Chapter 68: The Lord of the Rings

  As expected, after Song Tang participated in the talk show for the second time, with the broadcast of the talk show program, Song Tang's figure once again entered thousands of households. This not only brought Song Tang a big name but also allowed his fans to have a deeper understanding of him. Before this, although several films starring Song Tang had been released and brought him great fame, due to various reasons, he didn't appear in public many times. As a result, many people had heard of Song Tang's name but hadn't seen the real person.

  At the same time, with Song Tang's appearance on Oprah's talk show, the global box office of the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" quickly exceeded $400 million, and even the ratings of the currently popular TV series "Friends" on Da Tang Broadcasting System have risen significantly, all of which were unexpected by Song Tang!

  After more than two weeks of hard work, Song Tang finally completed the remaining seasons of "Friends". Then, Song Tang called Rupert and asked him to send someone to pick up the script. At this point, Rupert was completely convinced by Song Tang. In his eyes, Song Tang was a literary master who could write something casually and make it famous. Of course, this was because Rupert didn't understand Song Tang's situation. As a time-traveler, the greatest advantage is to use one's prior knowledge to benefit oneself and promote rapid development. Now, Song Tang had applied this principle perfectly. However, these things were not only unknown to Rupert but also to everyone who knew Song Tang. This was Song Tang's biggest secret!

  "Hey, Scarlett, long time no see, you're even more beautiful." As soon as Song Tang arrived at the company this morning, he saw George leading Scarlett, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, into the company. Today, Scarlett was wearing a princess dress, with a Lolita-like figure, delicate features, and a head of deep golden hair tied up in pigtails, looking extremely cute, which not only caught Song Tang's eye.

  At this time, Scarlett also found Song Tang. After hearing Song Tang's praise, Scarlett suddenly showed a lovely smile, then opened George's hand, ran to Song Tang's side, and hugged Song Tang's arm, complaining: "Hey, Tang, your brother is a big liar, saying that he would keep in touch often, but not even giving me a call for such a long time."

  When Scarlett complained, Song Tang was immediately embarrassed. After all, when the two parted ways in Ohio, he had promised to call Scarlett often, but later on, due to work being busy, he didn't keep his promise. By now, Song Tang had forgotten about this matter. At this time, being called a big liar by an 8 or 9-year-old girl in public made him want to find a hole to crawl into even more, as the surrounding employees cast curious glances at him.

  Song Tang touched his nose and said with embarrassment: "Hehe, sorry Scarlett, I've been really busy lately and forgot to call you."

  "Hmm, not even a bit sincere. So I'll ask you, when I called you, why didn't you pick up? Was it also because you were too busy?" Upon hearing Song Tang's words, Scarlett immediately furrowed her cute eyebrows and opened her big eyes, looking like a little adult as she asked him back.

  "Huh?" Scarlett's words suddenly left Song Tang speechless, looking at Scarlett's innocent appearance, he wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, so Song Tang could only awkwardly say to Scarlett: "Yes, Scarlett, I've really been very busy lately, don't believe me? You can ask George, even when George calls me, it often goes unanswered." As Song Tang spoke, he also gave a sideways glance at George.

  At this time, George, who was beside him, saw Song Tang's "rescue" eyes and suddenly understood. He came to Scarlett's side in a timely manner and said: "Hehe, dear Scarlett, don't make it difficult for the boss. Recently, the boss has been very busy, and Charlie's sister can testify to this."

  "She? Hmph, I don't want to have anything to do with her. That woman is the most annoying one. Maybe Tang didn't call me because of her." Scarlett's eyebrows furrowed even more tightly after hearing George's words. Then she looked at Song Tang with a pitiful expression and looked at George who was persuading her beside her, thinking for a moment before turning to Song Tang and saying: "Since Uncle George is speaking up for you, I'll forgive you this time."

  Song Tang heard Scarlett forgive him, and his face suddenly showed a joyful expression. After all, cheating on a child was his fault, but Song Tang couldn't help it with Scarlett's lovely loli appearance. He could only accompany her well and beg for forgiveness. If Scarlett were to entangle herself with him, Song Tang would really have no way out. But before he could even show a smile, Scarlett suddenly changed the subject and said: "Although I forgave you this time, but I have requirements."

  Upon hearing this, Song Tang let out a sigh of relief. Children's requests are usually simple and easy to fulfill. Thinking of this, he hurriedly said to Scarlett: "Hehe, dear Scarlett, what do you want? I'll definitely help you achieve it."

  "Really? Tang, I want the story of three elves and seven dwarfs. But Uncle George never buys it for me. You must buy it for me, okay, Tang?" Hearing Song Tang agreed to her request, Scarlett suddenly jumped up happily, then kissed Song Tang's face, but immediately Scarlett reflected back, looking at the ground with a red face.

  The story of the three spirits and seven dwarfs? Is there such a book? Song Tang thought for a moment after hearing Scarlett's words, and it seemed that he really didn't know about this book. He looked at George beside him with doubt.

  George, who was standing beside, saw Song Tang's puzzled gaze and thought of Scarlett's words earlier. He immediately knew what Song Tang was wondering about and smiled, saying: "Hehe, boss, what Scarlett said wasn't a story about three elves and seven dwarves, but something written in a book - the Three Great Elf-rings, the Seven Dwarf-rings, and the Nine Human Rings. I don't know where Scarlett heard about this book, but it's written quite deeply, I'm afraid Scarlett wouldn't understand it even if she bought it, so I never got it for her."

  After listening to George's words, Song Tang couldn't help but think: Ring! Ring! Song Tang suddenly thought of British author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's epic fantasy novel "The Lord of the Rings", also known as "The Ring King". This book mainly tells the story of three great elf rings, seven dwarf rings and nine human rings. Song Tang didn't think of this book because he had read it, but because he had seen the movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson based on the book: "The Lord of the Rings 1: The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Lord of the Rings 2: The Two Towers" and "The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King". The magnificent fighting scenes, grand fantasy scenes, and exaggerated visual impact were all perfectly presented after special effects processing, attracting people's attention. The "Lord of the Rings" series is absolutely one of the most classic series in Hollywood history, which is also a favorite of Song Tang's and never gets old!

  The Lord of the Rings film series has been a high-grossing film, and as far as Song Tang knows, all three films in The Lord of the Rings trilogy have achieved impressive box office results, with total box office earnings of nearly $3 billion. The three films, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", respectively won awards at the 74th, 75th and 76th Academy Awards. Especially, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" won 11 major awards at the 76th Academy Awards in 2004, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Visual Effects, making it one of the most awarded films in Oscar history, along with "Ben-Hur" and "Titanic".

  For a high-grossing and internationally acclaimed film series like this, Song Tang wouldn't miss it for the world. However, since his rebirth, his busy life had made many of his previous plans fall through. Fortunately, time-wise, it wasn't too late yet. In his memories, several classic film series such as "Tomb Raider", "Pirates of the Caribbean", and "Harry Potter" hadn't appeared yet. Song Tang couldn't guarantee whether this world would bring these films forward in time due to his arrival. What he should do now was to secure the adaptation rights that he could get his hands on, and worry about filming later when he had more time. Having thought of this, Song Tang made a silent decision.

  Just then, Scarlett looked at Song Tang dazed and speechless, thinking he wasn't going to agree to her request. She pouted her small mouth and said angrily: "Hmph, what's wrong, Tang? You're not agreeing?"

  Song Tang reacted after hearing Scarlett's words, but Song Tang knew that Scarlett had misunderstood him, so he quickly said: "No, no! My dear Scarlett, how could I not agree? I'll not only buy it for you, but also make a series of films out of it!"

  "Really? That's great, Tang, but I want to be the main character inside!" Scarlett exclaimed with excitement after hearing Song Tang's words, jumping up and down with joy.

  Song Tang looked at Scarlett who was happily excited, not disturbing her interest at the moment, and couldn't help but shake his head. However, he still said in a timely manner: "Hehe, dear Scarlett, it's okay to want to be the protagonist, but you have to grow up quickly!"

  Scarlett heard Song Tang's words and looked at her own slender figure, suddenly becoming disheartened. Song Tang saw this and knew what Scarlett was thinking. However, Song Tang didn't say anything because he didn't know how to help Scarlett, and he felt powerless.

  "George, take a look and get in touch with the copyright holder of 'The Lord of the Rings' to see if we can obtain the film adaptation rights. It might be a bit difficult, but do your best!"

  George looked at Song Tang with a puzzled expression. Although George didn't know why his boss had suddenly given him such an order, when he saw the deep and wise eyes of Song Tang, George opened his mouth and said: "Okay, boss!"