HWI 281

Hollywood What If Chapter 281

James was surprised because he thought he had to sit down the director to convince him of a chance to prove 20th Century Fox. 

This was one of their first move, to become the distributor of Grey Pictures. 

Yet James didn't expect that Kazir would actually see through their intentions and announce his thoughts. 

"Swapping shares is not a problem either. You get authority over your company, I get authority over yours." Kazir chuckled. Money was never a problem for him. Money was just a means to him to keep his status but it was not everything. 

As long as Kazir could stay in the industry and keep filming movies, he would be alive. Heck, before his divorce with Cassandra, Kazir was earning quite well. He could afford to buy a house because of the profit shares of the movies he made. 

Actually, directors, actors, and producers had residual profit shares of videotapes and such but they were only relevant for the first five years. Sales of videotapes/DVDs weakened after five years. 

"..." James felt like he had to do his job seriously. 

From the looks of it... Kazir might get at least $1 billion from the upcoming transaction. 

"Goodbye James."

Kazir didn't stay any longer and left. Tomorrow he has to talk to Tom Cruise regarding The Revenant. 

Then next week, Sony-Columbia would celebrate the success of Spider-Man. If their forecast was right, the movie would surpass $900 million in the same week, which was the second week of January. 

There was no time to rest... Actually, Kazir was very excited to start the filming of The Revenant. He was always excited whenever he would do his job as a director. He felt alive doing his job. He loved this job more than ever. 

.........

......

...

"So how's your reunion with Cameron?" The actor teased his friend. 

"Tom, let's not talk about it." Kazir shook his head. 

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz worked together in Vanilla Sky. 

"Why not? Cameron knows that we're friends so she asked me a lot about you. Which was a bit interesting because you two were in a relationship for almost two years. Did you even show any of your true self to Cameron?"

"I have trust issues," Kazir muttered while looking through the lists of actors and actresses. 

"Did... Did you say that now?" 

"Yes. Besides, Cameron and I are done."

"She's a great kisser though."

"She is."

"Damn, I didn't expect that you will react like that. I thought you would be angry at least. So you're really done with her."

Out of curiosity, Tom wanted to tease Kazir about his past relationship but he didn't expect that Kazir was stoic like an old tree. The guy didn't give a fuck. 

"Alright, I'm sorry about what I said." He admitted his mistakes. 

"It's fine."

Kazir knew the superstars usually have arrogant attitudes and Tom's behavior was within what he expected. 

A lot of celebrities were arrogant, Gwyneth Paltrow, Will Smith, Lindsey Lohan, and even James Cameron. These people were quite known for having arrogant attitudes, some of these were because of the superstar syndrome. Where they believe that the world revolves around them. 

Thankfully, even though Tom had the attitude, he knew when to apologize. 

"Kazir, I have someone to recommend to be Hugh Glass's wife."

As expected, Tom would recommend someone. Kazir stopped reading the list. The female roles in this movie were basically nonexistent except for Hugh Glass's wife but even that was a minor role. In the first place, the woman didn't have a proper name at all. 

There were only four main characters in this movie and they were all men. 

"Tom, you know that Hugh Glass's wife is a minor role. I don't have any intention of altering the script to cater to someone."

"Of course, I understand that. I have no intention of doing that as well. Just treat this as a cameo. She's a fan of yours so I decided to give her a chance to work with you, even if the role is small."

"What's her name?"

"She's Penelope Cruz. I'm sure you know her."

'Of course it's her.' 

Kazir knew Penelope Cruz, although he only knew her because of her relationship with Tom. 

If Kazir was not wrong, Tom met Penelope Cruz in Vanilla Sky, the same year Tom and Nicole Kidman divorced. 

"If you're fine with it, then I'll cast her. But you have to tell her that it's a minor role. Don't expect a high salary."

"We don't expect any salary at all, you can hire her free if you want."

"We will probably have to negotiate with her agent anyway so let them decide."

"Okay."

The two agreed. This was just a small thing, no reason to take it seriously. They were both flexible and agreed to each other's decisions. The biggest reason why they decided to work together was to win the Academy Awards. 

Kazir already proved that he could make someone the Best Actor after casting Liam Neeson. Tom Cruise had some regret about Taken but there was no reason to be depressed about it. He knew that movie was not for him. 

Furthermore, Taken was the opening movie to the CCU and Tom would probably not be invested in a long time project like that. 

Tom rarely does movies with sequels, except for the Mission Impossible franchise. Even Top Gun took more than three decades to have a sequel. 

The Revenant was another chance for him to win the Best Actor Award. He read the script and he was confident in Kazir's ability to adapt the script into a movie. 

Tom Cruise actually offered to invest at least 30% of the project but Kazir and Grey Pictures never agreed. Anyway, small matters, as long as their mission was the same, they would work it out. 

"So these are the actors who auditioned for the second round and I picked the actors that fit best on their roles. Tom Hardy, Joaquin Phoenix, and Shia Labeouf."

"Hm, seems reasonable. Joaquin is a great actor. I remember this Tom Hardy in Black Hawk Down. But this Shia Labeouf is a new person to me."

Tom responded. 

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[It's officially January 1 here. And yes, just like the usual, I never watched The Revenant... Looks like two chapters tomorrow as well. Thanks guys for all of your support. I hope all of us will have a bountiful year!]