On the set of "Spider-Man"...
The highly anticipated Spider-Man movie was officially starting!
The launch party was packed. Seventy-eight different newspapers and TV stations from all over America had shown up.
"Boss," Kevin Feige exclaimed, "there are 78 media outlets here! That's double what we expected!"
Zane looked out at the crowd and nodded. "After our big fight with Warner Bros., everyone is watching us now. It's not surprising so many people came."
"Boss," Kevin said confidently, "I bet when we make Spider-Man 2, even more people will come!"
"You're absolutely right," Zane agreed with a smile. He knew the first movie was going to be a giant, world-famous hit.
"By the way," Zane asked, "are the director and all the actors here?"
"Of course!" Kevin said. "They arrived early. This is our first huge movie. They wouldn't dare be late!"
Sure enough, when Zane walked backstage, everyone was there:
Sam Raimi, the director.
Tobey Maguire, who would play Spider-Man.
Kirsten Dunst, who would play Mary Jane.
Willem Dafoe, the Green Goblin.
James Franco, Harry Osborn.
"Boss!" "Mr. Blackwood!" "Welcome!"
As soon as Zane walked in, everyone stood up to greet him. After all, he was the one paying their checks!
"Everyone, please sit!" Zane said with a warm, friendly smile. "Let's all sit down and talk."
It felt great to be the boss!
"Director Sam," Zane laughed, "even though I'm the big producer, I'm very busy. I might not be on set all the time. I hope you don't mind!"
"I understand, I understand!" Director Sam said.
Zane was busy. Plus, he had already seen the movie in his old life, so he knew it would be great. He trusted Kevin to handle the day-to-day stuff.
"Hello, Mr. Blackwood," Tobey Maguire said, bowing politely. "Thank you for giving me the chance to be Peter Parker."
Zane smiled. "Work hard, Tobey. I believe no one is better for the role than you. Go for it!"
"Yes!" Tobey said loudly.
Zane just smiled. He knew a secret about Tobey.
In Zane's old life, Tobey got paid $4 million for the first movie. Then $17 million for the second. By the third movie, he demanded a crazy $45 million! He wasn't so thankful then!
Money changes people.
But Zane was smart. He had already signed a contract with Tobey. For this first movie, Tobey was getting $1.5 million. And for the sequels? Zane had made sure the price wouldn't go crazy.
"Trying to play hardball with me?" Zane thought. "Don't even think about it!"
He had signed multi-movie contracts with all the main actors. He was prepared.
Soon, the big press conference began!
March 1, 1999.
A few days later, Zane was in his office, reading reports. He had a little smile on his face. He was in a good mood.
"Boss, you seem very happy today?" his assistant, Alexander, asked.
"Of course," Zane said. "I just saw the news. With Microsoft's new chat program out, ICQ is having a hard time. Their stock fell more than 5% yesterday."
Alexander laughed. He knew Zane had a history with ICQ.
"Before I left ICQ," Zane said, leaning back in his chair, "I told the CEO not to grow too fast. But he didn't listen. Now, Microsoft is attacking, and ICQ is running out of money."
"How do you think ICQ will lose?" Alexander asked.
Zane shook his head. "I don't know for sure. But I bet they'll be bought by another big company soon. They expanded blindly, and now they can't fight Microsoft's dirty tricks."
Zane felt a little weird making fun of his old company, so he changed the subject.
"Anyway, let's not talk about that," Zane said. "How is My Big Fat Greek Wedding doing?"
"Boss," Alexander reported, "as of yesterday, it has made $119 million in North America! We think it will pass $150 million by the middle of the month. The final total should be between $220 and $260 million."
Zane nodded. "And overseas?"
"It's playing in the UK, France, and Germany now," Alexander said. "It's made $19.2 million in eight days. We also have deals to show it in 12 other countries, like Italy and Spain."
Getting movies into other countries was Zane's top priority.
"Alexander," Zane said, "tell Bill and Victor that we can give the local distributors a bigger share of the profits right now. We need to make friends and open up those markets."
"Yes, boss."
Zane knew that usually, the big studios kept about 33% of the ticket money for themselves. Zane's company was only keeping about 23% to 32%. It was less money, but it was the only way to get his foot in the door.
"It's a long road ahead!" Zane sighed.
A few days later...
Zane, Bill McNick, and a team of 15 people flew to London, England.
The casting for the Harry Potter movie had officially begun!
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