Chapter 80: The Legendary World

William White's rivals were really having a tough time. They could foresee that Hollywood was destined to become a battlefield of sorts, because no boss could resist getting envious.

What did it mean for two low-budget films to earn over a hundred million at the box office consecutively? It was plainly and simply a magnet for envy.

So what if Superman made a hundred million? The cost was at least thirty million, right?

Is a promotion cost of five million too much? Even when you exclude other follow-up profits, your earnings are merely a fraction of theirs. And even if your video rentals are good, do you think theirs aren't?

Hollywood's screenwriters were being driven crazy. If they couldn't produce scripts that satisfied their bosses, they might all have to pack their bags and leave.

What good is experience?

You all just have failure experiences, not even as good as a sophomore student.

Does Hollywood lack scripts? In a place where even taxi drivers write scripts, there's never been a shortage of them.

Top directors often work with second-rate scripts; that's just how Hollywood normally operates.

...

Actors were somewhat out of their comfort zone, not because they couldn't act, but because William White really had no limits.

Police Academy was okay, but the two guys in Home Alone were quite pitiful. Only washed-up actors would take on such roles.

Even if you offer them a lot of money, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson wouldn't take jobs like that; they like to play epic roles and would never play clowns.

They wouldn't take them, but there are actors in Hollywood who don't care. To them, those two guys might as well have been touched by the hand of Lady Luck.

The public knew about William White's casting choices. There was no need for acting skills; he just wanted someone whose face begged to be punched.

Now, the pay for those two has started at half a million, which is the level of Hollywood's B-list.

These washed-up actors were surprised to find that White Films was very generous. Members of the film crew would earn a share based on income, with the share percentage reaching as high as 5%. Although this share was only applicable to North America, it was still quite astonishing.

Home Alone's box office started at a hundred million, and those two washed-up actors earned two hundred thousand dollars each, plus bonuses, easily clearing half a million.

Normally speaking, giving those two two hundred thousand was already generous; who would offer any box office percentage? But that was the rule at White Films; the boss himself took money according to this percentage too.

...

To speak honestly, William White was earning less than he could. The script plus directing only earned him one and a half million.

Obviously, he wasn't playing tricks with this. Frankly, any script of William White's could fetch at least two million on its own. And you'd better believe it, success proves everything. Unless he failed once, this price would only go up, never down.

Both film scripts were sitting in the film academy. It wasn't hard to get them.

Opinions on his directorial skills varied, but even directors like George Lucas couldn't fault his scripts.

It was clear that this guy was a professional, even if he hadn't graduated yet, his scripts were textbook material. With such scripts, if you can't shoot a good film, maybe directing isn't your thing.

William White wasn't a saint. He shared profits like this also out of necessity. These washed-up actors didn't have agents yet, but once they did, the haggling would be endless.

Many great films couldn't have sequels mainly because salaries demanded were too high. What happened with Tom Cruise and Vin Diesel's paychecks in the end? They reached a hundred million dollars.

And that didn't include other merchandise revenues.

Why were actors in xXx replaced? Who in the world could afford those paychecks?

Mission: Impossible almost turned into Tom Cruise's personal treasure chest. Without a strong heart, it's best not to work with these folks.

William White wasn't stingy, but he sure wouldn't accept unreasonable paychecks. 

...

A game company named Legendary World appeared in Los Angeles, occupying an old six-story building, with only a few people inside, mostly construction workers bustling about.

The real estate industry was in bad shape this year, and if it weren't for that, there would be no workers available at this time, no matter how much money you offered them.

Looking at the large spray-painted logo on the wall, it seemed like they already had a product, but you couldn't find it in the market anywhere.

The game company appeared just before Christmas but didn't stir the gaming industry much since most key figures had already gone on vacation. The ones left behind hadn't paid it much attention.

During that time, the gaming industry was very insular and didn't receive much attention. Forget about home consoles; even arcade machines were quite rudimentary, with graphics that left people speechless.

...

Three days before Christmas, several Japanese game console companies received an invitation. Looking at the information on the invitations, they were puzzled.

When did the Americans have such a company?

They only knew about Atari; what was this Legendary World?

To their credit, the Japanese held a very meticulous work attitude. Though they hadn't heard of this company, they had an impression of William White, who might just be a big shot.

It wasn't overthinking on their part; the invitation was no trivial matter. The guest list had strict requirements, which a mere overseas department manager couldn't handle.

The Japanese understood the importance of matching statuses well enough. They quickly learned about this person's background. In Japan, this guy was a supplier for many, who were also all invited.

A famous writer, an IT rising star, a Hollywood tycoon -- each title alone was not to be underestimated.

The American invitees were quite peculiar, with seemingly only Motorola from the IT crowd, while a bunch of theater chain big shots made up the rest.

Based on the invitation list, one could easily infer that the game content was likely arcade games; otherwise, they would have invited some retailers.

...

Although there was much buzz, it didn't really stir the waters much. It was, after all, just a product launch. Given that they invited so many manufacturers, it appeared they didn't intend to produce anything themselves.

Regardless, these guests decided to give him the courtesy. The theater chains didn't plan to offend him; two films with box offices over a hundred million were displayed there, and both had sequels. There was no need to go against the flow of dollars.

They were curious to see what kind of arcade games could be placed in cinemas. If they had enough allure, it wouldn't hurt to try.

Nobody was dumb. The motive was so apparent, of course, they knew what he was up to. They were curious about what gave William White the confidence to do this.

You have to know if it's the stuff already in the market, they wouldn't show much interest. That stuff wasn't cheap and didn't particularly appeal to audiences.

If it were another boss, they wouldn't attend in person; sending a senior executive would be considered generous. But with William White, it was different. If you didn't come, that was fine; he wouldn't mind, just don't send any executives. We'll talk afterward.

His arrogance really rubbed people the wrong way. It was clear: if you didn't give him respect, you'd lose yours too.

...

Wall Street was completely dumbstruck by William White's strategy. Weren't you supposed to develop agriculture? Why were you suddenly into game consoles?

Diversification isn't impossible, but your leap seemed excessive. The comic thing hadn't even proved itself yet, and you were already making game consoles?

How could there be a product launch when they didn't know anything?

Your company had only been around for a few days. What products could possibly require a launch?

When they released the Office software, it didn't seem like there was a press conference. Even the database software release had a limited-scale press event.

And what's this about now?

Another question, where the heck was this guy's research center?

Was it really that farm?

Darn it, who has a research center on a farm?

Most annoyingly, this farm was in Texas.

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