1497-1499

Chapter 1497: Frozen in Shock 

From outside Hollywood, it’s easy to see fairy tales come to life—rags-to-riches miracles that dazzle the eye.  

But step inside, and you realize those stories and miracles only stand out because they’re so rare. Even Hollywood’s stunned by them, shining a spotlight on the few that break through. Meanwhile, the ones that don’t make it stay hidden in the shadows, lost forever.  

The harsh truth? That spotlight’s tiny. Beyond it stretches an endless sea of darkness.  

Alfonso let out a soft breath, gathering the scattered pieces of his mood. He forced himself to perk up, reassuring himself that at least he wasn’t starving.  

He needed to clear the jumbled mess in his head and stop wallowing in self-doubt.  

So, he tossed his cereal bowl into the sink, dug out his notebook, and got to work at his desk.  

When he dove into technical research, he could empty his mind completely, losing himself in the world of film. Exploring the unknown was the fun part.  

What Alfonso loved most was studying the relationship between characters and their spaces—how to build an environment in a single shot, finding where the character fits within it. It’s all about showing how the space shapes them and how they exist in it. That dynamic fascinated him.  

In moments like these, Alfonso knew he still loved movies.  

Sure, he had his doubts right now, but he wouldn’t blame filmmaking for it. Maybe this was just part of growing and learning—a journey he had to figure out on his own.  

Knock, knock.  

A rap at the door broke the apartment’s quiet.  

At first, Alfonso didn’t hear it. Hardly anyone ever visited.  

This was his second stab at Hollywood, but he was still a nobody director. The success of Y Tu Mamá También hadn’t exactly turned his life upside down financially. In a city like LA, with its sky-high costs, he was just scraping by—barely keeping starvation at bay.  

His wife and kids were still back in Mexico. He’d come to LA alone, renting a cramped one-room apartment.  

No family, no friends. Smack in the heart of Los Angeles, the glitz and buzz of the fame game felt like a different planet—one he didn’t belong to.  

Knock, knock.  

The sound came again, and this time Alfonso registered it. Someone was at his door.  

A flicker of confusion crossed his face. “Guillermo, maybe?”  

But… it was way too early. Guillermo was probably still snoring away.  

Puzzled, Alfonso got up and jogged to the door. He didn’t open it right away, though—instead, he peeked through the peephole.  

Outside stood a young guy in a baseball cap. He was so tall the peephole only caught the lower half of his face—his jawline and collarbone. Even without seeing the whole picture, that jaw looked familiar.  

I mean, come on—his face was plastered all over LA. You’d have to be blind not to recognize it.  

Alfonso: ???  

His eyes brimmed with questions. Was he seeing things?  

Cautiously, almost hesitantly, he cracked the door open and poked his head out, peering up to get a better look at the guy’s features. A big grin spread across the visitor’s face.  

“Hey, good morning, Mr. Alfonso Cuarón.”  

Whoa.  

Alfonso sucked in a breath. His brain just… froze. His gut reaction slipped out: “Why are you here?”  

The guy chuckled. “I recently read a script—Children of Men. Your adaptation, right? I loved it. So I wanted to come by and ask if you’d be up for Forest Films taking it on.”  

Alfonso blinked, stunned, and answered almost on autopilot. “But the rights are with Warner Bros. Shouldn’t you be asking them?”  

The guy didn’t miss a beat. “Sure, the production company’s opinion matters, but I think the director’s take is just as big a deal. Studios are all about profit margins and numbers. The art stuff? That’s on the director.”  

“Actually, Warner Bros. already gave the green light. Still, I figured I should check with you. Would you be cool working with Forest Films?”  

“Oh, and there’s some smaller stuff too—like who you’d want for the lead?”  

Alfonso’s brain had checked out ages ago, just stumbling along with the conversation. “Like who?”  

The guy flashed a shy little smile. “Anson Wood, maybe?”  

Alfonso: …  

Who am I? Where am I? What’s even happening?  

It was all a blurry mess—total fog. He didn’t even have time to process the shock. He just stood there, blank-faced.  

When no answer came, the guy’s grin ticked up a notch. “Sorry, did I catch you at a bad time? If now’s not good, I can swing by later. Or I could leave my contact info, and we can talk whenever you’re ready—”  

Only then did Alfonso realize they’d been chatting in the doorway this whole time. “Oh, come in, come in!” His brain screamed at him to apologize, but as he turned and saw the disaster zone of his bachelor pad, he scrambled to grab every stray shirt and piece of trash in sight.  

Cue the chaos—he nearly faceplanted into the couch, head over heels.  

It was a total mess.  

Alfonso chucked the junk into a corner, panting as he spun around. The guy was still politely hovering by the door—not barging in, not snooping. That eased Alfonso’s embarrassment a bit. He let out a long breath.  

“Sorry, excuse my rudeness…”  

The young guy waved it off. “No, this is on me. I should’ve booked a time or at least given you a heads-up. Showing up out of the blue like this? Not exactly polite.”  

“But forgive my eagerness—I’m really into this project.”  

“Oh, shoot, I haven’t even introduced myself. Anson Wood.”  

Finally, the guy stepped forward, hand outstretched, smiling brightly at Alfonso.  

Alfonso stared, dumbfounded. “Alfonso Cuarón.” A beat. Then, still unsure, “So you’re really Anson Wood?”  

Anson laughed lightly. “Yup. Though I can’t rule out there being another Anson Wood in Hollywood. Maybe one of your buddies shares the name?”  

Alfonso’s eyes went wide. “No, no, no, of course not! I just… I mean… no, I didn’t mean anything by it!”  

He took a deep breath. “Good. (Bien.)”  

Out of nowhere, a random Spanish word popped out, no context at all.  

Anson, thanks to his original host’s memories, clocked it as Spanish—but he had no clue what Alfonso meant. He just blinked, confused.  

Alfonso froze again, then blurted, “Collaboration! I mean, no problem—it’s an honor. I’m in. A hundred, a thousand percent in.”  

Chapter 1498: Age Restrictions 

“Collaboration? Of course, no problem. I mean, right now—if you’re up for it—we could get started, dive right into the work.” 

“I’m ready. So, you’re saying you’d join my project, just like that? Snap your fingers, and poof, like Aladdin’s genie?” 

“Wait, you mean my project, Children of Men, right? My, uh, that project.” 

Stammering, stumbling over his words, Alfonso couldn’t hide the nervous excitement in his eyes. His hands fidgeted, one gripping the other, flipping back and forth. 

His emotions were an open book, laid bare in front of Anson. 

A faint smile flickered in Anson’s eyes, though his expression carried a hint of awkwardness. 

“Uh, yeah, you got it right. Children of Men. That’s the project I’m talking about.” 

“Sorry, forgive my rusty Spanish. I can manage a normal conversation, I swear—it’s just gonna take me a sec to get used to it.” 

“Because, wow, the speed of Spanish… it’s a little intense.” 

A small tease, Anson trying to lighten the mood. 

But it caught Alfonso off guard. He blinked, suddenly realizing he’d been so wound up, so eager, that Spanish had spilled out of him. No wonder Anson looked confused. 

“Oh, God, sorry, sorry…” Alfonso muttered. 

Seeing Alfonso’s guilty expression, Anson was the one thrown off now. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. “Actually, you could’ve said that in Spanish—I’d have understood.” 

Finally catching the joke, Alfonso scratched his head, shifting awkwardly in place. A shy smile crept onto his face. 

As the room fell quiet again, Anson realized Alfonso wasn’t great at small talk. So, he took the lead. 

“Don’t you need some time to think it over?” 

“Honestly, I’m not the best fit for this project.” 

“In the book, Theodore’s a guy in his forties. That’s not just a random detail—nobody’s had a baby in over twenty-five years. People don’t even remember what a newborn looks like, Theodore included.” 

“But he and his ex-wife once had a kid who died young. It’s haunted them ever since, drove them apart, even sent them down totally different paths—facing death and the end of the world in their own ways.” 

“So, age is a big deal here.” 

“Plus, I’m not British. I’d probably need serious accent training before stepping onto set.” 

“There are tons of actors in Hollywood better suited for this than me.” 

Anson kept talking, Alfonso kept listening—never interrupting. It left Anson a little unsteady, unsure if this was even a conversation. 

A dialogue needs give-and-take, not a monologue. 

When Anson finally paused, Alfonso sized him up. “Sorry if this is rude, but how old are you?” 

Anson smirked. “Not quite twenty-three.” 

Alfonso didn’t hide his surprise. “But in Eternal Sunshine, you didn’t look it at all. I mean, no one would’ve guessed you were just a high school kid.” 

“Same goes for Catch Me If You Can and The Butterfly Effect. Totally convincing.” 

“And if you’ve read the book, you’d know I’ve reworked the story a ton.” 

“In the original, Theo—I like calling him Theo, from the Greek word for ‘God’—he’s a straight-laced guy. He only gets tangled up with his ex-wife’s resistance group because Julian uses him to get close to his cousin, the Warden.” 

“Later, he gets deeper into the resistance and ends up as Britain’s new leader.” 

“The book leans hard into dissecting society, turning into a political thriller. Honestly, that’s not my strength. What I’m good at is…” 

Alfonso trailed off, caught mid-thought. 

“I don’t even know what I’m good at. But in this script, I’ve tried a different angle.” 

“Julian comes to Theo because she needs a pass. She’s trying to smuggle a girl out, and they need clearance to get through checkpoints. Theo’s got access—or if he doesn’t, he can get an arts project pass through his cousin.” 

“The focus isn’t Theo trying to overhaul society. It’s about them needing to escort this girl—and the baby in her belly—off this land.” 

“So, the whole tone shifts. Julian becomes this nightmare forcing Theo to face reality.” 

“Naturally, Theo’s vibe and tone change too. If he’s not gearing up to be the next Warden, he doesn’t need to be forty.” 

“On the contrary, his stagnant life gets shaken up. He reconnects with Julian, takes on her mission to protect the girl, and tries to get out of Britain. It shows he’s still got some fire, still believes in hope. I think he could be younger.” 

“And to fit the times, I’ve been tweaking the details. The novel came out in 1992—it doesn’t perfectly match today’s vibe.” 

“I’ve set it so the last baby born was eighteen years ago, just hitting adulthood. That kid’s sudden death triggers a global collapse of faith, making the end of the world feel even closer. It digs up Theo and Julian’s old pain too.” 

“So why not say that baby was sixteen? Not even old enough to grow up before ‘dying’—is ‘dying young’ the right phrase in English for a sixteen-year-old? You get what I mean, though. A kid, not even an adult yet, gone. It makes the end-times shadow over the world feel real.” 

“And before that last baby, there was a second-to-last batch of kids born. If they’re still alive, they’d be seventeen now. Theo and Julian’s kid was one of them—died young too. But since they weren’t ‘the last,’ no one mourned them.” 

“When that final baby dies, all those buried memories come rushing back for Theo and Julian.” 

“So, setting Theo and Julian at thirty-five? Totally works.” 

Anson raised an eyebrow. “Whoa, so they had a kid at eighteen?” 

Alfonso shrugged, palms up. “Pretty common in Mexico. Plus, in this story, the world’s falling apart. Babies are rarer, harder to come by. More young people take risks, try their luck—it makes sense.” 

A smile tugged at Anson’s eyes. 

“I mean,” Alfonso went on, “you could totally pull this off. The real question is: are you up for playing a worn-out middle-aged guy?” 

“Because, you’re…” He gave Anson a once-over. “You’re Anson Wood.” 

That said it all. 

“Are you cool with playing a dad, a middle-aged dude—not the lovey-dovey type from Eternal Sunshine—right now? If you are, I’m a hundred percent in.” 

Chapter 1499: Top-Tier Lineup 

Absolutely, a hundred times yes.  

Alfonso didn’t hesitate. Honestly, was there even a reason to?  

First off, someone was finally willing to fund Children of Men. After all the heart and soul he’d poured into it, his work was being pulled out of the shadows. It’d save him from unemployment, sure, but most importantly—he’d get to make movies again.  

Second, they were talking about Anson Wood. The Anson Wood. The A-list superstar every filmmaker in Hollywood was dying to work with.  

And third—the real kicker—Alfonso never bought the “pretty boy” label people slapped on Anson. By some stroke of luck, he’d seen all of Anson’s films so far. And just now, the way Anson casually tossed out thoughts on the source material and character roles? That sealed it. The guy knew his stuff.  

Plus, as a cherry on top, Anson showing up at his door in person? That kind of sincerity—who could say no to that?  

Not Alfonso. He didn’t want to either.  

No hemming and hawing needed. He nodded yes, quick and clean.  

But now, the tables had turned. Alfonso was the one wondering how to convince Anson.  

“The accent,” he blurted. Right, that was a thing. “I’m sure you can nail it. Your French in Catch Me If You Can was downright charming.”  

Anson cracked up. “So my director’s seen all my work? That’s a surprise.”  

Alfonso shrugged, all honesty. “I didn’t expect it either.”  

Anson’s laugh rang out, bright and easy. “Okay, but I’ve got some questions.”  

Alfonso took a deep breath. “Go for it.”  

Anson tilted his head. “You’re not surprised?”  

Alfonso shook his head. “Nope. If there weren’t doubts, this project wouldn’t have been gathering dust at Warner Bros. with no word. Clearly, there’s stuff to figure out.”  

“And honestly, I’m glad you’ve got questions. It means you’ve actually read the book and the script—and thought about it. That makes me happy, even if I’m still a nervous wreck right now.”  

Ha! Hahaha.  

Anson burst out laughing. “Now I’m not sure if I should keep going. But relax—I’m not here to pick a fight.”  

“So, are you leaning more commercial or more artistic?”  

Alfonso blinked, flashing an awkward grin. “First question, and I’m already stumped.”  

Anson’s smile widened. “No, no, you’re misunderstanding me. I don’t like slapping ‘commercial’ or ‘artistic’ labels on films either. It’s like saying regular folks can’t appreciate depth or ideas, which is obviously nonsense.”  

“What I mean is, in our creative process, are we focusing more on the experience or the thinking part? The way we use the camera might shift depending on that.”  

Alfonso took a long breath, his expression stalling before melting into a sigh. “Sorry, I don’t have a clear answer yet.”  

“I mean, I thought I knew myself.”  

“I’m not the kind of director who’s great at philosophical deep dives. I know I’ll never be Bergman, and probably not Kubrick either. I’ve got some thoughts, but they’re not super complex or profound. I like entertaining people, so I guess I lean toward experience.”  

“But Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban didn’t exactly turn out amazing.”  

Anson nodded. It clicked—Alfonso was probably in a phase of searching and growing.  

That’s normal. Pretty much every director goes through it, fumbling through risks and experiments until they carve out their own style.  

Among this crop of young filmmakers, Alfonso stood out. He was one of the rare ones who got better with every project, step by steady step.  

“I liked Azkaban,” Anson said simply.  

That one line lit up Alfonso’s eyes—but then they dimmed again. “Yeah, but the audience…”  

Anson cut in. “I think you should stick to that path and keep exploring. Azkaban’s box office dip had more to do with how it was marketed than your directing. So what we need to talk about now is how we position Children of Men.”  

“If I’m guessing right, you’re planning to shoot it like Exodus, aren’t you?”  

Whoa!  

Alfonso shot to his feet, gaping at Anson. His brain buzzed, and his eyes shone with a “I’d die for someone who gets me” kind of certainty.  

In his past life, when Anson first watched Children of Men, he hadn’t picked up on that vibe at all. He hadn’t read the book, knew zilch about the Bible, and wouldn’t have made the connection. But later, after seeing Alfonso’s later works like Gravity and Roma, it clicked.  

Alfonso wasn’t some devout believer or chasing faith like Bergman, but those subtle, lived-in details still seeped into his creative bones.  

In Children of Men, that unbroken long take of Theo shielding the girl and her newborn through the battlefield ruins? You could totally read it as Moses parting the Red Sea in Exodus—a path forward carved out in chaos.  

So Anson threw it out there, testing the waters.  

Sure enough, Alfonso’s reaction confirmed he’d hit the nail on the head.  

“But you’re not planning to go full Passion of the Christ and crank up the violence, gore, and disaster to provoke people, right?”  

Alfonso shook his head and waved his hands like crazy.  

“Even so,” Anson went on, “Passion has stuff worth borrowing—like the viewing experience. Amping up the realism through visuals and sound.”  

“We need the audience to feel the impact through the lens.”  

Alfonso’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”  

After his talk with Jeff Robinov, Anson had been mulling it over. If he were producing Children of Men, what would he bring to it to flip its “critics love it, audiences don’t” curse?  

It was a tough one. The movie was already great—Alfonso had done stellar work. Beyond tweaking marketing and positioning, how could you add more juice without messing with Alfonso’s vision or style?  

Anson’s answer: the viewing experience.  

Children of Men’s cinematography and staging were top-notch, thanks to Emmanuel Lubezki, a legend behind the camera.  

Emmanuel Lubezki was the unofficial fourth member of the “Mexican trio.” Back in 1995, at just thirty, he’d snagged an Oscar nod for Best Cinematography with A Little Princess. He was one of the rare Hollywood geniuses who could master the big picture, nail handheld tracking shots, and play natural and artificial light like a pro.  

Most top cinematographers excel at one thing. Emmanuel? He crushed it all—and not in a “jack of all trades, master of none” way. He was the real deal, across the board.  

After five Oscar nominations with no wins, he finally hit a streak—Best Cinematography for Gravity, Birdman, and The Revenant, three in a row.  

Tech geek Alfonso and genius shooter Emmanuel had cooked up a jaw-dropping visual language for Children of Men. Now, Anson figured they could push their strengths even further—give audiences a heart-pounding, can’t-look-away experience that showed off the film’s unique magic.  

The movie didn’t need more artsy depth or awards-season pandering. It needed killer visuals to add some popcorn flair—leaning into commercial and genre vibes to hook viewers and keep them glued.  

(End of Chapter)