[Chapter 685: The Unbeaten Legend]
After three days of being worked to the bone on Lanai Island, William White breezed back to America. This time, the premiere was set to take place in San Francisco.
Though Los Angeles had started to regain its order, the scars of war were still fresh and would take time to heal.
What? There was no war? Ha! With tens of thousands of soldiers flooding into Los Angeles, what were they doing, vacationing? It wasn't the responsibility of the American soldiers to help build homes for the citizens. They were much better at destruction.
People could be quite amusing sometimes; their sorrow came quickly, but then it vanished just as fast. They had only mourned the victims in Los Angeles for a couple of days, and now they were all excited about going to the movies again.
"George, next year should see plenty of IMAX movies. You really need to wrap up your Star Wars soon," William said.
Lucas found it hard to respond. With so many films piling up, where would he even find time to fit these into his schedule?
"William, it doesn't look promising for this year. How long is Fast and Furious planning to run?"
"It can't be for too long. If every film was a mega hit like Jurassic Park or The Lion King, Hollywood would essentially be called 'Whitewood'."
"Come on, you're already close to half the pie here. You're not planning to gobble it all up, are you? At least leave us a crumb to savor."
"Take a look; your perspective is rather narrow. If you remove White Films and Disney from the mix, you'll find that ticket sales in North America were not much worse than the '80s. My involvement actually increased the size of that pie. Tsk, don't pout. If my two companies didn't release any films for a year, their box office wouldn't take much of a hit either."
William White wasn't just blowing smoke; audiences grew accustomed to good films, making it clear they had no time for duds. Word of mouth mattered, and audiences naturally responded positively. Like this latest Fast and Furious, it hadn't been heavily marketed, and the time slot was definitely weak.
Looking at the crowded throngs, Lucas felt a mix of envy and bitterness.
Damn, a racing movie? That's about as niche as it gets. The timing was poor, the marketing was subpar, and the cast was mostly newcomers. The only selling points were the director and the film company; beyond that, it was a blank slate.
With so many disadvantages stacked against it, how could it possibly succeed? That just defied all logic.
"You could shoot a pile of garbage, and I bet there'd still be some folks showing up for it."
"Cough, cough, George, that's just you being envious. As long as you put your heart into making a good film, there will always be recognition. Spielberg has power, just like you."
When William White's new film hit theaters, it wasn't just Hollywood big shots who took notice. Wall Street giants were equally curious to know how many people would still come to watch films amidst all the chaos.
According to reports from Europe and Asia, the movie received critical acclaim overseas. IMAX tickets had already sold out for seven days ahead.
If it succeeded in America, it meant that the chaos in Los Angeles had limited impact. But if it flopped, that would imply longer recovery times.
As of now, it didn't seem like a huge issue. Apart from Los Angeles, things looked pretty solid everywhere else.
As for Los Angeles, it wouldn't bounce back within a year. Especially in Koreatown, even if reconstruction began today, there would hardly be any Koreans left in America.
Poor Soon Ja Du cried over her shop. She truly had nothing left, and the saddest part was that she couldn't leave this sorrowful place until she completed her community service.
William White didn't know how to comment on her situation. Protecting property was undoubtedly important, but the value of life seemed even greater.
As for the gangs, haha, these fools thought they were invincible. Now that they had met a formidable foe, let's see how they felt.
For the foreseeable future, the gang wouldn't dare cause trouble in the neighborhoods. So, showing a little muscle was quite necessary.
This world was never short of those who were clueless.
...
Back in long-absent Los Angeles, the air still carried the acrid scent of smoke and destruction. William White truly wanted to understand the mentality of the ones orchestrating all this chaos.
Alright, he was somewhat relishing the situation. This time, the folks in Washington D.C. were fuming. That damn company had to be dug out. And what about Israel? What did he think they were, fools?
Since the matter was out in the open, they should sit down and have a chat. Perhaps they enjoyed the chaos, but they certainly did not. Without a reasonable explanation, how could loyal allies help? The desert tycoons wouldn't be of any less use than they were.
"William White is filming a movie?"
"Yes, Minister, he is mak..."
"Damn it, that jerk. David, we're in deep trouble. News came in that those opposing us are trying to win over William White. The higher-ups are furious now, and if we can't manage it, losing our positions will be the least of our issues."
...
William White felt relaxed; the rest would be someone else's problem.
The significance of loyal allies needed to be re-evaluated. When problems arose, they merely stood by and fanned the flames. Haha, looking back, they should've all been given to little mustache.
An uncontrollable force -- that was something no one could accept. Even if it couldn't be eliminated, it needed to be greatly weakened.
"Cough, cough, William, there's someone you might know about."
"George, if you're asking about Los Angeles, I genuinely don't know. You understand, not knowing is better than knowing."
Bush Jr. certainly understood; the issue was that the CIA was getting anxious. This was their covert line, and if it just vanished, they'd suffer immense losses.
"George, don't trust those CIA idiots. Let me put it this way: that company has connections at high levels in Washington. Unless their insider was authorized by your dad, they would have been exposed long ago. If they haven't been exposed, there's only one possibility -- they were playing both sides. Or perhaps they actually belonged to the company and were merely sent out by those idiots at the CIA as undercover agents."
"Pfft, that's way too ridiculous."
"You know George, if I wasn't completely sure, I wouldn't say it."
"Alright, I got it. You've never met that person, and you don't know anything about it. Aren't they collaborating with Israel against that company? Just go find them directly."
"Ha! That's the right way to say it. Ah, too bad it took too long; they won't find much success."
To be honest, William White didn't care much for the outcome. What he needed was for Israel to deal with them.
Haha, these two guys were both incredibly formidable; if they joined forces, the fun for William would grow exponentially.
As for the CIA, they were just a nuisance. Having that bunch around would only lessen the chance of success for this operation.
You see, why did the TV show 24 had to make up the fictional CTU? Why not just use the CIA? Their name recognition was so high; wasn't that a good thing?
Haha, if the writers really did that, there wouldn't have been a second season at all. The first season would flop completely.
You'll notice that every time there was a major blunder, the CIA was always lurking nearby. Snowden was like that, and 9/11 was no different. There were many similar situations; they just weren't as influential.
*****
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