Chapter 250: HWI 250
Hollywood What If Chapter 250
The matter of the female lead ended after the audition for Mary Jane. The group voiced their opinions, but on this project, Kazir Grey had the ultimate authority.
Some of them were unhappy when Kazir decided to cast Kirsten Dunst. Her passion and motivation for the role was lacking. But because of Kazir's past successes and his eye for casting, they decided to accept his decision.
The main reason Kazir cast Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson was because of his knowledge.
Spider-Man was a huge success in his past life, and he believed that as long as he followed the original version, his chances of getting a box office hit were higher.
Fortunately, when Kirsten Dunst showed up and signed the contract, her hair was already dyed red and it didn't look bad. Even Jezebel Salome thought it was acceptable. Still, Jezebel was against Kazir's decision to choose the female lead.
After that, the subject of the protagonist, the person who would become Spider-Man, came up.
At first, James Cameron, the first choice director, wanted to invite Leonardo DiCaprio for the role and Sony-Colombia was not against it
However, it seemed that the young actor was not very enthusiastic about being a superhero. Maybe he despised wearing tight costumes...
Instead, Leonardo DiCaprio recommended his friend. The one and only Tobey Maguire, our Bully Maguire.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire have been friends since they were young. But unlike Leonardo, Tobey was still trying to find his place in this industry.
Everyone knew that Kazir Grey and Sony-Columbia had a project and the investment for this movie would definitely exceed $100 million. Besides, working with someone like Kazir Grey would boost the actors' careers.
So yes, the audition for the lead in Spider-Man was terrifying. Kazir's fame influenced the situation.
Kazir had the nickname "Star Maker". Because every actor who starred in his movies got a foothold in Hollywood. Some examples were Reese Witherspoon, Ed Helms, Pedro Pascal, Brianna Evans and Enzo Park.
Even though Kazir only attended the final round of auditions, he was still shocked when he realized there were more than 100 actors in line.
"I guess being Peter Parker is not that easy."
Well, Peter Parker represents the common man, though he was more of a bullied nerd.
The director sighed and went with the flow... He knew Tobey Maguire would get the part anyway. He would do his best to make it happen.
With over a hundred participants, the audition ended quite late.
"I will say it again, I think Tobey Maguire fits the role. He is not an unknown actor, he is part of many TV series and some movies. He has the knack for acting and his looks are nice, he looks like a good guy."
Kazir announced. Although he knew that Tobey was famous for being known as Bully Maguire. Tobey hates the paparazzi, and frankly, he was right to hate them.
Maybe Tobey's career has been affected by that bully scandal. But he is actually a great actor, he knows how to act. Too bad he is only famous for being Spider-Man. He didn't have a memorable role after that.
Kazir sighed inwardly. He thought that Tobey was just misunderstood.
"Yes, I agree with Kazir this time."
Stan Lee nodded. Tobey made a good impression and seemed promising.
Stan Lee had the highest authority on the Marvel staff. Besides, Stan Lee was the creator of Spider-Man, so his opinion was not to be taken lightly.
"I'm okay with that, too."
Even Jezebel agreed. Tobey Maguire's portfolio was good.
Surprisingly, everyone actually agreed to cast Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. Kazir thought some opposition would happen.
Tobey Maguire agreed to sign a trilogy and his first salary was $3 million. His agent even fought just to get that amount. Regarding salary, Kazir clearly had the highest one in this project.
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The management of Grey Pictures became the responsibility of Stella Willow, the general manager of the company. The business matters, the hiring of staff, and finding people who would take over the projects.
Next year, Grey Pictures intends to release two movies. The first was The Fast and The Furious while the second was John Wick Chapter 2.
Fremont Smith already expressed that he would direct John Wick Chapter 2. The budget was already approved and the pre-production would start next week.
Actually, Walt Disney was trying to contact Fremont Smith in the hope that he would direct John Carter.
Fremont Smith already signed a contract with Grey Pictures. However, there was no clause that he couldn't work with other companies. Of course, he had to promise and make sure that his energy was rightfully put on John Wick Chapter 2 before anything else.
As for The Fast and The Furious, Stella Willow was looking for someone to direct the movie.
In fact, Kazir wanted her to look for a Taiwanese director. Honestly, Stella Willow had no idea why Kazir was looking for a Taiwanese director but she decided to trust Kazir.
The person she was looking for was Justin Lin.
Only Kazir knew that Justin Lin had an important role in the franchise of The Fast and The Furious.
He was the director of:
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Fast & Furious
Fast Five
Fast & Furious 6
F9
Fast X
Yup, the titles made no sense...
Anyway, Justin Lin was also the director of Star Trek Beyond.
Stella Willow sent staff to Taiwan just to personally invite Justin Lin to be part of the Continental Cinematic Universe.
The general manager hoped that Kazir's decision would be the right. Because of Wanted, a lot of people were watching every move of Grey Pictures and they didn't dare make any mistake.
Just like what Kazir said, this was just the start. The Continental Cinematic Universe would expand until they could release three movies every year. With every movie being successful. That would be the next goal.
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