76 HWI 76
Hollywood What If Chapter 76
The two arrived at the meeting place, Terry Semel's office. Kazir saw only three people in the room. They were Terry Semel, his secretary, and Enrico Pusi.
"Good to see you, Terry, Enrico."
"Kazir, Salvatore, please sit down."
Kazir and Salvatore found seats.
"So Kazir, I read your proposals and some of them are much more outrageous than last time. Your condition for The Hangover is a 10% share. But this time you want 15% North American box office share? And you want to invest at least 30% in this Taken movie of yours?"
"That's right, Terry. There's a reason I want to invest in this movie."
"Let's see... It's written here that you want approval rights if we start a sequel to the movie. To be honest, I'm not sure if this movie will even have a sequel. This is different from your usual style."
"What do you think, Terry?"
Kazir kept his smile.
"If you ask me. The plot is very stupid."
"Yeah, I thought so too. But a lot of movies have stupid plots." Kazir agreed.
"..."
The atmosphere in the office was a bit awkward. Both sides had clear motives.
"Kazir, I recommend that you continue to make comedies instead. Warner Bros will not hesitate to invest in Teddy Bear if you want, heck, we are ready to spend money on a better computer graphics. We will also give you 15% of the North American box office. As for The Hangover Part 2, we will even pay you $8 million plus 15% of the North American box office if you are interested."
Warner Bros would never hesitate to pay Kazir a good amount of money just to make sure that The Hangover sequel would be successful. Kazir Grey has already proven his ability. He could make successful comedies.
Terry Semel tried to persuade Kazir. He felt that Kazir was wasting his talent by doing something stupid.
'Why bother to make an action movie when his talent lies in comedy?'
"I'll think about it."
"..."
Terry Semel sighed. He knew he didn't have the ability to convince him.
'If I had known this was going to happen, I would have convinced Kazir to sign two more movie deals. Now I can understand Tom Rothman.' Terry Semel thought.
"Anyway, what's the plot of this movie? A man who rescues his daughter from human traffickers seems reasonable. But why do you have these ninjas, curving bullets, and Baba Yaga? What the hell is Baba Yaga?"
Terry Semel frowned as he read the words. The plot of the movie was fine, but some of the ingredients didn't add up. He wondered why Kazir added these unnecessary things.
"Terry, I have a reason. Here."
Kazir was prepared. He pulled out another script. He only showed this script to Terry Semel because of their relationship.
Terry Semel raised his eyebrows as he read the title.
"John Wick? Never heard of that name."
Terry Semel began to read the script. It was only five pages of script, it was not polished. He turned the last page and stared at Kazir.
"Now I know why you want the rights to the sequel. These two movies are connected. You want to make sure you have authority over these projects."
"That's right." Kazir didn't have to lie. It was obvious anyway.
"I call it the Continental Cinematic Universe," Kazir added.
"Cinematic Universe? Interesting..." Terry Semel's eyes twinkled. Kazir's idea was interesting.
However, he had the feeling that this Cinematic Universe of Kazir's would flop.
'So he's trying to make connected movies like Quentin Tarantino? Kazir, I'm so disappointed in you. You can do better.'
There was only one man that Terry Semel knew who made movies that were in the same universe. It was Quentin Tarantino.
'If I'm not mistaken, Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are connected.'
At that time, in 1996, Quentin Tarantino had only made three movies. Only Pulp Fiction did well at the box office.
So Terry Semel felt that this whole Cinematic Universe was not going to be successful. If it was not successful, Warner Bros would not touch a project like this.
"The Cinema Alliance has already given us our share, we will send you the 10% on your account later".
"I'm glad to hear that. Thank you, Terry."
The two shook hands. Both sides understood that the meeting had failed. Warner Bros was not interested in his project.
As Kazir and Salvatore left the office, Terry shook his head in disapproval. In his opinion, Kazir should stick to what he was good at. Experimenting could lead him to destruction.
"Sir..."
Enrico Pusi started to speak, but Terry Semel signaled him.
"Enrico, try to find a director to make The Hangover Part 2. And make sure Kazir is involved in writing the sequel. Make him an executive producer if you have to."
"Sir, I will do my best."
Enrico Pusi nodded.
......
...
...
"Looks like we need to contact the other companies," Kazir muttered.
"Paramount and 20th Century Fox have expressed their willingness to work with you."
"What about Sony-Columbia?"
"Kazir, you know that Sony-Columbia has been trying to make safe movies in recent years. They haven't had much influence... but yes, they want to work with you, but with Teddy Bear. I heard that they know a brand of teddy bear stuffed toys in Japan that would be happy to use their brand for the movie."
"Let's look into it."
The script about Teddy Bear was still on the market. Many companies wanted to buy the script and Kazir was still waiting for better conditions. Besides, the movie was just for baiting. He knew that CGI technology was still in initial stage and Kazir have no intention of directing it. Let the Big Six spend more money, hehe.
