Chapter 15.

Leon White, the CEO of Leon studios walked into his office with a smile. He was wondering about the 'success' he had dreamt for their release of Sweet Merry Love. When they were planning things, they had expected to make 5-10 million dollars on the first day. So, its profit can increase with days.

They had so many plans for the movie because it's the last movie they will be releasing for the year. So, they would always aim to put out a movie that will be memorable.

He wanted to know the progress, so as soon as he entered his office, he was greeted by his assistant.

"Good morning, sir."

"Good morning, how's the progress so far?" He wasted no time asking the question that has been on his mind.

"Yes, sir. It's already been a day, and-"

Leon snatched the report from his assistant's hand and checked the reason for the nervousness on his assistant's face. Normally, every year after a big hit on the first day, his assistant would be thrilled and happy grinning from ear to ear.

In a split second, he looked from the file to his assistant's face. Back to back, again and again.

"Is this some kind of a joke?"

"No, sir- It's not."

The report clearly showed that they made only around 4 million dollars. Which was nowhere near their goal.

"How?" He asked. The Assistant remained silent.

Then he saw a movie called 'Home Alone' in the second rank with over 3 million.

"What do you know about Home Alone?" Leon asked his assistant.

"Uh- Home Alone is a movie by Renners. I told you the other day, but the director was Renner's son, Ian Renner. And as far as I heard, it's prett-"

"Don't complete that. I don't wanna hear praises. I can't believe this unknown studio ranked second. How in the world?"

He was clearly shocked and frustrated, because, one, his target wasn't achieved, two, the competition was with an unknown studio that was on the verge of ending itself.

"Don't worry, sir. This would-"

"This is just the start of my headache," Leon said, utterly irritated.

-

Ian was excited to see how much Home Alone made on its first day of release. He made his way to the studio with much a hype than in hurry.

Uncle Mason was sitting in his office while Ian entered with a smile. Mason's grin was beyond the point of reach.

"How are the numbers, uncle?"

"They are- Look for yourself!" He smiled broadly.

On the very first day, 'Home Alone' had made 3 million dollars. Ian kept scrolling down to see which theatres made the most.

"Damn! Just like I expected!" Ian unconsciously said aloud.

"You expected this much? This is huge Ian! I mean, we've never made this much in a single day of release! And did u see the rankings? Second? How?" Mason was thrilled that he kept swinging in his chair from left to right as the words left his lips.

"I honestly knew this is going to be a massive success. This is just the start, uncle,"

Every word Ian said had a meaning which signaled that it was to Mason's profit that he trusted him.

"I know what you're trying to say. I'm glad I trusted you too, son. I knew the movie is going to be great, but the numbers on the first day are just unbelievable."

"Yeah, the first day itself recovered the whole movie investments," Ian added.

They both talked and enjoyed knowing the start is a massive success. After a while, they called and told everyone who was on the crew and the actors how much they made on the first day. Adam's mom was aware when Mason told her about it. She mentioned how she's been getting calls to congratulate Adam for his fantastic acting skills.

[...] With every day, the numbers of the box office would just go up and up with no turn. It has become 7 million dollars the next day, and then with every day, the numbers went high.

"24 million dollars for this week!" Mason called Ian early in the morning on a Tuesday, after it has been just a week since the release.

It made huge changes in the image of Renner's studio for those who knew Renners. The reviews seemed to change drastically by then when Ian checked them. He was concerned about the public opinion of the movie, more than he should be. Yet, he was happier than ever with the results.

-

In the second week, it was closer to 60 million dollars. During these two weeks, there had been many scandals going in and out of the studio. Many other competitive studios have been trying to play dirty.

Ian and Mason who was highly active on social media platforms to know about what is going on in the minds of the viewers were updated on everything that had been going on.

"The hashtag is pretty trending with people who went to watch the movie," Mason said while they were talking about the numbers that have been going up.

"Yeah, but there are so many negative comments from different people,"

A single comment got caught in Ian's eyes and then he kept reading negative comments one after another. After a little while, it was obvious that the people who are trying to badmouth the director and the studio were from third parties of different other competitive moviemakers.

Nevertheless, people watched the movie and had been giving great feedback about Home Alone.

|| Such a bad movie on Christmas! Who even is the director? Ah, right. What more can we expect from new directors? - Melody

[Replies to @Melody] It's not bad. Nowhere near bad! I swear I can watch this movie many times for this Christmas and next year's Christmas. #HomeAloned - Movielover3

For such negative comments, many Home Alone fans had bribed against it. The talk of the town was Home Alone. It became a huge thing that such a young director had directed an awesome Christmas movie.

"They are talking against negative comments," Ian said in surprise when he saw replies.

"Yeah, as I told you, those comments are still being spread by other movie studios. They do it, thinking that the certain group who hasn't watched the movie yet, would not watch it."

"Yeah, I get it. These trends, wow," Ian said while scrolling down.

—-> Comment below if you have watched 'Home Alone' more than once!

|- Who wouldn't? #threetimes

|- Omg! Was so cute… I wish I could

|- Watched twice with family and friends! Anyone else?!

—-> I wish I was Home Aloned! Anyone wanna watch it again?

[Posted pictures of new Home Alone tickets]

|- Best Christmas movie! Wish I could go with you!

|- Who is going with you? Omg.. so lucky

—-> As an experienced director, this movie is quite impressive for a newbie. Wish you luck in your future projects! #HomeAloned

|- Must be a good one… Going this Friday.

|- Even Director Kernel suggested! Gonna go fr now

|- Yes! Everyone should go and watch!

Ian and Mason spent an entire day in the studio reading things that have been written about Home Alone. Those two words, Home Alone, seem to be everywhere in his feed. Yet, they both enjoyed talking about their efforts and success.

-

On the other hand, Leon was pretty upset about how his plans has been going down the drain. Not like Sweet Merry Love wasn't earning, but for Leon, it wasn't enough. The people who watched the movie were the fans of the Leon Studios and people who got recommended by them.

"Just. Posted. Another. Comment!" His assistant said while tapping the screen after every word.

"Don't you understand? It doesn't matter now! That…. Renner's ruined it, all! One week and just… 10 million?!"

"Uh- Sir, was it the critics? I mean... We can pay-" His assistant was clearly trying to lift his mood up.

"You showed me enough reviews and comments. Every bad comment got replied to with many… Positive feedback for the movie! This is just ridi-"

"What went wrong? Was it the Renner's?" His assistant asked back.

"It wasn't the critics. Close the studio for today, let's watch this goddamn Home Alone,"

…

The situation of the Leon Studio got critical. With every investor calling and asking what is going on with the box office, Leon got more and more miserable, especially when they point out his exact words.

"You told me this movie would earn over 10 million dollars on the first day. Now it's been a week and yet it's just past 10 million. I don't think we can continue to be partners in your future projects, sorry."

Just like that, he lost one investor. With time, more and more people called him and asked about the numbers going low and low, day by day because about 60 million dollars got invested in Sweet Merry Love. The major reason the investors invested enthusiastically was the name of the Leon industry. But it won't be like that for so long.

||__A word from me__||

- Vote using powerstones

- Join the d iscord server! https://d iscord.gg/pjVeC2dkT5

- Read (6, 13, OR 20!!!) written advance chaps! https://www.p/ atreon.com/TC_L