Zenith of Desire: The Hollywood Incubus

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*****

”I will send a separate instruction file later,” Marvin said. He leaned back. ”The priority is the core internet infrastructure. I want to buy the young companies eventually becoming the Chinese equivalents of exactly what *Yahoo!* is in the American market today. Portal infrastructure. Search engines. E-commerce logistics. Not the physical technology hardware manufacturers, at least not yet. We want the software and the consumer services layer.”

He paused, a smile crossing his face.

”And Lily... set aside a few million for a massive initial position in a tiny company currently operating as a small portal service. It’s called Alibaba.com. It is less than a year old. The founder is an English teacher named Jack Ma. The company will look like nothing for several years; it will bleed cash. Buy everything they sell us, and hold.”

A brief silence hung on the trans-Pacific line.

”Alibaba.com,” Lily repeated carefully. The scratching of her pen sounded audible over the phone.

”Correct.”

”I’ll have the preliminary investment documentation ready for your review by Tuesday,” Lily confirmed. Another slight pause followed—the hesitant pause of a woman processing an instruction possessing a certainty she learned to recognize and fear.

”Is there a problem, Lily?”

”No problem, President. Just... anticipating the future.”

....

...

..

.

---

Marvin leaned back in the chair and looked at the glowing terminal screen. The Reuters wire carried the morning’s Nasdaq summary. The index opened on January 9th at a staggering 2,318, up eleven points from the prior close.

The entire technology sector bled green across the board, behaving exactly like a rabid beast forgetting to be anything else.

He thought about the remaining dollars in liquid capital.

He calculated exactly what deploying it with appropriate leverage into a structured derivatives position on the Nasdaq technology sector would become between January 1999 and the fatal date in March 2000.

He thought about the conversation he warned Andrew he needed to have—the one about the exit. The true, systemic exit remained fourteen months away. Fourteen months left in which the global market would continue to behave as if *up* were the only possible direction, *leverage* were the only viable strategy, and the ”new economy” were an immutable law of physics, rather than a fragile, collective hallucination that could rescind without a moment’s warning.

Fourteen months.

”I want a leveraged long position in the Nasdaq technology sector,” Marvin said calmly. ”Built primarily through long-dated calls—January 2000 where available—across a concentrated basket of high-beta names. Amazon, Yahoo!, AOL, eBay—and exposure to the NASDAQ-100.” He paused. ”Target effective leverage of seven to ten times, achieved through a combination of LEAPS, shorter-dated calls, and structured financing.”

Another pause. ”I want the position built over three weeks—layered, across multiple desks. Quietly. Before the January earnings season fully kicks in and the implied volatility on the tech names inevitably runs higher.”

Andrew stayed dead quiet on the other end of the line for a long moment. It wasn’t hesitation—the veteran broker passed the point of questioning Marvin’s sanity—but the computational pause of a brilliant financial mind translating an instruction into its practical, real-world implementation.

”At seven-to-ten times leverage on eighty-one million, you’re looking at roughly five hundred sixty-seven to eight hundred and ten million dollars in notional exposure,” Andrew said. His voice sounded remarkably steady. ”Across the most volatile names you just mentioned.”

”Correct.”

”Marvin, the LEAPS with a January 2000 expiry will carry an exorbitant premium given the current implied volatility in the tech sector. The market makers will make you bleed for that time value.”

”I know,” Marvin replied coldly. ”Pay the premium. Don’t haggle over pennies. The time value is entirely justified by the remaining, vertical runway left in this bull market. I need the January 2000 expiry specifically because I want the entire position to naturally resolve—either through closing or rolling— before March of 2000.”

Another pause. Slightly longer, and heavier this time.

”Before March of 2000,” Andrew repeated slowly. He tested the boundary of the words.

”Yes.”

”That represents an incredibly specific timeline to exit a generational bull market.”

”I know.”

Marvin long ago used mind magic, a subtle wave of psychic command designed to ensure Andrew followed the instruction to the letter, without entertaining independent ideas about holding out for more profit in April or May or spilling the beans on this info!

Andrew made the quiet sound he always made when Marvin said something answering the immediate question, while simultaneously opening an entirely different question he dared not ask. ”I’ll have the position structure and the execution strategy ready for your review by Monday morning.”

”One more thing,” Marvin added.

”Yes.”

”The *Yahoo!* January calls. They settle in three weeks. When they successfully close—and the settlement will undoubtedly be at or significantly above the strike—I want the full proceeds rolled immediately and entirely into one final position. April calls at 5× leverage, struck at two-fifty. I want to capture the last leg of this move.”

”The last leg,” Andrew said. The pen scratched audibly over the line. ”Meaning—”

”Meaning the April expiry will be the final cycle,” Marvin stated with sovereign finality. ”After April, the *Yahoo!* options program permanently closes. I’ll keep the core equity, for now. But the leveraged options program ends in April.”

The silence that followed marked the longest Andrew Cohen ever allowed himself in their incredibly lucrative working relationship.

”You’re saying the move ends in April,” Andrew said. It wasn’t a question. It was a breathless confirmation, seeking to anchor himself to the boy’s foresight.

”I’m saying,” Marvin replied, measuring his words carefully, ”that by April, the position will complete its thesis. After that, the market abruptly enters a highly volatile phase requiring a completely different strategy to survive.”

”And the different strategy is—”

”We’ll discuss it in April,” Marvin cut him off smoothly. ”Right now, I need the January settlement rolled perfectly, and the LEAPS established. In exactly that order.”

”If you roll all that billions into April calls and push it to five-to-one,” Andrew said, doing the numbers in his head, ”you deploy six billion dollars in notional exposure—on a single name, at that strike.”

A brief silence.

”Yes,” Marvin replied. ”Exactly.”

”Understood.” The sharp click of the pen retracting. ”I’ll have everything ready by Monday.”

Marvin hung up the receiver. He sat for a long moment in the quiet of his morning office. The thick, grey marine layer fully dissolved now, allowing the crisp light to stream in, clean and white, through the east-facing window. The Laurel Canyon hills showed vividly in their dry, stark winter clarity—the scrub oak completely leafless, the pale, dead grass on the ridges the color of old parchment.

High above, a solitary hawk working the thermals above the ridge since early autumn made slow, patient circles at altitude.

He opened his leather-bound operational notebook. He wrote the date in his elegant script. Directly beneath it, three distinct lines.

*Yahoo! program total value, 31 December 1998: $724,156,480.*

*Royalty net cash, post-tax: $109,855,000.*

*Reinvestment plan: $35M to Scarlet Capital China. $81M to Nasdaq LEAPS, January 2000 expiry.*

*5× leverage on Yahoo long bullish.*

He looked at the four lines of ink, admiring the architecture of his empire money. Beneath them, he wrote a fifth, definitive line:

*Exit window: April 1999 for Yahoo! options. Full Nasdaq position: no later than February 2000.*

He closed the notebook with a soft thud.

Outside the glass, the hawk found an updraft and rose steadily above the ridge in a slow spiral.

Marvin watched it for a long moment. His eyes reflected the sky. He turned his chair back to the glowing terminal and began planning for the bloodbath of March 2000.

---

Despite his packed, busy schedule—balancing maneuvers in the share market and the tail-end promotional circuit for *The Sixth Sense*—Marvin made the time to meet personally in Beverly Hills to negotiate the production of *The Others*, which was postponed last time due to his busy schedule..

He sat at the head of a glass conference table in a private CAA boardroom. Across from him sat Nicole and her razor-sharp agent, Pat Kingsley. To Marvin’s mild surprise, Tom—whom he expected to stay entirely out of his wife’s vanity project to protect his own ego—strode into the room. He announced with a billion-dollar smile that his production company, Cruise/Wagner Productions, would be involved in the primary investment.

After two hours of high-stakes discussions, Marvin and his partner, Jeff, mapped out the battlefield.

Tom, the shrewd, calculating businessman behind the movie-star facade, deeply understood the potential of the gothic script. He saw the lucrative, undeniable parallels with the explosive cultural success of *The Sixth Sense*. If a slow-burn thriller about ghosts could gross hundreds of millions, *The Others* had the exact same potential to succeed on a global scale.

Still, Marvin decided to bring Harvey Weinstein and Miramax into the fold for the final movie project. The decision felt purely strategic.

Harvey possessed an unparalleled, almost mafia-like stronghold and deep connections in the European film markets. Miramax’s involvement could strong-arm the film into gaining prestige recognition at the Venice, Cannes, and Europa Film Festivals, ensuring Oscar momentum.

The final, complex investment breakdown contracted as follows:

Tom’s production banner invested $15 million, securing a 25% backend stake.

Miramax Pictures invested a matching $15 million in hard production costs, securing 38% of the backend. However, as part of Marvin’s tactics, Miramax legally bound to independently provide and cover the P&A (Prints and Advertising) budget. In the modern blockbuster era, the marketing and distribution budget easily equaled or exceeded the production cost. Harvey likely has to invest another $20 to $30 million just to plaster Nicole’s face on every billboard and television screen from Los Angeles to London.

Marvin, operating under his own Scarlet banner, personally invested $10 million in cash.

Along with completely providing the original script, committing to composing the orchestral soundtrack, and background theme, and providing his own hand-picked key production team members, he successfully covered the remaining 37% of the pie.

At first, Marvin had no genuine intention of participating in front of the camera for *The Others*. He already wrote the twisted script for *Hide and Seek*, which he considered his next major, starring acting project. However, Nicole expressed a desperate willingness to accept slightly less screen time to accommodate him.

Both Tom and Harvey practically begged him to attach his face to the poster. Marvin reluctantly agreed to take a supporting, pivotal role.

His reasoning felt twofold.

On the one hand, he could personally look out for Lindsay. He lobbied for Lindsay to be cast as Anne, the photosensitive daughter.

Even though Marvin knew nothing dangerous would happen to her on set with his shadow constantly looming over the production, he possessed a possessive desire to make sure his women felt entirely comfortable on a massive, grueling dramatic set. Lindsay stepped far outside her Disney comfort zone. He intended to cultivate her raw talent, simply because he didn’t allow her to shine in *The Parent Trap*.

On the other hand, the movie undeniably had potential at the global box office with him attached. This stemmed primarily from an unspoken reality of the industry: despite Nicole Kidman’s undeniable beauty, star power, and A-list status, her films did not perform well at the box office.

It presented a strange Hollywood paradox—Nicole remained widely considered one of Hollywood’s most beautiful actresses, yet her films rarely managed to make a financial splash. Despite her fame, almost no film she starred in carried the box office. *The Others* would become the historic exception.

In the other timeline, financial magazines like *Forbes* would name Nicole as one of Hollywood’s ”least investment-worthy” actresses regarding return on capital.

Interestingly, this curse held true even in the bizarre, highly anticipated case of *Eyes Wide Shut*. The secretive, deeply controversial film—which exposed exactly how twisted the true colors of Hollywood and high-society elite circles really were—featured Tom looking lost, and Nicole repeatedly exposing herself on-screen, including publicized, graphic sex scenes. Yet, the film still ultimately failed to perform to expectations at the domestic box office.

Tragically, the film’s director, Stanley Kubrick, passed away suddenly from a heart attack just five days after handing in the final, heavily contested cut of the film to Warner Bros.

His shocking, perfectly timed death caused dark conspiracy theories to swirl around the Hollywood underground. Whispers echoed in private clubs that the film failed entirely because the Hollywood elite didn’t want it to succeed. They claimed Kubrick showed too much of the truth regarding the masked, the occult, the worship, and the sex rituals of the billionaire class.

From Marvin’s perspective, those dark conspiracies felt most likely entirely true. The general public wouldn’t fully appreciate the chilling accuracy of the film until late 2005. By the time the 2020s rolled around, it became a viral cultural topic for years, as the real-life crimes of elite figures like Epstein and Diddy finally dragged into the blinding light of day.

****

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