Chapter 44

44

A fter a Sunday in which she'd been purposely unreachable, simply nourishing herself, and thinking about the next steps to take in her career—and seriously considering the option of switching to a different one—Sol woke up that Monday and did exactly what she'd promised herself never to do again. She went online to look for her recently published Richard Fynn story and read it over one last time.

Richard Fynn Is Not Ready for His Close-Up

The eccentric auteur returns to directing with the long-awaited sci-fi title Revengers Reunite Redo —but promoting it isn't his forte.

BY SOL NOVO

After a lengthy hiatus spanning over a decade, the veteran filmmaker Richard Fynn is making a comeback with his much-anticipated sci-fi sequel Revengers Reunite Redo . However, our interview with the mercurial director reveals a man who seems more interested in challenging conventions than publicizing his work, as he refers to the promotional leg of a movie as a "numb, soulless act."

Dressed in a wrinkled green hoodie and equally worn bright yellow shorts, Fynn receives Conceit Fair at the famed Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles focused on the consumption of a salad with fried chicken and not entirely collaborative when asked about his latest film, which he not only directed but also wrote and produced.

This sequel to The Revengers (2008) and Revengers Reunite (2010) returns to the franchise's post-apocalyptic world ruled by a creed of corrupt demi-droid demi-human law enforcers. But getting Fynn to expand on the inception behind this third film or its plot proved almost unattainable.

"Fuck if I know!" Fynn proclaims, his voice filled with annoyed arrogance when we ask him about the secret behind Revengers 's popularity over the years and the desire for the newest installment among the fans.

As the interview progresses, Fynn becomes increasingly evasive, insisting on the idea that the science-fiction franchise hasn't defined him or his filmography but the other way around.

"I was the one who defined the careers of the cast. They were unknowns but I saw their potential," he said, referring to original Revengers cast members Lena Moriarty, Jacqueline Jenkins, Monica Holton, and Xavier Dumas. None of them grace this new title though, which instead stars newcomers Thierry Miller and Jason Tartt.

Fynn's evasiveness culminates when he cuts our conversation short and refuses to speak about how technology may have made certain VFX challenges easier in 2023. Rewatching the original The Revengers will expose the contemporary viewer to a lot of CGI- overloaded scenes produced almost 15 years ago and during a much less sophisticated moment for computer-generated graphics.

But the visual effects of this movie may prove equally arduous. Revengers Reunite Redo 's Public Relations team told us after the troubled interview with Fynn that the director's erratic behavior was due to his low blood sugar level, acknowledging as well that the filmmaker was "nervous" over the fact that his latest movie is technically not finished yet since the team is still working on the visual effects.

In the end, the fate of Fynn's latest film will be decided by the viewers at the box office.

Everything looked good-ish, or as good as it could be, considering the outpour of edits that made her almost not recognize the words in something that was bylined Sol Novo. The piece was also considerably shorter than had been initially intended, but the conditions in which the interview had taken place—and the lack of quotable material from Fynn—had dictated the article's new word count. Sol felt a pang of resentment because of all of it.

She then made a second mistake that morning and opened her email account directly on her phone. It was something she knew well never to do on an empty stomach, yet she did it anyway.

It was barely seven in the morning, and the article had been scheduled to get published two hours before that, at five, but there were already several messages in her inbox about it. Most of them were from Richard Fynn's PR team and the Revengers Reunite Redo 's distributing studio. They were extremely unhappy about the article and blamed Sol for mischaracterizing the director. Both Fionna and Christina were copied in all those correspondences.

Fynn's people had especially reproaching objections against the article's title— Richard Fynn Is Not Ready for His Close-Up . Most folks only read headlines, after all, they argued. That pointed heading had actually been penned by Christina, despite Sol's many complaints. But the editor had been too happy with the Sunset Boulevard reference even if Sol had insisted that Revengers Reunite Redo had absolutely nothing to do with the 1950 black-and-white classic movie starring Gloria Swanson.

Sol felt an overwhelming weight in the pit of her stomach. Why hadn't she followed the rules she set as a protection against exactly these kinds of situations? Didn't she know from experience that it was better to deal with the shit storm that was headed her way when one had already showered and had her tea?

"Aargh!" she yelled. "Sol Novo, you know better!"

Fionna Bennett called her then, and Sol picked up quickly and nervously. She should have at least tried to breathe deeply a couple of times before answering. But she didn't.

"Fionna," she said, trying not to sound too shaky.

"Sol," Fionna said. "Have you seen the emails?"

"I have."

"We're very disappointed," Fionna said, and Sol agreed. These Revengers Reunite Redo people didn't seem to realize how the business operated. "We shouldn't have worked with you, considering we didn't have all your references."

"I'm sorry, what?" Surely, Sol had misheard or misunderstood.

"You've misrepresented Richard Fynn," Fionna said.

"No, I haven't," Sol stated. "I've been very clear from the beginning about the issues during the interview. Your team got a transcript of said interview. I've worked with Christina closely. She analyzed and went over every single comma. I had to be careful because she wanted to add some stuff that would have been a misrepresentation. But in the end, we found a text that met the standards both for me and your many editors and copyeditors and was approved by them."

"It's still your byline," Fionna said.

"I'm aware." Sol was completely awake now even if no caffeine had entered her system yet.

"We'll talk, but I don't like this."

"I don't like it either," said Sol and they hung up.

She went straight to the shower. She'd need to have her full armor on, and she couldn't pull on her empowered persona if she was still wearing her Grumpy-from-Snow-White pajamas. Even if she felt exceedingly grumpy.

"Meshflixx is shelving the stolen script investigation," Thompson told the team during their weekly debriefing meeting. "This time for good," he added. There had been warnings about the termination of the case for weeks now.

"So they're good not knowing who stole their copyrighted property, then?" asked Luke.

"Of course they aren't," said P. "We're meeting them tomorrow and letting them know their thief is most probably, with a 90 or even 92 percent probability, Sol Novo."

"What?" Luke couldn't mask his alarm. "She didn't do anything!" Also, those numbers were pulled out of thin air.

"Now, we haven't really established that, have we?" Thompson reasoned. "She has the most motive and looks the guiltiest from those who had the opportunity to take the script."

"I'm telling you, she didn't do it," Luke repeated.

"That's for Meshflixx to decide, isn't it?"

Luke couldn't keep disputing the most insane statement coming from his managers to date.

"The meeting is over," Sweatshirt intervened with his usual hostile manner, cutting Luke's protest short. Sol's career wasn't the only one at stake in this affair. "You all have things to do. Don't you? Or should I be checking if we need to restructure the team once more?"

Luke exited the meeting room seething—and worried. He hadn't had a chance to look into Oliver Green since Sol had sent him his name. What was worse, their chat two nights before had been so fraught that Luke hadn't asked her how she'd remembered Oliver and why she thought he was the other attendee at Josie's on February 23. He needed to ask her about it, but he felt they needed to talk about themselves first, about what had happened on Saturday night. Even when they both had been appearing to avoid the other on Sunday.

Everything was getting enmeshed in a way he didn't like, which was why he should have waited until the Meshflixx case was finished before pursuing something with Sol.

And after what had just happened during the meeting, Luke didn't think there would be time for much personal talk between them. He called her number and hoped she'd pick up when she saw his name on the screen.

"Hola," she replied after a few tones. There wasn't the slightest hint of anger in her voice. "I'm glad you called."

"Me too, but I need to tell you something," he said.

"Please don't tell me it's going to be awkward."

"I won't, but you won't like it. It's about the Meshflixx case," Luke went on. "My managers are going to suggest your name to Meshflixx."

"What do you mean?"

"They'll suggest your name as the most likely to have stolen the script."

"But I didn't!"

"I know." He kept his tone soothing.

"Then why haven't you told them so?"

"I have, but they're idiots," he said. "Look, I called to let you know because I promised there would be no more lies. I'll do everything I can to keep you out of this, but it'll be hard. So be prepared."

"Luke, if Meshflixx believes I'm the one who took and leaked the script, they'll block my access to all of their content and talent. And they'll make sure every other movie studio, TV channel, and streaming service does it as well. I won't be just an out-of-job journalist who has to hustle and freelance, but one who's never going to be hired to write anything else."

"I know," he said. "That's why I'm calling you. I need to get to the bottom of this. You texted me something on Saturday, and I still haven't had the chance to ask you about it. You said that you remembered Oliver Green at Josie's on the afternoon of the theft."

"Vaguely," said Sol.

"What exactly do you remember?"

"I think I saw him. When Philippa was organizing us to take a picture of the class for Instagram, he was walking in the background, on the other side of Philippa's phone, which was pointing at us. I remember thinking, Oh no, he came too , because I've never liked him. But he never showed up for the picture or in class, and I didn't think about it again until the other day when I overheard him trashing The Privateers ."

"How long did the whole picture-taking thing take?"

"A good five minutes. Philippa took her time to make sure everything and everyone looked perfectly lit and photogenic," said Sol. "She's very considerate about those things."

"So he could have had time to go through the lockers when you were all making sure to look your best for Philippa's snapshots?"

"I guess so," said Sol.

"Could he perhaps be working with his father?"

"What do you mean?"

"We've overheard Mark Green having a go at Meshflixx a couple of times. The second time, he may have been talking to a journalist."

"Mark has been extremely vocal over the years about his dislike of how the industry is evolving. It's no secret that he's not a fan of not just Meshflixx but pretty much any streaming service. You could probably find clips of him online having a go at Supreme Video and all the others. He's complained about the lack of transparency, lack of residual payment, inadequate display format… you name it," she told him. "It's weird though…"

"What's weird?"

"I think a couple of days ago I read about him possibly unretiring and making his streaming debut." Her words were slower as she tried to remember the details of whatever article she'd read. "He never said anything to me, and the piece was all unconfirmed reporting, but he's been rumored to direct a couple of episodes for Meshflixx. But I swear I saw him in Los Angeles about to take a meeting in Supreme Video, which is Meshflixx's main competitor. It could all just be rumors or a coincidence or nothing at all…"

"It could," he said. "I'll check into all of it."

"Luke, I know I keep saying this about almost everyone," she added. "But I don't think I can stress how much of a good guy Mark is."

He acknowledged her comment, wished his pride hadn't prevented him from calling her the previous day, and decided to share something that had been bothering him during that whole conversation.

"Listen, we still need to talk—about us—but I feel I should try and clear your name first."

"Not being involved in a case of theft that could ruin my career would be great, yes. And we can figure us out in a couple of hours or a couple of days," she said. She sounded unhappy and tired.

They hung up shortly after that because she needed to answer another phone call, but he couldn't help feeling she was distancing herself from him.

We can figure us out in a couple of hours or a couple of days. She could have easily added or a couple of weeks or months as well.

Since they'd spent the night together, they seemed to be further away from each other with every conversation they had. And the urgency to crack the case didn't help.