HWI 433

Hollywood What If Chapter 433

The actor's mental status was important and Kazir couldn't disregard it. At least not when it was affecting the filming.

The budget of Batman Begins was around $150 million. The budget could go up if bad things happened. Kazir was known as a director who stuck with the budget and never increased the budget. This was a trait that big studios loved; it assured that the production crew would never overspend.

$150 million seemed a lot, but for a big project like Batman Begins, this amount was just the passable requirement.

Casting actors, actresses, crew members, and directors costs money. More than 35% of the budget went to hiring the cast and crew members. With the biggest salary of $25+ million to Director Grey.

Being the highest-paid person in the crew, Kazir had to make sure that his employer would never regret hiring him.

Other expenses such as Sets and Filming Location, Equipment, Special Effects, Costumes and Props, Editing, Sound Design, and Music.

$150 million seemed a lot, but expenses for creating a superhero movie were also huge. $150 million is not even enough.

But Kazir was the director of Batman Begins, he was confident in his skills. He was fast and knew what scenes to film.

His responsibility and burden were so heavy; it explained why he had a huge salary.

Unfortunately, things like actors mentalities could affect his filming and schedules.

Christian Bale's mediocre acting was affecting their filming badly. So Kazir decided to confront the actor and tell him to take a break and change his perspective.

Kazir didn't care what Christian had to do in the trailer just to get him in the zone. If the actor asked for a day's rest, Kazir would frown but he would still give it to him just to make the actor feel better.

It would affect their filming schedule, but Kazir could shoot other scenes, so it was not considered a waste.

However, if Christian Bale returned after a rest day and his acting did not improve, then Kazir didn't have a choice but to find another actor to replace Christian Bale.

After all, they have a long list of talented actors to choose from. The project just started and the production still has the power to change the protagonist.

But everything was still a what-if. It all depends on Christian's performance once he exited the trailer.

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The makeup artist excused herself after seeing that Christian Bale was not in a good mood.

Being reprimanded like that in front of many people was embarrassing. He heard that Director Grey was a great person and rarely confronted his actors. He never raised his voice and made fun of someone.

Christian understood where Kazir was coming from. The director talked to him a few days ago and even encouraged him. Kazir said that The Machinist was a great movie but not meant for cinemas. The director was indeed a good person and made sure that his actors were in the right mentality.

But Christian couldn't help but feel like it was his fault why the movie plopped. So his mind was affected and he could do his job at his peak.

Director Grey reached his limit and decided to berate Christian in front of many people. It was humiliating.

When the makeup artist was gone and Christian was alone in the trailer, he took a deep breath.

He looked in front of the mirror. Christian was wearing an expensive suit since he was acting as Bruce Wayne, the billionaire.

He had a handsome appearance, which explained why he could become part of the entertainment industry. By the way, Hollywood was saturated with handsome and beautiful people. You can see them everywhere.

Christian looked in the mirror... Then, he slapped himself so strongly that his right cheek turned red.

He understood it very well. It was his fault. Some so many people worked hard for this project. This was their livelihood.

It would be a dick move if Christian just disregards their livelihood just because he was suffering from depression.

Once he signed the contract to become Batman, this was just not about him anymore. This project was feeding hundreds of people and they would be devastated if the project failed.

He took a deep breath.

He deserved it. Director Grey was just making sure that the project wouldn't fail.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; I need to get this."

He closed his eyes and decided to forget about The Machinist. Fuck that movie.

He was so dedicated to The Machinist that he lost weight just to prove how dedicated he was. Perhaps that was the reason why he was affected so much when the movie plopped.

But now, he had another movie to focus on. He had to be dedicated to the role of Bruce Wayne and Batman.

As for his bitter feelings for Director Grey, he had to suck it for now. If he had a chance later he wanted to talk to the director about it.

It didn't even take half an hour when the trailer opened. Christian Bale showed up and his demeanor was completely different. He was not affected by the gazes of the others, as if he were in his world.

When Kazir saw the changes in Christian's demeanor, he smirked and knew that Bruce Wayne was back.

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[Author's Note: I rarely do production set scenes like this so I decided to do it in this chapter.]