HWI 325

Hollywood What If Chapter 325

"Director Grey! Director Grey, how confident are you about getting a nomination?"

A reporter asked Kazir as he entered the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.

"Well, if things get rough and the whole MPAA didn't support me, I'll probably lose. Also, Roman Polanski probably has a better chance getting nominated than me since the members prefer him so much..."

"But would you win?"

"Nah, I don't know."

Kazir shook his head and answered honestly. First of all, he didn't know how the members would react to him.

Kazir Grey and Tom Cruise did their best to attend a number of parties all over Los Angeles just to meet and greet the old fogies of the Academy. More than 70% of the Academy members were old, and the two appeased them, even going so far as to give them gifts.

This time Kazir attended the nomination day alone. Angelina had to travel around the country to promote her latest movie How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.

As of February 11, 2003, the film had grossed $26.26 million at the North American box office.

After a brief interview, Kazir entered the Samuel Golden Theater. This was nothing more than a nomination announcement, so the venue was not extravagant.

However, the theater was filled with celebrities and agents waiting for the results. Just like Angelina, some actors and actresses were busy, so their agents attended the announcement instead.

Since Kazir was serious about the Oscars, he decided to attend the announcement in person. He wanted to show the Academy members that he was serious about getting the golden statue.

Unlike last time, Tom Cruise arrived before Kazir.

"Kazir, how's your day going?"

"It's okay."

The two gave each other a brotherly hug as a greeting. Kazir usually did a handshake, but he and Tom were friends, so they always hugged when they saw each other.

"I heard you're going to make a pirate movie, are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I know what to do."

"If you need investment, just give me a call."

"I fucking knew it. You just want to invest in my movie."

"Haha, of course. Your movies had a huge return on investment. How do you see $100 million multiplying into $1 billion in just one year? No one, only you can do that."

"Don't joke. We both know that Grey Pictures can only acquire 30% of that amount."

"And that's still huge! Look, The Revenant's budget is $100 million, and now its box office is over $500 million. Even if you can only get 30% of that $500 million, it's still huge. So Kazir, at least give me a chance to invest in your new project. We are friends, right?"

"Fuck off, Tom."

The two snickered at each other. They were used to making fun of each other by now.

Even if they didn't win the Oscars, they weren't going to be bitter about it. After all, The Revenant was considered a blockbuster.

They might be sad about their loss at the Oscars, but they couldn't help it.

The two looked around and recognized some of the actors and directors. Richard Gere, Martin Scorsese, Adrien Brody and many actors who were nominated at the last Golden Globes were present at this small party.

In a way, both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards had the same list of nominees. However, the winners of the two awards were different.

Last year, the winner of the Golden Globes for Best Actor in a Motion Picture was Russell Crowe for his performance in A Beautiful Mind.

But the winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor was Denzel Washington for his performance in Training Day.

Both actors were nominated for the same two awards. Unfortunately, in terms of weight and importance, Denzel Washington had the better of the two because he won the Oscar for Best Actor.

Speaking of Denzel Washington, he asked for $10 million as his starting salary in his role for The Equalizer.

The Equalizer was still in pre-production and the crew was in the process of hiring the cast. Knowing the future, Kazir decided to recommend Denzel Washington. Grey Pictures was not a small company anymore, and they could afford to hire superstars now.

Still, it depended on what the result would be. After all, there were plenty of cheap but talented actors who could take the lead.

"Is that Pat?"

"Yes..."

Kazir looked around and found Pat Kingsley talking to some people in the corner of the theater. Pat Kingsley was Tom Cruise's agent.

"She's here because Nicole can't make it." Tom Cruise kept his smile on, but it was obvious that he didn't feel good about it.

Kazir just went quiet after that. He knew that Pat Kingsley and Tom Cruise would split in the early 2000s. He was just not sure when it would happen though.

Their conversation stopped when Frank Pearson appeared with another person. They began to announce the list of people nominated in their respective categories.

Kazir was not surprised to find that the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes had almost the same list of nominees.

But something was different. There were only two nominations for The Revenant!

The Revenant was nominated for Best Actor and Best Director!

What the hell was that?

At the Golden Globes, The Revenant got 6 nominations! But now they only have 2? The whole system was rigged and cooked... Well, a lot of people already knew that.

The Oscars, the Grammys, the Golden Globes and all kinds of award ceremonies were mostly rigged. They usually want to give their awards to their groomed/supported artists.

Both Kazir and Tom had a bad feeling about this...

Fortunately, they got the two awards they wanted. As if the Oscars knew their intentions.

Tom Cruise was nominated for Best Actor while Kazir Grey was nominated for Best Director.

+++++

[Not related, but I'll list my top 10 anime ending songs here. No particular order. Rate my ending songs.]

1.) Fire Force Ed 1

2.) Kyokai No Kanata Ed 1

3.) Tokyo Ghoul Ed 2

4.) Toradora Ed 2

5.). Anohana Ed 1

6. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress Ed 1

7.) Psycho Pass Ed 1

8.) Magi Madoka Magica Ed 1

9.) Fullmetal Alchemist Ed 1

10.) Kekkai Sensen(Blood Blockade Battlefront) Ed 1