HOLLYWOOD WHAT IF

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 330



"You're Elizabeth Holmes?"


Kazir stared at the woman in shock. Of course he was shocked. Because he hadn't expected this situation to happen to him, not today, not tomorrow...


'I've never been cheated on in my entire life... Except for my marriage. That whole thing was a sham. '


Only people like Kazir Grey, who went through a painful divorce and lost almost everything they owned could say that.


Marriage was a beautiful thing, wasn't it? A contract that would scam half of your money.


By the way, the old, nameless, bumpy car that Kazir owned after the divorce was still sitting in his garage. He decided to restore it even though the car had no monetary value. It was his last possession when he divorced Cassandra Hoecrap, and it had a special place in his heart, just like Napoleon Dynamite.


"Yes, that's right, director." The woman, Elizabeth, nodded. The woman looked young, and she had just turned 19 this year. But her confidence was amazing.


Kazir almost believed the woman was sincere, based on her expression and her confident aura. Fortunately, he knew the future so he didn't fall for the trap.


Theranos Inc. A famous company.


Theranos was a healthcare technology company founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003. It claimed to have developed a revolutionary blood-testing device that could perform a wide range of tests with just a few drops of blood. However, it was later revealed that the technology didn't work as claimed, leading to a scandal and the eventual collapse of the company. (Chat GPT)


Kazir understood where this conversation was going. He had no intention of playing around.


"I'm sorry, but I'm busy." Kazir decided to end this farce before it could even begin. He knew he was wasting his time listening to Elizabeth.


"Director, just give me 5 minutes and I will tell you about the revolutionary test kit that is going to change the world."


'Bruh, just fuck off.'


He cursed in his mind. He knew this so-called revolutionary test kit was going to scam people out of their money. Theranos raised $700 million from private investors and venture capitalists... That money was gone once the truth about the company was revealed.


Nothing but a big scam.


Kazir's gaze was cold as he looked at the young woman.


"I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but I don't have time to listen to your imaginary revolutionary thing. First of all, you're too young to start a business. Do you even know how business works? Do you even know what you're talking about? Besides, how can a little blood be enough to do all those tests?"


"I-I didn't say anything about blood tests." She stuttered.


"I heard it from the other people. They said there was an immature teenager begging for money while talking about blood test kits and such. Now that I look at you..." Kazir looked at the woman from head to toe and said. "You don't even look like a 19-year-old. You look like an old hag."


"Wha--!"


Elizabeth was too stunned to speak. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she sobbed weakly.


As a movie director, Kazir knew her tears were real. Kazir made her cry. He didn't feel bad at all.


"Just leave this party and don't show up again."


Kazir didn't care. He knew this woman's outcome, and crying was not enough for all the crimes she had committed.


'The fact that Elizabeth Holmes was only sentenced to 11 years in prison was disgusting. Like, she stole $700 million from the people and yet she only got 11 years in prison? Where is the fairness in this country?'


'Just because you are rich, you can easily evade the law? Fuck that. She should be sentenced to more than 20 years instead. '


The woman walked away as if someone was chasing her. Elizabeth was gone and Kazir hoped he won't see her again.


As for Kazir, he didn't care about the other people who looked at him with strange eyes. Well, they didn't know the exact reason why Kazir made the young woman cry, so they just stayed on the sidelines.


Tom Cruise showed up, a little concerned about his friend. They couldn't afford to destroy their image now that they were competing for the Academy Awards.


"What happened? Why did the girl cry? Did she do something that made you uncomfortable?" Tom Cruise knew that Kazir would never hurt a person without a good reason. Kazir was not a bad guy, he knew that. Tom believed the woman had done something wrong.


"Did she ask for a one-night stand in exchange for a role?" He asked.


This was the common motive of some actresses/actors in the industry. They would offer their bodies in exchange for movie roles. At the end of the day, it all depends on the consent of both parties.


"No, much worse than that." Kazir chuckled. It would be easy if Elizabeth asked for a one-night stand, because Kazir would definitely say no. He was not attracted to someone as thin as she was.


"She asked for an investment. She wants me to invest in her so-called company. It's probably a scam. By the way, tell your contacts about a woman named Elizabeth Holmes who ask for investment for her blood-testing company. Tell them to seriously research her company before investing, or else they would regret it if the company is actually a scam..."


Knowing the future, Kazir was sure that the investors regretted investing in Theranos.


'Fuck Theranos. Fuck Elizabeth Holmes.' Kazir thought.


"Okay, I'll tell them to watch out for Elizabeth Holmes." Tom nodded.


"Spread the words." Kazir added.


He was confused as to how Elizabeth Holmes had found her way to the party. This was a formal and private Hollywood party. A person needed an invitation to get in.


The answer came a few minutes later.


Tom Rothman appeared with a glass of wine, a little uncomfortable. Since Grey Pictures and 20th Century Fox were considered partners, people from Fox were also invited. It was not a surprise that Tom Rothman attended the party. He wanted to strengthen his friendship with Kazir.


"Kazir, I heard you made Elizabeth cry. May I know the reason?"


"Hm?" Kazir was surprised that Tom Rothman knew Elizabeth Holmes.


"Tom, that little girl wants to deceive me. I will not easily believe such nonsense. A small amount of blood is not enough to do all those tests."


"..." Tom Rothman was too quiet.


"Tom, did I say something that made you uncomfortable?"


The CEO was sweating a little.


"Nothing... It's a good thing I haven't recommended her to Rupert Murdoch yet. Otherwise I might lose my job."


"..."


"..."


They didn't know what to say. In the end, Tom Rothman apologized and also thanked him. He probably made some stupid decisions that he might regret later. Luckily, Kazir was there to tell him the truth before he spent more money on investments...


A day later, Tom took out his investment from Theranos.

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 331


There were some rumors about Kazir making a young woman cry, but the rumors died down quickly. First of all, Kazir was in public and he hadn't committed any crime. Another thing was that Elizabeth Holmes was of legal age, she was just skinny.

Kazir could say the most devious curses known to man, as long as he didn't commit a crime, he was safe. Everything would change, however, once the Internet took over...

Cancel culture would become a prominent part of the Internet. Where one wrong word and you would be canceled by a bunch of people. Luckily, it was still 2003, Facebook had not even launched yet.

Kazir was known to be a gentleman, so people believed that the woman probably did something wrong for Kazir to berate her.

After this little incident called "Make the bitch Elizabeth Holmes cry", February slowly passed without much happening.

Well, Nora Jones won the Grammy and Roman Polanski won the Best Director award at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) for his movie The Pianist. Since the man was not wanted in the UK, he attended the awards.

Other than that, not much happened in February. In fact, only three movies have the power to surpass $100 million this month.

The first was How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.

The second was Daredevil, starring Ben Affleck, which was released on February 14. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Since Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox weren't family at the time of production, the movie had no connection to the upcoming plan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Daredevil was a stand-alone movie, one of the reasons it got a mediocre reception... Well, February was never the best time to release a movie. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner starred in the movie... Two years after the release of Daredevil, 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios for some reason felt the need to release Elektra. The box office for that movie was mediocre.

So before the project(Elektra) could even start, Kazir immediately talked to Marvel Studios about not starting the project.

Aside from How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days and Daredevil, the last movie that had a good chance of making over $100 million was The Jungle Book 2. Of course, a hand-drawn animation by Walt Disney was nothing to sneeze at. After all, Disney was the king of animation in Hollywood.

March came and Bringing Down The House, produced by Touchstone/Walt Disney, was released on March 7th. A comedy starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah.

Unsurprisingly, this was the only movie to have an amazing march at March, yeah, bars... Nothing really drew audiences to the theaters this month, so ticket sales were low.

However, even though it was not an active month in Hollywood, a lot of celebrities were very active this month.

Many of these celebrities started showing up at a lot of parties, greeting people and making sure their names were relevant.

In fact, Tom Cruise and Kazir Grey did the same thing.

Just like that, the 75th Academy Awards officially took place on March 23, 2003.

The Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles was buzzing with celebrities and directors showing up one by one.

The show was broadcast live on ABC and was watched by 32 million Americans... Usually, the Oscar's ratings are around 40-50 million, but this time the ratings were below average. Maybe people were tired of the Oscars.

Still, the show must go on. Many celebrities don't care about the ratings. They just want to get their awards and prove their worth.

Kazir, of course, attended the Oscars with his girlfriend. Angelina Jolie wore a red and white halter dress while Kazir wore his usual black pants, tuxedo and white shirt.

The couple smiled for the camera as several reporters interviewed them. Kazir hoped he would win the Best Director award.

"Director, how do you feel if you win the Best Director award tonight?"

"I will be happy if that happens. I have already prepared my speech in case I am on stage," Kazir and Angelina giggled.

"What do you think about the Academy's justification that they are partial and fair? That they don't control the nominations."

"I'm a member of the Academy too, and I believe them."

Kazir apparently voted for The Revenant.

The Revenant only received two nominations, and it was the biggest disappointment the Academy made this year. Some news outlets even said that the Academy cooked the nominations against The Revenant.

Of course, members of the Academy denied this and said that their organization is always fair and just... Obviously a lie that everyone knows.

Anyway, Kazir understood that his influence was not enough to control the voting. First of all, he didn't know many old members of the Academy voted.

Fortunately, Kazir had 20th Century Fox to help him. 20th Century Fox was one of the oldest studios in Hollywood and their connections were wider and deeper.

Kazir and Angelina found their seats, next to them were Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz's seats, the two were still missing.

Kazir looked around and found Nicole Kidman talking to some old people... Since Kazir knew the future, he also knew that Tom's ex-wife would win the Best Actress award tonight, which would cause a ripple between Tom Cruise and his agent Pat Kingsley.

He hoped that Tom would also win Best Actor tonight.

Nicole stole a glance in their direction, perhaps looking at her ex-husband. Tom Cruise was still not there, so her eyes went to Kazir and Angelina instead.

The actress smiled before returning to her seat.

"I don't like that woman."

Angelina whispered to Kazir and the man couldn't help but nod. Kazir had no good reason to hate Nicole, but since he was friends with Tom, he didn't like Nicole either, plain and simple.

Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz showed up a few minutes later in a good mood. The two held hands as they sat down.

"You look great."

"Yeah, let's just say..."

Before Tom could answer, Penelope playfully tapped him on the shoulder. They just giggled instead.

"I can say that no matter what happened tonight, I'm glad to be working with someone like you," Tom said to Kazir.

"Me too, Tom." Kazir nodded.

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 332


"By the way, why didn't you invite me to star in your latest project? What's it called? Caribbean Pirates? Anyway, why didn't you invite me or send me the script?"

"The answer is obvious, because you are expensive to hire."

"This time I can be an investor."

"We are doing well. If the budget isn't enough, I'm sure 20th Century Fox will be happy to invest in my project."

Kazir was the most in-demand director and all his films were profitable. Many people would not hesitate to invest in his movies.

"Tch!"

Tom Cruise clicked his tongue. It seemed that he would never get the chance to make money from Kazir's filmography. Well, he might win Best Actor tonight, so it didn't matter.

Kazir just shrugged and let the little adult man be bitter... Yes, Tom Cruise was only 5'7", while Kazir was 6'2". The height difference between the two was obvious.

After a brief introduction to the Academy Awards, Steve Martin, the host of this award, made his entrance. The people in the theater naturally stood up and clapped their hands.

Steve Martin was a famous comedian and had hosted the Academy Awards three times.

He didn't do a big entrance, he just did his jokes and that was enough to entertain the people.

After that, the segment naturally went to the announcement of the winners of the awards.

The first to be announced was the winner for Best Animated Feature, and the presenter was Cameron Diaz.

Unlike last time, when Cameron Diaz flirted with Kazir, this time the woman was natural and professional.

Angelina squeezed Kazir's hand for some reason, and the man looked at her a little confused.

Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki won the Best Animated Feature Film. Great anime, by the way.

Since most of these awards had nothing to do with The Revenant, Kazir and Tom didn't care and just let the show go on.

Best Supporting Actor went to Chris Cooper for his role in Adaptation.

Catherine Zeta-Jones won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Chicago.

Then, a few minutes later, Tom and Kazir got serious because this particular part of the show was important to one of them.

Halle Berry appeared with an envelope in her hand. She smiled and gave a short speech before announcing the list of nominees for Best Actor.

"Adrien Brody, Nicolas Cage, Tom Cruise, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson. These are the actors nominated for Best Actor Award."

Kazir's lips were tight as he waited for the result. He knew that Adrien Brody had the best chance of winning the Best Actor Award because that was what happened in the original timeline. In fact, Kazir admitted that Adrien Brody deserved to win the award because his performance was amazing.

However, he wanted Tom Cruise to win because they were friends.

As for Tom, the actor kept his composure and didn't show any nervousness. He kept his smile on, knowing that a camera was pointed at him, broadcasting his reaction live for people to see.

Halle Berry opened the envelope. The nominated actors' hearts beat faster as they waited for every second.

Then the actress announced the winner. Halle Berry bit her lip, adding to the excitement.

"Congratulations! Tom Cruise. The Revenant."

The audience erupted in applause, and even Kazir began clapping vigorously. Tom Cruise took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second before standing up.

He hugged Kazir, Penelope, and Angelina before heading to the stage.

"Thanks, Kazir."

"Nah, you deserve it." Kazir patted the actor on the back.

The other actors also clapped and congratulated Tom Cruise on his win. Deep inside, they were seething in disappointment for not winning the Award.

Tom Cruise hugged Halle Berry and then someone handed him the golden statue. Tom raised the small statue in his hand and smiled into the camera.

"First of all, I want to thank everyone who supported and watched The Revenant. You are the real winners..."

Tom began his speech. Being a superstar in this industry, Tom Cruise understood that he had to maintain his image. He made sure to choose roles that fit him perfectly without any backlash.

But it didn't change the fact that Tom Cruise knew how to act. He was a great actor, he just decided to choose safe roles instead of experimental roles that could destroy his image.

Still, as an actor, Tom Cruise wanted to win the golden statue. He tried it three times, but the result was not good.

This year, Tom found a certain script that caught his interest. It was about the feudal era of Japan, around the time when samurais lost their honor... If The Revenant didn't work out, Tom Cruise could try to use this script as another way to get a golden statue... Well, he has already won one now so he might have to take it slow.

Tom Cruise was not sure if The Revenant and Hugh Glass would be the answer to his questions. But he trusted Kazir, he knew that the famous director would be his biggest chip at the Oscars.

And now, he was acknowledged as one of best actors in the world.

Tom was visibly happy and thanked his friends.

The Academy Awards was a live show and of course there would be a director for the show. The director thought it would be interesting to show Nicole Kidman's reaction while her ex-husband was talking about his success.

The camera focused on Nicole and her reaction was amazing. Her lips were pursed, clearly not happy. Although her reaction only lasted a second before she smiled... Nicole seemed to realize that a camera was recording her. Behind her smile, her two fists crumpled her dress and she shook terribly.

Acceptance speeches could only last 45 seconds, it was a rule that the Academy set and reminded people to follow. So Tom's speech didn't last long before he went backstage.

Kazir could not help but laugh. Well, at least The Revenant won a major award tonight. It seemed that the members of the Academy were doing their job... He just hoped that something good would also happen to him tonight.

++++

[Author's Note:]

[Anyway, I think we all want Kazir to win Best Director, right? You can comment below if you think this is not the right time for Kazir to win the golden statue and I'll think something about it... I'll just think about it].

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 333


The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are prestigious awards given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to honor excellence in the motion picture industry. Awards are given in various categories such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and many others. (Chat GPT)

This was the most prestigious and respected award in the industry. Most actors and actresses wanted to win these awards to prove themselves and raise their status in the industry. In fact, actors/actresses who won the awards could increase their salaries up to $20 million, well, depending on whether some studio paid them that amount. But it was true that the Oscar winners had a salary increase.

The same was true for directors. But in Kazir's case, he didn't care about the salary or anything like that. He was already a billionaire.

What he wanted was the status of being respected and considered by the industry as one of the best directors of his time.

He knew that winning an Oscar was not that easy, even money was not enough to achieve that. Many people tried to use money, but only a few succeeded.

In the end, most of the winning factors depend on the movie and the performance. And this year, five directors created films that caught the Academy's attention. Giving the directors nominations and a chance to win the Best Director award.

Kazir's competitors were all strong and worthy of winning the award. Well, they all deserved to win. The Oscars didn't care about the box office, they were looking for artistic films with strong psychological aspects. So yes, a disadvantage for Kazir Grey and The Revenant.

Kazir had four competitors for the Best Director award.

Roman Polanski, the director of The Pianist. A Jew who lived through World War II and made a movie that he basically lived through. In fact, his mother died in a Nazi camp.

Rob Marshall directed the movie Chicago. Chicago was a musical film that reminded the old men of Hollywood of the musical movie era.

Martin Scorsese directed Gangs of New York. Gangs of New York was a movie based on the novel of the same name. The novel was published in 1927 and Martin Scorsese adapted the novel into a movie. The Academy Awards loved to nominate movies based on literature. The Revenant was also based on a novel.

Pedro Almodóvar was a Spanish director and his movie was also set in Spain. Talk to Her was a Spanish psychological drama film written by Pedro Almodóvar himself. The movie was about two men who form an unlikely friendship while caring for two women who are both in comas.

As for The Revenant, well, it was about Hugh Glass...

Now that Tom Cruise had already won the Best Actor award, Kazir couldn't help but be happy. However, he also knew that their winning streak might not happen tonight. Best Actor was a big award and it was already a good thing that The Revenant won it... Kazir might not win Best Director.

After the Best Actor announcement, Halle Berry left the stage and Barbra Streisand took her place.

Barbra Streisand was the presenter for Best Original Song. Unexpectedly, the winner was Lose Yourself from 8 Mile. The song was written and rapped by none other than Eminem.

The rap genre was dominated by Eminem in 2002. The Eminem Show was the best-selling album of 2002, selling over 7.6 million copies by the end of the year.

Afterwards, Kazir couldn't help but feel nervous. Tom Cruise returned to his seat after the commercial and hugged Kazir again.

"Thanks, Kazir."

"You just said that earlier."

"I don't mind saying it again." Tom grinned as he held the golden statue in his hands.

The show went on and this time Denzel Washington was the host. By the way, last year's Best Actor winner was Denzel Washington, while the Best Actress winner was Halle Berry.

If Halle Berry was the Best Actor presenter tonight, then Denzel Washington was the Best Actress presenter.

"Here are the nominees for Best Actress..."

Nicole Kidman - The Hours as Virginia Woolf

Salma Hayek - Frida as Frida Kahlo

Diane Lane - Infidelity as Constance "Connie" Sumner

Julianne Moore - Far From Heaven as Cathy Whitaker

Renée Zellweger - Chicago as Roxie Hart

These five actresses suffered the same fate as the actors before them, with cameras trained on them. Their expressions recorded live on television.

Denzel Washington wasted no time in announcing the winner.

"The Best Actress Award goes to... Nicole Kidman!"

Kazir was not even surprised. He knew that the future could be changed, but some aspects still remained. And it seemed that Nicole Kidman winning the Best Actress Award was an unchangeable future... Now Kazir also felt that his chances of winning the Best Director award were diminishing.

He looked to his side and saw that Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz had mixed feelings. Especially Penelope, she seemed to hate the fact that Nicole Kidman won.

The next segments, the Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay were announced.

Ronald Harwood won for Best Adapted Screenplay. He wrote The Pianist.

Pedro Almodóvar won the award for Original Screenplay. He directed and wrote Talk To Her.

And just like that, the most anticipated part of the Oscars for Kazir happened.

The presenter of the Best Director Award was Harrison Ford. The actor had some complex opinions about Kazir after what happened a few years ago. Nevertheless, Harrison Ford remained professional and read from the teleprompter.

"The nominees for Best Director are..."

Roman Polanski - The Pianist

Rob Marshall - Chicago

Martin Scorsese - Gangs of New York

Kazir Grey - The Revenant

Pedro Almodóvar - Talk to Her

The tension was palpable and Kazir knew there was a camera pointed at him.

He swallowed hard as he waited for Harrison Ford to open the envelope.

Then the time had come.

"Congratulations. Kazir Grey, The Revenant."

Time almost stopped for Kazir.

++++++

[Author's Note.]

1.) I want to say thank you for all your support. Even your simple comments like "Thanks for the chapter" are already support.

2.) I know this is overused, but I just want to say have fun and don't take this novel seriously.

3.) I also want to promote my Patreon and Ko-fi.

For $10 you can read 178 chapters of HWI and other content on my Patreon and Ko-fi.

P@treon link: https://www.patreon.com/Puji_maki

Ko-fi link: https://ko-fi.com/pujimaki

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 334


Kazir Grey was stunned when he heard his name. He thought that he might not win the award this time since The Revenant had already won a major award.

He was speechless and nearly lost his mind. But then Angelina squeezed his hand and kissed him on the cheek.

Kazir came to his senses and found people standing and clapping. The sensation was bizarre but amazing.

He saw Tom shouting "Yeah!" and hugged him like a brother. Kazir was out of his mind as he stood up and reached for the stage.

He walked onto the stage with his heart pounding. He suddenly laughed when one of the management gave him the golden statue.

He also hugged Harrison Ford despite their cold relationship. Note that Taken crushed Air Force One at the box office and that made Harrison bitter about Kazir. Still, they were both Jewish, so it didn't matter. Maybe they have a chance to work together another time.

"Congratulations," Harrison said.

"Thank you," Kazir replied.

Then Kazir found the podium. He pulled out a small card on which his acceptance speech was ready to be read.

"First of all, I'm truly speechless. It's a good thing I have something to read right now. This is a dream come true!"

The audience laughed.

Kazir began to read the prepared speech with ragged breath because his emotions were unstable.

"I want to express my deepest gratitude to the cast and crew of The Revenant, who poured their hearts and souls into this movie. Your dedication and talent has brought us to this moment." He felt his eyes getting hot.

"To my father and brother, thank you for everything. And to the fans who saw The Revenant, your love and support means everything. Thank you."

Then he looked in a certain direction and saw Angelina holding back tears.

"And to the love of my life, I love you."

Kazir didn't know that a single tear ran down his cheek as he spoke.

The audience clapped hard, knowing that someone as talented as Kazir deserved the Best Director award.

Kazir was one of the directors that revolutionized Hollywood. He was the only director to create two films that grossed over $1 billion at the box office. He was also the director who created the world's first successful Cinematic Universe. His movies are anticipated all over the world. They love Kazir and his films.

Even though the Academy hates movies that are made to make money, they have to give Kazir Grey credit for what he has done.

Kazir left the stage smiling. Someone from the crew handed him a handkerchief, and Kazir was confused at first.

"Ah... Don't tell me I cried on stage?"

"Yes, director."

"..."

He was embarrassed and immediately wiped away the tears. He didn't know that he was crying.

Kazir was a depressed person who had lost his reason for living. He had lost everything and had nothing left.

Maybe he had to thank the truck that killed him... Because he understood that he was currently living the life he wanted.

'If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up.'

He was a director who fell in love with making movies, and he dreamed of being recognized by the Academy. And now he had reached that point.

He was an award-winning director now. He couldn't help but smile.

"I did it... Haha, I did it!"

He shouted happily as if losing his mind. Fortunately, the people understood his reaction.

The Best Director Award was the second to the last segment and Kazir was free to return to his seat as the commercial began.

Kazir was congratulated by many people as he returned to his seat. Tom Cruise was smiling from ear to ear as he waved his golden statue.

Kazir played along and waved his own. They were like boys playing with their toys.

"I didn't remember that last part of the speech. It wasn't written on the card."

Angelina said to Kazir, blushing a little.

"It just came out of my mouth."

Angelina giggled and put her head on his shoulder.

"You should contact Salvatore and Harold about the party tonight."

"They probably know what to do, they don't need confirmation from me."

Actually, even if The Revenant didn't win any awards, the crew would still be preparing for a party. From the looks of it, tonight's party would be festive.

"Don't drink too much, I need you tonight."

"Of course."

After their little conversation, the last segment of the show began.

Kirk Douglas and Michael Douglas were presenting the Best Picture Award.

The nominees were:

Chicago - Martin Richards, Producer

Gangs of New York - Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein, Producers

The Hours - Scott Rudin and Robert Fox, Producers

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson, Producers

The Pianist - Roman Polanski, Robert Bunmussa and Alain Sarde, producers

There was no suspense when Chicago won Best Picture. After all, the awards show was dominated by Chicago.

Chicago won 6 awards.

Frida and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers each won 2 awards.

The Revenant also won 2 awards.

The Pianist won 1 award.

The Revenant basically stole the awards that were meant for The Pianist... Well, Kazir was the only one who knew about that.

That night, Tom and Kazir had their best night ever and partied like drunks. Luckily, Kazir controlled himself and managed to get back to the house sober... A little bit. He fulfilled his promise to Angelina and the woman was happy.

.........

......

...

The day after the awards show, news about the winners was published. Stories about Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, the exes who won their respective awards on the same night, made headlines.

The news about Kazir crying also made headlines.

Some people were happy, some people were not. Harvey Weinstein was one of the people bitter about the results.

He did his best to minimize the nominations for The Revenant, but in the end it was useless. Tom Cruise and Kazir Grey got what they wanted.

+++++

[Unfortunately, I'm still alive. Sorry for being gone.]

[Now we're back to making Pirates of the Caribbean and auditioning for Game of Thrones].

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 335


Harvey Weinstein was no fool. After the alliance between 20th Century Fox and Grey Pictures, the big studio decided to help Kazir win his most anticipated award.

However, Harvey was confident that Adrien Brody and Roman Polanski would win Best Actor and Best Director respectively. They had a higher chance of winning, and Harvey decided not to fight for those categories.

The Pianist was a movie about the plight of Jews in World War II. Surely the old Jewish members of the Academy would be reminded of the tragedy they suffered. They would surely vote for Roman Polanski and Adrien Brody. That was Harvey's expectation.

Where did he go wrong?

"It doesn't matter," the fat man sighed. In the end, Chicago won most of the awards and was the clear winner of the 75th Academy Awards.

It just didn't sit well with him that Kazir Grey was having a blast and living his life happily. Especially after what Kazir had done to Harvey a few years ago. Even now, Harvey kept his low profile.

"The next time they try to compete, I'll make sure Grey Pictures wins nothing."

He grinned. Even though Kazir winning the Best Director award made him bitter, other news softened his hatred.

He read the newspaper and chuckled when he saw that the news of Michael Eisner's departure from Walt Disney had already been published.

Michael Eisner took responsibility and resigned from his position as chairman of one of the largest media companies in the world.

As one of the executives, Harvey knew that Michael Eisner wasn't leaving peacefully. He cursed the executives and the shareholders for voting him out of the company.

Michael Eisner was the tyrant of Disney, but it is also true that he was the one who made Disney thrive. His decision to focus on live-action films was the right one. His decision to focus on 3D animation and to buy a stake in Pixar was also the right decision.

No one could argue with that. Unfortunately, people were tired of him. Another fact was that Michael Eisner was getting old. He was already 61 years old and had undergone heart surgery a few years ago. His age and health made him unfit to run the company.

The biggest reason why he was kicked out was the failure of John Carter, which Michael Eisner had strongly promoted as their entry into the Cinematic Universe.

"Hehe, it's ironic that this old man wants me to leave the company, but he was the one who got kicked out instead." Harvey chuckled.

After the meeting, Robert Iger was named CEO and executive chairman.

With Eisner out of Disney, the newspaper tackled the question of whether the giant studio would thrive or go under.

.........

......

...

"The what?"

Kazir raised his eyebrows slightly as he listened to his assistant, Erica Mendez.

"Lionsgate, sir. They want to contact you about buying a script."

Kazir and Erica were in the process of interviewing people for the bodyguard position.

After the incident in the Maldives, Kazir felt he needed to hire at least one bodyguard for security purposes.

So far, Kazir had met two professional bodyguards who were on his top list. He was just waiting for the last three contestants to show up so he could decide which one of them would be his bodyguard.

Erica was an experienced soldier and had seen wars and skirmishes in foreign lands, so Kazir knew that hiring a bodyguard was a stretch but also important.

However, in the course of the interview, Erica received a message. Erica was the one responsible for communicating business deals to Kazir. She was also the go-between whenever anyone wanted to contact Kazir.

"Lionsgate... I think I heard it."

Kazir lied... Of course he knew Lionsgate. It was basically the 7th largest studio in Hollywood.

Lionsgate had only been founded in 1997, and it was slowly gaining a foothold in Hollywood. It acquired small studios and distributors and merged them into one.

Lionsgate distributed a lot of successful movies like Saw, The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Twilight Saga, Step Up, The Expendables and John Wick...

"Ahem."

Kazir coughed as he remembered that John Wick was originally from Lionsgate.

"That studio, if I remember correctly. It's funded by Canadian banks, right?"

"Yes, sir. I have done some research on this studio before. It's originally from Canada, founded in Vancouver. But they moved their headquarters to California."

"I see..."

Lionsgate's success could rival the Big Six. Unfortunately, it was founded late and failed to compete and fight for resources in the industry. It would take the company a decade to build a worldwide film distribution company.

"So far this studio has only distributed four movies and they have not done well. The movies are Lee Boys, American Psycho, Cube and Leprechaun."

"That's to be expected."

In the first place, distributing movies was not so easy. Sometimes they even suffer losses.

"I heard that the Big Six are looking at this company. They probably want to destroy it before it gets bigger."

"It's financed by Canadian banks, so they might have trouble doing that. Anyway, why would anyone from Lionsgate want to talk to me?"

"They want to buy one or two of your scripts. They are interested in Now You See Me and The Expendables."

"..."

Kazir was not surprised. After all, those franchises were originally from Lionsgate.

"... Set up a meeting with their representative."

Now that Kazir Grey has won the Best Director award, a lot of people want to buy his scripts.

If the price was right, Kazir would have no problem selling the scripts he didn't need. Of course, he could also talk to 20th Century Fox and have them turn the scripts into projects. All Kazir wanted was a percentage of the profits...

"I understand. They seem eager to meet you. I think they want to hire you to direct a movie."

"Hm?"

"Don't tell me they want me to direct Saw?

Saw was a famous horror film franchise. The fifth highest grossing horror movie franchise.

+++++

[It's Christmas Eve, so I just want to say Happy Holidays to everyone. To the people who celebrates Christmas, Merry Christmas!]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 336


On the other hand, Kazir knew he wouldn't agree to direct Saw because he was busy with two projects at the same time.

Pirates of the Caribbean had just started shooting, while Game of Thrones was in the process of casting and auditioning.

He could not balance his schedule to film another project.

Also, the first Saw movie only had a $1 million budget. It was impossible to hire someone as expensive as Kazir unless Lionsgate was willing to put a lot on the table.

'In fact, Saw is one of the movies I thought about filming when I came back in 1994. In the end, I decided to do Napoleon Dynamite instead.'

Perhaps his lack of confidence in making horror movies was one of the reasons he didn't choose Saw. Kazir was afraid of failure.

Also one of the reasons why he didn't submit the script of Saw to the Writer's Guild. Just like he didn't sell the scripts for Final Destination... Because Kazir was afraid of failure.

He was silent for a while after thinking about it. After almost a decade of time travel, Kazir lost his touch for making horror movies. He was comfortable making action and comedy movies, and he had no problem maintaining the status quo.

'If Lionsgate wants to hire me, they have to come up with something that will get my attention. Besides, I will be doing Spider-Man 2 next year, so they will have to wait for 2005 instead.'

The bodyguard interviews were over and Kazir hired the guy who caught his attention the most. All the bodyguards who applied for the job were qualified, but Kazir only chose one.

In the end, he hired Anderson Sullivan. He was a retired soldier like Erica. He was 49 years old. He had spent 8 years in the Gulf War. Amazingly, Anderson also participated in the later years of the Vietnam War, around the 1970s.

The reason Kazir hired Anderson was because of his appearance. Anderson looked simple and gentle. Anderson was 5'7" while Kazir was 6'3".

Anderson seemed like a good guy compared to Kazir who was taller and bulkier. The reason Kazir hired him was because he didn't want his bodyguard to be the center of attention. A bodyguard's job was to protect his boss, not to attract people's attention. They were supposed to act low and keep a low profile.

But Anderson was good at his job. After retiring from the military due to gunshot wounds, Anderson began working for a security company, and his work ethic was highly respected.

Kazir considered him a small but dangerous guy... To be fair, 5'7" was not short, but Kazir was just too tall to understand that.

Shout out to all the short kings out there. Keep grinding.

Unlike Erica who had free time and days off, Anderson had a strict schedule where he had to protect Kazir whenever he was out. Kazir was not a cheap guy and made sure his bodyguard had a high salary and benefits.

.........

......

...

The studio was busy as usual. The place was covered in green that could blind people and turn their pupils to the color green.

In the middle of the studio, a pirate ship was being gently shaken by machines to simulate the movement of the ship sailing in the ocean.

The background was green, with some lights pointing at the actors and cameras in different areas and angles.

The crew members were a bit confused by the friendly middle-aged man standing next to Kazir. Apparently, he was a newly hired bodyguard.

Kazir was uncomfortable too, but he decided to get used to it. If he wanted to maintain his safety, then hiring a professional bodyguard was a must.

He looked at the monitors and felt that something was strange.

"... Cut!"

Kazir decided to take a break.

There was something about the scene that didn't sit right with him.

'What is it?'

He asked himself.

"Kazir, is there something wrong with my performance?"

Johnny Depp approached Kazir in his pirate costume. He walked tipsy as if he were drunk, still acting like Jack Sparrow even though the camera had stopped rolling.

"Nothing, I just feel like something is missing."

Kazir knew he had not made a mistake in hiring Johnny Depp. The actor easily absorbed the essence of Jack Sparrow. The filming went well, but when they reached the pirate ship scenes, Kazir felt that something was wrong.

He decided to check the ship and entered it. One thing he noticed was that the ship was shaking slightly and he could not find his balance.

"That's it!"

His face lit up as he turned to find Johnny Depp. The actor was getting his makeup retouched when Kazir appeared.

"John, I want you to go steady on the ship."

"I'm sorry, what?"

The actor didn't understand at first.

"You see, Jack Sparrow walks like a drunkard when he walks on land. But he can walk straight when he is on the ship. It shows that Jack Sparrow is an experienced pirate and that he has spent most of his life as a pirate rather than on land."

"I see..." Johnny Depp admitted that Kazir's take was interesting.

"This is how I portray Jack Sparrow. Can you do it?" Kazir asked.

Johnny Depp chuckled.

"Kazir, I am an actor and my job is to act. If I have to walk steady while the ship is rocking, then I have to, because that's my job. Of course I can do it."

After that, they shot the scene again, and Kazir nodded in satisfaction. However, they had to redo the scene three times because it was really hard for Johnny Depp to keep his balance while the ship was rocking.

In the end, Kazir decided to weaken the machinery to make it easier for Johnny Depp to adjust.

'Johnny Depp is Jack Sparrow, it's a role for him. And I will make sure that he shines in the theater in his pirate costume. Until people start recognizing him as Jack Sparrow instead of his real name.'

+++++

[Merry Christmas.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 337


Wanted 2 was scheduled to be released in the summer of 2003. It was directed by Fremont Smith. The production started in November of last year and it was currently nearing the end of filming.

Fremont Smith adapted to Kazir's style of filmography and he felt that his filming style was much faster now.

Fremont was the director of Taken 2 and John Wick 2. And now he was the director of Wanted 2. Everyone could see that Fremont was following in Kazir's footsteps by continuing the movies that Kazir started.

But that didn't sit well with some people. Some said that Fremont was just riding on Kazir's success by making sequels to Kazir's successful movies. Fremont still hadn't proven himself to the industry.

Fremont heard these rumors and he was concerned. He understood that the reason he achieved his status was because of Kazir. He considered Kazir his mentor. So he was grateful for what he did. Filming Taken 2 and John Wick 2 was not a problem for Fremont because he wanted to return the favor. Also, the salary was great for someone like him who only had two movies on his resume.

However, after hearing the rumors, Fremont understood that he had to step up. He wanted to prove that he was not absorbing Kazir's success. He wanted to start his own project.

So once Wanted 2 was finished, he wanted to talk to Kazir and Salvatore about his next step.

He respects Kazir and he wants to achieve what Kazir has achieved... Especially the Best Director award.

After Kazir won the Academy's Best Director Award, Fremont realized there was more to being a director. Making money and creating a legacy...

He decided to look for scripts that could be turned into art films. But making art films could wait.

For now, Fremont wanted to prove himself by starting his own project without the label of Grey Pictures and Continental Cinematic Universe.

His contract also allowed him to make movies and work with other production studios. The contract stated that Fremont had to make five movies for CCU within 15 years. Obviously, he had plenty of time to do so.

Four months had just passed and he was about to finish shooting Wanted 2. He was happy with the results and also with his fast and efficient work.

What he didn't expect was that Kazir could surpass his work ethic. By the end of March, Kazir was already 3/4 of the way to the end of shooting. The talented director began production on Pirates of the Caribbean in the last week of February. But a month after that, the scenes they filmed were a lot.

Well, Kazir understood that Pirates Of The Caribbean was different from his usual projects.

Just like Spider-Man, Pirates Of The Caribbean needed a lot of special effects. So the sooner they finished shooting, the more time they had to edit the movie.

According to Kazir's calculations, editing and adding special effects to the film could take at least three months... That was longer than the time he spent shooting the movie.

With Grey Pictures now working for 20th Century Fox, the production studio had a better relationship with Industrial Light & Magic.

Industrial Light & Magic was under LucasFilm and LucasFilm was the producer of Star Wars. Star Wars was distributed by 20th Century Fox. The two companies had a close relationship.

.........
......
...

Kazir yawned as he awoke from his brief slumber. As a director, he had to watch the footage to make sure they didn't make a mistake. There were times when they failed to record the scene and had to start over. Sometimes the memory cards or film reels they were using were defective and they had to change them in the middle of shooting.

Kazir decided to check the newspaper lying outside his apartment door.

Kazir was not in Los Angeles. The crew was in Haiti to shoot the scenes with an ocean background. Using real backgrounds was better and cheaper than using CGI at that time. To top it off, Haiti was in the Caribbean, so they were actually shooting Pirates of the Caribbean in the Caribbean. Authenticity at its best.

Kazir knew that the newspaper he was reading was published yesterday and late. Well, he couldn't be picky.

March didn't have any interesting movies except Bringing Down the House with Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. As of March 31, the movie has already grossed $100 million, which is amazing considering it was released in March. The film was distributed by Walt Disney. It seemed that this mid-budget ($33 million) movie was profitable.

Kazir turned the page and sighed as he read the terrible news...

[In March 2003, U.S. forces invaded Iraq, vowing to destroy Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction" and end the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein.]

Kazir knew the outcome of the Iraq war... It was tragic. The United States basically destroyed the country and its beautiful culture.

Was it for 9/11?

Or was it for oil?

Kazir just shook his head. After all, he was just a regular guy working as a director in Hollywood.

Like everyone else on the planet, he had to work to support himself and his loved ones. He should focus on his life because that was his priority.

"... Am I being stoic or something?"

He got up to take a shower to start his day. After that, Anderson picked him up early in the morning to drive him to the location. The beach where three pirate ships were floating on the sea.

On his way to the beach, Kazir received a message from Stella Willow that someone was interested in Game of Thrones. His face frowned slightly as he read the message.

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 338


Lucas Knox was a production manager at NBC. He was 42 years old this year, but he was already losing his hair and going bald.

NBC was one of the biggest TV networks in the country and they were eager to find promising shows to fill their missing time slots. One of their shows was going to end this year and they were looking for another show to take over the time slot.

There was a rumor that Grey Pictures was filming a project and it was a TV show/series. The rumor was that Kazir Grey might film the first five episodes of the show!

Kazir Grey was recognized by everyone in the industry as the most profitable director of all time. All the movies he was involved with made money!

If you want to make sure that your movies will do great at the box office, just consult Kazir.

If you want to make sure that your career will flourish, just audition for Kazir's movies.

Want to find profitable scripts? Easy, just buy scripts from Kazir Grey!

Because of this, Lucas was forced by his boss to contact Stella Willow, his former co-worker.

Stella Willow and Lucas Knox started at the same company. The difference was that Stella slowly moved up in the company while Lucas stayed the same.

He was jealous at the time and didn't realize that the woman was a hardworking person and deserved every promotion she got. Unfortunately, he was too jealous to understand that in the past.

So Lucas helped get Stella out of NBC. He spread rumors that Stella was sleeping with the bosses to get a promotion. It was all lies and Lucas knew it.

When Stella resigned, that was the moment he realized he had made the wrong decision.

The guy who took over Stella's position as head of production management was much worse... Fortunately, this guy was fired for sexual harassment. Hah, look at that.

But it did not help Lucas Knox, the new-new person who took over the position was much worse. And now Lucas suffered. He became the punching bag of the company and he could do nothing about it.

He didn't want to quit because he had a mortgage to pay. Something he couldn't afford if he lost his job.

So here he was, waiting for permission to meet with Stella Willow, the CEO of Grey Pictures.

Even though NBC was bigger than Grey Pictures, Stella's position was much better here in Grey Pictures. Now there was only one boss above her and she had the most authority in the company.

Lucas got the message that he was allowed to enter and go to the sixth floor to see the CEO.

The answer he received was:

"I'm sorry Lucas, but Grey Pictures has already signed a deal with Fox TV. They will be airing Game of Thrones.

Lucas was not surprised at all... He expected it. Maybe NBC expected it too. All he had done was for nothing. Now he would get another nagging from his boss and maybe his salary would be deducted.

"Stella, are you hiring right now?"

He muttered.

Stella Willow stared into his eyes and answered.

"Lucas, I can't hire a traitorous liar in this company. You worked for me once and that's a mistake I don't want to make again."

"..."

That was right, Stella had once been Lucas' boss and he had caused the woman to resign from her job at NBC.

.........

......

...

April came and Kazir returned to Los Angeles for the final round of auditions for the female lead in Game Of Thrones. The Pirates Of The Caribbean shoot was only two weeks away from completion, and Kazir could begin editing the film after that.

The audition for Daenerys Targaryen was supposed to end today.

Game of Thrones had a lot of actors and all of them kind of resemble Daenerys. However, Daenerys Targaryen was recognized as one of the most popular characters in the series. So Kazir naturally took that into consideration and took it seriously.

Peter Dinklage was already cast as Tyrion Lannister because he was the most qualified for the role. Few actors in the industry had dwarfism, and few of them could act as well as Peter Dinklage.

Kazir knew that Game of Thrones was very popular with the rookie actors and actresses because it was Grey Pictures' first TV show. The budget for each episode was $5-10 million. The news that Kazir would be shooting the first five episodes made it even better.

Whenever Kazir was involved, the chances of success were higher.

"Thank you, Miss Adam. We will call you as soon as we make a decision."

Amy Adams, a beautiful actress, nodded. She looked at Kazir and said something.

"Um, Director Grey. I just want to say that I also auditioned for a role in Napoleon Dynamite, and you said the same thing last time." She smiled bitterly.

"Huh? Did I? Wait, Napoleon Dynamite was in 1995." That was almost a decade ago, and Kazir didn't expect Amy Adams to actually audition for a role.

"That's right, I was before Reese Witherspoon."

"I see," Kazir muttered.

Amy Adams looked down and walked out of the room. It seemed she hadn't done well this time, either.

"Kazir, I actually remember her," Harold whispered to Kazir.

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Remember, I was with you when we saw her audition."

So far the crew had met 7 actresses and all of them were promising. Even Amy Adams seemed like a possibility.

But Kazir was still waiting for someone... Too bad, he didn't know her name, so he just hoped to meet her today. He was looking for the original Daenerys Targaryen.

Kazir could find an actress to play the part, but that was his second option. For now, he was waiting for a miracle.

'I hate that I don't remember the actresss name... Man, I guess I'm getting older. I'm still in my 30s though.'

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 339



Kazir looked at the list of actresses and their information... Some of them didn't have their pictures, which was a bit disappointing.


'... How can an actress apply for a job but hide her face or not put a picture in her resume at all?' Kazir thought to himself. And the fact that these actresses passed the second round without putting pictures on their resumes was confusing.


"Excuse me, some of the actresses didn't have pictures. Why is that?"


Kazir could easily identify the woman he was looking for if he could see her picture. After all, Kazir had a strong visual memory.


"The casting director screwed up and accidentally destroyed some of the documents. What you see are copies of the originals, but the pictures are missing."


"I see..."


Kazir understood that it was a mistake and he was disappointed. He wanted to fire the casting director. But he decided to take it calmly. After all, people make mistakes.


He had already fired his last casting director for having sex with the agent so that his client could pass the audition. To make matters worse, the actress didn't meet the criteria at all.


The next actress showed up and it was none other than Jessica Alba.


"Wait, what?"


Not only Kazir, but even Harold was confused. Jessica Alba was never on the list, nor was her resume on the table.


"Hello, I'm Jessica Alba. I was in Spy Kids, The Sleeping Dictionary, Honey, and more. I'm here to audition for the role of Daenerys Targaryen." Jessica had her innocent smile.


"Wait a minute," Kazir interrupted her introduction.


"I just want to be clear. You auditioned for the role of Daenerys Targaryen and passed the second round?"


"That's right," Jessica nodded.


"... Did your agent do something again?"


Last time, Jessica's agent had sex with the last casting director to get the actress through the audition.


"Not that I know of." She replied.


"..."


Kazir leaned back in his chair.


Jessica had tan skin, and she didn't match the look of Daenerys Targaryen at all. Daenerys Targaryen was from the House Targaryen. They have pale white skin and white hair. Jessica didn't fit the criteria at all.


What the hell is going on here? Based on her appearance alone, Jessica shouldn't pass the first round. This was not about beauty or standard, it was about following the source material.


He was not against Jessica. He knew that the actress had built up her status in the industry and had appeared in many films. Jessica Alba could act. But she was not the person Kazir was looking for.


"You auditioned for the role of Daenerys Targaryen. Did you give us your resume?"


"Of course, I gave it to the casting director. It's actually three copies with my pictures on them."


"..."


The casting director screwed up. That was the moment Kazir realized he needed to hire a new casting director.


The casting director is not that stupid. He probably got something from Jessica's agent.


Whatever it was, Kazir didn't care. The casting director made many mistakes. He 'destroyed' the documents and also let an actress who didn't meet the criteria pass the second round of auditions.


Kazir turned to Harold and the producer nodded. The two had worked together for a long time and Harold knew what to do. It seemed that Harold would have to start looking for a new casting director.


Nothing against Salvatore Barlowe, but the two casting directors he recommended were bad.


"Let's start the auditions."


Since Jessica was here, they might as well continue the audition. But it was clear to Kazir that he was not interested at all. He just let the time pass.


Jessica realized that her chances of getting the part were non-existent. Nevertheless, being a professional, she did her job until the end. It was unfortunate, however, that she wouldn't have the chance to work with Kazir.


Two more actresses auditioned and Kazir became frustrated. He couldn't find the person he was looking for.


Harold and the others had already recommended Amy Adams as Daenerys Targaryen, but Kazir was still waiting for something. He didn't want to give his approval and the crew could sense it. So they decided to continue with the audition.


The next actress would be the last. If this actress was not the person Kazir was looking for, then he would have to accept reality.


.........

......

...


Emilia Clarke was nervous as she waited for her name to be called. All the actresses had their performance except her. She was last on the list and she knew that her chances of getting the part were very slim.


First of all, this was her first time auditioning. She was new to Hollywood and she wanted to be an actress.


She didn't even have an agent. She was a freelancer.


The good news was that she made it through the two rounds even though she was basically a novice. Her acting talent was passable, but her looks fit the role, so the casting director gave her a chance.


Still, almost everyone knew that Kazir wouldn't just hire a nobody. Even Emilia Clarke understood.


She had just turned 18, and this was her first decision as an independent adult. She went to the United States to try her luck. Well, she's not going to lose anything for trying.


"Emilia Clarke, please report to the audition room."


"A- All right." She stuttered.


She stood up and walked into the room, 9 people were sitting at the long table. A single camera was recording the audition.


"Hi, I'm Emilia Clarke--"


"You pass."


"I'm from Oxfordshire, England. I just turned 18 two months ago-- W-wait what?"


Emilia Clarke's mind stopped working when she heard someone agree.


Not only Emilia, but also the 8 people looked at Kazir with surprise and confusion.


Kazir realized his mistake and coughed.


"Sorry, I blurted that out without thinking. Continue with what you're doing, but I want you to wear white hair wig first."


"O- Okay." Emilia was a little disappointed, but she followed the instructions. She really thought she passed the audition. A makeup artist helped her put on the white hair wig.


Once done, Kazir and the others nodded as they realized that the young actress fit the role, at least in appearance.


++++


[I'll post two more chapters later. Just think of it as a Christmas and birthday present from me. Tomorrow is my birthday, so I just want to share the blessing of having lived another year. Even though life is bitter, it's also sweet and I appreciate that. I'm also going to post three chapters tomorrow and the next day].


[I actually did a poll for the role of Daenerys Targaryen with three actresses to vote which were Sienna Miller, Rachel Weisz, and Emilia Clarke. Yeah, it was useless poll since most people voted for Emilia Clarke.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 340



Emilia Clarke was a little surprised that the crew took the importance of someone like her, a nobody. She had no previous work to put on her resume. Fortunately, her appearance seemed to fit the role the crew was looking for.


They gave her scenarios to act out. She read part of the script and did her best. She noticed that the guy in the middle seemed to be interested in her. He kept asking her questions and telling her to do things. Funny enough, she didn't find it uncomfortable.


The man was sincere and serious, he didn't have any hidden motives. At least that was how Emilia saw it... She was actually nervous when the man looked at her seriously. She blushed for some reason and apologized when she blushed.


The woman didn't know anything about Kazir's face. She had just come to the United States and her knowledge about the director was limited. She only knew that Kazir Grey was the most famous and profitable director in Hollywood. Many production studios wanted to buy his scripts or hire him as a director.


Emilia saw Kazir's face in a newspaper, but the guy had a beard, so she couldn't recognize the current Kazir.


'... He's actually handsome.'


Her mind wandered a bit.


"Miss Clarke."


"Ah? Y- Yes!"


"Your acting is barely passable."


The handsome man said. His authority in the crew seemed to be high, because all nine people in the room, including Emilia, listened to him seriously.


"I'm sorry, sir. I will try my best. I will enroll in an acting class."


"You better do that." The man nodded.


"..." Emilia bit her lip. She changed her mind, the guy was not handsome. He was average at best! Especially with an attitude like that.


"You do understand that the role you're trying to get has nude scenes, right?" Kazir asked again.


"Yes. I want to be an actress and I think I will experience nude scenes anyway, I just decided to do it early in my career." She replied.


For someone like her who didn't have a foundation in the industry, she had to be brave to get what she wanted.


She knew that if she said no, her career in Hollywood would be over. This was her first big break, and she might get the same opportunity in her life again. Especially when Game Of Thrones was funded and produced by Grey Pictures, a big studio. For her career to blossom, she had to let go of her pride... Well, almost every person had to let go of their pride one way or another just to keep their jobs and make money. The world was not sunshine.


In fact, she won't hesitate if that "average guy" tells her to strip naked. She heard that in some auditions, the director would ask the actresses to strip, weather for professional purposes or lust.


This was her first big role and she didn't want to make a mistake and regret it later. She was an adult and could make her own decision.


'If he wants me to have sex with him... I might give it a try.' She thought to herself.


Erm, now that was bit stretch since Kazir was never a fan of casting couch.


"Miss Clarke, why are you blushing?"


"N- Nothing."


"We have your contact number, so we will call you later, ahem... Anyway, can you write your phone number again, please? We are not sure if the contact information in the documents is correct."


Kazir sighed. He was sure that this time he would have to fire the casting director. There might be a rumor that Kazir hated casting directors after this.


"Thank you, sir."


Emilia didn't hesitate and wrote down her number. She didn't have an agent and was only renting a small apartment for three months. If she did not get this role, she might have to find a part-time job or return to England and pursue an acting career there.


After Emilia left, the crew began to talk.


"Kazir, it's obvious you're interested in this girl. Do you see something in her?"


Harold was the first to break the ice. Kazir could spot talent. Technically, he discovered Brianna Evans, Reese Witherspoon, Pedro Pascal, and other new actors that became celebrities because Kazir found them.


"Her acting is passable, but her looks are perfect for the Daenerys Targaryen I'm looking for. That's why."


"We can send her to an acting class if she passes the audition. I know a great mentor who can teach her."


The one who said this was Palenque Simone. Palenque was not yet the official director, as he had one last assignment before he could take the director's position.


His experimental movie was still in progress, but he had to attend this audition for obvious reasons.


"Palenque, what do you think of Emilia Clarke?"


"Her? She's beautiful, I think."


Hollywood was a place where there were many beautiful women. Actresses waiting for their chance at stardom.


Maybe the reason there were a lot of gays in this industry was because there were a lot of beautiful actresses... People got tired of them because they were everywhere.


"Although I respect her last answer. A lot of actresses are against nude scenes. I guess she knows how to recognize opportunity. That's a talent."


Their conversation continued until they had listed three actresses to choose from.


1. Sienna Miller


2. Amy Adams


3. Emilia Clarke


The final decision, however, would always rest with Kazir. At least at the beginning of Season 1, Kazir had the most authority on the project.


"... Let's go with Emilia Clarke."


Kazir muttered, and the people did not turn against their boss. They just trust Kazir at this point, after all the successes he has had in the industry. They believed that Kazir had a reason for casting Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen.


"I have her number, so I guess I'll be the one to tell her the good news." He shrugged.


After that, he had to head over to ILM to check out the CGI editing on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.


.........

......

...


Emilia slurped down the ramen noodles she bought at the grocery store. Six-packs of ramen noodles for $2 was the most delicious meal for someone like her who was short on cash.


She kept glancing at her Nokia 3310 cell phone, hoping for good news.


"I should probably get a job. Who am I kidding, I'm just a nobody. I'm sure they hired Jessica Alba or some other actress."


Emilia saw a lot of famous actresses as she waited in line in the audition. All of them had starred in at least one movie.


Right after she finished her noodle soup, her phone rang and Emilia jumped in surprise. It was from an unknown number, but she decided to answer it.


++++


[The second chapter for today.]


[Also, I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing with this chapter.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 341


"Hello, this is Emilia Clarke, right?"

"Yes, sir. That's me." She recognized the voice. It was the average guy.

"You pass. You can go to the Grey Pictures building tomorrow and ask for an inquiry. They'll tell you what to do."

"E- Excuse me, sir? I passed the audition." She was surprised as she wiped her soup glistening lips.

"Yes."

"T- Thank you, sir! Thank you so much."

"I like the enthusiasm. By the way, stop calling me sir. Just call me Kazir or Director instead."

"Huh?"

The call ended with that, leaving Emilia speechless and stunned.

.........

......

...

Franklin Maxwell got out of his car after parking it. He looked around and saw a lot of people wearing swim trunks, bathing suits and bikinis.

He was at Paradise Cove, a famous beach in Los Angeles. He wiped off his sweat and went to where the movie was being shot.

Franklin was Orlando Bloom's agent. He was also the agent who tried to convince Kazir to change his agency back to WMA. Franklin went to great lengths, even going so far as to use sexy actresses and handsome actors to convince the director.

Unfortunately, his plan didn't work. He thought everything was going well until news broke that Kazir Grey had renewed his contract with CAA.

Franklin received a lot of backlash from management. Almost a decade passed, but the WMA was still bitter about losing someone like Kazir.

Now the director was recognized as the best director in the industry. No one could deny Kazir's talent in making blockbuster movies. The profit he brought to many studios was a huge amount.

On top of that, Kazir had a project every year! He was the most efficient and profitable director in the industry for a reason. Everyone would love to work with a guy like that.

Fortunately for Franklin, WMA didn't fire him after the backlash he received. Orlando Bloom's career really took off after the success of Lord of the Rings. And now the actor is starring in Kazir's latest project, Pirates Of The Caribbean!

Knowing Kazir, this movie will probably do better at the box office...

'Pirate themed movies has a curse, let's hope it doesn't happen this time. Kazir must break the curse.'

Franklin thought.

He was not angry with Kazir after what he had done. He was just disappointed in himself, he should have gone to sign the contract as soon as possible.

He reached the set and saw people from the perimeter holding cameras and taking pictures.

"They must be from News Corporation and 20th Century Fox."

These reporters were allowed to take some pictures of the set to publish, but they had to work with the crew to make sure they were taking pictures of something not important. They signed a non-disclosure agreement to make sure everything would be okay.

Staring at the 'good paparazzi', Franklin realized that most of them were taking pictures of one person in particular.

It was Kazir Grey in his shorts, topless. The director was not wearing a t-shirt and his healthy body was on display.

"... Damn." Franklin was speechless, slightly licking his lips.

If Kazir stopped working as a director, he could easily get a job as an actor with his physique alone.

His six-pack abs and toned muscles were perfectly sculpted. He was like a Greek god.

Kazir went to the gym at least twice a week to keep his figure perfect and healthy.

The director understood that 20th Century Fox needed a topic to attract the audience. So they decided to use Kazir as an eye candy... A lot of women might have a wet dream once the article was released.

Kazir knew that publicity was important, so he decided to agree. However, he still hasn't told Angelina because he doesn't know how to explain it.

The women in the room couldn't help but look at Kazir. They admitted that Kazir was handsome, but they didn't know that he was actually packing... His shorts were quite small and fit, giving the women a chance to see his 'body'.

Tomorrow's headlines could be about Kazir's perfect body and how he could make women thirsty.

Kazir was too busy to see their reaction. He just let the reporters take pictures of him.

"Cut! Ten minute break!"

Kazir announced, and the people dispersed and went about their business.

Orlando Bloom saw his agent and approached him.

The final part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was to be released this year and Orlando had already finished all his scenes a few months ago. He was concentrating all his time on Pirates Of The Caribbean.

"Frank, what are you doing here? I thought you were meeting one of your clients today."

"You're my biggest client, of course I should take care of you first. Warner Brothers contacted me, they want you to star in one of their big projects."

"Can I know the title? Have they given you the script?"

"It's here." The agent handed the script to Orlando.

"Troy? You mean the Trojan War?"

"Epic war movies are becoming increasingly popular. Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, Saving Private Ryan, and even The Revenant. All of them have been successful at the box office. You can read the script and tell me what you think. Just don't tell anyone for now... Well, you can ask Kazir for his opinion on the script. Don't worry, that's one of the reasons I'm here. Warner Brothers wants to know Kazir's opinion on this epic movie".

Franklin was too shy to talk to Kazir, so he decided to use Orlando instead.

"I understand."

Clueless, Orlando easily agreed and started reading the script.

"Whose character am I playing?"

"It's Prince Paris. Prince of Troy, Prince Hector's younger brother."

Orlando had no idea who they were, but he nodded. This was a Warner Bros. project, they would probably spend at least $70 million on this project. That meant Orlando could get a huge salary.

After all, money was one of the main reasons why actors and actresses did this job.

+++++

[I saw Troy a few years and I liked it. I still remember the opening scene when Brad Pitt defeated a tall warrior with one attack. Anyway, I posted three chapters today. If you want to read more, you can wait for the three chapters tomorrow or subscribe to my Patreon or Ko-fi].

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 342


"Wow.... Keira, you are so lucky to be a part of this movie! I can't believe you get to see something sexy every day!"

The young woman licked her lips slightly as she looked at Kazir who was sitting topless on his chair. The director was resting under the tent, checking the footages.

"Susan, stop your inappropriate thoughts. This is a serious job."

Keira Knightley sighed when she heard her personal assistant. Her assistant was good and attentive, her only drawback was her lust. She was down bad as hell. As long as the guy was handsome, Susan had no problem showing him a good time.

The two women talked in their tent, waiting for filming to resume. The makeup artist had just finished retouching Keira's makeup.

And in this business, Susan had a lot of people to choose from. She felt like she was at a buffet where she could eat anything she wanted and every dish was delicious!

Hollywood was full of hot and handsome men!

And now Susan realized that the famous director was actually a hunk! Susan knew that Kazir was handsome, but now her opinion of the director was at an all-time high.

"Come on, Keira. I know I'm not the only one attracted to him."

"Well," Keira looked away. She admitted that Kazir was hot. No lie, if Kazir were single, Keira wouldn't hesitate to flirt with him.

Unfortunately, the guy had a girlfriend and it seemed like their relationship was going great. She was jealous of Angelina Jolie for having the perfect boyfriend.

Kazir is talented.

He is mature.

He is handsome, tall and hot.

He is also a billionaire!

He was basically everything a woman could want in a man. He checked off everything on the checklist.

Keira was interested in Kazir, but her infatuation was not that high. At least she wasn't going to act like a slut just to get his attention.

Besides, the man was very serious about his work. He understood the importance of this project and so did Keira.

Both of them wanted this project to be a success. This was Keira's biggest project at the moment. Once Pirates of the Caribbean was a success, her salary would increase.

"Susan, don't do anything that will make us look bad."

"Heh, I can't help it. Kazir is so hot. Oh God, I want him to spit on me, spit in my mouth."

"I thought your type was someone like Orlando Bloom?"

"Orlando Bloom is hot, but Kazir is like, how should I put it, he is like an Alpha. I am confident that he can dominate me in bed! He is a tough guy. Definitely..."

Susan leaned closer and whispered.

"I bet his dick is big too. Look at his shorts, they must be..."

"Susan, don't say it."

Keira Knightley blushed slightly. She glanced at the director. She sighed. Unless Kazir had put an eggplant in his pants, Susan was not lying.

For the second time, Keira was jealous of Angelina Jolie for having a boyfriend like Kazir. The woman struck gold.

A few minutes later, filming began and Keira had three NGs because she couldn't concentrate. Her eyes would wander in one direction.

She stopped making mistakes when Kazir told her to "be serious and stop wasting people's time". It was embarrassing to Keira.

It seemed that the director was not in a good mood.

She realized that Kazir was not great at all. He was an asshole!

.........

......

...

A few minutes before the shoot, Kazir received a message from Stella Willow that their budget was tight this year because they had four projects to finance.

Grey Pictures might have to take out a loan or find someone to invest in their movies or TV show.

It was true that Kazir had received $1 billion from 20th Century Fox. At the end of the day, it was his money and he could spend it however he wanted. So he decided to invest in Google and Apple. He was still waiting for Mark Zuckerberg to create Facebook.

Grey Pictures could easily find an investor, the company was hot right now. Even 20th Century Fox was willing to invest in Game of Thrones as long as they got the broadcast rights.

Well, that was not the reason Kazir was upset.

An investor wanted to contact Kazir about investing in Game of Thrones. The person did not ask for much. As long as the profit shares were right, the investor wouldn't have a problem. The investor only wanted one thing. The investor hoped that her daughter, Mara Cohen, would get a role in Game of Thrones.

When Kazir heard this, his face went cold. He knew who Mara Cohen was. She was his half-sister on his mother's side.

After the incident a few years ago, Kazir lost all hope for his mother. He was very hurt at the time. He was depressed and it took him a long time to move on.

He decided never to think about her. That was the best way.

But he didn't think the woman would actually do that. His mother contacted Stella because she wanted to invest in Game of Thrones.

From the looks of it, she has a lot of money. Maybe she is confident in the return of investment that Game of Thrones can bring.

Kazir chuckled. He suddenly thought of letting his mother invest in the project and Kazir would sabotage Game of Thrones so that Elizabeth Cohen would lose her money.

Fortunately, Kazir was not stupid. The idea immediately disappeared from his mind.

But his mood was bad all day. The crew sensed that something was wrong, so they were quiet most of the time.

Even Orlando Bloom didn't dare talk to Kazir about the Troy script.

Nevertheless, the shooting went very fast that day. Probably because everyone was serious and didn't dare make any mistakes except for Keira. Maybe it is not so bad to be serious and angry. At least the filming went fast.

++++

[I'll post two more chapters later. Happy birthday to me.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 343


"So what's on our agenda this year?"

Ronald Meyer began the first quarterly meeting of the year. Ronald Meyer was the CEO of Universal Pictures and his management was amazing.

He was the one who pushed the plan to make The Mummy. Now The Mummy has become one of their most profitable franchises.

He was also the one who convinced Spielberg to direct Jurassic Park. The movie was based on a novel, but Universal found the potential of this novel and bought the rights to adapt it.

"Sir, Maid In Manhattan has already grossed $150 million at the worldwide box office. We already rented a hotel to celebrate the success of Maid In Manhattan." The presenter announced.

The executives nodded at the good news. Profits were always good. Universal Pictures' major shareholders were GE (General Electric) and Vivendi.

"That's great to hear, what else?"

"Johnny English is coming out in July." The presenter added.

"Yes, we already talked about that a month ago. Is there a reason why you say it again?"

"... We heard the news that The Equalizer, the new Grey Pictures movie, will be released in July."

The meeting room fell silent.

Ronald's expression turned slightly sour. Grey Pictures and Kazir Grey, these two names are famous in the industry right now... Universal Pictures was bitter because they had never worked with Kazir Grey! None at all!

Even scripts they couldn't buy at all!

It was all because of that stupid pig! Harvey Weinstein!

Back then, Harvey Weinstein and Universal Pictures joined forces to destroy Kazir's reputation. But they failed miserably. The Nutty Professor was nothing compared to The Hangover!

Because of this incident, Universal Pictures lost the chance to work with Kazir Grey.

How much did they regret that? Working with somebody like Kazir means easy profit these days. For a company that lives on profits, they would have hugged Kazir's leg.

Actually, they wanted to join the fight to take over Grey Pictures, but they were ashamed to do so. They knew they were wasting their time. Grey Pictures wouldn't agree to work with Universal Pictures.

Walt Disney kicked out their chairman because of the losses they had suffered last year, and Ronald was afraid of experiencing the same thing.

"Have they announced the exact date?"

"No, sir."

Johnny English was to be released on July 18. If Grey Pictures and 20th Century Fox decided to release The Equalizer on the same day, it would be a disaster for Universal Pictures.

Johnny English was an action comedy while The Equalizer was pure action. Johnny English might attract young audiences, but it was probably not enough to compete with The Equalizer.

The Continental Cinematic Universe had already gained a foothold and it would be hard to topple it.

According to their calculations, The Equalizer could gross at least $300 million worldwide.

"Find their schedule as soon as possible, I don't want any mishaps. We are not looking for a fight or a confrontation, we are here to make money. I want Johnny English two weeks before or after The Equalizer opens."

"Yes, sir." The rest of the management agreed. This was not one person's problem. The whole company would suffer if they made a mistake.

"What's next on the agenda?"

"It's Dawn Of The Dead. We are still looking for a director to oversee the project."

"Who's on our list?"

"Zack Snyder, Danny Boyle and Peter Jackson."

"Peter Jackson... Isn't he the director of Dead Alive?"

"Um, sir... Peter Jackson is also the director of The Lord of the Rings". One of the people reminded Ronald.

"Thanks for reminding me... Let's cross Peter Jackson off the list. We can afford him to direct a mid-budget horror."

That left Zack Snyder and Danny Boyle.

Danny Boyle was the director of 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours and Steve Jobs.

Although it was still 2003, so Danny had just made 28 Days Later. It was about zombies, starring Cillian Murphy.

As for Zack Snyder, he was still a music film director and this could be his first time directing a movie... If Universal Pictures gives him the project, of course.

Funny that these directors started their careers with horror movies. Well, horror movies were the cheapest genre to make, and the profit they could bring was huge.

And yes, Kazir also started his career as a horror director.

"Let's go with Zack Snyder."

The CEO of Universal Pictures, Ronald Meyer, announced.

What they didn't know was that a certain production studio had already contacted Zack Snyder.

.........

......

...

"So our budget is in the red right now?" Kazir asked Stella and the finance team about their budget.

"That's right."

Kazir looked at the data. They had four projects this year and they were all expensive.

The budget for The Equalizer was set at $50 million, but that amount would probably increase once they started promoting the movie.

The Wanted 2 had a budget of $80 million. The budget may increase as well.

Pirates of the Caribbean had a budget of $120 million. Even if Kazir knew how to control the budget, the promotion would also increase the budget.

As for Game of Thrones, the first season had 10 episodes. That was the best they could do because Game of Thrones was expensive. They set a budget at least of $5 million per episode.

Combining the four projects, Grey Pictures had to spend $300 million! That was certainly expensive. Their revenue last year was about $600 million, but their profit was only 30% of that. They also have to pay taxes, salaries, building maintenance, and film equipment. They were really not in a good situation.

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 344


Grey Pictures might have a hard time this year. Although the revenue that came back to the company was huge, their expenses this year were also huge.

"We have two methods. Find an investor or take out a loan."

Stella said.

The difference between the Big Six and Grey Pictures was their foundation. Unlike the Big Six, who could afford to make a failed movie, Grey Pictures would suffer if one of their movies or TV shows flopped.

Grey Pictures would have a hard time if that happened.

"My advice is to take out a loan. I know 20th Century Fox and other people are excited to invest in our movies, but they also want a share of our profits. Taking a loan is better, the interest rate is nothing compare to sharing the profits for years."

Stella Willow added, and Kazir agreed. With their status, they could easily find a bank to give them a loan.

The company is debt-free after paying off the loan 3 years ago.

The loan in question was the $50 million he used to produce Taken and buy the superhero copyrights from Marvel in 1996.

His credit was good, so banks would definitely approve.

The question was how much to borrow.

"I suggest at least $100 million for a 10-year term."

Seems possible, although Kazir was not knowledgeable about such things. Even his knowledge of taxes was mediocre. To be fair, schools never taught taxes when Kazir was a student.

"Let's do this."

20th Century Fox expressed that they wanted Game of Thrones to be broadcast on Fox TV.

Their original deal was for Season 1 of Game of Thrones to be aired on Fox TV, but Season 2 and Season 3 were still uncertain. After all, no one knows if Grey Pictures has what it takes to make a successful TV show. Maybe Season 1 was the first and last season of Game of Thrones.

But if 20th Century Fox invested in their project, then they have more authority over the project. The broadcast rights and the DVD distribution rights. They could also sell the show to other networks, depending on how much money they invest.

Taking out a loan was a better choice, even though Grey Pictures had to take on the debt. But that didn't matter, most companies are always in debt.

Kazir smiled a little... This way his mother wouldn't have a chance to invest in his project. He was through with her and didn't want her in his life.

.........

......

...

April was one month away from summer, and the industry understood that the promotion of their summer releases would also intensify.

People saw posters and billboards for movies like The Matrix Reloaded, Finding Nemo, and The Equalizer.

They were promising movies that had a chance to win the box office.

April 11th came and Anger Management, starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, premiered. The movie was produced by Sony-Columbia and Kazir was invited to the red carpet. Sony-Columbia and Grey Pictures maintained a close relationship as the two companies had to produce Spider-Man 2.

However, Kazir was too busy and didn't attend. The filming of Pirates of the Caribbean was almost finished, but a small incident happened. One of the pirate ships sank into the sea and some of the equipment was destroyed and unusable.

The first weekend of Anger Management grossed $42 million at the box office.

The following week, Wanted 2 wrapped and Fremont Smith wanted to talk to Kazir and Salvatore about his next step as a director.

He told them that he needed to step away from the CCU for a while and focus on his own career.

Well, Salvatore and Kazir had their opinions, but they decided to respect Fremont. Salvatore was Fremont's agent and he hoped that Fremont's next project would be successful... Otherwise his value as a director would go down.

Fremont said that he was interested in different genres, but he was still not sure what to make. Perhaps there was a script out there that could catch his attention.

By the end of April, Pirates of the Caribbean had finished shooting. Most of the scenes that needed special effects were shot first and Industrial Light & Magic did their job.

April 30th came and Anger Management made $106.05 million at the North American box office. Sony-Columbia has been doing well lately.

On the same day, X-Men 2 was released. X-Men was released before Marvel Comics was acquired by News Corporation, so this franchise was not included in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe, at least not yet.

Unlike the release of Anger Management, Kazir decided to attend the red carpet for X-Men 2 because Avi Arad and Stan Lee would also be attending the premiere.

Grey Pictures and 20th Century had close ties, and attending X-Men 2 was a sign of courtesy... Although Kazir didn't like the looks of the women around him.

The news of him being topless on the beach went viral and people realized that Kazir was not only talented and handsome...

This was also the reason why he was alone tonight, his partner was missing. Kazir talked to Angelina about the promotion before the pictures were published.

She understood why, but she was bitter. In her opinion, her boyfriend's body should only be seen by her and nothing else. After all, Angelina knew what a man Kazir was.

They were not on bad terms... Kazir thought so.

+++++

[I post three chapters today. If you want to read more, you can wait for the three chapters tomorrow or subscribe to my Patreon or Ko-fi].

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 345


Actually, X-Men was the second successful movie franchise for Marvel Comics.

Blade was released in 1998 and was a box office hit. Perhaps the box office success of Blade started the hype surrounding the vampire genre.

The film starred Wesley Snipes as Blade.

'... Speaking of Wesley Snipes, the actor tried to audition for the role of Robert McCall, the protagonist of The Equalizer.'

Kazir remembered this fact because The Equalizer has been hyped and promoted quite a bit lately. Also, Wesley Snipes was a famous black actor.

Unfortunately, Kazir Grey wanted to hire Denzel Washington... Kazir also knew that Wesley Snipes had a temper. Working with someone like that could jeopardize the franchise.

'I remembered that Blade 3 had a lot of problems. Wesley Snipes was always high on drugs when he was on the set. Wesley and the director confronted each other and promised never to work together again... This just rumors though.'

Blade was produced by New Line Cinema, who of course bought the rights from Marvel Comics. This franchise was the reason why Marvel Comics recently focused their business on movies. They saw hope, they saw how they could survive and possibly become the most famous superhero franchise in the industry, beating DC Comics.

The first installment of Blade (1998) grossed $131 million. The budget was $45 million.

The second film, Blade 2 (2002), grossed $155 million. The budget was $54 million.

It may be nothing compared to the box office of CCU movies, but it was true that the Blade franchise was profitable.

Marvel Comics realized they could use this method to stay relevant. Blade (1998) gave them a chance.

And then in 2000, X-Men was released and it slowly changed the trajectory of the company.

The movie rights to X-Men were acquired by 20th Century Fox. 20th Century Fox purchased the movie rights to X-Men and other related characters in 1994 for $2,600,000.

Honestly, 20th Century Fox was lucky to acquire X-Men because X-Men had a lot of characters they could use... One of those characters was Deadpool. A crazy mutant who can break the fourth wall.

20th Century Fox took advantage of Marvel Comics' moment of weakness and now they were having a time of their lives making money by making X-Men movies.

The first X-Men movie grossed $296 million on a budget of $75 million. This surge in box office gave Marvel Comics a better idea about their business and how to stay relevant.

Marvel Comics was doing well after X-Men, but everything changed when Spider-Man was released in 2001!

This movie was the fourth film to gross $1 billion at the box office! Sony-Colombia recognized the importance of this project by hiring someone as talented as Kazir Grey. Maybe that was the factor that made Spider-Man super successful.

No matter how you look at it, $1.09 billion was a success. By the way, Spider-Man made more than that. Merchandise related to the friendly neighborhood web-slinging hero was selling like hotcakes.

Spider-Man affected Marvel Comics in a very good way. Their comics, especially those related to Spider-Man, sold a lot. Toys, DVDs, t-shirts, and other stuff were sold out fast.

Those three movies were the beginning of the redemption arc for Marvel Comics.

.........
......
...

At the premiere of X-Men 2, Kazir attended since he had to talk to the management of Marvel.

Kazir found Stan Lee talking to Hugh Jackman. Although Wolverine was only one of the characters in X-Men, his character was the most famous.

In fact, Kazir knew that Wolverine would have three standalone films starring Hugh Jackman.

There is only one Wolverine, and that is Hugh Jackman.

'Well, Tom Hardy and Jensen Ackles can play the role. But that's my opinion. People are allowed to have their own opinions.' Kazir thought to himself.

Hugh Jackman saw Kazir and said hello to the director. Nothing wrong with greeting someone as famous as Kazir.

"Good evening, director."

"Good evening, Hugh."

The two were not that close and Hugh excused himself.

Stan Lee and Kazir had their conversation as the theater slowly filled with people.

"Have you heard the news?"

Stan Lee asked the director.

"Are you talking about Chairman Eisner's resignation?"

"No, not that... I don't even know who you're talking about. I'm talking about Warner Brothers and DC Comics. I heard that they are also trying to start a Cinematic Universe. What do you think about that?"

Kazir nodded.

He had heard about it, too, and he knew that Warner Brothers was serious. However, Kazir knew the outcome of their plan.

Superman Returns and Batman Begins are their launch movies. Too bad, because Superman Returns was a lost cause.

Superman Returns only made $391 million at the box office. For something like Superman, that was too little. Especially when the production cost of the movie was over $200 million.

Warner Brothers suffered a lot from Superman Returns.

Fortunately, Batman Begins did well. It grossed $373 million against a budget of $150 million. It clearly did better than Superman Returns.

Because of this failure, Warner Brothers decided to make Batman a trilogy instead and called it The Dark Knight.

As for their plan for the Cinematic Universe, they had to adjust and wait a few years for people to forget about the failure of Superman Returns.

Man Of Steel was released in 2013, the starting film of the DCEU. This time, Warner Brothers decided to go for a darker theme. To show how destructive Superman's race really was. And this plan worked, the movie made $668 million with a budget of $225 million.

'Unless Warner Brothers and DC decided to go with a darker storyline, their plan to start a Cinematic Universe will fail this time. Although I have to admit that The Dark Knight trilogy is a masterpiece. I can't wait to see it in theaters.'

"Kazir, DC Comics is the most famous comic book publisher in North America. I hate to say it, but they beat Marvel a long time ago." Stan Lee admitted, gritting his teeth.

The two companies had the same products and a decade ago they were on equal footing. But things started to go downhill for Marvel Comics when Superman and Batman hit the big screen. More people preferred DC Comics.

"Stan, are you afraid of DC Comics?"

He teased the old man, and Stan Lee shook his head.

++++++

[There will be two more chapters later.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 346


"No, but I also know that their superheroes have a better status than ours... We have to sell the movie rights of our superheroes just to stay afloat." Stan gave Kazir a side-eye and Kazir kept his smile...

Grey Pictures acquired a lot of superheroes from Marvel almost a decade ago.

20th Century Fox had X-Men and Fantastic Four.

New Line Cinema had Blade.

Sony-Columbia had Spider-Man.

As for Grey Pictures, the studio basically raided Marvel's library. Marvel Comics was left with a few characters.

"It's a good thing we're under the same company, otherwise the negotiations would take a long time." Stan Lee added, and Kazir agreed.

The two sides decided to create another studio to be called Marvel Studio. Kazir would be the director/executive and Avi Arad the producer. Grey Pictures transferred the film rights to this studio in exchange for a share of the profits.

He knew that making a superhero movie required a lot of investment, and Grey Pictures was in a tight spot right now. It would be better to have a share of the profits than to shoulder a multi-million dollar budget.

Grey Pictures couldn't afford to invest in Marvel movies anyway. Each Marvel movie would cost over $100 million to produce.

'Besides, I have to work with Stan Lee and the other people at Marvel Comics to make sure the plot of the MCU is perfect. After all, I don't know all their superheroes.'

"By the way, Stan. Are you interested in doing cameos in the MCU?"

"Like you did in CCU?"

"Yeah. Just think of it as a tradition."

"Of course I'm happy to do it. I'm going to spend a lot of time on the set anyway, so I might as well put myself in front of the camera. I'm sure my grandkids will love it."

Avi Arad appeared a few minutes later. Unlike Stan Lee, Avi Arad's main topic of conversation was business and how they could make sure their upcoming projects would be successful.

Next year, Kazir would be working for Sony-Colombia to produce Spider-Man 2. Sony-Colombia had already prepared everything they needed such as props and locations, all they had to do was shoot the movie.

Spider-Man was the highest grossing superhero movie at the time.

.........
......
...

The premiere of X-Men 2 started and people watched the movie.

The main plot of X-Men 2 was that Professor X was kidnapped. The enemy wanted Professor X to use his power to manipulate the mutants to kill each other. The team had to rescue Professor X before that could happen.

The CGI of X-Men 2 was better compared to the last one. The team had a higher budget and probably spent most of it on special effects.

X-Men had a budget of $75 million while X-Men 2 had a budget of $125 million. The difference between the two can be seen in the movie.

Based on the audience reaction, the movie did great.

The first day of X-Men 2 grossed $31.24 million. Marvel Studio and 20th Century Fox were happy. This was a good sign.

The second day came, Saturday. The box office of X-Men 2 went up to $63.21 million.

Then on Sunday, the box office went up to $85.55 million.

The first weekend of X-Men was a success and it became the box office champion of the week.

X-Men 2 had no competition when the first week of May arrived. The movie dominated the first week of May and made $107.01 million at the North American box office.

Their trajectory slowed slightly when May 9 arrived and a promising comedy was released.

Daddy Day Care, starring Eddie Murphy, was produced by Sony-Colombia with a budget of $60 million.

The first three days of Daddy Day Care grossed $27.62 million.

In the same three days, X-Men 2 grossed $39 million, bringing its total to $147 million.

So yes, X-Men 2 still won first place that week.

Superhero movies were becoming more popular and more people wanted to see them. The hype that Spider-Man created had a positive effect on X-Men 2.

As a result, X-Men 2 also dominated the second week of May.

Its reign only ended when Warner Brothers released Matrix Reloaded, one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Despite being an R-rated movie, The Matrix Reloaded sold a lot of tickets.

The Matrix, released in 1999, was highly regarded as one of the best R-rated movies of all time.

People were excited to see Neo again.

Unfortunately, the Wachowskis were given full authority over the production. The Wachowskis decided to focus more on philosophical scenes instead of giving the audience what they wanted.

The audience was left confused at the end of the movie.

This was one of the reasons why directors rarely had full authority over projects. Because most directors wanted to focus on artistic and philosophical scenes, forgetting the fact that the main reason for producing movies is to make money.

Fortunately, Kazir knew that the box office is the most important aspect of this industry. As long as you make money, people will respect you no matter what genre you make.

Horror directors, comedy directors, action directors. As long as their movies make money, they stay relevant.

The first weekend of The Matrix Reloaded grossed $73.38 million, knocking X-Men 2 off its throne.

While the summer season was busy for Hollywood, Kazir also spent time editing his project. All of the special effects for Pirates of the Caribbean were complete, and all he had to do was assemble each scene into a movie.

With the help of Rector and the editing team, Pirates of the Caribbean was slowly taking shape as a story. Kazir was determined to break the curse of pirate-themed movies.

In the middle of editing, Kazir received a message from someone. It was from his girlfriend, Angelina Jolie.

The woman wanted to meet him at a bar to talk. Of course, Kazir agreed. He also wanted to talk to Angelina about what happened last time.

"Guys, the work today is done," Kazir announced.

"Finally, an early exit." Rector was the first to leave the room, his wife would be grumpy again if he returned to the house late.

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 347


Kazir got out of his expensive car, he was alone. Erica and his new bodyguard Anderson were not with him. To be honest, he was still not comfortable with having people around him, following him.

He looked at the bar he usually visited when he wanted to relax. This bar was famous for having a nice atmosphere, and jazz music played softly while he enjoyed the taste of alcohol.

He entered the bar and looked around. In the corner of the room, a woman was minding her own business, waiting for someone.

Kazir approached the woman.

"Babe, how's your day?"

"It's good."

The two shared a gentle kiss before sitting down.

Suddenly, Kazir frowned as he sensed something strange from Angelina.

"Why do you cover your left arm?"

"Oh, that...? It's just a bruise, no big deal."

Angelina showed her arm to Kazir, a long but thin wound was there. Kazir grabbed her arm and inspected it, stroking it lightly, tracing the wound.

"I had a little accident while filming Lara Croft. Don't worry, the doctor already disinfected it and it's not that deep, it won't leave a scar."

Angelina blushed slightly as she saw Kazir's worried expression. She could not help smiling... The wound was nothing, this kind of bruise could happen when shooting an action scene. She just wanted to worry Kazir and it seemed that her method worked.

"Does it hurt?"

"Babe, it's technically a graze... W- Well, it was actually painful at first- W-What are you doing...?"

Angelina almost squealed as Kazir showered her arm with kisses... Note that they were in a bar and there were some customers in the establishment who could see what they were doing.

"I'm just doing what I can. I heard that kissing a wound makes it less painful."

"What are you? A child?"

Angelina giggled and tapped him on the shoulder. She tried to hide the fact that she blushed when Kazir gently kissed her arm.

"Why didn't you tell me you had an accident? I would end my work today just to be with you."

"I know you're busy and I didn't want to worry you. You're in post-production and it's an important stage."

She replied. Actually, she was angry with Kazir because he didn't tell her that he was going to publish his "striptease" in the newspaper. This was her way of getting back at him.

"Still..."

"Okay, okay. Let's just say we're equal now. You hid the fact that you showed your abs to the public, and I hid my accident from you. Now we're even."

"But I don't feel equal at all."

He sighed. Sometimes it was hard to understand Angelina. She was stubborn and the jealous type.

"Is that so? Then why don't you make it up to me? Do something nice for me. No, never mind. I want you to cook me a meal instead. I miss your bacon, eggs and pancakes."

"Angelina, that's a simple breakfast."

"But it's delicious when you're the one cooking it."

"... Okay, fine. I'll cook something for you tonight."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"That's what I like to hear."

The two ordered alcohol while talking. Even though they were just talking, they couldn't help but giggle and laugh at each other. They talked about their jobs and their daily lives.

They didn't see each other for a week because they were busy. Angelina was also angry with Kazir because of the published news about his great body.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I don't know how to explain it to you because I know you're going to be mad. Pirates of the Caribbean needs a lot of promotion because it is a pirate movie and audiences rarely like to see pirate movies. 20th Century Fox decided to use me as the main focus of the promotion".

"I understand, but I'm still upset."

"That's why I'm cooking dinner tonight."

"No, dinner is not enough. I need more."

She playfully bit her lip. The atmosphere between them melted and they wanted to fuck right away.

Luckily, they were sober enough to control their urges.

"... Let's leave this place."

"Yes, let's go back to your house."

Angelina happily agreed. She was ready to solo this famous director tonight.

The two left the bar and Kazir clicked his tongue. He saw someone he recognized.

"There's a paparazzi a few meters to your left. Let's go before the paparazzi start asking us questions."

Kazir grabbed Angelina's hand and walked quickly.

Angelina instinctively turned to her left and saw a man approaching them quickly, clicking his camera furiously.

"You need a strong promotion, right?"

Angelina had an idea while licking her lips.

"Angelina--"

The woman hugged Kazir's neck and kissed him. Kazir was surprised at first, but he responded and kissed her back. The two shared a passionate kiss in the middle of the night.

The paparazzi were stunned and stopped moving. However, his fingers continued to click the camera.

Seconds passed and their lips parted, the two panting.

"Angelina, what was that?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking of a way to promote my movie and your movie at the same time.... So, how about another kiss?"

"I'll never turn down your offer."

Angelina giggled before Kazir grabbed the back of her head and kissed her roughly, tonguing her and making her moan in between.

+++++

[Author's Note: A little slice of life since the next chapter will be about the release of Pirates Of The Caribbean. Thanks for all the support, I know I sometimes disappeared for quite a while].

[Now I'm back to the usual schedule, which means I don't know when I'll update again... If you want to read more, you can wait for the update or subscribe to my Patreon or Ko-fi].

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 348


The Matrix Reloaded basically dominated the last two weeks of May. There were no profitable movies at that time except Matrix.

The Big Six were smart enough to understand that facing something as powerful as The Matrix Reloaded would be bad for their business.

The Matrix Reloaded had a promising result and the Big Six decided not to release their movies close to Matrix Reloaded because their movies would be badly affected by Matrix Reloaded.

So within two weeks, The Matrix Reloaded easily grossed $217 million at the North American box office. The Matrix gained a lot of fans all over the country. Even the fashion sense was affected by this movie because a lot of people were now wearing black windbreakers with sunglasses and things like that. The influence of this movie was massive, many people couldn't deny it.

Unfortunately, the two sequels would be a disappointment for many people. The Matrix Reloaded had a lot of philosophical scenes that confused the audience and affected the box office.

"We can't follow our plan."

Alan Horn, the COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Warner Brothers announced in the meeting.

The results of The Matrix Reloaded were studied by professionals. Although The Matrix Reloaded made a lot of money in its first two weeks, the executives clearly saw that the audience response was not good.

CinemaScore gave the movie a B+, and that was just the first 5,000 votes. That rating would continue to drop.

Based on that score alone, the audience didn't like the movie. Not that much.

"If this continues, we will have to release the third movie this year to get as much profit as possible."

If they let the third Matrix movie come out in a few years, the audience would lose all interest.

So before it could happen, the executives at Warner Brothers agreed that they had to release the third movie this year. That was the safest way.

They didn't want to wait any longer because it was obvious that the fans were losing interest.

"It's a good thing we shot the second and third movies at the same time, the Wachowskis just need time to polish the movie..."

Speaking of the Wachowskis, Alan Horn regretted that he trusted them so much. They should have controlled the movie.

Well, The Matrix Reloaded was filled with meaningless philosophy about life and stuff. The audience didn't like that at all. They wanted to see an action and adrenaline movie. You see, human is a simple species. They bought the tickets to watch an action movie, not to get lectured.

"This year we will release the third movie to make as much profit as possible."

That is what happened in the original timeline. Warner Brothers realized that this franchise would lose all of its value if they didn't release the third movie as soon as possible.

So they decided to release the third movie, The Matrix Revolution, in November of the same year and grab as much money as they could. Then they killed the franchise for almost two decades.

This taught them that trusting directors too much and letting them edit the movie would be too bad for business. Only a few directors like Kazir Grey had a sense of post-production for the purpose of making money.

This director could edit a movie to entertain the audience, not to make some philosophical bullshit. After all, people watch movies to escape reality.

"Start promoting The Matrix Revolution. Announce that the third movie is coming out this year," Alan Horn said, and management was determined to make it happen.

So yes, The Matrix Reloaded and Revolution would be released in the same year. A good move for Warner Brothers.


.........

......

...

Two weeks after the release of The Matrix Reloaded, the animated film Finding Nemo was released simultaneously in 3,374 theaters.

This was a movie animated by Pixar for Walt Disney. Walt Disney basically owned this company since Steve Jobs focused more of his attention on Apple. Walt Disney and Steve Jobs were the two biggest shareholders of Pixar.

With a budget of $94 million, this animated film easily captured the attention of many hearts... No lie, Finding Nemo was a masterpiece.

On its first day alone, Finding Nemo grossed $20.20 million at the North American box office.

This movie was rated PG-13, so the whole family could see it with no problem. And that was the magic of animated movies like Finding Nemo, every age could enjoy it.

Parents could enjoy it, understand the plot and be touched by how the father clownfish suffered and sacrificed just to find and save his son.

Children enjoyed it because it was a cartoon. It was a common knowledge that kids love to watch cartoons.

Even though Disney was an asshole sometimes, it didn't change the fact that Walt Disney was the greatest animation studio in Hollywood. Their movies were deep and close to the human heart... Except for the old racist/prejudice movies. Like Song Of The South, Pocahontas, and Peter Pan... Disney decided to forget about those movies because they didn't fit their family oriented image.

Anyway, Finding Nemo was a great movie and dominated June without any problems. From May 30 to June 27, Finding Nemo was the king of the box office. It made $244.27 million at the box office.

On June 27, 2003 another big movie was released. It was produced by Sony-Colombia with the title Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

It starred Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Lui.

This action film with three female protagonists was very well received.

On its first weekend, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle grossed $37 million at the box office.

In the same weekend, Finding Nemo only made $9 million, making Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle the week's box office champion.

++++

[Yeah... I'll post another chapter in an hour.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 349


"What we see here is director Grey's trailer for Wanted, which was released in 2000. I want to hear your opinion about this trailer. Does it have an impact on the $1 billion box office of Wanted or not?"

The professor, who teaches filmmaking to students at the California Institute of the Arts, ended the trailer.

One student raised her hand because she knew the professor loved it when a student actively participated in class. In fact, she was an avid fan of Director Grey's.

"I think Director Grey's trailer has a strong effect. The way this trailer was created easily attracted people's attention. I can't explain it, but the music, the editing, the cutting, I feel like I want to watch Wanted again".

Alexa Nguyen, an Asian student, expressed her opinion. She was not an expert in filmmaking, but she wanted to be an actress, so she decided to take this class.

The professor nodded and started to talk about his opinion. He explained how Director Grey used suspense music to excite and attract the audience.

After this class, Alexa Nguyen decided to go to the cafeteria for lunch.

She heard a group of young women giggling and staring at her. Nguyen dreamed of being an actress, but her appearance was her worst enemy.

She had slanted eyes, a flat nose, and olive-brown skin. Yes, she knew she wasn't that beautiful, but that didn't stop her.

She knew that with her looks, the best roles she could get were the stereotypical Asian roles-- An Asian woman running a restaurant, maybe with a thick Asian accent. However, Alexa Nguyen was born in the United States and she spoke like a normal American.

Hollywood had a habit of creating stereotypes.

Black people with strong language/profanity.

Blonde women are portrayed as dumb and stupid.

Hispanics are in the cartel.

Italians are in the mafia.

Asians have thick Asian accents and know kung fu and stuff.

One of Alexa's dreams was to break those stereotypes. That is why she was a fan of Enzo Park. His role in Continental Cinematic Universe was cool, he didn't have the usual thick Asian accent.

"Tch, what an ugly bitch."

The leader of the women snickered at Alexa and the Asian woman gritted her teeth to find a place to eat. Suddenly she didn't want to eat anymore.

"Hey, Mara. I heard your brother is going to make a TV show, why didn't you audition? Since you are Kazir's younger sister, you can easily get a role in his new TV show."

"Well, I'm trying to focus more on modeling."

The beautiful woman, Mara Cohen, replied. Maybe Mara was just lying or too stupid to understand that her relationship with Kazir Grey was non-existent.

Nevertheless, Mara Cohen used this tiny connection to tell her friends that she was Kazir's sister. Which was technically true.

As a result, Mara easily made a lot of female friends. The students at this university either wanted to be directors or actors/actresses.

The women hoped that Mara would introduce them to Kazir...

It was true that Mara was a model. In fact, her modeling career was going well. She received a contract stating that Victoria's Secret wanted her to be one of their models. They were still negotiating, and Elizabeth Cohen was so proud of her daughter for that.

Actually, it was Salvatore and Harold who created this opportunity.

Lately, Mara felt her life was getting better. She had a clear career path and was the queen of the campus.

"Don't worry, when the opportunity arises, I will introduce you to my brother. He is just too busy these days. I'm sure he'll prefer someone as beautiful as you, hehe, compared to that ugly Asian woman over there."

Mara gestured to Alexa a few tables away. The women giggled and began to make fun of the Asian woman.

Alexa, hearing their hurtful words, clenched her spoon as she ate a rice dish.

Alexa was confused as to how someone like Kazir could have a bitchy sister. Kazir and Mara had contrasting attitudes.

The director seemed down to earth, while Mara was out of this world.

Alexa admitted that there was a resemblance between the two, both brother and sister were good looking.

'They are probably not that close, I think. Maybe they are half-siblings...'

She thought. Suddenly, she heard her cell phone ring. Her eyes widened as she read the message. Alexa was one of the lucky fans who would have the chance to meet Kazir Grey in person!

Alexa had actually been a member of Grey Fans since its inception. She was active in the group, sometimes running small meetups.

She couldn't help but squeal. She would have the chance to meet her idol.

'... Now that I think about it, should I ask Director Grey about his younger sister's attitude? Mara acts too much.'

.........

......

...

During a meeting for Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl, Tom Rothman told Kazir about management's intentions regarding the release of Wanted 2.

"You want Wanted 2 to have a simultaneous wide release?"

Simultaneous wide release was not new.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones opened in 3,161 theaters in the United States and Canada and in 73 other countries on 5,854 screens.

This year, 20th Century Fox released X2, the second installment of the X-Men film series, in 3,741 theaters in the U.S. and Canada and in 93 markets overseas on 7,316 screens.

Based on the success of X-Men 2, 20th Century Fox was confident that Wanted 2 would do even better.

++++

[Author's note: Yes, two chapters today. There will probably be two chapters tomorrow as well... Probably]

[Anyway, I hope you guys understand that this novel is fake and made up by my low IQ brain. You don't have to remind me that this novel is stupid... It hurts. Nah, I'm just kidding. You can bash the novel all you want.]

[All I want is for you to enjoy this novel, no matter how bad or good it is. Like I said, I accept any kind of criticism. After all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you think this novel deserves a 1-star rating, I'll gladly accept it because it's your honest opinion. Who am I to stop you?]

[See you tomorrow... I hope]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 350


The use of digital cameras was becoming popular, and most production studios preferred to use them instead of the old cameras that needed film reels to record video.

Digital cameras only needed SD cards or DVD disks, but SD card was the most popular method.

Of course, Kazir immediately followed these changes, knowing that digital cameras would dominate the industry and that people who used traditional cameras and film reels in their projects were just using them for novelty.

Now, Grey Pictures didn't have to use a truck to store their reels when they were shooting outside the studio.

They also didn't have to change the reels every few minutes because the SD cards had more storage despite their small size.

Reels, or should I say films, were also used in theaters.

The Big Six and other film distributors would print thousands of copies of movies and give them to Cinema Alliance to release in thousands of theaters.

Week by week, the number of theaters showing the films would decrease and the reels would be returned to the Big Six.

Then the Big Six would send those reels to foreign countries to be used in their theaters to show the movie.

But now things are getting better. More theaters have adapted to using SD cards because they are easier to use than film reels, which are big and heavy. IMAX and 3D technology also became popular.

This made it easier to distribute movies.

If 20th Century Fox followed the same procedure as they did with X-Men 2, Wanted 2 could be released in foreign countries at the same day.

Of course, the cost might be higher, but the company was confident in Wanted 2. This was the franchise that grossed $1 billion at the box office. Surely its sequel would do just as well.

Kazir thought about it and had no problem.

"We'll give priority to English-speaking countries, most of their theaters have already adapted to the new technology."

"That's fine with me."

He knew that this conversation was not yet in effect, with no official contract and all. After all, this was a meeting to prepare for Pirates of the Caribbean.

As for why Kazir didn't ask for a wide release of Pirates of the Caribbean, he knew that 20th Century Fox was still skeptical about the film. They were not convinced that spending a lot of money in the early stages would be good.

The meeting ended and the promotion was set in motion.

Although Kazir had just finished the meeting, he didn't have time to rest. He went to a place to find the set of Game of Thrones.

Right after he finished the post-production of Pirates Of The Caribbean, the filming of Game Of Thrones officially started.

Kazir was greeted by the crew and cast, dressed in medieval garb.

He nodded at them, glancing at Emilia Clarke, who had dyed his hair silver-white. Kazir admitted it, but the woman fit the role perfectly.

Since the release of Game of Thrones was earlier than the original timeline, Kazir had to change some things, like the nude scenes. He is not allowed to show any dicks, nipples or private parts that could jeopardize the ratings... Those stuffs would be exclusive on the DVD version. Yeah, a great business idea.

The censorship of the TV networks was quite serious in the early days. Unlike two decades later, when showing dicks and breasts in TV shows was the norm... Netflix might be a mild porn site because of its dubious censorship in this regard.

Still, Kazir wanted to keep the original as raw as possible, so he might have to film a lot of skin and humping...


.........

......

...

July arrived and The Matrix Reloaded hit its break, making only hundreds of thousands per day. The movie was past its peak. The total box office for The Matrix Reloaded was $269.76 million. This was only in North America. The international performance was still ongoing and currently stands at $217 million.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was released on July 1, 2003. The movie starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and was distributed by Warner Brothers. Unlike the usual Thursday midnight release, Terminator 3 decided to have its release on Tuesday instead and made $4.03 million.

Its first week was amazing, grossing $72.38 million after 5 days in theaters.

Warner Brothers was happy with the results of Terminator 3. However, they couldn't help but be nervous...

On July 9th, Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl would have its premiere. Even though it was a pirate movie, Warner Brothers had to take it seriously.

Because the director of this movie was none other than Kazir Grey.

Last year, The Revenant made over $500 million despite not being a mainstream genre. Even if Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't a popular genre, its performance could still threaten Terminator 3.

.........
......
...

The TCL Chinese Theatre was buzzing tonight as the red carpet was already laid.

Reporters flashed their cameras at the cast as they arrived one by one.

Fans of the movie were also waiting for their idols.

Some were fans of Johnny Depp.

Some were fans of Orlando Bloom.

Some were fans of Kazir Grey. They call themselves Grey fans. For this premiere, Kazir promised to have dinner with his ten most loyal fans.

"Woohoo! Kazir, you're so handsome!"

"Kazir, baby! Give me baby! Impregnate me! I'm a femboy--!!

Some of the fans shouted as Kazir, wearing a black tuxedo, stepped out of the limousine.

As usual, Kazir was accompanied by his girlfriend, Angelina Jolie. They kept their smiles on despite the deafening screams and blinding lights.

++++

[There will be another chapter a few minutes later, maybe half an hour later.]

 

[Pujimaki]

[I decided not to add a summary for Pirates Of The Caribbean, since I didn't change anything. If you're interested, you can watch the movie instead. I watched the franchise up to Strangers Tide, but after that I'm lost. By the way, my favorite is At World's End. The third one is probably the best.]

Hollywood What If Chapter 351


"Ah yes, my hat kept falling off because of the strong wind. The pirate hat was originally made of leather, but the crew decided to make it of rubber so it wouldn't sink into the sea. We lost a lot of hats the first time we shot the movie in Haiti." Johnny laughed.

Unlike leather hats, rubber hats float on the surface of the ocean. The crew could easily retrieve the rubber hats, which saved them money.

The crew lost nearly ten leather hats at sea...

"Oh, that's interesting news. I wasn't expecting that."

The reporter said to Johnny Depp. The actor nodded and went on.

"Actually, we also experienced a typhoon in the Bahamas. The crew lost a lot of equipment. I can say that this project suffered, although I'm amazed at how director Grey pulled it off. I realized that he's talented for a reason."

"What did you learn from working with Director Grey?"

"Hm, I guess being professional. Don't get me wrong, I'm already a professional and take my work seriously, but Director Grey's dedication is amazing."

Johnny Depp didn't elaborate, but he witnessed Kazir maintaining his stoic expression while dozens of women in bikinis flirted with him. At that time, Kazir had to go to a grocery store to buy Gatorade for his headaches from lack of sleep. He was then ambushed by women in bikinis.

Johnny Depp was a little far away, but he witnessed the incident. If he were in Kazir's shoes, he might bring two or three of these women back to his hotel room and have some fun.

Sometimes he wondered if Kazir was gay or just another kind of man. What Johnny didn't know was that Kazir was afraid of women...

The interview ended and it was time for Johnny Depp to enter the theater.

There were many reasons why Johnny Depp accepted the role of Jack Sparrow. First was the salary. Being famous since the early 90s, Johnny Depp could easily get $10 million for this project. Surprisingly, Grey Pictures offered him a salary equal to his status.

Since money was not a problem, Johnny focused his mind on the script.

He realized that Johnny Depp was different from the usual roles he played. Johnny usually had roles of serious or depressed type characters. Like Edward Scissorhands in Edward Scissorhands and Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hallows.

Most actors have roles they love to play.

Tom Cruise always has the role of a cool, handsome guy in most of his movies. In his movies, Tom Cruise loves to run for some reason.

The Rock's role was usually a big, buff, strong guy. He also loves jungle movies. He also didn't like losing.

Ryan Reynolds loves to perform as Ryan Reynolds in his movies.

When Johnny Depp read the script, he found Jack Sparrow to be a quirky but calculating guy. He was dumb, but he was also a great pirate... Actually, he didn't like the role that much. He knew that pirate movies have a curse and never make money at the box office.

Carolco Pictures died because of a pirate movie called Cutthroat Island.

He was more interested in the money and working with Kazir Grey. However, after playing the role, Johnny began to realize that Jack Sparrow was an amazing character. He liked him very much.

Johnny found his seat, next to Orlando Bloom, who had a complicated look on his face.

"Are you okay, Orlando?" Johnny asked curiously.

"Me? Ah, yeah, I'm fine."

Orlando smiled slightly before returning to his own world. Orlando had already spoken to Kazir about Troy and his opinion was positive.

The director said that as long as the production was good, this movie had the ability to make money at the box office. Orlando felt great hearing that, so he decided to study his role.

His face slowly frowned as he realized that his role in the movie was that of a cowardly wimp!

Prince Paris of Troy.

A cowardly prince who seduced the queen of Sparta and fled back to Troy. Basically started a war.

Instead of keeping his honor as a warrior, the prince kneeled before his elder brother to save him from death. Further aggravating the war.

As a new actor, Orlando felt that this role could destroy his image as a handsome but brave actor.

His roles in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean were better.

Orlando practiced archery for his role as Legolas in Lord of the Rings.

In Pirates Of The Caribbean, Orlando took sword-fighting lessons every week to understand how swordsmen operate. Of course, Johnny Depp did the same.

'That's probably one of the reasons I got the offer, because I already know how to use swords. '

In the end, Orlando Bloom decided to accept the role in the face of the money. Although sometimes he couldn't help but frown. He was sure that he would never like Prince Paris, as a character and as a person.

A few minutes later, the theater went dark and the premiere began with the famous 20th Century Fox logo and iconic sound, followed by the Grey Pictures logo.

.........

......

...

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The audience clapped as Kazir made his entrance. Jay Leno and Kazir shook hands before Kazir sat down.

As usual, promoting the movie would never be wrong. The real reason he went on the show was to promote the movie.

The talk show started mildly, talking about things and making funny jokes.

"So Kazir, I want to know your opinion about these pictures... Huh, can you explain? Was it really big?"

+++++

[Yes, two chapters today. If you want to read more, you can wait for the update or subscribe to my Patreon or Ko-fi. Anyway, I'll probably post a chapter tomorrow... Probably]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 352


Some of the women in the audience squealed when Jay Leno showed Kazir's topless pictures. In these pictures, Kazir was walking on the beach wearing sunglasses.

Kazir chuckled and blushed slightly, embarrassed.

"I actually don't know how the tabloids found those pictures. Production was taking a break at the time, so I decided to go to the beach and have some fun. They probably took those pictures while I was on break."

He casually lied while maintaining his grin. Those pictures were taken to promote the movie. Not by accident, but on purpose.

But of course, Kazir had to keep the novelty. In this business, lying has always been part of the job.

Oh, you tore your ACL while filming an action scene? How brave and dedicated are you? How can you still run like a cheetah then?

Oh, you don't have a stunt double? What, you're going to latch onto a plane a hundred feet off the ground? Wow, does your insurance cover that?

So you're not on steroids? You got ripped in two months? It's because you eat healthy meals every day, go to the gym, and maintain a perfect set of muscles. Yeah, yeah, you're not lying. *wink wink*

In this business, lying has always been part of the job.

"So where did you get your inspiration for this movie?"

"I'm not going to lie, I actually thought of a movie about pirates while riding one of the rides at Disney World."

.........

......

...

The opening day (July 9, 2003) of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was $13.50 million.

Unlike Spider-Man, which earned $39 million, and The Revenant, which earned $15 million on its first day, The Curse of the Black Pearl had a lower opening box office.

However, 20th Century Fox and Grey Pictures were happy with this result. Their expectations for this pirate movie were not that high.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines only made $9 million on the same day, so The Curse of the Black Pearl easily won first place that day.

On the second day, Thursday, July 10, Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl made another $10.48 million.

The movie had an unorthodox premiere, as The Curse of the Black Pearl premiered on Wednesday.

On Friday, July 11, the film earned another $14.84 million.

On Saturday, July 12, it made another $17.41 million.

On Sunday, it made another $14.37 million.

The first weekend of Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl grossed $70.62 million.

Those numbers made a lot of people sit up and take notice. Publishers who were ready to bash the movie stopped their intentions before making a fool of themselves. The critics who wanted to criticize the movie also became quiet.

There was no reason to bash a movie that made $70 million at the box office. After all, money was an important aspect of the industry.

The plot of the movie was great. It was also entertaining. The acting was impeccable.

No matter what the "professionals" said, the movie was a success. The audience enjoyed the movie, which was the most important thing.

Some of the film critics were disappointed that Kazir returned to his usual style - entertaining the mindless audience instead of making an art film about the hardships of human life. Ah, really disappointing.

Now that Kazir had gotten what he wanted from the Academy Awards, there was no reason to please them... Unless Pirates Of The Caribbean had a chance to compete at the Oscars.

Johnny Depp's performance as Jack Sparrow has been praised by many people, even critics. He had a chance to compete for Best Actor, although his chances of winning were slim.

However, the movie had an amazing makeup, character design, sound editing and also visual effects. In this aspect, Pirates Of The Caribbean could probably compete for at least one or two awards.

The news this week was about Johnny Depp's amazing performance and how Kazir Grey broke the curse of pirate movies.

Waterworld was a flop.

Cutthroat Island was also a flop.

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas was a flop.

But Pirates of the Caribbean was the opposite of a flop.

After that, Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl did well at the box office.

On its second week, Friday, July 18, The Curse of the Black Pearl officially crossed the $100 million mark. To be exact, the movie earned $109.47 million.

Everyone was surprised, but not by much. If Kazir was the director, the movie would surely make money.

However, on the same day, the movie met a tough opponent.

Bad Boys II was the sequel to Bad Boys which was released in 1995 and was directed by Michael Bay. It starred Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith were famous black actors with dozens of movies under their belts.

To make matters worse, Michael Bay was also an amazing director. He was known as the explosive director, not because of his explosive behavior, but because of his addiction to explosions. This director loves to make things explode.

Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and now Bad Boys II.

His filmography was similar to Kazir's in that all of his movies were profitable. The only difference was that Kazir produced one movie a year while Michael Bay could only produce one movie every two years. In that aspect, Kazir was better.

The first day of Bad Boys II made $16.88 million, $3 million more than the first day of Pirates Of The Caribbean.

On its second day, July 19, Bad Boys II made another $16.20 million. This was $6 million more than the second day of Pirates Of The Caribbean...

Maybe... Maybe Pirates Of The Caribbean would lose to Bad Boys II.

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[Author's note: Yeah, I don't know what I'm doing with my life lately. Anyway, since I know I have a lot of backlogged chapters on my Patreon, I decided to post three chapters a day for five days straight].

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 353


Bad Boys II's first weekend grossed $46.52 million. The movie was only in theaters for three days and its performance was promising, good news for Sony-Colombia.

In the same days, July 18 to 20, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl earned $33 million. Those three days were won by Bad Boys II.

However, the entire week of Pirates Of The Caribbean made $55 million, so this pirate-themed movie still won the box office champion for the week.

So far, after 12 days of release, Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl has grossed $133 million at the North American box office.

In just its second week, the film has already crossed the $100 million mark. 20th Century Fox reacted quickly and started promoting the film in North America. Next month they will release the movie in other countries.

Kazir has already spoken to Tom Rothman. He won't participate in the international promotion because he has a lot of things to do this year.

Tom Rothman understood his intentions and decided to let Kazir finish Game of Thrones instead. Game of Thrones would be broadcast by Fox TV and he expected that this TV show would bring them more viewers in their network.

Fox TV was already recognized as one of the known TV networks in the United States, but it was weaker compared to NBC and ABC. Fox TV needed more programs to attract viewers.

Perhaps Kazir Grey, a director known for his talent, could make history and give Fox TV its most awaited moment.

The cast of Pirates of the Caribbean was enough to promote the movie and Kazir could stay in the country.

Depending on how quickly Kazir finishes filming Game of Thrones, the TV show could air in late 2003 or early 2004.

.........

......

...

In the CEO office of Sony-Colombia, Frank Price listened to his secretary.

"Sir, as of today, Thursday, July 24, 2003, Bad Boys II has grossed $66 million at the box office."

"That's good to hear. We didn't spend a lot of money casting Will Smith and Michael Bay only to have the movie fail."

Will Smith and Michael Bay were recognized as superstars in their respective professions, and Sony-Columbia had to increase the budget of Bad Boys II just to hire them again. The budget of Bad Boys II was $130 million, certainly expensive as hell.

After working with Kazir Grey, Sony-Colombia understood that hiring a talented director was the best way to ensure the success of the project.

Two years ago, Sony-Colombia paid Kazir more than $200 million just for directing Spider-Man. Although Sony-Columbia spent a lot, the profit they made was also huge.

Both Bad Boys II and Spider-Man had the same budget, but the performance of Spider-Man is three times better.

The production cost of Bad Boys II was $130 million.

The production cost of Spider-Man was $139 million.

Sony-Colombia hired Kazir for $27 million + 27% worldwide box office + 7% peripheral profit share. It was a deal that Sony-Colombia was conflicted about at first, but the result was good in the end.

As for Bad Boys II, Sony-Colombia hired Michael Bay for $30 million + 13% worldwide box office + 3% peripheral profits.

Even though Michael Bay's salary was lower than Kazir's, it was still a massive blow to Sony-Colombia's guts.

'The result of Bad Boys II is not that bad, so I have nothing to say... I just can't help but be disappointed, I guess it's impossible to find someone like Kazir. I thought Michael Bay would have no problem surpassing Kazir.'

To be fair, Michael Bay's highest grossing film was Armageddon, which grossed $553 million at the worldwide box office. That was only half the box office of Spider-Man or Wanted.

Sometimes Frank couldn't help but sigh because they had lost out to 20th Century Fox in the acquisition of Grey Pictures. Now it would be hard to work with Grey Pictures again.

'Bad Boys II and Pirates of the Caribbean have a rivalry right now, but Pirates of the Caribbean has the upper hand. If we play our cards right, we can beat Pirates Of The Caribbean... We can start a scandal...'

Frank decided to drop the idea. In his opinion, it was not worth it. He knew that Kazir would be working on Spider-Man 2 next year. The CEO didn't want to ruin their relationship, at least not yet.

The profit that Spider-Man 2 could bring to the company was immense. Sony-Columbia won the top-grossing film of 2001 just by making Spider-Man.

'Who would have thought a superhero movie could make us that kind of money?'

Frank Price licked his lips at the thought. He didn't remember that his secretary was still in the office, slightly uncomfortable with what he was doing.

'Damn you Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox! Who said you could monopolize the superhero genre?'

If they knew what the two companies were up to, they should have created their own superheroes.

Frank Price was no fool, he knew that superheroes would dominate the movie theaters from now on.

So he was angry that DC and Marvel, the two biggest comic book companies in the United States, were already owned by their rivals.

"...Secretary Vanessa."

Awakening from his inner monologue, Frank decided to ask his secretary.

"Y- Yes, sir," the secretary nervously replied.

"Do you think we could start our own Cinematic Universe? What do you think about MonsterVerse? Where Godzilla and King Kong live in the same universe."

"Sir... I have no idea what you are talking about."

"..."

Frank sighed again.

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[Author's Note: I will post another chapter later.]

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 354


In a small, dark hall, Daenerys Targaryen walked slowly toward the three small, chained dragons.

The three dragons squealed adorably, like kittens excited to see their mother.

Daenerys reached out to touch them.

"Cut--! Pack your things, today's job is over!"

Kazir announced and the studio, which looked like a dungeon at the moment, started to get noisy. The crew members began to put things back in their places. The camera crew carefully placed their cameras in a safe room.

Emilia Clarke returned to her cheerful demeanor once the filming was over. The dark atmosphere in the studio was gone, and the lights came up for the last time tonight.

Emilia was now getting better with her acting after three months of acting classes. The acting class that Harold Witsend had recommended to her was top-notch, and she learned quickly.

In fact, she was now the star of her class. After all, she was the only one who had a role in a TV show, and it was even filmed by a famous director.

Some of her classmates had experience working in the industry, but they were not as lucky as she was. Emilia suddenly realized how lucky she was.

She was grateful that the crew accepted her. Thankful that Director Grey (whom she didn't recognize at first) hired her to be one of the main characters in this TV show.

Director Grey was an amazing person and Emilia realized this as they worked together. He was serious and a workaholic, but his discipline was on another level.

Kazir had so much patience when Emilia made a mistake, she was a newcomer after all. The director taught her a lot about acting and how to keep her mentality. He would remind her of her character's behavior and how to portray it.

Important advice that even her drama teacher never taught her.

When the day's work was done, Emilia would always approach Kazir to say thank you... She didn't know why she did that. Maybe she owed him something. She couldn't help but look into his eyes most of the time, looking up at him, he was quite tall after all. Her face sometimes turned red when she talked to him.

"Director, thank you as always. I'm grateful that you patiently taught me about my mistakes."

"I rarely cause a fit, and your acting is not that bad. But I won't lie, if you make a mistake for the tenth time today, I might have to yell at you to stop bothering everyone. The more mistakes you make, the longer the cast and crew will have to work."

"I-I understand."

Anyway, she changed her mind. Kazir was not a good person. He was bad!

Sometimes Emilia was confused as to why her agent was trying to tell her to make a connection with this director.

'I mean, yes, he is handsome. But that's the only good thing about him,' she thought.

Her agent even told her that if the timing was right, she should sleep with the man. Yes, Emilia's agent literally said that word for word.

Too bad, because that was never going to happen. This month would be the last time Kazir would direct this project. His assistant, Palenque Simone, would take over as director.

Kazir Grey had to focus on his next project, which would be Spider-Man 2... A very famous one.

'Sometimes I forget that director Grey is actually the guy who directed Spider-Man and Wanted. He seems so down to earth.'

She worked with the guy for months, so her opinion of him was normal.

Fox TV and Grey Pictures had already made a deal and Game of Thrones would air in November. The first two episodes would be the pilots. If the ratings were not satisfactory, Fox TV would pull Game of Thrones out of primetime.

.........

......

...

There was a reason why Kazir left work early today.

Tonight was the premiere of his girlfriend's movie, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life... A long title to remember. The movie would be released on July 25, which was today.

On July 25th, Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl grossed $160.51 million at the North American box office.

Critics have already accepted that this movie is different from the usual pirate movies. Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl was, to say the least, entertaining.

This changed their minds about pirate movies, but not that much. They just accepted that Kazir was a talented director, even more so.

It was amazing how a director like him thought of this movie. He was the scriptwriter of Pirates of the Caribbean, his imagination was really out of this world.

On the same day, July 25, Bad Boys II, which was recognized as Pirates Of The Caribbean's rival that month, grossed $73.14 million. It did well, but was weaker compared to Pirates Of The Caribbean.

"... Again, my movie was released in the same month as yours. Do you really love me so much that you want our movies to be so close?"

This was the second time this had happened. Two years ago, Gone in 60 Seconds and Wanted were only a week apart.

Angelina teased the man next to her, lewdly pinching his thick arm.

"Babe, you should ask Paramount Pictures, not me. I have no idea why they scheduled your movie two weeks after mine."

"I already asked them. They said that this week was the best time for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: blah blah blah." She slurred her last sentence.

She was not lying, Paramount Pictures was releasing the movie in the last week of July because August would be dominated by Grey Pictures' newest franchise, The Equalizer.

20th Century Fox announced that they would be releasing The Equalizer in August instead of what they had originally planned. The Equalizer was supposed to be released in July, but 20th Century Fox changed it.

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[Author's note: If you want to read more, you can wait for the 3 chapters tomorrow or subscribe to my Patreon or Ko-fi].