Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood-Chapter 352: Using the Bet

<[The Blank Saint] got R-18 rating by the censor board. Director Zavier Lamb promises a dark story of a man trying to sacrifice his being for a greater goal.>

<One of the filmmakers who attended a private screening of the movie said that Aiden Silvereye had given a performance of a lifetime as Kai August, the character who's slowly becoming a part of pop culture among movie enthusiasts.>

<Is [The Black Saint] a borderline horror movie? Here's what the director talked about exploring a character that is quite different from a normal person and how his movie is about a man and a question every person want the answer of – Godhood.>

<Will [The Black Saint] be another successful sequel? Hollywood had seen a large number of successful sequels but there were also quite a few duds. Check out our list of upcoming sequels.>

His eyes looked through all the top articles that came up on one search of [The Black Saint]. Every top movie website had an article on the movie and there were even a few exclusives.

The marketing team had at least worked quite hard to promote the movie online and it was having effects.

"I was wrong to think that Granite films CEO is a cheapskate. He allocated almost 30 million dollars for the promotions."

Wade said, sitting next to Aiden. His expectations towards the CEO who was known to spend as little as possible was shattered.

"I guess he's confident since it's a sequel."

"Yes, he is. But there were also rumours that he liked the script and the final edit so much that he's going around telling people that this movie will be a huge hit."

"Good for him."

"Though, I won't say he's the only one being confident. You yourself are over confident."

Wade laughed. Since he had got to know the bet Aiden had made in the party, he was taking a jibe at him at every moment he got.

It wasn't only him. The bet had spreaded one way or another in the production company and Aiden had gotten quite a few strange looks because of that.

It seems like it has become a great topic of gossip and some people have even placed bets of their own on how much the movie is going to earn.

If Aiden thought about it, only Tom looked like he believed Aiden. The guy was rumbling about how he wanted to see people's faces after the lifetime collection came out.

"Okay, everyone, let's start the meeting."

A woman in a long shirt said as she turned her around and clapped her hand to get attention. Aiden was currently in a meeting called by the marketing team.

The woman was the marketing head.

As he had been a part of a lot of marketing strategies in his movies, the marketing team had called him to see if he had any good ideas.

"Until now, we have been successful in getting the word out about the movie online. According to reports, around 23 percent people are interested in watching the movie in the theatres. As we will get much more on site bookings, we are expecting a first day of 11-12 million dollars."

In her words, a few voices went up as people discussed the numbers that they were expecting.

It wasn't a bad number when they needed 100 million dollars to breakeven but it wasn't enough. There was no guarantee that the movie just won't die down after the weekend.

"It's already good for a R rated movie though."

"Yeah, last month, another R rated movie came out and it barely managed 2 million dollars opening."

"It being the sequel is helping us. The popularity of Kai is there too but we need to increase the public interest fast."

Aiden heard the whispers of people around him with a stern gaze. Until now, it didn't really seem like he was going to win the bet.

The woman who was hearing the opinions until now finally opened her mouth.

"So, does anyone have any ideas? We have focused a lot on online marketing for now but the ground marketing is missing. People aren't talking enough about the movie on ground level."

When she asked that question, several answers came out.

"We already have put on a lot of s. There are billboards with the posters and other information about the movie. Should we increase it?"

"No, I think we should do some fan events for actors to meet the fans. Those types of events have been fairly successful in recent times."

"Didn't they mainly only work for franchise movies?"

"The actors we are working with have great images. We should focus on that."

Different people obviously have different opinions but the question was which suggestions should they go with? There was no guarantee which one was going to work.

It was then that one person suddenly said, "How about we change it a little and use a more old school strategy? A controversy."

The marketing team looked at an old man who had said that.

"What type of controversy and why do you think it will work?"

"Just this year, a movie worked just because the lead actress and the director had a cat fight. It was rumoured that it was fake but it made people talk about the movie. And in the end, it earned 40 million dollars at the box office on a budget of 20 million. Currently, no one is talking about our movie on its own. That's the problem."

The man blabbered on and Aiden focused on his words. Although the old man looked ordinary, the words coming out of his mouth made sense.

When the old man saw people looking at him, he continued.

"As for the type of controversy, that would be a bit of a problem until we could create one artificially. If it was a rom com, we could have had an affair between the leads."

The old man looked at Aiden and smiled. In his mind, he felt like the only affair Kai will be a part of would be with a gun or a bloody knife.

"It's a good idea but I doubt we should be able to create a good enough controversy out of nowhere. If we are going for some sort of fight, then the actors would have to cooperate."

The marketing head shook her head, glancing at Aiden and Wade. Getting actors to cooperate was an extremely hard thing.

Even if they agree, it is hard to say whether their agencies will agree. It was more so because most of the actors working on [The Black Saint] had genuinely good images.

No one would want to ruin it.

'A controversy sounds nice. Sadly, this time, I don't really have a lot of awful people around to pick fights with me. Anything fake won't look authentic.'

Aiden thought in his mind when suddenly something struck in his mind.

'Wait! Don't I already have a good enough controversy baked in the oven. I just need to take it out of it.'

His mind went towards the conversations he had heard in the morning. Staff members talking about the bet between him and Arno.

"I think I have an idea."

Aiden quickly said that.

"Let's use my bet with Arno Laurent."

"What?"

Everyone looked at him when he said. They all knew about the bet. A few people sitting realised what Aiden was trying to say while others were waiting for an explanation.

"No matter how ridiculous the bet is, it does sound interesting, right? Maybe it being ridiculous makes it more like something people would discuss. Didn't a lot of you use it as some sort of gossip yourself?"

Aiden squinted his eyes while saying that. A few people tried not to look at him and he continued.

"Imagine it as something that leaks out suddenly. The media companies are surely going to write articles by themselves on the topic while using headlines like 'Aiden Silvereye ludicrous bet with acclaimed commercial director Arno Laurent'. Seeing the bet, people would probably laugh but then they will talk about it, thinking it's a bit ridiculous. Why will he make a bet like that?"

The marketing team head's eyes widened hearing that.

"It will make people talk about the bet and subsequently, they will talk about the movie."

"Bingo!"

Aiden said and by each second, the idea looked more and more genius to people. Even if it failed, it would be seen as a harmless controversy.

It will ensure that no side comes out as the villain.

Though, there was one problem.

"What about Director Arno Laurent? Won't he be angry at us for using his name? It's not like he won't realise it."

To that question, Aiden simply smiled.

"Even if he gets angry, he will enjoy it. There's one thing that people don't know about him. The man craves attention. With the media writing articles about it and him being confident of winning, he won't see it as a nuisance."