The Maker: Hollywood

He smiled, sliding the phone into his pocket. ”We’re done, Marcus. The UK office is on its own. The book is in good hands. Now off to Burbank.”

”Back to the grind, genius?” Marcus asked.

”Nope,” he said, looking at the grey London sky one last time. ”Back to the future.”

---

Burbank, California – One Week Later

The walk into Miller Studios was a straight-up parade. Fifty people stood and cheered as he cleared the doors. Elena didn’t join in. She just stood there, tablet in hand, waiting to shove a terrifyingly dense schedule into his face.

”Welcome back, Mr. Miller,” she said, matching his stride without looking up. ”The Star Wars hype has turned into a cultural obsession. Merch sales are up 400%. We have three offers for the sequel rights, but I assumed you’d want to stick with Legendary for now, They’ve got the best terms..”

”Hold them off, we stick with Legendary for Empire, but for the third one? We might self-distribute. What else?”

”Stan Lee is waiting in your office, and... there’s someone else.”

”Who?”

”Corie Byers from Legendary. She’s been waiting for an hour.”

He sighed.”They must have heard about the UK office.”

He walked into his office. Stan Lee was sitting on the couch, reading a trade magazine with his face on the cover (courtesy of a recent interview Daniel had arranged). Corie Byers stood by the window, looking sharp.

”Daniel,” she said, turning around. ”Welcome back. I hear London’s lovely this time of the year. Especially the Soho real estate.”

”It has its charms,” he said, sitting behind his desk. ”To what do I owe the pleasure, Corie? We just made a billion dollars. Shouldn’t you be on a yacht somewhere?”

” The board is nervous, Daniel,” she said, getting straight to the point. ”They see you hiring Marcus Blackwood. They see your ’Mill.’ And now you’re buying comic book rights. It seems like… an exit strategy.”

”I’m building an ecosystem, Corie,” he corrected. ”Miller Studios was never going to be a vassal state. You knew that.”

”We did,” Corie admitted. ”But not this fast. Which brings me to my offer.”

She placed a thick document on the desk.

”Legendary wants to lock in the distribution for the entire Star Wars trilogy. In exchange, we are willing to lower our distribution fee to 15%. That’s practically cost, Daniel. Nobody does that. And... we want a first-look deal on the ’Marvel’ project.”

He looked at the document. 15%, which was unheard of, would save him tens of millions of dollars.

He looked at Stan. The old man just winked, trusting him completely.

”The Star Wars deal is acceptable,”He said slowly. ”15% is fair. We’ll sign for the trilogy.”

She exhaled, her shoulders relaxing. ”Good. That will calm the board.”

”But,” he continued, his voice hardening. ”Marvel stays with us. We are going to self-distribute.”

She frowned. ”A superhero movie? The genre is… not exactly popular. It’s a huge risk, Daniel. You’ll need a safety net.”

”I am the safety net,” he said. ”Stan and I are building something different, Corie. If it fails, it fails on my dime.”

Corie studied him. He had the same look when he pitched Star Wars. Like a man who saw the board while everyone else was looking at the pieces.

”You’re betting the house again,” she whispered.

” No, I’m betting the universe,” he smiled. ”Take the Star Wars deal, Corie. It’s the best you’re going to get.”

She picked up the document. ”I’ll send the final contracts tomorrow. Good luck with your comic books. And Daniel, for your sake, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

As she left, Stan burst out laughing. ”You turned down a safety net for Iron Man? You really are crazy, kid.”

” Why do we need a net, when we have an armour, Stan” he said, picking up the concept art of the Mark I suit.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[MAIN QUEST COMPLETE - THE BIRTH OF A SAGA]

[CALCULATING REWARDS…]

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A/N: Edited by king_louis again! He was a little late due to some technical difficulties on his part.

Read ahead on Patreon: /AmaanS