"Oh~ Isa~ so you're really interested in James's project?"
"Uh… I just think James has the ability to replicate the success of Titanic, so I'm willing to take a gamble."
"Hm? You're not planning to act in it?"
"Of course not. I don't have the time or the energy, and most importantly—compared to his project, I prefer Star Wars. Me swinging a lightsaber sounds way more interesting than whatever he's doing, doesn't it?"
"Hahahahaha wow~ that's a pretty cool idea. So—can I quote you exactly on that?"
"Of course! And I believe Lionsgate wouldn't care about my attitude anyway—"
At the mention of Avatar, Isabella's emotions became a bit complicated.
Back then, when she watched the first film, the almost miraculous visual effects truly made her feel like she had stepped into a new world. The lifelike scenes were so real that Pandora felt like it was right in front of her.
The technology James Cameron brought out, which changed the entire cinematic experience, left her in awe.
So much so that even though the first film's story was a bit—
Ordinary?
She could still wildly praise James Cameron's greatness purely because of the technological revolution.
But her fondness for Avatar only lasted one cycle—twelve years.
Uh…
That's already a long time.
But in her eyes, Avatar's brilliance could have been eternal.
And the hammer that shattered that eternal brilliance was picked up by James Cameron himself.
In 2022, the release of Avatar: The Way of Water made Isabella—who went to see an early screening immediately—feel like she'd swallowed a fly. The visuals were still amazing, but the story was absolute trash.
If she could be blunt, she'd say the plot of The Way of Water was terrible from beginning to end.
First of all, the male lead's characterization was flawed.
After the chaos of the first film, Jake became a true Na'vi. By marrying the chief's daughter, he became the leader of the tribe starting from the second film.
At first glance, that setup seems fine.
From a human perspective, Jake is a traitor to Earth, but his past experiences and the miserable life he had on Earth are enough to justify his "betrayal."
But since he has already integrated into Pandora and become a Na'vi, following normal logic, shouldn't he dedicate his life to his new identity and the race that accepted him?
Nope. He didn't.
When facing his former kind—now enemies, the humans—he only put up a token resistance before choosing to run away.
And when his wife said she wanted to protect their people, he even said something so ridiculous that Isabella still remembers it:
"As long as we run, the tribe will be safe, because the humans' target is me."
Excuse me?!
Was this really written by someone with normal IQ?
Leaving aside the fact that the first Avatar already established that humans came to Pandora for its resources and intended to colonize it—
Even at the start of the second film, Jake himself explains that humans have returned, built bases, and laid railways. It's clearly a full-scale colonization effort.
So Jake thinks that if he runs away, his people will be safe?
Was he ever human?
The moment he chooses to run, his on-screen image turns into a coward. A weakling.
And stories about weaklings—
Who wants to watch that?
Secondly, after deciding to run, Jake doesn't hide somewhere remote. Instead, he goes to another tribe to take shelter.
That logic is even more absurd.
If you believe humans are only after you, if you think you're a walking disaster who brings danger to others, and you've already accepted fleeing as your fate—then why not hide in some godforsaken place for the rest of your life?
Why drag another tribe into it?
So your own tribe can't suffer losses, but others can just die?
What a "man of the people."
Back then, Isabella was already speechless at this point. And the repetitive cycle of "villain captures the child → hero rescues → villain captures again → hero rescues again" made her want to throw up.
At the time, she even seriously wondered—
Did James Cameron sell his director account?
Did he sell his name and the Avatar IP to Fox and retire with a pile of cash?
Because even small tweaks to the plot of The Way of Water could have avoided that secondhand embarrassment.
For example—
Humans do return, but since the protagonist spent the past decade staying vigilant instead of enjoying peace, he successfully repels them again in a glorious defensive battle.
Start the movie with a grand counterattack where he crushes the humans.
Then humans realize brute force won't work, so they go stealthy, landing elsewhere, building up strength, preparing for a decisive strike. Their new landing site is in the reef tribe's territory.
To the reef tribe, this is an invasion. They fight back, trying to defend their home, but without "divine power," they can't defeat humans. During the conflict, humans discover that a substance from sea creatures can extend lifespan, so they shift targets and begin slaughtering marine life.
The reef tribe can't hold out and is on the brink of extinction, so they send a plea for help to the greatest warrior on Pandora—the protagonist Jake's tribe.
Wouldn't that naturally justify Jake going into the ocean to fight humans?
Wasn't James Cameron making The Way of Water to prove he had conquered the most difficult element in filmmaking—the ocean? To show he could perfectly recreate water-based particle effects?
So is it really that hard to give the protagonist a logical reason to fight humans in the sea?
Just tweak the script a bit, and he can learn "the way of water."
And why do Pandora's creatures have to fight using human weapons?
Why not introduce a magic system? Forest dwellers control trees, ocean dwellers control water, fire dwellers control flames, metal-based beings focus on physical cultivation—
Wouldn't that make the visuals even more insane?
In her previous life, Isabella never understood what Cameron was thinking.
In this life—
She chooses respect and well wishes.
Right now, she's only willing to invest in Avatar.
At most, she'd participate as a nominal producer in the highest-grossing film in history.
Acting?
When she thinks a story is ridiculous, she simply can't act in it.
And she doesn't want to interfere with James Cameron's creative process either.
She doesn't have the time—she's got a pile of projects waiting. Why would she waste energy arguing with someone widely known as a tyrant?
The investment return isn't proportional. If Avatar weren't the highest-grossing film of all time, she wouldn't even bother buying into it—just like she has no interest in Twilight. When she can create her own IP, why make money for others?
Because right now, she can easily get her hands on another god-tier IP in film history.
The only thing that can rival HP is SW.
So if she actually has time, why wouldn't she work with Steven Spielberg on Star Wars instead of working with James Cameron on Avatar?
After all, the glory of Avatar belongs solely to James Cameron.
Only the director becomes famous.
But Star Wars is different. Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Darth Vader—who among them isn't iconic?
What Isabella wants right now is exactly that kind of star-making IP.
Not to mention, Spielberg's words reminded her that the story after Return of the Jedi is Rey's story. And for her—if she really wants that kind of success, she can just copy the plot.
Even though—
Honestly, she thinks The Rise of Skywalker's plot is pretty bad too.
Maybe negotiations were important.
Or maybe Spielberg had other things to deal with.
After finishing their discussion, the old man simply had lunch in the Cayman Islands before leaving in a hurry.
By May 29, 2006—
Content Capital officially reached a settlement with YouTube.
There were many clauses in the agreement—so many that Isabella herself didn't read all of them. But one thing she knew:
The guiding principle followed her idea.
Content Capital would allow short-duration infringing content to exist on YouTube.
For example:
Animation clips no longer than 30 seconds;
Movie clips no longer than 60 seconds;
Variety show clips no longer than 90 seconds;
And TV series clips no longer than 120 seconds.
Uh—
This kind of openness basically means Content Capital is allowing YouTube to use some of its content for free to attract users.
Of course, Content Capital isn't running a charity.
So, videos that can be stitched together into full episodes—and users who try to do that—are not allowed to exist.
As for anti-piracy measures?
They follow the same approach outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Content Capital monitors YouTube themselves, and when they find clear infringing content, they send a notice requesting its removal.
Meanwhile, the salaries of YouTube's review staff are still paid by them.
The same figure they mentioned to Isabella before—200 million dollars a year.
Because settlement agreements like this are highly confidential,
the only thing the outside world gets to hear is that both sides have made peace.
Although this outcome was already expected by the public—Isabella's statements had long since convinced everyone, and News Corp had suffered a devastating blow weeks earlier. Once internal conflict broke out within Content Capital, if they still had the energy to drag on a lawsuit they were bound to lose, that would've been borderline superhuman.
Still, when news of the settlement came out, people were shocked.
Because in the public's eyes, this meant Hollywood capital had officially bowed its head to Isabella:
"Wow~ did Isabella just take down all of capital?"
"I think so! That was a loud slap across their faces!"
"Oh my god—this is incredible—she's done what countless people couldn't!"
"Isabella is seriously amazing!!!"
"Hey! What do you think is actually in the settlement between the Hollywood giants and YouTube?"
"I think it's compensation! Since the settlement was proposed by the big studios, they must be paying YouTube!"
"I think it's more than just money. If the lawsuit continued, the studios would only lose. So if YouTube was guaranteed to win, what they get wouldn't just be money—there must be other benefits too!"
"That can't be right, can it? Isabella is still part of Hollywood. If she demands too much, would those capital giants really let her off?"
"I agree! The studios will just pressure Isabella a bit and wrap things up. They've never treated ordinary people like humans anyway! In their eyes, Isabella is just a money-making machine! Otherwise why would they so recklessly drag her into court?"
"I don't think that's right! Isabella is capital too now—the rights to The Voice are in her own hands!"
"So what? The Voice is valuable, sure, but it only really makes money for Disney. And even if she starred in HP, the companies she can directly influence are just Disney and Warner. As for the others? Heh—"
"Exactly! Disney and Warner might pamper her, but the other companies definitely won't!
And in this situation, even Disney and Warner didn't go out of their way to protect her!"
"But—"
"Oh come on—stop arguing—you'll get your answers in a couple of days anyway, right?
Isn't Isabella attending The Da Vinci Code premiere soon? The host will definitely ask her then!"
That's right.
Now that the war was over, cooperation would begin.
With the settlement signed, Sony officially announced that Isabella would attend the premiere of their film The Da Vinci Code. The date: May 31, 2006. The location: Los Angeles, California.
Yet even though Isabella's public appearance was so close to the timing of the settlement, everything the public expected… simply didn't happen.
Even when Isabella walked the red carpet, even though everyone knew the hottest topic surrounding her was the Content Capital–YouTube settlement, the host didn't ask a single question about it.
As for why—
Simple.
They didn't dare.
The public might not know what exactly happened to Rupert Murdoch, but people in the industry? You think they hadn't heard the rumors?
Besides, red carpet Q&A sessions are rehearsed.
So when Sony solemnly handed the host a list of forbidden topics—
Well, idiots don't get to host major events.
Still, even though the host avoided asking about the settlement, the ever-attentive public wasn't too disappointed. During the interview, the host mentioned she was a huge YouTube fan, and upon hearing that Isabella's second vlog was in production, she had been eagerly looking forward to it. So—
"Isa, I want to know—will this interview of me make it into your vlog?"
"Uh… no…"
"Why? I really want to appear in your vlog! Everyone knows your popularity is insanely high, and right now is the perfect time for me to ride your wave, so—give me a chance?"
"Oh, thank you for the recognition, but the theme of my second vlog is what I did before exams."
Isabella's answer made the host frown slightly.
She clearly didn't quite get what the girl meant.
Wearing a black dress, Isabella raised her microphone and addressed the cheering fans by the red carpet:
"I think everyone who follows me knows why the new HP film isn't starting production until this summer—because Daniel and I have exams."
"So if I'm being strict, I should be preparing for exams right now."
"And during exam prep, I can say I took some time to go see the F-22, because it's the most advanced military equipment right now. Taking a photo with the world's top-tier hardware is obviously more important than studying, right? So even if I admit in the vlog that I slacked off a bit during exam prep, I'm sure you guys would understand."
"But if I also say I went to The Da Vinci Code premiere during exam prep—"
"Wow~ wouldn't you think I'm a bit… unfocused?"
"And if someone says Isabella who plays Hermione Granger isn't studying properly, then my whole image collapses."
Isabella tilted her head playfully at the crowd.
"Hahahahaha—"
Both the red carpet audience and viewers watching the live broadcast burst into laughter.
"Oh—Isabella is way too cute—"
"If you don't film it, it doesn't count? That's some serious self-deception!"
"She's literally me sneaking off before exams—"
"Wait—if I remember correctly, Isabella has exams next month, right? Can she really get straight A's?"
"Why not? I remember she's really good academically!"
"Yeah! Wasn't she the only one in the HP tutoring group who didn't need regular classes? And after her performance in court, she could get into any university in the world! The only question is which one she'll choose!"
"She's British, so Oxbridge?"
"I think she'll go for Harvard or MIT—they're both better than Oxbridge."
"Uh… your discussion makes sense, but… does Isabella even have time to attend university?"
"Why wouldn't she? And who says going to university means attending classes?"
"Exactly! All top universities support external study—she can just hire private tutors!"
What exactly did Content Capital and YouTube agree on in their settlement?
Everyone was curious.
But compared to Isabella's vlog and her studies, the settlement just wasn't as interesting.
Because everyone knew her second vlog would feature the F-22.
So besides touching an F-22, what other outrageous things did she do while supposedly studying?
Isn't that way more interesting than some settlement terms?
And besides, Isabella's academic journey has been a long-running topic.
Now that all the kids from HP have turned into academic underperformers—
Can Isabella still maintain her top-student image?
That kind of long-term character arc is way more engaging than a legal agreement.
Not to mention, Isabella had already shown the outcome of the lawsuit herself, hadn't she?
That courtroom presence—
Wow~
Way more entertaining than cold compensation figures.
Amid the laughter of the crowd, Isabella stepped into The Da Vinci Code premiere.
And the movie—
Was actually pretty good.