My Hollywood System - Chapter 213
…
Jeffery was excited.
He was currently showing the approval rate of [Spiderman] among the public to Will and other people who were attending a small meeting called by Will. The rate was at a staggering 97%. It was basically a simple data chart about how many people liked the movie.
There was a website which rated every new movie, and made things easier for the movie fans who were simply dying or living for any new movie to be released. More than 95% of the people who search for a good go-to movie, search it up, and base their opinions on this movie ratings.
“So even while looking at this, I’m sure it’s pretty obvious how it is going too well. To think of the past, even [Liberty City] and [Sherlock Holmes] never got this sort of good ratings,” Jeffery said.
Will smiled and nodded at what he was saying. “This is just the start…. And, did you see the first day box office collections?” He asked.
The first day box office collection itself was an overwhelming 47 million dollars and 60 million dollars globally. And it was just going to increase with word of mouth.
Compared to [Spiderman], the other movie from Allen, [Darklow Wizard] only opened to 30 million dollars worldwide, which wasn’t that bad. But when compared, it was half of [Spiderman]. At the same time, the approval rating was a measly 60 percent.
During the entire meeting, Will was sure about one thing. That was that [Spiderman] would engulf [Darklow Wizard] sooner or later.
“Yeah, the box office had hit 47 million dollars, just in North America. Worldwide, 60 million. And everything is going too well with [Spiderman],” Jeffery muttered looking around the room. “The comics are going to get a rise in sales too. And, I’m sure that [Ultimate Spiderman] will probably increase in ratings.”
Hearing this, the majority of the people in the room nodded, agreeing with Jeffery. ‘Yeah’ ‘For real’, and many short replies spreaded in the room itself.
“Yeah, that was the goal. And currently, we are just on our first step. I want to thoroughly crush Ashton this time, and this will be a ladder which we have to climb slowly yet steadily.” Saying that, Will remembered the stabbing incident.
In his mind, that was genuinely a low blow, yet, he knew that Hollywood was such a place; stabbing, backstabbing, and whatnot. But to think that Ashton put Will’s whole life at risk, wasn’t something he was able to easily let go of. Regardless, even after that, Ashton was ready to go head to head with their movie releases. And simply, it wasn’t something that Will would fall behind.
“Well, that man is too prideful for his own good. Just like how he keeps things under the radar and safe for him, but while threatening other lives…. I’m sure if it isn’t us, someone else would rise against him and show him his place,” Jeffrey said in equal anger.
“That someone should be us,” Will said, his lips curling up to a smile.
“Mhm… And, Ashton would most likely increase the screening of [Darklow Wizard] with the help of his connections,” It was Jeffery, again.
“I expect that in a week, but theatres will get more screenings of [Spiderman] themselves. This time, I haven’t created a billion dollar movie, but something much bigger than that,” Will said.
All eyes were on Will. They all felt the powerful confidence behind Will’s words. How his eyes narrowed while saying the words, they all felt what Will meant.
***
At Middle-Home Children Care Hospital.
There were kids; many of them, sitting in front of a huge screen. On the screen, the movie of [Spiderman] had started.
The hospital ought to be one of the children’s hospitals where they treat incurable diseases. In front of the screen, there were around forty to fifty kids, wearing hospital gowns with focused eyes, staring at it. To think that only a few lucky kids get to make it out alive, clenched Andrew’s heart when he first walked in.
The little faces, some had smiles plastered and some looked confused. Among them, some eyes were focused on Andrew, who sat behind them and kept watching the movie.
“Is that you?” The little guy who kept his eyes on everyone but Andrew asked. Since the movie had started with Andrew running towards the bus, he saw it and then he noticed it was the same man who sat behind them.
At first he was shy to ask about it, but noticing how unharmful Andrew looked, he just went ahead with it. Andrew who looked at the little kid nodded and smiled.
“That’s me, yes.”
“Sh… Watch that,” A nurse behind them whispered. Andrew turned to look back at her and mouthed, ‘it’s alright’.
The current scene that was playing was one where Andrew was wearing [Spiderman]’s costume and running around, while doing stunts and all. All the other kids were looking at the screen without a single blink, but this one kid has his eyes on Andrew.
“Does that mean you are a superhero? Can you actually shoot webs?” He asked further.
“Yes, I can… Shush, don’t tell anyone though, they don’t need to know. How old are you?” Andrew whispered to the kid who sat right below him.
“I’ll be 10 tomorrow,”
“Happy birthday in advance,” Andrew said and shuffled his head.
The nurses and doctors who were behind them smiled at the wholesomeness in front of them. Andrew naturally had a soft spot towards kids. And, ever since the movie was released, the exposure he gets from kids was something he truly appreciated.
‘Andrew is really a nice kid,’ The doctor thought while looking at the kids and how patient Andrew was sitting among them, and watching the movie.
The next scene was the climax of the entire movie. After that, the movie would come to an end. And for that, Will had planned something for Andrew to do. That surprised them with the costume. And Andrew, who was seated with the kids throughout the movie, silently stood up and walked behind them to change his clothes to the Spider costume.
This was just not any other kid-friendly step, but also a great way Will found to promote the movie and the character of Spiderman. It was mainly why there were so many reporters outside the hospital, waiting for Andrew to come out.
“And kids… We have a special guest today. As we already introduced uncle Andrew… Now we get to see the superhero who was just on the screen a while ago. Who is it?!”
“Spiderman!”
“Spidey!”
“Spidermann!”
The kids shouted and some looked left to right curiously.
“Hello, guys!” Andrew appeared in his Spiderman costume. All the eyes, and lips screamed happiness. Some even wanted to touch Spiderman and got closer to him. It was one heck of a paradise in their minds.
“Are you real??”
“Can I get an autograph?”
“Is that really you? Can you climb up the wall?”
The questions knew no end.
***
At ‘The Pink’ theatre, Riverside, California.
The cheers erupted from the loud audience. Everyone was having a swirl of emotions running in their mind, yet the eyes were plastered on the screen. Which scene would make a crowd go this insane you ask… Guessed right, the end scene.
As it was getting to the end, everyone had their gut feeling screaming at them that the movie would end. And finally, the screams stopped—so did the movie. Spiderman was looking at himself, from the building.
Among the final cheers, the end credits started to roll-in.
And also in between the entirely chilled crowd, there was an old man, his palm of the hand resting on his jaw. Leaning back in the seat, he thought of how good the movie was.
SPECIAL THANKS TO STAN LEE.
With the title, there came a small paragraph of letters thanking Stan Lee.
If this didn’t already give it out, maybe it’s the time reveal. The old man was none other than Stan Lee himself. This was his third time watching the movie, in the local theatre. He enjoyed watching and knowing how the audience reacted to the movie.
The next best thing he enjoyed was how his beloved character played on the screen. How he was portrayed and how people enjoyed watching his every move, pulled something deep down in his heart. He was feeling content and his heart was feeling full the entire time the movie played.
He smiled looking at the screen, because his name was written in bold. With a huge sigh, he walked out of the hall, along with everyone else.
The fresh air hit his nostrils, and he took a deep breath in.
He was at the corner of the grand entrance to the movie theatre, yet he watched how the people kept talking and sharing their views on the movie they just watched.
And then his thoughts were taken away from everything that had happened before Will came up. How people hadn’t given two glances at the characters, neither was too interested in anything that Stan Lee had created. But now, Marvel was revived. The entire situation made it appear as if the previous years were completely opposite of what had happened now.
“I guess one person could really make a huge difference.” Stan Lee muttered to himself.
Taking a second glance at the theatre front, he walked towards his car to ride back home. And even while taking every step towards the car, his heart was filled with pride and happiness.
