(I was in the hospital, and even need to have a surgery. I felt the need to rest first before continuing the series. It's been two month since I posted here, I apologize for those who're waiting.)
[Hyde POV]
It would take too long for me to build the Cineplex. Mostly because I needed to create exit pathways, merge two floors into one giant auditorium, and a lot more structural changes.
Therefore, while I waited for that, I decided to use the platforms I had ordered, and also the chairs which came too early to good use.
"I'm buying this whole building." I told Gary, my realtor. We were standing facing the closed down place.
It was a tiny strip mall with plenty of parking and a nice enough distance to the town. The windows were covered with plywood. The paint was all dingy.
It was only ten minutes from the Forman's house. Thirty if we walked.
Gary blinked at me, surprised. "The whole building?"
"Yeah." I said simply. "How fast can we close?"
By the next morning, I had the keys. I bought the place for only 190 thousand dollars.
The place smelled like dust and wet dogs. The previous tenants had already cleared out, leaving behind nothing but empty walls and cracked tiles.
I stood in the middle of the space, hands in my pockets, looking around.
'Four halls.'
It has four stores, which I could easily modify to become theater halls.
There were a lot of old theaters that had flat surface seating, not tiered seating like an auditorium, in small towns in the Midwest.
I already had the seats. I already had the platforms. All I needed was to turn this into something usable.
"Alright." I muttered. "Let's not waste time."
I activated Build Mode. I already had most of the stuff inside my system storage.
"I have 100 Rating points. I can use 20 Build Mode for this. I can surely finish this by myself… but I wouldn't."
I borrowed the tools from the construction company. Hammer drill, concrete mixer, and so on.
The world shifted slightly. The empty space in front of me broke down into lines and measurements, like a blueprint overlaying reality.
I marked out the divisions first.
The largest hall went to the left. The center two were smaller, tighter. The last one sat at the far end, tucked away but still accessible.
Four rectangles. Then I started building. Mostly I made sure the walls were insulated to ensure the sounds didn't bleed into each other.
So from the 4-inch thick shared walls, I made them almost 20 inches thick with soundproofing materials.
The prefab platforms snapped into place first. This was made in China, and it was really easy to install.
Metal frames locked together with sharp, mechanical clicks. Wooden boards followed, forming the tiered steps row by row. It rose steadily from the ground, each level calculated for clear sightlines.
But, I had to put stairs at the entrance, so people needed to climb up and then climb back down to find their seats. Sort of like a bleacher situation.
Within minutes, the flat floor had turned into a proper auditorium. Luckily, they had enough ceiling space here.
"Damn…" I exhaled quietly. I wasn't even finished with one Build Mode. In fact, everything took me less than 30 minutes.
"When I prepare the tools and materials properly, Build Mode efficiency is scarily fast."
I used bamboo charcoal wood veneer on the walls to finish it up, and then LED strip lights underneath for class.
Then, I installed the speakers around the walls. Everything was connected to the projection booth at the end of the seats.
"I'll need to test out the projector."
I tested it out by screening The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on the painted white wall. I was still waiting for the screen to arrive.
Sound mattered more than looks at this moment. I installed a microphone in the other room to ensure the sound didn't bleed and tested out the movie.
I ran my hand across the wall and nodded slightly after checking all of the audio.
"No bleeding." I smiled in satisfaction.
Next came the seating, also from China. I bought one thousand of those chairs, priced at 120 bucks per chair. It was made for cinema, complete with numbers and cupholders too.
People could even lean backward slightly on these chairs.
It was just like playing a game. I arranged the chairs neatly in the first hall.
Ten chairs per row. The maximum I could put into it was 150 chairs.
"Oh damn it. I didn't account for how big this chair is."
The 350-chair hall could only fit 150 chairs.
Rows filled up quickly. I could only fit 600 seats in all four theaters.
"I made a huge blunder here. But this is good enough, since this place is temporary."
The chairs would be brought over to the cineplex. Or maybe I'd keep them inside the place.
"Lastly, air conditioning, and the wiring."
That took me only 5000 dollars. A lot of old theaters didn't even have air-conditioning. This would get people to come to my place especially in the summer.
It took me only 3 hours to finish four theater halls. That's 3 Build Mode.
"Wait." I suddenly realized something.
"Why am I doing this here… when I can just make the changes in the Cineplex easily with the same amount of Build Mode I use here?"
I I sighed, lamenting the fact that already hired a team of professional contractors there, so I missed out on the opportunity to do that.
…
"Hyde. Did you hear? A movie theater is opening in town." Eric said excitedly at breakfast.
"I heard." I said casually.
"Really?" Red asked with furrowed brows. "They aren't going to play dirty, degenerate movies on their screen, do they?"
"Red. I think it's very good. Especially for the town. Now, kids didn't have to go all the way to Sheboygan to watch movies. You know how those people are."
Mrs Forman said calmly while showing disdain to the Sheboygan people.
Sheboygan has a few nightclubs, roller rink, disco, and more. It wasn't that bad, but since Red and Kitty were highly conservative, they disliked the place since they thought it was ruining the youth in the country.
Bob came to the kitchen while we were still eating.
"Hey there. Hi there. Ho there." Bob greeted us happily. "Red, did you hear about the movie theater? The town is finally rising up."
"Rising up?" I was confused.
Red grimaced and said to Bob, "Too much isn't a good thing, Bob."
"Hey, we can deal with having a little bit more. Let's just hope it won't get closed down in a few weeks." Bob said seriously. "Like the one in the 60s."
"There's a movie theater here in the 60s?" I asked again.
Bob said seriously, "Yes. But it showed an X-rated movie. People got mad and burned it down." He patted my shoulder and said, "Hopefully, this one can survive longer."
I swallowed my eggs and looked around warily.
While I was taking a break from shooting the movie scene, I heard some conversation from the townspeople about the new cinema.
I thought of sending out flyers, but it might not be necessary.
People were pretty excited about having their own screens.
The same night, I hired a concession stand worker, projector operators, technical manager, and two cleaners to take care of this theater hall.
I did it after I finished the filming session at school so it was almost 8 pm now.
"I didn't even know this town had something like this." Emily, the concession stand worker with blonde hair and cute dimples asked with confusion.
I smiled and said, "The owner went bankrupt before they could open it. So it's been abandoned for a long time."
"Ah." She accepted the explanation easily. She held the yellow vest and said, "So we can wear whatever as long as we wear the vest?"
"Yes. Although I highly recommend wearing something black." I told her casually.
The popcorn machine, the soda machine, everything was bought in 1977, not in the future.
Since I need to only contact one company to get all of the machines, supplies and also servicing, I took advantage of it since it was quite cheap anyway.
"There will be a screening of Texas Chainsaw Massacre tonight at 9. Sort of a grand opening event for this cinema. I already spread the word in town by giving out fliers." I told the workers.
"So, this will be a trial by fire sort of thing. Two people will handle ticketing, two people on the concession stand, and technicians should be on standby."
I clapped slightly and said, "We can open the door now."
I managed to get the cinema signboard that showed screening for cheap in a second hand store. I even had the word 'Cinema' in neon red light to attract people to come to the strip mall.
'I actually have a couple of empty spaces here, maybe I could talk to vendors about it.'
Usually, people bought their tickets outside the front door. But this place, they had to get in to buy it.
There were quite a lot of people around the place, swarming into the theaters as the door opened.
"Hyde!" Donna greeted me cheerfully. Everyone followed behind her, walking towards me.
"How did you get in so quickly?" Jackie asked with disbelief and annoyance.
"He's like that. His fingerprint is all over this town." Eric said sarcastically.
I nodded and said, "Yeah. I helped here too, with the planning."
"So is there only one movie here? That's disappointing." Fez muttered.
"I know. What even is Texas Chainsaw Massacare?" Kelso laughed.
No one in my friend group ever watched the movie. That made sense since it has limited release, and the lawsuit made it impossible to be put on TV.
"Just go inside and watch it." I took out the tickets and handed them to my friends.
"Sweet! Free tickets!" Eric was exhilarated.
Donna asked, "Don't you have any popcorn coupons or something?"
I grimaced and said, "Popcorn's 75 cents. You can afford that yourselves."
They left me alone to find a good seat since there was still a long line of people trying to get tickets.
I didn't expect the turnout to be like this. It was way outside of my expectations.
"Hi. Welcome to RustBelt Cinema. How many tickets do you want?" The ticketer asked the couple who waited in line.
"Two." They replied giddily.
They looked around 16-17 years old. I stopped them and asked, "Hey. I'm conducting a survey about theater culture. Can I ask what makes you come to this place?"
They were confused at first. The guy then replied, "It's… close?"
"We don't have a car. This is really great. We need to get rides from our parents every time we want to watch a movie." The girl said with exasperation. "Seriously, what took them so long to open a movie theater in this town?!"
I smiled and said, "Okay. I got all I needed. Thank you for your feedback."
They left to buy popcorn. I watched the staff quickly adapt to the job.
Suddenly, I saw Laurie with a sleazy guy. He was kissing her neck. She giggled and hugged him.
"Isn't she dating Kelso?... Whatever." I sniffled and pretended not to see her. My nose was quite stuffed this last couple of days.
I didn't watch the movie, since I already watched it four times in each hall to check the sounds.
At 11 pm, there will be another screening. Some people just bought two tickets at the same time so they didn't need to get out of their seats.
It was wishful thinking though. Since the usher would kick everyone out for the cleaning team.
I called Patty while the movie was going on. I had set up an office behind the concession stand and a lounge area for the workers too.
"Hey. It's me."
"Steven. How are you?" Patty asked cheerfully. "Have you changed your mind yet? I can get you three films for you to edit, right away."
"All that's telling me is that your studio has made a lot of bad decisions." I chuckled.
She laughed and said, "We sure did. I assume that's a no? What can I do for you?"
"I need to get 20th Century Fox to deliver Star Wars to my movie theater. I have 4 screens here. There's a max like 600 seats, so this is a small theater."
Patty went silent for a bit. "I'm sorry." She was frustrated. "You want me to get you 20th Century Fox people?"
"Just the distributor. I can offer my service in exchange if you did this for me. Maybe 1 movie? I'll touch up one movie, as long as you let me talk to the director using a phone call, and he's not around when I'm editing."
"That's hard to do. Directors usually work closely with the editing. But I think I can find directors who've already given up on their works. Hmm, I'll call you tomorrow. I think I can get in touch with the guy tonight."
"I'm going to Paris tomorrow. So you won't be able to reach me for four days. Bruce will help me handle stuff when I'm not around. Just the Star Wars deal. That's it. I want to be the first in the Midwest to show the movie."
The movie was released 2 weeks ago. Usually, Midwest area would get it around 4-5 weeks after the New York and LA release– for limited release movies that depended on word of mouth to grow.
Star Wars was one of the movies.
I needed them to keep my summer slots full. Two theaters screen, just for Star Wars. Once the seats drop to 40%, then I'll change it up.
Once the first movie was over, I made sure to hear people's feedback.
"The sound is insane. It's like the killer is next to me." Donna wasn't thrilled about it.
"I got way too absorbed into the movie. I even forgot to make out with Donna." Eric said with a disgusted expression.
Jackie hugged my arm and said, "Steven. That's movie fucked up. Why are you screening that?"
"It is horror night." I comforted her. "You should watch the next one, Death Race 2000."
Kelso and Fez were pale.
"Fez, you don't think there's a serial killer in this town carrying a chainsaw around, do you?" Kelso asked fearfully.
Fez shook his head and said, "I sure hope not!"
"How about the sound–" I tried to ask, but Fez snapped at me. "Who cares about the sound!? The movie's terrifying."
Fez couldn't even watch The Exorcist. Same with Kelso, who ran away in the middle of the movie. Both of them were scaredy cats.
Jackie made a chainsaw noise behind them, causing both of them to flinch.
"Wreng Wreng Wreng Wreng."
"AH! Jackie!" Kelso snapped. "Don't do that!"
…
The next day, I spoke with the actors before leaving for Paris.
"Shooting will be delayed for 4 days. In the meantime, use the face mask and the face products to make yourself look younger." I said casually.
Donnie asked, "Can my girlfriend use it too?"
"Sure. I have enough." I smiled and agreed easily.
Ophelia grabbed her suitcase and put it in the car trunk. Eric would drive me to Chicago today, since he's still my bitch.
Donna went with him, and asked me while we were on the road, "So where are you staying in Paris?"
"With a friend." I told her casually.
"You have friends in Paris?" Eric was skeptical.
"I hooked up with her once. Then she went to Paris for research." I explained vaguely.
Ophelia looked at me with disbelief. "We're staying with the girl who you hooked up with once, and never called again?"
"She has a nice apartment. I already called ahead and confirmed it with her. We might have sex there, so if you hear anything, just pretend that you don't." I teased her.
It was Austen, Bruce's niece who I hooked up with at the auction. Bruce already called her ahead, and she's even picking me up from the airport.
She's even helping me rent out a classroom for me to shoot Ophelia's montage scenes.
The flight to Paris took 9 hours. I mostly slept in the first class flat bed, only waking up for the meals.
They had lobsters and steak inside the giant 747 plane. It was truly the epitome of classy air travel.
Ophelia slept with a face mask on, and cucumber on her eyes. The flight attendant allowed this since I explained that Ophelia's an actress.
Ophelia also straightened her hair to seem younger.
We arrived in Paris, and the first thing Austen did was to bring me to see the art galleries.
It was nice to see her again. She was calmer here in Paris–less murdery.
At night, we hooked up like wild beasts in the sheets without even talking much with each other.
I followed Ophelia on the streets of Paris with a small camera.
The montage scene was pretty simple. Ophelia walking around the streets, painting something on the stairs of a historical place.
She took a class and slowly adapted to the city.
"That's it." I told Ophelia as I turned off my camera.
"Great. Now, we can actually enjoy this place." She pulled my hand and brought me with her as she sight-see.
The trip went smoothly. Before we knew it, we were already on the plane ride back home.
…
[2 days. 13 hours. 23 minutes.]
'I have two more days before the season starts huh?'
Eric picked me up from the Chicago airport. As I got back to the Forman's house, I crashed out on my bed for a full 14 hours, fighting off the jet lag and the delirium.
I yawned as I went back to the shooting. I shot a lake scene today, where the couple were playing around on the lake.
"I think I can finish this in two days." I smiled tiredly.
Since I already knew what I wanted, the shoot went pretty well.
After today's shooting ended, I overheard Donnie asking his girlfriend to go and see the new Star Wars movie in the theater.
I grinned in satisfaction and stopped by the theater to check the report.
Patty greased the way for me to get the Star Wars print that was in hot demand right now.
I had to pay 10,000 deposit for each print since the studio wants at least two weeks of guaranteed turnout in exchange for it.
It was a standard industry practice. If the location was hot enough, they would usually forgo the deposits.
Not only Donnie, even Eric and Donna went to the movie.
"Hurry up. I need to buy the ticket before it's all gone!" Eric pulled Donna as they went to the ticket counter.
"It's all sold out." The ticketer told him.
"What?!" Eric exclaimed with frustration. "All four halls?!"
"Yup." The ticketer nodded.
"Damn it!" He cursed loudly.
"There's a screening in 4 hours. At midnight." The ticketer told him. "There's 10 tickets left for that timeslot–"
"I want two tickets to that." Eric said quickly. "No, give me five tickets."
Donna turned to him and asked, "Who are you bringing?"
"All the guys." Eric replied casually.
"You've been watching this movie for three days straight. Aren't you bored of it already?" Donna grimaced.
"Donna! Star Wars is the greatest movie of all time!" Eric exclaimed, dissatisfied that his girlfriend couldn't see what he saw.
I checked the numbers for the movie.
It started with only 50% of the audience seat filled for the first screening, but then, it jumped up to 99% of seats filled because the word of mouth was too strong.
Even people from Sheboygan came here to watch the movie.
There's 10 screenings of the film in the last 3 days.
On the first day, it conquered all four halls. The second day too. But today, I had already turned one hall to screen something else. A romantic movie, 'Goodbye Girls'.
The seats in that hall were almost filled too.
From Star Wars alone, I made around 25 thousand. Adding Goodbye Girls and the Texas Chainsaw Massacare, I made around 38 thousand, in just five days.
This is mainly because of the sound, the projector quality, and the comfy seats. Air conditioning also helped a lot.
The concession stand made around 16 thousand. That profit fully went to me.
65% out of the 25 thousand I made from Star Wars went back to 21st Century Fox. That leaves me with 8500 in pure profit. In the first two weeks, they'd get 65% of the cut. Then, it'd go down to 55%.
I also have to give cuts to Texas Chainsaw, Death Race 2000, and Goodbye Girls too.
I was supposed to give a 65% cut to 21st Century Fox, but since I paid the deposit, I didn't have to give them anything until I made enough money to cover that.
'35 thousand in less than a week. Not bad.' I thought secretly.
"This truly is the golden age of cinema."
(Read up to chapter 170 on my patreon.
Patreon.com/relifewithkarmicgacha
P.S. It will also help me with my hospital bills.)