Chapter 276: HWI 276
Hollywood What If Chapter 276
The year 2002.
Just after the New Year, in an office.
"There are things that are easy to explain, but sometimes you have to hear it twice for the information to really sink in. So tell me again."
"Sir," the secretary swallowed hard. This folder had just been sent to her and she hadn't researched it at all. That was the job of the sales and accounting department: to calculate the box office.
But since the acting CEO Tom Rothman was late, and the guy from the accounting department had a stomach ache, so the secretary became the one responsible for delivering the news to Tom Rothman.
"Sir, the worldwide box office for John Wick Chapter 2 is currently at $621 million. Our accounting department believed that John Wick Chapter 2 could surpass $650 million..."
"What about The Fast and The Furious? Come on, say it."
Maybe Tom Rothman slept in the wrong position, the man was frowning. He seemed to be angry.
"The Fast and The Furious officially ended its worldwide run three days ago. Some countries were still calculating the box office. The movie has already grossed $502 million, excluding some countries that are still calculating the numbers..."
"Do you think that the box office of these movies is due to the success of the Continental Cinematic Universe? After Wanted, a lot of people became interested in the Continental Cinematic Universe. That is the effect of Wanted, a $1 billion movie."
Tom Rothman didn't sleep well last night because Rupert Murdoch told him to buy Grey Pictures and bring it into the "family."
The reason he could not sleep was the fact that negotiating with Kazir Grey would be the hardest thing to do.
And now two of his movies just happened to drop explosive numbers at the box office!
'What the fuck? That's basically $1 billion! Grey Pictures, a second-tier production studio, just made $1 billion this year! No, they did it last year too with a single movie! This is getting stupid. How is that even possible?' He gritted his teeth.
To be fair, the Big Six made over $7 billion at the box office last year.
20th Century Fox alone made over $1 billion last year with Big Momma's House, X-Men, Cast Away, and so many dozens more.
Still, it was painful to see that one or two movies could easily make their year's worth of hard work.
The only consolation was that Grey Pictures had no distribution channel.
'This means that Kazir is open to negotiations, but my initial statement of $1.5 billion is definitely out of the conversation. At the very least, 20th Century Fox will have to acquire Grey Pictures for $2 billion. Damn, I guess Kazir really is a billionaire now, huh?'
Companies that could make a billion a year were hard to come by. But Grey Pictures did it twice in a row.
"You can go now." Tom Rothman pinched his glabella as the secretary scurried out of the office like a mouse.
"I guess times are changing, well, we are at the beginning of a new century. Even DreamWorks is doing well. Fortunately, we managed to create cracks in the relationship between Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg. They're friends, but they can't overcome the terror of the Big Six. They will split, we will make sure of that."
His last statement would technically become reality a few years later. Inside DreamWorks, two dragons decided to lead their own armies. Jeffrey Katzenberg had the authority over DreamWorks Animation, while Steven Spielberg reigned over DreamWorks Pictures.
"Spider-Man's box office has already surpassed $830 million. Some countries are just starting to release the movie, and most believe that the movie will surpass $900 million. But after that, it will be a miracle. No one seems to think that Spider-Man will make $1 billion at the box office..."
But knowing Kazir, the idea was not impossible.
If Spider-Man indeed surpassed $1 billion, Kazir Grey would be the only director to have made two $1 billion movies, and to do it in two years. This was history. A world record that was impossible to beat.
Two movies.
$1 billion each.
In just two years.
"No, no, no, let's not jinx it. Let's not fucking jinx it."
He gritted his teeth.
The acquisition was his job, a responsibility given to him by Rupert Murdoch. It would be harder if Kazir made another miracle.
"... The first thing to do is to make contact with Kazir and Grey Pictures."
After only a minute of monologue, he called his secretary again.
"Tell Grey Pictures that 20th Century Fox will distribute their three films worldwide for 25% of the box office as a distribution fee. Tell them clearly."
"Yes, sir."
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone grossed $293 million on the first day of the year. It was still in theaters for 48 days.
As for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the film grossed $178 million after 15 days in theaters.
"Damn, Warner Brothers will have a festival this year! Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings looks promising. If they do it right, they will have two strong franchises that will last a decade. 20th Century Fox really needs something like this." Tom Rothman groaned. His head was aching so much.
Everyone in Hollywood believed that Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man would dominate the 2001 rankings.
However, it was still a mystery as to which would top the list.
One thing was certain. Grey Pictures' two CCU movies were definitely part of the top 10.
John Wick Chapter 2 with $621 million.
The Fast and The Furious with $502 million.
From a business standpoint, Kazir's existence was dangerous for the Big Six. But there were always two sides to a coin. If Kazir was dangerous, he was also a godsend once he allied himself with one of them.
20th Century Fox found this out with Napoleon Dynamite.
Warner Brothers with The Hangover.
And Sony-Columbia with Spider-Man.
Clear examples that Kazir was a good weapon when used properly.
++++
[Author's note: I'm crazy.]
[Merry Christmas again, haha]
Chapter 277: HWI 277
Hollywood What If Chapter 277
Jimmy Kimmel Live! A show that started on ABC last year and slowly gained fans all over the US.
It was a talk show with good ratings.
This time, New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers decided to work with the show to promote the movie The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
The audience in the studio clapped when Viggo Mortensen appeared.
Jimmy Kimmel and Viggo Mortensen began to talk, focusing on The Lord of the Rings. Viggo talked about his experience in New Zealand and how director Peter Jackson was a good director.
"By the way, I want to congratulate you on your other movie. John Wick Chapter 2 is a great movie, I love it. You look good in a suit with guns in your hands."
"Thanks," Viggo smiled modestly. His career was flourishing and he was now a certified superstar. Two of his movies last year did very well.
John Wick Chapter 2 grossed over $600 million worldwide. While Lord of the Rings is currently at $245 million at the North American box office. With that, his status in the industry has risen.
"Of course you also look good with a sword."
"Holding a sword is quite hard because it is real metal. Not sharp, but really heavy."
"Tell me, did you practice swordsmanship for this movie?" Jimmy Kimmel Live! and New Line Cinema had a partnership tonight and the talk show received money to promote the movie.
"Ah, yes, I trained for six months. Fortunately, I have a lot of experience with training before Lord of the Rings. I trained for my role as John Wick."
"Tell me, what was it like working with someone like Kazir Grey? Everyone is curious about him."
"He's a serious guy. Strict and always calm. He's an amazing director. Most of the time he just knew what scene to shoot and there was no time wasted on positioning the cameras and stuff like that. It was like he had already imagined everything about the movie."
"Yeah, I heard about that. Apparently he's very professional and never takes a vacation. Is that true?"
"I guess so. I mean, I have never seen the guy having fun, or rather working is fun for him. He spent most of his time at work."
Viggo explained.
The news regarding Spider-Man was quite positive for Sony-Columbia and Kazir. The film was close to $900 million after three weeks in January. The movie had already finished its run in the U.S., but it was doing well overseas.
The Spider-Man hype was still going strong. Merchandise related to the movie was selling like hotcakes. The factories had to work overtime just to keep up with the demand.
You see, Spider-Man was for all ages. Even 50 year old men like the movie. The character of Spider-Man was created in the 1960s and slowly gained fans. And now that Spider-Man is in theaters, the hype around the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has just exploded.
Jimmy Kimmel and Viggo Mortensen chatted a few minutes before the end of the show.
"You're friends with Matt Damon, right?" Jimmy Kimmel asked.
"Ah, yes, we are friends. We worked together in Wanted two years ago." Viggo replied, knowing where this was going.
"Then can you please tell him that we are sorry and that the show is over, we ran out of time and he have to come back next time."
Viggo chuckled and nodded.
"Okay, I'll tell him about it."
The fake beef between Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon may have been the longest running gag in the history of television. It started with Jimmy Kimmel calling out Matt Damon as a joke, until Matt Damon himself decided to play along.
......
...
...
Kazir stopped directing CCU movies, but that didn't mean he abandoned the project. Hell no, he is usually involved in the production when he has time.
He was the executive producer... Actually, his position was not so simple. After all, Kazir was the sole owner of Grey Pictures and he was the boss. Even Harold Witsend, the current producer of CCU, worked under him.
As executive producer, Kazir naturally attended the third round of auditions for the female lead of Mr. And Mrs. Smith.
This time, the crew had a list of actresses with strong box office appeal who were vying for the role.
It was 2002 and Hollywood continued to grow. People all over the world now recognize many superstars from the USA.
'Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts, Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Connelly... Wow, so you're saying that these actresses are interested in being a part of CCU?' Kazir thought to himself.
Honestly, yes. Continental Cinematic Universe was no small project, not anymore. After the huge success of Wanted two years ago, so many actresses/actors in Hollywood became interested in this particular Cinematic Universe.
On top of that, The Fast and The Furious and John Wick Chapter 2 also made a lot of money at the box office. This showed that the influence of the Continental Cinematic Universe was getting stronger. At least a lot of fans were waiting for the next movie.
After so many movies that had mostly male protagonists, Mr. and Mrs. Smith was the only movie in the CCU that had an obvious female lead. Well, one of the leads was female, so they might as well take the opportunity.
Kazir didn't specify a look for Mrs. Smith. He just wanted the woman to be sexy and beautiful and know how to fight.
So it seemed that the role caught the attention of many actresses. The actresses who auditioned for the role are already well established in the industry. They could easily get a job every year.
Charlize Theron and Cate Blanchett have already auditioned and their performances were not bad. They seem healthy and it looks like they have already trained for the role.
Kazir loved the commitment, no lie.
He turned to Doug Liman, the current director of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The man nodded and invited the next actress.
"Hi, I'm Naomi Watts. I worked on Mulholland Drive last year. I'm here for the part of Jane Smith."
As expected, Naomi Watts looked great. Beautiful and sexy, she already passed the appearance requirements.
The woman glanced at Kazir and smiled, they had known each other for a long time. Kazir nodded but kept his expression.
Naomi and Kazir first met at Tom Cruise's party in 1995. And yes, they almost had an affair if Carl Morin had not interrupted them. Since then, Kazir and Naomi have known each other, but they were not friends.
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