HWI 242

Hollywood What If Chapter 242

Wanted was the most anticipated movie of the year. It was no lie that most of the audience was interested in seeing the movie. Excited to see their favorite actors together in one movie. The most ambitious crossover ever.

The Continental Cinematic Universe focused more on the male audience. But because of the influence that Taken had on women, many women became fans of the franchise as well.

Not only that, but some women fell in love with Liam Neeson, saying that he was "daddy material", whatever that means. Because honestly, Liam Neeson was a good-looking guy.

Last year, a famous magazine announced that Liam Neeson was the hottest man alive, despite being in his late 40s. The best father in the history of cinema.

Even Matt Damon and Viggo Mortensen had a career boost. They got a lot of scripts inviting them to big projects.

The Continental Cinematic Universe opened up a new career for them.

"This is going to be a hit! A huge hit! The question is, how big will it be?"

Frank Price, the current CEO of Sony-Columbia, had a happy nervous breakdown. His tenure was coming to an end and Sony was happy with his performance. If Wanted was a huge success, Frank would definitely get a bonus. Maybe he could be invited to become a director or president of the parent company, Sony.

The premiere had just ended and the cast of Wanted took questions from reporters and fans.

Sony-Columbia was responsible for distributing the film. They were very generous, because they knew that this movie wasn't going to flop, everyone believed that. Also, Frank Price heard that Kazir had the intention of working with the Big Six again. It was still a rumor, but it was a good thing for them. Sony-Columbia was hoping that Kazir would shoulder one of their projects.

"The movie is very fun, it has a lot of wow factor. Every time Bryan Mills, John Wick and Jason Bourne appeared, they screamed and cheered. That response is enough to conclude that this movie will be a success."

Frank Price believed that, he really believed that. He didn't get into this position without a good sense of how to crack a movie. He knew which movie would be a success or not, based on the scripts, the cast, and the schedule.

Unless something happened that affected Wanted, his expectations would remain high. Even if their share in this movie was small, profit was still profit. Besides, he wanted to look good in front of Kazir. He wanted to talk to him about a certain movie...

...

...

...

June 1st, the very first day of June, was Thursday. Thursday night was the best time to start a premiere because the next days were the weekend and it would help the movie to boost its sales. That's why most movies were released on Thursday night.

On June 1, only one movie had the potential to give Wanted trouble. It was Big Momma's House, produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was a comedy about an undercover cop who dresses up as a fat, gentle old lady to find a criminal... It was actually a very funny and good movie.

But obviously, it failed to compete with the Wanted. Big Momma's House lost to a blockbuster.

The posters referred to Wanted. The trailers were always on TV. The hype about it was huge. Every TV channel was talking about it. And the response was all positive.

In the first 24 hours, June 2, Big Momma's House grossed $7.66 million. On the first day box office, it was a big amount.

But Wanted was a different breed. On its first day of release, it made a fucking $55.83 million! On the first day alone. The 5,000 theaters that were showing the movie were packed. Nearly 90% full in every round.

The movie was 110 minutes long. That means the theaters could only repeat the movie 13 times in one day. And each time, the seats were full.

On the second day, June 3, Wanted grossed another $44 million.

On the third day, it was $35 million.

Combined, the first weekend of Wanted grossed $135.63 million. It easily won the top spot as the weekly box office champion for the week.

As for Big Momma's House, its first weekend was $25.66 million.

The numbers for Wanted continue to climb. Many people supported the movie and watched it so many times that they said it was the best movie ever made. They believe that the Continental Cinematic Universe has changed the concept of action movies.

This was not wrong, many movies in the future would adopt the same style as the Continental Cinematic Universe. No one could deny that Kazir's filmography was the beginning of a new era.

And while this was happening... The cast and director of Wanted suffered the usual situations: promoting their movies in different parts of America.

Even Liam Neeson, Viggo Mortensen and Matt Damon made a schedule to promote the movie. This was a way to hype their next projects as well. Especially for Viggo Mortensen, Peter Jackson personally spoke to him to promote the upcoming Lord of the Rings, which was to be released in 2001.

Kazir Grey knew that his movies had won him a lot of fans. But this time, what he saw every time he showed his face in public was overwhelming. People kept asking for his autograph. Most of them were men in their teens, telling him that he was a great director and that his movies were all amazing.

That was the moment when Kazir realized that he had made it. He had reached the status where a director like him was recognized for his art. Now he could say that he was on par with Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. He made it.

"So this is the feeling of being recognized... Not bad, I like it."

He chuckled. He had dark circles under his eyes, but he was ecstatic and elated that his movie was doing well.

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[Author's note: I didn't add Quentin Tarantino and Michael Bay because Michael Bay hasn't made Transformer yet, which is his best franchise. As for Quentin Tarantino, his movies were not so much appreciated broadly, but Tarantino's movies are indeed cult classics].