"World ending? Probably due to something done by humans? Nuclear war?"
Cory said, tilting his head. It was a very interesting question. The end of the world was discussed a lot and he was one of those who believed that humans are going to end themselves.
History was proof that the top brass of countries have always killed people for their own goals. So, an all out war could wipe out humanity.
But Aiden wasn't talking about that.
"No, I mean in mythology. They talk about the end of the world, right?"
"Ah, yeah. They do."
Cory nodded his head. The word 'Ragnarok' came to his mind. The event that would end the world in Norse mythology.
Hollywood and the video game industry had used it a lot.
"So, why not make a game about it? The end of the world."
"It's an interesting idea but mythology has already been used to make video games a lot. I myself made one such project."
Aiden shook his head hearing that. He wasn't really talking about using everything directly from mythology.
The idea in his mind was a bit different.
"No, just take inspiration from mythology to present an original tale. Your own iteration of how the world is going to end. You can use a lot of mythologies in it. Have you ever heard a ballad's tale?"
"No but I know enough about them."
"Think about how ballads talk about stories. Everything in it is over the top and epic. Normal humans fight wolves in it and get out unscathed. It might or might not happen but they talk about stories like that. In an over the top fashion. In an epic way. You need to make a video game akin to a ballad's tale."
Saying that, Aiden went on to talk about Indian movies because they were closest examples of focusing more on the vibe than logic.
Even if there's something unbelievable happening in it, emotions are portrayed so well that it looks epic and nothing could top that.
Aiden felt like video games have power to tell stories that movies aren't able to sometimes. A truly monstrous story of gods and the end of the world could only be told by video games.
Moreover, a player could actually play them, feeling like the protagonist.
"Your ideas are very interesting."
Cory's eyes were shining, hearing Aiden's thoughts. He felt like the clouds of doubt in his mind were becoming clearer.
Focus more on the vibe than anything else.
That was certainly good advice.
"I'm a writer too. I need to have good ideas." Aiden said, making Cory chuckle. "So, you got anything out of our conversation?"
"I did. I feel like I kind of know what kind of game I want to develop. Originally, I was just going for a simple fantasy with a great emphasis on battles but you opened my eyes. Are you busy these days?'
Cory suddenly asked and Aiden thought a bit before replying.
"My schedule is pretty tight. I have a shooting coming up. It will go for 2-3 months."
"That's unfortunate."
"Well, I can give you my number if you want. We can stay in contact."
Aiden said, looking at Cory's depressed expression. The old man looked like he wanted to talk more about the game with Aiden.
"That would be great."
Cory said, giving off a smile.
They didn't talk much after that as Aiden had to return. Cory also seemed to have other things to do.
Before parting ways, both of them exchanged numbers.
Aiden didn't know at that point that this meeting was going to be another chapter for him in his quest to stardom.
***
Comic con was pretty eventful for Aiden as he met one of the most acclaimed video game developers. Aside from that, his meeting with fans turned out to be very relaxing too and he saw for himself that <Morpheus> was truly doing very well.
Wade was also busy dealing with Zero International. They were finally on the stage of negotiating a contract for Aiden.
As the movie was huge, there was no way Aiden wouldn't get a good amount out of it. Wade was furiously negotiating with the corporation and was confident of getting a very good amount for Aiden.
In between this, Aiden got a message from Omar in the morning two days after the comic con.
[Omar: Can you come to my office?]
The text had come in the morning and by the looks of it, it was something about [Action Hero].
So, Aiden and Wade made their way towards Omar's office.
"Why do you think Omar called to see us?"
"Probably marketing. The last time, you gave good ideas and because of you [30 days of Happiness] was able to get a good opening."
Walking in the corridor of Omar's office, both of them talked.
Aiden recalled the marketing meetings of [30 days of Happiness] very well but he didn't feel like he would be able to create a good strategy for [Action Hero].
The movie was something that would make people excited if they watched it. It was filled with cool moments.
Something like this was going to spread easily if it struck a chord with the audience.
'Ah, something is strange.'
When he was close to Omar's office room, Aiden felt a weird vibe. Two employees walked past them and their faces weren't really good.
They didn't even notice Aiden and Wade.
As they came across the door to the office, it suddenly opened up and a guy with glasses walked out.
He stopped, being a bit surprised.
"Ah, hello."
He said, looking at Aiden. He recognised him but Aiden had never seen him before.
Before Aiden could say something, the man opened his mouth again.
"I am sorry but I'm in a bit of urgency."
Saying that, he walked away, almost like he was in some sort of hurry. The entire interaction was very weird.
When Aiden walked inside, he saw that Omar was frowning about something. It was clear that something was not going right with him.
"Who was that man?"
"The Vice president of Ligma Pictures. It's a small distribution company. One of the few that showed interest in an indie movie starring you. Due to [30 days of Happiness], some people in the industry think of you as a dependable star to make a successful indie movie."
"But why was he acting strange?"
"Because he's one of the few that rejected [Action Hero]. No one wants to distribute the movie."
Omar went on to explain what was going on after Aiden sat down. How they lost the original distribution company and how every other distribution company in North America refused.
A lot of the indie distributors just didn't want to do something with a movie that has students fighting against each other. They were trying to avoid any controversy.
"They are acting like there's no good messages in the movie. There's even a whole ass monologue about bullying."
Wade muttered after Omar finished.
"Yeah. Hollywood had worse movies over the years. Some of them have teens being nude but they have a problem with this."
Aiden said and Omar also frowned. It was becoming a major issue for them and time was just ticking away.
"Distribution companies have a lot of meetings on any movie. They probably talked a lot about [Action Hero] too and they feel like the way it is shot is going to make it rejected by the audience and it doesn't have any aspect which could make it successful in film festivals."
"So, have you gone through most of the distribution companies?"
Aiden asked, noticing that Omar was looking worse every second. He seemed to be ageing due to stress.
"Mostly. Not every company distributes. It's a complex business and a lot of the screens are allocated to the Big 6. I went through major indie distributors. They are either already releasing a movie or just refused to show [Action Hero]."
"What about the Big 6? You went to them."
Aiden asked. Knowing Omar, he had a lot of connections in major film studios thanks to being an independent investor before starting his own production house.
"I tried to get some meetings with the distribution head in Dream Light pictures. They rejected it straight away. Same with Red Ant studios. Both the Big 6 giants didn't like it, so I don't think others would be interested in it."
He said, every word making Wade and Aiden feel the severity of this matter.
Normally, any Big 6 studio would have a line of movies for release every quarter of the year. They would be announced 1-2 years before and they would always try to be ahead of the industry.
Even Agnas biopic was announced a long time ago to be in development.
There were very slim chances that any of them would accept [Action Hero]. In the first place, they would reject based on the fact that Asano had very bad releases in the last few years.
'What to do now?'
Aiden thought and he felt that there was only one solution to the problem.
There was only one distributor he was in good touch with — Titan studios.
'I can at least get a meeting with Ava.'
He thought and looked up at Omar.
"Omar, do you mind if I try to arrange a distributor?"
"Do you know one?" Omar raised an eyebrow at that, hope lingering on his face.
"Yeah, I do. I don't know how the movie would be received but I'm sure I could arrange a screening of it."
