"Official teaser dropping! It's happening!"
"Those silhouettes? That's Cassius and Jennifer, no doubt."
"Dior moves fast. Oscars were three days ago!"
"Can't wait for the campaign. Can't wait to see them together!"
Cassius was still staring at the post when Jennifer texted him a screenshot from her Dior group chat.
The execs had locked in the plan: keep the Oscar "guardian" theme going. The moment he caught her on stage was already iconic—they wanted that same energy in the global ads.
Jennifer had replied she was good with it. What about Cassius?
"His agent already confirmed," the exec wrote. "Shooting starts next month in Paris."
Jennifer voice-noted him: "Paris next month? I'm buying you that dinner I owe you."
Cassius texted back: "Deal."
Rob's call came through right after.
"Contract's locked," Rob said, talking fast. "One year, twelve million after tax. Six brand events, three global campaign ads, magazine covers. They want you wearing Dior during all your movie promo runs too."
"Take it," Cassius said without hesitation.
Guardians of the Galaxy was in its final month of shooting.
The soundstage felt tighter, more intense. Everyone was exhausted, but the end was close enough that nobody wanted to leave either.
Today's scene: Star-Lord trying to teach Groot to dance.
The script only had one line—"Peter attempts to teach Groot some stupid Earth dances"—but Gunn wanted more.
"I don't want regular stupid," Gunn said before the take. He pulled Cassius over to the monitor and played a clip of himself dancing alone in an empty rehearsal room to the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."
Loose T-shirt, shorts, pure awkward disco energy—like a drunk sloth trying to moonwalk.
Cassius laughed. "That's you?"
"Yep. I choreographed it myself," Gunn grinned. "The animators are gonna rotoscope my moves onto Groot frame by frame. So right now you're reacting to empty air like there's a giant tree doing the world's clumsiest dance in front of you. Make it cute. Don't laugh too hard."
Cassius nodded. "So I'm supposed to get charmed by a tree's bad dancing?"
"Bingo," Gunn clapped his shoulder. "Tough one. But I trust you."
They rolled.
Music hit. Cassius faced nothing and started teaching.
"Watch this, Groot—moonwalk. No, your foot's too high—wait, where'd you learn that hip swivel?"
He had to imagine the tree right there, reacting in real time.
First take: too broad.
Second: still off.
Third: Gunn shook his head behind the monitor. "Your face is too dumb, Cass. I need the tree to be stupid in a lovable way."
Cassius wiped sweat. "Director, acting cute at thin air is harder than it looks."
"Think about a pet you used to have," Gunn suggested. "Dog or cat does something ridiculous—you're annoyed but you can't help smiling. That's the vibe."
Cassius thought of the orange tabby he'd had in another life. Every time it got caught stealing food it would stare with huge innocent eyes. Stupid. Adorable.
"Again!"
This time it clicked.
He pictured Groot flailing awkwardly in front of him, fought a smile, lost the fight, and laughed out loud—warm, fond, not mocking.
"Cut!"
Gunn stood up and clapped. "That's it. Perfect."
During the break Cassius sat with water, still buzzing.
Gunn came over looking serious. "Afternoon we're shooting Groot's sacrifice scene. Everyone stays quiet. No phones. No chatter."
The whole stage went still.
The scene was only a few lines on the page, but everybody knew it would be the emotional gut-punch of the movie. After months of working together, even the script's Groot felt like family. Imagining him dying hit different.
Two o'clock. The stage cleared except for essential crew and cast. Lights dimmed to cold pools. No physical Groot—just green-screen.
Gunn spoke into the walkie: "Everyone in character. I'm not calling cut until we're done. Stay in it."
Vin Diesel was in the recording booth ready to lay in the "I am Groot" lines live.
"Action!"
Cassius dropped straight into Star-Lord.
Shock. Confusion. Then raw despair.
"Groot—no—what are you doing?" His voice cracked.
Rocket's voice (Bradley) shouted from off-camera: "No! Groot, you'll die!"
Drax roared: "Get up! We don't need this kind of protection!"
Gamora bit her lip, eyes glassy.
Then the line.
Groot's final gentle "I am Groot."
Right then the power cut out in Vin's recording booth.
But the emotion didn't break.
Cassius felt it hit like electricity up his spine. He stared at empty air and saw Groot smiling anyway—"It's okay, friends. This is what I'm supposed to do."
Real tears spilled down his face. Not acting. Just there.
"Cut!"
Gunn's voice was rough. The stage stayed dead silent for several seconds.
Dave wiped his eyes. Zoe turned away to steady herself.
Gunn walked over, eyes red. "We don't even need to check playback. That was the most honest performance I've ever seen. It's in the movie."
Cassius nodded, throat tight.
Golden orbs dropped around him:
[Emotional Resonance +15]
[Empathy +10]
[Improvisation +8]
[Trendsetter +3% — Current: 24%]
Vin came over from the booth later. Cassius gave him a thumbs-up.
"Power went out completely," Vin said quietly. "But I didn't stop. I closed my eyes and thought about my newborn daughter. Imagined being a dad saying 'I love you' in the last second of my life. So that 'I am Groot'… it was really 'I love you guys.'"
He shook his head. "When the lights came back the take was still rolling. Gunn called it a miracle. I think Groot was looking out for us."
That night back at the hotel Cassius opened the system panel.
A new tab had appeared: Project Evaluation.
Only for films still shooting.
[Guardians of the Galaxy — 85%]
Performance: A+
Director Satisfaction: S
Team Collaboration: A
Audience Expectation: B+ (pre-release)
Overall: A
Reward: [Trendsetter +10%] (pending)
He scrolled. Fast 6 was at 92% with its own rating and a [Body Coordination +15%] reward waiting.
Older projects like Hunger Games and 2 Broke Girls had nothing. Only active shoots got the feature.
Cassius grinned at the ceiling.
This was huge. Every ongoing movie was now a live mission with real stat boosts. Finish strong and the rewards stacked.
Guardians was at 85%. Fifteen percent left. Final weeks were mostly pickups and VFX plates—low difficulty, high reward potential.
He wanted that overall to A+.
Performance was already S after today. Director love was maxed. Team collab and audience buzz needed work.
Next morning he hit the craft-services area first.
Standard English breakfast spread—bacon, eggs, tomatoes, beans, croissants.
Cassius found Sarah, the longtime catering manager, and handed her cash.
"Sarah, can we add some donuts and fresh berries today? My treat. Budget's five hundred pounds."
Sarah's eyes lit up. "Oscar winner's feeling generous?"
"Everyone's been killing themselves," Cassius said. "Least I can do."
Half an hour later the table had a huge platter of colorful donuts and bowls of strawberries and blueberries.
Crew members stopped mid-bite.
"Special occasion?"
"Cassius is buying," Sarah announced. "Says you all earned it."
Dave spotted him and laughed. "Look at you, buying loyalty."
"Team building," Cassius said, tossing him a glazed one. "Eat up. I'm still gonna kick your ass in the next fight scene."
Dave took a huge bite. "Fair."
Zoe walked past in full Gamora green, grabbed a strawberry donut, and gave him a small nod. "Thanks."
Later that afternoon Cassius nailed the solo cockpit scene—Star-Lord alone with his mom's old Walkman, staring out at the stars while "I'll Be There" by the Jackson 5 played. No dialogue. Just fingers tracing the device, eyes full of everything he couldn't say.
One long take. Gunn didn't call cut until the song ended.
When it was over the director's eyes were glassy again. "That's the one."
More orbs dropped.
The panel updated instantly:
Performance upgraded from A+ to S.
Overall still A, but closer.
Cassius sat in his trailer scrolling the new rating screen, already planning the next move.
Team collaboration could hit A+ if he kept showing up for the crew.
Audience expectation? Easy—more set photos, more hype clips on socials.
Fifteen percent left.
He was going to squeeze every last point out of this movie before the wrap party.