Hollywood King

The next morning Ian woke up before the redhead. He then spent his time in his workspace at home, working on what was next to come. After spending a couple of hours by himself, he decided to visit Mason at the studio. 

The main reason he wanted to visit Mason was to talk about the profits and box office numbers. As well as the next projects he was thinking of.

As soon as he went to the office, he was welcomed by a happy Mason, who was smiling with a file in his hand.

“Good thing you came, Ian, see these” Mason said. Ian laughed knowing the main reason he came here was to talk about what he saw right in front of him. 

They started reviewing the profit records while talking about the film performance at the box office. Home Alone was on the brink of earning 300 million dollars. 

“The media won’t back up anytime soon. We’re close to 300 million dollars at the North American box office.” Mason said. 

“Yeah, but the box office is going down every day. It's just the media which is helping us.” Ian said and looked over at the file.

Most people had already watched Home Alone, so fewer and fewer people were going to the theatre.

“Hmm… we can't do anything about it. Have you completed the script of your next project? ”

Mason asked with a raised eyebrow. Ian had told him that he was working on some scripts.

“Not yet, but close. I will bring it to you first thing when I’m done with it.” 

“Yeah, good. Here, see this, these articles in newspapers are all about Home Alone. The movie is a miracle!” Mason said and showed Ian different articles that have been written about them.

A lot of media outlets had requested interviews from them and some had even roped in some crew members and actors who had worked in Home Alone to give an interview.

“What are we going to do with all this money? Even after taxes, we will have a lot. The next movie won’t need that much, and I was thinking of improving the company and buying some equipment."

Mason asked out of the blue. The thought of what he had to do with the money, has been walking in his mind for quite some time. 

"Yeah, we need new equipment as well as a better working place. Moreover, we need to get new employees because the work will just increase from now on. I have lots of plans for Renner films."

Mason nodded at that. Those were the primary things that needed to be done.

“I’ve been thinking that, too. It’s been so long since we renovated. I think we can do both, renovate and buy new equipment.” 

“Yeah, alright. But, we will need a new crew, too. I was going to have a  talk with John about it.” Ian said while Mason nodded in reply happily.

The crew John provided had worked day and night in Home Alone. Ian was already used to them.

“Yeah, I will give out an application that we are looking for more employees. And call an architect for the renovation."

They talked about all sorts of stuff for a long time. In the end, Ian talked about his meeting with Jackson.

“Oh, and Jackson Corealla, the CEO of Cube Pictures, we actually had a conversation the other day at the party about selling the overseas rights of Home Alone,”

An ‘oh’ escaped Mason’s lips as he listened.“So, we scheduled a meeting to talk about it.” 

“Cube Pictures… It is a very good deal. They are one of the four big studios in Hollywood. Well done, Ian,” Mason said and smiled. Pride was clearly written on his face. 

Renner films weren't able to co-operate with any big studios before. But now, they were in talks with a top studio.

“Thanks, uncle.”

-

Home Alone was doing so well in the box office. Although the numbers were going down since the majority had watched it, the hype and love for Home Alone remained the same. Using this, The Actus Books marketed Resident Evil by utilizing his name and new-found fame, attracting many movie and book lovers. 

At first, the majority of the readers who knew Ian were, had doubts as to how he would create a Zombie based story. Regardless, they knew the children’s comedy genre is one he was comfortable in, but an action horror… No. 

It has been two weeks since they started marketing. Even during editing, Actus Books had a huge banner in front of their publishing firm, which had an amazing description of Resident Evil. They decided to start marketing the book early, because the entire panel of the marketing team trusted it was a one-time opportunity for their publishing firm. 

The very first day they hung up the banner and went on a marketing campaign in social media, both movie fans and loyal readers, wanted to know more about Resident Evil. 

Fans of Home Alone highly suspected that it wouldn’t be a good book as they pretended it to be because they doubted what Ian was capable of. 

M.J. Stevens on the other hand, who got into editing has been doing quite a good job. It was almost as if he didn’t wanted to change anything other than minor grammatical errors. He edited Resident Evil in a matter of one month. Normally, it takes more than two months for a busy editor like him to complete editing the whole story. 

“I became the very first loyal fan of your work during the very start of editing. Have you got any plans for the next book?” At one point when they were discussing matters, Stevens asked Ian which made him answer honestly. 

“I have plans, yes. But I won’t start to write anytime sooner, it’ll probably be after my next movie or during that. But, thank you,” He smiled genuinely. 

The next day, Ian got invited to Actus Books to review the book cover made by their chief graphic designer. Troy Bailey, who was 37 years of age. He was requested to make the best cover of his life. It was a request from M.J. Stevens when they met, which was a first during his career in Actus Books. 

“This is the plot of Resident Evil. I want you to put extra focus into making this. Trust me, it’s going to be a huge hit and the cover should be catchy. You can do what you are skilled. But make sure to catch the attention of the targeted audience, this should be the best cover you’ll ever make.” 

He stated firmly while making sure to not disappoint the author of the book. Besides that, he trusted his employee who never disappointed in any of the works he did.  After spending a couple of sleepless nights, Troy made three covers which he felt satisfied with.

“Take a look at this and this. Suggestions are always welcome,” He smiled and indicated toward the computer screen. “It looks better on paper, trust me,” He added a few more words. 

Out of the two, the one on the left caught Ian’s eyes as quickly as he saw it. Red, blue and black fitted the theme of survival horror and adventure. The words were written perfectly matched to the background picture, which was of a woman holding a gun. It was quite catchy and Ian had no adjustments to make in his first inspection of the cover. 

“This one,” Ian showed using his index. 

“I knew it! Since it is the one you chose, I have a surprise.” Troy announced while taking the laptop screen to himself. Clicking some more things here and there using the mouse, he showed his third design which was an exclusive he kept to himself, to show the author if his taste matched Troy’s. 

“That is perfect, I like it.” Ian blurted out as soon as he saw the cover. 

[...]

Just after that, as it was mentioned before, the two weeks of heavy marketing sessions by Actus Books ended, and the public who awaited Ian’s next move got ready for its grand reveal. 

Many media and social media sites that were keen on the activities of the new director, paid extra attention to the new book reveal. 

‘Resident Evil by Ian Renner, a work of survival thriller with a spice of adventure.’ 

‘Young director on the spotlight with his new work of fiction, Resident Evil.’

‘Truth to be revealed on Resident Evil by Ian Renner, tomorrow!’

Headlines of several daily articles and gossip magazines took over the topic with great interest. Ian, who lent a copy of the very first edition to Mason, heard an earful of appreciations. 

[...]

“Hey there, Hollywood admirers! The hottest news of today reveals that the book by the new director Ian Renner, Resident Evil, which is a thriller, adventure, and survival horror novel, captured the 7th position on New York’s bestseller list! How wonderful is that! Now, let’s head off to some reviews of the book…” Ian smiled slightly while reading reviews one by one. It was one of those update-sharing channels which attracted a limited number of fans who are eager for information. 

It has been just three days and 7th on the list wasn’t bad at all, Ian thought to himself. 

A/N; Click on the heart if you enjoyed the chapter and leave a review! ty -tc.