HWI 212

Hollywood What If Chapter 212

The third week of screening of Taken 2 ended and the result was very good. November 21, 1999, the movie grossed $132.48 million. 

The state of Hollywood was getting better and the power of media was stronger as well. People loved watching movies on weekends and this was the reason why the box office was better on weekends. 

Kazir Grey was having his time, knowing that he didn't have many things to do lately. 

The director of Taken 2, Fremont Smith, was currently promoting the movie together with the cast. They attended many national TV shows and local TV shows. 

Paramount Pictures already promised that they would promote the movie, they knew that the box office of Taken 2 would make their appetite better. The company was the distributor of the videotapes and DVDs as well. As long as Taken 2 had a good performance, Paramount would get a better profit from the shared box office and videotapes/DVDs. 

Sometimes, Brad Grey regrets the fact that he doesn't agree with Kazir's decision. 

He should have let Grey Pictures invest 30% in the movie, at least Paramount owned the copyrights of Taken. 

Grey Pictures would have approval rights but it was nothing compared to the profit that Taken brought. The influence of Taken in North America was strong because of the viral kidnapping that happened three years ago. That was the main reason why the movie earned more than half a billion at the worldwide box office. 

Furthermore, Taken was part of a huge universe and every movie seemed profitable. Even John Wick that had an average box office was raking money in the videotape market. 

Obviously, the people who watched Taken would watched John Wick and The Bourne Identity as well. Meaning, that they have to watch the three movies to get the whole plot. So yeah, more money... 

Paramount Pictures regretted that they didn't get a share of this huge amount of money! Why the fuck did they not agree to Kazir's condition at that time. 

If CEO Brad Grey could return back in time, he would slap his past self and scream at him to agree to Kazir's condition of investing 30% in the movie! Heck, he would even twerk in front of the director just to convince him. 

Money... People would do everything just to get a big amount of money. 

Just like straight men said, 20 dollars is 20 dollars, so it's not gay... Ahem, completely irrelevant but you get the gist. Money can make a person go crazy and do something stupid. 

Not only Paramount, but even the other film companies that Kazir Grey contacted four years ago were having regret. 

Clearly, the outrageous plan that Kazir called "Cinematic Universe" was a big hit! The four movies that Grey Pictures released were doing well at the box office and videotape market.

That was enough evidence that the Cinematic Universe was profitable. 

Suddenly, Warner Bros had an epiphany, to be precise, they had the itch to follow Kazir's steps and make their own Cinematic Universe. In fact, they already had the best subject to use. It was none other than DC Comics! The Justice League! Where heroes from different comics made a superhero organization to protect the Earth from disaster. 

However, there was something they were troubled about... They have no idea where to start. They felt like they had to invest money in these projects but money was not enough to gain success. 

They need someone who can make sure that the project will be a success! That's right, they need someone like Kazir Grey, or to be exact, they need Kazir Grey! 

The man, the myth himself, the director who made the impossible, Director Kazir Grey... 

The said director was having his time, watching old movies. Today, he watched the iconic Gone With The Wind, the best movie of the 1940s. 

Kazir Grey didn't know that his status improved again. He received so many invitations from different personalities in the industry but just like the usual, he declined most of them. He didn't like parties and talking to strangers, especially if the strangers were just interested in his status and money. 

So many women conversed with him every time he attended a party but they always flirted with him. 

Film? Nah, I want to talk to you about my feelings and how you can give me a role in your next project.

Editing cuts? What's that? Anyway, I want to tell you about my cute kitty. If you want, you can see it later, my soft tight pussy...

What about the production crew? Nah, I want to talk to you about producing a baby. 

Yep, it might sound outrageous, but Kazir heard that kind of pick-up line lately. 

Honestly, Kazir Grey wanted to nod his head and say yes to their advancement but his fear towards women made him shake his head and walk away. Beautiful female strangers scared him the most. 

After Kazir Grey watched the iconic movie, he stood up and changed his clothes. He had a meeting with an investment firm. He heard last time that his investment already surpassed $120 million, surely it increased again this time. 

Now that he became a millionaire, he realized that making money was not that hard... Or perhaps he was just being delusional. The hardest step of being a millionaire was earning that first 1 million. 

In his past life, his net worth just barely passed 1 million. His life back then was not that bad at all, but he was extremely depressed after losing the divorce, losing his father, and having no contact with his elder brother. He never met his mother in his past life. 

He had a hard time forming a connection with the opposite gender and he could never put his heart in them, as if he was scared that he would be hurt again. 

He knew that life was never sunshine. This led him to the truth that it was better to be a boring man than a passionate one. At least his expectations would never be high and his pain would be weaker. 

[Author's Note: Rereading this chapter, I realized that there's no conversation at all. There's no reason to put a conversation anyway...]