20th March, 2008
{1st Person POV}
"And… there you go!" I said after signing the contract. "See? It wasn't that hard to accept my demands, was it?"
"That may be so, Knight, but can you assure me that whatever films you make, they'll be successful?"
"Well, I'm not so sure about 'The Prestige', but my two films after that will certainly be profitable."
"That's not very reassuring, Knight. SkyMount is giving you $50 million for your film, and if it isn't successful, then we'd have just wasted a lot of money, y'know?"
"Oh, come on! I'm sure it'll hit $100 million worldwide! Just get off my back, alright? And 'The Departed' is doing pretty good too, so people definitely want to see my films."
'The Departed' was already close to hitting $70 million worldwide after 10 days of release internationally and 5 days domestically. It was the 3rd biggest film of the year at the moment, behind the action film 'TryHard 2' at $92 million worldwide and horror film 'Labyrinth of Devil' at $186 million worldwide.
Mr. King sighed, and said, "Well, whatever. If the film is critically lauded then I guess it'd be fine."
"That, my good sir, I can assure you of!" I said in a sarcastic tone.
A chuckle escaped from the lips of Mr. King, as the room was soon filled with silence.
'Ah right, I have THAT thing to talk about.'
"Mr. King," I began. "I want you to do something for me."
Mr. King titled his head, his face filled with curiosity. "And what might that thing be?"
"I want you to make an appointment for me with the CEO of IMAX." I revealed in a nonchalant manner.
"CEO of IMAX? What do you want to do with him? If you want to know about 'The Prestige' being released in IMAX, then you don't need to ask because that'll happen anyway."
"Oh, no," I said while bringing my hands forward and waving them to dispel the confusion. " That's not what I'm talking about. It's something different, something which I've wanted to do for quite a while."
Frowning, Mr. King asked me, "If it's not about an IMAX release, then what is it?"
Feeling like the conversation was going nowhere, I decided to reveal my 'secret' (not really). "Well, you see, I want to use the IMAX cameras."
Revealing my secret (Again, not much of a secret), Mr. King was left flabbergasted. "IMAX cameras? Seriously? What the hell are you gonna do with that?"
"Film movies." I replied with a deadpan expression.
"Well yeah, but like, why? Why'd you do that? Do you know how noisy they are? They'll drown out all the dialogue in the film, and that's definitely not something you want in a dialogue heavy film like 'The Prestige'!"
'All valid points.' I thought.
"That is correct and all, but you're forgetting one thing I can do."
"What?"
"I can easily dub the dialogue over in post, but I don't want to film the whole movie in IMAX, because that'd be too much work for post. Instead, I want to film the scenes with very little dialogue."
"W-well, that does make sense. But still, IMAX cameras haven't been used for anything other than documentaries, y'know? They're hard to use and very heavy. I think you should use normal 65mm cameras."
"And that's exactly why I want to use these cameras!" I exclaimed, taking Mr. King by surprise.
*ahem*
I fake-coughed, and started talking again, "I want to use IMAX cameras because I love the format, and I want more people to use it. I'm sure IMAX will become a large revenue source for us in the future if you agree, so please, get me an appointment with the CEO."
"Haa, fine." Exclaimed Mr. King, probably having had enough of arguing with me. "I'll do it, but keep in mind, it'll take some time for that to happen."
I beamed at Mr. King "Thank you! Oh, and don't tell them the reason for the appointment." And with that, I rushed out of the room. Afterall, I have other things to do, too.
And that includes officially signing on Keanu Reese for 'John Wick'.
I wasn't able to do it earlier mostly because of 'The Departed's release and all, but now I had time… until the pre-production for 'The Prestige' began.
But I was able to make do and all that jazz before Keanu and I got busy, and we chose today as the day for signing of the contract.
I'm sure many of you might have been wondering why I'm not making 'John Wick' before 'The Prestige', but that's because Keanu needs to learn martial arts and he also needs to be in shape for the role, and that was going to take a while.
This meant that I'd either have to wait till Keanu learned how to punch and kick people EFFICIENTLY, or I did something in-between that time.
And I chose the latter.
Rather than wasting months doing jack shit, I decided to further my standing in the Hollywood industry by making yet another great film, and a period drama at that.
I'm sure the Academy was going to love 'The Prestige'.
Who knows, I might even bag in some production awards like Best Hair & Makeup or Best Production Design.
And yes, I was going to promote both 'The Departed' and 'The Prestige' for the Oscars. These films were very much what the Academy likes, and I wasn't going to waste such a chance.
'Halloween' was just a horror film, a great horror film, but a horror film nonetheless. It was a popcorn film, something that's entertainment but there's not much more to it.
'Ah, I arrived here quicker than I expected.' I thought as I opened the door to the meeting room.
Opening the door, I saw Keanu sitting there with his (presumably) lawyer.
I had a lawyer too. Infact, he had been following me the entire time. I just forgot he existed.
Anyway, I walked inside the room, taking a seat on one of the chairs around the table present in the middle of the room.
"Alrighty then, let's just finish this, yeah?"
"Yeah, I've been waiting for this day for quite a while." Keanu replied.
"Alright, here's a contract." I placed the contract on the table, as Keanu picked it up and carefully read it.
"4 films?" Keanu asked in a surprised manner
"Yeah, there's a lot I want to do with this particular world, and it'll certainly take 4 films for that. You're not against it, right?"
"Well no, not necessarily. I was just surprised, that's all."
"That's great."
After a while, Keanu gave the contract to his lawyer, who checked it for any loophole.
Having found nothing of that sort (because I'm not a piece of shit), the lawyer handed back the contract to Keanu, who signed the paper immediately and gave it to me.
"Thank you, Oliver, for giving me an opportunity to act in your films."
"Don't worry about it. I just thought you deserved better."
With that, both of us parted ways.
***
[A few hours later]
I was currently at my shed-, I mean, home, laying on my bed.
Even though it wasn't the softest bed in the world, it was something.
Now, you might be wondering why I'm talking like I have no money.
That's because other than buying this new house, I haven't used the money I got from 'Halloween' for myself. Rather, I've been amassing that money so that I can fund my films, and also create a production studio.
So, while my house may be above average, I still live like your average person. Other than the fact that I have an IPhone.
*Bzzt*
"Ah, speak to the Devil." I muttered.
I raised my upper body and grabbed my smartphone. I looked at the caller, and I immediately became excited.
'Edward King', it read.
I quickly picked up the call.
-Hello?-
"Yes, hello?" I replied.
-Oliver, about that appointment of yours, the CEO has accepted it-
"That's great. But, did you tell them the reason? No, I didn't."
"Good, good. So, when is this appointment?" I asked, a bit Impatient.
-On Friday, at 6:00 PM-
"Great! Thanks for your work!"
-Are you sure that this'll generate more revenue?-
"100- No, I'm 200% sure this'll help us!"
-Well, I just hope all that enthusiasm actually comes to fruition . See you later-
And with that, the call was cut.
***
22nd March, 2008
{1st Person POV}
I was here, in front of the IMAX Corporation's building.
Certainly, I was going to change how big of an Impact IMAX would have, and I was ready for it.
"Let's see if you'll accept my idea or not, Mr. CEO." I muttered with a grin.
~~~
A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know that I teased you guys with a cliffhanger ending and that this chapter really is the most nothing burger of this Novel, but hey, how else am I supposed to increase the chapter count without doing too much stuff? ;)
Anyways, I wanted to say this last chapter but forgot to, last chapter was the start of the 2nd half of Volume 2. Currently, it has taken me 13 chapters for the release of films in both cases, and I want to increase it because that's too damn short.
Also, should I change the name of the Novel from 'Emperor of Hollywood' to 'Emperor of Entertainment World'?
I mean, I do want to include more than just the film industry now.
Anyways, see ya later!