HOLLYWOOD WHAT IF

[Knight-Night]

I ve been meaning to ask, if you are going to continue the wanted timeline are you going to introduce elements from the video game or the comics?

 

[Pujimaki]

I ve been meaning to ask, if you are going to continue the wanted timeline are you going to introduce elements from the video game or the comics?

Click to shrink...

I haven't read the comics nor played the game of Wanted.

 

[Knight-Night]

I haven't read the comics nor played the game of Wanted.

Click to shrink...

The game continues the story from the end of the movie and Wesley has to fight the Paris chapter of the Fraternity. And he is also looking for information on his mother.

 

[Pujimaki]

The game continues the story from the end of the movie and Wesley has to fight the Paris chapter of the Fraternity. And he is also looking for information on his mother.

Click to shrink...

That seems an interesting plot... I might have to add it to my notes, thank you.

 

[Lillie Jones]

Tom Cruise goes native in the wilderness on that biography Memoir of Hugh Glass won OG Leonardo Dicaprio the Oscar worthy picture nomination for the Reventant by working with Kazir Grey and company a regular movie outside the CCU Universe.
Continue on
Cheers!

 

[Pujimaki]

[I know people are getting tired of me, but I just want to say that this novel is fiction and has nothing to do with reality. Don't take it seriously].

Hollywood What If Chapter 291


Cinematic Universe. A huge franchise that made billions at the box office and its influence around the world was astronomical. Even outside the box office, the money it generated was in the billions.

Back in Kazir's past life, there were only a few cinematic universes that could be considered successful. The MCU, the DCEU and the Monsterverse.

Star Trek and Star Wars could also be considered Cinematic Universe, but they were just one franchise with many sequels, in Kazir's opinion. There was a difference.

However, after Kazir introduced the CCU, he basically messed with the timeline and changed a lot of things.

Now, the CCU was the first official Cinematic Universe in this timeline, and Kazir was the founder of it.

There was no Continental Cinematic Universe in the original timeline. Kazir basically put action movies into one universe and created a unique version.

Kazir deserved a credit for that.

The money they made on that project was huge and Grey Pictures had a lot of money to invest in their own film promotion.

"If Kazir and Grey Pictures can do it, why not us? We are one of the Big Six, the biggest studio in the world, and we can produce more quality films than a second-tier studio like Grey Pictures."

That was Michael Eisner's view. He firmly believed that Walt Disney was capable of producing its own Cinematic Universe.

However, he also admitted that creating one was dangerous and they were unsure of the consequences. To begin with, this "genre" was new and Grey Pictures was pioneering it.

Michael Eisner felt that such an ambitious goal was impossible because of the cost and the situation. Nobody knew the future and they didn't know if this venture would be successful. It would be difficult to bring many of the protagonists of each franchise into one universe. But Grey Pictures did it and made a lot of money doing it.

This was the reason why Michael Eisner wanted Disney to start its own Cinematic Universe.

Michael Eisner didn't hesitate to acquire the Barsoom series as his playground. The novel was popular and the author was famous. Even though decades had passed, it could still attract the attention of many people.

They even invested another $100 million in promoting the film, bringing their total expenditure to $350 million.

$250 million production cost + $100 million for marketing.

The executives at Walt Disney knew that the investment was huge, but they agreed because of the promising future that the Cinematic Universe could bring.

The initial net worth of Grey Pictures was only $1-2 billion at best, but the success of Continental Cinematic Universe changed everything. The company's net worth skyrocketed last year, especially when John Wick Chapter 2 and The Fast and The Furious grossed more than $1 billion at the box office combined, giving Grey Pictures a higher status.

Despite the infighting at Walt Disney, executives and chairman Eisner agreed that John Carter should be taken seriously. Everyone wanted to make money.

After months of preparation, from buying a commercial slot on the Super Bowl to plastering the film's posters everywhere, Walt Disney did everything to make sure the film would be a success.

The plot was good.

The special effects were good.

The hype seemed promising.

If there was a downside, they cast an unknown actor... They copied what Grey Pictures had done and cast an unknown but young actor as John Carter. They originally wanted to cast someone like Matt Damon, but he was busy with Bourne Supremacy, which was coming out in July.

The executives also argued over the title of the film, but decided to go with Michael Eisner's. Chairman Eisner was a tyrant, but it was true that he was the one responsible for the current success of Walt Disney. In the end, they agreed to call the film John Carter instead of its original title, Princess On Mars.

So John Carter was born.

.........

......

...

The premiere of John Carter was quite lively, Walt Disney paid a lot of attention to this film.

The audience seemed excited and watched the film... Only to be left unsatisfied.

Why was that? Because the last part of the film was left unanswered.

Basically, Walt Disney focused too much on possible sequels instead of completing the plot of the film.

Did John Carter really return to Mars or not?

A question that would be impossible to answer because, surprise, surprise, the film didn't get a sequel!

Walt Disney screwed up. There were rumours that Michael Eisner was micromanaging almost everything about the film, and the executives blamed him.

At first, their expressions were full of excitement. Their faces lit up when they heard the good news. They waited 24 hours to hear the first day's results... And they were greeted with utter bullshit.

John Carter's first day box office was a paltry $9 million.

Sounds promising, right? After all, many films could hardly do that on their first day, right?

But John Carter was different... Or rather, the amount of money they invested in this shit was fucking huge.

350 million dollars! For a single film, they invest $350 million!

The executives were not stupid. They had been in the business a long time and knew that $9 million on the first day was not enough to recoup their investment.

The management did some calculations and predicted that the first weekend of John Carter would only be around $30 million at best.

Yeah... the shit hit the fan.

"N- No! Listen to me! This is just the beginning. The box office will be better in the next few days, I believe. We're still doing our best promotion, right?"

Michael Eisner faced the shareholders and executives. He tried his best to calm things down.

With his friend Michael Ovitz gone, Eisner was beginning to lose his authority.

He prayed that John Carter would never betray him...

"Box office my ass! Have you forgotten that Star Wars will be released two weeks from now? We are losing money because of your stubborn decisions!"

On 16th May 2002, Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones was going to be released.

This film certainly affected the performance of John Carter after its release. Star Wars had so many fans in the United States alone.

"No, this can't be happening..."

Michael Eisner felt he would be fired after this. He was sweating profusely.

Suddenly he remembered the time he had first negotiated with Kazir. If he agreed to kick Harvey Weinstein out of Disney and Miramax, perhaps his relationship with Kazir would change for the better. The director could have worked with Walt Disney. But alas, regret was of no use in the current situation.

He could only hope that John Carter wouldn't be his downfall.

 

[LUCIFER482]

Nice man Always followed this story on WN good to read the latest chapter here

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 292


Walt Disney thought that only Star Wars would be their problem and for the next two weeks they would have autonomy at the box office.

However, on the 8th of May, a mid-budget film produced by 20th Century Fox was released and John Carter's ticket sales were affected. The film was called Unfaithful. An erotic thriller film.

Erotic thriller films were quite popular in the late 90s and early 2000s. Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct and Eyes Wide Shut were just some of the famous films of the genre. Of course, the genre continued to thrive in the decades that followed. The 50 Shades series was a successful franchise of the genre.

Perhaps because people were looking for something different, they decided to buy more tickets for Unfaithful than for John Carter, which was heavily invested.

John Carter grossed $53 million in its first ten days. As for Unfaithful, it grossed more than $7 million in its first three days.

Yes, for its genre, which was also rated R, Unfaithful was already doing well. Only a few R-rated films like John Wick, The Matrix and The Hangover have managed to make a lot of money at the box office.

But oh well, for obvious reasons, erotic thrillers and erotic films were quite popular on DVD and in video stores. You know, people like to watch this kind of stuff in their own homes, preferably alone... To appreciate the art, of course.

Another week went by and the executives' confidence in John Carter was waning. They watched, shitless, as the numbers kept dropping to dangerous levels.

They had already invested $350 million in this film... It was a huge slap in the face. The fact that they could never recoup their investment would be fatal to their future endeavours.

The 16th of May came and the most awaited sequel of Star Wars was released!

By this time, John Carter had already grossed $62 million... Based on this increase alone, the film had already reached its end... In one week, the film only made $9 million. That was so fucking sad, no lie.

Plus, John Carter had only been out for two weeks and was already running out of gas at the box office.

But Walt Disney was still in denial, or maybe Michael Eisner was in denial.

They could not accept that John Carter was a box office flop, a tragedy. They still decided to promote the film for a week.

Furthermore, Walt Disney had international distribution. Maybe they could recoup their investment internationally.

So yes, Walt Disney continued to burn their money. Historically, this is probably the biggest box office flop that Disney has had in either timeline... Apart from The Lone Ranger, of course. Note that this film was also produced by Walt Disney and their investment was large. But just like John Carter, The Lone Ranger didn't have much to show for it, but that's another story.

As many expected, when Star Wars Episode 2: Attack Of The Clones was released, the first day box office was astounding.

On May 16, the first day of Star Wars Episode 2, it made over $30 million.

It was meant to be. This was a sign that the film would do well at the box office, unlike John Carter, which only made a mediocre $9 million on the first day.

Furthermore, the production cost of Star Wars Episode 2 was only $115 million. That was small compared to John Carter's $250 million. It even did better at the box office.

One thing was clear, there was something wrong with the film. Who would want to see a film that had no clear ending?

Walt Disney focused too much on possible sequels and this was the downfall of John Carter.

When Disney felt that their promotion was useless, they decided to keep a low profile... They hope that the reaction of foreigners to John Carter was worth it, or else...

In May, only one film dominated the month, and that was Star Wars Episode 2.

By the end of the month, Star Wars Episode 2 had already earned 216 million dollars. The film made back its investment in just one month and may have even put more profit.

As for John Carter and Walt Disney... Meh.

This was just the start of the summer season and more films would be released over the next few weeks.

June arrived and Kazir had no choice but to give the crew three days off as he was returning to Los Angeles to attend a premiere.

Filming of The Revenant was going well. In fact, Kazir could say they were ahead of schedule. The crew was happy to get a break and most of them returned to Los Angeles to see their friends and families.

As for Tom Cruise, the star of the project, he decided to spend his time in Canada with his current girlfriend, Penelope Cruz.

The couple didn't hide their relationship after Tom officially divorced Nicole Kidman.

Since Penelope was part of the cast, they could use their relationship to promote the film. They didn't have a problem with that. For Penelope, it could give her a better position in the industry, while Tom was ready to do anything as long as he could earn a golden statue.

Kazir also went through a divorce and his experience was not so good.

Although Tom had it worse. After his separation with Nicole Kidman, Tom was criticised by many people. Some newspapers believed that Tom had been brainwashed by Scientology. Which led to their divorce.

To be honest, Kazir had no idea what Scientology was. He didn't give a fuck either.

As a director, he knew that the industry was never a good place anyway. In fact, he believed that Hollywood itself was a giant cult.

Anyway, Kazir put on his suit and got ready for the limousine. He tried to call Angelina, but she didn't answer.

Kazir sighed, he had expected this. He knew his heart was not ready and he was afraid of getting hurt. So before things got serious, he decided to give it some thought.

He wanted to talk to Angelina, but the woman never answered...

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 293


The Hangover Part 3 was one of the most anticipated films of the year. Along with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones and John Carter.

So far only Star Wars Episode 2 and John Carter have been released.

Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones did very well at the box office. As of June 6, the film has already grossed more than $241 million. It is currently the highest grossing film released this year.

As for John Carter, well, it was terrible. The film only made $68 million at the box office. Also, the film may be pulled from theatres a month after its release because ticket sales for the film were so minuscule. The film was only released for 40 days and only 300 theatres were left.

A bad move, that was what Walt Disney did this year. The executives and shareholders blamed Michael Eisner, of course. Even though they had all agreed to the project in the first place. Well, they had to blame someone, and Chairman Eisner was the best scapegoat.

While Walt Disney was busy trying to put a band-aid on the huge wound they have at the moment, Warner Brothers started the premiere of one of their biggest investments this year.

Their huge investments this year were Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and The Hangover Part 3. They advertised the films almost everywhere, just like Walt Disney did.

However, Warner Brothers' confidence in their films was better than Walt Disney's. And frankly, the quality of the films that Warner Brothers produced was far better than Walt Disney's at that time.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was based on a novel, while The Hangover Part 3 was written by award-winning screenwriter Kazir Grey.

Yes, Kazir won the Academy's best screenplay award for Taken. He was an award-winning screenwriter.

So Warner Brothers knew that The Hangover Part 3 wouldn't get the same treatment as John Carter.

They were 80% sure.

Kazir fiddled with his Nokia phone, waiting for Angelina's response, but the woman never really answered. They were in a cold war and Kazir knew the relationship might be over.

The problem started when Angelina made Kirsten cry. After that, Kazir unconsciously distanced himself from Angelina. This situation continued until Kazir left for Canada. After that they stopped talking.

'... No time to think about it.'

Kazir thought as he realised that the limousine had stopped in front of the Westwood Village Theatre. The theatre where The Hangover Part 3 would have its premiere.

Kazir smiled as he got out of the limousine. With cameos in all the CCU movies, Kazir was already recognised as an "actor". People knew and recognised him.

So when he appeared on the red carpet, people immediately started shouting and cheering his name. There were even some female fans screaming his name like fanatics. Well, Kazir was a good-looking guy, so it was obvious why.

Kazir spent only a few minutes on the red carpet before entering the theatre. He didn't bother to talk to the reporter because he wasn't in a good mood. The fact that he could smile right now was amazing. Perhaps being an actor could suit him, if not for his love of filming and creating movies.

When he entered the theatre, he saw the actors, some sitting, some talking to people. These actors changed their future because of this franchise. Now most of them had promising careers and got annual projects with a salary of at least $1 million.

Of all of them, Reese had the best career at the time. Legally Blonde made her a superstar, earning more than $5 million per film.

The fact that The Hangover and The Hangover Part 2 are in the top 10 highest-grossing R-rated films of all time speaks volumes.

The Hangover Part 2 took the top spot with $586 million.

Second was Gladiator (2000) with $503 million.

Third was The Hangover with $502 million.

Fourth was Saving Private Ryan with $486 million.

Fifth, with a slightly lower gross, was The Matrix with $465.37 million.

Around 1996, The Hangover was the highest-grossing R-rated film, but a few years later new films were released. Now The Hangover was only third.

Still, The Hangover Part 2 was at the top... Although Kazir knew that once The Matrix Reloaded was released, a new film would be crowned as the highest grossing R-rated film of all time.

The Matrix Reloaded would be released the following year, so The Hangover Part 2's reign would not last much longer.

The cast of The Hangover Part 3 saw Kazir entering the cinema and some of them greeted him.

It was a fact that Kazir had given them careers. They were no longer unknown actors, they were real celebrities.

Kazir greeted them. They were happy to see him again after so many years. Kazir was not the party type and rarely went out so people didn't see him much.

"Enzo, looks like you're doing well too."

"Haha, just fine."

Enzo Park and Kazir were both clients of Salvatore. But their status was different.

Although Enzo became famous as Raizo in CCU, he still didn't get a leading role in any movie. All his roles have been supporting character.

"Don't worry, your moment will come. When I started out as a director, I didn't have much success either. Just work hard and you'll achieve your dream."

... Knowing that Kazir had returned from the future, he was basically lying. Hard work was not enough to succeed.

Nevertheless, Enzo accepted his advice. It was not wrong anyway. Actually, he was hoping to hear from Kazir that the film he had promised was going to happen. The film was about Raizo as the male lead and it was about him being a ninja.

 

[Laughing_Turtle]

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[Pujimaki]

Hollywood What If Chapter 294


Ninja Assassin was a film that Kazir wanted to add to the CCU. The Cinematic Universe already had a tiny bit of the supernatural in it since The Fraternity was added, and adding another group of assassins who could 'merge' in the dark seemed not too bad.

Enzo Park had heard a few things about the plot of the film, but he was still clueless about the whole story. Still, he was excited.

Kazir promised him that he would make the film directly. He would be the director. That alone was a strong assurance. It meant that the film had very little chance of failing.

Enzo tried his best to audition for many films, but the racism in Hollywood was still strong. His appearance was the reason why he couldn't get a big role, most of them were supporting roles.

He even auditioned for The Matrix in 1998, but Keanu Reeves got the part because he was more famous. Actually, Keanu is of Asian descent, but his looks passed the American aesthetic. Enzo also tried to get a part in Rush Hour, but the result was the same. Jackie Chan was more famous.

In a way, Enzo was still hanging out there. Trying to find his place in this industry... Maybe he would concentrate more on comedy if he failed.

The Korean actor stared at Kazir, waiting for an answer.

Kazir was no fool and understood the man. He patted him on the shoulder and said.

"Don't worry, as much as possible, I always keep my promises and make sure I never break them."

Hearing his answer, Enzo sighed and felt like he could breathe easy now. Even though Kazir hadn't said when, he had already said that he would do his best to keep his promise.

Enzo could not ask for more, knowing that the director was busy. Enzo thanked him once more before he left.

The rest of the cast of The Hangover Part 3 greeted Kazir. They may be famous, but Kazir Grey was a true superstar. Or rather, he was a superstar maker.

Kazir was the only director to make two films that grossed over $1 billion. And he did it back to back in two years.

He was amazing and probably nobody could do what he did. Ed Helms, Jack Black and Bradley Cooper greeted him with good evening.

Kazir also saw Reese in the corner of his vision, sitting a few meters away from him. The woman turned to him and smiled, Kazir smiled back and their interaction ended.

They were already over, and that was the right thing to do. Reese already had a boyfriend and it would be scandalous to talk to another man, especially if he was her ex-boyfriend... They weren't officially dating, though. Kazir and Reese didn't publicly announce if they were in relationship.

Kazir found his seat, which was in the front row of the theatre. Next to him was the current Chairman/CEO of Warner Brothers, Barry Mayer.

Terry Semel had already left Warner Brothers for Yahoo. He resigned last month and his tenure ended amicably.

The shuffle of authority and politics within the company continued, but so far Barry Mayer has done well.

On top of that, Time Warner also hired a COO (Chief Operating Officer) to help Barry Mayer execute orders in the studio. His name is Alan Frederick Horn.

By the way, as people expected, Barry Mayer was Jewish. People had another reason to hate this novel, let's go!

Because Barry Mayer and Kazir were of the same race, the President had a good impression of Kazir and was sincere in working with him... The main reason was Kazir's ability to make a blockbuster. A mega-hit film. Something that could bring them profits for decades...

So Warner Brothers wanted to buy Grey Pictures, or at least part of it. At first, Time Warner, the parent company of Warner Brothers, was interested in acquiring AOL, but a whopping $100 billion was too much for them. Besides, it was obvious that AOL was inflated and its real value was 10 times less than $100 billion.

So instead, what about buying a small company with a promising future like Grey Pictures? Warner Brothers could buy all of Grey Pictures for $10 billion... Although they would suffer for a few years. Besides, Kazir would definitely not agree.

If Grey Pictures were sold outright to Warner Brothers, Kazir might leave the company altogether. That would be detrimental, the real value of Grey Pictures was Kazir himself.

"Kazir, I assure you this film is going to be a big hit," Barry said to Kazir, who was sitting next to him.

So far, the acquisition job was still ongoing and J.P. Morgan was researching the real value of Grey Pictures and its divisions. They needed to understand how the company worked and how it would affect both companies.

Warner Brothers had no intention of merging, they wanted Grey Pictures to have autonomy and continue to make profitable films. That was the plan.

The two talked for a while before the theatre went dark as the premiere officially began. The Warner Brothers' logo, which was WB inside an upside-down triangle showed up.

On the 6th of June 2002, at midnight, The Hangover Part 3, started. This would be the last film in the franchise, as The Hangover was only meant to be a trilogy...

However, if the timing was right, perhaps Warner Brothers could revive the franchise after a decade to make another batch of money.

As long as the film was profitable, the Big Six would milk it dry. Just like Walt Disney did with Star Wars...

In the first 24 hours (7th of June) of its release, The Hangover Part 3 made $11.78 million at the box office. Not a bad start for an R-rated comedy.

On 8 June, the film earned another $14.49 million... The numbers just keep piling up.

If there was a downside, it would be the fact that The Hangover Part 3 cost more than $100 million to make. Hiring the cast was that expensive. One of the reasons why Warner Brothers wanted to end the franchise in a trilogy.

+++++

[Author's note: So yeah, here I am again, shamelessly promoting my P@treon. Maybe you hate me because I'm promoting my P@treon, well, I'm technically the breadwinner in the family so I have to make money.]

[I like writing and as it gives me purpose(I'm depressed), and since I can make money while I'm doing that, why not?]

[If you want to read more chapters of HWI, you can subscribe to my P@treon and Ko-fi. Thanks for the support guys, I really appreciate it.]

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

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

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter