HWI 327

Hollywood What If Chapter 327

"Thank you, my friend. Haha, of course I will never forget this. You helped me a lot. Tell the others that I thank them as well. What? Your niece wants to be an actress? Hmm, let me see, haha, of course I have a role for her. By the way, how old is she? Is she beautiful?"

Harvey Weinstein laughed out loud and was in a good mood. He was talking to one of the Academy members.

"I promise you. You know me, I know you. We are friends. What, are you gonna blackmail me? Haha. My friend, I know many dirty secrets here in Hollywood. Your blackmail will not work on me. Why do you think I avoided jail last time? Well, just send your niece to the company and I might think about giving her a role." Harvey licked his lips and ended the call.

He looked at the newspaper and could not help but chuckle.

"Kazir, you are still new to this business. I've been in Hollywood for almost two decades now and your status is nothing compared to mine. You lose this time."

Miramax was the king of PR and their movies always won at the Academy Awards. It showed how strong their PR team was.

Harvey Weinstein had a lot of connections and was more famous in social circle than Kazir, who usually stayed in his office.

"All I did was tell the old farts that Kazir was obviously going for Best Director and there was no reason to waste any nominations since Kazir only wanted the Best Director award." He chuckled. Because he knew he was not lying.

Anyone with a brain knew Kazir's intention.

That was why The Revenant only got two nominations. As for their chances of winning, well, Miramax would make sure they never took a trophy home.

Box office and Oscars were two different things. Grey Pictures might win at the box office, but Miramax would dominate the Academy Awards. They did that for so many years.

"Kazir, you still need experience to face me. You're too young."

... For the record, Kazir was over 80 years old mentally. But yes, Harvey was right.

Miramax's business was already mature in terms of public relations.

...

...

...

A week after the Oscar nominations were announced, Kazir was watching clips of actresses auditioning for the role of Elizabeth Swann, one of the main characters in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Kazir had already seen Keira Knightley's performance in person. He attended the audition to watch the actresses perform.

However, Kazir was in a dilemma because two other actresses were trying to get the role. The first was Julia Roberts, a superstar since the 90s. Even though Julia Roberts' fame was waning, it didn't change the fact that she had a wow factor.

In fact, Kazir was impressed by her performance. Julia Roberts was still 36 years old, so she met the age requirements. But her salary was expensive. If they hired her, the production studio could pay her at least $10 million.

Kazir and Julia were not friends, unlike Tom Cruise, who was willing to lower the salary. The Revenant was meant to compete at the Oscars, so Tom Cruise didn't have a problem with a low salary.

'We already spent a lot of money casting Johnny Depp.' Kazir said to himself.

As the iconic Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp was the one who best fit the role. Kazir was ready to spend as much money as possible just to hire him... As expected, the result was terrifying.

Initially, Johnny Depp wanted a salary of $10 million + 5% of the North American box office.

Based on Kazir's last three films, Pirates of the Caribbean could make $300 million at the North American box office at the least.

If Kazir's pirate movie did well and made $300 million, Johnny Depp would get about $15 million as his share... This was too much for Kazir and Grey Pictures.

This was just the beginning of the trilogy and Grey Pictures could not afford it.

But Johnny Depp wouldn't just sign the trilogy deal if it was bad for him.

Johnny Depp was a famous actor and he could easily find another project to work on. Also, pirate movies were usually cursed, and Johnny Depp wouldn't easily risk his career if the pay wasn't worth it.

In the end, Grey Pictures signed Johnny to a $23 million contract. This was only for the first movie. They would have another negotiation when the second movie went into production.

Was it worth it?

Based on Kazir's opinion...

'Yes, it's worth it. There are no irreplaceables in Hollywood, but Johnny Depp is the only Jack Sparrow I will recognize.'

So, yes, the budget for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was reduced from $140 million to $117 million.

Over 15% of the budget just disappeared to pay Johnny Depp.

Fortunately, signing Orlando Bloom was much easier. The actor's team and the production had an agreement for $8 million. Orlando Bloom also signed a trilogy contract.

Now Kazir was thinking about the female lead.

Keira Knightley could be cast for $3 to $6 million. Depending on how the contract would end.

Julia Roberts was a great actress and her box-office appeal was strong, but her salary was also expensive.

In the end, Kazir decided to cross her name on the list. Pirates of the Caribbean was an expensive project and Kazir never liked to increase the budget.

Now he decided to put the last DVD disc into the DVD player. This was the last and third actress Kazir had in mind to cast.

+++++

[Since I listed my top 10 anime ending songs, I might as well post my top 10 opening songs. Enjoy.]

1.) Tokyo Ghoul Opening 1 (Unravel by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure): Do I even have to explain myself? I've been listening to this song since 2017. This song is so overplayed but come on, you do agree that it's a hit when it was released a decade ago. If you're interested in this masterpiece called Tokyo Ghoul, I recommend you to read the manga instead.

2.) Freiren Opening 1 (The Brave by YOASOBI): I love Freiren. I can say that it's definitely my top 1 anime last year. This anime's storytelling is different from what I expected.

3.) Blood+ Opening 3 (Colors of the Heart by Uverworld): I watched this anime 15 years ago and I can say that it's an underrated anime. Colors of the Heart is also a hit song.

4.) Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront Opening 1 (Hello World by Bump of the Chicken): Bump of the Chicken is an amazing jrock band, check them out. Again, I'm going to ask for the 3rd Season... Please I need to watch another content from this shenanigan of an anime.

5.) Attack On Titan opening 7 (The Rumbling by SiM): If I lose it all~~ Slip and fall~~ I would never look away~~ Attack On Titan is the best, there, I said it.

6.) Neon Genesis Evangelion Opening 1 (Cruel Angel Thesis by Yoko Takahashi): An iconic opening since the 2000s era. I never touched the movies of Evangelion because the last episode of the anime made me go crazy and I'm afraid of watching this anime again.

7.) Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Opening 1 (Again by Yui): When I first heard this song, I got goosebumps all over my body. This will always be part of my top 10 best anime openings. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is peak, you can't change my mind.

8.) Oshi No Ko Opening 1 (Idol by YOASOBI): We don't talk about the ending of the manga. Fuck you Akasaka.

9.) Code Geass Opening 1 (Colors by Flow): One of the best openings of all time, people can't stop loving this opening and I'm one of them. Code Geass might be old, but no one can deny how great it is.

10.) Soul Eater Opening 3 (Papermoon by Tommyheavenly6): This is nostalgic. I hope Soul Eater gets a reboot that follows the manga 100%.

[I actually created a playlist of these songs in my Spotify, haha.]