Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

"How's the reception for [Action Hero] trailer? Has it crossed 1 million views yet?"

Ava asked as she looked at her assistant. They were currently in a car, going to the airport to attend a meeting in San Francisco. 

She had told her assistant to keep an eye on the trailer. 

"It should cross it by the end of the day. The views are increasing every hour, so it's a good sign. The marketing team for the movie is trying hard to get the music track to go viral by taking help from short video apps. It's catchy, so it's spreading well."

The red haired assistant notified and Ava nodded her head. 

"What about the comments? Are they positive?"

"Mostly positive among the people who have watched it. They are saying that it's a film that they would want to watch with their friends. Feels like the plan to target a young audience is very successful."

"No industry person has talked about it yet, right?"

The assistant shook her head. Currently, [Action Hero] was being regarded as just another indie movie that people won't even know released. 

So, no critic or analysts would talk about it. But with Titan studios already marketing it through their networks, it would soon change. 

For now, they need to keep it slow and hope that the positive reviews continue. 

Looking outside the window, Ava opened her mouth again. 

"Do you think the movie would be a hit?"

It was not the tone of a boss speaking and she just wanted her assistant to genuinely answer. 

The red haired assistant also noticed this and with some hesitation, she replied. 

"It's hard to say but one thing is sure it's not a sure hit. It's unconventional and I think that's what would help it stand out. Personally, I watched it that day and I liked it."

She ended her words there and silence loomed in the car. It was clearly hard to predict anything about [Action Hero]. 

They would need to fill up seats and hope that the word of mouth spreads. 

'She truly wants it to succeed.'

The red haired assistant thought and thinking of something, she opened her phone and logged into her gossip website 'Zenya'. 

It was one of the most popular celebrity gossip websites around the world and the assistant had been running it since her early college days. 

Even the niche Hollywood movie would have some sort of discussion here and scrolling down a bit, she found a discussion on [Action Hero]. 

A few comments were there. Not a lot but enough to make it feel like there was some interest in the movie. 

[Give me Ragnarok: Did anyone see the trailer? It looked awesome. Made me feel like I'm back in the 80s and not in a bad way.]

[Kanye's tweets: Yeah, I was talking with my girlfriend about it, telling her how it seems like a manly movie for once. Not some oversaturated genre of movie about a bald dude and his family fetish. Sadly, she refused to watch it with me. My homies agreed though.]

[Least funny female comedian: I loved the action. Can't say much about the story. Seems like just a flick that one would watch after shutting off the brain.]

[Toxic superhero nerd: I think that's why it appealed to me. Seems like I could go in and just have an hour of fun. Though, I would have loved to watch it on the streaming platform on my couch.]

[Gangster House Husband: Same. I don't know if the movie would give me a cinematic experience. I don't think it uses much VFX and it's hard for any movie to do that without it.]

[Playing a walking simulator: I'm going. Feels like I will get seats easily and it seems like a movie I could watch with friends.]

Reading the tweets, the red haired assistant felt like the response was positive. At least a few people were talking about going to the theatres to see it but the post hadn't been seen by a lot of people. 

That's why, she pinned it on the website, so that everyone would see it first thing. The website sometimes does that for anticipated big budget movies, so people could discuss it at one place. 

But this time, she felt like she could do a secret favor to the movie. 

***

"The atmosphere seems very… heavy."

A guy with drooping eyes as he looked around the room. Every gaze of his was slow like he was afraid of disturbing anyone. 

"It's always been heavy since we took this project. Some people told me that it's the worst project they have worked on by a mile. Their whole job has just become repetitive due to that crazy witch."

The last word was said in almost a whisper by the female colleague sitting next to the man. It was like she was afraid of the 'witch' hearing her. 

Both of them were employees from United Pictures. The female colleague was from the marketing team and these days, she felt like they were living in hell. 

"What's her problem anyway?"

The drooping eyed guy asked. 

"She's just salty. Apparently, she and Aiden Silvereye had some issues. I don't know what. No one knows but as soon as she got funding and support due to her boy to— I mean boyfriend, she made it her goal to take revenge. So, she's going off in every other interview, talking about Aiden indirectly. I heard she's on substance these days too, making her more crazy. She's ruining every single one of our marketing plans."

Because of Florence, the marketing team was extremely busy trying to cover what she was spouting from her mouth. 

It was almost like she had lost herself. 

"How many people threatened to resign?"

"Three. One of the interns almost cried because that witch didn't like the coffee she made."

"I honestly feel bad for Aiden with all this. I don't even know what he did."

The guy said and the girl shook her head, not knowing what to say. Even if Aiden was really at fault here, she would still support him due to how horrible Florence acted. 

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and Florence walked in. The atmosphere freezed like everyone had seen a ghost. 

A scary bitchy ghost. 

Most people just kept their heads low and focused on their computers. With the corner of their eye, they kept a watch on Florence's expression. It didn't look good. 

"Why did no one tell me that [Action Hero] is releasing a week before us. I thought we were releasing in an obsolete period."

She shouted out and the employees looked at each other. One of the braver ones stood up to answer her questions. 

"Because it's an indie movie. Titan studios recently picked it up but even they are not sure of it doing well. It has minimum screens and less promotions. We disregarded it."

A smile crept on her lips hearing that. She clearly hated Aiden for being happy on this news. 

But she didn't drop the topic yet. 

"How was the trailer received? It looked bad to me."

"Mostly mixed. I heard they are aiming for young people. I have not been too invested in this."

The same man replied and Florence's smile just grew. 

"Okay, then our plans are going to shift a bit. I will inform you all after having a meeting with the investors and distributors."

The room's temperature dropped immediately. 

More trouble was going to come to the poor employees. 

***

"That fucking crazy bitch."

Omar rushed into the marketing room cursing wildly. Aiden and Asano who were going through comments looked at him with the other employees. 

They waited till he had calmed down a bit to ask what was going on. 

"What happened?"

"[Stars on the Ground] is now releasing on the same day as us."

"What??"

Both Asano and Aiden were confused and shocked hearing that. A few marketing employees also immediately got to work, trying to see if it was actual news. 

One of them opened his mouth. 

"Yeah, they just announced it on their social media handle. I don't know why they did it."

"Probably because she hates me." Aiden frowned. "I won't be surprised if she has some dolls of me with stab marks going by her obsession with me."

"What are we going to do now? Our whole plan of getting to breakeven in the first week is in the drain suddenly."

Asano asked, still being calm in this situation. He had icey nerves and it was clearly showing. 

"I don't really know. We can't move our release date. If [Stars on the Ground] got momentum, we won't be able to break it."

Omar stomped his fist on the table. Aiden took a deep breath. 

"The only option is to clash head on. Either we lose or we win. No two ways about it now."

"It's not a battle." Asano said. 

"It is to her and I'm tired of being silent. If she wants to provoke me, she needs to bear the consequences."

Aiden said with a conviction in his voice. 

He had chosen [Action Hero] because of the innovative script and his trust of Asano. He wouldn't choose it if he felt like it won't do good business at the box office. 

If he had felt that, he would have gone for a streaming movie. 

Before studying acting, Aiden had started studying the market. He was extremely sure of the movie doing well. 

It was to be seen if his thoughts would become reality.