At the Hollywood Theatre, the big premiere for Titanic was starting.
Because the movie was backed by two giant studios (Fox and Paramount) and cost $200 million to make (plus $100 million for ads!), it was the most expensive movie in history. A lot of reporters were there. They weren't excited about the movie, though. They were mostly there to watch a giant train wreck.
"Hey, did you read The Hollywood Reporter this morning?" a reporter named Anticoll asked her friend.
"No," her photographer said. "But if it's about that famous critic, Asim Albert, saying Titanic and its director, Cameron, are terrible, I heard about it."
Anticoll laughed. "He called the movie 'garbage.' He even said that if Titanic is a hit, he'll swim from New York all the way to London!"
Swim across the Atlantic Ocean? Was he crazy?
The photographer shook his head. "These movie critics will say anything just to get attention."
"I know, right?" Anticoll mocked. "And that old man is almost 60. He wouldn't even make it one mile before he drowned."
The two of them laughed, just enjoying the drama.
This fight between the critic (Asim) and the director (Cameron) was very old. It started back in 1984 with the movie The Terminator. The critic had trashed the movie, and Cameron, who was known for his tough, fiery personality, fought back. Cameron won, and the critic had held a grudge against him ever since.
But this time, Cameron was clearly scared. He had even said that if the movie failed, he might as well "slit his wrists with a razor." When people are that terrified, they often get angry and defensive.
That morning, Cameron had fired back at the critic, cursing him out in all the newspapers. He looked red-eyed and ready for a real fight.
...
Around 4 p.m., Zane Blackwood arrived. He brought his new director friends, Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan, with him.
As they walked the red carpet, Zane chatted warmly with Nolan, not really paying attention to all the cameras.
"Nolan," Zane said, "I heard your brother Jonathan sent a script to our studio. Memento, right? Are you planning to shoot that next?"
Zane was the boss, and Nolan was a new guy, so the reporters didn't care much about them. But they all rushed over to Zack Snyder, whose new movie, The Purge, was a big hit. They were all shouting questions at him.
Zane leaned over to Nolan with a friendly laugh. "Yikes. Look at Zack's serious, unsmiling face over there! Let's go ahead without him and get a good seat."
Nolan nodded, and they went inside.
As they walked, they kept talking about Memento. Zane knew all about that movie. He knew it was an amazing script that would become Christopher Nolan's first big, breakthrough hit. It would be made for less than $5 million and would make over $30 million. It was so good, it would even be remade in another country years later (though that version would flop).
Inside, Zane went to find the bosses from Paramount and Fox. Since he was now one of the investors in Titanic, it was only polite to go say hello.
"It's... not looking good," said Hall Amp, the man from Paramount. He had a pained, bitter smile. "Zane, you know how it is. The media and the theaters just aren't very excited. Some people in the test audiences even complained that the movie is way too long."
At three hours and fifteen minutes, it was very long!
John Kiola from Fox chimed in, "We're just hoping for the best. Hey, Zane," he said, laughing a nervous, hollow laugh, "you're not regretting buying a ticket for this sinking ship, are you? Haha, it's too late for regrets now!"
Regret? Zane thought, hiding a smile. You guys are the ones who are going to regret selling me those shares!
But on the outside, he put on his best "worried" face and sighed, acting right along with them. "Oh, man," he said, sounding anxious. "I know! I paid tens of millions for this!"
When they heard how worried he sounded, the two executives immediately looked away, as if they didn't know him. They didn't want to be near him. They were already sad that their companies were stuck with this movie, and they couldn't believe a "fool" like Zane had jumped in, too.
"Hey, Leonardo!"
At that exact moment, Zane spotted Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of the movie. With a bright, charming smile, Zane excused himself from the worried bosses and went over to talk to him.
He had a great idea: he wanted Leo to become a spokesperson for the SpongeBob stores!
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