On March 1, 1998, a bunch of reporters gathered at the UPN Television Network.
WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and UPN were about to sign a big contract.
The contract said:
For the next six years, UPN would be the only TV channel to show all WWE wrestling events.
UPN would pay $9 million in the first year, and then pay 10% more each year after that.
UPN would also own half of the image rights for the WWE wrestlers.
This was a big deal, so there were a lot of reporters there, over 30 of them. UPN wasn't a small, unknown channel anymore. With huge hits like "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "America's Got Talent," it was now one of the most important TV networks in America.
On the stage were the two bosses: Vince McMahon (the president of WWE) and Donna Langley (the president of UPN).
"Hello, Ms. Donna!" a reporter asked. "UPN is already a top-ten TV network. Why did you decide to work with WWE?"
Donna just laughed, a smart, friendly laugh. "Hello! Even though UPN is doing great, that doesn't mean we'll stop trying new things."
She smiled. "This is our first big partnership with an outside company, and it's very important to us. We think WWE is a very good show. And," she added, "I want to tell all the other creative people out there: if you have an amazing idea, UPN is always willing to give you a chance!"
The reporters then asked Donna a bunch of other questions. Some were nice, some were mean, and some were tricky. But Donna handled them all perfectly. She was smart and funny and never got scared. After all, Zane knew that in the future, she would become the president of Universal Pictures, one of the "Big Six" movie studios!
Of course, the reporters also asked the other boss, Vince McMahon, a lot of questions.
"It is a great honor for me to work with UPN," Vince said, and his voice was very serious.
Was he just saying it was an honor? No, he meant it!
WWE was a big company that had been around since 1954. In the future, it would be a giant company worth $7 billion.
But... that was the future. Right now, WWE was just one of many entertainment shows. And it wasn't even a real sport; it was "sports entertainment." All the matches were scripted, like an action movie.
So, even at its best, it wasn't as popular as real sports like football or basketball.
And right now, WWE had a huge competitor: another wrestling company called WCW.
Both companies had their shows on Monday nights, and they were in a huge fight called the "Monday Night War." They were trying everything to beat each other.
The big TV stations, like NBC and ABC, wouldn't show WWE. They thought it was silly. WWE could only get its show on small, local TV stations.
So, getting a deal with a real, national network like UPN? Vince McMahon wasn't just happy. He was ecstatic!
He was so happy that he even offered to sell some of his own WWE shares to Donna, just to make sure the deal was strong.
...
When Zane heard about this, he just laughed. "Haha! Free money is being delivered right to our door! Of course we'll take it."
But he also knew he could get a better deal. "Tell Vince that 10% isn't enough," Zane said. "Tell him I want at least 35%."
It was a tough move! In the end, Vince had to grit his teeth and agree. After some more talking, Zane bought 20% of the entire WWE company for only $20 million.
That's right! Today, WWE was only worth about $100 million. It was nothing compared to the $7 billion it would be worth in the future.
Zane knew he had just found another amazing, moneymaking opportunity.
He was already worth almost $2 billion, so he didn't even care that much about the money. He just loved the feeling of finding these amazing deals. It was so much fun!
...
On March 2nd, the casting for the movie 300 Spartans officially began.
Hundreds of actors and actresses came to try out: Matt Damon, Joaquin Phoenix, Viggo Mortensen (who would be Aragorn in Lord of the Rings), Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie... all of them.
They all wanted to be in Zane's new movie.
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