Chapter 21
Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait. Each time I thought I was done with this chapter, I felt like I needed to add more to it. And that just kept on happening and happening till it turned into my longest chapter yet.
dreamer_0901 I think you mean restart it, but yes, great idea. I will work that in somehow.
Ser_Lanciscazzo I love that idea, and you are so right. I wish they would redo it. Find new actors to follow season one and extend season 2 and keep going. You know I never thought of sports but I can see something like that.
Patrick_Ugabi thank you and feel free to toss out any ideas you have for it.
DaoistsMthQw, that is an idea. I never thought of that.
There is a question at the bottom of this chapter; I need you guys and girls who read to answer. Please give it a look, and like last time, most votes win.
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"So, Elizabeth, would you say that not everyone gets a second chance in this business? And Showgirls was kind of your exit out of Hollywood." Jimmy Kimmel asks bluntly.
"Definitely, I mean I don't regret Showgirls and never will. I think it was a great movie, one of my best works and still do, but not everyone agrees with me." Elizabeth answers.
"I would say. It was a complete flop at the box office and pretty much got you blacklisted in Hollywood, right?" Jimmy says.
"It did, and it was very upsetting because I had put so much work into it. Getting in shape, finding my character, and acting from the heart. Only to see it fall flat and have myself dragged over the hot coals by the media. It hurt. It still hurts." Elizabeth says.
"But that wasn't the end for you, was it?" Jimmy asks, and an image of her in the Stangers comes up on the screen to a clapping audience.
Making her smile, "No, no, it wasn't."
"Tell us how this came about. I mean, we all know you starred opposite Tiffani Thiessen in Saved by the Bell, but where does Caesar come in?" Jimmy asks.
"Well, Jimmy, Caesar comes in with Tiffani. People may not know this, but at the time of Saved by the Bell and Showgirls, Tiffani and I were not really what you would call close friends." Elizabeth says, to the shock of everyone in the room.
"Really, I didn't know that. I mean, you both seem so close." Jimmy says.
"Oh, we are now, but not back then. I mean, we talked, but that was about it. We just drifted apart after the show, but after Showgirls, she was the only one to call me, even as it became clear that being my friend wasn't in her best interests, which is very rare in Hollywood." Elizabeth says.
"Was it that bad?" Jimmy asks.
"It was. I mean, I was getting slammed in the media, and the calls and auditions I took for granted stopped coming. It was a tough time for me, and yet there was Tiff, still on top of her game, talking to me. It meant a great deal and still means a great deal to me." Elizabeth says.
"And is that when the offer to star in the Strangers came into play?" Jimmy asks.
"Yes, you see, it was becoming very clear to me in 1997 that I wouldn't be getting any more starring roles. It didn't matter how good I was or how well I fit the role; the studios didn't want to have anything to do with me, but Caesar did. He saw I was talented and that I deserved a 2nd chance." Elizabeth said, trying to hide the bitterness in her voice at those studios.
"It must have been scary then when Caesar and Tiff broke up, right? I mean, your 2nd chance could have gone away like that." Jimmy says, snapping his fingers.
"It was terrifying, but I was also mad. Here, I was promised a role, and due to this one breakup, I could lose it, " Elizabeth said.
"So what did you do?" Jimmy asks.
"Well, I didn't call Tiff. Well, I did, but only to see if she was okay after the breakup. I didn't ask about the movie. No, I called Caesar." Elizabeth says.
"And now did that go?" Jimmy asks.
Laughing a bit, Elizabeth says, "Well, let me put it this way, I quickly learned what many others had at that point. Caesar is a man of his word. The moment I called him, the first thing he said was, 'Did you read the script yet?' and 'Do you think you could do the part?'
"Wow, that is amazing," Jimmy says.
"I know, right? I mean, here's a guy who has just broken up with his girlfriend. By the way, the very girlfriend who got me this part, and his first words are not that I am no longer needed. No, he only wants to know if I've read the script yet, and that's what he's like. Once he looks at you and says, 'This is your role. It's yours.' You either sink or swim, but he isn't about to fire you unless you do something stupid." Elizabeth says.
Thankfully, she didn't do anything stupid. While being the next scream queen wasn't what she was looking for in her career. Suppose she didn't get the part for the Strangers, who knows where she would be. That is why she will always be thankful towards Tiff and Caesar for being who they were, especially Caesar.
-1998-
After the birth of my children, things started to slow down for me, mostly because I was taking a step back from the spotlight and concentrating on getting my affairs in order. I have heard it said that children have a way of changing one's priorities and like so many other things I thought it was total bull shit. That is, until it happened to me, and I realized it was true. They brought new responsibilities into my life, and due to the complexity of my relationships with their mothers, I decided to break it off with Jennifer earlier than planned.
Lucky for me, Jennifer never saw our relationship as anything other than what it was. In her own words, we had fun, and the sex was great, but it was time for me to be a father. So, she understood why I was breaking it off early. That said, we still made the breakup very public. It was a bad breakup as far as the public was concerned. Nothing so bad that it hurt our rep, but our PR teams were able to spin a good enough story that people were picking sides and generating interest in the narrative of our personal lives and careers. To the public, we were not on speaking terms. I was the controlling boyfriend who was trying to command her career, and she was the ungrateful brat who didn't appreciate what I did for her. In reality, we were already talking about her 2nd album.
That was still a year or two away, however. In the meantime, I had gotten back together with Tiff. This was for several reasons, mostly because we never actually broke up. Yes, she slapped the shit out of me and said it was over but that was more heat of the moment than anything else. Neither she nor I had a genuine desire to end the relationship then, and I only started to date Jennifer due to the opportunity it presented. This put me in the doghouse with Tiff for a time, but with the birth of our son, she agreed to give it another shot.
However, I didn't try to get back together with Salma, and not just because of Tiff. Salma and I were already in a good place before the birth of our daughter, and while there was still attraction between us, we both felt it was better that we didn't date. Her parents already had a big problem with me, and the media attention surrounding our daughter was a headache Salma didn't wish to deal with. After all, everyone already knew or at least suspected that Julia was mine. Salma just wasn't coming out and saying it. I was not sure why, but I am sure she had her reasons. This made visiting a hassle, but nothing would keep me from seeing my daughter.
Now, outside my personal life, I was not nearly as busy. 1998 was proving to be a slower year than 1997, but that didn't mean I didn't have work to do. My overall plan for this year had kind of taken a left turn off a cliff after the birth of my children. Not wishing to be that far away from them, the only movie I was actively working on was Shakespeare in Love. Flying in and out of England more often than I would have preferred, but that was the life of a father, I guess? I didn't want to be one of these deadbeat dads who claimed they were too busy to spend time with their kids after all.
It gave Steven a headache, but he didn't say anything. Being a father himself and an overall agreeable man outside of dealing with movies, he was understandable. He did convince me, however, to hire a personal assistant finally. Between what I had made from the films I had written, my script writing on TV shows, royalties from Jennifer's album, and investments, I was making more than enough to hire one. I just didn't feel like I needed one, but in Steven's own words, I was becoming too important to do it all myself anymore.
Words of wisdom that I most likely would have ignored if they came from anyone else. It's not like Steven was the first to tell me this. David, Danny, Tiff, and many others had said the same thing, but I ignored them. So why listen to Steven? Because he was fucking Steven Spielberg. A man of such respect that his soft voice and calm manner spoke louder than the loudest shout. Out of respect for him, I finally broke down and hired an assistant.
And you know something: He was right. I did need one, and it was only after I hired one that I could see the playing field for what it was. Who were my friends, and who were my enemies, and make no mistake about it, I had more than a few enemies at this point. Chief among them was Sean Combs, who had it out for me. He was still sore that I didn't drop his name to the media after the club incident.
From what little I was hearing the man was going around the music industry talking shit about me to anyone who would listen. Not that I cared too much about that. I wasn't in the music industry just yet. Yes, I wrote for Jennifer's album, but past that, I had little to do with it. So, his attempts to keep me from getting work were more amusing than anything. Plus the dumb ass forgot something important. The music industry was just one part of the larger entertainment industry. They are all connected in one way or another, and I had deeper connections with the elites of this industry than he did, including several Sony executives by way of Thomas Mottola.
Popular Sean may have been, but you'd be shocked at how much the record executives don't care about that. There would always be another would-be singer or rapper out there, as there would be a writer, but few had as many strings of success as I. Right now, as it stood, they held me in higher esteem than Sean, mainly because the record executives wanted to see if I could repeat what I had done on Jennifer's album. Having co-written and composed If You Had My Love, which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. As well as Waiting for Tonight at number 8, and Let's Get Loud, which reached the top ten in several countries. They were far more interested in me than Sean. They even went so far as to introduce me to Mariah Carey and Destiny's Child. They were wondering if I would be willing to work with either or both on their upcoming albums.
Of course, I was willing, and while Mariah Carey was a bit much when we met, she was cool. As for Destiny's Child, they were still young, coming off their first album, which they were not happy with. It was only modestly successful, and they felt like they were forced into a role they didn't like. Like any other young artist, they wanted more creative control. Understandably, the girls were hesitant to work with me due to this, but the future mega star Beyoncé was more open to the idea.
Unlike the rest, she knew my body of work, and while yes, I was a movie guy, the fact remained that everything I had touched had done well. And with her being the team leader, her word carried more weight than the rest. I had to say that I could see why she was the team leader, too. Yes, due to my knowledge of the future, I already knew she would be big, but like with Jennifer, there was something special about her. She had that thing that told you she was better than the rest.
Anyway, outside of that, Sony was also interested in my writing talents as a screenwriter. Sony, like so many other major studios, wanted a piece of the success I was having. So really, Sean was far too small for me to care about, and our beef was a one-sided affair. He could do what he wanted, say what he liked, but no one would listen to him at the end of the day. Not even Jennifer, who showed interest in him briefly, had lost interest in him in short order. In her own words, she wouldn't even speak with him anymore as his pettiness was too much for her to take.
It went without saying that I could ignore Sean. However, my next and perhaps biggest enemy was the one I couldn't ignore. To clarify things, my enemies within Hollywood were all business, and none of it was personal, like in The Godfather. No one at this time hated me on a personal level. Other than Sean, that is. They just didn't like seeing my success and having no part in it. They wanted a taste, if you will, and if they could have it, well, bring me down was the next best thing.
Yet out of all of them, none were against me as much as Harvey Weinstein, for business reasons, of course. I may have given him Urban Legend, which cleared 100 million at the box office, but that wasn't good enough for him. He wanted the 400-million-dollar movie, not the 100 million. That was probably one of the reasons the man was against me. Another could be the fact that I kept him at arm's length. I didn't associate with him and rarely spoke with him, and that was before I started to hear rumors about him and women.
Rumors I believed in, and not only because they were coming from a source I trusted. No, I had seen how he looked at Tiff or Salma when we went to a party, and he was there. Now, a woman getting lustful looks from men was nothing new, and I wasn't so insecure with myself that it bothered me. It was the way he looked at them, however, that I didn't like. I had spent time around rapists, both on the street and kids in juvenile hall. They all had this look in their eyes when they looked at women. They were objects, and I don't mean like a trophy wife or something like that. I mean, they didn't even see them as human. They were things to be used and tossed away when they broke or you lost interest in them.
Now I was fully aware I was a womanizer, but every woman I was with was consensual. Jennifer, Tiff, and Salma all knew what they were getting into with me. That any relationship with me most likely wouldn't work out, so no promises were ever made. It was just good fun. Harvey did not strike me as the type to care if it was consensual or not. Luckily for the women who were associated with me, after the Nightclub Incident, he seemed to keep his eyes to himself. I tell you something, nothing makes people hesitate more than the threat of violence towards them if they mistreat a woman. Especially now that I have a daughter of my own. The public may have been wondering who the father of Salma's kid was, but those at the top of the industry knew well and good it was me.
Anyway, Harvey was my biggest enemy in Hollywood right now, but it wasn't him so much as who was behind him that I had to watch out for. You see, Harvey, for anyone else, may have been a problem by himself, but behind me was Robert Shaye, who frankly didn't really like me all that much, but we had an understanding with each other. After Warner Bros forced me to take Scream away from New Line, I started ghostwriting for him on the side, with the understanding that he would not only pay me, but keep certain people like Harvey off my back. So that blunted anything Harvey could do to me by himself.
The real problem came from Disney, which owned Miramax. How I didn't write Disney-type movies so you would think they wouldn't give a shit about me. And you would be right, they didn't, but Harvey had connections in Disney. Using those connections, Disney had ABC, which they owned, break a story about me being sued for plagiarism before anyone, myself included, knew I was being sued. The person suing me, funny enough, was Kevin Meade Williamson, the original writer for Scream.
They didn't have a case. I knew it, they knew it, so it was strange that Kevin, whom I had met on the set of Dawson's Creek, which I wasn't working on, would even try. You see, here is the thing: millions upon millions of scripts are being written daily. With millions more filed away in the limbo we called the archives of every major studio. It wouldn't be that hard to dig up a script that mirrors every movie ever made. Hell, you could put on a blindfold, throw a rock, and hit one.
That being the case, it was all about who got their script copyrighted first and made. I beat Kevin in both of these. So why even try to sue me? At a guess, it most likely came down to two things. One, Disney, like several other major players, was getting tired of my success and not benefiting from it but they were not looking to blacklist me in Hollywood. They only wanted to blunt my momentum. As for Kevin himself, well, that was simpler to understand. He hated me. From the first moment we met on set, I could tell he hated me for Scream. While he knew I had copyrighted my script a full year before it came out, it mirrored his script so much that he felt like I had stolen it from him. He was right, of course, but had no proof. It's not like it mattered that much to him at this point, and he most likely saw this as his chance of getting back at me.
However, it was a stupid move on his part to let his emotions get the better of him. Because this pissed Arnold off, on my own, I couldn't stand up against Disney, but do to a string of successes courtesy of me Arnold was big shit at WB. He had a lot of influence and didn't take it well when they started to attack his golden goose, and he was somewhat of a friend. With his help, I immediately countersued, with Warner Bros attacking using their own news network, CNN. I may not have been on Warner Bros' happy list, but with Arnold's support, they were willing to go to bat for me. Plus, it made great news.
The rags-to-riches Mexican street kid from nowhere vs the white Hollywood elites. Who is telling the truth? Fuck you couldn't ask for a better story then that in the 90's. That is why I told Alex to draw out the lawsuit as long as possible. Such unexpected news coverage would do nothing but help sell my next movie, and as for Kevin, that idiot was no doubt already regretting his actions. He was fired by WB from Dawson's Creek almost immediately for this shit. No doubt he would try suing them for breach of contract, but according to Arnold, it was done. He wouldn't work for Warner Bros ever again if he had a say about it, and seeing as there was talk about Arnold joining the board, it was highly likely.
With the might of Warner Bros behind me, for now, I was mostly safe. Though I wasn't stupid. Warner Bros was in my corner today, but tomorrow was a different story. If something were to happen to Arnold or we had a falling out I was up shit creek without a fucking paddle. Still, I couldn't keep the smile off my face at seeing one of my enemies fall.
"What are you smiling about?" I hear Brad Pitt's voice asking me.
Looking up at my kind of friend, but more business partner, I say, "I am in a good mood."
"You're in a good mood? The guy currently being sued for plagiarism and having a public feud with your ex is in a good mood?" Brad comments as he sits down next to me on the patio of his Malibu home.
"You mean that ex?" I point to Jennifer, who is sitting by the pool in a one-piece bathing suit, talking with my current girlfriend, Tiff.
Looking over at the Latina goddesses and newest pop star, Brad shakes his head, "You got some big balls on you, Caesar."
"About average to be honest," I say to him, making him dryly laugh.
Like so many others, Brad didn't understand how Caesar kept hooking up with these hot women. No office to Caesar, but successful or not, he didn't see the appeal. Well, that is till the nightclub incident, which he sadly was not there for. Fuck he wish he had gone when Caesar had invited him but went to a party at Tom Cruses house that night instead. Talk about missed opportunities.
"So, how is work on Fight Club going?" I ask him.
Having not had a chance to work on it, seeing as I was busy with Shakespeare in Love. I could only write the script for the movie after David brought the rights to the book and took it to Fox. Who was very interested in making a movie from one of my scripts. But that was all I was able to do. I couldn't even really help with casting. Only able to give my recommendations. Such as Edward Norton for the lead and Helena Bonham Carter as Marla Singer. Brad, of course, was a no-brainer, but Edward Norton was not. Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, and Sean Penn were talked about, and it ended up being pretty close, according to what David told me. Edward, however, got the role. Just took several auditions to get it.
However, while Edward got his part, Helena Bonham Carter didn't get hers despite David's strong push and her strong showing. Due to the darkness of the movie itself, they decided to go with an unexpected choice. Fairuza Balk, the girl from The Craft, got the part. I didn't have all the details on why she was picked over Helena, but then I didn't care. The role of Marla was not really that important to the overall story. So long as you had the look for it and you acting didn't completely suck anyone could do it and Fairuza Balk definitely had the look part down. As for her acting, it wasn't bad.
"It's going well. David and I still wish you were working on the set, however. Other than that, things are going smoothly." Brad answers.
Brad could still remember when he first read the script for Fight Club. He was less than halfway done reading it by the time he realized he wanted the role of Tyler Durden. It was the type of character he loved to play. The complexity of the role and dark tone reminded him a lot of Se7en, which to him was his breakout role. He was sad to say it, but after Se7en, he hadn't done anything nearly as complex or fulfilling as Se7en, nor had he enjoyed anything until he started playing the role of Tyler. Don't get him wrong, Brad felt like he had done some great stuff since Se7en, but he just felt like he hadn't reached that level since. But now he could feel it. He could feel that the role of Tyler would be one of those crowning roles of his career. It was like something inside told him people would be talking about this movie for years to come.
"Good, I am happy to hear it. I don't know about you, Brad, but something is telling me that like Se7en, this movie. It's going to be a great success. If not at the box office, then in people's minds." I tell him.
"I hear that," Brad says and sips his beer.
Though if I were being honest with Brad, I was not so sure about that anymore. I was still sure it would be a cult classic after its release. The cult classic of the 90s, according to the knowledge in my head, but a lot of things had started to change from what I thought I knew—for example, several movies were missing from this year already. Saving Private Ryan, which was supposed to be directed by Steven Spielberg, was pushed back until next year, and The Mask of Zorro hadn't even been written yet. The reason being that TriStar Pictures, Inc., which had brought the rights to the character, had, with the support of Steven Spielberg, come to me asking me to rewrite the script.
Lucky for me, after taking a look at it, I was able to understand why. The script for what was being called the Return of Zorro right now didn't look anything like the one I had in my head. A few parts had some resemblance to it, but far from what it should be. That was what made me agree to do it, but only if they considered an actress by the name Catherine Zeta-Jones for the lead female role. Who was recommended to me by Salma, whom I was going to push for the lead role. Salma, however, had told me when I brought the idea to her that she was going to take the year off to raise Julia, unlike Tiff, who was getting back to work. I guess you could say two different women and approaches toward motherhood.
Anyway, after Salma refused the role, I remembered Catherine. Having met her once before, about a year ago, at a party celebrating Salam's success on Anaconda. Salam introduced us, though I forgot how they met, and we hit it off, just not in that way. Catherine was witty and charming, and she had one hell of a mouth on her; the woman could swear with the best of them. I liked her nearly immediately, but sadly, I had nothing for her at the time, and we hadn't talked again since. She was more than a bit surprised when I called her out of the blue and told her I had gotten her an audition for a lead role in an upcoming movie I was rewriting. She hid her surprise well over the phone, but the crack in her voice and how she said thank you told me how excited she was.
However, these changes led me to a truth I didn't wish to accept. I no longer had a clue what was going to happen. Or perhaps it was better to say I never did and am just now realizing that. I was like the butterfly that flapped its wings and caused a hurricane. Things were now in chaos, and while some movies were coming out like they were supposed to, others were not or had not been written. It was worrisome because I could no longer assure myself of success.
"Hi everyone, sorry I am late. Julia was being difficult when I dropped her off at my parents' house." We hear the voice of the last member of our little group say.
"Don't worry about it, girl," Brad says as he stands up and greets Salma with a friendly hug. As does everyone else.
I would be hard pressed to call any of us real friends, but after working so closely with each other for over a year now, we were all on good terms for the most part.
Tiff walks up to her and greets Salma with a smile, then says, "So Julia was being difficult today, huh? I wonder where she gets that from?"
Like a bad joke, everyone looked straight at me all at once, and I, being the mature adult I was, flipped them all off before standing. Then I went and greeted my ex and baby momma with a friendly kiss on the cheek. Then, I went to the table where we would both discuss business and eat. It had kind of become our thing. We would meet at someone's house every few months to discuss our shared investments and have a cookout.
Once we all sit down, I start things off by saying, "First, before we begin, I want to welcome Jennifer to our little group. Who, despite our differences in the media, has chosen to join our little investment team."
That earned me a few laughs as everyone knew it was all an act for the media, and we were not really at odds with each other.
Smiling Jennifer says, "Thank you, everyone and I assure you despite Caesar being a controlling asshole I will do my up most to fulfill my obligations to the group."
I stick my tongue out at her childishly and blow a raspberry. At the same time, she gave me a mean look while everyone laughed around us.
Jennifer had to say she was initially unsure about all this. Sure, she Caesar to some extent. Having earned that much for all he had done for her, she didn't immediately dismiss it when he offered her the chance to join this little group. A group that was, by the way, made up of several A-listers, a top-tier Hollywood director, and the best writer in Hollywood hands down. She would have to be fucking stupid to pass up the chance to be a part of it but still this was a considerable risk. On The 6 had earned her quite a lot of money, and Selena had done wonders for her movie career, but to her, investing only on Caesar's word and promise of success was not good financial advice. Even if it was relatively cheap to join in right now, all she had to do was match what everyone else had already put in, which was honestly the only reason she was doing this. Well, that and having more connections within Hollywood was to her benefit. Current number one album aside, she was still a small fish in Hollywood.
"Okay, children, behave yourselves," Gwyneth, our acting head and representative on Apple's Board, says while trying to fight off a smile. "First, let's go over our investments."
We all went quiet at this. While technically, I was the one to start this whole group, it was Gwyneth who acted as our voice on the Apple Board, mostly because I didn't want to do it, and Brad didn't want to do it. Danny preferred to be the silent partner. Tiff and Salma had no interest, and while David could do it, he voted for Gwyneth to do it, seeing as Gwyneth had an interest in such things anyway.
Overall, our investments in Apple were turning a profit. Where everyone else thought it was only a few steps from going bankrupt, Apple had, in fact, held on and was starting to rise again and proving that I wasn't entirely full of shit when I invested in it and asked everyone here to join me. And while we wouldn't see millions of dollars back anytime soon if things kept going the way they were, we could see at least 100 thousand each this year. Maybe? It was too early to tell, but it didn't matter as this gave me the clout to pitch a new idea to everyone.
"Before we get down to eating, everyone, I would like to propose a new investment opportunity," I say.
"Ya, and what is that, Caesar? Hell with how good things are going over at Apple, I am on board no matter what it is." Brad says in good cheer. However, he didn't mean it. Sure, Apple was turning out to be a smart bet, but they had yet to really see any returns.
Having everyone's attention, I say, "I wish to buy the movie rights for several comic book characters, and I would like everyone here to help do so."
This gets me some looks from everyone; not all are nice. Most of them are in fact are you fucking crazy looks. Can't say I blame them. While they could be profitable, superhero movies were also expensive to make. The last one that came out, Batman & Robin, cost 160 million to make and was a near flop. It hurt George Clooney's reputation and did no favors for the younger actors Chris O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone.
"Listen, I know what you all are thinking….." I start to say.
"That it's a stupid idea," Brad says, interrupting me.
Looking at him, I say, "Yes, but computer graphics have come a long way, and as some of you know, I have started my own studio."
"I thought that was for tax purposes?" Tiff asks. After all, nearly everyone did it. The tax breaks alone were a good reason to start one, but most never actually made a movie.
Looking at my girlfriend, I say, "I never said it was."
"So you started your own studio so you could make superhero movies?" Danny asks.
"That and other things. Listen, I am not planning to take on the major studios like Steven. Nor am I asking any of you to be in these movies. All I am asking is that you all help me buy the rights to them because I think I can do something with them." I say to everyone, and see their faces somewhat relax.
They all trusted me a bit. Having worked with me in the past and seen my success, they would be fools not to at least give it some thought.
At least I thought so, but it's not until Gwyneth speaks up that I somewhat relax. "Let's say we help you buy the rights to these characters. How much are we talking about?"
"Well, Marvel had just filed for bankruptcy. They need cash, and they need it fast. Knowing this, I already called them up, and they are willing to license all their characters for 35 million." I answered her.
Again it is Brad ever the wise ass who gives a low whistle. Not that I blamed him. We were all on the rise in our own way, but none of us had that type of cash. Investments aside, Brad still had the largest net worth out of all of us, with Jennifer behind him and Gwyneth. My own net worth was getting up there as well. With the sale of Scream and investments outside the group, I think my net worth is somewhere around 10 million now. So, it would be possible to buy the rights to Marvel's characters on my own, but the fact remained that people were still hesitant when it came to my ideas.
I had been in Hollywood for 4 years, and was 22 years old with several hit movies under my belt, and people were still hesitant. Many still saw me as that punk kid who got lucky, and while many were trying to jump on the bandwagon to ride my coattails to success. The real people in power. The investors were all watching me closely for the first signs of failure. Some even wanted me to fail. If for no other reason than to put me in check. After all, my work was starting to cost more and more money with each success.
As for the people in front of me, they wanted me to keep being successful because I brought them success, and this could be another one. An opportunity to get on the ground floor of something that could be very profitable. But that fucking movie Batman & Robin had them nervous. After all, 35 million was not cheap, and that was before any movie was even approved.
After thinking about it for a bit longer, Jennifer asks, "Do you really think you can make this a success, Caesar?"
"I do, and the reason why is that I have been on the set of the upcoming movie Blade. What they are pulling off right now is nothing short of amazing. I think we are on the brink of a CG explosion." I say to her.
Looking over at David, Gwyneth asks, "David, what do you think?"
David, who has been silent until now, takes a sip of water and answers, "He is not wrong. What we have seen so far in Jurassic Park, Titanic, and Independence Day is the tip of the iceberg. This could be something big, even huge….. I am in." David says, seeing what I saw. He may have wanted to be a more serious movie director, but he wasn't blind.
"So am I," Danny answers.
He had faith after all, unlike everyone else. Plus, people like him and Caesar had to stick together. As ex-cons, everyone was looking for them to slip up. It also may have had a bit to do with him being offered a part in Fight Club. A small part, but still a job is a job.
One by one, everyone starts to agree until, shockingly, the first person other than David and Danny who joined in investing in Apple, Brad, agrees. But not before making it clear he doesn't want to be in the movies—at least not until he sees them become successful.
As for me, I feel the tension I had been building up over the last couple of weeks leave me. Thinking about what I could have missed out on if I hadn't been asked to work on Blade's script. I fucking owned Steven a lot for this shit. I nearly missed out on a multi-billion-dollar franchise because I hadn't been looking far enough ahead at what would come out. Granted, I was well aware that there would be no fucking way I could make these movies on my own.
I would have to go to the bigger studios to make them. There was no way around it, and I would have to show that this could work while at the same time making it clear that I had no plans of creating my own distributed network. They would sink me early if they thought I was trying to pull that shit. I would have to start small and build my way up carefully. Knowing that I would follow the original path in my head. I would start with Spider-Man and X-Men. Maybe even try to start the MCU early, if I could find some good writers to help me combine them.
Yes, this wasn't going to be easy, but it would be worth it.
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Question: Who does the MC hook up with next?
1: He stays with Tiff for a while longer.
2: Back with Salma
3: Beyoncé
4: Catherine Zeta-Jones