Chapter 66: Coming to Visit

By early August, My Big Fat Greek Wedding had raked in a jaw-dropping $162 million overseas!

That kind of haul put it just behind this year’s Hollywood heavyweights like Armageddon, Godzilla, and Deep Impact. For now, it’s even outpacing Saving Private Ryan, which hit theaters two weeks ago.

Sure, the overseas box office for Greek Wedding is slowing down a bit, but Fox analysts are buzzing. They say this movie’s aimed square at North America—once it drops there on August 20th, it might just steamroll those hyped-up summer blockbusters!

Hollywood and fans alike are losing their minds over it, dying to see what the fuss is about.

Word is, some folks in Asia got their hands on pirated DVDs and are secretly selling them. But the U.S. takes IP protection super seriously—that’s FBI territory. They’ve cracked down hard, so the damage is under control.

Meanwhile, Dunn Walker’s hauled the whole crew out to Nevada. After a brutal 45-day stretch of action scenes, everyone on the Star Wars set let out a massive sigh of relief.

Now they’re at the desert set—mostly dialogue scenes. The flashy podracing stuff? That’s all CGI for later, so it’s not too tough to shoot.

The past month of action filming, even with stunt doubles, left the two “Jedi knights” pretty banged up.

“You holding up okay? Walking alright?” Dunn asked, strolling over to Ben Affleck.

Ben had tweaked his thigh with a high kick but grinned through it. “I’m good, man. I can tough it out. The worst is behind us—now it’s just coasting to the finish line.”

“What about you, Liam? How’s your back?”

Liam Neeson shook his head. “One thought: no more action movies. Ever!”

Dunn couldn’t help but laugh. Come on, Uncle Liam, with your skills, what else are you gonna do? Quit whining—you’ve got it good!

This “desert set” wasn’t just some sandy patch—it was a full-on custom-built stage on desert soil, costing over $8 million to pull off.

“Alright, everyone, quiet down! This isn’t a studio—focus up!” Dunn grabbed the megaphone, shouting to the actors in the performance area. “The last month-plus has been brutal for all of us—I’m as sick of action scenes as you are! But we’ve made it through. We’re in the home stretch now, so let’s bring our A-game and nail this in three takes or less!”

“Lighting team, get ready… soften the light a bit. Camera crew, set up… perfect! Action!”

“Are you a Jedi knight?” At an old dining table, young Anakin eyed Liam Neeson curiously.

“How’d you guess?”

“I saw your lightsaber.”

Queen Amidala, dressed down in plain clothes, sighed softly. “Our planet’s in trouble. We’re headed to the galactic capital for a mission, but our ship broke down, and we’re stuck here.”

“I can fix it! I can fix anything!” Anakin piped up.

Amidala shook her head. “I doubt it—we don’t have the parts.”

Anakin grinned wide. “Parts? Easy! There’s a podrace coming up soon. Win that, and we’ll score everything we need!”

“Is that a bet?”

“Yup! Those little vendors around here? They’ll bet on anything!”

This scene sets up the desert planet’s epic podracing moment. Since Dunn beefed up the final battle big-time, he trimmed a lot of these smaller buildup scenes. The dialogue mostly centers on Natalie’s Amidala now.

But this long take was giving Dunn a headache. The kid playing Anakin was still green—too raw. Long shots are tricky enough in movies, and putting a newbie like him with seasoned actors felt like he was getting swallowed up.

First assistant director Christopher Nolan caught Dunn’s vibe and leaned in. “This long-shot idea… maybe ditch it? Push in for close-ups instead. Simpler to shoot, easier to edit.”

Dunn nodded. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

Ever since he and Natalie got together, popping into her dressing room felt way more natural. Even if she was changing, her assistant wouldn’t bat an eye. Though Natalie herself had shooed him out a few times, all huffy and cute.

After the day’s shoot wrapped, Dunn swung by her dressing room again. She was in a white shirt, brushing her hair—total girl-next-door vibes. So pure, so pretty.

“Nat, you’re gorgeous!”

Natalie smirked, tossing him a smug little grin. “When’s this movie gonna wrap?”

“With how things are going, about a week or so.” Dunn was stoked with the crew’s pace. “Why? School doesn’t start ‘til late August, right?”

Natalie hesitated, a shy blush creeping in. “Dunn… we’re in Nevada.”

He caught the glint in her eye and laughed. “You wanna hit Vegas?”

“Can we?” Her eyes sparkled with excitement, practically begging.

“Of course we can! We could catch a show, maybe… try our luck at the tables. Who knows? We might strike it rich!”

Natalie lit up even more. “But I’m not 21 yet—can I still?”

“Hmm, good point.” Dunn paused, watching her lips start to pout. Then he grinned. “No biggie—we’ll just book a hotel room, wait ‘til late, and sneak down for a few rounds.”

“A room?” Natalie zeroed in on that word, giving him a teasing, half-smirky look. “Dunn, are you setting me up again?”

“Whoa, Nat, you’ve got it all wrong!” He chuckled nervously. “I meant a suite—you know, with two bedrooms.”

“Hmph!” She shot him a playful glare, then mused, “Some people just love picking on a young girl, thinking I’m easy to fool.”

Dunn shook his head. “Nat, I’m only three years older than you!”

“Yeah, but I’ve never had a fling. You, though?” She started counting on her fingers. “Liv Tyler, Catherine Heigl, Sofia Coppola, Nicole Kidman…”

“Hold up! Nothing happened with Nicole!”

“Really?”

“Swear on it!” Dunn said, all serious.

“What about your secretary, Reese Witherspoon?” She gave him a look like caught you.

Dunn coughed, scrambling for an excuse, when a surprised voice piped up from the door. “Miss Portman, you calling me?”

“Ah!” Natalie jumped.

Dunn froze too. He’d given Reese Witherspoon a small role on set, so she’d met Natalie, but she was supposed to be in LA…

“Reese, what’re you doing here?” Dunn asked, baffled.

Reese glanced at Natalie. Dunn waved it off. “It’s cool, just spill it.”

She nodded. “There’s something I needed to tell you in person. Warner’s people reached out—they want to buy the Harry Potter rights.”

“Buy the rights?” Dunn blinked, then slashed a hand through the air. “Not for sale!”

Reese stayed calm but firm. “I figured you’d say that. Andrew’s dead-set against it too. But Warner… they’re pushing hard.”

“Hard?”

Dunn’s face darkened.

Reese nodded slightly. “At first, it was just some British producer, David Heyman. We turned him down. Then he got JK Rowling on board to pressure us. We still said no.”

Dunn’s expression turned icy. “We helped her out when she was down, and now she’s pulling snake moves like this?”

Reese sighed. “We’ve held firm. Me and Manola have talked to JK tons of times—barely any progress. Then yesterday, a Warner VP showed up, saying they ‘hope Dunn Films can earn Warner Bros.’ friendship.’”

“That’s ridiculous!” Natalie, even as an outsider, got it. Warner was flexing their muscle—straight-up strong-arming! How’s that not a threat?

“Let ‘em come. No big deal!” Dunn’s tone was rock-solid, a cold smirk creeping in. “Tell JK and Warner: Harry Potter can rot in my hands before I’d ever sell!”

“Dunn…” Reese looked worried. They weren’t up against some small fry—this was Hollywood titan Warner Bros., part of Time Warner!

“Don’t stress!” Dunn snorted. “What’s coming will come. They think I’m young and easy to push around? They’ve got another thing coming!”

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