Ever since Isabella took Nathan Bailey's advice and—well, let's call it what it is—started walking the dark path in pursuit of that damned GOAT title, the promotional work for The Voice had nearly buried the poor girl alive.
Uh…
Fine, that's an exaggeration.
There was a lot of promo work for The Voice, sure, but not much of it actually involved Isabella. That's because Warner Bros. controls the biggest media resources on the planet and because Isabella is famous enough that if she so much as farts, Warner can turn that into breaking news worldwide. Those small studios doing endless roadshows and mall tours? Yeah, that kind of thing is never going to touch her life.
The early promo phase for The Voice was pure auto-pilot for Warner.
Once the film hit theaters and the box office started rising, then Isabella finally showed her face.
From the 27th onward, in five days she did five interviews with five different media outlets.
The movie's core team could split into five groups around her—director, sister, uncle, grandpa, dad, and mom. Every combination gave the press something slightly new to chew on, keeping the coverage "fresh."
Over the past few days, Isabella had already explained where The Voice came from—
Just a spur-of-the-moment idea. The game-show structure was inspired by Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and the rest came from life.
She talked about how she learned music—
Always liked it since childhood, studied piano, and, by sheer luck, it finally came in handy.
She even shared her thoughts on her success—
Who wouldn't want to be the youngest actor in history to hit $2 billion at the box office? Her words, exactly that blunt.
A journalist asked why her company's logo looked so cute—
She credited her sister Catherine for designing it.
Because, yes, Catherine was credited on The Voice as a co-writer.
When "Screenplay by: Catherine Haywood" popped up, sharp-eyed reporters immediately smelled something interesting. Since Catherine's involvement was bound to come out sooner or later, there was no point in hiding it.
Still, since Catherine wasn't in the business, the media only mentioned her by name and repeated Isabella's story. No photos, though. Everyone knew how protective J.K. Rowling was of Isabella—last guy who leaked anything private about Rowling's daughter was still sitting in jail. No one's dumb enough to test that boundary again.
Anyway, today was the final promo interview for The Voice.
In Hollywood's rhythm, once a movie's box office and reputation stabilize, the star doesn't have to keep showing up everywhere. There are too many celebrities fighting for the spotlight; hog the headlines too long and it just looks desperate.
This was also Isabella's first time meeting the public outside of a premiere event since Harry Potter exploded.
So when the announcement dropped, loads of fans flooded to London to cheer her on.
After waving to the shouting Potterheads and thanking them for their passion, the host smiled and steered things toward the close:
"Our hour together is almost up. Before we say goodbye, Isabella, may I ask—do you have a plan for your life? What's your next goal?"
The word goodbye made the crowd groan and chant "No! No!" in protest, but when they heard "life goals," they immediately quieted down, all ears for her answer.
Completely normal behavior. Humans are messy creatures, but all fans share one instinct: as long as they haven't fallen out of love, they want their idol to keep winning.
That collective hush made Isabella grin. She nodded to the host, then turned toward the fans and asked, "So… I guess nobody here hasn't seen Harry Potter, right?"
"Yeah——!"
The young crowd roared back, thrilled to shout their devotion.
Smiling wider, Isabella continued, "Then you know what comes after Chamber of Secrets, right?"
"Prisoner of Azkaban!"
The crowd shouted in unison.
"Okay——"
She gave them a big thumbs-up.
"Thank you——"
Then she looked back at the host:
"After The Voice, my next project is definitely Prisoner of Azkaban. No matter how successful The Voice is, I'll always go back to Harry Potter—it's what made me who I am."
"I'll keep playing Hermione Granger and do my best to bring her to life, so everyone who likes me can be satisfied."
The fans screamed their lungs out, and those watching live on TV were just as giddy—
"Oh! Isabella said that perfectly!"
"She's so humble, but that confidence when she smiles—ugh, I can't!"
"She doesn't 'play' Hermione Granger—she is Hermione Granger!"
"She shines like the sun out there!"
As long as everyone was happy, that meant the interview was a success.
When time was up, Isabella said her goodbyes to the audience, the fans, the host, and the crew, then finally ducked into Warner's nanny van.
The moment she hit the seat, she exhaled dramatically:
"Okay, okay, okay, work is finally over~"
"I can finally rest~"
Sure, The Voice's first-week box office had blown her mind, and sure, meeting fans made her happy—but come on, any normal person's goal at work is to go home.
So yes… Isabella decided she was definitely a normal person.
Hehe~
Her delighted little outburst made her mom and sister laugh and shake their heads. Every time Isabella scrambled to clock out, they found her irresistibly cute.
But—
"Isabella, I'd love to say you're on vacation," her sister said, "but just because the interviews are done doesn't mean you're free."
The girl's smile collapsed instantly. "Oh—no—"
Before she could even whine, Catherine pulled a notebook from her purse and began reading. "You've got a bunch of calls to return. Danny, Rob, Aunt Annie, Maggie—they've all called again since ten this morning to congratulate you."
Since she wasn't in school, Catherine had basically become Isabella's personal assistant.
Isabella didn't like using outsiders.
Of course, "assistant" was generous—Catherine's only real job was managing Isabella's private calls. After all, Isabella didn't take brand deals, didn't pick up outside projects, and didn't do endless public appearances. Compared to her peers, her life was ten thousand times easier.
Still, the thought of having to make all those polite calls made her sigh in defeat.
It wasn't that she disliked socializing, it was just that doing it all at once was exhausting.
But politeness is non-negotiable, right? People took the time to call her, so she had to respond.
Wait—
Her eyebrows shot up. "Keisha, you said they called again to congratulate me?"
"Yes," Catherine nodded.
"Congratulate me for what? Don't tell me The Voice passed a hundred million globally?" Isabella's eyes lit up like she'd just landed a critical hit.
Catherine laughed like a cat. "Yeah. This morning, before your interview, Warner confirmed it—by the end of last night, with 2002 closing, The Voice officially crossed the nine-digit mark worldwide."
"So—congratulations, Miss Hundred-Million-Dollar~"
"Okay~ okay~~ okay~~~" Isabella clapped, laughing. "Oh, Warner really knows how to treat a girl—first day of the new year and they drop this kind of gift? That's the good stuff~"
The Voice had opened on December 25.
By the 28th, its North American box office had already reached $59.07 million.
Sure, after the 29th, daily numbers dipped. On the 30th, they dropped hard—it was Monday, and most people had to drag themselves back to work.
And no, don't talk about "American labor rights." Forty-nine of fifty states follow at-will employment laws. If your boss says come in and you don't, they can just fire you on the spot—no severance. Even the big companies do it; Meta's "16 months severance" only applies after they wipe your stock options to zero.
Still, even if The Voice never again broke $20 million a day in the U.S., the rest of the world picked up the slack fast enough to push the global box office past $100 million in no time.
For example: in the UK, the film pulled $15 million in its first three Christmas days.
In Australia, $4.02 million.
In South Korea, $3.49 million.
Add it up, and you're already around $80 million globally.
In that era, making nearly $100 million in three or four days was massive—especially since many countries hadn't even opened yet. Even if sales halved after that, breaking the nine-figure barrier was inevitable.
And even if it was inevitable, it still deserved a celebration, right?
"So, Keisha," Isabella said, "it's kind of inconvenient to call them all right now. I'll do it when we get home. Remind me, okay?"
"Sure."
"And… what if I invited them to dinner? Or threw a little party?"
Party culture runs deep in the West, and celebrating The Voice's success with a friendly gathering seemed like the polite thing to do.
But Catherine shut that idea down immediately.
"I don't think that's a good idea. Or, you could have a party—but not now."
"Why?"
"Because Aunt Annie and the director can't make it. It wouldn't feel right without them."
Rowling's due date was in March—about nine weeks away. Not exactly party season.
And if she couldn't come, well, that just made it worse.
As for Chris Columbus, the day after The Voice's premiere he'd gone home for the holidays. The last few interviews were remote; he wasn't flying back to London anytime soon. The Harry Potter screenwriter was American, and one-on-one script meetings were a lot easier to do in California than in the UK.
Yeah, the Azkaban script still wasn't finished.
But at least they'd found someone to replace Dumbledore.
Just like in Isabella's previous life, David Heyman chose Michael Gambon.
Maybe Turner's side was just too busy to care, because this time there wasn't even a hint of public backlash.
So——
"Okay, then we'll just say thank you, have some nice chats, and skip the party idea for now."
Since the important people couldn't come, Isabella decided to veto her own idea.
Like a little cat, she stretched lazily, then slumped over and leaned against her sister's shoulder.
"Keisha~ you really think of everything~" she said affectionately.
"haha~"
Catherine chuckled softly, accepting her sister's praise.
While the two of them were joking around, their mother also spoke up. Like her eldest daughter, Vivian had her share of social duties to handle:
"Isa, besides the list Keisha's keeping, I also have a few calls you need to return."
"The first is from Endeavor—Patrick Whitesell called to congratulate you on your success."
"He also said that if there's ever a chance in the future, he'd like to work together. He's now the CEO of Endeavor."
Hollywood's talent agencies operate as partnerships.
To put it simply, their structure is similar to Alibaba's—equity shares aren't directly tied to decision-making power.
That's why anyone with ambition will try to seize control of operations from the inside. Judging by the current situation, Patrick Whitesell has clearly consolidated power, while Endeavor's founder, Ari Emanuel, seems to have retreated into the background.
But honestly, that had nothing to do with Isabella—since she didn't really need an agency.
Well… probably.
Still, since he'd called to congratulate her, it would be rude not to call back. After all, Little Miss Sunshine was a project she had snatched right out of Endeavor's hands. The guy got dumped but still smiled about it—props for that level of grace.
"Okay, Mom, I'll call him back once we're home. Any others?" Isabella replied lazily.
Vivian nodded. "Of course. The second one's from Bob—Robert Iger."
"Like the others, he called this morning. In fact, he was the first one to call—before eight. But you were busy, so I didn't mention it earlier."
Robert Iger was also living quite comfortably these days. Thanks to Chris Columbus's connections—and with Steven Spielberg's introductions—he'd successfully met Steve Jobs last summer.
As a result, Disney temporarily secured the distribution rights for Pixar films.
If their collaboration on Finding Nemo went smoothly this year, there might be more to come next year.
But if it didn't…
Iger was confident it would.
Because Roy Disney, head of the Disney family, had finally lost patience with Michael Eisner.
Roy's agent, Stanley Gold—the chairman of Shamrock Holdings (the Disney family's investment arm) and a Disney board member—had officially requested an internal audit of Eisner's conduct.
They wanted to hire an independent firm to investigate Eisner's management, especially since he'd effectively been setting his own salary for years. Once the audit was launched through legitimate channels, there was no way for Eisner to wriggle out of it cleanly.
Of course, for every righteous path, there's a darker one—and in this case, there were two.
First option: eliminate Roy Disney altogether.
Physically. Send him to "meet his uncle, Walt."
Second option: bring in external capital to buy out Disney.
If Eisner could dilute or oust the Disney family's shares, he could secure his own position.
Either way, he didn't have the time—or the strength—to mess with Steve Jobs anymore.
Well… to be fair, Eisner couldn't really win against Jobs anyway.
"So Disney's operational control is basically in Bob's hands now?" Isabella asked with a smile.
"From what I can tell, yes," Vivian nodded. "He was in a very good mood when we spoke."
"Oh~ and did he push me about starting a new project?"
"He mentioned projects, but said there's no rush—he knows you're about to film Azkaban."
"hahahaha~" Isabella burst out laughing.
In a publicly traded company with scattered ownership, CEOs and COOs wield real power—because with dispersed shares, control is hard to centralize, making top executives hard to replace.
They enjoy a lot of autonomy.
But in companies where ownership is concentrated—or where there's a "faith totem" like the Disney family—the CEO and COO are just glorified employees.
And like any employee, they have to build alliances wherever they can to protect their position.
So as Isabella's commercial value grew, Iger, in her eyes, was just a polite middle-aged man in his fifties.
Kind, approachable, endlessly friendly—as long as you were strong enough.
Still, no matter how nice the COO of Disney acted, Isabella wasn't the type to get cocky.
After laughing for a bit, she said, "Mom, what if I asked him to send over Disney's film library?"
"I don't have plans to start a new project right now, but… you know, just to show some goodwill?"
"I think that's a great idea."
Before Vivian could respond, Catherine jumped in. "Disney pushed a ton of The Voice promo, remember?"
"Sure, Warner paid for those spots, but if Bob hadn't told his people to go all in, do you really think Disney's channels would've hyped you that hard? No way. So… yeah."
She winked at her mother.
Vivian nodded—her eldest was absolutely right.
Even if Iger hadn't pressed them about their handshake deal, they couldn't just pretend to forget.
He'd already shown goodwill. Acting cold would just be rude.
Right?
With both of them agreeing, Isabella asked her mother to make a note of the follow-up plan.
After chatting a bit more about miscellaneous things, Vivian brought up the last name on her list—the final one, and clearly the most important:
"Isa, this morning, when we left, Nathan Bailey also left London."
"Before boarding, he called me and said he'll be landing in Los Angeles in twelve hours."
"He plans to finish the Oscar campaign strategy within seventy-two hours of arriving. So, if you change your mind and decide to go for the Oscars, you have eighty-four hours to call him."