My Hollywood System

Chapter 80:

As [Sherlock Holmes] earned more and more money at the box office, it had a major effect on the release dates of the movies scheduled close to it.

Allen Pictures, one of the Big 6 studios in Hollywood, had scheduled a crime drama named [A Bullet on the Streets] just a week after the release of [Sherlock Holmes], but the movie was postponed by two weeks.

The same thing happened with Jim Parkinson, an Oscar-winning actor’s new movie [Puzzling Ways]. It should be noted that this movie had already received various awards in film festivals, so [Sherlock Holmes] becoming the reason to postpone its release date was big news.

Some media networks even covered it, saying that no investor wants to face the juggernaut that is [Sherlock Holmes].

When the big fishes had decided to avoid the shark, the small ones had no choice but to do the same.

But there was one movie that couldn’t avoid the direct hit.

It was the only movie that was released on the same day as [Sherlock Holmes] – Jared Morgan’s [Sleepless in LA].

Needless to say, by the first week at the box office, the movie had tanked at the box office.

The public reaction was bad, with people often commenting that Jared failed to show any charm as a leading man in a rom-com. Even the female actress was just pretty with no substance.

Z studios paid a lot of critics for good reviews, but the box office was just 6.72 million in the first week.

The movie cost 30 million dollars to make, and now, makers wondered if they could even break even.

Compared to that, the first week’s gross of over 250 million dollars for [Sherlock Holmes] seemed like Mount Everest in front of a hut.

Many people attached to [Sleepless in LA] were crying their eyes out and bashing their heads on the wall, thinking about the money they had lost.

Some of the investors had even decided to never work with Jared Morgan again. And when this news reached Jared’s ears, he couldn’t help but swear.

“Fuck!! Fuck!! Fuck!! They really think that the entire fault is mine! The script was just bad, and this role was too blank for me to do much!”

He shouted and threw the coffee mug on his desk on the wall. It shattered into pieces as Perry, his agent, tried to calm him down.

“Jared, it’s just a movie. Don’t worry about it. You are too big of a star to get dented by a failure.”

Perry waved his hands dismissively, but Jared’s expression didn’t change.

“It’s not that, for fucks sake! After this, no one will give me a role in a romantic comedy, much less as the lead. Investors are picky, and they don’t forget. I would be stuck playing supporting roles and villain roles for a long time!”

One thing that Jared hated was being typecast, and it was something that had happened to him for too long. Even his agency hadn’t helped, saying that this role suited him.

But the reality was that Jared had not one iconic role.

He had been playing villains and supporting acts here and there and had managed to touch the boundary of A-lister.

Still, no iconic roles and not once his movies had become something like a phenomenon. A movie that will be remembered for a long time.

Thinking that he suddenly thought of [Sherlock Holmes] and the time he had been given a chance to play Lord Blackwood.

“How much money did [Sherlock Holmes] earn at the box office in the first week?”

To not let Jared see the public reaction online, ICM had not allowed him to access the internet, and the only information he had was from the few news articles that Perry had shown him.

“Uh, well…” Perry’s expression changed after hearing the question. He didn’t know how to tell Jared this. “They earned over 200 million and would reach the 300 million mark in two days.”

“What??”

“Yeah, it’s been a huge hit and would probably cross 500 million at the box office…”

As those words fell on his ears, Jared couldn’t help but feel infuriated. More than what he had felt at the investors.

He had a chance at being a part of a movie that would earn 500 million dollars. Till now, he had not seen [Sherlock Holmes], but by the script, it was really good, and even the role offered to him was great.

But he had lost the role because Perry had told him that the Director was too arrogant and inexperienced. He had even said that the movie would surely tank at the box office and history would repeat itself.

But the exact opposite had happened.

‘If only I was not greedy for the lead role… No, if only Perry had not convinced me to not do this movie…’

Jared thought about the various ‘What Ifs’ in his mind and frowned before clenching his fist.

Seeing his expression, Perry quickly tried to explain.

“Jared, listen to me… I know the role…”

“You asshole!!”

Before Perry could even finish the sentence, Jared had punched his face, making him fall to the ground.

The next day, a tabloid published an article ‘Jared Morgan punched his agent after knowing [Sherlock Holmes] box office numbers’.

***

After the second week, the box office collections of [Sherlock Holmes] reached 478 million dollars in total and had long since recovered every single production and marketing cost.

Seeing this, movie analysts had already predicted that it would run for at least 20-30 weeks and would earn around 800-900 million dollars at the box office.

They were almost thrice more than the initial estimates, and every day, Dream Vision’s office seemed to be in a party fever.

Will had already announced bonuses, and the staff was just happy that they had a huge hit under their belt.

But not all people were happy with their success.

Z studios were particularly flabbergasted by the phenomenal success of [Sherlock Holmes]. After all, they were the ones who originally had the rights to the franchise.

When Amanda had bought the rights, some executives were happy to get ‘free money by selling junk. But they didn’t know the junk would ultimately earn so much money.

The cherry on the top was that their movie [Sleepless in LA] had failed, and a movie whose rights they had sold had become a worldwide sensation.

Reportedly, Josh Booth even fired the guy who had made the deal of [Sherlock Holmes] rights. He had even called lawyers to see if they could make a claim on the rights by hook or crook.

But there was nothing they could do legally.

They had lost the rights to potentially a billion-dollar franchise. And every week, more salt was getting sprinkled on their wounds.

Two weeks collection: 478 million dollars.

Three weeks collection: 623 million dollars.

Four weeks collection: 705 million dollars.

As the fourth-week collection came out, Foxstar hosted a success party for the movie. Every employee of Dream Vision and Foxstar was called. Even some prominent actors, directors and musicians appeared.

Robert, Ewan, Levi and Rachel were the stars of the night, and they were all surrounded by people.

Robert, in particular, was asked to dance by a lot of girls, and many directors and producers wanted to talk to him to discuss a movie.

He was a little awkward at first, but he nevertheless enjoyed the attention.

But as the night was moving along, one name was nowhere to be seen and that was Will, the extraordinary Director of the movie.

He was sitting in a room, far from the party, discussing the sequel contract with Spencer Miller.

“Will, I know what potential it has, but 42 percent shares in the North America Box office and 20 in foreign is too much. We won’t be able to earn much with this ratio.”

Spencer argued, but Will was not going to listen to the words of the old man.

“You know that my movies are worth the price. [Sherlock Holmes] is already Foxstar’s most profitable movie in the last ten years, and it’s nowhere near finishing its run at the box office. Moreover, this contract will be for the two sequels. Not just one. If the next movie did better than the current one, then the ratio will just increase.”

As Will explained that, Spencer’s expression changed. He had tried to share the investment for the next movie, but Will wasn’t willing.

He wanted full control over the movies under him, and it was basically his way to control Foxstar’s influence.

“But you won’t be directing the sequel, right?”

Spencer countered.

“The script is written by me, and I will complete it soon. I can bet that it would be better than the first movie, so you don’t have to worry about the quality. As for directing, I will find a good enough Director.”

“It’s not that easy to find a director who can direct a multi-million dollar project.”

“I know, but Hollywood has a lot of talent, and I’m not going to just hand over the movie to someone whose skills I don’t trust. Moreover, the share ratio is also because of Robert.”

“What?”

Spencer made a confused expression while Will explained with a smile.

“His brand value is of an A-lister now, and it’s still increasing. You must know that Robert had made a contract with Dream Vision and is under us now.”

Spencer’s expression hardened. Will was basically telling him that Foxstar had no direct control over the franchise. The contract they had done was for only one movie.

It was because of its scepticism that it had become a major mistake.

If Spencer rejects Will’s offer, the latter could just go to some other distributor. Right now, every studio in the Big 6 wants to associate themselves with the Holmes franchise.

In the end, Spencer had no way but to nod his head.

“Alright, Will, you got me this time. I accept the terms.”

…

//DreamNote//

Que. What can not hurt Chris Rock?

Ans. Will Power