Hollywood Zenith

" Don't listen to him. He is just showing off being all mysterious. I still remember when I first received his book that he written when he wanted to make his starting capital for his business venture." Adele interjected seeing everyone else was silent seeing him boast about it.

" Is that so?" Neil didn't feel much about it. There was no shame starting out young, even he had written countless fanfictions before deciding to study literature seriously.

Even this series which was inspired by both Sherlock Holmes and Columbo; the nature of Luther's intellect and its application to solving crimes is comparable to Holmes's, whereas the show's use of the inverted detective format was inspired by Columbo.

" You must have heard about Lord of the rings series right? Well, you are looking at it's author!" Suddenly Adele dropped the bombshell which was more shocking then finding about his eidetic memory!

" Do you mean Hobbit and it's sequels? Now that you mention it Samuel...Sam Abel? Oh my god!" Neil felt his world shatter. Was there anyone who wasn't the fan of that book series? The eloquent way of turning a children's story into a epic six book series was not something that anyone could do but finding out Samuel wrote it as a hobby?

What's more the first book came out almost a decade ago, wouldn't he be only eleven or twelve at that time? He was already a well established actor, when did he ever got time to do these things? Was he started learning when he was in the womb? It was truly unbelievable!

" What? Sami wrote that book? Why didn't I know about it!?" On the other hand Kate also was shocked to learn about it. She felt like she was peeling layer on the onion, the deeper she went, the more spectacular he became!

He was getting embarrassed being look at with such intense eyes. Thankfully, Nicole came at the perfect time with tea and some assortment of snacks finally breaking their daydreaming. Samuel took the chance to further their conversation.

" I would appreciate if you don't disclose it to anyone."

" Rest assured. I would never do such a thing. I always admired your work even tried to find you but alas, it's not easy. Penguin publication is still keeping a tight lid over your identity." He wasn't the only one, there were countless people trying to get hold of him but no matter how much money they offered, Thomas would reject them on spot without ever hearing about it.

His books already garnered worldwide attention and people were waiting for the adaption. Unlike Harry Potter franchise that went hand in hand with new book's release, LOTR wasn't rushing anything only teasing it's fanbase with eventual release without giving them any substance.

" You don't have to worry about me. It's basically my job to keep secrets." Noah shrugged. As a priest they would listen to confessions regularly, being tight lipped was the part of their job.

" What about the budget then."

" I really don't know. I was hoping for somewhere close to sixty million dollars to hire some good actors. It's not like it couldn't be done in half the budget but in that case, many things in the script had to be cut to accommodate to it." Neil gave his honest opinion.

He was hoping for more but if they did a tight schedule and prepared sincerely, he could achieve his dream with that amount of money.

" Sixty..." Samuel thought for a second. The money wasn't a problem, in his eyes sixty was much less than he anticipated but thinking about the BBC's practice of cutting corner Neil could hardly ask for more.

Seeing him ponder, made Neil's heart beat faster. No matter how rich Samuel was it was a lot of money to put in a no name television series. He didn't expect Samuel to agree to it.

" Sixty is too less."

" Pardon?"

" We would need at least hundred with marketing and other added costs." Neil wanted to jump around and laugh out loud but he suppressed his emotions.

" I am willing to invest in it. Even future seasons are included in that deal but the only problem is I wouldn't be able to oversee it because of my tight schedule so you have to cooperate with other people at my studio."

" I am willing to do it!" Neil didn't expect it when he first came here but finally he could see some hope for his 'baby'.

" There is just one problem." Samuel poured water on his excited face.

" I see that you are hoping to cast a white british actor for the lead role."

" Yes?"

" Shouldn't the lead be black?" Samuel didn't know why it changed. As far as the information went, Neil born to unhappily married parents, He was the youngest of their four children. His mother ran away when he was five, returned two years later and took him to Edinburgh to live with his stepfather.

The story was a cumulation of his struggles in life also he didn't know if there was a person like Idris in this realm. His iconic portrayal of the character won the series many awards, he didn't want to change it.

Seeing Neil's shifting expression, Samuel hit the nail right on the head. He confessed that he originally planned the lead to be black but because of repeated rejection he changed it to appeal to few other studios.

There was no underlying meaning to it, they only wanted to cast their own actors and it just so happen to be that majority of them were white. It was common practice in this industry, corporation that were contracted with specific agency would push the writer to envision specific actors in mind while fleshing out the story.

Samuel didn't think much about it. He told him straight forward that the lead should be black and he would take care of it. For now, Neil only needed to revise the script and visit his studio headquarters to make arrangements.