HWI 114

[Shout out to Brent W, Andreas S, and Jonathan I!]

Hollywood What If Chapter 114

Action-packed, blood-boiling and intense. The guests watched the movie with these emotions.

Most of the people in the audience were men. In fact, they were fathers.

They had a pretty good idea of the plot, so they knew that the daughter would be kidnapped. Still, it was satisfying to see the traffickers beaten up.

The fathers would do anything to protect their children, they might even kill a person if they had to. Bryan Mills' mission was to find his daughter and bring her back.

The audience cheered him on. Some of them even screamed when Bryan Mills found the group responsible for the crime.

There are many unforgivable crimes and human trafficking is one of them. For Bryan Mills to beat these criminals was something that gave them satisfaction.

When the movie ended and the lights went on, people started talking about the movie.

'It's good. It entertains me. But I'm not sure if the movie can make us a profit. Unless we bought all the copyrights, this movie could be a loss for us.'

Michael Ovitz thought. He had a good impression of Kazir, but it was different when it came to business.

'I heard this movie has a budget of $25 million, maybe I can negotiate and buy it for $50 million. Grey Pictures didn't lose anything if they agreed to that. They doubled their investment.'

Signing a distribution deal for Taken was a gamble. They could lose money. Unless Grey Pictures paid them for distribution. But Grey Pictures didn't have that kind of money.

In the end, it all comes down to Kazir Grey's decision.

Michael Ovitz looked around. He saw Terry Semel and Tom Rothman talking. As the three big shots looked at each other, they came to one conclusion.

The movie was great and entertaining... But they would never sign a losing deal. If Grey Pictures wanted to release this movie, they would have to play the game with them.

The three nodded to each other.

'We will not lower the terms.'

That was clear.

Kazir Grey watched everyone's reaction. Just as he expected, most of them had a mediocre reaction to Taken.

The movie had its pros and cons. The theme of the movie was dark. Some scenes were confusing. People didn't understand the easter eggs.

Kazir risked it, but he was careful not to show too many easter eggs. Just enough to make people curious.

Now it is up to the film companies. It depends on them if they are interested in distributing the film.

'One of them will give us a satisfactory contract. They can't get over the what-ifs.'

Sony-Columbia wanted 35% of the North American box office.

Walt Disney settled for 40% of the North American box office. It was funny because Walt Disney never lowered their contract. At least they kept their promise to keep it under 40%...

'Although Touchstone, Disney's subsidiary, contacted me. They want to buy the movie for $50 million. Walt Disney knew how to do things right.'

Warner Bros didn't respond positively, so the deal was 40% as well. Maybe Terry Semel was disappointed that Kazir didn't agree to direct The Hangover 2.

As for Universal Pictures... They didn't bother to attend the screening. Their relationship with Grey Pictures was non-existent. Especially after the scandal.

If there was one thing that surprised Kazir, it was the contract that 20th Century Fox gave him. He thought Tom Rothman would never agree to it. Maybe the results of Napoleon Dynamite II changed that.

20th Century Fox agrees to a 30% North American share of the box office. The lowest... As of now.

...

...

...

"Sir..."

"What is it?"

Terry Semel was reviewing documents when his secretary arrived. It was already three days after the screening of Taken. Warner Bros had already dropped their intention to sign a distribution deal.

In their opinion, Taken was not worth it. Also, they could not give the movie a good release date. The summer schedule was always full.

"It's about Taken. Grey Pictures has found a distributor.

"As expected, they chose 20th Century Fox, right? Tom Rothman gave them a good deal."

Terry Semel dropped his pen and listened.

"No, sir. It's not 20th Century Fox. Grey Pictures had a deal with Paramount. It says that Paramount will distribute the three Grey Pictures films, including Taken."

"What?"

Terry Semel wasn't expecting it. Kazir had a good relationship with 20th Century Fox. He thought Grey Pictures would pick them.

There was only one conclusion.

"What's Paramount's offer?"

"Paramount signed a 25% North American box office deal with Grey Pictures."

"..."

Terry Semel was confused.

"What's wrong with Brad Grey? Did he agree to Kazir because they have the same last name?"

Terry Semel muttered. A 25% share of the box office was not too good from a business standpoint. That amount might not be enough to cover expenses if the movie flopped.

...

...

...

While Terry Semel was in a state of confusion, Kazir Grey and Brad Grey officially signed a contract.

"To be honest, I didn't think it was worth it, but the terms you gave me are tempting."

Brad Grey shook hands with Kazir.

"Selling Meet The Parents for half a million is not so bad, especially if you promise to be the writer and executive producer."

"I'll do my best to give Paramount a good franchise."

Kazir's plan kept changing, but he had no choice but to adapt. The Meet The Parents trilogy was smaller compared to the Continental Cinematic Universe entity. He was willing to sell it as long as he could get a better deal.

"Glad to hear that."

Before Marvel was bought by Disney, its films were distributed by Paramount. In a way, Kazir was just following in the footsteps of the MCU.