"So, who do we have in mind for producers?" Sera asked.
"Let Kathryn Bigelow, Nina Jacobson, and Mary Parent each produce one of the films. You can decide who handles which project," Wayne replied.
"Got it, I'll arrange everything," Sera responded. Then, she asked, "By the way, are you coming back for the screening of The Notebook the day after tomorrow?"
"Nah, too lazy to bother. You and Mia can handle the screening."
After giving a few more instructions, Wayne hung up the phone.
With one arm around each of them, he picked up the patiently waiting Hannah and Charlize Theron, heading toward the massive bathtub that could easily fit four or five people.
In the following three days, Mean Girls brought in $13.61 million, $12.05 million, and $6.98 million at the North American box office, as well as $12.32 million, $11.89 million, and $9.55 million internationally, with a total global box office of $120 million.
Although the reviews inevitably declined somewhat, the super-attractive Mean Girls Squad became a major hit, just as expected.
Scarlett, Anne, Megan, Martina, Amanda Seyfried, and Sarah Michelle Gellar—all young and beautiful—became the darlings of the screen, leaving fans obsessed.
Thanks to the Mean Girls Squad's stunning looks and the fresh-for-the-time theme of pretty girls clashing, the film's box office performance exceeded expectations, even though there was a slight drop.
It turns out that the fanbase of LSPs (Lustful Screen Peepers) was not only vast in number but also had impressive spending power.
Due to the lack of internet access and the fact that Scarlett and the others were still relatively unknown without any posters or photo shoots, some of these LSPs went to the cinema to watch the movie three or four times just to see them.
On top of that, The Bourne Identity had just wrapped up its North American release with $321 million domestically and $266 million internationally, with one more week left before its global box office broke the $600 million mark.
The "Big Seven" studios were now more determined than ever to get the rights to The Notebook. Harvey didn't want to back down, but even if he sought a loan from the bank, he couldn't compete with the Big Seven once they got serious.
Within the Big Seven, competition was fierce, and studios began pulling underhanded moves to gain an edge. For example, MGM, upon learning that Wayne was staying at their hotel, sent over the manager with four Playboy Bunnies and $2 million in casino chips.
Warner Brothers, not to be outdone, sent several actresses to "visit" the set of Ocean's Eleven.
But the boldest move came from Sony, who had already tasted success. Not only did their president Howard Stringer personally step in, but he also brought eight familiar faces with him.
"Masami Nagasawa, Haruka Ayase, Yū Aoi, Erika Sawajiri," Wayne's eyes quickly scanned the room.
Those four were still rookies at the time—pretty, but not yet famous.
But the other four were different.
"Akina Nakamori, Pearl Kozawa, Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro."
"Hiss—"
"Howard Stringer is pulling out all the stops!"
Frankly, for someone as high-ranking as the president of Sony-Columbia, as well as the top decision-maker for Sony Entertainment in North America, it was Howard Stringer's first time doing something like this.
But Sony-Columbia desperately needed to improve their box office and influence.
What's more, Sony's expected earnings from The Bourne Identity were projected to exceed $130 million, so by comparison, sending over a few women wasn't a big deal.
The only problem was that these eight women had originally been booked for the Bourne celebration party on the 8th. Now, in their effort to secure The Notebook, they had been sent early, meaning they would need to find replacements later.
But seeing the look of delight on Wayne's face, Howard Stringer felt that this small inconvenience was no big deal.
Even if there were no suitable women available in Japan, they could easily find replacements elsewhere. With Sony Music's global influence, there was no shortage of options.
It's worth noting that the eight women were meticulously selected by Sony's vast network of scouts and agents, based on the appearances of Wayne's various girlfriends, in an effort to match his preferences.
Otherwise, they might have ended up sending over those "Asian supermodel faces" that didn't suit his taste.
You have to hand it to Howard Stringer—he had really put in the effort to appeal to Wayne.
"I'll ask Sera and Mia about the rights sale for The Notebook," Wayne said with a deep breath, regaining his composed smile.
This response was already enough to satisfy Howard Stringer.
"I won't take up any more of your time, then."
Howard Stringer quickly excused himself, leaving the eight women behind.
"Tsk tsk, one against eight, huh? Are they trying to test my limits? I wonder if the bathtub can fit all of us."
After seeing Howard Stringer off, Wayne turned to size up the eight women again, not bothering to hide his true nature. He immediately put his arms around the tallest of the group, Masami Nagasawa and Haruka Ayase.
Hannah, standing nearby, rolled her eyes at the sight, deciding to walk away. Out of sight, out of mind. She headed to the other bedroom, clearly realizing she'd be sharing it with Charlize Theron for the night.
Wayne, meanwhile, pulled the curtains shut, enjoying the service of the eight women while dialing Sera's number.
The upcoming screening for The Notebook once again attracted the Big Seven, along with DreamWorks, Lionsgate, and Miramax.
Except for the chronically loss-making MGM, the other six major studios offered one-time buyout bids, each exceeding $100 million.
Among the bidders, Disney had the highest offer. After the first round of negotiations, their bid had reached $146 million, clearly showing their confidence in the film, which features top stars like Wayne, Jessica, and Nicolas Cage, along with Oscar-winning actors Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon.
At that price, The Notebook would need to gross at least $300 million globally for them to recoup their investment from box office earnings.
This is a high number for any film.
However, considering the performance of The Bourne Identity and Mean Girls, it seems like reaching $300 million for The Notebook isn't out of the question.
The second-highest bid came from Sony Columbia, which, with its deep pockets, is also eager to improve its results and influence.
In fact, for Sony, which acquired Columbia to gain a foothold in Hollywood, making money is secondary. Their deeper strategic goal is to produce more quality films and increase Japan's influence in North America and globally. After the first round of negotiations, Sony offered $142 million, just $4 million shy of Disney's bid.
Next, Sony Columbia executives, led by Howard Stringer, were willing to increase their bid. But there's always a risk that Sony or another giant could raise their offer and surpass them.
Meanwhile, DreamWorks, Lionsgate, and Miramax all chose a minimum guarantee with profit-sharing model, with each studio guaranteeing no less than $65 million.
In fact, both Miramax and Lionsgate even sought bank loans to cover their bids.
Based on their offers, as long as The Notebook grosses more than $300 million globally, Hemera Productions, as the producer, would make more money than from a one-time buyout.
Comparing the different offers, Sony's competitiveness wasn't very strong. That's why Howard Stringer came over eagerly.
"Sierra, tomorrow contact Howard Stringer at Sony and offer him Disney's current bid," Wayne said. "But in return, I need Sony to use its influence in Japan to help us acquire one or more of the animation studios Kyoto Animation, Sunrise, or Production I.G."
Compared to film production, animation production is no less expensive—sometimes even more so.
However, the 3D animation film market is currently dominated by Disney, DreamWorks, and Pixar. And in the short term, both DreamWorks and Pixar are on an upward trend, making it unlikely they'll sell.
So, if Wayne wants to enter the animation field, he'll have to take a different route, starting with Japanese animation companies.
Though Japanese animation studios specialize in 2D animation, their budgets aren't necessarily any smaller than 3D films.
Plus, these Japanese animation studios are still quite affordable at this time, making them an ideal choice for Wayne.
"Of course, I'll leave the specifics of the acquisition to Marissa Mayer and Li Ying."
"As for the funding, we'll use the buyout proceeds from The Notebook and the post-release profits from Mean Girls."
"Got it, Wayne," Sierra replied without questioning why they were acquiring Japanese animation companies.
After all, the company's development strategy had always been Wayne's decision, and her job was just to execute it.
As for the The Notebook selling for 'only' $146 million, Sierra didn't think it was a bad deal.
While romantic films have produced box office miracles like Titanic, their box office potential generally isn't as strong as that of sci-fi or action films.
Selling The Notebook for $146 million—a price that would require close to $300 million in box office revenue just to break even—she was already quite satisfied.
Yes, there's a possibility for the distributors to make a big profit.
For example, Sony paid $110 million for the overseas distribution and DVD rights to The Bourne Identity, and they still made around $130 million in profit. But they also took on a significant risk, didn't they?
Hemera Productions, on the other hand, was getting over a 230% return with no risk at all, which was already quite good.
Once Wayne confirmed there were no other instructions, Sierra hung up the phone and got busy.
Meanwhile, Wayne, after contacting Li Ying and Marissa Mayer to discuss the animation studio acquisition, eagerly began a more personal interaction with Masami Nagasawa and her friends.
Despite being 36 years old, Natsume's older sister was still in excellent shape. As for Masami Nagasawa, Haruka Ayase, and Erika Sawajiri, they were even more radiant.
The only downside was that only the youngest, Masami Nagasawa and Erika Sawajiri, still had their First blood.
The others, even 16-year-olds like Haruka Ayase and Yu Aoi, had already lost theirs.
But considering Japan's legal age used to be as low as 13, maybe it wasn't all that surprising.
As expected, the eight women's stamina was far inferior to similarly aged Scarlett Johansson or Anne Hathaway, even for Natsume.
Even when they teamed up, they were no match for Wayne, leaving him disappointed as he had hoped to challenge his limits.
On the other side, as soon as Howard Stringer left the hotel, the news reached MGM's president and soon made its way to the heads of the other seven major studios.
All of them sneered at the fact that Howard Stringer had flown to Las Vegas to "sell" himself, mocking him for being so undignified.
However, when Sierra arranged a meeting with Howard Stringer the next morning, struck a deal within an hour, and signed the contract that afternoon, those executives weren't laughing anymore.
"F**k!"
"He actually chose Sony?"
"Wasn't my $2 million offer good enough?! Or were the four hand-picked Playboy Bunnies I sent not attractive enough?"
MGM's president angrily slammed his cigar down and cursed.
Warner, which had sent several second- and third-tier actresses to "visit the set," had the same reaction. Were their actresses not pretty enough? Why did Wayne choose Sony?
Well, to be fair, Wayne's taste likely found Warner's actresses to be average at best.
As for MGM's bunnies, they were just too tacky.
And after seeing so many tall and long-legged Western women, Wayne probably wanted a change of pace, right?
Though the remaining four major studios hadn't taken this route, they were still annoyed by the fact that Wayne was swayed by beauty. But after their initial frustration, they finally understood how to "handle" Wayne.
After all, Harvey and Howard Stringer had shown them the way.
"First, offer women who can pique Wayne's interest, and second, offer resources he doesn't currently have for his women. Wayne didn't take MGM and Warner's women likely because he's seen enough American women and lost interest, right? You can't blame him—just look at Charlize Theron, who outshines most Hollywood actresses. Plus, he's had a thing with Nicole Kidman, too."
The studio heads quickly jotted down these valuable insights.
After all, The Notebook wasn't the last project; there was still Hotel for Dogs, Taken, and Resident Evil 1 and 2 to come.