HWI 89

Hollywood What If Chapter 89

Kazir Grey and Harold Witsend watched their filming for a few minutes. Ed Helms and the other actors greeted them too. Ed Helms returned to his skinny figure which was shocking but respected. It was very hard to lose weight, yet Ed Helms worked hard just to return Napoleon's appearance. 

Kazir was impressed. 

"Director Grey, thank you for giving me a chance. I'm actually sad that you are not the director this time. I'm scared and nervous that the success of this movie will be affected because you are gone."

"..." Kazir just shrugged. He was getting used to this statement. 

Kazir Grey was the director who gave them fame and he had a better composure than Hugo Lameire. He was easier to talk to and he had an approachable aura. At least he didn't like raising his voice in the filming. 

'The plot of Napoleon Dynamite might have been leveled up. And to be honest, I'm not sure if it's a good thing. Let's all just wait.'

If the release schedule of the film was around May or June. If the filming ended at the right time. 

'Well, with the budget of 15 million plus the strong authority of 20th Century Fox, the filming will definitely be in good hands.'

As long as the movie could generate profit, 20th Century Fox would milk it dry. 

"Director, I received a call from Tom Rothman's secretary. She said that CEO Tom Rothman is waiting for you in his office."

"Thank you,  Nancy."

Kazir and Harold left the studio and went to the highest floor of the building. 

Tom Rothman took the importance of Kazir's project, believing that it had a huge chance of success. That was the reason why he agreed to this meeting. However, he had to see this project from a business standpoint.

'Kazir already filmed two movies with huge box offices. It's enough to catch my interest. However, he is trying to dab his hands on an unknown region. Comedy and Action are completely different genres. Filming a comedy movie can end within a month. But an action movie is different, it needs at least three months to finish the filming. Furthermore, the preparation before filming is important. Now that Kazir Grey decided to invest in his own movie and hire an amateur producer, I wonder how he can make this movie successful.'

A long tirade from the CEO of 20th Century Fox, but a valid one. 

In fact, Kazir's production crew was indeed suffering from backlash. Now that the movie was not backed by any film company, Grey Pictures had to take responsibility and work hard. Fortunately, they have experience working with big-budget movies. The pressure was not that strong. Just enough to make them tense but serious. 

'I heard that Warner Bros is going to start the sequel of The Hangover in the midsummer. The box office of The Hangover last year was over 400 million dollars. They are probably working hard to make sure that the results will be better. I bet the actors are negotiating for more... Once Napoleon Dynamite II was a success, Warner Bros might have to increase the budget of The Hangover to appease the actors.'

An obvious thing that would surely happen. In fact, that was the reason why Napoleon Dynamite II went from $500 thousand to $15 million. All because the salary of the actors increased. 

"Sigh... Those goddamn agents. They are disgusting leeches that will suck out blood to the limit."

Tom Rothman greeted his teeth. In fact, Ed Helms' agent even asked for box office share! It was outrageous. 

"The reason why Napoleon Dynamite and The Hangover are successful is because of Kazir Grey. The actors don't have any reason to keep their bravado! I'm sure they know it too."

The life of working in the showbiz industry, is to make sure that their movie/show would attract the attention of the masses. They were ready to accept outrageous conditions just to increase the likelihood of success. However, they were not stupid. 

A few minutes later, Kazir and Harold entered the office. The reason why Kazir showed up was to assist Harold since the producer was still new to this job. 

'I can use Rafael too but this is related to my company so I have to make it worthwhile.'

Harold worked for Grey Pictures while Rafael was an agent of CAA. Of course, Kazir had to trust his long-time friend.

"Good morning Mister Rothman."

"Kazir, how's your job."

The two started with a handshake and sat down a few seconds later. 

"It's still sad news that you are not the director of Napoleon Dynamite II. I will not hesitate to give you a box office share if I have to."

"Tom, it's already in the past. You already signed a contract with Hugo."

"That's right. It's disappointing that you don't like filming a sequel. Regarding Taken, if the movie had a sequel, will you pass it to another director too?"

"It depends. My plan for Taken is one movie per two years, with a trilogy in plan."

"Hm, I have an idea about this Cinematic Universe of yours and I'm still not convinced. With that Cinematic Universe of yours, the trilogy might not be successful. I believe you are not the only one who had thought of this idea. I will tell you this, the reason why no one did a Cinematic Universe was because it's impossible. The budget, the time, the actors, it's impossible."

Tom Rothman said seriously. 

"The reason why no one was successful was because no one made thorough details and released it. Once I prove that Cinematic Universe is possible and profitable, many film companies will try to copy me."

Kazir grinned. 

When Marvel Cinematic Universe became successful, Warner Bros tried to replicate it by starting DCEU. Even Universal Pictures tried to start a Monster Cinematic Universe by releasing The Mummy starring Tom Cruise. 

'I heard that Disney released John Carter as the opening film of their Cinematic Universe. Well, the movie didn't achieve their expectations.'

The only successful one was MCU. Even Warner Bros DCEU was a fucking flop in terms of quality. The fans of DCEU and MCU were not comparable at all. 

In the next century, Marvel would become the face of superheroes. People like Superman and Batman would be slowly forgotten by young people.