HWI 188

Hollywood What If Chapter 188

Different people testified that they watched the movie.

-- "Me? Ah yes, I watched the movie about the witch or something. I even had a picture of the movie with my boyfriend. High-definition camera? Yes, my boyfriend is a photographer so the pictures are always clear.

In the picture, a couple could be seen... Behind them was a fat guy who had a serious expression. It was none other than Harvey Weinstein!

Harvey Weinstein actually attended the Sundance Film Festival and watched The Blair Witch Project!

"Harvey, did you just let someone take a picture of you? And the couple even showed the evidence to the media!"

Michael Ovitz was mad. He didn't care about Harvey Weinstein's predicament, but it caused trouble for Disney. ABC News was the one who promoted the movie, after all.

"I didn't know that they were trying to take a picture! My eyesight was affected after watching the movie!"

Harvey Weinstein explained.

"Then go find a way to fix this!"

Michael Ovitz said in a cold voice. This might implicate Disney.

Disney was trying to show an image that they were family-oriented. As much as possible, they didn't want that image to change.

'If we didn't have a choice, then Disney will push all the blame to Miramax and Harvey Weinstein. Michael Eisner didn't like this fat guy anyway, Harvey is colluding with Roy Disney. If we let them gain more power, then it will be a problem for Michael Eisner and me.'

He was staring daggers at Harvey Weinstein.

Harvey Weinstein just nodded but his face was very ugly right now. He was in a bad mood.

"I will try my best and fix this."

"You should be."

Harvey Weinstein opened his phone to contact his friends. Harvey Weinstein was a Jew and he had a lot of friends in Showbiz. He knew someone from Fox News and CNN.

Yet before he could even dial the numbers, the news segment changed again.

-- "The fat guy that you see in this picture is actually Harvey Weinstein, the founder of Miramax. Our team found that he bought The Blair Witch Project. If our deduction is right, he is the one responsible for the publicity of the movie.

The News Anchor explained.

Then, another person was getting interviewed. This time, it was a middle-aged woman. She was crying, clear sadness in her eyes.

Suddenly, Harvey's chubby cheeks twitched uncomfortably.

-- "My son is a good person! He never did drugs! He never drank alcohol nor smoked cigarettes! His friends are just interested in visiting Burkittsville, Maryland yet I can't believe that will be the last time I will see him alive! Just because of a film! Just because of a fake witch!"

She cried at the top of her lungs, looking miserable in front of the camera. For a mother, it was very painful to lose a child.

.........

......

...

July 14, 1999. It was Wednesday and many people were falling in line just to enter the cinema.

While they were peacefully trying to buy the tickets, some protestors were causing trouble in front of the cinema.

"Justice for John, Meredith, Angelito, and Roel!"

These were the slogans that they kept repeating. Well, the movie-goers didn't care much. They were just interested in the movie.

Two days ago, the truth was revealed that The Blair Witch Project was actually a movie and the witch and the missing students were not real.

Still, it didn't stop them from trying to watch the movie. Perhaps it would be a thrilling experience. The hype could never be erased even though the truth was revealed. People were easy to convince through peer pressure or perhaps the pressure of society.

The Blair Witch Project already caused so many headlines and people were now interested even though the movie was fake.

Yet when they entered the theaters and spent at least 10 minutes watching the movie, their expectations were thrown into the dirty trashcan.

The movie, The Blair Witch Project, was boring at best. The filmography, the unfocused scenes, everything was so amateur.

"I can't believe that I spent more than 1 hour watching this movie. I thought something interesting would happen. Damn, I wasted my 7 dollars on buying a ticket."

"You're damn right. Four people lost their lives because a crazy person tried to push that this movie is real."

The people who watched the movie realized that they were scammed. They could not believe that someone was evil enough to do something like this.

"What's the name of the owner of Miramax again?"

"I think it's Harvey Weinstein."

"Yeah, I think he needs to explain himself, or else many people will hunt him."

The first day of The Blair Witch Project was actually amazing even though the truth was revealed.

The midnight premiere was $4 million, then the next day, it grossed $8 million.

This trend went up until the first week of The Blair Witch Project grossed more than $37 million.

Because of the unique publicity of the movie, many people were interested in watching the movie.

Of course, the people who watched it realized that they were scammed and became mad.

However, compared to the original timeline, the people were not mad at the two directors and actors of The Blair Witch Project. After all, they were innocent as well. After they sold the movie to Miramax, they didn't have any power over it.

This time, the people had a clear target to put their anger on.

In front of the headquarters of Miramax, thousands of people were protesting. However, Harvey Weinstein didn't show his face.

This kind of protest would easily dissipate once the matter was over.

Being good at his job, Harvey Weinstein knew that the best way to survive this incident was by keeping his silence. He was innocent anyway. He didn't have any intention of causing a riot. His hands were cleaned...

Even though the performance of The Blair Witch Project was good and he recouped his investment, the damage it inflicted on him was much worse.