HWI 11

Hollywood What If Chapter 11

Kazir finished writing every small-budget movie that has a big box office. 

He realized something obvious.

"Most of them are Horror movies." He muttered and looked at the list. 

Saw

The Last Exorcism 

The Devil Inside

The Blair Witch Project 

Paranormal Activity

Etc. 

These movies were famous and earned a lot.

On the other hand, there were small-budget movies in the comedy genre such as 'Napoleon Dynamite' and 'The Full Monty'. 

Kazir thought about it seriously while tapping his fingers. These movies might be famous but he had to think of pros and cons. 

'First of all, let's erase 'The Blair Witch Project' from the list. The biggest why this movie earned big in theaters was because of publicity and the rising popularity of the Internet.'

The creation of 'The Blair Witch Project' cost 200 thousand dollars. However, the publicity of the movie was over 10 million dollars. Together with the rising strength of the internet, 'The Blair Witch Project' became successful. 

Kazir understood that it was impossible to replicate that success right now. 

'The Internet is just getting started and no one treats it seriously.' 

It was still 1995 after all. 

Then, the other movies...

To be honest, Kazir was confident in filming Horror and Comedy movies. He was a small-time Director and he had experience filming these types of films. 

"... If I'm going to choose, it will be 'Paranormal Activity' or 'Napoleon Dynamite'"

Napoleon Dynamite was a big success in North Carolina but it had a cold reception internationally. People outside of America couldn't understand the jokes in the movie so it was understandable. 

But Paranormal Activity was different... Not only it revived the shaky found footage format of filming, but it also earned a lot too. 

"No," Kazir shook his head in the end. 

"Paranormal Activity sounds good but it has the same time of publicity as 'The Blair Witch Project'. They use rumors and social media to expand the promotion of the movie."

Then, Calix focused his attention on the other movies instead.

"How about Saw?"

This movie was known for torturing the characters, quite literally. 

"I can pull it off. The filming is not hard, but the budget..."

The production budget of 'Saw' was over 1 million dollars. Kazir had to find an investor if he wanted to film 'Saw'. 

Just like 'Saw', 'The Devil Inside' had the same amount of budget too. 

"Even 'The Last Exorcism' has a bigger budget which was 1.8 million dollars."

He sighed. He understood that choosing a movie to film had to be taken seriously, or else his gamble would fail. 

If he was going to gamble, then he would make sure that his chances of winning were high. 

"... What about 'The Gallow'? But this movie has horrible reviews from the critics."

'The Gallow' was the smallest budget in the list aside from 'Paranormal Activity'. 

'Paranormal Activity' cost 300 thousand dollars while 'The Gallow' only cost 100 thousand dollars. 

Between the two, 'The Gallow' had an acceptable price considering Kazir's money. 

Suddenly, Kazir dropped the pen and slammed the table as he stood up. 

"Who am I even joking with? The answer is obvious... Let's go with Napoleon Dynamite."

Unlike the other movies, he liked Napoleon Dynamite more. 

Furthermore, he was itching to film the last scene where Napoleon started dancing... That was probably the main reason why Kazir chose it. 

He preferred comedy over horror even if he filmed more horror movies in his entire life. 

Unlike horror movies that brought him sadness and depression, comedy movies gave him a laugh and happiness. 

So yeah, 'Napoleon Dynamite' it is. 

"Found Footage format might sound great but they have something in common, they are all shaky and people might have headaches watching them." 

To be honest, Kazir watched 'The Blair Witch Project' and it was awful. He wanted to find the director and asked why he can't film it steadily. The movie was shaking and he felt that he was having vertigo. 

Well, considering that the director was a novice, it was a miracle that 'The Blair Witch Project' even had success in the cinema. 

Kazir regained his focus and started writing the script. He had to take things seriously and register the script to the Writers Guild. 

The plot, the main characters, and the side characters. The goofy ahh protagonist and his goofy ahh friend. 

"Perfect."

[Author's Note: The real reason I chose Napoleon Dynamite is simple... I don't want to watch Horror movies as research. The last time I watched 'Final Destination', I became overly cautious of my surroundings.]