May 27.
All business related to the Titanic campaign was handled with mild procedures and without delving too deeply into behind-the-scenes matters—no urgency, and perhaps with a sense of calm. Billy looked up, ready to embark on a grand journey across the United States. Five locations, and a few trips to England, to give his approval to the old country, which carried a different kind of weight. Monica prepared a bright blue tie for him, matched with a dark, sober blue suit, a white shirt, and brown dress shoes.
He wore hair gel, sitting in front of the Wachowski brothers, and without wasting time, handed them a financial statement with the sole purpose of sparking that eternal desire in people, so that the filming of The Matrix would begin on June 20th, sixteen days after Titanic. And although he knew much of the work was already underway, it was necessary to reassure the Wachowskis of the certainty of a project that was, without a doubt, one of the most ambitious endeavors of all time.
Both observed Billy's demeanor with their chins resting heavily. The first disbursement was for $30 million, which was used to purchase everything needed on set. But Billy went ahead and leased a small production studio in Sydney, which he now felt like buying for a future animated project—aiming to expand his long-standing streaming platform, one that would last fifty years if handled carefully.
-So what I have to say now is that we need to succeed with this trilogy. –Billy said, shaking hands with both directors. As surprising as it was, it was thanks to Billy's preliminary work with the brothers that the trilogy took shape, along with a pending comic between humanity and the war with machines, and how everything ultimately unfolded—the selection of many "Chosen Ones" and the grotesque reproductive details characteristic of another era.
The film was self-contained. The original ending showed Neo waking up in the "real world" and calling the machines from a payphone, announcing he would free humanity. It was ambiguous and left room for sequels, but no concrete plans existed. So Billy wove in different ideas and perspectives—exploring why each world existed the way it did, when machines used humanity as electric currents for sustenance—a true annihilation of mankind that turned people into prey.
-John is practicing the bullet-time technique. –Andy Wachowski mentioned. The only issue was the training—he needed at least three months to pull off the stunts he had in mind.
-My body is reaching optimal training levels, but some of these stunts are hard to pull off. We'll need to bring in a stunt double to help with certain scenes. –Billy added, while trying to offer his approval on the choreography and action sequences, which seemed to exceed the standard ambitions, existing in a kind of cyclical story with no clear idea.
-Just keep training. We'll shoot the first movie, and allow a six-month gap before the next three. We hope to release everything by the end of next year. You need to get your physique to bodybuilder levels. –Andy advised.
No,w seeing that the additional $70 million budget was hovering around $100 million, they were preparing to plan out all the scenes.
Billy's physique had improved drastically compared to two months prior. The diet seemed to be working exceptionally well, and he also appeared to have grown. The transition from youth to adulthood was showing good signs—maybe in the next six months, the action scenes would be easier to perform.
-The actress being recommended? –Billy asked, referring to the role. Casting Carrie-Anne Moss was due to Larry Wachowski's keen eye.
-She's excellent and is undergoing strict training with Karate instructors. When you come to Australia, you'll need to follow a rigorous training regime… Boxing won't do much, but it'll help a bit, at least to get a sense of capoeira.–
***
For over 20 years, Raimon had known all too well that when you want something, you need to look at it closely for a few days, decide if it's really what you want, and take it without anyone noticing. When people know what they want, it often breeds jealousy, envy, and a widespread unease referred to as hatred by consensus, where one person has a lot, and another has very little. That's what his mind had learned through years of collecting comics.
-Then we need to hold off on our positions until the right moment. –commented Chase Coleman of Tiger Cubs, a real estate investment fund under Julian Robertson's control, who had, for many years, been aligned with the idea of simply being someone.
-How many puts do you have in the Thai gaming market? –Raimon asked, after handing over an enormous sum to Chase Coleman.
-Almost 300 million, aimed for August, in Thai equities. We'll go short starting July 1st through the end of August—Indonesia on August 10th—and finish off with bank puts and the SET index, leveraged. –Chase Coleman replied, seeing from all angles how not only he was capitalizing on the assault, but George Soros was also entering tentatively, and several European firms were already spreading rumors. But the situation was clear: pressure from foreign debt and real estate problems.
The SET index, purchased at 500, would fall to 200 points—that's when they'd sell and reuse the money in Hong Kong and Korea for October and November.
-Come, I'll introduce you to the Thai market. Some women are willing to do what you want and how you want it. –Chase said.
-I need to review the loans.–Raimon replied with a smile. He had to negotiate the acquisition of Lotus, or at least Lamborghini, from its current holders, to enter the automotive market. Who would have thought? And the reasoning behind it would be frankly warped and unknown. Without wasting time, the Detroit land plan was already underway, aiming to turn his advantage into a series of truly profitable deals—still hanging by a thread, handing over state power, with zero taxes and thousands of incentives that seemed both ridiculous and unstoppable
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