HWI 165

Hollywood What If Chapter 165

"Continental Cinematic Universe..."

Matt Damon muttered as he exited the car. His conversation with Kazir Grey was interesting and the director was quite open about his idea. 

It would be a lie if Matt Damon was not interested. Kazir Grey had a plan to create dozens of movies that were set in one universe! Furthermore, Kazir didn't hide that the protagonists/characters would meet in some movies. 

Well, Matt Damon signed a non-disclosure agreement with Grey Pictures from the moment he received the script of The Bourne Identity. 

Still, it didn't change the fact that Kazir Grey told him about a big secret related to the cinematic universe. Perhaps it was his sincerity. 

Suddenly, Matt Damon felt bad for thinking that Kazir Grey was a bad person. 

'All of us are artists and we want a stage to prove our talent. The Academy Awards chose the artist who was worthy of the golden statue. Besides, Director Kazir Grey is more talented than me in terms of writing. All of his scripts are box office success!'

Now, he was confident in this film. On top of that, he wanted to be part of this evolution that Kazir Grey intended to do. He believed that once the Continental Cinematic Universe was a success, it would be written in the history of the cinema. 

Perhaps the Big Six would follow suit and try this difficult yet novel idea. 

"Matt, how's it going?"

Ben Affleck greeted his friend. Standing next to him was Matt Damon's agent, Agent Wilson.

The two knew that Matt Damon would meet Kazir Grey and talk about the Bourne Identity project. Being close to Matt, they wanted to see his response after talking with Kazir Grey for the first time. 

After all, Agent Wilson and Ben Affleck were affected by the loss they suffered from the Academy Awards. So they were interested in this Director Kazir Grey. 

"He is a nice person. Respectable..."

"Eh?"

Ben Affleck and Agent Wilson didn't expect that Matt Damon would change his opinion on Kazir Grey after one meeting. 

"Is that so? So are you interested in working with him?" Agent Wilson saw the underlying intention. 

"That's right. Wilson, I want to get the role. Please do your best."

"Don't worry, I will never let you be at a disadvantage. We will get a better contract from them."

"No," Matt Damon shook his head. "What I mean is... I want to be part of the Cinematic Universe that Director Grey is creating. Sign a contract with many sequels."

Well, Matt Damon is a great actor but he is mostly known as Jason Bourne. In fact, some people call him Jason Bourne instead of his real name...

"What?"

Agent Wilson was dumbfounded. Signing a contract like that would be detrimental to Matt Damon! They won't have the chance to negotiate the salary if that happens. 

"Of course, leave the salary negotiation later and don't put it in the contract. It's already enough that we can sign a contract with many sequels from them. No, at least a trilogy."

He believed Kazir Grey didn't plan to film a trilogy for Jason Bourne, more than that. At least four movies, Kazir Grey would film at least four Jason Bourne movies. 

He felt like Kazir Grey wanted to use this character a lot to create the world-building of the Continental Cinematic Universe. 

He didn't know that every Jason Bourne had a good box office, that was the reason why Kazir Grey wanted to make many movies about the character. In addition to that was the profit it could bring from the videotape market. 

.........

......

...

A week after that, which was the last month of November, Matt Damon signed a trilogy contract with Grey Pictures. Unfortunately for them, Harold Witsend was quite good at his job. In every sequel, Matt Damon's salary would increase by 65%. Furthermore, he didn't have the power to negotiate the box office share. 

After all, Matt Damon was still not that famous. He was different from Liam Neeson who was a veteran and won a Best Actor award. His position in the industry was not strong. 

Even his salary for The Bourne Identity was only 1.9 million dollars. This was within their expectations so they didn't have a problem. 

However, if the trilogy ended and Kazir Grey intended to make another sequel of Jason Bourne, of course Matt Damon and his side would fight for a better condition. 

As for the cameo appearance, that side was still in negotiation. 

For the first time, Kazir Grey realized how eloquent Harold Witsend was. The fact that he turned the salary from $7 million into $1.9 million was amazing...

He didn't know that the starting salary that Agent Wilson negotiated was only $4 million. Lower than what he expected. 

Welp, another good news for Grey Pictures and the Bourne Identity project. 

Now, two amazing actors were part of the movie. First was Cameron Diaz and the second was Matt Damon. 

While the problem with the protagonist was over, Kazir's hectic life intensified. 

The success of The Hangover 2 affected him very well. The box office of The Hangover Part 2 was $239.89 million after 30 days. On top of that, the movie was going to be released worldwide. The cast of The Hangover Part 2 was flying around the world to promote the movie.

Even Enzo Park was with them since his role in the movie was bigger this time. 

That was not the problem, actually. Paramount announced that they would distribute Taken 2 instead of The Bourne Identity. Apparently, Paramount was more confident in Kazir's original movie than the movie adaptation of The Bourne Identity. 

Because of this, Kazir Grey was having a headache. Migraine was killing him and he could not sleep even though he was exhausted. 

[I'm going to be honest, I never watched The Bourne Identity. I only watched The Bourne Ultimatum. I'll try to watch it tomorrow to have an idea about the plot...]