The next day, at the Disney Group's Burbank Headquarters...
The room was packed. Toy store owners from all over America—California, New York, Washington, everywhere—were here for one reason: to buy the rights to sell toys for the new Pixar movie, A Bug's Life.
Zane Blackwood didn't come himself. He was too busy. He sent his vice president, Kevin Fitch, to go for him.
"Kevin," said Old Billy, a store owner who was friends with Zane, "is your boss, Zane, really not excited about the toys for A Bug's Life?"
Kevin gave a small, polite smile. "It's not that he's not excited, Billy. He just said that A Bug's Life is like... 'bland food.' It's not very inspiring."
Bland food? Old Billy was a simple, straightforward guy. He had no idea what that meant!
Kevin explained. "It means... it's just 'okay.' It's not bad, but it's not great either. The movie is excellent, and the toys will sell, but you can't compare it to Toy Story. Do you really think A Bug's Life can be as big as Toy Story?"
"Well..." Old Billy said, "it should be, right?"
Kevin shook his head. "I used to think so, too. But my boss, Zane, he said it can't be. He thinks the movie will make, at most, $200 million."
Zane had also told Kevin one more thing: "The main characters are all bugs! Yes, Pixar made them look cute, but... how many kids are going to be begging for a caterpillar or an ant doll?"
For a moment, Old Billy just thought. He looked at the crazy, excited crowd of store owners who were all ready to spend tons of money. Then he thought about all the times his friend Zane had been right in the past.
"Forget it," Old Billy decided. "I'm not going to fight for it this time. I already have the 'Peppa Pig' toys, and those are selling great. One less movie won't hurt me."
...
Soon, the big auction for the toy rights began. The starting price for the state of Utah was $950,000.
"I'll bid $950,000!" a potbellied businessman named Francis shouted.
"Francis, you're too stingy!" a younger man named Monel yelled. "I bid $1.5 million!"
Wow!
Everyone was stunned. The price had jumped so high, so fast!
"Monel, you jerk!" Francis cursed.
"Old man, get out if you can't afford it!" Monel yelled back. They were big rivals, and the fight got heated.
"$1.6 million!" "$1.75 million!" "$1.9 million!"
In the end, the young man, Monel, won the rights for Utah. He paid $3 million!
"The price is really high!" Kevin gasped. He finally understood why his boss loved making cartoons so much.
Old Billy, standing next to him, gritted his teeth. "Two years ago, I got the Toy Story rights from Zane for just $1.5 million. And now this new movie, which isn't even out yet, is selling for double that!"
The auction went on for hours.
Pennsylvania sold for $2.7 million!
Nevada sold for $2.4 million!
When it was all over, the Disney Group had sold the toy rights for all 50 states for a total of $117.5 million!
They had made all their money back (and a ton of profit) before the movie was even in theaters!
(If Zane had been there, he would have been so jealous! But he also knew a secret. In his old life, A Bug's Life was not a big hit. All these store owners who just spent millions of dollars were going to be very, very sad in a few months.)
...
Meanwhile, on the movie set of 300 Spartans...
Today was a special day. A few of Zane's famous Hollywood friends were there to film small, fun "cameo" roles.
First up was Matt Damon. He played the mean Persian messenger who comes to Sparta.
"You humble mortals!" he shouted. "Surrender to the great King Xerxes!"
But his big, arrogant speech didn't last long. The hero, King Leonidas, kicked him right into a giant pit!
...
Next, Johnny Depp took the stage! He was also playing a bad guy! He played a corrupt Spartan who tried to stop the King from going to war.
In Hollywood, when big, famous stars do a small "cameo" part, they almost always play a silly character who dies in a funny way.
(Like in Deadpool 2, when Brad Pitt's character shows up for two seconds, hits a power line, and... zap!)
Next, Keanu Reeves and Joaquin Phoenix also showed up to play villains.
They were all killed in different, crazy ways.
All these famous actors, all getting beaten up, made the whole crew laugh. It was a really fun day on set.
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