HOLLYWOOD WHAT IF

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 421

"Hiccup--! Hehehe! I tell you this, I can fly! I can really fly!"

Tom Cruise was drunk. The party was already over, and Tom Cruise decided to go to a bar to continue drinking.

Being a friend, Kazir didn't have a choice but to look for him... He also wanted to drink.

This year was tough for Kazir. The scandal and the breakup took a toll on him. If not for his maturity and love for filmmaking, he might have just stayed in his room and laid in bed, thinking about killing himself.

"Bruh, you are drunk. You can't fly. Humans can't fly."

"But I can!"

"..."

Perhaps this was some Scientology religion-related stuff that Kazir had never heard about.

Anyway, earlier, the two had a conversation about cameos. Kazir said that doing cameos was fun, and Tom Cruise also agreed. It was fun to watch the audience's reaction whenever a famous actor did a cameo in another movie unexpectedly.

Then the conversation turned to Tom Cruise doing a cameo in Batman Begins.

Kazir was not against it. Although this was just drunkards' conversation and nothing was clear, Kazir might have to talk to Warner Brothers to give Tom Cruise a cameo.

'Maybe Tom Cruise getting beat up by Batman or something...' He thought it was fun.

After drinking until they became a mess, the two were sent by their bodyguards to their respective houses.

Kazir woke up in the morning with a strong headache. He looked at the left side of the bed and sighed... He subconsciously thought that Angelina was sleeping next to him.

He was not used to waking up alone... Perhaps if a small-time actress tried to seduce him, his weak mentality might fall for the trap and agree to sleep with the actress.

"I have a job to do." He stood up to take a cold shower to wake himself from the depression.

It was fortunate that he had a job to work on. His mind wouldn't wander into depressing thoughts.

.........

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...

July was part of the summer. Obviously, the movies that were released this month were heavy hitters.

I, Robot, starring Will Smith, was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Kazir received an invitation to the premiere and decided to watch it. He didn't attend the red carpet, though. He used the backstage entrance.

At the I, Robot premiere, Kazir met Will Smith, and the actor seemed like a nice person. Unfortunately, Kazir also met Jada Pinkett at the premiere.

Kazir could only say one thing in his mind: "Jada Pinkett, shut the fuck up. Nobody cares about your past relationship with Tupac. In fact, Tupac is lucky because he dodged a bullet of a red flag like you. Fuck you and your cheating habits."

Disclaimer, he said that in his mind. In front of Jada and Will, Kazir acted like a nice person.

People have two sides. The outer side is used for socializing, and the inner side is used for their thoughts that should never be spoken because these thoughts could offend people.

Having been cheated on, Kazir never had a good opinion of Jada. And Jada Pinkett was one of the worst-known cheaters because she was never ashamed of what she did.

In fact, Jada even asked Kazir for a favor. She wanted to work on at least one of Kazir's projects.

Unlike Will Smith, Jada didn't have a strong reputation in the industry. Well, she had a bad reputation, to be exact.

Anyway, I, Robot was not a great experience for Kazir. He recalled the time when Cassandra Hoecrap cheated on him and took his property. He didn't feel good remembering those memories even though he had already moved on.

Aside from I, Robot, Catwoman was also released by Warner Brothers... Erm, this movie was a wreck of a result.

Basically, Warner Brothers suffered a loss by producing Catwoman.

Halle Berry also experienced a decline because of Catwoman. The Oscar-winning actress had a hard time finding a lead role after this. Thankfully, she had X-Men to maintain her fame.

Catwoman only made $82 million despite a budget of over $100 million. It didn't even make any profit at the box office.

There were a lot of factors why Catwoman failed, such as a weak script, storyline, and character redesign. Negative reviews were poured onto the movie. It didn't help that Catwoman fell short compared to Spider-Man, X-Men, and Blade.

Because of this failure, Warner Brothers suddenly became afraid of their upcoming projects. Everyone in the company knew that Superman Returns and Batman Begins were in production.

The only safe haven was the fact that Director Kazir Grey would handle Batman. That was an assurance that Warner Brothers was ready to spend money on.

Studio companies hired directors like Kazir Grey, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron for this reason, the assurance that the movie wouldn't fail.

Only a few directors could bring this kind of confidence, and Kazir was at the top of the list.

"Yes, yes, I promise, Enrico Pusi. There's nothing that you have to worry about. The storyboard is fine, and my vision for the movie is clear. Also, the storyline of Batman Begins has been approved not only by me but also by DC Comics. Huh? About my sleep schedule and mental health? Hehe, who gives a fuck about men's mental health? We are men. We should tuck in our emotions and let them build up until we reach our limits and possibly kill ourselves. What? It's too dark? Nah, I don't think so."

Kazir assured the producer. He knew what he was doing. In terms of creating box office hits, Kazir Grey was the right person to call.

As for Catwoman, let Warner Brothers fix their own mistakes. They were too confident that they could create a superhero movie, trying to go with the flow and make money.

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[Third chapter of the day.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 422


[A few months ago, I received an email from Patreon that Apple wants a 30% payment cut whenever a new patron subscribes using the iOS Patreon app. Basically, all creators will be affected by this change. If there are patrons here who use the iOS Patreon app to subscribe, I recommend that you pay on the Patreon website instead. Apple is doing greedy stuff. A 30% cut is a massive chunk for creators to bear. Apple really is monopolizing the market, and it's not good at all. This is also the reason why Epic Games sued Apple.]

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Catwoman's flop made Warner Brothers see the consequences of their decision.

In the first place, they shouldn't have hired a new director to direct the movie.

Second, they fired the writers who initially created the plot. The villain was mediocre... A retired model who wanted to maintain her youth, it wasn't convincing at all.

It didn't help that the movie was different from the source material. So many comic fans didn't appreciate it.

In Kazir's opinion, the movie lacked many things. He had ideas on how to make the movie better, but he wasn't confident he could change Catwoman's failure. One of the reasons why he made sure to follow the original stories of most of his movies, if possible.

If there was one thing he could change confidently, it was the action sequences. The stunt choreography in the movie was awful... Catwoman's movement was awkward to watch. It didn't help that the villain was just a woman who had no in-depth experience in battle. Even the final battle was lackluster.

They should have changed the villain and made the action sequences better.

"Kazir... How about we start the movie as Bruce Wayne is already Batman? The filming still hasn't started anyway. We can still change the plot."

Barry Mayer, the current chairman of Warner Brothers, didn't look good. The loss they suffered from Catwoman took a toll on them.

"Barry, the title of the movie is Batman Begins for a reason. We need to show the audience how Batman came to be."

"At least we should shorten it."

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing. This is the first time we're working together, but I want you to know that I'm the best director and scriptwriter for a reason. Batman Begins will be a box office hit."

"I hope so... I will trust you."

The two started talking about things such as the new injection of funds.

"If you were the director of Catwoman, do you think you could have changed its outcome?"

"What kind of question is that? Barry, we can't change the past. All we can do is move forward and think about the future."

"I know, I'm just saying a 'What If.' So, what if you were the director of Catwoman, would everything change?"

"Probably. First, I would create better stunt choreography. The villain should have strong charisma. Selina Kyle needs a better backstory. In fact, they should have followed her original backstory. Many fans were confused when they realized the movie version was different from the source material."

The failure of Catwoman was not because Halle Berry was black. Not at all. Halle Berry was a beautiful actress, and 10 out of 10 people would agree.

Catwoman flopped because the movie was bad. That was the only reason.

Barry slightly nodded his head. He sighed. He didn't know how to explain this to the investors and the parent company.

As for Kazir, he was satisfied that the plot of Batman Begins remained true to its original version. It would have been troublesome if Bruce Wayne in the movie was already Batman from the start without a clear backstory.

In Batman Begins, Bruce was scared of bats after falling into a well as a child. After the death of his parents, he decided to face his fear of bats and went on a journey.

On his journey, he met Ra's Al Ghul and became his student. That was the beginning of how Bruce became Batman. It would have been foolish not to include that in the movie.

'It's a good thing that my authority is strong. I also fought for the editing rights.'

He couldn't let Warner Brothers touch this movie, or else it might follow the same trajectory as Kingdom of Heaven, where Ridley Scott didn't have the editing rights, and 20th Century Fox botched the movie.

.........

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...

More than three weeks passed after the release of Catwoman.

Spider-Man 2 had just grossed $358.50 million at the North American box office. At the same time, the international box office earnings for Spider-Man 2 were around $263 million, giving Spider-Man 2 a whopping $621 million worldwide box office.

No explanation was needed, Kazir received congratulations from many people.

Spider-Man 2 was a success, and the numbers would surely continue to rise. Sony-Columbia believed the movie would reach at least $700 million. The company was promoting the movie overseas, sending the cast all over the world.

Kazir never left the soil of the U.S., though. It was technically a breach of contract, but both parties didn't make it a problem. In the first place, Sony-Columbia didn't want to cause trouble with Kazir, so they let it go. They didn't even ask for money regarding the breach of contract. They knew that Kazir had sacrificed himself so that Warner Brothers wouldn't harass Spider-Man 2.

While this was happening, 20th Century Fox also released their ambitious crossover!

Alien vs. Predator!

This movie was the reason why 20th Century Fox couldn't release Mr. & Mrs. Smith in the summer. Because 20th Century Fox prioritized their own projects instead of others.

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[Fourth chapter of the day.]