HWI 190

Hollywood What If Chapter 190

Two weeks after the release of The Blair Witch Project, it grossed more than $84 million. Even though the hype was already over, some people liked the uniqueness of the Found Footage movie and decided to watch it again. 

In this aspect, everyone in Hollywood realized the power of viral marketing. However, after studying this method, they learned that it was very hard to replicate this kind of performance. Perhaps only The Blair Witch Project could do it. 

If not for the fact that Harvey Weinstein was caught in a predicament, perhaps this movie was categorized as a successful movie. Too bad for Miramax, they didn't gain any profit even though the movie was a success. 

The out-of-court settlement happened quickly since Harvey Weinstein wanted to end the scandal as soon as possible. He didn't want to stay in the limelight. 

In the end, the settlement was $11 million each. That was the best the lawyer could possibly do. It was already a miracle that Harvey Weinstein didn't go to jail this time. Perhaps his influence was not that simple. Anyway, this was a big loss for Harvey Weinstein and Miramax. They learned their lessons and they would never try this marketing method again. 

The news related to The Blair Witch Project slowly dissipated since the matter was already over. 

John F. Kennedy Junior, his wife, and relatives were killed in a plane crash. This terrible news alleviated the matter of The Blair Witch Project and people gradually forgot about it. 

There were still some people who were protesting in front of Miramax but the media already forgot about them. Next month, perhaps, these people would grow tired of protesting as well.

The movie-goers started watching other movies after the truth about The Blair Witch Project was released. 

Eyes Wide Shut was released on July 16, only two days after the release of The Blair Witch Project. This movie, starring Tom Cruise and his wife, Nicole Kidman-Cruise was affected by The Blair Witch Project, grossing only $21 million in its first week. 

Eyes Wide Shut was the last movie that the couple participated in together. 2 years after that, the married couple filed a divorce. 

A week of interval between The Blair Witch Project, and The Haunting starring Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones was released. The influence of The Blair Witch Project on this horror movie was quite strong, considering that both were horror movies. 

Still, perhaps because of Liam Neeson's performance this past few years, the first-week box office of The Haunting was $33 million. Liam Neeson was now a famous actor who had an Oscar statue in his achievements. In this case, even his achievements were better than Tom Cruise who never won any Oscar statue. 

Deep Blue Sea was released next. This movie was sort of a Jaws copycat about smart sharks eating people. If there was something interesting about this movie, it was about Samuel L. Jackson getting eaten by a shark while giving an encouraging speech. Truly a great moment to go off...

In the month of July, the biggest winner was none other than The Runaway Bride starring Richard Gere and Brianna Evans. Indeed, because of the recommendation that Kazir offered to Paramount, Julia Roberts failed to get the role. Instead, it was Brianna Evans who became the female lead of Runaway Bride. 

Runaway Bride grossed $35 million in its first week. The difference between The Blair Witch Project and Runaway Bride was the production value. Unlike horror movies that were Rated-R, Runaway Bride was a PG-13 movie and it had a better audience than The Blair Witch Project. 

In the long run, Runaway Bride would have more box office than The Blair Witch Project. 

Kazir's interference in the timeline caused changes such as Liam Neeson's status and Brianna Evans' appearance. One thing was sure, this was not the last time it would happen. 

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The month of August was the least popular in the Summer schedule. The Big Six didn't usually release their profitable movies in this month, just like in the month of September. 

Sony-Columbia didn't have any important movies that would be released this month. They agreed to release The Bourne Identity in the second week of the month and put their resources into the movie. 

The initial promotion of The Bourne Identity already started a month ago and it intensified in August. 

Billboards of Matt Damon and Cameron Diaz on many buildings. Leaflets of The Bourne Identity plastered on walls. Movie commercials are shown on television.

Even though The Bourne Identity was not owned by Sony-Columbia, they put importance on the movie and faithfully did their job. 

It was insane how Sony-Columbia agreed to this decision. Perhaps they were desperate to keep their position, afraid that they would lose their edge. Afraid that DreamWorks would take over their position as one of the Big Six. 

The Bruce Almighty would be released next year. The movie needed more time in post-production because the movie had many special effects. 

Perhaps the bleak schedule of August was a good thing because The Bourne Identity didn't have any rival. There was no big movie to compete with. Meaning most of the tickets would be acquired by The Bourne Identity. 

Unfortunately, some of the universities already started their school days and that might affect the box office of The Bourne Identity. 

"Are you guys ready!?"

"Yes!"

A group of people yelled in unison. They were wearing suits for this movie, even the women wore suits. 

After the success of Matrix a few months ago, the fashion sense of young people was affected. They started wearing black jackets, black windbreakers, and shades. 

Knowing that The Bourne Identity was connected to Taken and John Wick, these people decided to wear a suit that resembled John Wick's appearance. 

These people were loyal fans who supported Kazir Grey. Napoleon Dynamite, The Hangover, Taken, and John Wick. These people watched at least one of Kazir's movies and decided to join this group. 

Erm, they call their group, the Grey Fans...