HWI 271

Hollywood What If Chapter 271

The effect of 9/11 on the country was tremendous. The incident resulted in a massive level-up in airport security. The idea that the strongest country could suffer an act of terrorism this massive struck the heart of so many people. 

Hollywood announced their deepest condolences to the people who lost their loved ones over this tragedy. The President stood up on the podium and delivered an address on 9/11 from Sarasota School. 

-- Terrorism against our nation will not stand. 

This statement stirred the hearts of many people. Many young men joined the military, not because of the tuition assistance and other benefits, but because they wholeheartedly wanted to protect their country. 

The effect of 9/11 strengthened the security of the other countries as well. Making it more difficult to travel overseas. 

In Hollywood, releasing movies continued but the September and October were very cold months for the theaters. People were still grieving. 

Spider-Man was already in its last month and it would end its screening before November. However, the movie grossed $403.70 million at the North American box office. 

The overseas box office was still climbing up, currently grossing more than $372 million. Making the worldwide box office $775 million. Spider-Man was currently the highest-grossing movie of this year. 

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider ended much earlier, even before September. Grossing $131.16 million at the North American box office. 

Fast and The Furious only had 150 theaters screening the movie. Currently grossing more than $215 million. 

Legally Blonde grossed $95.23 million. The movie still had a month or two before the end of screening. 

John Wick Chapter 2 was slightly affected by 9/11 because, after the tragedy, the box office of the movie dipped down, just like the other movies at that time. However, the movie already grossed $137 million at that time. 

Before November, John Wick Chapter 2 garnered more than $176 million after two months of screening. 

Overall, all of the movies that were related to Kazir were doing well. Kazir recommended Lara Croft to Angelina Jolie because she was the right one for the role. Her career blossomed after this movie and it seemed that his decision was right. 

Gossip regarding Kazir being a God in terms of choosing scripts was all around. After Kazir recommended his friends to audition for a role, each of them got a better career. 

Suddenly, a lot of new actors and actresses were trying to befriend the guy. Unfortunately for them, they would never locate the guy at parties and bars. 

Even the bar that Kazir usually visited became famous because so many actors hoped to meet Kazir in the bar. They persevered in the calm atmosphere of jazz. Too bad, Kazir didn't have the mood to visit the bar lately. 

He was thinking about which of the two scripts should he adapt. Next year, he intends to film a movie that could compete at the Academy Awards. 

His first choice was The Revenant. He already acquired the movie adaptation rights of this novel/autobiography. The life of American frontiersman Hugh Glass in 1823 Missouri Territory.

His second choice was Black Hawk Down. Right at the moment the journalist published this book, Kazir immediately bought the adaptation rights. The book was based on real life. 

Both movies were based on real life. Something that the Academy Awards loved to see. The members of the Academy had a strong bias against fiction and blockbusters. 

Both movies had a strong chance to win the Best Director and Best Picture if done right. Kazir was confident in his filmography so that was not much of a problem. Furthermore, even if he wanted to deny it, his race was another reassurance to win the Best Director. Most of the old members of the Academy were Jewish. 

Kazir already made the best formula to make sure that he would win the Best Director.

However, since Kazir was already going for the Oscars, why not fight for more? 

One of the reasons why he invited Tom Cruise. Because he wanted his friend to win his long dream of Best Actor Award. 

He helped Liam Neeson win the Best Actor Award, perhaps he could do it again. 

Kazir planned to blend perfect emotional scenes in his movies so that Tom Cruise had a chance to get nominations. Regarding winning the golden statue, both of them have to do a lot of PR to acquire that. 

So yeah, the two might attend a lot of parties next year and in 2003. Such was the life of people in this industry, forming connections. 

Looking at two scripts in his hands, Kazir decided to go with the best bet. He decided to sell Black Hawk Down to Ridley Scott. Ridley Scott had been trying to buy the script but Kazir prevented him. So the outcome was obvious, the release of Black Hawk Down would be postponed for a year or two. 

The Revenant won the Best Director and Best Actor Awards in the past life. In the first place, these two awards were the only things that Kazir was looking for. He might as well go for the safest bet. 

After making a decision, Kazir decided to call Tom Cruise. He had been giving signals to the actor and Tom Cruise had an idea about it. So both of them were currently not making decisions regarding their next jobs, because both of them were doing the waiting game. 

Now that the cold events of September and October ended, Hollywood returned to their usual schedule. 

On November 2, Pixar released Monster, Inc. One of the famous franchises that Pixar had. The first three days of Monster, Inc. grossed $62.58 million. 

The Big Six realized and understood that the animation industry was another sector that they could profit from. So far, only Pixar and DreamWorks were doing well, but 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures were creating their own animation studios. 

While stuff was happening, Tom and Kazir decided to meet and settle their intentions.