HWI 261

Hollywood What If Chapter 261

Media was truly dominated by the Big Six and they would forever keep this status. One of the reasons why small studios would never have a chance to become rich in this industry unless they serve the Big Six. 

How could they promote their movies if the Big Six didn't let them? So many movies were released every week but none of them made a profit at the box office, they would quickly go to the videotape market. The sad truth about this industry. This industry would never give a fair fight. 

It was fortunate that Grey Pictures didn't suffer this outcome. But Kazir knew that this future would never be far. Because once the contract with Paramount and Sony-Columbia ended, Grey Pictures would have to beg the Big Six again to distribute their movies internationally. 

Finding a local distributor was not that simple, but international distribution was a different thing. Only the Big Six + MGM had the capability to do so. 

April came by and only two movies surpassed $100 million. Again, these months were not a good schedule to release movies. People were usually busy these months. 

First was Along Came A Spider by Paramount, grossing $105 million. This was not a horror movie, this was a Thriller/Mystery about kidnapping. 

Second was Bridget Jones's Diary with $272 million, produced and distributed by Miramax. 

As always, it was hard for small studios to profit from the box office if the Big Six controlled the media. No method to promote their movies, always eating crumbs. No chance to prove themselves. 

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Now, the summer schedule officially began in May. So many blockbusters were released this month that people didn't know what to watch. This was the start of the yearly battle between the Big Six. 

The Mummy Returns premiered in the first week, distributed by Universal. The Mummy franchise was a good movie but it lost its sense after Brendan Fraser disappeared in Hollywood. Brendan Fraser was sexually harassed and he didn't have a choice but to shut his mouth. Such was life in Hollywood, you had to shut your mouth even if crime was all around. 

Anyway, The Mummy Returns grossed $435 million. See, the franchise was amazing. 

In the second week, The Knight's Tale barely surpassed $100 million. It was produced by Sony-Columbia. 

In the third week, the chad of the movie titled Shrek was released. This was an animated movie produced by DreamWorks Animation. This was proof that Disney was not the only one that could compete in 3D animation. The movie grossed $491 million. 

In the fourth week, Pearl Harbor premiered. This was the first project that Ben Affleck worked on after Wanted. His fame leveled up and more people recognized him. The movie grossed $449 million. 

From this, the summer schedule was indeed a fierce competition. Every week big movies were released, trying to fight for the box office ranking. 

The schedule was very tight and everyone was vying for the best week. Sometimes, there were stances that two or three big movies were released in the same week, they had to face each other unfortunately. 

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Midnight, June 1, Friday. 

The Premier of Spider-Man ended with such a bang. So many kids, teenagers, and even adults were wearing Spider-Man costumes. They were so happy as they left the theaters one by one. 

Each theater had satisfied customers. The movie Spider-Man would define the meaning of a Superhero movie. 

"I'm gonna rate it A+! I don't care what the other thinks! This is the best movie I ever watched! Dude, did you see the scenes when Spider-Man was swinging building by building? That's a shot that will never leave my memory! Locked in my childhood memories!"

An avid comic reader announced and many passers-by agreed with his opinion. Interested, they decided to answer the survey. They believed that the movie deserved this. 

The word of mouth of Spider-Man was so influential. Perhaps its influence was comparable to Wanted which was released last year. 

The rating averaged in A and CinemaScore felt like it would steady in A-. That was a high rating. 

The midnight box office of Spider-Man was $10 million box office. This was just the midnight. Sony-Columbia forecasted that the first day would be around $30 to $35 million. 

Having a first-day box office of $30 million was a clear success. Sony-Columbia made the right choice of choosing the right person to direct the movie. 

As always, Kazir did it right. Everyone thought that the budget of $100 million would be too small to make a superhero movie. But Kazir was so good at budgeting the project that a few millions was remaining.

Sony-Columbia decided to add that few million to their marketing budget. The budget for marketing was $39 million, they promoted the movie all over the country. They have to win the US first before others.

The X-Men that was released last year was good, but Spider-Man was amazing.

This was the start of revelation for the Marvel Comics. They realized that their characters had a place in theaters. No, they were meant for theaters. 

Time changed and people prefer digital. Movies and television shows were the answer to their problems. 

Suddenly, they had an epiphany... Most of their characters were ransacked! They sold them so that Marvel Comics would survive! 

They realized how much they fucked up! If they knew that their characters could make huge money, they would have kept them or sold them at bigger prices. 

So yeah, the management was trying to contact some companies that acquired their characters. Their target, the one who owned most of their characters, the guy who actually directed Spider-Man. Director Kazir Grey of Grey Pictures. 

Well, perhaps they could work with the guy. 

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[Damn, this is more like a fast-forward summary. I'm sorry, I have no idea what to write so I decided to fast forward the time. Besides, I know that you guys wanted the Spider-Man premiere to start anyway.]

[From the looks of it, most of you guys voted for 20th Century Fox. Alright, that's my second choice, with Warner Bros being my first choice. We have a month to choose so let's all take our time.]