Aggressive, relentless, unwilling to yield.
The atmosphere in the conference room tightened once more. Even as eyes darted through the air, the sole focus of the room was unmistakably on Michael Lynton.
This was no surprise.
In most top companies, there is only one CEO, as it's common sense that having too many captains steering the ship can lead to disaster. And right now, Sony Columbia is facing just such a scenario.
Michael Lynton was the disruptor in this case.
Over the past few years, Amy Pascal had served as the CEO of Sony Columbia. However, as mentioned earlier, the company's performance had not met expectations, forcing them to gamble everything on Spider-Man—a do-or-die situation.
Fortunately, Amy's gamble paid off. The historic success of Spider-Man caused a sensation throughout Hollywood.
But for shareholders, that still wasn't enough.
One blockbuster movie couldn't transform a giant corporation. Just as Titanic hadn't catapulted 20th Century Fox to permanent dominance in Hollywood, Spider-Man also wasn't enough to lift Sony Columbia out of its struggles with underperforming projects.
Thus, after much deliberation, the board appointed a second CEO in March of this year—Michael Lynton. They hoped Michael could help Amy transform Sony Columbia.
However, a key detail was left unclear: Who would take the lead between Michael and Amy? Was Michael assisting Amy, or was he there to replace her?
The board didn't specify, and roles remained ambiguous. Still, the winds within the boardroom leaned toward empowering Michael and sidelining Amy, who had been CEO for years without pulling the company out of its slump.
In other words, nothing had been said directly, but Amy was now defending her position, while Michael was positioning himself for a takeover.
This wasn't a friendly partnership where everyone benefited.
All the major decisions regarding Spider-Man 2 had been made by Amy before Michael's promotion.
Now that issues had arisen, Michael wasn't about to miss the chance to reshuffle the deck and bring Spider-Man 2 under his control.
What made things trickier was that Michael's argument was persuasive. Considering the costs of production delays, the board might back his decision.
And so, the burning question became—
In the eyes of these people, was Anson truly irreplaceable?
Michael Lynton remained composed, almost like a professor, never raising his voice or getting angry. His calm, rational demeanor concealed an almost imperceptible air of superiority.
No one responded this time. Michael's words hung in the air, slowly sinking into an uncomfortable silence.
Michael didn't seem bothered. He lowered his chin slightly and smiled.
"It might seem like I'm the villain here, but let's calm down. I mean no harm—I'm just stating the facts."
"We need rationality. We need calm. We need to face this challenge."
Sam, who had been sitting quietly with his head down, suddenly spoke up, "I thought Anson was the one facing the challenge right now."
Michael was momentarily thrown off and paused slightly. "Of course, Anson has his challenges, and we have ours. I sincerely hope his acting career goes well, but now we must think about the interests of Sony Columbia. Don't you agree?"
Ian glanced at Amy.
Amy's face was clouded. It was clear that, in the face of Michael's aggressiveness, she was struggling—not with this current battle but with the behind-the-scenes power struggle within the board.
If Amy couldn't protect herself, how could she vouch for Anson?
Ian sighed inwardly and then turned to Michael. "So, what are you thinking right now?"
Michael had finally reached his goal but didn't seem surprised or overly pleased with himself. "I think we should replace the actor."
As he spoke, Michael pushed the folder sitting in front of him forward.
Ian stood up and opened the folder. Inside was a stack of A4 papers. After a quick scan, Ian said nothing more and handed a sheet to everyone in the room.
Sam still didn't lift his head and didn't even glance at it.
But Amy did. She was instantly furious. "You've already prepared all of this. So what's the point of this meeting?"
It was a list of potential actors to replace Peter Parker, and there wasn't just one—there were more than twenty names.
Considering the age, appearance, and style of the actors, it was evident that Michael had done his homework and conducted thorough research. From the start, Michael hadn't planned to support Anson.
Amy's anger erupted. "God, Anson is still lying in a hospital bed!"
Michael replied coldly, "I didn't know you were such an emotional person—like other women. I sympathize with Anson's situation, but we have work to do."
Michael remained unmoved.
The air was thick with tension, and as Michael and Amy clashed again, Sam felt nothing but boredom.
Suddenly, he found himself disillusioned. While Anson lay struggling between life and death, all Sony Columbia could think about was profit. They had reduced a human being to a mere number, completing their cold calculations like a simple game of figures.
But life wasn't just numbers. Things shouldn't be this way.
It was worth remembering that, at the time, the pressure of Spider-Man's box office success had fallen squarely on Anson's shoulders. After the film's tremendous success, they were now contemplating replacing him—burning the bridge after crossing it. The behavior was disgraceful.
In Sam's eyes, this meeting shouldn't have happened in the first place. They should've been supporting Anson without hesitation—no question.
But the truly heartbreaking part was that Anson seemed to have known this from the start.
In the hospital, Anson had spoken to Sam to express his feelings. He promised to recover quickly and return to the set, understanding that the delay could cause trouble for the production. He assured Sam that once he was back, he would work hard to get everything back on schedule.
At the time, Sam had told Anson he was overthinking it and reassured him to rest and recover, as the crew could shoot other scenes first. He believed they could finish the film on time.
Only now did Sam realize why Anson had brought up the issue so early in the hospital.
Clearly, Anson knew Sony Columbia lacked compassion.
All Sam could feel now was sadness and disappointment. Not only were they failing to support Anson, but they were also preparing to stab him in the back.
It shouldn't be this way.