Chapter 308: HWI 308
Hollywood What If Chapter 308
The Revenant was released in North America and its premiere was held at the TCL Chinese Theater. Many celebrities attended the premiere. Film critics were curious if Kazir had what it takes to make an art film. Because let's face it, Kazir was best at making box office hits, but definitely not art films that focused more on human psychology.
The critics knew the reason why CAA invited them to this premiere, they were not stupid. Grey Pictures rarely invited so many critics to a premiere, they usually invited 5 to 10 critics and these people were usually not that famous.
But now the situation was very obvious. Kazir Grey asked for help so that this movie would get positive reviews. He wanted to be nominated for the Oscars, maybe compete for the Best Director Award.
Kazir had already won Best Original Screenplay, the highest award a scriptwriter can get. And now the great director wanted to get Best Director. Well, with his race as a card, he might get a chance...
The critics watched the movie and were surprised that Kazir changed his usual style. There were no hype action scenes or heart-stopping fights.
Still, the critics felt that the movie was too mainstream... You see, movie critics really hate mainstream movies. As long as the people like the movies, the movie critics would hate them.
Movie critics hate any kind of movie that does well at the box office. And from the looks of it, this movie might do well at the box office.
Fortunately, CAA, Grey Pictures and even Tom Cruise worked together and gave them "gifts" so it would be bad if they wrote anything negative. If they broke their promise and wrote something bad, then they would never be invited and no more "gifts" would be given.
The movie ended and the audience reaction was good, but not great. After all, The Revenant was different from Spider-Man and Wanted. The Revenant lacked heart-pounding scenes, perhaps the movie's selling point was Hugh Glass wrestling a grizzly bear.
Tom Cruise really took this role just for a nomination, huh? The actor even has a beard and never shows off his handsome face. He looked old in this historically accurate movie.
The interview followed. While the TCL's Chinese Theater had its premiere, the other theaters all over North America started their rounds of screenings.
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The Santa Clause 2 was a movie produced and distributed by Walt Disney. It was a heartwarming movie about Santa Claus and his family. You know, the usual formula of Disney movies. A movie the whole family could enjoy.
The movie had a budget of 65 million dollars and Walt Disney believed that this movie would do well at the box office... The company suffered a huge loss after the release of John Carter. At the time, executives wanted to roast Michael Eisner alive.
Unfortunately for them, The Santa Clause 2 had a strong opponent.
Both The Revenant and The Santa Clause 2 were released on the same day. The Santa Clause 2 had an opening of 3,350 theaters while The Revenant had 3,375 theaters.
The two seemed promising because the former was a sequel while the latter was directed by a famous director and the male lead was a superstar.
24 hours later (November 1, 2002), the results were tallied.
The Santa Clause 2 grossed $7.51 million at the box office. A good start, Walt Disney thought this movie would have a lower box office since its competitor was The Revenant.
The Revenant grossed $15.90 million. Compared to Wanted and Spider-Man, both of which grossed over $30 million on their first day, The Revenant was very weak. Perhaps that is why The Santa Clause 2 had room to breathe.
For Grey Pictures and Tom Cruise, this result was already in line with their expectations. The Revenant was not meant for the public, it was an autobiographical film for the purpose of competing at the Oscars.
Three days after the premiere, which was Friday, November 3, the results of the two movies were counted again.
Only these two movies were promising that were released this week, and they did well at the box office. Everything else that was released this week was mediocre and didn't make enough money.
The Santa Clause 2 grossed $29 million after three days in theaters. It came in second place this week.
As for The Revenant, the movie got the first place this week as the highest grossing movie with $41.38 million.
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"Congratulations on your new movie, it's an interesting one. I thought you were doing another action movie this year. Don't worry, I'll be sure to vote for you."
"Thanks George, that's great to hear." Kazir appreciated it, having the support of a famous director like George Lucas was an honor.
Tonight, 20th Century Fox and LucasFilm threw a party to celebrate the success of Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. After six months in theaters worldwide, the film has grossed $656 million at the box office.
Normally, Kazir didn't like going to parties, but he had no choice. He had to attend at least one party a week. Hollywood was always active and parties were everywhere, Kazir just didn't like to attend them.
In fact, Kazir received so many invitations, but he rarely attended unless he was close to the person in question.
He was never the party type. It was a miracle if he even entered a formal party, let alone one filled with drugs and naked people. Kazir did not feel comfortable at those kinds of parties. He would rather watch the 3 hours of The Godfather. At least that movie was worth seeing.
"Let's talk later, I have to greet some people."
"See you George."
George Lucas apologized after their conversation. The director also had a lot of people to greet.
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