Hollywood: Lights, Ink, Entertainment!

Chapter 416: The Award Slate

....

[5:15 AM LIE Studios | Regal’s Office]

The sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of LIE Studios was still bruised with the dark purple of early morning.

It was Golden Globes nomination morning.

And behind that glamorous industry ritual, the machinery of half a dozen major productions was still grinding forward without pause.

[John Wick] was deep in post-production, final edits and color grading moving around the clock. The [Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix] production was already midway through shooting, and [The Dark Knight] had officially begun filming the previous day.

Regal wasn’t even there for it on the first day.

He had left the first phase entirely in the hands of Fede Álvarez and the stunt team, trusting them to execute the groundwork.

Though there was still one thing he was quietly keeping an eye on.

A familiar blue interface shimmered into Regal’s vision.

•-------[NOTIFICATIONS]-------•

「Ding! Principal Photography for [The Dark Knight] is imminent.」

「Milestone Unlocked: The Dual-Director Epic.」

「User’s [World-Class] Director skill is highly engaged alongside Co-Director.

•---------------------------•

The notification had appeared the moment the first take officially rolled, at least according to the timestamp he’d received from the set.

And honestly?

Regal had questions.

A lot of them.

What exactly was ’highly engaged’ supposed to mean?

Was this some kind of shared-skill effect?

Did it mean Fede Álvarez could temporarily access aspects of the [World-Class] Director skill while working under him?

And if that was the case, why had it only triggered now?

There had been other productions where Regal had stepped back and allowed someone else to direct his material entirely, yet the system had never reacted before.

So clearly some conditions hadn’t been met back then.

Maybe it required simultaneous involvement, proximity or active creative overlap during principal photography.

Who knows.

But Regal didn’t dwell on the questions for long.

The system always revealed its logic eventually.

And he was confident he had figured this one out sooner rather than later.

Regal dismissed the window with a mental flick, and at the moment, he sat behind his desk without the slightest visible concern, seemingly far more interested in the final rendering schedule for [John Wick] than the live Golden Globes broadcast playing silently on the television in the corner of his office.

He was, by all appearances, completely unbothered.

Samantha, however, was not.

She stood near the television, two different tablets balanced in her hands, her eyes flicking between the live broadcast from the Beverly Hilton and her continuously refreshing inbox.

Darren wasn’t there, as he was most probably buried in [The Dark Knight] production now, not as a producer this time, but as an actor preparing for the biggest role of his life.

So instead, it was Simon slumped across the couches behind Samantha, nursing black coffee with the exhausted silence of a man who had accepted sleep as a lost cause.

"They are starting the film categories." Samantha announced. "For Your Consideration" campaigns.

Regal didn’t look up from his papers. "Any surprises in the television categories?"

"Nothing major. [Friends] picked up its usual nominations." Samantha waved a hand dismissively. "But that’s not what we are here for. Okay, quiet. Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy is up."

Simon leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

For LIE Studios, 2016 had been a strange, bifurcated year.

They hadn’t released a massive ensemble superhero epic, nor a foundational myth like Superman.

Instead, they had released two films that broke every established rule in completely opposite directions.

[Deadpool]], and [I Want To Eat Your Pancreas].

One was an R-rated, hyper-violent, fourth-wall-breaking comedy that the traditional studio system had viewed as a liability.

The other was a quiet, emotionally devastating character study starring two complete unknowns.

Neither was supposed to be typical awards bait.

On the screen, the presenters smiled brightly and opened the envelope.

["The nominees for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy are..."]

Samantha held her breath.

["...Harmony Hills. Florence Melody Hart. Anthem Lane. Modern Century Women. And... Deadpool."]

Simon let out a long, disbelieving laugh. "I cannot believe the Hollywood Foreign Press Association just nominated a movie where a guy cuts off his own hand while making a masturbation joke for a Golden Globe."

"It gets better." Samantha said, her eyes locked on her tablet as the feed continued. "Best Actor in a Motion Picture , Musical or Comedy."

The presenter read the names.

["...Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool."]

Regal finally set his pen down, a slow, satisfied smirk spreading across his face. He reached for his phone, which was already vibrating against the mahogany desk.

The caller ID simply read: Merc With A Mouth.

Regal answered and casually put the call on speaker.

["HAHAAA.... YO, ASK ME WHY I AM LAUGHING LIKE A MANIAC!"] Ryan Reynolds shouted the second the line connected. ["This is the complete collapse of prestigious cinema! I am a Golden Globe nominee, Regal. Me! At this rate, with the level of hype I am operating on right now, I might actually take you up on that Green Lantern reboot offer."]

"Will you?" Regal asked smoothly.

It was obviously an old inside joke between them, and the effect was immediate.

Ryan went completely silent for a beat.

Because for one horrible second, he remembered the absolute disaster of the original [Green Lantern] release, reviews, internet jokes, and the months of public suffering afterward.

You could practically hear the emotional flashback hit him through the phone.

Then Regal laughed outright.

"Kidding. Anyway, congratulations, Ryan." he said. "Try to act like you’ve been here before."

["I haven’t been here before!"] Ryan shot back instantly. ["Nobody like me has been here before! Shawn is literally crying beside me right now, or hyperventilating, one of the two. Dude, we’re going to the Globes!"]

His voice somehow got louder.

["I am buying the most obnoxious velvet tuxedo humanity has ever seen. I might wear the Deadpool mask with it. Should I wear a mask?"]

"If you wear the mask." Regal replied calmly. "I will have Rock physically remove you from the red carpet."

["Completely fair."] Ryan admitted immediately. ["Seriously though, man... Thank you. I owe you. Like... an organ-level debt. Kidney minimum. Possibly pancreas depending on how this morning ends."]

There was movement and muffled yelling on his side of the call.

["I gotta go call my mom and explain that her son is officially prestige garbage now!"]

The line went dead.

Regal shook his head. "He is going to be absolutely insufferable for the next month."

"He earned it." Simon noted. "The campaign he ran for that film was historic."

"Shh!" Samantha cut in again, her posture straightening. "They are doing Drama categories."

The room went dead silent.

If [Deadpool] was their chaotic victory lap, [I Want To Eat Your Pancreas] was the real test. Regal had built that film with surgical precision, stripping away the spectacle of his superhero epics to prove he could command an audience using nothing but two actors and a script.

["The nominees for Best Motion Picture, Drama are..."]

The presenter paused.

["...Sawblade Ridge. Brighton by the Shore. Silverlight. Fire and Deep Water. And... I Want To Eat Your Pancreas."]

Samantha exhaled sharply. "We made it!!!"

["Best Director, Motion Picture..."]

["...Elias Moreau for Rhythm Collision. Adrian Vale for Pale Horizon. Marcus Ellery for Tides of Brighton. Lucien Verac for First Contact Protocol. And Regal Seraphsail for I Want To Eat Your Pancreas."]

"That’s two." Simon muttered, grinning.

Then came the acting categories, and this was the true gamble.

Regal had cast Tom Holland and Zendaya when neither had any real film pedigree, even forcing the studio to bet a $40 million budget on sheer, untested chemistry.

["Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama..."]

["...Clara Whitmore. Evelyn Hart. Sophie Laurent. Natalie Vale. Zendaya for I Want To Eat Your Pancreas."]

"Oh my god." Samantha whispered.

["Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama..."]

["...Daniel Mercer. Rowan Cade. Adrian Keller. Victor Markov. Tom Holland for I Want To Eat Your Pancreas."]

Simon stood up completely. "Those kids really pulled it off!!!"

["Best Screenplay, Motion Picture..."]

["...Regal Seraphsail, I Want To Eat Your Pancreas."]

The television fed out the rest of the technical categories, Ludwig Göransson snagged another nomination for Best Original Score, and Leo Martinez picked up Best Cinematography.

Seven nominations for a quiet romance film about pancreatic cancer.

Two for a hyper-violent comedy.

Nine Golden Globe nominations across two films that couldn’t possibly be more different in tone, execution, or audience demographic.

Regal’s phone began vibrating again. It didn’t stop. The screen lit up with a barrage of incoming calls, text messages, and email notifications.

He looked down at it, then let it ring.

"They’re going to be losing their minds." Regal said softly.

He meant Tom and Zendaya.

A moment later, the phone buzzed with a FaceTime request and a group call.

Regal accepted it and propped the phone up against his coffee mug.

On the screen, Tom Holland looked like he had forgotten how to breathe. His hair was a mess, his eyes were wide, and he was pacing around what looked like a hotel room in London. In the other split screen, Zendaya was sitting on her bed, a hand covering her mouth, shaking her head back and forth.

Tom started, his voice cracking slightly. ["Regal did they make a mistake? Or some kind of prank? I am nominated against Victor Markov. Rowan Cade!!!"]

Regal commanded gently. "Nobody made a mistake. I told you during the first table read that you had it in you. The HFPA just happened to agree."

["I can’t feel my hands."] Tom admitted.

Zendaya finally lowered her hand, her eyes shining. ["Thank you..."]

The conversation drifted after that.

They talked about random things for a few minutes, who had screamed first, which publicist was currently losing their mind, whether Tom had actually slept at all the previous night.

And eventually the call began winding down.

["Okay..."] Tom said, nodding rapidly to himself even though nobody could see it. ["Celebration mode, right? I’m gonna call my mum now. This is only, like... the fourth time today. You think she’ll get annoyed eventually?"]

The call ended a few seconds later.

Regal leaned back in his chair, folding his arms.

"Well." Simon said, breaking the quiet of the office. "I think it’s safe to say LIE Studios officially owns the 2015-2016 awards season narrative."

"It’s the duality that’s going to drive the press crazy." Samantha noted, already typing furiously on her tablets. "You have the most irreverent, cynical movie of the year, and the most earnest, devastating movie of the year. Both under your umbrella. The trades are already running with it."

She turned the tablet to face Regal.

....

Variety: [The Duality of Regal: Seraphsail Dominates Golden Globes With Polar Opposites ’Pancreas’ and ’Deadpool’]

The Hollywood Reporter: [From Dick Jokes to Devastation: How Regal Seraphsail Hacked the Awards Season Deadline.

[Unknowns No More: Tom Holland and Zendaya Crash the Best Actor/Actress Races in Historic Fashion]

....

While the trades analyzed the business and prestige implications, the internet was reacting exactly how Regal expected them to: with unfiltered, absolute chaos.

[Twitter | Trending Worldwide:] #1 - #GoldenGlobes #2 - #TomHolland #3 - #Deadpool #4 - #RegalSeraphsail #5 - #Zendaya

@CinemaNerd89: The fact that Tom Holland, a literal child from the London stage, just got a Best Actor nom for a movie titled I WANT TO EAT YOUR PANCREAS is the biggest flex in Hollywood history. Regal is a kingmaker.

@MarvelD_Fanatic: RYAN REYNOLDS GOT A GLOBE NOMINATION FOR DEADPOOL!!! THE ACADEMY HAS TO RECOGNIZE HIM NOW!! WE ARE IN THE DANKEST TIMELINE!!

@IndieFilmEnthusiast: I am still emotionally recovering from Pancreas. I saw it in July and it is December. I still cry when I see cherry blossoms. Give Tom and Zendaya all the awards. Give them the Oscars. Give them the Nobel Peace Prize.

@IndustryTracker: Look at the narrative here. Regal Seraphsail took a superhero movie (Spider-Man), made it a billion dollars. Took a comedy (Hangover), made it a phenomenon. Now he took an indie romance, shot it for $40M, and is about to sweep the Globes. Oh, and he produced Deadpool on the side. The man doesn’t miss. He physically cannot miss.

....

Regal watched the timeline scroll.

He didn’t feel the frantic, heart-pounding adrenaline he had felt during his first Oscar campaign....

Instead, he felt a quiet, profound sense of calmness.

....

.

[To be continued...]

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