….
The red warning light on the camera boom blinked off, signaling five seconds until the broadcast went live again.
Inside the Dolby Theatre, the quiet murmur of conversations died down.
Regal sat in Row C, his hand resting comfortably on Gwendolyn's knee. Beside him, Keanu took a slow breath to calm his nerves.
The orchestra kicked in with a sharp brass chord, and the stage lights blossomed into a golden hue.
A veteran actor walked out from stage left, wearing a clean smile and holding a gold envelope. He adjusted his glasses at the podium, smiling at the four thousand people seated across the hall.
"Good evening." the presenter began. "A film needs well written supporting actors, just as much as the main leads. I believe tonight's nominees gave us characters we will remember for a long time."
The large monitors above the stage cut into five nominee boxes.
When the fourth box lit up, Ross Oakley's majestic face filled the screen. It was a pivotal scene from Order of the Phoenix, with Dumbledore standing tall in the Ministry of Magic atrium, his robes billowing gently as his calm voice echoed through the towering glass walls.:
"It was foolish of you to come here tonight, Tom."
The room responded with an immediate applause.
The presenter sliced open the envelope with his thumb, pulled the card free, and smiled directly into the primary camera.
"And the Oscar goes to...
"Ross Oakley, for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!"
The entire Dolby Theatre stood up.
It was a spontaneous standing ovation. In Row C, Ross stood up with easy grace, adjusting his jacket. He leaned down, giving Regal a two-handed grip on the shoulder, hugged Lena Crawford before stepping out into the aisle.
He walked up the stage stairs without rushing, his posture tall and completely unhurried.
When the presenter handed him the gold statuette, Ross took it with one hand, tested its weight with a faint nod of approval, and walked over to the microphone. The room waited in total, respectful silence.
"Well..." Ross said, his deep voice carrying clearly through the auditorium. "At my age, you get used to people looking past you toward whatever comes next. You become part of the scenery, a relic people remember but rarely notice. Then, every once in a while, a young man comes along who looks at an old actor and sees something more. He sees someone who still has a fight left in him."
He looked down toward Row C, his eyes settling directly on Regal.
"Regal Seraphsail saw something in me that I had almost forgotten was still there, then gave me words that reminded me why I chose this profession in the first place. After fifty years, this strange, wonderful business still has the power to surprise me. This honor belongs to my fellow cast members, to Lena Crawford, and to every person who poured their time, talent, and heart into making this film."
"Thank you so very much.
"To… Richard Harris!"
Ross raised the trophy to the sky honouring the name of the man who previously played the role, which made all the crowd offer another thunderous applause as he walked down.
Down in Row C, Regal leaned over to Gwendolyn, while clapping. "He really knows how to deliver a line."
"Well he is veteran actor for a reason..." Gwendolyn whispered back, smiling warmly.
The broadcast moved quickly, barely giving anyone time to catch their breath.
At 8:15 PM, the stage screens shifted to blue.
"Best Adapted Screenplay."
The presenter stepped out, opened the card, and didn't even try to hide her smile.
"And the Oscar goes to... Regal Seraphsail, for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!"
Row C erupted again. Darren reached over the seats, slapping Regal on the shoulder, while Gwendolyn kissed him quickly on the cheek.
Regal stood up and jogged up the stage stairs. He took the golden statue, tapped the microphone once, and looked out over the sea of faces.
"Thank you to the Academy." Regal said, his voice easy and conversational. "Adapting my own book into a film is always truly a memorable process, which is a reward in itself. But this makes it even more special everytime."
"There is a lot to come! Thank you to our incredible young cast, to my previous directors, Chris Columbus and my current Lena Crawford for directing it with so much heart, and to the readers who trusted us with their world.
"Thank you.
"To… Richard Harris!"
He finished his speech in the same way to Ross, walked off to loud cheers, and carried the trophy back down the stairs to his seat.
Gwendolyn reached over and took the statue, admiring its weight in her hands. "How many more do you think we have left?"
"As many as we deserve." Darren leaned forward, whispering.
At 8:25 PM, two veteran screenwriters walked out to present–
"Best Original Screenplay."
This was considered one of the most fiercely contested races of the evening. The ballot featured two high-profile historical dramas alongside [John Wick], with most traditional Oscar pundits predicting an easy victory for one of the period pieces. Action films simply weren't supposed to win writing Oscars.
The presenter pulled the card from the golden envelope.
He blinked once, his eyebrows shooting up in genuine surprise, before a broad grin broke across his face.
"And the Oscar goes to...
"Regal Seraphsail, for John Wick!"
The Dolby Theatre literally roared.
The shock was audible. A modern, bone-breaking action film had just claimed the industry's highest writing honor.
Regal had just barely sat down in Row C, his first Oscar for tonight still resting between his shoes, when he had to stand right back up.
Keanu was already on his feet, laughing out loud, pulling Regal into a brotherly embrace that nearly lifted him off the floor–
"Go back up there, buddy! Go get it!"
Regal walked back up the stairs, shaking his head with an amused smile. When he took the second statuette, holding one in each hand, the camera operators caught him giving a small, wry shrug to the audience that sent the entire room into another round of laughter.
He set the second trophy on the small ledge beside the lectern and leaned into the mic.
Regal began. "I said this at the Golden Globes, and I think it's worth saying again in this room: action needs writing.
"Too many people in Hollywood think an action movie is just two hours of stunt performers hitting pads while the writer takes a nap. But every punch, gunshot and reload is a sentence. It tells you who a character is, what they fear, and what they're willing to lose. If you don't write the heart into the fight, it's just noise.
"This award belongs to Keanu Reeves, who treated every single line of this script like sacred ground, to our stunt coordinators who bled for every take, and to our crew at LIE Studios. Thank you."
He walked back down to Row C with two Oscars tucked under his arm like a pair of rolled-up newspapers.
Darren looked at him with his mouth wide open. "Two in twenty minutes..."
"Hold these." Regal said casually, handing one Oscar to Darren and the other to Gwendolyn.
At 8:55 PM, the room grew noticeably quiet.
The atmosphere in the Dolby Theatre tightened like a drawn bowstring.
"Best Actor in a Leading Role."
This was the heavyweight bout. The four other nominees were Oscar royalty; veteran dramatic actors who had spent the last five months giving press conferences and campaigning across the globe.
A legendary actress walked to the center stage in an elegant silver dress. She took her time, letting the tension build, before reading off the nominees.
When Keanu's name was called, the clip showed the devastating, wordless scene from [John Wick], with John standing alone in his empty glass home as rain poured outside, watching the final video of his late wife on his phone while his face slowly crumbled under the weight of his grief.
The clip finished, and the presenter sliced open the envelope.
She paused for a long second, looking down at the name. A small, beautiful smile touched her lips, and she looked straight into the center camera lens.
"And the Oscar goes to...
"Keanu Reeves, for John Wick!"
THE DOLBY THEATRE EXPLODED.
Every single person in the four-thousand-seat auditorium leaped to their feet.
Directors, producers, veteran actors, and studio heads were cheering at the top of their lungs, whistling, and clapping with raw, wild energy.
Keanu sat frozen in Row C.
His mouth opened slightly. His eyes darted around the roaring hall, completely unable to process what had just happened. His large hands, usually so steady and capable, began to tremble.
Regal didn't wait for him to recover, as he grabbed Keanu and pulled him upright, wrapping his arms around him in a hug.
"That's you, Keanu." Regal shouted directly into his ear over the deafening noise.
Keanu stepped into the aisle, running both hands through his dark hair, looking completely overwhelmed. When he stepped onto the stage stairs, the standing ovation refused to stop.
People remained on their feet, clapping furiously, honoring a young man who had finally become beyond superstar, without ever demanding prestige, and without ever losing his kindness.
Keanu walked to the podium.
The presenter handed him the gold statuette, but Keanu just stood there for a long moment, clutching it against his chest, tears openly welling in his eyes.
He stepped up to the microphone, his throat working hard to swallow down the emotion.
"I... wow." Keanu said, his voice quiet, rough, and thick with tears.
The room gave him another loud wave of encouraging cheers.
"I am so deeply humbled." Keanu whispered, wiping the corner of his eye with his sleeve."I have loved movies since I was a little boy. I love the people who make them, the camera operators who stand in the cold, the artists who build the sets, and especially the stunt community, the people who put their bodies on the line to help bring these stories to life."
"To every stunt performer out there, the men and women who throw themselves into danger, take the falls, absorb the bruises, and put their bodies through hell so the audience can feel every moment... this award belongs to you. Every single one of you."
He took a slow breath, looking down directly into Row C, his eyes locking onto Regal.
"And to Regal Seraphsail..." Keanu's voice cracked, forcing him to pause as he bit his lip and gathered himself. "I still don't know what you saw in me that day. I never thought of myself as anything special, and honestly, I still don't. But you did."
He took a slow breath, his eyes glistening.
"I think that's what makes you so special, Regal. You have this incredible ability to see something extraordinary in people who can't see it in themselves. You make people believe they can be more simply because you believe in them first."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"I owe so much of my success to you, and no matter how exhausting it can be working with you, I would still gladly show up on your set for as long as I'm allowed to be in this industry."
Keanu glanced toward the next name on the list, and a faint grin finally broke through his tears.
"And finally... to Seren Seraphsail. That's my girlfriend, by the way."
Keanu chuckled, lifting the Oscar high above his head.
Down in Row C, Seren had her hands over her face, openly crying.
Gwendolyn was wiping tears from her cheeks, and even Darren was blinking hard, clearing his throat and staring up at the lights.
Regal sat quietly, his hands clapping steadily, feeling a deep, warm lump in his throat.
Seeing Keanu hold that trophy was worth a thousand box office records.
At 9:15 PM:
"Best Director."
When the envelope opened, the presenter's voice rang clear across the auditorium:
"Lena Crawford, for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!"
History was made on the spot.
Lena became only the third woman in the history of the Academy Awards to win [Best Director].
The former sitcom director buried her face in her hands, sobbing with pure relief and joy. Regal and Ross helped her up, walking her toward the stage steps with proud smiles.
At the microphone, Lena gave a fierce, beautiful speech about doors being opened, thanking Regal for looking at a woman who had spent years directing thirty-minute comedies and trusting her with a hundred and fifty million dollar fantasy epic.
And finally, at 9:30 PM, the ultimate honor arrived.
[Best Picture]
A well-known director walked onto the stage to introduce the night's crowning category, then stood beneath the spotlight and looked down at the final golden card in his hands. He sliced through the seal, unfolded the paper, and smiled warmly toward Row C.
"And the Academy Award for Best Picture... goes to... John Wick, LIE Studios!"
The Dolby Theatre went wild for the final time.
The entire LIE Studios team surged onto the main stage.
Keanu, Regal, Darren, Samantha, Zack Barg, and Ludwig Göransson stood together under the blinding white spotlights as the orchestra played Ludwig's driving, energetic anthem at full blast.
Golden confetti rained down from the ceiling rafters, fluttering onto their hair and shoulders.
Regal stood right in the center of his team, holding his statuette alongside Keanu and Lena, with hundreds of photographers flashing relentlessly from the foot of the stage.
The broadcast graphic flared across millions of televisions worldwide:
[90TH ACADEMY AWARDS: LIE STUDIOS TAKES 8 OSCARS]
At 9:38 PM, the announcer's voice boomed: "Thank you for watching the 90th Academy Awards! Goodnight from Hollywood!"
The end credits rolled, the house lights came up, and the floor descended into pure, joyous chaos. A mob of journalists, network cameras, and competing studio executives swarmed toward the stage stairs.
….
….
By 6:00 AM on Monday morning, the entire film industry was going through a collective hangover, staring at the most one-sided trade headlines in modern history.
Every major outlet had locked their front pages with massive, bold typography:
–The New York Times: "Action Ascends: Keanu Reeves and Regal Seraphsail Conquer the 90th Academy Awards."
–Variety: "A Clean Sweep: LIE Studios Secures 8 Oscars in Historic Evening."
–The Hollywood Reporter: "Lena Crawford Makes History, Keanu Reeves Weeps, and John Wick Claims the Crown."
….
Online, the reaction was an unstoppable tidal wave.
[Twitter | Trending Topics Worldwide]
| 1 · #KeanuReevesOscar
| 2 · #JohnWickBestPicture
| 3 · #RegalSeraphsail
| 4 · #LenaCrawford
| 5 · #EightOscars
| 6 · #TheGlendaleClause
| 7 · #TrainToCatchIn6Days
….
Online Comments:
| @Cinephile_Sam: "Regal won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay on the same night! He literally walked back to his seat, sat down for three minutes, and then had to get right back up to collect another Oscar. The man is twenty-nine years old! What the hell are the rest of us doing with our lives?!"
| @ActionMovieLover: "An R-rated hitman movie just won Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Sound. Hollywood will never be the same. Pure action is finally recognized as art."
| @IndustryInsider: "The funniest part of the night is that Regal actually stayed in his seat the whole time. That Academy memo about the freight elevators will go down in industry legend."
….
.
….
[To be continued…]
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