Chapitre 103: 101. Shattered Pride, Saving Star Wars and True Colors.
Disclaimer: The story takes place in an Alternate Earth with a slightly different timeline of events. So people may be born early, some may be born a few years later or maybe not at all.
This gives me more freedom to write characters as I want, also the characters in my story are obviously not an accurate portrayal of their characters.
Please remember that this story is a wish fulfillment story set in Urban Hollywood with some Fantasy elements because of the system's shenanigans so please don't take it too seriously.
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Opening Author's Note: I am finally getting the hang of writing on patreon, it's been both fun and frustrating trying to figure how things work. I will be hosting polls here as well later on so do vote when they are up, as it will improve your experience reading my work here.
This is the last chapter before we officially go into the Killing Joke Arc and with that I will change the cover of the book as well. I hope you guys liked all the small reveals I did in the last chapter. There are more to come obviously so keep reading and let's get on with the chapter.
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Recap Of The Previous Chapter –
We start off with the POV of Chifuyu, the heiress of Hitotsubashi Group has finally arrived in America to help Mark with managing Viz Media. Mark picks her up and they have a conversation where she reveals that Shueisha is going to be publishing some new manga soon.
There's Slam Dunk, Yū Yū Hakusho and Baki The Grappler. All great shonen jump sport manga titles that would do really well in the US with Mark's endorsement. Mark requests her to rest and spend the evening together as a date with Mark cooking dinner for her.
We then see a short pov of Hayao, Hiroshi and Tatsuhiro; these three are friends who are out hiking as they talk about Chifuyu leaving, Mark's help towards Toho and his apparent weakness towards compliments. There's a time skip and we see the pov of Wendy Pini the author and illustrator of ElfQuest.
Mark had written her a letter, inviting her and her husband to the celebration of his movie's success; and also to discuss future collaboration. They talk about Jim Shooter going to the event as well and Wendy reluctantly calls George Martin to ask about Mark.
After talking about his employment and new work, she cut off the call and decided to go to the celebration with an open mind. There's another time skip to the end of the month and we see Mark at the party talking with George.
He asked about the next Star Wars and after hearing the problem George seemed to be facing. Mark signed himself up as a potential director for Star Wars episode 1.
Lucas then told him about the general plot of the prequel trilogy, Mark didn't like it one bit and volunteered his immortals for an impromptu writer's room. Before Mark could do anything else he was called out by Rose who informed him that Micheal Eisner had arrived.
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~ Quote of the Chapter ~
The best way to pursue happiness, is to help other people. Nothing else will make you happier.
– George Lucas.
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~ Mark Spencer's POV ~
(The Protagonist)
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Date: Monday, 15th October, 1990.
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Time: 04:57 pm.
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He was trying to hold back his anger, he thought he had gotten over it. But the moment Rose said his name, his mind just went back to that day of the incident. Back to how he saw Rivers' crumpled body laying there in the backroom of the club, shivering and coughing, before his eyes.
All because Eisner got his ego bruised and was petty enough to stoop to such lows that he would drug a person who was clean and turning their life around.
Even though his facial expression was blank, his eyes smoldered with anger.
"F***." Eva muttered under her breath as she saw Mark slowly move towards Eisner.
She knew she had to intercept him to make sure he didn't do anything over the top.
"Excuse me." she said to the people around her with a fake smile as she made way towards Mark with hurried steps.
"Mark." She called out, as she got near. Thankfully he stopped and turned around.
"Eva, did you invite him?" He asked, straight to the point.
"Not me but yes, it was someone I hired." She replied honestly.
"I see." He replied as the anger in his eyes melted a little.
"I am sorry. I didn't thin–" She looked down a little ashamed at not handling the staff under her better, she tried to apologize but Mark's words surprised her.
"Give them a raise." He said with a smirk.
"What?!" She was surprised.
"I said give them a bonus and don't worry I won't do anything crazy.. yet." He said with a cunning gleam in his eyes, that she knew would promise pain for somebody else.
"I can talk to him if y–" She tried to say, wanting to give him an out.
"No, it's okay, I am the host, it's my responsibility. Also why should I avoid him, it should be the other way around." He shrugged finally getting his cool back.
"I will be right back."
He said ending their conversation as turned back and again made his way towards Eisner but this time without his eyes screaming murder at him.
Eisner was almost done talking to an exec from another studio when he felt eyes on him. But this felt different, like someone wanted him dead, it wasn't the first for him in his field of work but the intensity was scary.
Unfortunately before he could end the conversation and turn around to see who it was, the feeling went away. Instead he saw the root of many of his problems, approaching him.
"Mr. Eisner, Hello. I am Marc Spector. Welcome to the party." He said calmly, with a fake cheer in his voice.
"Marc, congratulations on the success." He replied with a fake smile, hiding his hate for the young man who he only saw as an upstart who didn't know his place in life.
"Thank you, Mr. Eisner. It's all because of well wishes and blessings from elders like you." He replied, mocking him.
Eisner scowled a moment but reigned in his anger thinking to himself that it must be a coincidence as Marc couldn't have known that he was the one behind all of it. At most, he thought Marc could only connect him to one of the false cases.
"Marc, I thought you only made movies. Why are you coming after my people like this?" He asked, not wanting to play around the topic.
"What do you mean, Mr. Eisner." He asked, playing dumb.
"You bought off head creatives from one of our projects." He replied getting straight to the point.
"Did we? If that's true, it must have been one of the recruiters from HR. They're good at their job." Mark replied easily shifting blame.
"You think this is a joke?" Eisner was close to losing his temper, Mark could feel it.
"No, it's not a joke, it's just business." He replied smoothly, unphased by Eisner growing intensity.
"You're out of line, Marc." Eisner replied through gritted teeth.
"What do you want me to do? These are people who now work for Eidolon, I can't just give them back."
Mark felt joy upon seeing just how frustrated and angry his replies were making Eisner. He could feel that the man was about to drop all pretenses.
He did a countdown in his mind as he waited for Eisner to blow his top and there it was, he saw the man's face morph into an ugly sadistic grin.
"You really think you are gonna make it, that this studio of yours will ever amount to something?"
"I already did, Micheal," he said waving at the gathered crowd, "look around, all the big wigs in Hollywood, the stars, the hopefuls, they are all here."
"All the connections, all the allies, all the people, I'll ever need." Mark replied confidently still trying to push his buttons so he would reveal his true colours.
"They'll eat you up, they're vultures who'll pick apart your flesh till only your bones are left.." He said ominously.
"Then, they'll die choking."
"Aren't you worried about what's going to happen next." He was surprised by Mark's calm composure.
"I look forward to it." Mark replied nonchalantly.
"You really think that you achieved something with this movie? This is nothing but just a fluke, one misstep, One Single Mistake and it will all go away." He growled out in a low voice not wanting to be overheard.
"That's fine by me, Michael. I am not a sore loser." He said, enjoying the look of rage it brought onto his face.
"I will just graciously accept my loss, find out where I went wrong and try again." Mark replied calmly, still keeping his cool.
"You went wrong, when you tried to step into the big leagues, son." Eisner made a snide comment wanting to make Mark lose his cool and he succeeded, but he wished he didn't.
"Don't call me son." Mark growled, his eyes turning red with anger. He didn't trust himself to not beat the crap out of him if he stayed with him any longer so he looked around to find a distraction.
Maybe fate was looking out for him because he found one and immediately walked off, leaving Eisner fuming at the nonverbal dismissal.
Eva joined in half way, drawing sharp breaths. "Why did you antagonize Eisner like that? Now he will–"
"Shhh, relax, we aren't dead yet, Eva. So, stop acting like it. We'll pull through." He replied, with a calmness that she knew was just the calm before the storm.
She sighed with a nod regaining her calm.
"You alright Mark?" She asked, looking concerned, as she smoothed over the lapel of his suit.
"No." He said staring off into the crowd, he turned towards her and gave her one of his eye smiles as he said, "but, I'll live," and walked off towards the person he had spotted before.
"Mrs. Wendy, I'm so happy to finally meet you." He really was, her story had been an inspiration for him to keep going and believe in himself.
"Thanks for the invite, Marc and also the first class tickets, my hip hurts in cramped places." Wendy had a smile as she felt the genuine happiness radiating from Mark.
"I am glad your flight was comfortable." He spoke softly, the anger with Eisner was gone as he felt happy to be speaking with an idol of his.
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"Mr. Lee, have you seen the Star Wars trilogy?" Rose asked Lee Child, who was enjoying the performance of a jazz band Mark had hired for the night.
"Of course, who hasn't?" Lee replied, like it was even a question.
"You'll be surprised by how many numbers I have heard tonight." She quipped back.
"Marc has a job for the IWA." She said, explaining the reason for her presence.
"What is it?" He asked, interested.
"Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to help Mr. Lucas fix the script for his next Star Wars movie. It's a temporary arrangement for just one night, but if you prove yourself, it might be extended."
"The George Lucas?" He asked, a little shocked.
She nodded.
"Choose?" He asked after going through her statement again in his mind, because they couldn't reject Mark's orders, if they weren't already on a different task.
"As this is not an Eidolon-exclusive project, you are not obligated to work on it. If you do accept, you'll be paid hourly and even earn a bonus if you perform well." She explained in a practiced manner.
"So are you in?" She asked as she gestured for him to follow, as she already knew he would accept.
"Sure, how many of us are there?" He nodded and asked as he followed her.
"Every member of the IWA has been asked to help if they have watched the Star Wars trilogy."
"Except for four who haven't seen Star Wars, the rest have all agreed to help."
"Wow, it's like a writer's room, with all the writers on one project." He said he was excited to bounce ideas off of some of the best writers in America.
"Do we get credit?" He asked, as the writer's credit was their bread and butter.
"I am sorry, as this isn't an Eidolon project. I cannot be sure of that, but if your contribution is important enough, I'm sure Mark will make sure your name is on the list."
"Here we are," She said, reaching the table that she had chosen for this impromptu writer's room. It was in a corner booth away from all the music and noise, and it was roomy enough to seat them all.
The rest of the writers in the IWA were already here, at least the ones who have watched the original Star Wars trilogy.
"Thanks, I see, you got them seated as well." She said to Monica who she had asked for help so she could gather them all up quickly.
"Did you explain the bet?" She asked to check again to see if anyone was missing.
"No, we were missing one." Monica replied, finally done with placing the writing utensils and notepads.
"Well, I am here now." Lee said, raising his hand.
"Great, please; this is your seat." She said it with a smile, gesturing for him to sit down.
"Okay, please listen; Mark has put his faith in your capabilities. George will join us in a minute; when he does, please don't introduce yourself."
"If he feels like your advice or contribution to the discussion is important enough, and he is impressed, then he will ask for your name himself."
"Mark has bet that he will end up writing down all your names before the night is over." She finished and opened the door of the booth for George to enter.
"If you guys need anything, please call the staff, someone will be with you in a moment."
"Thanks, it's really quiet here." George said, appreciate the quiet.
"I'm glad, it is to your liking, sir. These booths were made for the guests to enjoy a more private and peaceful conversation." She explained and took her leave with Monica, immediately heading back to find Mark and report.
Before Lee and George's arrival, the rest had already talked and had introduced themselves to each other.
"Thanks for gathering to help me with the script. But I think it will be better to explain the situation first; it's not just one movie. Just like a trilogy, this next movie I am working on will also be a trilogy."
"This one is the story of the man who fell to the dark side of the force and eventually became Darth Vader."
"I will now be giving you all a brief description of the plot of this trilogy. The third one's still half-baked, but I know all the broad strokes, so you'll understand what the final movie will be about."
Anne and a few others in the group got ready with the pen and paper to write down his narration, so they could use it as a talking point. Thankfully, they knew shorthand, so they could easily follow George as he narrates the plot of the prequel trilogy.
"Here is the title scrawl for the first movie…"
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"And that's all I got for the third movie, any questions?" He said this, ending his narration. His throat felt dry from all the talking, so he drank some water while the group went through the papers.
Anne was up first as she raised her, wanting to be polite.
"Yes, go ahead." Lucas said, putting down the glass of water, feeling better.
"How old is Anakin exactly when Obi-Wan finds him?" She asked wanting to make sure, before she made her point.
"Hmm, around 8 or 9 years old?"
"Mr. Lucas, don't you think Anakin is a little too young for the narrative of the story?" She said, carefully not wanting to offend the man.
"Explain." He said calmly taking his pen in hand.
"Well, you said it yourself that these three movies are going to depict Anakin's fall to the dark side." He nodded in agreement.
"So.. dont you think that Anakin being portrayed as a kid will hinder his active involvement in the story."
"The biggest thing he does in the first movie is that pod race thats it. This is due to him being a kid who can't get involved in the story."
"Wouldn't it be better to start off with Anakin being in his teens and closer in age to Padme, his future wife, who was 14 when they first met."
"And if there are any relevant scenes from his childhood, we can show them in flashbacks when he is remembering them or talking about them with Padme or Obi-Wan."
"Hmm. What's your name, miss? And also, why did you focus on this point?" He asked as he wrote down her points and got ready to add the first name to the list.
"I am Joanne Rowling." She replied with a smile, happy to be the first one on the list.
"I want Anakin to be aged up because his counterpart in the script is way older than him, and pairing up a 9-year-old with a 14-year-old just feels weird to me, sorry." She explained it with a shy smile.
"No, that makes sense. I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier." Lucas said, feeling a bit ashamed at his blindness.
"It's okay; us writers have a tendency to be blinded to the faults of our works because we are so attached to them." Lucas nodded with a smile.
"Okay, next." He said this after writing down Anne's name and her point of contribution.
"Mr. Lucas?" Mr. Stine raised his hand.
"Yes. Go ahead." He said, gesturing for him to go ahead.
"I would like to first thank Anne, as her solution makes mine work even better." He said gesturing to Anne.
Anne nodded with a pleased smile, thinking about when she could permanently move over with Jess.
"Well, if we are starting the story with him as a teenager, then we can make his Prodigy status more believable with more incredible feats of force use and even involve him more in the main plot lines earlier on, giving him and his relationships further time to develop."
"Because the first movie doesn't even feel like it is about Anakin; rather, it focuses more on Padme and Obi-Wan, but mostly Obi-Wan. If this new trilogy is about the fall of Anakin, then we need to first develop him into a paragon, a protector."
"The first movie should be about that—about his training, his struggles, and his triumphs."
"Right now, the first movie ends with him being 9 and the second starts with him being 20, so we lose out on all that character development, and the audiences are left feeling empty."
"If you want to tear down Anakin and turn him into a monster, then first you have to build him up as a hero, Mr. Lucas. One cannot be done without the other."
"Great, point. Your name?" He asked, as he wrote down the last line word for word as he felt it was very poetic.
"I am Robert Stine." the man said, feeling happy to get his name on the list. His son, Matt, wouldn't believe it, when he goes back home tonight and tells him about this.
"Very good, Mr. Stine. Who would like to go next?" He asked again, feeling excited, as he was hearing these writers talk, he could understand why Mark valued them so highly.
"I feel like I am ready." Lee said, putting down the pen, he had been frantically scribbling things down on his notepad.
"The problem I am gonna talk about might be that interesting but I feel like it's a problem that should be addressed as it's connected with the central conflict of the first movie. It involves the Trade Federation blockading and then invading the planet of Naboo."
"Now, the problem here is that this is confusing in several ways, you implied that the Trade Federation is a corporation or perhaps an interplanetary organization akin to OPEC or the EEC and yet they have representation in the Senate and Naboo which is also in the Senate gets blockaded by them and the Senate doesn't take action to defend them?"
It felt like he was asking rather than saying a statement but it showed how puzzled he was, as he felt unsure about this statement, because to him it didn't make proper sense.
"Now this isn't a big issue because you can infer some of the details here but it would be much much better if things were clarified just a bit more. All you'd need is a few lines and a few scenes for this to all make perfect sense."
"The changes I would make, would be to show the Trade Federation as an economic block within the galactic Republic."
"Their headquarters could be on Cato
Neimoidia, so the neimoidians have a lot of power within this group. But it's essentially a free trade zone or agreement within the Republic and Naboo is a part of it."
Lucas nodded as he wrote down some points and gestured for him to go ahead.
"This will allow everything to make more sense as the Trade Federation won't have direct representation in the Senate. But all of its members have individual representation there making up a powerful voting block."
"The central conflict will be that Naboo wants to leave, because.." he paused for a second to look down at his notes, "perhaps the Trade Federation is getting too overbearing with their taxes or demands."
"And maybe we hint that Palpatine was the one who was originally behind the withdrawal setting in motion this whole chain of events and giving us even more insight into his political acumen."
"That's brilliant." Lucas muttered under his breath as he kept writing down his points.
"Naboo wants to leave but still owes dues to the Trade Federation or has some other obligation they aren't fulfilling and so that is why the Trade Federation blockades them and that is why the galactic Republic refuses to intervene and dithers for so long."
"Because in a way it's an internal dispute and it would help if Naboo is not entirely in the right, at least from a legal standpoint."
"We could easily establish all of this with only a few lines and it would help to greatly clarify the situation of the conflict that the movie starts with." Lee ended his piece and drank some water to wet his tongue, as he expectantly glanced at Lucas hoping that it was enough to get his name on the list.
"Nice, I really like that, it might not overtly shift the plot but it does make more sense and it also shows the political prowess and manipulative scheming ways of Palpatine. What's your name?" Lucas spoke while writing the points stated and then finally looked up as he asked him for his name.
"Lee Child, sir." He replied with an excited grin.
As the night went on, the other immortals got their names written down as well. Some of them making multiple contributions like Howard and Lee who were full on Star Wars nerds.
"George Martin."
"Ben Parker."
"Melissa Cline."
"Tony Kushner."
"Howard Stark."
"JRG Jr."
"It seems like your boss just won the bet." He chuckled, his face radiating joy as he looked at the hidden gems seated around him. This impromptu writer's room showed him another facet of Mark's power.
He grinned and said, "But I have never felt happier about losing in life."
"There are so many details left to go over still but I think I will end it here because if we're to keep going we wouldn't stop till lunch time tomorrow." They shared a laugh, feeling closer after brainstorming for hours together.
"Mr. Lucas before you leave I would like to submit our version of the title scrawl to you." Lee said, passing him his notepad.
"Star Wars has always been a precious memory, it is an honor and now I get to say I worked alongside you."
"With the kinds of ideas your brilliant mind came up with, the solutions you thought up for so many of the plot holes I didn't even know were there, I think it should be me who should say."
"It was an honor working with you guys." He said turning to all of them, acknowledging their help.
With that he shook hands with them all thanking for their help and left, as he got into his car he took out the notepad Lee handed him from his pocket and decided to go through it.
— Episode I —
THE PHANTOM MENACE
The embers of dissent smolder throughout the Galactic Republic. The peaceful planet of Naboo, hoping to withdraw from the overbearing Trade Federation, has refused the interplanetary organization's excessive demands.
While the senate…
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"Lee Child, that young man definitely has talent, what a hidden gem and he is not only one. Mark is lucky he was able to form a team of such talented writers."
"I hope the other studios don't steal them away, I want to see what kind of stories Mark will create with their help."
He said with a hopeful tone, because like him Mark was one of the few studio owners who was also creative and they needed more people like them, if Hollywood wanted to thrive.
After all, filmmaking was not just business but also an art.
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"Once again, thank you so much, Mrs. Pini for coming to my party; it made my day." Mark reiterated just how much her presence there meant to him.
"No problem, Marc. You looked upset, though, after you ended your talk with Mr. Eisner. Is everything okay?" She asked kindly.
"He just said something he shouldn't have, but it's all good. I know he is just irked by the failure of his movies." He tried to downplay what happened, not wanting to worry the kind woman.
"I see. Well, I hope you have a wonderful night, and thanks for taking on the publishing of Elfquest. It was getting hard on our side after the bust.
"No, thanks needed; Japan is going to love your work, ma'am. I just know it."
"Also, please don't leave early; at 8, there will be a big announcement, and I would really appreciate it if you were there to see it." He requested it, wanting her to witness the noble because he would be starting.
"Sure, we'll be there." She accepted with a smile.
"Thanks, Mrs Pini."
"Just call me, Wendy. I am glad I came; I feel at ease knowing there's someone like you to breathe life back into the comic book industry." She said, with a content smile, that showed just how happy she was with how things had turned out.
"I don't know that, Mrs. Pi-" he immediately changed his words when she creased her brow. "Wendy. I just want to tell my stories and help others tell theirs."
"That's the beauty of it, Mark; what others see as help or a good deed, you see as only given, because of the great power in your command." She said this as she shared her wisdom.
"Power, Marc; always remember that power doesn't corrupt; it just shows what kind of person they truly are." Mark nodded in agreement.
"A good man with power will do great things and help others, whereas a selfish man with power will go on to do terrible things just because he thinks it's his right as the stronger."
"You'll do good, I believe."
"Thanks, Wendy; it means a lot.. coming from you." Marc said as Wendy drew him in for a hug and whispered, "Just don't be too hard on yourself and remember to have fun."
As they separated, she gave him a smile and walked off towards her husband.
Mark decided to see who else was at the party and to check in on Nicholas, as he had to introduce Chris' friend to him to fund the start of Wizards Of The Coast.
As he turned around, he saw Tom Cruise walk up to him alongside his new girlfriend, Nicole Kidman. He wasn't startled, as he was finally getting used to being on the same field as these Hollywood celebs.
"Hello, Mr. Cruise. You must be, Nicole." Mark said as he hugged her and gently kissed the side of her cheek.
"Hi, Marc, call me Tom. Congratulations on your first movie."
"Thanks, Tom. I just got lucky." He said playing humble.
"You made your own luck, Marc. We've both seen your movie many times; it's excellent." Tom replied smoothly, complimenting Mark as he gestured for Nicole to give her two cents, which she did with a smile and cute nod.
"It truly is exquisite; it reminds me of Hercule Poirot from Ms. Agatha's book." She said with a smile that said a thousand words.
"Well, she has been my inspiration. I am glad you both liked the movie." Mark replied with a gracious bow.
"Marc, I wanted to talk to you about a script of yours." Tom spoke not wanting to dally.
"Which one?" He asked, hoping that it was Mission Impossible.
"It's a spy thriller titled – MI. You registered it this year." Mark fist bumped in his mind, in joy.
"I would like to stop you right there, Tom. This seems like a discussion more suited to be had behind closed doors in privacy." Mark replied gestured for them to follow along.
"Yes, you're right." Tom replied and Nicole nodded as he them their way towards the backrooms.
"Please enter right here." Mark said as he walked towards one of the unoccupied booths at the back. This one was much smaller, with a 4-seater table and some cut-up fruits and wine.
They talked for some time about the movie they both made recently, with Mark revealing some of the difficulties he faced while filming Knives Out. Whereas, Tom recounted his experience on the set of Days of Thunder.
Mark congratulated him on a successful movie, but Tom brushed it off, saying that it wasn't doing well, as his recent films hadn't been performing well for some reason.
"Hmm, Tom, have you ever thought about that? Why your recent movies haven't done so well as Top Gun or Risky Business?"
"I don't know."
"Well, what has changed in the last three movies you did?"
"I don't know." Tom replied again feeling confused.
"Think, Tom, Think. The answer might be right besides you." Mark said meme-ing omniman as he cackled in his mind.
"Besides me?" He looked confused as he turned towards Nicole.
"What does this have to do with her? She is a great actress." He spoke up in her defense.
The whole time, Nicole had been quietly sitting, observing Marc's and Tom's byplay.
She could tell that Marc had a very charismatic persona; he allowed Tom to talk and always made him feel included and a part of the conversation. He tried to do the same with her, but Tom would butt, as if trying to stake a claim on her.
She thought he would try to show her off to Marc in hopes of making it easier to make his pitch, but maybe Tom felt insecure in Marc's presence.
And why wouldn't he? Tom's height had always been his biggest insecurity. Tom was 5'7, whereas Mark, even now seated lazily on his chair seemed larger than life.
She would guess he was around 6'4 or 6'3 ft, and she knew it irked Tom to constantly have to look up to Mark when they talked.
"I didn't say; she wasn't. I have seen the movies you two have been in - Far and Away, Eyes Wide Shut and now Days of Thunder."
"In all of them, she acted quite well provided what she had to work with, which wasn't much to be honest."
"But Nicole, tell me seriously before I get back to Tom. What was it that drove you to take part in Batman forever? And please be honest." Mark had a serious look on his face, looking her straight in the eye.
She felt like it was a test; from whatever rumor and gossip she had heard, he really didn't like being lied to. So she took a deep breath and prepared herself to face the music with honesty.
"To be honest, I wasn't really sure about the movie, but I wasn't getting any roles, and my agent said that it would be a big role and might take my career to the next level."
"Well, they weren't wrong; it surely did, but I think just not in the direction they were hoping for it to go in." She nodded in wistful acceptance.
"Thank you for being honest with me, Nicole." He spoke in a gentle tone that soothed her.
"Now back to your problem, Tom. You and Nicole are dating, and famously so, the public knows it very."
"After all, your publicists or media coordinators are really hard at work, placing you both just at the right moment where the paps can take you from the good side."
"So, what?" Tom asked, his annoyance bleeding into his voice.
"So, Tom.. What I mean is that whenever they see you both on screen, they still have that image in their heads.. of both you.. as a couple."
"It jars them; the young women can't fantasize about you. As you are with your actual lover on screen, and the same goes the other way around for Nicole."
"Your real life relationship is breaking that sense of illusion that allows the audience to immerse themselves in the fantasy the movie is selling them."
"So that's it? So, what I should either break up with her or not do movies with her?" Tom asked rhetorically, though that was Mark's intention.
"There's also you choosing bad scripts, but yeah, pretty much. You could also try doing movies where you aren't a couple."
"But I think that mental image of you two together is pretty set in their minds. How long have the two of you been dating? 3 years was it?" He asked looking between the two.
"Almost, yes." She replied, it had been 2 years and 9 months into their fake relationship.
"That's enough to make the image solid. They won't be forgetting it soon."
"Also, you think my script selection is bad?" Tom felt like Mark was just pressing his buttons now on purpose.
Mark just shrugged. "You make stupid choices; you win stupid prizes, Tom."
"How was Days of Thunder a bad choice? It's just like top guns, but with cars."
"You really need me to spell it out to you?"
"Okay, but don't get offended later on. I don't care. Top Gun was about planes, about patriotism and manliness."
"But there was a subtle tone of self-discovery and learning from and owning one's mistakes. That was a phenomenal movie, Tom. It was an easy 8.3 out of 10, and for an action flick, that is like a 9 on my scorecard." Mark said it in all seriousness, and Tom couldn't help but smile at the genuine praise.
"Now let's talk about Days of Thunder. It is barely watchable; it looks like a trashy B-grade low-budget movie about car racing."
"The chemistry between the racer and his crew chief, with his girl—that's you, Nicole—and his rival—nothing really captivated me. Even your charm couldn't save the movie, and apart from the racing scenes, hardly anything caught my eye."
"Overall, it was a drab affair; a racing fan might give it a pass, but not me, and for that, I would give it a generous 5."
It's why I am here, Mark. I need your help. I need your script. You said it yourself: my script selection was bad, I moved away from action movies that got me my popularity, and I experimented a bit too much.
"Why did you do it, though?" Mark asked, wanting to see if he would be able to be honest and admit where he went wrong.
"I.." Tom tried speaking but fell silent.
"It's fine; I can already guess why you would make such a dumb decision." Mark replied with a sigh after waiting for a response that never came.
Though it made him realize that Tom would need a big reality check if he was going to be pulled out of the pit he had dug for himself, to be honest, Mark didn't even know if he would be worth it.
"So, what was it you wanted to talk about, MI?" Mark asked after feeling like they had been talking for a long time and didn't want to drag out this conversation any longer. He had guests to meet tonight as well.
"I want to be in it." Tom said with a grin, thinking that Mark would be amicable to the deal because of the friendly conversation they had.
"When?" He felt even more sure of himself. With that question from Mark, even though he was in decline, he was still the superstar who did Top Gun.
"Next year." He replied with the cocky absurdity of a man who could see victory.
"I see, that's unfortunate." Mark replied that it was a real shame, only serving to inflame him.
"Why?! What do you mean?" He asked indignantly.
Mark smirked as he got ready to reveal his true colours to Nicole and maybe even humble the man and force him into turning a new leaf.
"Calm yourself, Tom," Mark replied, giving him a stare that caused the blood in his veins to freeze. It frightened him, but it also jolted him out of his temper and cooled his mind.
"You see, Tom, MI is a special case. It's not just one movie, but a franchise. But, I think you already knew that." Marc replied with a Cheshire grin that could be felt despite his mask.
"So we can't let any random director be the one to shoot it, or any random guy play the lead role." He felt incensed at the insinuation, but he couldn't give up so easily.
He was sure that MI would be the movie to revive his career and take him to a superstar level, like Top Gun had done years back.
"Marc, give me a chance to prove myself. What is the problem with me? Is it my height? Is my acting not good enough?" He spoke frantically, grasping at straws.
"No to both; a person doesn't need to be tall to be an action star, and MI isn't even a proper action movie. It's actually a completely different genre I'm trying to explore."
"So what is it, then? Is it the scheduling? I'm willing to wait if you agree."
"No, Tom, the way you're right now. I could never work with a person like you."
"Like me?!" He shouted, finally losing his temper, as he stood up to confront Mark.
But Mark stayed seated the whole time, silently staring at him with those cold eyes of his that just unnerved him. He sat down again after huffing and puffing.
"You're part of a cult, Tom. You really think that I would make a cultist, the face of my franchise? Think about it."
— To be continued…
In the next episode of A̶N̶D̶O̶R̶
*Cough* *Cough*
I meant in the next chapter of Hollywood: Head-Hunting System.
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{Closing Author's Note: Apologizes for being a half a day late with the update of this part of the chapter. I have no excuse, I got sick and couldn't even get up from the bed. A few hours back I finally felt like I could sit up and write, so I did.
It was a slow process but I was somehow able to complete this part of the chapter. It's not completely edited so if you spot any mistakes let me know. ALSO MY PATR. EON LINK IS IN THE AUTHOR'S THOUGHTS SECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CHAPTER OR ON MY DISCORD SERVER.
Also there will be one poll and an exclusive post here on patr. eon after I upload this chapter. So, please vote and check out the post. Also I would like to thank my patrons - David Zimmerle, James Smith, Haze2343, Joakim Jönsson and Don Chikadon.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and stay tuned as the next chapter. 101.2 will be released in around 12 hours from the posting of this chapter. Thanks for reading and supporting my work, I hope you all have a wonderful day.}
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