Taxes have always been the biggest headache nagging at me.
California's a tax nightmare. Personal income tax hits you with 39% federal and 9.3% state—totaling 48.3%. That's basically half my income handed over to the government. Corporate taxes are just as brutal: 35% federal plus 8.84% from California, making it 43.84%. Nearly half of my company's profits vanish!
Thankfully, corporate taxes aren't like personal ones—you don't have to pay them right on the dot. There are ways to delay. *My Big Fat Greek Wedding* made my company a fortune, enough to buy Marvel. But that was only possible because we pushed back those tax payments.
Right now, my company owes me a $7 million loan, plus a whopping $40 million in taxes to the government. Add in Marvel Entertainment's $35 million debt, and we're drowning in over $80 million total!
Hollywood's a tough gig—not just for the people working in it, but for the companies too. Lionsgate only thrived because its HQ is in Canada, where corporate tax is a sweet 15%. Even with my cheat codes and two monster hits like *Titanic* and *Star Wars*, my startup journey's been a bumpy ride. It's hard to imagine those online stories where some guy makes it big in Hollywood with just a couple low-budget flicks.
Luckily, I've finally scored some tax breaks from the UK and Germany. It's like a faint sunrise peeking through the endless darkness.
With my company's current strength, pulling off high-level moves like this isn't in our wheelhouse yet, so I handed it off to AA to handle. After that, I hashed out some distribution details with Tom Rothman for *Wedding Crashers*. We locked in August 10th for the North American release, with a global rollout by September.
…
*Titanic* raked in $1.88 billion worldwide, and *My Big Fat Greek Wedding* pulled $420 million—totaling about $2.3 billion. That means *Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace* needs to hit $700 million globally for me to unlock another "Mirror Possession" skill and kick off *Spider-Man*.
Judging by its box office trajectory, reaching that goal by August looks doable. Prediction agencies are even betting on whether *Phantom Menace* can top *Titanic*'s North American record and break the $600 million mark. Globally surpassing *Titanic*, though? Slim chance.
Week two rolled in, and *Phantom Menace* was still killing it:
Monday: $13.79 million.
Tuesday: $12.50 million.
Wednesday: $10.90 million.
Thursday: $9.68 million.
Friday: $17.80 million.
Saturday: $25.78 million.
Sunday: $6 million.
Second-week total: $114 million!
After a $133 million opening week, it kept the billion-dollar streak alive, hitting $247 million in just two weeks!
Meanwhile, Universal's big release *The Mummy* was tanking hard—weekly drops over 50%, barely scraping $10 million now. And DreamWorks' *The Deep End of the Ocean*, which clashed with *Star Wars*' release? It's been swept away in the *Star Wars* tidal wave. That was a small-budget flick anyway, so the flop wasn't shocking. Its director's from Hong Kong—Peter Chan.
"Big bro Chan, I didn't mean to target you!" I chuckled bitterly when I heard. "Blame DreamWorks for botching the scheduling!"
Foreign directors have it rough in Hollywood. After bombing this $15 million movie, Peter's Hollywood dreams are pretty much toast.
"Dunn, Mr. Heyman's got news!" Reese Witherspoon burst in without knocking, practically bouncing with excitement.
"David Heyman?" I shot up, hyped. "He convinced J.K. Rowling?"
Reese nodded hard. "Yup! He got her to hand over the full *Harry Potter* rights—and even ditched some of those harsh terms we agreed to. He said it's because *Phantom Menace*'s box office is insane, and Rowling doesn't want beef with a big-shot director like you."
"Hmph! Good thing she knows her place," I snorted. "So, what's her new outrageous demand?"
"$5 million, plus 3% of future profits," Reese said.
Talk about a lion's share!
Andrew O'Hare's negotiating for *The Chronicles of Narnia* rights, and they've backed down to $6 million and 5% profits. But *Harry Potter* right now isn't even in the same league as *Narnia*!
I've been holding off on *Narnia* because cash is tight, still in talks. But *Harry Potter*? I'm not waiting another second.
"Agree to it. Sign the deal now!"
"But we're strapped for cash," Reese pointed out.
I gritted my teeth. "Doesn't matter. Even if I have to sell the kitchen sink, we're locking this down early!"
*Harry Potter*'s already stirring up buzz in the U.S. without any media push. I've even seen a kids' play version starring Taylor Swift. Gold always shines, right? I'm not 100% sure, but if *Harry Potter* does blow up, my whole plan's screwed unless I snag the rights fast!
I called David Heyman after, tossing him a congrats and a thank-you.
He was all polite about it. He's genuinely stoked for *Harry Potter*—with a commercial titan like me steering it, this series is bound to go global.
"Dunn, when do we kick off *Harry Potter*?" David asked, clearly eager. He nailed my assignment, so the producer gig's his for sure. Plus, his UK-based Heyday Films will handle the tax rebates once we start shooting.
I rubbed my forehead, stressed. I'm pinching pennies so hard I'd split a dime in half—where am I supposed to find extra cash for *Harry Potter*? Partner with Warner? Hell no. I'd rather donate to charity and get some good PR. Warner would just swallow me whole eventually.
"Next year, summer," I said offhandedly, my mind drifting. "You know I just bought Marvel and I'm prepping a superhero flick. I'm stretched thin."
Thanks to me, *Harry Potter* didn't land with Warner, and the movie's launch is over a year later than in that other timeline. Those original actors—like Emma Watson and her stunning looks—might miss out on the series now.
I felt a weird pang of nostalgia.
Emma's beauty was something else, after all.
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