Chapter 149: Quite Ruthless

The filming and post-production of "Mean Girls" were about as challenging as "Accepted." Even though Nancy Meyers was older and not as energetic as younger directors like James Wan, who could work tirelessly, she could still complete post-production within a week.

By then, another $60 million in system funds would be available, and some new projects could begin.

After some consideration, he decided to rent three more villas next to the one where Martina and Annie were staying. He moved Sarah Michelle Gellar, Isla Fisher, and Keri Russell into them as well.

This way, he wouldn't have to run around so much—feeding six women in one place saved him a lot of time.

Meanwhile, he used the time saved to frantically write scripts.

This way, by the time he started filming "The Notebook," these women would have something to do.

After some screening, Wayne finally chose the scripts for "Wedding Crashers," "Love & Other Drugs," and "The Intern."

There's no need to say much about "The Intern."

This was one of Annie's representative works in her past life. Both the screenwriter and director were Nancy Meyers. The story is about the main character, Ben Whitaker, who, unable to face a mundane life after retirement, returns to the workforce and becomes an intern at a fashion website founded by the female lead, Jules Ostin.

The film, with an announced production cost of $35 million, grossed a whopping $194 million worldwide, making it quite a hit.

However, since Annie was still too young to play a career woman like Jules Ostin, he planned to give this role to Keri Russell, who was superior to Annie in both acting and fame at the time.

Of course, he didn't neglect Annie. He returned "Love & Other Drugs" to her, a work originally hers. He would replace Jake Gyllenhaal as the male lead in this film, ensuring the box office would far surpass that of the past life.

After all, his fame now was much higher than that of Jake Gyllenhaal before he played 'Mysterio' in "Spider-Man: Far From Home."

Moreover, this movie, while doing well at the box office, would also be an opportunity to showcase acting skills, possibly even earning nominations.

Annie was overjoyed when she heard the news, her motivation for acting classes skyrocketing.

However, Wayne also planned to star in "Wedding Crashers." With "The Notebook" and "Wanted" also awaiting him, the start of "Love & Other Drugs" might be slightly delayed.

After all, the box office of "Wedding Crashers" was much higher than that of "Love & Other Drugs."

The original "Wedding Crashers," released in 2005 and starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, was a romantic comedy that, despite its relatively unknown leads and a modest $40 million production budget, grossed $288 million worldwide, becoming one of the top ten grossing films of that year.

Now, with him as the lead, would a $50 million increase in box office be too much to ask?

As for the leading ladies, he chose Sarah Michelle Gellar and Isla Fisher, the latter of whom had originally played the secondary lead in the film.

The only issue was that he would be utterly exhausted shooting so many movies.

With "The Notebook," "Wedding Crashers," "Wanted," "Love & Other Drugs," and "The Bourne Supremacy" likely to start filming this year, he'd be starring in at least five films, practically working non-stop.

But there was no other choice.

After all, he could now set his salary at $13 million, and after the release of "The Bourne Identity," it could rise to $18 million or even $20 million.

That's $100 million for five films!

And only he could drive up the production costs of each movie.

Then, even a simple romance film like "The Notebook" or "Love & Other Drugs" would have a production budget of $40-50 million. The Big Seven and other distribution companies would have to pay a higher price to purchase the rights to these films.

But would they dare to risk spending $60-70 million on a romance film?

Most likely, they wouldn't.

So not only would they not hinder Hemera Pictures from self-distribution, but they would also facilitate it, removing some obstacles.

Once these films were confirmed to be profitable in North America, they would rush to purchase the overseas distribution rights and DVD sales rights, making a virtually risk-free deal.

Meanwhile, Hemera Pictures could solidify and perfect its North American distribution channels while earning more money—a win-win situation for Hemera and the Big Seven.

So unless he was willing to give his nearly $20 million salary to some other big-name star, he had no choice but to star in these films himself.

But just as he was frantically writing the script for "Wedding Crashers," hoping to finish it before the audition for "Taken" tomorrow, an unexpected phone call interrupted his pace.

"What? George Lucas has already agreed to sell Industrial Light & Magic? What are the terms?"

"$110 million in cash, plus a $15 million investment with a 4% priority box office share?"

"That old guy sure is ruthless. Does he think 'Star Wars: Episode II' will gross a billion dollars like the last one? He's dreaming!"

"So, should we agree?" Sarah asked on the other end of the line.

"Of course. Why not?" Wayne chuckled. He was determined to acquire Industrial Light & Magic. After all, he planned to bring the Marvel Universe, Monster Universe, and Transformers Universe to the big screen, which would require extensive use of special effects.

So once he bought Industrial Light & Magic, the money spent on special effects in the movie budgets would be funneled back into his hands, converting system funds into cash he could freely use.

Then, he could confidently spend billions or even tens of billions on special effects for a movie. After all, that money would ultimately return to him, not benefiting outsiders.

So he was determined to acquire Industrial Light & Magic, even if the $125 million price tag exceeded the original budget, tightening his cash flow.

"Alright, I'll inform George Lucas."

"Good. And when the contract is signed, let's do it at Industrial Light & Magic. After signing, I'll announce a 15% raise in performance bonuses for all the employees."

(End of this chapter)