บท 454: Axel Foley, Alex's Folly II

It would seem that the overthinkers were somewhat right all along...

To smell the conflict when it's not as obvious, it's quite commendable.

Though, credit must still be given to Don Simpson himself.

Theater scheduling isn't exactly that privy to those who are in the industry, however, he did make sure to make it seem that they waited until Creed's announcement to finally decide on their own.

When in truth, he really wanted a dedicated but not-so-obvious audience to his cause, to make his glory that much more glorious.

Granted, as convoluted as that was... Don's efforts were actually coming to fruition, for the most part.

Especially when it comes to being able to earn 21,348,555 dollars, for just the opening weekend.

Blowing the competition out of the park.

From 'The Allnighter' with its sexy casting... to 'Creepshow 2' with its horror King themes... to even the action-driven 'Malone' with Burt Reynolds... none stood a chance.

More so when it came to foreign language films like 'Mitt liv som hund' and 'Gibbeun uru jeolmeun nal'. The former is from Swedish about "living as a dog", while the latter is as obscure as it can get.

Then again, these selections were already a week old and Axel Foley just made them all the more obsolete.

In much even circumstances... 3 films had actually also debuted around May 8th as well.

Unfortunately for a teen-focused comedy adventure like 'Hot Pursuit' and the also teen-focused murder mystery of 'River's Edge'... they were up against a Detroit cop parading over Beverly Hills.

Even 'Gardens of Stone' with its far better prospects were dwarfed. Not even its status as a war drama in Memorial Month... nor the fact that it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola himself... could spare it.

Beverly Hills Cop II pretty much soaked up all the attention and the tickets that those films may or may not have garnered.

Actually, Jerry Bruckheimer and even Paramount had qualms when it came to stepping on The Godfather director's mojo... but Don didn't care one bit.

He was on a warpath and 21 million dollars on the opening weekend pretty much justified his risks.

In terms of opening earnings, it's already worth more than the first Back to the Future's 11 million dollars and Top Gun's 8.2 million dollars combined!

If that wasn't a win already, then Don didn't know what was...

And although Creed Pictures' releases are known to have mountainous rises as time passes... how would that matter when Axel Foley would always be a step above?

Looming over and looking down on whatever efforts that part II of Back to the Future could eke out...

Don Simpson grinned maliciously at the implications. Considering it as early practice for when he rubs his victory on that old man's face!

Even now, he can already imagine that old Brit convulsing in anger... hopefully enough to burst some aged nerve to make him unceremoniously pass on to the other side!

Oh my! Oh my! How high of a satisfaction that would be for Don!

Perhaps it would take him higher than the heights that his snorted premium "coke" is currently taking him!

In any case, Don muttered. "Don't fail me now Beverly Hills Cop... don't fail me now, Axel Foley!"

Strangely enough, as he said so, he was looking at Axel Foley in the flesh. But it's actually just Eddie Murphy, a bit drunk.

Since this so happens to be a very indulgent party that Don threw for the cast and crew.

On that note, wasn't Brigitte also here?

That Danish mentioned she's already having divorce proceedings with Stallone, if he remembered correctly.

Such a shame, doing her wouldn't have the same Rambo-cucking feeling anymore.

Then again, he's in too much of a celebratory mood to care about the difference.

He just wanted to ride this high he's in some more...

Sufficed to say, Don Simpson's elation has only just begun...

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Accordingly, for the next couple of days... Beverly Hills Cop II and Axel Foley were actually the talk of those who wanted to talk about them.

Its accrued numbers rise every other day and it called into question the prospects of the Back to the Future film that was following it up...

It wasn't clear how and why but it's almost as if someone was directing people's attention toward the disparity that could be.

So much so that even Alexander had to ruminate about the implication. Then again, stirring inside his own thoughts wasn't anything new.

The Beverly Hills Cop scenario intrigued him, however. And it really didn't take long for him to trace the connection to those producers.

Those two actually used his supposed strategy against him.

And even though he rarely interfered with setting the theatrical date, he did nudge BttF's release in accordance with what he knew.

Courtesy of an overeager Murphy fan of a classmate from the past timeline, he distinctly remembered Beverly Hills Cop II premiering on May 20th...

Armed with that foreknowledge, May 15th seemed good to settle on. As an extra precaution, the official declaration was even delayed as can be.

In hindsight, he overlooked the relative un-secrecy of Hollywood insiders and underestimated the dedication of the adversary to get a one-up against Creed.

It would seem that Alexander had a lot to rethink and general timeline knowledge may not be as advantageous for long...

A concerning development, actually.

To think that Axel Foley would be the one to jam that realization into him, and not 'Fatal Attraction' nor 'Three Men and a Baby'... the two films that he felt more consternation towards.

Perhaps he's flapped his Chaos butterfly wings too much. Most probably.

Consequently, while reassessing the threat that BHC II had... Alexander actually fell into a bit of a folly...

Tinkering with main Chaos on his dad's computer to let out some pressure...

And before he knew it... he had inadvertently made the annoying thing, Axel Frog.

But it's actually Crazy Frog. Looking like how it looked on its debut. An uncastrated version, with the original willy.

For a bit of extra, he even had the censored option. The castrated version as well. Cause, why not?

At first, Alexander did it for fun but looking at the 3D model he made... he was seriously considering whether he should produce the cursed Axel F music video... or not...

Yeah... he probably shouldn't...

Right?

"Alright, Alex?" Milla, ever-curious, suddenly asked from behind.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He appeased, even though he had a rather weird thought just then.

"So, what's up with this frog creature?" The girl prodded, gazing at what's on the screen. "New character for a game or for ThunderCats? Or maybe a new villain for the Turtles?"

"Made it on a whim. Not really sure what to make of it." He hummed. "But, you may have just given me an idea..."

"Hehe, glad to be of help." Milla giggled but she suddenly said. "Be sure to hide that exposed penis though. It'd be no good if Shrew sucked something that's not yours. Hihi."

At that advice, Alexander was at a loss for words.

Even Drew, innocently lounging on the bed, could only roll her eyes at the overheard insinuation...