"It's a very unique movie."
Someone muttered in the crowd. Maybe those words were the best way to describe the movie.
Soon, others also joined in. Whispers filled the theatre room.
"It's surely a unique experience. I never thought there would be a movie on such a topic. Well, it doesn't really have a lot of plot."
"Yeah, but it caught my attention."
"I think it's great since the director actually tries to break the formula and do something new. It's a good effort."
"But is it something commercially viable?"
"Yeah, that's the question."
Aiden perked his ears to listen to the reactions. He wasn't really surprised seeing the mixed reaction. [Action Hero] was always going to be perceived like this.
Everyone in the room was from Hollywood and rather than just an audience perspective, they were also seeing it from a business one.
One thing was in everyone's mind. Movies like these either become classics or flop hard. There was no inbetween and the chances of the latter were always higher.
'Well, what matters is what Ava and other executives think.'
Aiden thought in his mind and looked at Ava. She didn't have any expressions on her face but throughout the movie, she has a smile on her face, especially during action scenes.
He felt like the movie had impressed her enough.
"Well, I don't know when was the last time I saw someone trying something new? I think it was a horror movie with a guy getting killed in a death loop by his girlfriend."
Suddenly, a few people walked up to them. It was a big man with a pot belly. He looked like one of those people from a real estate advertisement.
Before the screening, Ava had introduced him as the head of distribution department, Benny Cowen.
"Did you like it?" Ava asked him.
"I'm very neutral about it. I loved every action set piece. I can see a lot of thought had gone into it but I'm very apprehensive about there not being much of a great story. Aside from the action, a lot of it is very simple."
Benny said, giving his own thoughts about the movie. Asano and Omar had walked up to them at the moment.
Asano quickly butted in.
"My movie focuses more on the entertainment aspect. As you can see, it's certainly unique and there's more emphasis on some things than the others. I wanted to make it worth the hour and half."
"It was in that aspect but still, we can't ignore the glaring weaknesses something like this movie have. The whole script has parts that seem lackluster and so many action scenes seem like a tad bit too much."
Another aspect that Benny mentioned was how critics were surely going to pan it down. A lot of the reviews would be bad as it goes against what is the normal formula of storytelling.
Anyway, critics focused a lot more on how cinematic a movie is rather than how entertaining.
Hearing the discussion between Benny and Asano, Aiden quickly spoke.
"Mr. Cowen, I'm pretty sure you know that the market has changed now."
Benny looked at Aiden and nodded.
"I won't be in my position if I don't know that. The market changes every few years."
"No, I think in the past few years, a bigger evolution has happened. Streaming platforms have made movie viewing so easy that it killed a few genres. The emergence of superhero movies made it more difficult. People want a visual treat and adrenaline rush. I think studios need to move on from only doing movies that don't give the 'experience'."
Benny raised an eyebrow at that.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, take your last released movie. [A hint of Blood]. It was a great thriller. I enjoyed it a lot. The investigation and everything was very professional and it gave a great perspective but it didn't even cross 10 million dollars. It was a flop. Not because it's a bad movie but because it didn't give any entertainment. What I'm saying is that studios need to focus more to entertain people. Superhero movies work just because of that."
What Aiden was saying was something that any Hollywood analyst would know. It was time to move on from some genres until one could make it very exciting for the viewers.
Technology was going to advance more and more. Hollywood needs to keep up with the changing times. Sadly, every other movie can't be a 150 million dollars budget extravaganza.
Aiden guessed that in future with the emergence of better VR technology, people would be able to watch movies on them, feeling like they are right next to the characters and watching everything unfold.
This would make horror and thrillers reemerge. But currently, things are different.
"Your point is very interesting."
Benny said, making a face that stated that he was very interested in what Aiden was saying. Maybe with changing times, something like [Action Hero] was the answer.
But suddenly, a grumpy looking man opened his mouth. He had bear-like features with sharp expressions.
"What bullshit!" He said, looking at Aiden. "Changing times don't mean a bad movie will work. This movie doesn't have anything going on for it other than action and even in that, I felt like it was just okay. Nothing exceptional."
Ava frowned hearing that while Aiden struggled to control his emotions. Asano and Omar were also the same.
Showing emotions here would be detrimental.
"I don't think it's a bad movie. It's quite good."
"It doesn't have much of a story. It's just teenagers fighting each other for no reason. There's already a lot of reporting of school violence. We don't want to promote it."
"That's a good point." Benny muttered, suddenly rethinking about the decision.
The doubt in his mind was easily implanted by the bearded guy. Aiden recalled he was another executive named Alberto Dundley.
"Benny, I think it's better if you have meetings on it. From my side, I feel like this is a good project that would be something new. If it works, then we might be able to tell what people really want."
"No one knows which movie would be a hit." Alberto muttered.
"So, [Action Hero] could be a hit."
By this point, Aiden had already realised that Ava and Alberto were against each other. Ava's decision of supporting [Action Hero] was strengthened by the fact that Alberto was against it.
The final decision still was on Benny.
Seeing the argument, he quickly interrupted them.
"I think it's better if we have more meetings on it. If the pros weigh the cons, then we would surely be interested in a distribution deal with you. We just want to see how much the movie could do at the box office."
Everyone quieted down there. His words were good enough for Aiden, Omar and Asano as it meant that they weren't getting rejected straightaway.
Going by how Benny was cautiously impressed, there was a chance.
"Anyway, Aiden, I liked what you said. I do feel like we need to evolve the normal movies that aren't extravaganzas. Either they don't go to theatres or they have enough of an audience pull. I will see you when we decide if we want a partnership in [Action Hero]."
Saying that, Benny left. Alberto seemed a bit angry at his words but he shrugged and was on his way.
It looked like he was going to act like a thorn. Fortunately, Ava was supporting them to get a deal.
***
The next few days were pretty great for Aiden. Although Titan studios was still going over meetings to decide, Aiden was quickly getting closer and closer to officially play Agnas.
He had a lot of meetings with Baz and Theodore. Both of them became more clearer about Aiden after each meeting.
As he saw Agnas' life himself, he was able to get more in touch with his emotions. That showed in the meetings.
He was very confident about playing a legend and had even started walking and talking like him to get into the character early on.
Finally, it was time for him to sign the contract.
"With this, you are officially Agnas."
Theodore said as Aiden gave multiple signatures on the contract. In a room within the Zero International office, a lot of people were present.
This included Wade and Aiden's legal counsellor. He was getting a high amount of 1.5 million dollars for the role.
It was his highest paycheck till now.
The company had only given him this much because they were very sure of making a lot of the money with the movie.
"Thanks for having me."
Aiden shook hands with Theodore as everyone smiled around him. After so much trouble, he actually got the role.
"We will have a poster shoot tomorrow and then a few others over the next few days. Then we will go straight to shooting."
"That's fine by me."
Aiden said, already anticipating the set.
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