronto Tonight.

{Leave The Acting To The Actors}

{Von Varley is much better off sticking to doing stand-up comedies, music videos, and over-dramatic television interviews. He is absolutely nowhere near capable of helming a heavy, emotional movie like this project.

His lack of experience was very obvious. At times, he was way too over-the-top with his acting, yelling when he should have been talking. Other times, he just seemed so sluggish and tired that you wondered if he was even awake. The incredibly lackluster standing ovation tonight went to show exactly how much the audience had their hopes completely destroyed.

Save yourself the ticket money and cancel this movie from your watchlist. I will be really surprised if it even manages to find a distributor after tonight.}

— Derek Salmon, Pop Tea Daily.

{A Hype Train Derailed}

{The overall quality of this movie goes to show exactly why it currently has zero distributor deals so far, despite all the massive internet hype surrounding its production.

Von Varley is one lucky fella who, after several planned publicity stunts, managed to steal the spotlight for a few weeks. But he eventually disappeared into the background when it was finally time to see if he was really a movie star.

Perfect Ruins is a really bad movie that relies on cheap pop-star fame rather than actual cinematic talent.}

— Poodle Waters, Cinema Grid.

***

"What a whole load of absolute shit," Harvey muttered angrily, tossing his phone onto the mattress after reading some of the newly published Perfect Ruins reviews out loud to Marvin.

Marvin sat up from the other side of the hotel bed, his face twisted in pure confusion.

"But didn’t they see the exact same movie with us? I’m so confused about what’s going on."

Harvey offered a dry, cynical smile. He reached into his pocket, looking like he was going to instinctively pick up a cigarette to light.

But after realizing he had none on him, and remembering he could never get one in his life again, he let out a heavy sigh and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Of course they saw the same movie, Marvin," Harvey said flatly. "But that’s not the case here."

"Then what is it?" Marvin asked, throwing his hands up. "The movie was amazing. Von was amazing!"

"Oh, it’s very clear. They were bought. And if I had to suspect anyone in this entire city, it’s the guys from Blood Money."

"Rayan West?!" Marvin asked in shock with wide eyes. "Why would he do something like that? There’s absolutely no dignity in that!"

Harvey simply shrugged his shoulders, completely unfazed by the dirty politics of Hollywood.

"Well, there’s no real dignity in this industry, Marvin. You should know that by now. And I’m not directly accusing Rayan himself of being the one making the calls, but it’s really sick that his camp had to come this far just to secure an award."

"But why?" Marvin asked, still trying to wrap his head around the logistics of it. "There are other great reviews for the movie out there online. Won’t the actual fans realize that these specific critics don’t know what they’re saying?"

Harvey smiled, seeing Marvin finally make a genuinely good point.

"Yes, that’s exactly it," Harvey nodded. "The real fans will know the truth. But then again, these specific critics are pretty respectable themselves in the mainstream media. Their words carry heavy weight with the older academy voters, and this is clearly affecting the movie negatively right now. A one-minute standing ovation is another nightmare."

A dark thoughtful look crossed Harvey’s face. "So... things definitely won’t be easy for any of them if they eventually get caught."

Marvin’s mouth fell slightly open as he processed Harvey’s words. He stared at his friend, a sudden thought striking him.

"What if...? What if, just what if, the real culprits were actually discovered?"