Chapter 176 Ready for Battle
<Aiden Silvereye and Katie Brooks spotted together outside a theatre. Is this the start of a new couple in Hollywood?
-Jks magazine.>
<[30 days of Happiness] earned 7.7 million dollars on its fourth day. The movie is becoming a new rage among the public and is now at the third spot in the North American box office rankings. At the same time, there are rumors of the lead couple in the movie to be dating.
-Hollywood Love.>
<Old interview clips of Katie Brooks coming out. She had once talked about her relationship with Aiden Silvereye and how they know each other from their time of being struggling actors.
-The Box.>
<[Leap in the Sky] heading towards becoming another flop from Night Hawk studios. Theater occupancy went from 68 percent to 46 percent on the fourth day. The films struggling with a bad plot and its clash with a better rom com movie.
-The Point.>
<The success of [30 days of Happiness] and failure of [Leap in the Sky] implies that audience wants to see good stories instead of stars and in this era, small movies only need good scripts and performances.
-Hollywood Weekly.>
These types of articles were coming in everyday since the release of the movie. They increased after Katie and Aiden were spotted together.
Even if they didn't say it, the media was already making them as a couple and the effect was great.
It was to the point where Wade was joking around that he and Katie should really become a couple, so that he could enjoy the popularity that would come through the relationship. In the past, a lot of Hollywood actors had become a couple and that had just increased their popularity.
They would go on to do ads together and the media and people would be crazy about them.
From here, the term 'Power couple' has been generated.
Sadly, Aiden had no interest in it and Katie wasn't really his type in the first place. He saw her as a good friend and nothing more.
On the other hand, as Eternal life movies was celebrating, Night Hawk studios had the atmosphere of a funeral. No one in the office was talking as they were too depressed by the public reaction to their movie.
Everyday, less and less audience were coming to watch their movie, lowering the collections. Even with more than double screens of [30 days of Happiness], they were struggling a lot.
On the first day, it had opened to a decent 7 million dollars but on the second day, the collections had not increased. It stayed around 6.7 million dollars but on the third day, it went straight to 5 million dollars.
On the fourth day, the status was way worse with the movie only being able to earn around 3 million dollars.
Hollywood analysts were already saying that the movie was going to be taken out from the theatres in a week, making it a big disaster in the eyes of people.
Due to the bad reception, theatre chains were already talking about lowering the screens for the movie and giving more screens to [30 days of Happiness]. They were just catering to public demand and thinking of profit, but it was a pretty big blow to Rodrigo.
Sofia told Aiden that in a few days, the screens for [30 days of Happiness] were going to increase.
Even Harold Wood, who had done this movie just for the 15 million dollars payment, was in a bad mood because of it. His movies had been constantly failing and critics were calling him out to reinvent his script choices and acting.
Even his fanbase seemed to have grown up, not wanting to see him in a high school rom com. But with a disaster flop, it was going to be pretty hard for him to get his next role.
Unless he lowers his fees.
As all this was happening, Aiden's fan base was pretty much in an uproar. Even they did not expect that the movie was going to be this good. A lot of them were already recommending it to their family and friends.
[Shota hater: I finally watched [30 days of Happiness]. Felt like the middle part of the movie was pretty slow but overall, it was really great. Especially the last scene. Man, Aiden should get his own concert.]
[The guy under your bed: He should get one. I would buy tickets no matter how expensive they are. The songs in the movie completely mesmerised me. I even ordered the soundtrack album straight after the movie.]
[Avacadorable: Is it only me who liked Claire and other characters more in the movie? Arthur seemed like another wimpy protagonist getting his courage after going through events. I understand it's coming of age but I expected more. Music was the part that saved the movie for me.]
[Sleepy Bee: Well, one can't expect every movie to be different and unique. A movie needs to entertain and I was entertained and entranced by it. Would probably watch it again once it comes on streaming platforms. I really wonder if Aiden and Katie are actually dating.]
As the people in the group were talking, the group leader 'Skyneves' suddenly posted a short clip and the link to a review.
[Skyneves: Guys, check it out. I found something interesting. Go through that clip and then read that review.]
When the group members clicked the link, they were directed to a short video posted on Skygram. It seemed to be from a press conference for [30 days of Happiness].
In the clip, they saw a reporter asking a very rude question to Katie and then Aiden defending her and calling the reporter rude straightforwardly.
The clip was pretty short but the visual quality and audio quality was pretty good, so everyone was able to get the context. Whoever watched the clip felt that the reporter was very judgemental and was asking absurd questions, thinking that he could just ask anything.
They felt very angry towards him.
The way Aiden defended Katie made them feel good and appreciate him. At the same time, some people thought that he was being a protective boyfriend due to the rumours of both of them dating.
After watching the clip, they clicked on the second link which was a review. Apparently, it was from the same reporter/critic.
It was a review posted in Vanity Magazine and most of them already knew how big of a magazine it was.
But when they read the whole review, they felt that it was too harsh.
The review talked about how the movie lacked in cinematography and the soundtrack was pretty average with bad performances and even advised Aiden to not venture into acting.
Reading the review, everyone was able to tell that the review was by the same critic who had been humiliated by Aiden after asking a rude question.
[Skyneves: As you see, this review is a joke. The critic has surely made it harsh because of the humiliation he got from Aiden. This is simply unfair when he was in the wrong in the first place. We should fight back against it as this guy is from a big magazine. We can't let them just get away with anything.]
[Chad Putin: I agree. These types of people should be dragged publicly for an exec— I mean a trial. Anyway, my fellow fan group members. Let us raise our voices against injustice.]
[Moaning Frodo: Yeah, let's fight back. Does anyone know where to get a gun and give me the address? I feel like I could do this alone.]
[Reporter Huff: I think we could do that without any blood. Don't forget Gandhi's teachings.]
[Hollywood Insider: I'm going to enjoy this with some chips and beers. #LookingForEntertainment]
***
At the same time, in Rodrigo's office, he was on a call with Harold Wood's agency. Harold belonged to SGA, one of the biggest agencies in Hollywood.
He had a frustrated expression on him and even veins could be seen on his neck. At the same time, he was sweating a lot.
"Look, you can't expect me to take the losses myself. I lost too much because this movie isn't working out. We sold it entirely on Harold's stardom but you know the results."
Rodrigo said and the agent that he was talking to just shook his head.
"We can't do anything about it. Harold's job was only acting and it's not on the contract either. He already did whatever was in his contract."
"He did a shit job at acting. That's why, the movie is flopping so hard." Rodrigo raised his voice. "Do you know how much losses am I going to get from this? The investors are going to suck my blood dry."
"I know you are in a tough spot but the streaming rights and the soundtrack would cover it—"
"It won't cover shit!"
Rodrigo shouted. Even streaming platforms were choosy about which movie gets on their app. Even if they want a bigger libraby, most of them want to be known by their quality and not quantity.
Moreover, even if he go for a deal with them, it won't pay as much money he needed.
"Look, I need SGA to help me out with this. Think from a long term benefit. You all should help me out this time as Harold is responsible for the movie flopping."
"He's not."
"Haven't you read the reviews, you crazy fucker?!"
He cursed, unable to stop himself. Hollywood was a pretty stressful place because in just a couple of months, million turns into nothing.
For the next half an hour, Rodrigo was on the call with the agent from SGA but nothing come out of it. The agency didn't wanted anything to do with Night Hawk studios or Rodrigo.
He can't do anything legally, so Rodrigo was only left cussing.
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