HWI 233

Hollywood What If Chapter 233

The formula was the same, almost the same. Just like last time, the gang went to Miami to have fun on the beach. Then the climax of the movie was Napoleon Dynamite dancing.

But then again, why fix something that is not broken? The two prequels did pretty well at the box office anyway, using the same formula.

While Gladiator made $73 million in its second week, Napoleon Dynamite III made $56 million. These two movies were the big shots for the time being and took most of the market.

May was the first month of summer and students were just getting out of school.

This month only a few movies dominated the box office. Gladiator, Napoleon Dynamite III, Dinosaur(2000), and Mission: Impossible 2.

Speaking of Mission: Impossible...

There was a rumor that Paramount and Tom Cruise himself personally invited Kazir Grey to direct the sequel. But while Kazir found the idea entertaining, he knew it was impossible to devote his attention to two projects in one year.

Instead, Paramount decided to hire John Woo to direct Mission: Impossible 2. John Woo was a Hong Kong filmmaker known for the action genre. He was the director of Broken Arrow. He was also the director of Face/Off, starring Nicholas Cage and John Travolta.

Maybe John Woo was influenced by his last movie, so Mission: Impossible 2 has the same style as Face/Off.

However, the influence of Tom Cruise and the fame of the Mission: Impossible franchise brought in over $500 million at the box office. It was an obvious success.

Still, Paramount decided to let the franchise rest for a few years before making a sequel. They felt that the nobility of Mission: Impossible would disappear if they made movies every two to three years, just like the 007 franchise.

The next sequel, Mission: Impossible 3, would be released seven years later in 2006.

Based on the box office, the movies released in May would be ranked as follows:

1. Mission: Impossible 2 with $549 million at the worldwide box office.

2. Gladiator with $451 million at the worldwide box office.

3. Napoleon Dynamite III with $356 million worldwide.

For these three, earning more than $300 million was already a victory. To begin with, this kind of performance was not that easy.

As expected, comedy movies were good to watch, but more people prefer action movies. The novelty of watching action movies will never go away, no matter how many years pass. Most of the highest-grossing films of all time were action/adventure films. Only an abomination like Titanic could compete with them.

Everything was within 20th Century Fox's expectations, and they were not bitter at all.

Napoleon Dynamite III cost $50 million to make and $24 million to promote. Even if the Cinema Alliance took 40% of the box office, Fox Searchlight Pictures would still make a lot of money. No reason to be sad.

There was a trend that whenever one of Kazir's scripts was made into a movie and became a box office success, many film companies would revive their interest in buying his scripts.

The price of his script was now over $5 million. Some companies like Disney and Universal offered him $10 million just to acquire one of his scripts.

Kazir had worked with four of the Big Six. 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures and Sony-Columbia.

Only Universal and Disney had the misfortune of never getting a piece of the pie. After all, Universal and Disney were the ones responsible for spreading the rumors that Kazir was a wife-beater. Even though their relationship thawed and Kazir had conversations with their management, the two companies never had a chance to successfully buy his script.

The timing and the situation were never right for them. Now they realize that it was a huge mistake to trample on Kazir when he was new to the industry. They didn't expect him to reach the level where he could use his scripts as bargaining chips.

Making movies was like gambling, nobody knew if the movie would be a success.

But movie companies loved profits, and they didn't want to make movies that would only bring them losses. In other words, they hate gambling and experimenting.

So they prefer to buy Kazir's scripts instead. After so many years, every one of his scripts has proved that they can make a huge amount of money.

So why bother making a movie that has a chance of flopping?

Instead, buy Kazir's scripts and turn them into movies.

Yes, this kind of statement was circulating throughout the industry.

That Kazir's scripts were a sure way to make money. If you look at the statistics, it was not a lie at all.

Movie companies would never hesitate to buy his script for $10 million. Because the profit it could bring them was much higher.

......

...

...

"I hope there will be no problem this time."

Harold sighed. He was Kazir's close friend and his friend told him that his mother might be into something.

Harold never met Kazir's mother, but he knew she was responsible for half of Kazir's depression. She was the first woman to break his heart.

The producer didn't know the whole story, but he knew that Kazir's mother divorced his father and their lives were never the same again.

He also heard from Kazir that his mother was cunning... Harold felt that Kazir inherited that trait from his mother.

Although Kazir was a good man, he had a cunning side. If Kazir was not lying, then the trouble his mother could bring would be great.

"Or maybe nothing at all. There's no in-between. Either she will be a big problem or not."

Everyone at Grey Pictures understands the importance of Wanted. If it fails, all their plans will turn to dust.

"He said his mother has a daughter and she's trying to be an actress, maybe we can do something about that."

As the producer, it was his responsibility to make sure the movie was a success. He already had a family, a wife and a son to take care of. He had to build a great future for them, and Wanted was the first step.

+++++

[Author's note: So yes, the release of Wanted might be two or three chapters later. I hope you can be patient. I'm going to cook and it'll taste like shit...]