HOLLYWOOD WHAT IF

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 330



"You're Elizabeth Holmes?"


Kazir stared at the woman in shock. Of course he was shocked. Because he hadn't expected this situation to happen to him, not today, not tomorrow...


'I've never been cheated on in my entire life... Except for my marriage. That whole thing was a sham. '


Only people like Kazir Grey, who went through a painful divorce and lost almost everything they owned could say that.


Marriage was a beautiful thing, wasn't it? A contract that would scam half of your money.


By the way, the old, nameless, bumpy car that Kazir owned after the divorce was still sitting in his garage. He decided to restore it even though the car had no monetary value. It was his last possession when he divorced Cassandra Hoecrap, and it had a special place in his heart, just like Napoleon Dynamite.


"Yes, that's right, director." The woman, Elizabeth, nodded. The woman looked young, and she had just turned 19 this year. But her confidence was amazing.


Kazir almost believed the woman was sincere, based on her expression and her confident aura. Fortunately, he knew the future so he didn't fall for the trap.


Theranos Inc. A famous company.


Theranos was a healthcare technology company founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003. It claimed to have developed a revolutionary blood-testing device that could perform a wide range of tests with just a few drops of blood. However, it was later revealed that the technology didn't work as claimed, leading to a scandal and the eventual collapse of the company. (Chat GPT)


Kazir understood where this conversation was going. He had no intention of playing around.


"I'm sorry, but I'm busy." Kazir decided to end this farce before it could even begin. He knew he was wasting his time listening to Elizabeth.


"Director, just give me 5 minutes and I will tell you about the revolutionary test kit that is going to change the world."


'Bruh, just fuck off.'


He cursed in his mind. He knew this so-called revolutionary test kit was going to scam people out of their money. Theranos raised $700 million from private investors and venture capitalists... That money was gone once the truth about the company was revealed.


Nothing but a big scam.


Kazir's gaze was cold as he looked at the young woman.


"I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but I don't have time to listen to your imaginary revolutionary thing. First of all, you're too young to start a business. Do you even know how business works? Do you even know what you're talking about? Besides, how can a little blood be enough to do all those tests?"


"I-I didn't say anything about blood tests." She stuttered.


"I heard it from the other people. They said there was an immature teenager begging for money while talking about blood test kits and such. Now that I look at you..." Kazir looked at the woman from head to toe and said. "You don't even look like a 19-year-old. You look like an old hag."


"Wha--!"


Elizabeth was too stunned to speak. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she sobbed weakly.


As a movie director, Kazir knew her tears were real. Kazir made her cry. He didn't feel bad at all.


"Just leave this party and don't show up again."


Kazir didn't care. He knew this woman's outcome, and crying was not enough for all the crimes she had committed.


'The fact that Elizabeth Holmes was only sentenced to 11 years in prison was disgusting. Like, she stole $700 million from the people and yet she only got 11 years in prison? Where is the fairness in this country?'


'Just because you are rich, you can easily evade the law? Fuck that. She should be sentenced to more than 20 years instead. '


The woman walked away as if someone was chasing her. Elizabeth was gone and Kazir hoped he won't see her again.


As for Kazir, he didn't care about the other people who looked at him with strange eyes. Well, they didn't know the exact reason why Kazir made the young woman cry, so they just stayed on the sidelines.


Tom Cruise showed up, a little concerned about his friend. They couldn't afford to destroy their image now that they were competing for the Academy Awards.


"What happened? Why did the girl cry? Did she do something that made you uncomfortable?" Tom Cruise knew that Kazir would never hurt a person without a good reason. Kazir was not a bad guy, he knew that. Tom believed the woman had done something wrong.


"Did she ask for a one-night stand in exchange for a role?" He asked.


This was the common motive of some actresses/actors in the industry. They would offer their bodies in exchange for movie roles. At the end of the day, it all depends on the consent of both parties.


"No, much worse than that." Kazir chuckled. It would be easy if Elizabeth asked for a one-night stand, because Kazir would definitely say no. He was not attracted to someone as thin as she was.


"She asked for an investment. She wants me to invest in her so-called company. It's probably a scam. By the way, tell your contacts about a woman named Elizabeth Holmes who ask for investment for her blood-testing company. Tell them to seriously research her company before investing, or else they would regret it if the company is actually a scam..."


Knowing the future, Kazir was sure that the investors regretted investing in Theranos.


'Fuck Theranos. Fuck Elizabeth Holmes.' Kazir thought.


"Okay, I'll tell them to watch out for Elizabeth Holmes." Tom nodded.


"Spread the words." Kazir added.


He was confused as to how Elizabeth Holmes had found her way to the party. This was a formal and private Hollywood party. A person needed an invitation to get in.


The answer came a few minutes later.


Tom Rothman appeared with a glass of wine, a little uncomfortable. Since Grey Pictures and 20th Century Fox were considered partners, people from Fox were also invited. It was not a surprise that Tom Rothman attended the party. He wanted to strengthen his friendship with Kazir.


"Kazir, I heard you made Elizabeth cry. May I know the reason?"


"Hm?" Kazir was surprised that Tom Rothman knew Elizabeth Holmes.


"Tom, that little girl wants to deceive me. I will not easily believe such nonsense. A small amount of blood is not enough to do all those tests."


"..." Tom Rothman was too quiet.


"Tom, did I say something that made you uncomfortable?"


The CEO was sweating a little.


"Nothing... It's a good thing I haven't recommended her to Rupert Murdoch yet. Otherwise I might lose my job."


"..."


"..."


They didn't know what to say. In the end, Tom Rothman apologized and also thanked him. He probably made some stupid decisions that he might regret later. Luckily, Kazir was there to tell him the truth before he spent more money on investments...


A day later, Tom took out his investment from Theranos.

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 331


There were some rumors about Kazir making a young woman cry, but the rumors died down quickly. First of all, Kazir was in public and he hadn't committed any crime. Another thing was that Elizabeth Holmes was of legal age, she was just skinny.

Kazir could say the most devious curses known to man, as long as he didn't commit a crime, he was safe. Everything would change, however, once the Internet took over...

Cancel culture would become a prominent part of the Internet. Where one wrong word and you would be canceled by a bunch of people. Luckily, it was still 2003, Facebook had not even launched yet.

Kazir was known to be a gentleman, so people believed that the woman probably did something wrong for Kazir to berate her.

After this little incident called "Make the bitch Elizabeth Holmes cry", February slowly passed without much happening.

Well, Nora Jones won the Grammy and Roman Polanski won the Best Director award at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) for his movie The Pianist. Since the man was not wanted in the UK, he attended the awards.

Other than that, not much happened in February. In fact, only three movies have the power to surpass $100 million this month.

The first was How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.

The second was Daredevil, starring Ben Affleck, which was released on February 14. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Since Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox weren't family at the time of production, the movie had no connection to the upcoming plan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Daredevil was a stand-alone movie, one of the reasons it got a mediocre reception... Well, February was never the best time to release a movie. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner starred in the movie... Two years after the release of Daredevil, 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios for some reason felt the need to release Elektra. The box office for that movie was mediocre.

So before the project(Elektra) could even start, Kazir immediately talked to Marvel Studios about not starting the project.

Aside from How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days and Daredevil, the last movie that had a good chance of making over $100 million was The Jungle Book 2. Of course, a hand-drawn animation by Walt Disney was nothing to sneeze at. After all, Disney was the king of animation in Hollywood.

March came and Bringing Down The House, produced by Touchstone/Walt Disney, was released on March 7th. A comedy starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah.

Unsurprisingly, this was the only movie to have an amazing march at March, yeah, bars... Nothing really drew audiences to the theaters this month, so ticket sales were low.

However, even though it was not an active month in Hollywood, a lot of celebrities were very active this month.

Many of these celebrities started showing up at a lot of parties, greeting people and making sure their names were relevant.

In fact, Tom Cruise and Kazir Grey did the same thing.

Just like that, the 75th Academy Awards officially took place on March 23, 2003.

The Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles was buzzing with celebrities and directors showing up one by one.

The show was broadcast live on ABC and was watched by 32 million Americans... Usually, the Oscar's ratings are around 40-50 million, but this time the ratings were below average. Maybe people were tired of the Oscars.

Still, the show must go on. Many celebrities don't care about the ratings. They just want to get their awards and prove their worth.

Kazir, of course, attended the Oscars with his girlfriend. Angelina Jolie wore a red and white halter dress while Kazir wore his usual black pants, tuxedo and white shirt.

The couple smiled for the camera as several reporters interviewed them. Kazir hoped he would win the Best Director award.

"Director, how do you feel if you win the Best Director award tonight?"

"I will be happy if that happens. I have already prepared my speech in case I am on stage," Kazir and Angelina giggled.

"What do you think about the Academy's justification that they are partial and fair? That they don't control the nominations."

"I'm a member of the Academy too, and I believe them."

Kazir apparently voted for The Revenant.

The Revenant only received two nominations, and it was the biggest disappointment the Academy made this year. Some news outlets even said that the Academy cooked the nominations against The Revenant.

Of course, members of the Academy denied this and said that their organization is always fair and just... Obviously a lie that everyone knows.

Anyway, Kazir understood that his influence was not enough to control the voting. First of all, he didn't know many old members of the Academy voted.

Fortunately, Kazir had 20th Century Fox to help him. 20th Century Fox was one of the oldest studios in Hollywood and their connections were wider and deeper.

Kazir and Angelina found their seats, next to them were Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz's seats, the two were still missing.

Kazir looked around and found Nicole Kidman talking to some old people... Since Kazir knew the future, he also knew that Tom's ex-wife would win the Best Actress award tonight, which would cause a ripple between Tom Cruise and his agent Pat Kingsley.

He hoped that Tom would also win Best Actor tonight.

Nicole stole a glance in their direction, perhaps looking at her ex-husband. Tom Cruise was still not there, so her eyes went to Kazir and Angelina instead.

The actress smiled before returning to her seat.

"I don't like that woman."

Angelina whispered to Kazir and the man couldn't help but nod. Kazir had no good reason to hate Nicole, but since he was friends with Tom, he didn't like Nicole either, plain and simple.

Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz showed up a few minutes later in a good mood. The two held hands as they sat down.

"You look great."

"Yeah, let's just say..."

Before Tom could answer, Penelope playfully tapped him on the shoulder. They just giggled instead.

"I can say that no matter what happened tonight, I'm glad to be working with someone like you," Tom said to Kazir.

"Me too, Tom." Kazir nodded.

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 332


"By the way, why didn't you invite me to star in your latest project? What's it called? Caribbean Pirates? Anyway, why didn't you invite me or send me the script?"

"The answer is obvious, because you are expensive to hire."

"This time I can be an investor."

"We are doing well. If the budget isn't enough, I'm sure 20th Century Fox will be happy to invest in my project."

Kazir was the most in-demand director and all his films were profitable. Many people would not hesitate to invest in his movies.

"Tch!"

Tom Cruise clicked his tongue. It seemed that he would never get the chance to make money from Kazir's filmography. Well, he might win Best Actor tonight, so it didn't matter.

Kazir just shrugged and let the little adult man be bitter... Yes, Tom Cruise was only 5'7", while Kazir was 6'2". The height difference between the two was obvious.

After a brief introduction to the Academy Awards, Steve Martin, the host of this award, made his entrance. The people in the theater naturally stood up and clapped their hands.

Steve Martin was a famous comedian and had hosted the Academy Awards three times.

He didn't do a big entrance, he just did his jokes and that was enough to entertain the people.

After that, the segment naturally went to the announcement of the winners of the awards.

The first to be announced was the winner for Best Animated Feature, and the presenter was Cameron Diaz.

Unlike last time, when Cameron Diaz flirted with Kazir, this time the woman was natural and professional.

Angelina squeezed Kazir's hand for some reason, and the man looked at her a little confused.

Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki won the Best Animated Feature Film. Great anime, by the way.

Since most of these awards had nothing to do with The Revenant, Kazir and Tom didn't care and just let the show go on.

Best Supporting Actor went to Chris Cooper for his role in Adaptation.

Catherine Zeta-Jones won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Chicago.

Then, a few minutes later, Tom and Kazir got serious because this particular part of the show was important to one of them.

Halle Berry appeared with an envelope in her hand. She smiled and gave a short speech before announcing the list of nominees for Best Actor.

"Adrien Brody, Nicolas Cage, Tom Cruise, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson. These are the actors nominated for Best Actor Award."

Kazir's lips were tight as he waited for the result. He knew that Adrien Brody had the best chance of winning the Best Actor Award because that was what happened in the original timeline. In fact, Kazir admitted that Adrien Brody deserved to win the award because his performance was amazing.

However, he wanted Tom Cruise to win because they were friends.

As for Tom, the actor kept his composure and didn't show any nervousness. He kept his smile on, knowing that a camera was pointed at him, broadcasting his reaction live for people to see.

Halle Berry opened the envelope. The nominated actors' hearts beat faster as they waited for every second.

Then the actress announced the winner. Halle Berry bit her lip, adding to the excitement.

"Congratulations! Tom Cruise. The Revenant."

The audience erupted in applause, and even Kazir began clapping vigorously. Tom Cruise took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second before standing up.

He hugged Kazir, Penelope, and Angelina before heading to the stage.

"Thanks, Kazir."

"Nah, you deserve it." Kazir patted the actor on the back.

The other actors also clapped and congratulated Tom Cruise on his win. Deep inside, they were seething in disappointment for not winning the Award.

Tom Cruise hugged Halle Berry and then someone handed him the golden statue. Tom raised the small statue in his hand and smiled into the camera.

"First of all, I want to thank everyone who supported and watched The Revenant. You are the real winners..."

Tom began his speech. Being a superstar in this industry, Tom Cruise understood that he had to maintain his image. He made sure to choose roles that fit him perfectly without any backlash.

But it didn't change the fact that Tom Cruise knew how to act. He was a great actor, he just decided to choose safe roles instead of experimental roles that could destroy his image.

Still, as an actor, Tom Cruise wanted to win the golden statue. He tried it three times, but the result was not good.

This year, Tom found a certain script that caught his interest. It was about the feudal era of Japan, around the time when samurais lost their honor... If The Revenant didn't work out, Tom Cruise could try to use this script as another way to get a golden statue... Well, he has already won one now so he might have to take it slow.

Tom Cruise was not sure if The Revenant and Hugh Glass would be the answer to his questions. But he trusted Kazir, he knew that the famous director would be his biggest chip at the Oscars.

And now, he was acknowledged as one of best actors in the world.

Tom was visibly happy and thanked his friends.

The Academy Awards was a live show and of course there would be a director for the show. The director thought it would be interesting to show Nicole Kidman's reaction while her ex-husband was talking about his success.

The camera focused on Nicole and her reaction was amazing. Her lips were pursed, clearly not happy. Although her reaction only lasted a second before she smiled... Nicole seemed to realize that a camera was recording her. Behind her smile, her two fists crumpled her dress and she shook terribly.

Acceptance speeches could only last 45 seconds, it was a rule that the Academy set and reminded people to follow. So Tom's speech didn't last long before he went backstage.

Kazir could not help but laugh. Well, at least The Revenant won a major award tonight. It seemed that the members of the Academy were doing their job... He just hoped that something good would also happen to him tonight.

++++

[Author's Note:]

[Anyway, I think we all want Kazir to win Best Director, right? You can comment below if you think this is not the right time for Kazir to win the golden statue and I'll think something about it... I'll just think about it].

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 333


The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are prestigious awards given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to honor excellence in the motion picture industry. Awards are given in various categories such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and many others. (Chat GPT)

This was the most prestigious and respected award in the industry. Most actors and actresses wanted to win these awards to prove themselves and raise their status in the industry. In fact, actors/actresses who won the awards could increase their salaries up to $20 million, well, depending on whether some studio paid them that amount. But it was true that the Oscar winners had a salary increase.

The same was true for directors. But in Kazir's case, he didn't care about the salary or anything like that. He was already a billionaire.

What he wanted was the status of being respected and considered by the industry as one of the best directors of his time.

He knew that winning an Oscar was not that easy, even money was not enough to achieve that. Many people tried to use money, but only a few succeeded.

In the end, most of the winning factors depend on the movie and the performance. And this year, five directors created films that caught the Academy's attention. Giving the directors nominations and a chance to win the Best Director award.

Kazir's competitors were all strong and worthy of winning the award. Well, they all deserved to win. The Oscars didn't care about the box office, they were looking for artistic films with strong psychological aspects. So yes, a disadvantage for Kazir Grey and The Revenant.

Kazir had four competitors for the Best Director award.

Roman Polanski, the director of The Pianist. A Jew who lived through World War II and made a movie that he basically lived through. In fact, his mother died in a Nazi camp.

Rob Marshall directed the movie Chicago. Chicago was a musical film that reminded the old men of Hollywood of the musical movie era.

Martin Scorsese directed Gangs of New York. Gangs of New York was a movie based on the novel of the same name. The novel was published in 1927 and Martin Scorsese adapted the novel into a movie. The Academy Awards loved to nominate movies based on literature. The Revenant was also based on a novel.

Pedro Almodóvar was a Spanish director and his movie was also set in Spain. Talk to Her was a Spanish psychological drama film written by Pedro Almodóvar himself. The movie was about two men who form an unlikely friendship while caring for two women who are both in comas.

As for The Revenant, well, it was about Hugh Glass...

Now that Tom Cruise had already won the Best Actor award, Kazir couldn't help but be happy. However, he also knew that their winning streak might not happen tonight. Best Actor was a big award and it was already a good thing that The Revenant won it... Kazir might not win Best Director.

After the Best Actor announcement, Halle Berry left the stage and Barbra Streisand took her place.

Barbra Streisand was the presenter for Best Original Song. Unexpectedly, the winner was Lose Yourself from 8 Mile. The song was written and rapped by none other than Eminem.

The rap genre was dominated by Eminem in 2002. The Eminem Show was the best-selling album of 2002, selling over 7.6 million copies by the end of the year.

Afterwards, Kazir couldn't help but feel nervous. Tom Cruise returned to his seat after the commercial and hugged Kazir again.

"Thanks, Kazir."

"You just said that earlier."

"I don't mind saying it again." Tom grinned as he held the golden statue in his hands.

The show went on and this time Denzel Washington was the host. By the way, last year's Best Actor winner was Denzel Washington, while the Best Actress winner was Halle Berry.

If Halle Berry was the Best Actor presenter tonight, then Denzel Washington was the Best Actress presenter.

"Here are the nominees for Best Actress..."

Nicole Kidman - The Hours as Virginia Woolf

Salma Hayek - Frida as Frida Kahlo

Diane Lane - Infidelity as Constance "Connie" Sumner

Julianne Moore - Far From Heaven as Cathy Whitaker

Renée Zellweger - Chicago as Roxie Hart

These five actresses suffered the same fate as the actors before them, with cameras trained on them. Their expressions recorded live on television.

Denzel Washington wasted no time in announcing the winner.

"The Best Actress Award goes to... Nicole Kidman!"

Kazir was not even surprised. He knew that the future could be changed, but some aspects still remained. And it seemed that Nicole Kidman winning the Best Actress Award was an unchangeable future... Now Kazir also felt that his chances of winning the Best Director award were diminishing.

He looked to his side and saw that Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz had mixed feelings. Especially Penelope, she seemed to hate the fact that Nicole Kidman won.

The next segments, the Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay were announced.

Ronald Harwood won for Best Adapted Screenplay. He wrote The Pianist.

Pedro Almodóvar won the award for Original Screenplay. He directed and wrote Talk To Her.

And just like that, the most anticipated part of the Oscars for Kazir happened.

The presenter of the Best Director Award was Harrison Ford. The actor had some complex opinions about Kazir after what happened a few years ago. Nevertheless, Harrison Ford remained professional and read from the teleprompter.

"The nominees for Best Director are..."

Roman Polanski - The Pianist

Rob Marshall - Chicago

Martin Scorsese - Gangs of New York

Kazir Grey - The Revenant

Pedro Almodóvar - Talk to Her

The tension was palpable and Kazir knew there was a camera pointed at him.

He swallowed hard as he waited for Harrison Ford to open the envelope.

Then the time had come.

"Congratulations. Kazir Grey, The Revenant."

Time almost stopped for Kazir.

++++++

[Author's Note.]

1.) I want to say thank you for all your support. Even your simple comments like "Thanks for the chapter" are already support.

2.) I know this is overused, but I just want to say have fun and don't take this novel seriously.

3.) I also want to promote my Patreon and Ko-fi.

For $10 you can read 178 chapters of HWI and other content on my Patreon and Ko-fi.

P@treon link: https://www.patreon.com/Puji_maki

Ko-fi link: https://ko-fi.com/pujimaki

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 334


Kazir Grey was stunned when he heard his name. He thought that he might not win the award this time since The Revenant had already won a major award.

He was speechless and nearly lost his mind. But then Angelina squeezed his hand and kissed him on the cheek.

Kazir came to his senses and found people standing and clapping. The sensation was bizarre but amazing.

He saw Tom shouting "Yeah!" and hugged him like a brother. Kazir was out of his mind as he stood up and reached for the stage.

He walked onto the stage with his heart pounding. He suddenly laughed when one of the management gave him the golden statue.

He also hugged Harrison Ford despite their cold relationship. Note that Taken crushed Air Force One at the box office and that made Harrison bitter about Kazir. Still, they were both Jewish, so it didn't matter. Maybe they have a chance to work together another time.

"Congratulations," Harrison said.

"Thank you," Kazir replied.

Then Kazir found the podium. He pulled out a small card on which his acceptance speech was ready to be read.

"First of all, I'm truly speechless. It's a good thing I have something to read right now. This is a dream come true!"

The audience laughed.

Kazir began to read the prepared speech with ragged breath because his emotions were unstable.

"I want to express my deepest gratitude to the cast and crew of The Revenant, who poured their hearts and souls into this movie. Your dedication and talent has brought us to this moment." He felt his eyes getting hot.

"To my father and brother, thank you for everything. And to the fans who saw The Revenant, your love and support means everything. Thank you."

Then he looked in a certain direction and saw Angelina holding back tears.

"And to the love of my life, I love you."

Kazir didn't know that a single tear ran down his cheek as he spoke.

The audience clapped hard, knowing that someone as talented as Kazir deserved the Best Director award.

Kazir was one of the directors that revolutionized Hollywood. He was the only director to create two films that grossed over $1 billion at the box office. He was also the director who created the world's first successful Cinematic Universe. His movies are anticipated all over the world. They love Kazir and his films.

Even though the Academy hates movies that are made to make money, they have to give Kazir Grey credit for what he has done.

Kazir left the stage smiling. Someone from the crew handed him a handkerchief, and Kazir was confused at first.

"Ah... Don't tell me I cried on stage?"

"Yes, director."

"..."

He was embarrassed and immediately wiped away the tears. He didn't know that he was crying.

Kazir was a depressed person who had lost his reason for living. He had lost everything and had nothing left.

Maybe he had to thank the truck that killed him... Because he understood that he was currently living the life he wanted.

'If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up.'

He was a director who fell in love with making movies, and he dreamed of being recognized by the Academy. And now he had reached that point.

He was an award-winning director now. He couldn't help but smile.

"I did it... Haha, I did it!"

He shouted happily as if losing his mind. Fortunately, the people understood his reaction.

The Best Director Award was the second to the last segment and Kazir was free to return to his seat as the commercial began.

Kazir was congratulated by many people as he returned to his seat. Tom Cruise was smiling from ear to ear as he waved his golden statue.

Kazir played along and waved his own. They were like boys playing with their toys.

"I didn't remember that last part of the speech. It wasn't written on the card."

Angelina said to Kazir, blushing a little.

"It just came out of my mouth."

Angelina giggled and put her head on his shoulder.

"You should contact Salvatore and Harold about the party tonight."

"They probably know what to do, they don't need confirmation from me."

Actually, even if The Revenant didn't win any awards, the crew would still be preparing for a party. From the looks of it, tonight's party would be festive.

"Don't drink too much, I need you tonight."

"Of course."

After their little conversation, the last segment of the show began.

Kirk Douglas and Michael Douglas were presenting the Best Picture Award.

The nominees were:

Chicago - Martin Richards, Producer

Gangs of New York - Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein, Producers

The Hours - Scott Rudin and Robert Fox, Producers

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson, Producers

The Pianist - Roman Polanski, Robert Bunmussa and Alain Sarde, producers

There was no suspense when Chicago won Best Picture. After all, the awards show was dominated by Chicago.

Chicago won 6 awards.

Frida and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers each won 2 awards.

The Revenant also won 2 awards.

The Pianist won 1 award.

The Revenant basically stole the awards that were meant for The Pianist... Well, Kazir was the only one who knew about that.

That night, Tom and Kazir had their best night ever and partied like drunks. Luckily, Kazir controlled himself and managed to get back to the house sober... A little bit. He fulfilled his promise to Angelina and the woman was happy.

.........

......

...

The day after the awards show, news about the winners was published. Stories about Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, the exes who won their respective awards on the same night, made headlines.

The news about Kazir crying also made headlines.

Some people were happy, some people were not. Harvey Weinstein was one of the people bitter about the results.

He did his best to minimize the nominations for The Revenant, but in the end it was useless. Tom Cruise and Kazir Grey got what they wanted.

+++++

[Unfortunately, I'm still alive. Sorry for being gone.]

[Now we're back to making Pirates of the Caribbean and auditioning for Game of Thrones].

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 335


Harvey Weinstein was no fool. After the alliance between 20th Century Fox and Grey Pictures, the big studio decided to help Kazir win his most anticipated award.

However, Harvey was confident that Adrien Brody and Roman Polanski would win Best Actor and Best Director respectively. They had a higher chance of winning, and Harvey decided not to fight for those categories.

The Pianist was a movie about the plight of Jews in World War II. Surely the old Jewish members of the Academy would be reminded of the tragedy they suffered. They would surely vote for Roman Polanski and Adrien Brody. That was Harvey's expectation.

Where did he go wrong?

"It doesn't matter," the fat man sighed. In the end, Chicago won most of the awards and was the clear winner of the 75th Academy Awards.

It just didn't sit well with him that Kazir Grey was having a blast and living his life happily. Especially after what Kazir had done to Harvey a few years ago. Even now, Harvey kept his low profile.

"The next time they try to compete, I'll make sure Grey Pictures wins nothing."

He grinned. Even though Kazir winning the Best Director award made him bitter, other news softened his hatred.

He read the newspaper and chuckled when he saw that the news of Michael Eisner's departure from Walt Disney had already been published.

Michael Eisner took responsibility and resigned from his position as chairman of one of the largest media companies in the world.

As one of the executives, Harvey knew that Michael Eisner wasn't leaving peacefully. He cursed the executives and the shareholders for voting him out of the company.

Michael Eisner was the tyrant of Disney, but it is also true that he was the one who made Disney thrive. His decision to focus on live-action films was the right one. His decision to focus on 3D animation and to buy a stake in Pixar was also the right decision.

No one could argue with that. Unfortunately, people were tired of him. Another fact was that Michael Eisner was getting old. He was already 61 years old and had undergone heart surgery a few years ago. His age and health made him unfit to run the company.

The biggest reason why he was kicked out was the failure of John Carter, which Michael Eisner had strongly promoted as their entry into the Cinematic Universe.

"Hehe, it's ironic that this old man wants me to leave the company, but he was the one who got kicked out instead." Harvey chuckled.

After the meeting, Robert Iger was named CEO and executive chairman.

With Eisner out of Disney, the newspaper tackled the question of whether the giant studio would thrive or go under.

.........

......

...

"The what?"

Kazir raised his eyebrows slightly as he listened to his assistant, Erica Mendez.

"Lionsgate, sir. They want to contact you about buying a script."

Kazir and Erica were in the process of interviewing people for the bodyguard position.

After the incident in the Maldives, Kazir felt he needed to hire at least one bodyguard for security purposes.

So far, Kazir had met two professional bodyguards who were on his top list. He was just waiting for the last three contestants to show up so he could decide which one of them would be his bodyguard.

Erica was an experienced soldier and had seen wars and skirmishes in foreign lands, so Kazir knew that hiring a bodyguard was a stretch but also important.

However, in the course of the interview, Erica received a message. Erica was the one responsible for communicating business deals to Kazir. She was also the go-between whenever anyone wanted to contact Kazir.

"Lionsgate... I think I heard it."

Kazir lied... Of course he knew Lionsgate. It was basically the 7th largest studio in Hollywood.

Lionsgate had only been founded in 1997, and it was slowly gaining a foothold in Hollywood. It acquired small studios and distributors and merged them into one.

Lionsgate distributed a lot of successful movies like Saw, The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Twilight Saga, Step Up, The Expendables and John Wick...

"Ahem."

Kazir coughed as he remembered that John Wick was originally from Lionsgate.

"That studio, if I remember correctly. It's funded by Canadian banks, right?"

"Yes, sir. I have done some research on this studio before. It's originally from Canada, founded in Vancouver. But they moved their headquarters to California."

"I see..."

Lionsgate's success could rival the Big Six. Unfortunately, it was founded late and failed to compete and fight for resources in the industry. It would take the company a decade to build a worldwide film distribution company.

"So far this studio has only distributed four movies and they have not done well. The movies are Lee Boys, American Psycho, Cube and Leprechaun."

"That's to be expected."

In the first place, distributing movies was not so easy. Sometimes they even suffer losses.

"I heard that the Big Six are looking at this company. They probably want to destroy it before it gets bigger."

"It's financed by Canadian banks, so they might have trouble doing that. Anyway, why would anyone from Lionsgate want to talk to me?"

"They want to buy one or two of your scripts. They are interested in Now You See Me and The Expendables."

"..."

Kazir was not surprised. After all, those franchises were originally from Lionsgate.

"... Set up a meeting with their representative."

Now that Kazir Grey has won the Best Director award, a lot of people want to buy his scripts.

If the price was right, Kazir would have no problem selling the scripts he didn't need. Of course, he could also talk to 20th Century Fox and have them turn the scripts into projects. All Kazir wanted was a percentage of the profits...

"I understand. They seem eager to meet you. I think they want to hire you to direct a movie."

"Hm?"

"Don't tell me they want me to direct Saw?

Saw was a famous horror film franchise. The fifth highest grossing horror movie franchise.

+++++

[It's Christmas Eve, so I just want to say Happy Holidays to everyone. To the people who celebrates Christmas, Merry Christmas!]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 336


On the other hand, Kazir knew he wouldn't agree to direct Saw because he was busy with two projects at the same time.

Pirates of the Caribbean had just started shooting, while Game of Thrones was in the process of casting and auditioning.

He could not balance his schedule to film another project.

Also, the first Saw movie only had a $1 million budget. It was impossible to hire someone as expensive as Kazir unless Lionsgate was willing to put a lot on the table.

'In fact, Saw is one of the movies I thought about filming when I came back in 1994. In the end, I decided to do Napoleon Dynamite instead.'

Perhaps his lack of confidence in making horror movies was one of the reasons he didn't choose Saw. Kazir was afraid of failure.

Also one of the reasons why he didn't submit the script of Saw to the Writer's Guild. Just like he didn't sell the scripts for Final Destination... Because Kazir was afraid of failure.

He was silent for a while after thinking about it. After almost a decade of time travel, Kazir lost his touch for making horror movies. He was comfortable making action and comedy movies, and he had no problem maintaining the status quo.

'If Lionsgate wants to hire me, they have to come up with something that will get my attention. Besides, I will be doing Spider-Man 2 next year, so they will have to wait for 2005 instead.'

The bodyguard interviews were over and Kazir hired the guy who caught his attention the most. All the bodyguards who applied for the job were qualified, but Kazir only chose one.

In the end, he hired Anderson Sullivan. He was a retired soldier like Erica. He was 49 years old. He had spent 8 years in the Gulf War. Amazingly, Anderson also participated in the later years of the Vietnam War, around the 1970s.

The reason Kazir hired Anderson was because of his appearance. Anderson looked simple and gentle. Anderson was 5'7" while Kazir was 6'3".

Anderson seemed like a good guy compared to Kazir who was taller and bulkier. The reason Kazir hired him was because he didn't want his bodyguard to be the center of attention. A bodyguard's job was to protect his boss, not to attract people's attention. They were supposed to act low and keep a low profile.

But Anderson was good at his job. After retiring from the military due to gunshot wounds, Anderson began working for a security company, and his work ethic was highly respected.

Kazir considered him a small but dangerous guy... To be fair, 5'7" was not short, but Kazir was just too tall to understand that.

Shout out to all the short kings out there. Keep grinding.

Unlike Erica who had free time and days off, Anderson had a strict schedule where he had to protect Kazir whenever he was out. Kazir was not a cheap guy and made sure his bodyguard had a high salary and benefits.

.........

......

...

The studio was busy as usual. The place was covered in green that could blind people and turn their pupils to the color green.

In the middle of the studio, a pirate ship was being gently shaken by machines to simulate the movement of the ship sailing in the ocean.

The background was green, with some lights pointing at the actors and cameras in different areas and angles.

The crew members were a bit confused by the friendly middle-aged man standing next to Kazir. Apparently, he was a newly hired bodyguard.

Kazir was uncomfortable too, but he decided to get used to it. If he wanted to maintain his safety, then hiring a professional bodyguard was a must.

He looked at the monitors and felt that something was strange.

"... Cut!"

Kazir decided to take a break.

There was something about the scene that didn't sit right with him.

'What is it?'

He asked himself.

"Kazir, is there something wrong with my performance?"

Johnny Depp approached Kazir in his pirate costume. He walked tipsy as if he were drunk, still acting like Jack Sparrow even though the camera had stopped rolling.

"Nothing, I just feel like something is missing."

Kazir knew he had not made a mistake in hiring Johnny Depp. The actor easily absorbed the essence of Jack Sparrow. The filming went well, but when they reached the pirate ship scenes, Kazir felt that something was wrong.

He decided to check the ship and entered it. One thing he noticed was that the ship was shaking slightly and he could not find his balance.

"That's it!"

His face lit up as he turned to find Johnny Depp. The actor was getting his makeup retouched when Kazir appeared.

"John, I want you to go steady on the ship."

"I'm sorry, what?"

The actor didn't understand at first.

"You see, Jack Sparrow walks like a drunkard when he walks on land. But he can walk straight when he is on the ship. It shows that Jack Sparrow is an experienced pirate and that he has spent most of his life as a pirate rather than on land."

"I see..." Johnny Depp admitted that Kazir's take was interesting.

"This is how I portray Jack Sparrow. Can you do it?" Kazir asked.

Johnny Depp chuckled.

"Kazir, I am an actor and my job is to act. If I have to walk steady while the ship is rocking, then I have to, because that's my job. Of course I can do it."

After that, they shot the scene again, and Kazir nodded in satisfaction. However, they had to redo the scene three times because it was really hard for Johnny Depp to keep his balance while the ship was rocking.

In the end, Kazir decided to weaken the machinery to make it easier for Johnny Depp to adjust.

'Johnny Depp is Jack Sparrow, it's a role for him. And I will make sure that he shines in the theater in his pirate costume. Until people start recognizing him as Jack Sparrow instead of his real name.'

+++++

[Merry Christmas.]