Chapter 539: Namor

In the early morning at a beachfront villa in Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Eva Green slid under the covers and lay on top of Charles Capet.

After some rustling, Charles exhaled heavily, and not long after, Eva Green popped her head out from under the covers, resting it on Charles's chest while breathing heavily.

Charles ran his hand over Eva's smooth back and joked, "Darling, that was awesome!"

"Let's get up and shower. There's a ton of work at the company," Eva Green nodded, "Charles, Capet's The Twilight Saga: New Moon is such a hit right now."

"The newspapers are full of praise for Capet, saying it'll be a leading company in Hollywood," she added.

"Yeah, that's how it goes. When you're doing well, they praise you. The moment things go south, they'll be the first to tear you apart," Charles chuckled, getting out of bed, "Those reporters can be ruthless."

Before heading into the bathroom, Charles reminded Eva Green to check out the gift he had prepared for her in the Hollywood Hills - the villa on Mulholland Drive.

Charles was sitting on $500 million in cash, so money was no issue anymore. Giving away a house as a gift felt as casual as presenting any ordinary gift.

After showering, Charles headed to Capet's headquarters in Burbank, while Eva Green went back to sleep.

...

"Sherlock Holmes, don't tell me there's another problem!" Charles exclaimed in his office when he heard Phyllis Jones talking again about Sherlock Holmes. He had developed a reflex for these updates.

After all, Sherlock Holmes was set to release this year. However, due to some reshoots by director Guy Ritchie, its release was pushed to the following year.

"No, no," Phyllis waved her hand, "The movie's fine. It's just that there's news about the lead actor Christian Bale having a meltdown on set. There's a recording of him flipping out!"

"That guy's got a bad temper," Charles shrugged, "Remember the promotional tour for Terminator Salvation? He lost it back then too. Have the producers and PR team handle it so it doesn't affect the movie's release. These stars, they always have some sort of issue."

Charles shook his head. The public only sees the glamorous side of these celebrities, but their true selves on set are much more interesting - drug use, heavy drinking, soliciting prostitutes, brawling, verbally abusing staff, and losing their tempers. Don't think Hollywood stars have much professional ethics!

Professionalism might exist before fame, but once they become big stars, problems start cropping up. Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Johnny Depp - none of them are easy to deal with.

"Shooting for Transformers 3 has begun, and we're negotiating overseas locations. Marvel Studios is also planning to develop Namor," Phyllis continued.

Namor McKenzie, also known as the Sub-Mariner, is the son of a human captain and an Atlantean princess. He can breathe underwater and has the mutant ability to fly. He has quite a few similarities with DC's Aquaman.

"Namor, but we can't use mutants. That's an easy fix. We'll just change his origin since he's the first mutant in the comics anyway," Charles touched his chin, "There should be a hidden storyline involving Namor in Captain America, right?"

Namor McKenzie became the king of Atlantis after avenging the Atlanteans killed by the Nazis during World War II. He joined Captain America's invaders, an Allied group of super-powered soldiers, and frequently clashed with the Nazi navy, contributing to the Allies' victory.

"Yes, there's a hidden Namor Easter egg in Captain America, and Marvel Studios is considering developing a standalone Namor movie. He has also been an Avenger," Phyllis explained.

"Of course, we should develop a standalone movie," Charles said.

Charles wanted to release Marvel's Aquaman before DC could make their own Aquaman film for the Justice League. The last thing Charles wanted was to make Warner Bros. happy.

He had even cast Gal Gadot as Agent Carter in Captain America!

"We can decide after the first Avengers movie is released. For now, we should limit ourselves to two Marvel movies a year to avoid overexposure," Charles commented. He aimed to consistently guide the Marvel Universe's trajectory for longer sustainability.

"There are talks that Sony has scrapped plans for Spider-Man 4. Sam Raimi is still tweaking the script, isn't he?" Charles asked with a smile.

"Besides director Sam Raimi, there's no news from Sony about Spider-Man 4, except for the cast - Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst," Phyllis speculated boldly, "If Sony doesn't release a Spider-Man movie by 2012, we can reclaim the film rights."

Sony's contract with Marvel stated that rights would revert back if Spider-Man wasn't developed within five years, while Fox had a seven-year contract.

"Even a fool knows that Spider-Man is a golden goose. Sony won't let it slip," Charles sighed, "Even if there's no Spider-Man 4, they'll reboot the franchise. Didn't we reboot our Hulk?"

When Sony abandoned Spider-Man 4, they rebooted the franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man. Charles was well aware of this. Similarly, Fox had rushed out a poorly received Fantastic Four film to retain their rights.

"Spider-Man is Marvel's top asset. Sony just got lucky," Phyllis sighed too.

"Don't worry. Marvel's Spider-Man producer Avi Arad isn't effective. He won't cause too much trouble," Charles reassured. He hoped for Marvel to reclaim the sold rights. Opportunities would arise.

*****

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