HWI 116

Hollywood What If Chapter 116

"I apologize, looks like Kazir Grey never has the intention of working with us."

Michael Ovitz faced the Chairman. 

"It's fine. I already expected this. From the moment we didn't agree with his conditions, I know that Kazir will not choose us. Although it's a waste that Paramount got the script of Meet The Parents. I'm quite interested in the script. I believe that it has potential."

"It's written by Kazir Grey, so you're probably right."

The two old chuckled. Even though their negotiation with Kazir was a failure, they were not affected. After all, this was business. Kazir Grey might be a talented director but there were many talented directors in this industry. 

Walt Disney could find another director to cooperate with. Perhaps they could have another cooperation with Kazir Grey. 

'Although I heard that Paramount signed a three-movie contract with Grey Pictures. It's a North American distribution so we can still contact Grey Pictures regarding international distribution of the movie.'

They didn't lose. They didn't even fight in the first place. They used Touchstone as a proxy to probe Kazir but it was futile in the end. 

"Ovitz, you watched Taken. What is your opinion on the movie?"

"It's good. I cheered for the father, it's entertaining and it has many good points, although there are bad ones as well. But I believe it will not have a good result, especially when it has the same release date as Air Force One."

Between Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson, Harrison Ford had more fans. 

Han Solo of Star Wars. 

Rick Deckard of Blade Runner. 

Indiana Jones of the Indiana Jones franchise. 

Harrison Ford had more box office appeal than Liam Neeson. Harrison Ford was a superstar while Liam Neeson was just a first-rate at best. 

With that facts, the two Michaels believe that Taken already lost the edge. Perhaps Paramount was just fucking with Taken by putting the movie against Air Force One. Who knows? 

The two old men laughed about it. 

"Kazir is too arrogant this time. He tried to convince us to kick Harvey Weinstein."

Kazir was too weak to ask for something like that. Of course Chairman Eisner would not agree. 

"Chairman, don't be like that. I believe Kazir is right on that one. We really need to kick the Weinstein brothers."

"Indeed. But it's not the right time."

They confirmed that Harvey Weinstein was siding with the Disney Family and it was bad for Micheal Eisner. He wanted to keep his authority as possible. 

He was the one who brought the Walt Disney to its current status. He is the Tyrant Micheal Eisner. He even stopped the production of hand-drawn animation and fired Jeffrey Katzenberg. 

As of now, he focused his attention on luring Pixar. He was trying to convince Steve Jobs to sell all of his shares to Walt Disney. 

While having a fresh conversation, Michael Ovitz received a message from his secretary. 

"Chairman, we have a television here, right?"

"Hm, here's the remote."

Chairman Eisner was confused about why Ovitz was interested in watching TV. 

Michael Ovitz changed the channel to a news channel... When the two Michaels watched the news, they immediately realized that they made a mistake.

[Breaking News: An underage girl who was missing for eight months was found in Mexico. She was kidnapped by human traffickers and sold to the mafia...]

Watching the news, the two old men were dumbfounded. 

"Ovitz, is this a movie promotion of Paramount for Taken?"

"I afraid not. This is ABC. Our own tv channel. Paramount doesn't have influence over it. This is a real news... I heard that even the President is going to tackle this problem in his speech."

"... Shit."

Chairman Michael Eisner massaged his forehead. This was a fucking coincidence, a good coincidence for Paramount!

"Ovitz, when is the release date of Taken again?"

"July 24, midnight. Three days from now."

Michael Eisner sighed. 

"... I think we made a mistake."

"..."

This time, the two agreed. This news alone was getting covered by every news channel. The missing girl was already famous a few months because her disappearance was already reported by news channel. 

And now, this topic was revived again. The poor girl was caught in a human trafficking crime!

That day, the whole North America tackled the news about the missing girl.

While that was happening, the film companies were sighing in defeat. They lost a big fish!

Who would have thought that the missing girl was actually kidnapped by human traffickers? Furthermore, she was saved together with many underage girls! The news attracted the people of America! 

This is unfair! The will of heaven was on Kazir's side! 

Just like Chairman Michael Eisner, the other big shots were gritting their teeth. 

Well, except for the executives of Paramount. They were too busy right now. This was their chance to profit!

Three days before the release of Taken, Paramount did a full-blown attack and went all out! They tackled the news of human trafficking while promoting Taken. 

The parent company of Paramount was Viacom. 

Viacom was a large media corporation and their influence was strong. With their help, the promotion of Taken had a positive response.

Now, everyone was interested in watching the movie!

As for Kazir...

"Huh? Did this kind of thing happen in my past life?"

He was confused because he could not remember if news related to human trafficking was released at this time of the year. He had no clue.

'Is this part of the butterfly effect? Man, I don't know anymore.'

He just wanted to start the Continental Cinematic Universe. He was not even hoping for a huge box office for Taken. 

But with this... The movie might exceed his expectation.