HWI 231

Hollywood What If Chapter 231

"Okay, this scene is over!"

The filming ended and Liam Neeson wiped his sweat. He admitted it, working with Kazir and being an action star changed the path of his career. 

Before Taken, Liam Neeson focused more on drama. But now, he was getting invited to many action movies. Last time, he participated in Star Wars as a Jedi. 

"Good job."

"Yeah."

Matt Damon congratulated Liam Neeson and the old man nodded. Next to them was Viggo Mortensen. 

The three protagonists cut off a month's worth of schedule/job to participate in Wanted's filming, which was in March. Usually, it needed at least two months for their scenes to be finished but Kazir was a different breed of director. 

They already finished most of their scenes. After this, Viggo Mortensen would return to New Zealand to film Lord Of The Rings. Comparing the filming of Lord Of The Rings and Wanted was something that Viggo thought of so many times. 

Unlike Lord Of The Rings and Peter Jackson's filmography, Kazir Grey was a fast perfectionist. He could make a perfect shot in just a few repetitions. Furthermore, Kazir affected his cast in a good way. 

The atmosphere on the set was quite relaxing, very different from the usual filming sites. 

In Lord Of The Rings, Viggo had to wear so many costumes before the filming. And he had to wear it almost 10 hours a day, it was tiring and sweaty. 

"Something's strange... I know that Kazir's projects are usually peaceful but there's something different in this particular project." Matt Damon muttered. 

"I agree, I can't pinpoint the reason but the atmosphere in Wanted's set is quite light-hearted. I had 10 NGs yesterday but Kazir didn't even frown or show any anger." Viggo Mortensen added. 

Even if Kazir was a calm person, he would still talk to the actor once they reached the threshold of 10 NGs.

"It seems that you guys are still young. Look over there."

Liam Neeson pointed in a certain direction and found Kazir Grey and Angelina Jolie talking. They were smiling, Angelina giggled playfully and slapped Kazir's shoulder. 

"So you mean... That's the reason?" Matt asked. He didn't expect this situation to happen. Last year, Kazir was still dating Cameron Diaz. 

"I believe so. Whatever it may be, Kazir and Angelina are doing well. I'm not sure if they truly love each other but their relationship is definitely good news for both of them. They were smiling a lot these days." 

Being the oldest in the trio, Liam Neeson had a better understanding. 

"But... I heard Angelina is a sex addict." Viggo weakly muttered. This rumor was almost everywhere and it might be true. Angelina Jolie was known for being a sex addict. Some of her exes confirmed that. 

"Whatever it is, Kazir can definitely tame her."

The three knew the importance of this movie. The outcome of this movie would be the result of three years of hard work that Grey Pictures put into this massive project. 

Kazir and Grey Pictures gambled their future just to accomplish this outrageous plan that might be good or bad. No one knew the future after all. 

The three actors had a career boost after working with Kazir. They were thankful for that. So they wanted this movie to be successful. 

On top of that, their contracts were still not over. So if this Continental Cinematic Universe was a success, it means that they have sure projects to work with if they reach the bottom of their careers. Furthermore, they have better leverage to negotiate with the company since their roles are important. 

In a way, the future of the Continental Cinematic Universe was their future as well. Heck, even though their screen time in this movie was only 10 minutes long, the contract already stated that they would earn 4 to 9 million dollars. Liam Neeson had the highest salary of all the three, obviously. 

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The filming of Wanted started in January and it ended in April. Four months worth of filming. This was very fast by Hollywood standards. However, if you compare it to Hong Kong movies, the filming of Wanted was already long. 

Usually, movies made in Hong Kong finish filming in one or two months. That was amazing but definitely a hard thing to do. 

The laws between the two countries were different and the cast and crew members of Wanted needed rest to keep going. 

And even if Wanted finished the filming in two months, they still have to wait for Industrial Light & Magic to finish the scenes with special effects. 

The good thing was that four months was enough for Industrial Light & Magic to finish all of the scenes so Kazir Grey immediately started the post-production of the movie. In the first place, they didn't need heavy special effects so Industrial Light & Magic had it good. 

Just like that, the summer schedule officially happened. 

May started with a bang with the release of Gladiator, distributed by DreamWorks. DreamWorks hired Ridley Scoop, the director of Alien, to be the director of the movie. They cast Russell Crowe as the protagonist of the movie. 

Just as everyone expected, DreamWorks used its distribution channel. This was the reason why they founded DreamWorks in the first place. The Big Six used their position to control the industry using their distribution channels. 

Unfortunately, DreamWorks only had a North American distribution channel. International distribution channel was a close to impossible dream to achieve in the short term. It needs years of accumulation just like how the Big Six and Metro Goldwyn Mayer did. 

Since Steven Spielberg had a good relationship with Universal Pictures because they cooperated in Jurassic Park, the International distribution of Gladiator was acquired by Universal Pictures. 

The first week of Gladiator grossed more than $49 million at the box office. It was an amazing feat. However, DreamWorks could not calm their tits down. 

Because the anticipated comedy of the year would be released next week. Napoleon Dynamite III will be released on May 11. Obviously, the two movies would have a rivalry to get the most tickets.