HOLLYWOOD WHAT IF

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 339



Kazir looked at the list of actresses and their information... Some of them didn't have their pictures, which was a bit disappointing.


'... How can an actress apply for a job but hide her face or not put a picture in her resume at all?' Kazir thought to himself. And the fact that these actresses passed the second round without putting pictures on their resumes was confusing.


"Excuse me, some of the actresses didn't have pictures. Why is that?"


Kazir could easily identify the woman he was looking for if he could see her picture. After all, Kazir had a strong visual memory.


"The casting director screwed up and accidentally destroyed some of the documents. What you see are copies of the originals, but the pictures are missing."


"I see..."


Kazir understood that it was a mistake and he was disappointed. He wanted to fire the casting director. But he decided to take it calmly. After all, people make mistakes.


He had already fired his last casting director for having sex with the agent so that his client could pass the audition. To make matters worse, the actress didn't meet the criteria at all.


The next actress showed up and it was none other than Jessica Alba.


"Wait, what?"


Not only Kazir, but even Harold was confused. Jessica Alba was never on the list, nor was her resume on the table.


"Hello, I'm Jessica Alba. I was in Spy Kids, The Sleeping Dictionary, Honey, and more. I'm here to audition for the role of Daenerys Targaryen." Jessica had her innocent smile.


"Wait a minute," Kazir interrupted her introduction.


"I just want to be clear. You auditioned for the role of Daenerys Targaryen and passed the second round?"


"That's right," Jessica nodded.


"... Did your agent do something again?"


Last time, Jessica's agent had sex with the last casting director to get the actress through the audition.


"Not that I know of." She replied.


"..."


Kazir leaned back in his chair.


Jessica had tan skin, and she didn't match the look of Daenerys Targaryen at all. Daenerys Targaryen was from the House Targaryen. They have pale white skin and white hair. Jessica didn't fit the criteria at all.


What the hell is going on here? Based on her appearance alone, Jessica shouldn't pass the first round. This was not about beauty or standard, it was about following the source material.


He was not against Jessica. He knew that the actress had built up her status in the industry and had appeared in many films. Jessica Alba could act. But she was not the person Kazir was looking for.


"You auditioned for the role of Daenerys Targaryen. Did you give us your resume?"


"Of course, I gave it to the casting director. It's actually three copies with my pictures on them."


"..."


The casting director screwed up. That was the moment Kazir realized he needed to hire a new casting director.


The casting director is not that stupid. He probably got something from Jessica's agent.


Whatever it was, Kazir didn't care. The casting director made many mistakes. He 'destroyed' the documents and also let an actress who didn't meet the criteria pass the second round of auditions.


Kazir turned to Harold and the producer nodded. The two had worked together for a long time and Harold knew what to do. It seemed that Harold would have to start looking for a new casting director.


Nothing against Salvatore Barlowe, but the two casting directors he recommended were bad.


"Let's start the auditions."


Since Jessica was here, they might as well continue the audition. But it was clear to Kazir that he was not interested at all. He just let the time pass.


Jessica realized that her chances of getting the part were non-existent. Nevertheless, being a professional, she did her job until the end. It was unfortunate, however, that she wouldn't have the chance to work with Kazir.


Two more actresses auditioned and Kazir became frustrated. He couldn't find the person he was looking for.


Harold and the others had already recommended Amy Adams as Daenerys Targaryen, but Kazir was still waiting for something. He didn't want to give his approval and the crew could sense it. So they decided to continue with the audition.


The next actress would be the last. If this actress was not the person Kazir was looking for, then he would have to accept reality.


.........

......

...


Emilia Clarke was nervous as she waited for her name to be called. All the actresses had their performance except her. She was last on the list and she knew that her chances of getting the part were very slim.


First of all, this was her first time auditioning. She was new to Hollywood and she wanted to be an actress.


She didn't even have an agent. She was a freelancer.


The good news was that she made it through the two rounds even though she was basically a novice. Her acting talent was passable, but her looks fit the role, so the casting director gave her a chance.


Still, almost everyone knew that Kazir wouldn't just hire a nobody. Even Emilia Clarke understood.


She had just turned 18, and this was her first decision as an independent adult. She went to the United States to try her luck. Well, she's not going to lose anything for trying.


"Emilia Clarke, please report to the audition room."


"A- All right." She stuttered.


She stood up and walked into the room, 9 people were sitting at the long table. A single camera was recording the audition.


"Hi, I'm Emilia Clarke--"


"You pass."


"I'm from Oxfordshire, England. I just turned 18 two months ago-- W-wait what?"


Emilia Clarke's mind stopped working when she heard someone agree.


Not only Emilia, but also the 8 people looked at Kazir with surprise and confusion.


Kazir realized his mistake and coughed.


"Sorry, I blurted that out without thinking. Continue with what you're doing, but I want you to wear white hair wig first."


"O- Okay." Emilia was a little disappointed, but she followed the instructions. She really thought she passed the audition. A makeup artist helped her put on the white hair wig.


Once done, Kazir and the others nodded as they realized that the young actress fit the role, at least in appearance.


++++


[I'll post two more chapters later. Just think of it as a Christmas and birthday present from me. Tomorrow is my birthday, so I just want to share the blessing of having lived another year. Even though life is bitter, it's also sweet and I appreciate that. I'm also going to post three chapters tomorrow and the next day].


[I actually did a poll for the role of Daenerys Targaryen with three actresses to vote which were Sienna Miller, Rachel Weisz, and Emilia Clarke. Yeah, it was useless poll since most people voted for Emilia Clarke.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 340



Emilia Clarke was a little surprised that the crew took the importance of someone like her, a nobody. She had no previous work to put on her resume. Fortunately, her appearance seemed to fit the role the crew was looking for.


They gave her scenarios to act out. She read part of the script and did her best. She noticed that the guy in the middle seemed to be interested in her. He kept asking her questions and telling her to do things. Funny enough, she didn't find it uncomfortable.


The man was sincere and serious, he didn't have any hidden motives. At least that was how Emilia saw it... She was actually nervous when the man looked at her seriously. She blushed for some reason and apologized when she blushed.


The woman didn't know anything about Kazir's face. She had just come to the United States and her knowledge about the director was limited. She only knew that Kazir Grey was the most famous and profitable director in Hollywood. Many production studios wanted to buy his scripts or hire him as a director.


Emilia saw Kazir's face in a newspaper, but the guy had a beard, so she couldn't recognize the current Kazir.


'... He's actually handsome.'


Her mind wandered a bit.


"Miss Clarke."


"Ah? Y- Yes!"


"Your acting is barely passable."


The handsome man said. His authority in the crew seemed to be high, because all nine people in the room, including Emilia, listened to him seriously.


"I'm sorry, sir. I will try my best. I will enroll in an acting class."


"You better do that." The man nodded.


"..." Emilia bit her lip. She changed her mind, the guy was not handsome. He was average at best! Especially with an attitude like that.


"You do understand that the role you're trying to get has nude scenes, right?" Kazir asked again.


"Yes. I want to be an actress and I think I will experience nude scenes anyway, I just decided to do it early in my career." She replied.


For someone like her who didn't have a foundation in the industry, she had to be brave to get what she wanted.


She knew that if she said no, her career in Hollywood would be over. This was her first big break, and she might get the same opportunity in her life again. Especially when Game Of Thrones was funded and produced by Grey Pictures, a big studio. For her career to blossom, she had to let go of her pride... Well, almost every person had to let go of their pride one way or another just to keep their jobs and make money. The world was not sunshine.


In fact, she won't hesitate if that "average guy" tells her to strip naked. She heard that in some auditions, the director would ask the actresses to strip, weather for professional purposes or lust.


This was her first big role and she didn't want to make a mistake and regret it later. She was an adult and could make her own decision.


'If he wants me to have sex with him... I might give it a try.' She thought to herself.


Erm, now that was bit stretch since Kazir was never a fan of casting couch.


"Miss Clarke, why are you blushing?"


"N- Nothing."


"We have your contact number, so we will call you later, ahem... Anyway, can you write your phone number again, please? We are not sure if the contact information in the documents is correct."


Kazir sighed. He was sure that this time he would have to fire the casting director. There might be a rumor that Kazir hated casting directors after this.


"Thank you, sir."


Emilia didn't hesitate and wrote down her number. She didn't have an agent and was only renting a small apartment for three months. If she did not get this role, she might have to find a part-time job or return to England and pursue an acting career there.


After Emilia left, the crew began to talk.


"Kazir, it's obvious you're interested in this girl. Do you see something in her?"


Harold was the first to break the ice. Kazir could spot talent. Technically, he discovered Brianna Evans, Reese Witherspoon, Pedro Pascal, and other new actors that became celebrities because Kazir found them.


"Her acting is passable, but her looks are perfect for the Daenerys Targaryen I'm looking for. That's why."


"We can send her to an acting class if she passes the audition. I know a great mentor who can teach her."


The one who said this was Palenque Simone. Palenque was not yet the official director, as he had one last assignment before he could take the director's position.


His experimental movie was still in progress, but he had to attend this audition for obvious reasons.


"Palenque, what do you think of Emilia Clarke?"


"Her? She's beautiful, I think."


Hollywood was a place where there were many beautiful women. Actresses waiting for their chance at stardom.


Maybe the reason there were a lot of gays in this industry was because there were a lot of beautiful actresses... People got tired of them because they were everywhere.


"Although I respect her last answer. A lot of actresses are against nude scenes. I guess she knows how to recognize opportunity. That's a talent."


Their conversation continued until they had listed three actresses to choose from.


1. Sienna Miller


2. Amy Adams


3. Emilia Clarke


The final decision, however, would always rest with Kazir. At least at the beginning of Season 1, Kazir had the most authority on the project.


"... Let's go with Emilia Clarke."


Kazir muttered, and the people did not turn against their boss. They just trust Kazir at this point, after all the successes he has had in the industry. They believed that Kazir had a reason for casting Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen.


"I have her number, so I guess I'll be the one to tell her the good news." He shrugged.


After that, he had to head over to ILM to check out the CGI editing on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.


.........

......

...


Emilia slurped down the ramen noodles she bought at the grocery store. Six-packs of ramen noodles for $2 was the most delicious meal for someone like her who was short on cash.


She kept glancing at her Nokia 3310 cell phone, hoping for good news.


"I should probably get a job. Who am I kidding, I'm just a nobody. I'm sure they hired Jessica Alba or some other actress."


Emilia saw a lot of famous actresses as she waited in line in the audition. All of them had starred in at least one movie.


Right after she finished her noodle soup, her phone rang and Emilia jumped in surprise. It was from an unknown number, but she decided to answer it.


++++


[The second chapter for today.]


[Also, I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing with this chapter.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 341


"Hello, this is Emilia Clarke, right?"

"Yes, sir. That's me." She recognized the voice. It was the average guy.

"You pass. You can go to the Grey Pictures building tomorrow and ask for an inquiry. They'll tell you what to do."

"E- Excuse me, sir? I passed the audition." She was surprised as she wiped her soup glistening lips.

"Yes."

"T- Thank you, sir! Thank you so much."

"I like the enthusiasm. By the way, stop calling me sir. Just call me Kazir or Director instead."

"Huh?"

The call ended with that, leaving Emilia speechless and stunned.

.........

......

...

Franklin Maxwell got out of his car after parking it. He looked around and saw a lot of people wearing swim trunks, bathing suits and bikinis.

He was at Paradise Cove, a famous beach in Los Angeles. He wiped off his sweat and went to where the movie was being shot.

Franklin was Orlando Bloom's agent. He was also the agent who tried to convince Kazir to change his agency back to WMA. Franklin went to great lengths, even going so far as to use sexy actresses and handsome actors to convince the director.

Unfortunately, his plan didn't work. He thought everything was going well until news broke that Kazir Grey had renewed his contract with CAA.

Franklin received a lot of backlash from management. Almost a decade passed, but the WMA was still bitter about losing someone like Kazir.

Now the director was recognized as the best director in the industry. No one could deny Kazir's talent in making blockbuster movies. The profit he brought to many studios was a huge amount.

On top of that, Kazir had a project every year! He was the most efficient and profitable director in the industry for a reason. Everyone would love to work with a guy like that.

Fortunately for Franklin, WMA didn't fire him after the backlash he received. Orlando Bloom's career really took off after the success of Lord of the Rings. And now the actor is starring in Kazir's latest project, Pirates Of The Caribbean!

Knowing Kazir, this movie will probably do better at the box office...

'Pirate themed movies has a curse, let's hope it doesn't happen this time. Kazir must break the curse.'

Franklin thought.

He was not angry with Kazir after what he had done. He was just disappointed in himself, he should have gone to sign the contract as soon as possible.

He reached the set and saw people from the perimeter holding cameras and taking pictures.

"They must be from News Corporation and 20th Century Fox."

These reporters were allowed to take some pictures of the set to publish, but they had to work with the crew to make sure they were taking pictures of something not important. They signed a non-disclosure agreement to make sure everything would be okay.

Staring at the 'good paparazzi', Franklin realized that most of them were taking pictures of one person in particular.

It was Kazir Grey in his shorts, topless. The director was not wearing a t-shirt and his healthy body was on display.

"... Damn." Franklin was speechless, slightly licking his lips.

If Kazir stopped working as a director, he could easily get a job as an actor with his physique alone.

His six-pack abs and toned muscles were perfectly sculpted. He was like a Greek god.

Kazir went to the gym at least twice a week to keep his figure perfect and healthy.

The director understood that 20th Century Fox needed a topic to attract the audience. So they decided to use Kazir as an eye candy... A lot of women might have a wet dream once the article was released.

Kazir knew that publicity was important, so he decided to agree. However, he still hasn't told Angelina because he doesn't know how to explain it.

The women in the room couldn't help but look at Kazir. They admitted that Kazir was handsome, but they didn't know that he was actually packing... His shorts were quite small and fit, giving the women a chance to see his 'body'.

Tomorrow's headlines could be about Kazir's perfect body and how he could make women thirsty.

Kazir was too busy to see their reaction. He just let the reporters take pictures of him.

"Cut! Ten minute break!"

Kazir announced, and the people dispersed and went about their business.

Orlando Bloom saw his agent and approached him.

The final part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was to be released this year and Orlando had already finished all his scenes a few months ago. He was concentrating all his time on Pirates Of The Caribbean.

"Frank, what are you doing here? I thought you were meeting one of your clients today."

"You're my biggest client, of course I should take care of you first. Warner Brothers contacted me, they want you to star in one of their big projects."

"Can I know the title? Have they given you the script?"

"It's here." The agent handed the script to Orlando.

"Troy? You mean the Trojan War?"

"Epic war movies are becoming increasingly popular. Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, Saving Private Ryan, and even The Revenant. All of them have been successful at the box office. You can read the script and tell me what you think. Just don't tell anyone for now... Well, you can ask Kazir for his opinion on the script. Don't worry, that's one of the reasons I'm here. Warner Brothers wants to know Kazir's opinion on this epic movie".

Franklin was too shy to talk to Kazir, so he decided to use Orlando instead.

"I understand."

Clueless, Orlando easily agreed and started reading the script.

"Whose character am I playing?"

"It's Prince Paris. Prince of Troy, Prince Hector's younger brother."

Orlando had no idea who they were, but he nodded. This was a Warner Bros. project, they would probably spend at least $70 million on this project. That meant Orlando could get a huge salary.

After all, money was one of the main reasons why actors and actresses did this job.

+++++

[I saw Troy a few years and I liked it. I still remember the opening scene when Brad Pitt defeated a tall warrior with one attack. Anyway, I posted three chapters today. If you want to read more, you can wait for the three chapters tomorrow or subscribe to my Patreon or Ko-fi].

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the chapters

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 342


"Wow.... Keira, you are so lucky to be a part of this movie! I can't believe you get to see something sexy every day!"

The young woman licked her lips slightly as she looked at Kazir who was sitting topless on his chair. The director was resting under the tent, checking the footages.

"Susan, stop your inappropriate thoughts. This is a serious job."

Keira Knightley sighed when she heard her personal assistant. Her assistant was good and attentive, her only drawback was her lust. She was down bad as hell. As long as the guy was handsome, Susan had no problem showing him a good time.

The two women talked in their tent, waiting for filming to resume. The makeup artist had just finished retouching Keira's makeup.

And in this business, Susan had a lot of people to choose from. She felt like she was at a buffet where she could eat anything she wanted and every dish was delicious!

Hollywood was full of hot and handsome men!

And now Susan realized that the famous director was actually a hunk! Susan knew that Kazir was handsome, but now her opinion of the director was at an all-time high.

"Come on, Keira. I know I'm not the only one attracted to him."

"Well," Keira looked away. She admitted that Kazir was hot. No lie, if Kazir were single, Keira wouldn't hesitate to flirt with him.

Unfortunately, the guy had a girlfriend and it seemed like their relationship was going great. She was jealous of Angelina Jolie for having the perfect boyfriend.

Kazir is talented.

He is mature.

He is handsome, tall and hot.

He is also a billionaire!

He was basically everything a woman could want in a man. He checked off everything on the checklist.

Keira was interested in Kazir, but her infatuation was not that high. At least she wasn't going to act like a slut just to get his attention.

Besides, the man was very serious about his work. He understood the importance of this project and so did Keira.

Both of them wanted this project to be a success. This was Keira's biggest project at the moment. Once Pirates of the Caribbean was a success, her salary would increase.

"Susan, don't do anything that will make us look bad."

"Heh, I can't help it. Kazir is so hot. Oh God, I want him to spit on me, spit in my mouth."

"I thought your type was someone like Orlando Bloom?"

"Orlando Bloom is hot, but Kazir is like, how should I put it, he is like an Alpha. I am confident that he can dominate me in bed! He is a tough guy. Definitely..."

Susan leaned closer and whispered.

"I bet his dick is big too. Look at his shorts, they must be..."

"Susan, don't say it."

Keira Knightley blushed slightly. She glanced at the director. She sighed. Unless Kazir had put an eggplant in his pants, Susan was not lying.

For the second time, Keira was jealous of Angelina Jolie for having a boyfriend like Kazir. The woman struck gold.

A few minutes later, filming began and Keira had three NGs because she couldn't concentrate. Her eyes would wander in one direction.

She stopped making mistakes when Kazir told her to "be serious and stop wasting people's time". It was embarrassing to Keira.

It seemed that the director was not in a good mood.

She realized that Kazir was not great at all. He was an asshole!

.........

......

...

A few minutes before the shoot, Kazir received a message from Stella Willow that their budget was tight this year because they had four projects to finance.

Grey Pictures might have to take out a loan or find someone to invest in their movies or TV show.

It was true that Kazir had received $1 billion from 20th Century Fox. At the end of the day, it was his money and he could spend it however he wanted. So he decided to invest in Google and Apple. He was still waiting for Mark Zuckerberg to create Facebook.

Grey Pictures could easily find an investor, the company was hot right now. Even 20th Century Fox was willing to invest in Game of Thrones as long as they got the broadcast rights.

Well, that was not the reason Kazir was upset.

An investor wanted to contact Kazir about investing in Game of Thrones. The person did not ask for much. As long as the profit shares were right, the investor wouldn't have a problem. The investor only wanted one thing. The investor hoped that her daughter, Mara Cohen, would get a role in Game of Thrones.

When Kazir heard this, his face went cold. He knew who Mara Cohen was. She was his half-sister on his mother's side.

After the incident a few years ago, Kazir lost all hope for his mother. He was very hurt at the time. He was depressed and it took him a long time to move on.

He decided never to think about her. That was the best way.

But he didn't think the woman would actually do that. His mother contacted Stella because she wanted to invest in Game of Thrones.

From the looks of it, she has a lot of money. Maybe she is confident in the return of investment that Game of Thrones can bring.

Kazir chuckled. He suddenly thought of letting his mother invest in the project and Kazir would sabotage Game of Thrones so that Elizabeth Cohen would lose her money.

Fortunately, Kazir was not stupid. The idea immediately disappeared from his mind.

But his mood was bad all day. The crew sensed that something was wrong, so they were quiet most of the time.

Even Orlando Bloom didn't dare talk to Kazir about the Troy script.

Nevertheless, the shooting went very fast that day. Probably because everyone was serious and didn't dare make any mistakes except for Keira. Maybe it is not so bad to be serious and angry. At least the filming went fast.

++++

[I'll post two more chapters later. Happy birthday to me.]

 

[Goodman65]

Happy birthday

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 343


"So what's on our agenda this year?"

Ronald Meyer began the first quarterly meeting of the year. Ronald Meyer was the CEO of Universal Pictures and his management was amazing.

He was the one who pushed the plan to make The Mummy. Now The Mummy has become one of their most profitable franchises.

He was also the one who convinced Spielberg to direct Jurassic Park. The movie was based on a novel, but Universal found the potential of this novel and bought the rights to adapt it.

"Sir, Maid In Manhattan has already grossed $150 million at the worldwide box office. We already rented a hotel to celebrate the success of Maid In Manhattan." The presenter announced.

The executives nodded at the good news. Profits were always good. Universal Pictures' major shareholders were GE (General Electric) and Vivendi.

"That's great to hear, what else?"

"Johnny English is coming out in July." The presenter added.

"Yes, we already talked about that a month ago. Is there a reason why you say it again?"

"... We heard the news that The Equalizer, the new Grey Pictures movie, will be released in July."

The meeting room fell silent.

Ronald's expression turned slightly sour. Grey Pictures and Kazir Grey, these two names are famous in the industry right now... Universal Pictures was bitter because they had never worked with Kazir Grey! None at all!

Even scripts they couldn't buy at all!

It was all because of that stupid pig! Harvey Weinstein!

Back then, Harvey Weinstein and Universal Pictures joined forces to destroy Kazir's reputation. But they failed miserably. The Nutty Professor was nothing compared to The Hangover!

Because of this incident, Universal Pictures lost the chance to work with Kazir Grey.

How much did they regret that? Working with somebody like Kazir means easy profit these days. For a company that lives on profits, they would have hugged Kazir's leg.

Actually, they wanted to join the fight to take over Grey Pictures, but they were ashamed to do so. They knew they were wasting their time. Grey Pictures wouldn't agree to work with Universal Pictures.

Walt Disney kicked out their chairman because of the losses they had suffered last year, and Ronald was afraid of experiencing the same thing.

"Have they announced the exact date?"

"No, sir."

Johnny English was to be released on July 18. If Grey Pictures and 20th Century Fox decided to release The Equalizer on the same day, it would be a disaster for Universal Pictures.

Johnny English was an action comedy while The Equalizer was pure action. Johnny English might attract young audiences, but it was probably not enough to compete with The Equalizer.

The Continental Cinematic Universe had already gained a foothold and it would be hard to topple it.

According to their calculations, The Equalizer could gross at least $300 million worldwide.

"Find their schedule as soon as possible, I don't want any mishaps. We are not looking for a fight or a confrontation, we are here to make money. I want Johnny English two weeks before or after The Equalizer opens."

"Yes, sir." The rest of the management agreed. This was not one person's problem. The whole company would suffer if they made a mistake.

"What's next on the agenda?"

"It's Dawn Of The Dead. We are still looking for a director to oversee the project."

"Who's on our list?"

"Zack Snyder, Danny Boyle and Peter Jackson."

"Peter Jackson... Isn't he the director of Dead Alive?"

"Um, sir... Peter Jackson is also the director of The Lord of the Rings". One of the people reminded Ronald.

"Thanks for reminding me... Let's cross Peter Jackson off the list. We can afford him to direct a mid-budget horror."

That left Zack Snyder and Danny Boyle.

Danny Boyle was the director of 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours and Steve Jobs.

Although it was still 2003, so Danny had just made 28 Days Later. It was about zombies, starring Cillian Murphy.

As for Zack Snyder, he was still a music film director and this could be his first time directing a movie... If Universal Pictures gives him the project, of course.

Funny that these directors started their careers with horror movies. Well, horror movies were the cheapest genre to make, and the profit they could bring was huge.

And yes, Kazir also started his career as a horror director.

"Let's go with Zack Snyder."

The CEO of Universal Pictures, Ronald Meyer, announced.

What they didn't know was that a certain production studio had already contacted Zack Snyder.

.........

......

...

"So our budget is in the red right now?" Kazir asked Stella and the finance team about their budget.

"That's right."

Kazir looked at the data. They had four projects this year and they were all expensive.

The budget for The Equalizer was set at $50 million, but that amount would probably increase once they started promoting the movie.

The Wanted 2 had a budget of $80 million. The budget may increase as well.

Pirates of the Caribbean had a budget of $120 million. Even if Kazir knew how to control the budget, the promotion would also increase the budget.

As for Game of Thrones, the first season had 10 episodes. That was the best they could do because Game of Thrones was expensive. They set a budget at least of $5 million per episode.

Combining the four projects, Grey Pictures had to spend $300 million! That was certainly expensive. Their revenue last year was about $600 million, but their profit was only 30% of that. They also have to pay taxes, salaries, building maintenance, and film equipment. They were really not in a good situation.

 

[a guy1013]

oh i just notice we have two threadmarks, but there is only one story, but one chapter is in threadmark instead of index

 

[Pujimaki]

oh i just notice we have two threadmarks, but there is only one story, but one chapter is in threadmark instead of index

Click to shrink...

I have no idea how to use threads and stuff so just let it be.

 

[a guy1013]

I have no idea how to use threads and stuff so just let it be.

Click to shrink...

i dont know,how to help you besides asking a mod for help, unless you manually change everything to threadmark or move the single threadmark to index

 

[Pujimaki]

i dont know,how to help you besides asking a mod for help, unless you manually change everything to threadmark or move the single threadmark to index

Click to shrink...

It's alright. I won't change it. The novel seems readable anyway.

 

[a guy1013]

It's alright. I won't change it. The novel seems readable anyway.

Click to shrink...

it is except for that one single chapter

 

[MasterOfDragonsGod]

You really should make a list of all the movies Kazir made.

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 344


Grey Pictures might have a hard time this year. Although the revenue that came back to the company was huge, their expenses this year were also huge.

"We have two methods. Find an investor or take out a loan."

Stella said.

The difference between the Big Six and Grey Pictures was their foundation. Unlike the Big Six, who could afford to make a failed movie, Grey Pictures would suffer if one of their movies or TV shows flopped.

Grey Pictures would have a hard time if that happened.

"My advice is to take out a loan. I know 20th Century Fox and other people are excited to invest in our movies, but they also want a share of our profits. Taking a loan is better, the interest rate is nothing compare to sharing the profits for years."

Stella Willow added, and Kazir agreed. With their status, they could easily find a bank to give them a loan.

The company is debt-free after paying off the loan 3 years ago.

The loan in question was the $50 million he used to produce Taken and buy the superhero copyrights from Marvel in 1996.

His credit was good, so banks would definitely approve.

The question was how much to borrow.

"I suggest at least $100 million for a 10-year term."

Seems possible, although Kazir was not knowledgeable about such things. Even his knowledge of taxes was mediocre. To be fair, schools never taught taxes when Kazir was a student.

"Let's do this."

20th Century Fox expressed that they wanted Game of Thrones to be broadcast on Fox TV.

Their original deal was for Season 1 of Game of Thrones to be aired on Fox TV, but Season 2 and Season 3 were still uncertain. After all, no one knows if Grey Pictures has what it takes to make a successful TV show. Maybe Season 1 was the first and last season of Game of Thrones.

But if 20th Century Fox invested in their project, then they have more authority over the project. The broadcast rights and the DVD distribution rights. They could also sell the show to other networks, depending on how much money they invest.

Taking out a loan was a better choice, even though Grey Pictures had to take on the debt. But that didn't matter, most companies are always in debt.

Kazir smiled a little... This way his mother wouldn't have a chance to invest in his project. He was through with her and didn't want her in his life.

.........

......

...

April was one month away from summer, and the industry understood that the promotion of their summer releases would also intensify.

People saw posters and billboards for movies like The Matrix Reloaded, Finding Nemo, and The Equalizer.

They were promising movies that had a chance to win the box office.

April 11th came and Anger Management, starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, premiered. The movie was produced by Sony-Columbia and Kazir was invited to the red carpet. Sony-Columbia and Grey Pictures maintained a close relationship as the two companies had to produce Spider-Man 2.

However, Kazir was too busy and didn't attend. The filming of Pirates of the Caribbean was almost finished, but a small incident happened. One of the pirate ships sank into the sea and some of the equipment was destroyed and unusable.

The first weekend of Anger Management grossed $42 million at the box office.

The following week, Wanted 2 wrapped and Fremont Smith wanted to talk to Kazir and Salvatore about his next step as a director.

He told them that he needed to step away from the CCU for a while and focus on his own career.

Well, Salvatore and Kazir had their opinions, but they decided to respect Fremont. Salvatore was Fremont's agent and he hoped that Fremont's next project would be successful... Otherwise his value as a director would go down.

Fremont said that he was interested in different genres, but he was still not sure what to make. Perhaps there was a script out there that could catch his attention.

By the end of April, Pirates of the Caribbean had finished shooting. Most of the scenes that needed special effects were shot first and Industrial Light & Magic did their job.

April 30th came and Anger Management made $106.05 million at the North American box office. Sony-Columbia has been doing well lately.

On the same day, X-Men 2 was released. X-Men was released before Marvel Comics was acquired by News Corporation, so this franchise was not included in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe, at least not yet.

Unlike the release of Anger Management, Kazir decided to attend the red carpet for X-Men 2 because Avi Arad and Stan Lee would also be attending the premiere.

Grey Pictures and 20th Century had close ties, and attending X-Men 2 was a sign of courtesy... Although Kazir didn't like the looks of the women around him.

The news of him being topless on the beach went viral and people realized that Kazir was not only talented and handsome...

This was also the reason why he was alone tonight, his partner was missing. Kazir talked to Angelina about the promotion before the pictures were published.

She understood why, but she was bitter. In her opinion, her boyfriend's body should only be seen by her and nothing else. After all, Angelina knew what a man Kazir was.

They were not on bad terms... Kazir thought so.

+++++

[I post three chapters today. If you want to read more, you can wait for the three chapters tomorrow or subscribe to my Patreon or Ko-fi].

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the chapters

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 345


Actually, X-Men was the second successful movie franchise for Marvel Comics.

Blade was released in 1998 and was a box office hit. Perhaps the box office success of Blade started the hype surrounding the vampire genre.

The film starred Wesley Snipes as Blade.

'... Speaking of Wesley Snipes, the actor tried to audition for the role of Robert McCall, the protagonist of The Equalizer.'

Kazir remembered this fact because The Equalizer has been hyped and promoted quite a bit lately. Also, Wesley Snipes was a famous black actor.

Unfortunately, Kazir Grey wanted to hire Denzel Washington... Kazir also knew that Wesley Snipes had a temper. Working with someone like that could jeopardize the franchise.

'I remembered that Blade 3 had a lot of problems. Wesley Snipes was always high on drugs when he was on the set. Wesley and the director confronted each other and promised never to work together again... This just rumors though.'

Blade was produced by New Line Cinema, who of course bought the rights from Marvel Comics. This franchise was the reason why Marvel Comics recently focused their business on movies. They saw hope, they saw how they could survive and possibly become the most famous superhero franchise in the industry, beating DC Comics.

The first installment of Blade (1998) grossed $131 million. The budget was $45 million.

The second film, Blade 2 (2002), grossed $155 million. The budget was $54 million.

It may be nothing compared to the box office of CCU movies, but it was true that the Blade franchise was profitable.

Marvel Comics realized they could use this method to stay relevant. Blade (1998) gave them a chance.

And then in 2000, X-Men was released and it slowly changed the trajectory of the company.

The movie rights to X-Men were acquired by 20th Century Fox. 20th Century Fox purchased the movie rights to X-Men and other related characters in 1994 for $2,600,000.

Honestly, 20th Century Fox was lucky to acquire X-Men because X-Men had a lot of characters they could use... One of those characters was Deadpool. A crazy mutant who can break the fourth wall.

20th Century Fox took advantage of Marvel Comics' moment of weakness and now they were having a time of their lives making money by making X-Men movies.

The first X-Men movie grossed $296 million on a budget of $75 million. This surge in box office gave Marvel Comics a better idea about their business and how to stay relevant.

Marvel Comics was doing well after X-Men, but everything changed when Spider-Man was released in 2001!

This movie was the fourth film to gross $1 billion at the box office! Sony-Colombia recognized the importance of this project by hiring someone as talented as Kazir Grey. Maybe that was the factor that made Spider-Man super successful.

No matter how you look at it, $1.09 billion was a success. By the way, Spider-Man made more than that. Merchandise related to the friendly neighborhood web-slinging hero was selling like hotcakes.

Spider-Man affected Marvel Comics in a very good way. Their comics, especially those related to Spider-Man, sold a lot. Toys, DVDs, t-shirts, and other stuff were sold out fast.

Those three movies were the beginning of the redemption arc for Marvel Comics.

.........
......
...

At the premiere of X-Men 2, Kazir attended since he had to talk to the management of Marvel.

Kazir found Stan Lee talking to Hugh Jackman. Although Wolverine was only one of the characters in X-Men, his character was the most famous.

In fact, Kazir knew that Wolverine would have three standalone films starring Hugh Jackman.

There is only one Wolverine, and that is Hugh Jackman.

'Well, Tom Hardy and Jensen Ackles can play the role. But that's my opinion. People are allowed to have their own opinions.' Kazir thought to himself.

Hugh Jackman saw Kazir and said hello to the director. Nothing wrong with greeting someone as famous as Kazir.

"Good evening, director."

"Good evening, Hugh."

The two were not that close and Hugh excused himself.

Stan Lee and Kazir had their conversation as the theater slowly filled with people.

"Have you heard the news?"

Stan Lee asked the director.

"Are you talking about Chairman Eisner's resignation?"

"No, not that... I don't even know who you're talking about. I'm talking about Warner Brothers and DC Comics. I heard that they are also trying to start a Cinematic Universe. What do you think about that?"

Kazir nodded.

He had heard about it, too, and he knew that Warner Brothers was serious. However, Kazir knew the outcome of their plan.

Superman Returns and Batman Begins are their launch movies. Too bad, because Superman Returns was a lost cause.

Superman Returns only made $391 million at the box office. For something like Superman, that was too little. Especially when the production cost of the movie was over $200 million.

Warner Brothers suffered a lot from Superman Returns.

Fortunately, Batman Begins did well. It grossed $373 million against a budget of $150 million. It clearly did better than Superman Returns.

Because of this failure, Warner Brothers decided to make Batman a trilogy instead and called it The Dark Knight.

As for their plan for the Cinematic Universe, they had to adjust and wait a few years for people to forget about the failure of Superman Returns.

Man Of Steel was released in 2013, the starting film of the DCEU. This time, Warner Brothers decided to go for a darker theme. To show how destructive Superman's race really was. And this plan worked, the movie made $668 million with a budget of $225 million.

'Unless Warner Brothers and DC decided to go with a darker storyline, their plan to start a Cinematic Universe will fail this time. Although I have to admit that The Dark Knight trilogy is a masterpiece. I can't wait to see it in theaters.'

"Kazir, DC Comics is the most famous comic book publisher in North America. I hate to say it, but they beat Marvel a long time ago." Stan Lee admitted, gritting his teeth.

The two companies had the same products and a decade ago they were on equal footing. But things started to go downhill for Marvel Comics when Superman and Batman hit the big screen. More people preferred DC Comics.

"Stan, are you afraid of DC Comics?"

He teased the old man, and Stan Lee shook his head.

++++++

[There will be two more chapters later.]

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 346


"No, but I also know that their superheroes have a better status than ours... We have to sell the movie rights of our superheroes just to stay afloat." Stan gave Kazir a side-eye and Kazir kept his smile...

Grey Pictures acquired a lot of superheroes from Marvel almost a decade ago.

20th Century Fox had X-Men and Fantastic Four.

New Line Cinema had Blade.

Sony-Columbia had Spider-Man.

As for Grey Pictures, the studio basically raided Marvel's library. Marvel Comics was left with a few characters.

"It's a good thing we're under the same company, otherwise the negotiations would take a long time." Stan Lee added, and Kazir agreed.

The two sides decided to create another studio to be called Marvel Studio. Kazir would be the director/executive and Avi Arad the producer. Grey Pictures transferred the film rights to this studio in exchange for a share of the profits.

He knew that making a superhero movie required a lot of investment, and Grey Pictures was in a tight spot right now. It would be better to have a share of the profits than to shoulder a multi-million dollar budget.

Grey Pictures couldn't afford to invest in Marvel movies anyway. Each Marvel movie would cost over $100 million to produce.

'Besides, I have to work with Stan Lee and the other people at Marvel Comics to make sure the plot of the MCU is perfect. After all, I don't know all their superheroes.'

"By the way, Stan. Are you interested in doing cameos in the MCU?"

"Like you did in CCU?"

"Yeah. Just think of it as a tradition."

"Of course I'm happy to do it. I'm going to spend a lot of time on the set anyway, so I might as well put myself in front of the camera. I'm sure my grandkids will love it."

Avi Arad appeared a few minutes later. Unlike Stan Lee, Avi Arad's main topic of conversation was business and how they could make sure their upcoming projects would be successful.

Next year, Kazir would be working for Sony-Colombia to produce Spider-Man 2. Sony-Colombia had already prepared everything they needed such as props and locations, all they had to do was shoot the movie.

Spider-Man was the highest grossing superhero movie at the time.

.........
......
...

The premiere of X-Men 2 started and people watched the movie.

The main plot of X-Men 2 was that Professor X was kidnapped. The enemy wanted Professor X to use his power to manipulate the mutants to kill each other. The team had to rescue Professor X before that could happen.

The CGI of X-Men 2 was better compared to the last one. The team had a higher budget and probably spent most of it on special effects.

X-Men had a budget of $75 million while X-Men 2 had a budget of $125 million. The difference between the two can be seen in the movie.

Based on the audience reaction, the movie did great.

The first day of X-Men 2 grossed $31.24 million. Marvel Studio and 20th Century Fox were happy. This was a good sign.

The second day came, Saturday. The box office of X-Men 2 went up to $63.21 million.

Then on Sunday, the box office went up to $85.55 million.

The first weekend of X-Men was a success and it became the box office champion of the week.

X-Men 2 had no competition when the first week of May arrived. The movie dominated the first week of May and made $107.01 million at the North American box office.

Their trajectory slowed slightly when May 9 arrived and a promising comedy was released.

Daddy Day Care, starring Eddie Murphy, was produced by Sony-Colombia with a budget of $60 million.

The first three days of Daddy Day Care grossed $27.62 million.

In the same three days, X-Men 2 grossed $39 million, bringing its total to $147 million.

So yes, X-Men 2 still won first place that week.

Superhero movies were becoming more popular and more people wanted to see them. The hype that Spider-Man created had a positive effect on X-Men 2.

As a result, X-Men 2 also dominated the second week of May.

Its reign only ended when Warner Brothers released Matrix Reloaded, one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Despite being an R-rated movie, The Matrix Reloaded sold a lot of tickets.

The Matrix, released in 1999, was highly regarded as one of the best R-rated movies of all time.

People were excited to see Neo again.

Unfortunately, the Wachowskis were given full authority over the production. The Wachowskis decided to focus more on philosophical scenes instead of giving the audience what they wanted.

The audience was left confused at the end of the movie.

This was one of the reasons why directors rarely had full authority over projects. Because most directors wanted to focus on artistic and philosophical scenes, forgetting the fact that the main reason for producing movies is to make money.

Fortunately, Kazir knew that the box office is the most important aspect of this industry. As long as you make money, people will respect you no matter what genre you make.

Horror directors, comedy directors, action directors. As long as their movies make money, they stay relevant.

The first weekend of The Matrix Reloaded grossed $73.38 million, knocking X-Men 2 off its throne.

While the summer season was busy for Hollywood, Kazir also spent time editing his project. All of the special effects for Pirates of the Caribbean were complete, and all he had to do was assemble each scene into a movie.

With the help of Rector and the editing team, Pirates of the Caribbean was slowly taking shape as a story. Kazir was determined to break the curse of pirate-themed movies.

In the middle of editing, Kazir received a message from someone. It was from his girlfriend, Angelina Jolie.

The woman wanted to meet him at a bar to talk. Of course, Kazir agreed. He also wanted to talk to Angelina about what happened last time.

"Guys, the work today is done," Kazir announced.

"Finally, an early exit." Rector was the first to leave the room, his wife would be grumpy again if he returned to the house late.

 

[a guy1013]

Did not get notification for the last chap still nice knowing merch is selling well

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 347


Kazir got out of his expensive car, he was alone. Erica and his new bodyguard Anderson were not with him. To be honest, he was still not comfortable with having people around him, following him.

He looked at the bar he usually visited when he wanted to relax. This bar was famous for having a nice atmosphere, and jazz music played softly while he enjoyed the taste of alcohol.

He entered the bar and looked around. In the corner of the room, a woman was minding her own business, waiting for someone.

Kazir approached the woman.

"Babe, how's your day?"

"It's good."

The two shared a gentle kiss before sitting down.

Suddenly, Kazir frowned as he sensed something strange from Angelina.

"Why do you cover your left arm?"

"Oh, that...? It's just a bruise, no big deal."

Angelina showed her arm to Kazir, a long but thin wound was there. Kazir grabbed her arm and inspected it, stroking it lightly, tracing the wound.

"I had a little accident while filming Lara Croft. Don't worry, the doctor already disinfected it and it's not that deep, it won't leave a scar."

Angelina blushed slightly as she saw Kazir's worried expression. She could not help smiling... The wound was nothing, this kind of bruise could happen when shooting an action scene. She just wanted to worry Kazir and it seemed that her method worked.

"Does it hurt?"

"Babe, it's technically a graze... W- Well, it was actually painful at first- W-What are you doing...?"

Angelina almost squealed as Kazir showered her arm with kisses... Note that they were in a bar and there were some customers in the establishment who could see what they were doing.

"I'm just doing what I can. I heard that kissing a wound makes it less painful."

"What are you? A child?"

Angelina giggled and tapped him on the shoulder. She tried to hide the fact that she blushed when Kazir gently kissed her arm.

"Why didn't you tell me you had an accident? I would end my work today just to be with you."

"I know you're busy and I didn't want to worry you. You're in post-production and it's an important stage."

She replied. Actually, she was angry with Kazir because he didn't tell her that he was going to publish his "striptease" in the newspaper. This was her way of getting back at him.

"Still..."

"Okay, okay. Let's just say we're equal now. You hid the fact that you showed your abs to the public, and I hid my accident from you. Now we're even."

"But I don't feel equal at all."

He sighed. Sometimes it was hard to understand Angelina. She was stubborn and the jealous type.

"Is that so? Then why don't you make it up to me? Do something nice for me. No, never mind. I want you to cook me a meal instead. I miss your bacon, eggs and pancakes."

"Angelina, that's a simple breakfast."

"But it's delicious when you're the one cooking it."

"... Okay, fine. I'll cook something for you tonight."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"That's what I like to hear."

The two ordered alcohol while talking. Even though they were just talking, they couldn't help but giggle and laugh at each other. They talked about their jobs and their daily lives.

They didn't see each other for a week because they were busy. Angelina was also angry with Kazir because of the published news about his great body.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I don't know how to explain it to you because I know you're going to be mad. Pirates of the Caribbean needs a lot of promotion because it is a pirate movie and audiences rarely like to see pirate movies. 20th Century Fox decided to use me as the main focus of the promotion".

"I understand, but I'm still upset."

"That's why I'm cooking dinner tonight."

"No, dinner is not enough. I need more."

She playfully bit her lip. The atmosphere between them melted and they wanted to fuck right away.

Luckily, they were sober enough to control their urges.

"... Let's leave this place."

"Yes, let's go back to your house."

Angelina happily agreed. She was ready to solo this famous director tonight.

The two left the bar and Kazir clicked his tongue. He saw someone he recognized.

"There's a paparazzi a few meters to your left. Let's go before the paparazzi start asking us questions."

Kazir grabbed Angelina's hand and walked quickly.

Angelina instinctively turned to her left and saw a man approaching them quickly, clicking his camera furiously.

"You need a strong promotion, right?"

Angelina had an idea while licking her lips.

"Angelina--"

The woman hugged Kazir's neck and kissed him. Kazir was surprised at first, but he responded and kissed her back. The two shared a passionate kiss in the middle of the night.

The paparazzi were stunned and stopped moving. However, his fingers continued to click the camera.

Seconds passed and their lips parted, the two panting.

"Angelina, what was that?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking of a way to promote my movie and your movie at the same time.... So, how about another kiss?"

"I'll never turn down your offer."

Angelina giggled before Kazir grabbed the back of her head and kissed her roughly, tonguing her and making her moan in between.

+++++

[Author's Note: A little slice of life since the next chapter will be about the release of Pirates Of The Caribbean. Thanks for all the support, I know I sometimes disappeared for quite a while].

[Now I'm back to the usual schedule, which means I don't know when I'll update again... If you want to read more, you can wait for the update or subscribe to my Patreon or Ko-fi].

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapters

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 348


The Matrix Reloaded basically dominated the last two weeks of May. There were no profitable movies at that time except Matrix.

The Big Six were smart enough to understand that facing something as powerful as The Matrix Reloaded would be bad for their business.

The Matrix Reloaded had a promising result and the Big Six decided not to release their movies close to Matrix Reloaded because their movies would be badly affected by Matrix Reloaded.

So within two weeks, The Matrix Reloaded easily grossed $217 million at the North American box office. The Matrix gained a lot of fans all over the country. Even the fashion sense was affected by this movie because a lot of people were now wearing black windbreakers with sunglasses and things like that. The influence of this movie was massive, many people couldn't deny it.

Unfortunately, the two sequels would be a disappointment for many people. The Matrix Reloaded had a lot of philosophical scenes that confused the audience and affected the box office.

"We can't follow our plan."

Alan Horn, the COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Warner Brothers announced in the meeting.

The results of The Matrix Reloaded were studied by professionals. Although The Matrix Reloaded made a lot of money in its first two weeks, the executives clearly saw that the audience response was not good.

CinemaScore gave the movie a B+, and that was just the first 5,000 votes. That rating would continue to drop.

Based on that score alone, the audience didn't like the movie. Not that much.

"If this continues, we will have to release the third movie this year to get as much profit as possible."

If they let the third Matrix movie come out in a few years, the audience would lose all interest.

So before it could happen, the executives at Warner Brothers agreed that they had to release the third movie this year. That was the safest way.

They didn't want to wait any longer because it was obvious that the fans were losing interest.

"It's a good thing we shot the second and third movies at the same time, the Wachowskis just need time to polish the movie..."

Speaking of the Wachowskis, Alan Horn regretted that he trusted them so much. They should have controlled the movie.

Well, The Matrix Reloaded was filled with meaningless philosophy about life and stuff. The audience didn't like that at all. They wanted to see an action and adrenaline movie. You see, human is a simple species. They bought the tickets to watch an action movie, not to get lectured.

"This year we will release the third movie to make as much profit as possible."

That is what happened in the original timeline. Warner Brothers realized that this franchise would lose all of its value if they didn't release the third movie as soon as possible.

So they decided to release the third movie, The Matrix Revolution, in November of the same year and grab as much money as they could. Then they killed the franchise for almost two decades.

This taught them that trusting directors too much and letting them edit the movie would be too bad for business. Only a few directors like Kazir Grey had a sense of post-production for the purpose of making money.

This director could edit a movie to entertain the audience, not to make some philosophical bullshit. After all, people watch movies to escape reality.

"Start promoting The Matrix Revolution. Announce that the third movie is coming out this year," Alan Horn said, and management was determined to make it happen.

So yes, The Matrix Reloaded and Revolution would be released in the same year. A good move for Warner Brothers.


.........

......

...

Two weeks after the release of The Matrix Reloaded, the animated film Finding Nemo was released simultaneously in 3,374 theaters.

This was a movie animated by Pixar for Walt Disney. Walt Disney basically owned this company since Steve Jobs focused more of his attention on Apple. Walt Disney and Steve Jobs were the two biggest shareholders of Pixar.

With a budget of $94 million, this animated film easily captured the attention of many hearts... No lie, Finding Nemo was a masterpiece.

On its first day alone, Finding Nemo grossed $20.20 million at the North American box office.

This movie was rated PG-13, so the whole family could see it with no problem. And that was the magic of animated movies like Finding Nemo, every age could enjoy it.

Parents could enjoy it, understand the plot and be touched by how the father clownfish suffered and sacrificed just to find and save his son.

Children enjoyed it because it was a cartoon. It was a common knowledge that kids love to watch cartoons.

Even though Disney was an asshole sometimes, it didn't change the fact that Walt Disney was the greatest animation studio in Hollywood. Their movies were deep and close to the human heart... Except for the old racist/prejudice movies. Like Song Of The South, Pocahontas, and Peter Pan... Disney decided to forget about those movies because they didn't fit their family oriented image.

Anyway, Finding Nemo was a great movie and dominated June without any problems. From May 30 to June 27, Finding Nemo was the king of the box office. It made $244.27 million at the box office.

On June 27, 2003 another big movie was released. It was produced by Sony-Colombia with the title Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

It starred Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Lui.

This action film with three female protagonists was very well received.

On its first weekend, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle grossed $37 million at the box office.

In the same weekend, Finding Nemo only made $9 million, making Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle the week's box office champion.

++++

[Yeah... I'll post another chapter in an hour.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 349


"What we see here is director Grey's trailer for Wanted, which was released in 2000. I want to hear your opinion about this trailer. Does it have an impact on the $1 billion box office of Wanted or not?"

The professor, who teaches filmmaking to students at the California Institute of the Arts, ended the trailer.

One student raised her hand because she knew the professor loved it when a student actively participated in class. In fact, she was an avid fan of Director Grey's.

"I think Director Grey's trailer has a strong effect. The way this trailer was created easily attracted people's attention. I can't explain it, but the music, the editing, the cutting, I feel like I want to watch Wanted again".

Alexa Nguyen, an Asian student, expressed her opinion. She was not an expert in filmmaking, but she wanted to be an actress, so she decided to take this class.

The professor nodded and started to talk about his opinion. He explained how Director Grey used suspense music to excite and attract the audience.

After this class, Alexa Nguyen decided to go to the cafeteria for lunch.

She heard a group of young women giggling and staring at her. Nguyen dreamed of being an actress, but her appearance was her worst enemy.

She had slanted eyes, a flat nose, and olive-brown skin. Yes, she knew she wasn't that beautiful, but that didn't stop her.

She knew that with her looks, the best roles she could get were the stereotypical Asian roles-- An Asian woman running a restaurant, maybe with a thick Asian accent. However, Alexa Nguyen was born in the United States and she spoke like a normal American.

Hollywood had a habit of creating stereotypes.

Black people with strong language/profanity.

Blonde women are portrayed as dumb and stupid.

Hispanics are in the cartel.

Italians are in the mafia.

Asians have thick Asian accents and know kung fu and stuff.

One of Alexa's dreams was to break those stereotypes. That is why she was a fan of Enzo Park. His role in Continental Cinematic Universe was cool, he didn't have the usual thick Asian accent.

"Tch, what an ugly bitch."

The leader of the women snickered at Alexa and the Asian woman gritted her teeth to find a place to eat. Suddenly she didn't want to eat anymore.

"Hey, Mara. I heard your brother is going to make a TV show, why didn't you audition? Since you are Kazir's younger sister, you can easily get a role in his new TV show."

"Well, I'm trying to focus more on modeling."

The beautiful woman, Mara Cohen, replied. Maybe Mara was just lying or too stupid to understand that her relationship with Kazir Grey was non-existent.

Nevertheless, Mara Cohen used this tiny connection to tell her friends that she was Kazir's sister. Which was technically true.

As a result, Mara easily made a lot of female friends. The students at this university either wanted to be directors or actors/actresses.

The women hoped that Mara would introduce them to Kazir...

It was true that Mara was a model. In fact, her modeling career was going well. She received a contract stating that Victoria's Secret wanted her to be one of their models. They were still negotiating, and Elizabeth Cohen was so proud of her daughter for that.

Actually, it was Salvatore and Harold who created this opportunity.

Lately, Mara felt her life was getting better. She had a clear career path and was the queen of the campus.

"Don't worry, when the opportunity arises, I will introduce you to my brother. He is just too busy these days. I'm sure he'll prefer someone as beautiful as you, hehe, compared to that ugly Asian woman over there."

Mara gestured to Alexa a few tables away. The women giggled and began to make fun of the Asian woman.

Alexa, hearing their hurtful words, clenched her spoon as she ate a rice dish.

Alexa was confused as to how someone like Kazir could have a bitchy sister. Kazir and Mara had contrasting attitudes.

The director seemed down to earth, while Mara was out of this world.

Alexa admitted that there was a resemblance between the two, both brother and sister were good looking.

'They are probably not that close, I think. Maybe they are half-siblings...'

She thought. Suddenly, she heard her cell phone ring. Her eyes widened as she read the message. Alexa was one of the lucky fans who would have the chance to meet Kazir Grey in person!

Alexa had actually been a member of Grey Fans since its inception. She was active in the group, sometimes running small meetups.

She couldn't help but squeal. She would have the chance to meet her idol.

'... Now that I think about it, should I ask Director Grey about his younger sister's attitude? Mara acts too much.'

.........

......

...

During a meeting for Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl, Tom Rothman told Kazir about management's intentions regarding the release of Wanted 2.

"You want Wanted 2 to have a simultaneous wide release?"

Simultaneous wide release was not new.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones opened in 3,161 theaters in the United States and Canada and in 73 other countries on 5,854 screens.

This year, 20th Century Fox released X2, the second installment of the X-Men film series, in 3,741 theaters in the U.S. and Canada and in 93 markets overseas on 7,316 screens.

Based on the success of X-Men 2, 20th Century Fox was confident that Wanted 2 would do even better.

++++

[Author's note: Yes, two chapters today. There will probably be two chapters tomorrow as well... Probably]

[Anyway, I hope you guys understand that this novel is fake and made up by my low IQ brain. You don't have to remind me that this novel is stupid... It hurts. Nah, I'm just kidding. You can bash the novel all you want.]

[All I want is for you to enjoy this novel, no matter how bad or good it is. Like I said, I accept any kind of criticism. After all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you think this novel deserves a 1-star rating, I'll gladly accept it because it's your honest opinion. Who am I to stop you?]

[See you tomorrow... I hope]

 

[Tomer3392]

Someone will get humbled soon, I can tell

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapters

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 350


The use of digital cameras was becoming popular, and most production studios preferred to use them instead of the old cameras that needed film reels to record video.

Digital cameras only needed SD cards or DVD disks, but SD card was the most popular method.

Of course, Kazir immediately followed these changes, knowing that digital cameras would dominate the industry and that people who used traditional cameras and film reels in their projects were just using them for novelty.

Now, Grey Pictures didn't have to use a truck to store their reels when they were shooting outside the studio.

They also didn't have to change the reels every few minutes because the SD cards had more storage despite their small size.

Reels, or should I say films, were also used in theaters.

The Big Six and other film distributors would print thousands of copies of movies and give them to Cinema Alliance to release in thousands of theaters.

Week by week, the number of theaters showing the films would decrease and the reels would be returned to the Big Six.

Then the Big Six would send those reels to foreign countries to be used in their theaters to show the movie.

But now things are getting better. More theaters have adapted to using SD cards because they are easier to use than film reels, which are big and heavy. IMAX and 3D technology also became popular.

This made it easier to distribute movies.

If 20th Century Fox followed the same procedure as they did with X-Men 2, Wanted 2 could be released in foreign countries at the same day.

Of course, the cost might be higher, but the company was confident in Wanted 2. This was the franchise that grossed $1 billion at the box office. Surely its sequel would do just as well.

Kazir thought about it and had no problem.

"We'll give priority to English-speaking countries, most of their theaters have already adapted to the new technology."

"That's fine with me."

He knew that this conversation was not yet in effect, with no official contract and all. After all, this was a meeting to prepare for Pirates of the Caribbean.

As for why Kazir didn't ask for a wide release of Pirates of the Caribbean, he knew that 20th Century Fox was still skeptical about the film. They were not convinced that spending a lot of money in the early stages would be good.

The meeting ended and the promotion was set in motion.

Although Kazir had just finished the meeting, he didn't have time to rest. He went to a place to find the set of Game of Thrones.

Right after he finished the post-production of Pirates Of The Caribbean, the filming of Game Of Thrones officially started.

Kazir was greeted by the crew and cast, dressed in medieval garb.

He nodded at them, glancing at Emilia Clarke, who had dyed his hair silver-white. Kazir admitted it, but the woman fit the role perfectly.

Since the release of Game of Thrones was earlier than the original timeline, Kazir had to change some things, like the nude scenes. He is not allowed to show any dicks, nipples or private parts that could jeopardize the ratings... Those stuffs would be exclusive on the DVD version. Yeah, a great business idea.

The censorship of the TV networks was quite serious in the early days. Unlike two decades later, when showing dicks and breasts in TV shows was the norm... Netflix might be a mild porn site because of its dubious censorship in this regard.

Still, Kazir wanted to keep the original as raw as possible, so he might have to film a lot of skin and humping...


.........

......

...

July arrived and The Matrix Reloaded hit its break, making only hundreds of thousands per day. The movie was past its peak. The total box office for The Matrix Reloaded was $269.76 million. This was only in North America. The international performance was still ongoing and currently stands at $217 million.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was released on July 1, 2003. The movie starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and was distributed by Warner Brothers. Unlike the usual Thursday midnight release, Terminator 3 decided to have its release on Tuesday instead and made $4.03 million.

Its first week was amazing, grossing $72.38 million after 5 days in theaters.

Warner Brothers was happy with the results of Terminator 3. However, they couldn't help but be nervous...

On July 9th, Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl would have its premiere. Even though it was a pirate movie, Warner Brothers had to take it seriously.

Because the director of this movie was none other than Kazir Grey.

Last year, The Revenant made over $500 million despite not being a mainstream genre. Even if Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't a popular genre, its performance could still threaten Terminator 3.

.........
......
...

The TCL Chinese Theatre was buzzing tonight as the red carpet was already laid.

Reporters flashed their cameras at the cast as they arrived one by one.

Fans of the movie were also waiting for their idols.

Some were fans of Johnny Depp.

Some were fans of Orlando Bloom.

Some were fans of Kazir Grey. They call themselves Grey fans. For this premiere, Kazir promised to have dinner with his ten most loyal fans.

"Woohoo! Kazir, you're so handsome!"

"Kazir, baby! Give me baby! Impregnate me! I'm a femboy--!!

Some of the fans shouted as Kazir, wearing a black tuxedo, stepped out of the limousine.

As usual, Kazir was accompanied by his girlfriend, Angelina Jolie. They kept their smiles on despite the deafening screams and blinding lights.

++++

[There will be another chapter a few minutes later, maybe half an hour later.]

 

[Pujimaki]

[I decided not to add a summary for Pirates Of The Caribbean, since I didn't change anything. If you're interested, you can watch the movie instead. I watched the franchise up to Strangers Tide, but after that I'm lost. By the way, my favorite is At World's End. The third one is probably the best.]

Hollywood What If Chapter 351


"Ah yes, my hat kept falling off because of the strong wind. The pirate hat was originally made of leather, but the crew decided to make it of rubber so it wouldn't sink into the sea. We lost a lot of hats the first time we shot the movie in Haiti." Johnny laughed.

Unlike leather hats, rubber hats float on the surface of the ocean. The crew could easily retrieve the rubber hats, which saved them money.

The crew lost nearly ten leather hats at sea...

"Oh, that's interesting news. I wasn't expecting that."

The reporter said to Johnny Depp. The actor nodded and went on.

"Actually, we also experienced a typhoon in the Bahamas. The crew lost a lot of equipment. I can say that this project suffered, although I'm amazed at how director Grey pulled it off. I realized that he's talented for a reason."

"What did you learn from working with Director Grey?"

"Hm, I guess being professional. Don't get me wrong, I'm already a professional and take my work seriously, but Director Grey's dedication is amazing."

Johnny Depp didn't elaborate, but he witnessed Kazir maintaining his stoic expression while dozens of women in bikinis flirted with him. At that time, Kazir had to go to a grocery store to buy Gatorade for his headaches from lack of sleep. He was then ambushed by women in bikinis.

Johnny Depp was a little far away, but he witnessed the incident. If he were in Kazir's shoes, he might bring two or three of these women back to his hotel room and have some fun.

Sometimes he wondered if Kazir was gay or just another kind of man. What Johnny didn't know was that Kazir was afraid of women...

The interview ended and it was time for Johnny Depp to enter the theater.

There were many reasons why Johnny Depp accepted the role of Jack Sparrow. First was the salary. Being famous since the early 90s, Johnny Depp could easily get $10 million for this project. Surprisingly, Grey Pictures offered him a salary equal to his status.

Since money was not a problem, Johnny focused his mind on the script.

He realized that Johnny Depp was different from the usual roles he played. Johnny usually had roles of serious or depressed type characters. Like Edward Scissorhands in Edward Scissorhands and Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hallows.

Most actors have roles they love to play.

Tom Cruise always has the role of a cool, handsome guy in most of his movies. In his movies, Tom Cruise loves to run for some reason.

The Rock's role was usually a big, buff, strong guy. He also loves jungle movies. He also didn't like losing.

Ryan Reynolds loves to perform as Ryan Reynolds in his movies.

When Johnny Depp read the script, he found Jack Sparrow to be a quirky but calculating guy. He was dumb, but he was also a great pirate... Actually, he didn't like the role that much. He knew that pirate movies have a curse and never make money at the box office.

Carolco Pictures died because of a pirate movie called Cutthroat Island.

He was more interested in the money and working with Kazir Grey. However, after playing the role, Johnny began to realize that Jack Sparrow was an amazing character. He liked him very much.

Johnny found his seat, next to Orlando Bloom, who had a complicated look on his face.

"Are you okay, Orlando?" Johnny asked curiously.

"Me? Ah, yeah, I'm fine."

Orlando smiled slightly before returning to his own world. Orlando had already spoken to Kazir about Troy and his opinion was positive.

The director said that as long as the production was good, this movie had the ability to make money at the box office. Orlando felt great hearing that, so he decided to study his role.

His face slowly frowned as he realized that his role in the movie was that of a cowardly wimp!

Prince Paris of Troy.

A cowardly prince who seduced the queen of Sparta and fled back to Troy. Basically started a war.

Instead of keeping his honor as a warrior, the prince kneeled before his elder brother to save him from death. Further aggravating the war.

As a new actor, Orlando felt that this role could destroy his image as a handsome but brave actor.

His roles in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean were better.

Orlando practiced archery for his role as Legolas in Lord of the Rings.

In Pirates Of The Caribbean, Orlando took sword-fighting lessons every week to understand how swordsmen operate. Of course, Johnny Depp did the same.

'That's probably one of the reasons I got the offer, because I already know how to use swords. '

In the end, Orlando Bloom decided to accept the role in the face of the money. Although sometimes he couldn't help but frown. He was sure that he would never like Prince Paris, as a character and as a person.

A few minutes later, the theater went dark and the premiere began with the famous 20th Century Fox logo and iconic sound, followed by the Grey Pictures logo.

.........

......

...

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The audience clapped as Kazir made his entrance. Jay Leno and Kazir shook hands before Kazir sat down.

As usual, promoting the movie would never be wrong. The real reason he went on the show was to promote the movie.

The talk show started mildly, talking about things and making funny jokes.

"So Kazir, I want to know your opinion about these pictures... Huh, can you explain? Was it really big?"

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[Yes, two chapters today. If you want to read more, you can wait for the update or subscribe to my Patreon or Ko-fi. Anyway, I'll probably post a chapter tomorrow... Probably]

 

[Dragon89]

Don't get me wrong, I love the story and eagerly awaiting more every time............ ,but this rushing on your part, while great and I love it.
Is hurting your story as I noticed a lot more errors.

I apologize I couldn't point them out at the moment, but work just ended and I\m feeling sleepy.

 

[Luizinho]

GOT was, in the otl, on HBO, free to show boobs. On fox tv it will be very limited, due to no nudity nor explicit violence.