A $1.8 billion global box office.
That was the number. It was a number that Zane, as a man from the future, simply could not ignore. Now that the opportunity to buy a piece of Titanic had fallen into his lap, he would be a fool to let it slip away.
But wait, his inner analyst warned. What about the fallout?
Acquiring a massive piece of the profits that were supposed to belong to 20th Century Fox and Paramount would make him enemies. Two of the biggest, baddest enemies you could possibly make in Hollywood.
Zane leaned back in his chair and... smiled.
So what?
He was already in bed with Paramount on five other films. They were his "allies." They needed him for those distribution deals as much as he needed them. More importantly, he knew they had ambitions to one day acquire his entire, rapidly growing company. You don't crush a company you're planning to buy. They wouldn't move against him, not in a way that mattered.
That left Fox.
Zane's smile widened. Fox.
He knew, thanks to Kevin Fitch's report, that Fox held the rights to the X-Men. He held the rights to Spider-Man. A conflict between them wasn't a risk; it was an unavoidable, 100% guarantee. He was going to offend them eventually, so why not do it now and get paid $1.8 billion for the trouble?
"You can't have a career in this town without making enemies," he said to the empty room. "You may be a major studio, but I'm not afraid of you."
The next day, the games began.
The first meeting, naturally, was with Paramount. They were allies, after all. The atmosphere was professional, almost friendly, but the tension was thick.
"Victor," said Dave Lehman, a seasoned Paramount exec from their production department. He leaned back, his face a stern, unreadable mask. "Paramount holds a 38% stake in this... project. We are willing to sell a portion. But, given the circumstances, you'll have to pay above the current market value."
Victor, who had been trained by the best, gave a short, almost sad laugh. "Sir, I must disagree with that assessment."
Above market value? Victor thought. Not a chance.
The whole industry had rated Titanic as a B+ "money pit." Everyone knew it was a guaranteed loss. When a movie is seen as a loser, the standard practice is to sell your shares at a discount, not a premium.
Paramount was being blatant. They were trying to use their "ally" status to take advantage of the new kid in town.
Victor knew his boss. He wasn't going to concede a single, valuable inch. The first day of talks ended with Paramount willing to sell 13% of their stake.
It was a start, but it was nowhere near enough to satisfy Zane's appetite.
The meeting at 20th Century Fox, however, was not a negotiation. It was a mugging.
"Impossible!" Victor finally snapped, his voice echoing in the sterile conference room. "Your asking price is completely unreasonable!"
The Fox negotiator just smiled, a thin, reptilian expression.
"You're asking for $70 million for a 20% share!" Victor said, his anger rising. "That's $20 million above the cost to even make it, and $30 million above what the market says the film is actually worth! Even if you're trying to exploit us, this is just... this is too much!"
Fox was being utterly predatory. While Paramount had been high-handed, their other deals with Zane at least kept them in a negotiable range. Fox, with no such relationship, was just going for the kill.
"Too expensive? Then don't buy it," the Fox negotiator said with a breezy, insulting laugh. "Hey, don't get upset, Victor. Let's keep talking. If it's too much for you, why don't you go... consult your boss? See what Mr. Blackwood thinks?"
The insult was clear: Go run along and get permission from the real boss, little man.
Victor took a deep breath, his smile bitter. "You... you're really something else."
The negotiations dragged on for two agonizing days. The positions were clear: the studios were willing to sell, and Zane was willing to buy. But the real fight wasn't about the price.
It was about the profits.
"No, no, no," the Paramount rep said, shaking his head. "For the Titanic project, Wald Pictures can only participate in the box office."
The Fox rep was even worse. "Is Wald Pictures even eligible to claim profits from copyright and ancillary markets?"
Ancillary. That was the magic word. DVDs, TV broadcast rights, merchandise, soundtracks... in Hollywood, that was the real money. It was often 1.5 times more than the box office.
This wasn't just exploitation. This was bullying. They were limiting Zane to only the box office. They were treating him like a fool.
"I'm warning you," Victor finally said, his voice cold. "Don't push me to walk away. If anyone else wants to buy, let them. Wald Pictures is out. Goodbye."
He reported the situation to Zane, expecting his boss to explode.
Zane was furious. But it was a cold, calculating fury.
"They're treating me like an amateur," Zane said, his voice quiet. "Even investors from India or Korea get a share of the ancillary rights! And they're 'outsiders'! They're telling me that I, an insider, have fewer rights than they do? They take me for a fool."
"Boss, let's just keep negotiating," Victor said, trying to calm him. "They'll have to compromise. They're just bullying us because they can."
Zane nodded, staring out the window. Then, a slow, dangerous smile spread across his face.
"What?" Victor asked, his boss's smile suddenly making him nervous.
"Victor," Zane said, turning around. "What happens if the media finds out we're trying to buy into Titanic?"
Victor was taken aback. "Huh? Well... they'll mock you, boss. They'll ridicule us. They'll say we're insane."
"Exactly!" Zane beamed. "Think about it! The whole market is negative. The media is skeptical, the theaters are uninterested, the critics are dismissive. Titanic is the biggest, most expensive laughingstock in Hollywood history."
He leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with a cunning light.
"What if," he said, "the media finds out that I, the 'kid with too much money,' am trying to buy a huge piece of this 'guaranteed failure'? They won't just mock me; they'll seize the opportunity. They'll use the ugliest words imaginable. They'll paint me as the biggest sucker in the world."
Victor's eyes went wide as he saw the plan. "Boss... you want to... under all that media pressure, we'd be 'forced' to walk away. That would scare Fox and Paramount. They'd think their only buyer—their only 'sucker'—is getting cold feet. They'd be forced to drop their demands and speed up the deal."
Zane just smiled, a charming, ruthless expression.
"Media mockery? Let them mock. I have thick skin. Who's afraid of a little ridicule when there's $1.8 billion on the line?"
------------------------------------------------------------------
(New Membership Option)
Check My New Story : Dimensional Chat Group: Surviving Stranger Things
Huge Content: Read 350+ chapters ahead.+ Access to all my Fanfics Chapters.
Link: https://www.patreon.com/c/kapa69
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter.
Discount code : 03C64