HOLLYWOOD WHAT IF

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 480

When the sunset arrived and Kazir saw the orange glint of the sun, the two decided to return to the shore. The fish they caught were taken into the kitchen, where a group of cooks prepared them.

Kazir knew that he wouldn't always win. The bet he played with Tom Cruise showed that. It was good sportsmanship, by the way.

Sometimes, he couldn't believe that he would wager millions of dollars just for fun.

The two started talking about their lives and their projects. After they won the Best Actor and Best Director Awards at the Oscars, the relationship between the two became closer.

Both of them were not perfect people, and they suffered from scandals every other year. So they could relate to each other. As for their personal lives, they respected each other's boundaries and never talked about sensitive topics.

Tom said that his next project was Mission: Impossible III. The movie was already in production.

Kazir was not surprised because he was already aware of it. Mission: Impossible was a well-known franchise at this point after releasing two movies.

"I still can't believe that you didn't agree to direct Mission: Impossible. Paramount is ready to pay you top dollar." Tom laughed.

"We've had this conversation so many times now. You know I'm busy with other projects, and my schedule is full till 2009," Kazir replied.

They had this conversation years ago, even when Kazir was just making action movies. Paramount Pictures and Tom Cruise had already expressed their interest in hiring Kazir. Unfortunately, things didn't happen.

While they were filming Revenant, Tom also popped the question once in a while, but Kazir kept saying no.

"How about a cameo? Hm, this sushi is delicious." Tom expressed his appreciation to the chef.

"A cameo?"

Kazir felt like Tom was just tipsy and saying random stuff.

"Nah, I'm serious. This is the third installment of Mission: Impossible, and there's nothing wrong with doing the best. I believe if you have a cameo, the audience will like it."

"Aren't you afraid that they'll misunderstand the movie? What if they think that Mission: Impossible and the CCU are connected?" Kazir frowned. He was sort of a mascot of the CCU. People would think that Mission: Impossible and the CCU were connected if he had a cameo in Mission: Impossible III.

"Then I'll also have a cameo in any of your CCU movies. I can also have a cameo in Pirates of the Caribbean. Don't worry about the money, just think of it as my thanks after you gifted me a yacht."

"You should talk to your agent, the director, and the producer first. Maybe they are not comfortable with what you're thinking."

"Nah, I'm the producer of Mission: Impossible III. I can do whatever I want. Also, Mission: Impossible is my franchise. Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible will never separate."

"Fine, fine. Talk to me tomorrow once you're sober."

The next day, Tom Cruise said that Paramount Pictures was not comfortable with the idea because it could confuse the audience. They might believe that Mission: Impossible was part of the CCU.

It could be used as hype and a great promotion to increase the box office of the third movie. However, it could also affect the franchise negatively if the audience truly believed that Ethan Hunt was part of the CCU. Paramount Pictures decided to go with the safe side.

Kazir told Tom that he could do a cameo in his next project instead.

.........

......

...

2006 came by and the holidays passed. January released some interesting movies such as Hostel, Hoodwinked, Underworld: Evolution, Big Momma's House 2, and Nanny McPhee.

None of these movies surpassed $200 million because January was never a great schedule to release movies. The Big Six usually released their unpopular movies in January. As for the other studios, they released their movies around this month because the competition was less.

Anyway, Kazir had some free time and decided to watch Underworld: Evolution. Kate Beckinsale was truly a gorgeous actress. Truly one of a kind.

This year, many movies were released that were related to him.

Grey Pictures alone had three projects to release: Pirates of the Caribbean, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Kingsman. The Kingsman was a new franchise that was part of the CCU. It was a surprise movie that Grey Pictures was quiet about, as this movie would become the next assembly of the CCU protagonists.

Grey Pictures could handle three movies in a year since they had a bigger budget now.

For other movies, 20th Century Fox would release 300, directed by Zack Snyder. Kazir also heard that 20th Century Fox was looking for the director of Paranormal Activity.

Ted was also in production, but Warner Brothers couldn't confirm if they would release it in 2006.

As for Lionsgate, after meticulous thinking, the studio decided to buy The Quiet Place and The Conjuring. Lionsgate bought the two scripts for $15 million. Kazir was satisfied with the transaction. It was not bad working with Lionsgate since he knew the potential of this studio.

In his opinion, Lionsgate was the studio that DreamWorks failed to be. In a few years, Lionsgate would become the uncrowned Big Seven because of its continuous success.

++++

[My mind is clouded while writing this chapter, and I paused so many times just to find ideas to write.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 481


November babies were usually created in February, specifically on February 14... But this fact had no relation to the fact that February 2006 had a lot of movies that surpassed $100 million. One movie even surpassed $200 million, which was an achievement for this kind of schedule.

Bambi II from Walt Disney. Curious George from Universal Pictures. Firewall from Warner Brothers. The Pink Panther from Sony-Columbia. Date Movie from 20th Century Fox. Eight Below from Walt Disney, the movie that grossed over $200 million.

There were clear similarities between these movies: they were all from the Big Six.

Forty-six movies were released in February, yet only a few selected movies did great. The small studios couldn't stand at all because they never had the chance to do so.

The Big Six had the complete package in this kind of business dealings. That was the reason why it was impossible to stand up against the Big Six. Not even DreamWorks could do so.

The Big Six monopolized the industry, and it was hard to break through. Only a few selected studios achieved it.

However, movies surpassing $100 million were not the main topic in February. There was more important news, such as the Winter Olympics, the Hajj stampede in Saudi Arabia, and the launch of YouTube's public beta (this news didn't make a ruckus, but it would be an important part of internet history in the next decade).

Aside from that, Hollywood also experienced another shocking piece of news.

The second $1 billion box office from Grey Pictures! The second $1 billion box office of the Continental Cinematic Universe!

When Wanted created history a few years ago, everyone in Hollywood already understood the power of the new genre called the Cinematic Universe. It was an accumulative type of franchise where the more content was released, the more the audience would consume it.

Taken 3 surpassed $1 billion after seven months of screening. The movie grossed $1.07 billion at the worldwide box office as of now.

This kind of news created another sensation in Hollywood. It was very, very hard to achieve this kind of accomplishment, almost impossible.

Yet a rookie director who had only produced three movies actually did it! Taken 3 and Christopher Nolan became hot topics in Hollywood.

Of course, Grey Pictures was also happy. Now they had another trophy to brag about.

After this achievement, the rankings for movies released last year were updated by a magazine.

1.) Taken 3 – $1.07 billion. Grey Pictures/20th Century Fox.

2.) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – $895 million. Warner Brothers.

3.) Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – $849 million. Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox.

4.) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – $745 million. Walt Disney. (In my opinion, this franchise has the potential to become like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.)

5.) Kung Fu Panda – $631 million. Blue Sky Studio/20th Century Fox.

6.) War of the Worlds – $603 million. DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures (International distributor).

7.) King Kong – $556 million. Universal Pictures.

8.) Batman Begins – $549 million. Warner Brothers.

9.) Madagascar – $542 million. DreamWorks.

10.) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – $474 million. Warner Brothers.

.........

......

...

"Another win for Grey Pictures and Kazir Grey."

Ronald Meyer dropped the newspaper and sighed. The fact that Grey Pictures had another $1 billion movie didn't sit well with him.

He felt like all the things he did were useless.

Two years ago, Universal Pictures tried to destroy Spider-Man 2 and Kazir's career. They even talked to Kazir's mother just to find any information that could destroy the director. Instead, the woman said that she could destroy Kazir's will by making him brokenhearted.

In this regard, Elizabeth kept her promise. She managed to break up Kazir and Angelina.

But this breakup didn't make Kazir slack off. He didn't lose motivation, he didn't go to bars and parties all night, he didn't do drugs, and he also didn't hurt anyone.

Instead, because of heartbreak, Kazir became focused on his career. They couldn't find any fault at all. No matter how many scandals they threw at Kazir, the director managed to stand up.

At this point, the only way for Kazir to stop succeeding was by killing him.

However, this kind of solution was never respected in Hollywood. Everyone acknowledged that Hollywood was nothing but business, and no one deserved to die. It would also be a huge loss to the culture of filmmaking if Kazir was killed. No one would forgive the mastermind.

"...The only way to end this conflict is by fixing things with Kazir. But I'm not sure if that can happen. The conflict became deeper after what happened with Spider-Man 2."

Did Ronald regret it? No, he was doing it for the betterment of Universal Pictures.

"For now, let's hire Christopher Nolan to make a film for Universal Pictures. This director is promising. He just made a $1 billion movie. Maybe he's interested in the person who invented the atomic bomb?"

Universal Pictures had to move fast, though, because they were not the only studio interested in Christopher Nolan.

In fact, Walt Disney was also desperate to hire Christopher Nolan. Walt Disney was suffering from its past mistakes and needed a movie franchise that could carry them into the next decade. In this timeline, Walt Disney didn't have Pirates of the Caribbean.

"Since Christopher Nolan is still a rookie, I'm sure he won't disagree with a 20+20 contract?"

Only a few selected directors could enjoy this kind of offer. Christopher Nolan's agent was probably dying from happiness since many studios were trying to work with Christopher Nolan.

As for the outcome, no one could predict it. Kazir had changed the timeline so much that no one could expect what would happen next. Maybe Kazir would have a child in November? We don't know.

One thing was for sure: Pirates of the Caribbean had ended its production. Kazir had now put his attention toward post-production. Perhaps Kazir was also trying to film a small-budget horror movie.

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 482


Kazir had a trauma that he wanted to overcome. In his past life, he spent his whole career making horror movies. They were all failures at the box office.

There were so many movies released in a year. His horror movies could only secure dozens of theaters to release his films, and none of them brought in profit.

Still, making horror movies was profitable. He sold his films and made a million that way. He also received residual income from those movies.

Studios loved acquiring films to expand their film libraries. This trend intensified when online streaming became mainstream.

Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and other streaming services loved to buy small-budget movies to expand their content libraries. Sometimes, these streaming platforms even invested in producing their own films.

Netflix created Bird Box, Enola Holmes, and other movies and TV series just to make sure their customers had content to watch.

So, even though Kazir's movies were not box office hits, he had a constant source of income. In fact, despite his old age, some actresses were interested in him because of his career as a director.

In his past life, after his divorce from Cassandra, Kazir had a few long-term relationships with women, but none progressed to the next stage, which was marriage. He had girlfriends in his past life. However, he understood that they were only interested in him because of his profession.

It became a bane for him. He had a hard time trusting the opposite sex after that.

Anyway, Kazir had been making horror movies his whole life, and he knew the formula.

Before his death, he had written a script that he wanted to produce. He even convinced Netflix to invest in his project, but he died before the production began.

"Shadows Beneath."

Kazir muttered while staring at the script on his table.

Kazir was scared. He wasn't scared of the script, he was scared that he would fail again now that he was trying to make an original horror movie.

He admitted that he had a trauma, and he had to face it. He was way past the point of being depressed about his decisions.

He had to do it, or else he would stay stagnant and truly never move forward.

He planned to film it in just two months. Editing was also not a problem since the movie didn't require many special effects. This was a small project.

He wanted to hire his friends for this movie, but he knew that it would be tough to do so. In the first place, this movie only had a budget of $15 million.

This film required two months of filming, and those two months were important to everyone. They couldn't waste two months of their time for such a small amount of money, their agents wouldn't agree. Even Salvatore wouldn't approve from a business standpoint.

He had free time this year, and that was the only window he had to film this movie. Because after this year, Kazir had to work on The Dark Knight.

"I should call my assistant director. We will have an audition. In the meantime, I should focus on editing the footage of Pirates of the Caribbean."

Kazir had a new assistant director after Palenque Simone left his crew.

.........

......

...

"Yes, yes? Director... I'll do what I can."

Everest Thorne put down his phone as he looked at the ceiling... He had just woken up. He had partied all night now that he had more time for himself.

Two years ago, Everest was lucky to be hired by Grey Pictures as Kazir's assistant director. It was a huge honor. He had many rivals trying to get the position, but Everest landed the job.

He thought he was the luckiest person alive.

Director Grey had two assistant directors before Everest, and those two assistants got their own projects after working with Director Grey.

It showed that Director Grey was the kind of person who trained his assistants for better careers. He took care of his people and helped them grow.

Everest was so happy at that time.

But after working with Kazir, Everest realized something important, Director Kazir Grey was a workaholic!

Every year, he had a new project to make. It was exhausting. Especially this time, when they traveled to the Caribbean to film Pirates of the Caribbean. Everest was sleep-deprived for half a year because of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Being the assistant director, he was Kazir's right-hand man in managing the production crew. It was not easy at all.

Thankfully, now that Pirates of the Caribbean had wrapped filming, Everest had more time for himself. He still had to go to Grey Pictures to help Kazir with editing the movie, but at least he didn't have to go around managing people anymore.

Last night, he went to a party to have some fun.

And today, while lying in bed, he was forcefully awakened by a call. He looked at the clock and realized it was already 1 p.m.… He was fucking late for work!

He immediately answered the call when he realized it was Kazir calling him.

Everest was nervous at first when Kazir said he didn't need to go to the editing room. He thought he was going to be fired.

But before Everest could explain himself, Kazir dropped a bombshell.

— You don't have to go to the building. Instead, form a small production crew. I want to film a horror movie. I also want you to start an audition.

"..."

Everest was speechless.

They had just finished a project, yet the director wanted to start another one! Damn, like, damn!

"At least he didn't fire me."

++++

[I'm not going to lie. The script for Shadows Beneath is written by ChatGPT. I can write a horror script, but my imagination and knowledge are incomparable to ChatGPT's. In the first place, I accepted that I'm an average writer. I feel like if Kazir is going to make a horror movie, I want it to be a real horror. Some of you guys might not like it, so I'm just saying it ahead of time. In my case, as a writer, ChatGPT is useful. But don't worry, 99% of this novel is created, imagined, and written by me, except for some movie summaries, I fucking hate movie summaries.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 483


While Kazir was busy with the editing of Pirates of the Caribbean, even going to Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to check the special effects, Everest focused on the pre-production of the new project.

Most of the crew members expected that this year would be a sort of rest for them since Kazir had no announced projects. Oh boy, they were wrong.

Some of the crew members signed up, while others decided to take a rest for the year.

Because of this, the production crew had missing positions to fill.

Everest talked to Kazir, and the director agreed to go talk to the CAA to fill in the missing positions.

Since the project was unexpected, the crew couldn't help but be disorganized. Thankfully, CAA sent them a producer who would help manage the project.

When everything was in line, the crew asked CAA to provide them with actors and actresses for the movie. At this point, Grey Pictures had hired CAA on a package deal.

In this ordeal, Grey Pictures already spent $9 million of its budget. It was more than half of the production cost.

Kazir had never experienced overspending on his movies, and this might be the first time.

Because the movie would be directed by Kazir Grey, it was impossible to keep it a secret. The news quickly spread, and other agencies also heard about it.

Some actors and actresses applied and even sent in their resumes and audition tapes.

Unfortunately, the production crew had already signed a contract with CAA for a package deal. CAA already had a cast for the movie. When the news came out, many actors and actresses within CAA talked to their agents and hoped that they would have a chance to get cast in Kazir's new project. No one believed that Kazir's movie would fail.

Working with Director Grey meant instant success. He had proven himself many times, and many actors and actresses became celebrities after working with him.

Because the budget of the movie was limited, CAA had to match the salaries accordingly. They also sent small actors and actresses for the roles.

Despite being unknown, it didn't mean that these actors and actresses weren't talented. They were simply people who had failed to find opportunities.

And this time, they received an opportunity they couldn't let slip away.

Before hiring these small actors and actresses, the production crew had to test them first through auditions.

The actors and actresses accepted this fact. It was standard practice that they had to audition before getting the roles.

However, there was a massive problem... The script was missing!

Yeah, the actors and actresses had no idea what scene to act out because they didn't have the script. They only knew that Kazir's small project was a horror movie.

Only Everest had a copy of the full script. He read it and could say that it was promising. The plot twist was pretty cliché, but Hollywood was full of cliché movies anyway. Hollywood is never truly innovative, they just keep recycling stuff and making it look new.

Kazir specifically said that no one should get the complete script, not even the actors and actresses. He also stated that the actors and actresses could only receive one-third of the script in the audition room.

As for why Kazir gave these complicated orders, Everest had no idea. He simply followed them.

Everest didn't know that the reason Kazir didn't want to share the script was because he was embarrassed. This was an original script he wrote himself, and he was afraid the cast might think it was mediocre.

Because of this complicated situation, the actors and actresses attended the audition with no clue what to expect. Before the audition, they practiced their acting. They performed frightened expressions, some actresses even practiced their screams.

When the audition ended, most of the cast passed and signed their contracts. As for those who failed, CAA sent more people to fill the remaining roles.

It was tough for Everest because the project had been announced unexpectedly. Most of the old crew members were absent, either on vacation or working on other projects. This caused a bit of a slowdown in production.

The props preparation, costume designs, and filming locations all had to be ready before Director Grey officially joined the project.

Everest realized that being an assistant director was never easy. He had a lot of responsibilities. Sometimes, he wondered how his seniors, Fremont and Palenque, had survived this kind of job.

.........

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...

March was the third month of the year. Just like in previous months, new movies were released in March.

Movies like Deep Sea 3D (Documentary), Failure to Launch (Romantic Comedy), The Shaggy Dog (Comedy), V for Vendetta (Action), Inside Man (Thriller/Suspense), and Ice Age: The Meltdown (Adventure) were released in March. These movies surpassed $100 million at the box office and were released in March 2006.

Ice Age: The Meltdown was created by Blue Sky Studios. After the success of Kung Fu Panda last year, Blue Sky Studios received better treatment from 20th Century Fox. Everyone believed that another animation studio could rival Pixar/Disney, aside from DreamWorks.

The competition during that month was tough, despite March not being considered a prime release schedule. Out of all the movies, Ice Age: The Meltdown and V for Vendetta made the most money.

After March, April arrived, and another batch of movies was about to be released.

First on the list was none other than The Bourne Ultimatum. It was obvious that 20th Century Fox couldn't release the movie in a more popular schedule, so Grey Pictures had to settle for April, the month before summer.

Yet, despite The Bourne Ultimatum being released during a less popular window, it was amazing that movie theaters were packed with people eager to see it.

This was the effect of Taken 3 on the audience. Because of the massive success of Taken 3, grossing over $1 billion, the next movie of the CCU also became a box office hit. The excitement still hadn't died down.


[Last chapter today. Thank you for your support.]