Hollywood What If Chapter 489
It was amazing that The Bourne Ultimatum grossed $1 billion. However, after some studies, the Big Six discerned the biggest reason why the movie performed so well.
It was the hype. What happened in Wanted 3 set the hype so high that people were ready to consume every piece of content that the CCU released. This was the factor that made the movie gross over $1 billion.
Because of this, another event occurred, and experts in movies and box office trends started studying Grey Pictures' marketing techniques and Kazir's miraculous ideas.
Particularly, they wanted to know what was happening in Kazir's mind and how he could come up with such amazing ideas.
The hype for the CCU was still not over. As of September, Grey Pictures had already started promoting the next movie, which was Kingsman. Furthermore, Grey Pictures showed in their trailer that this movie was where the CCU protagonists would assemble!
Hollywood had already witnessed this kind of scene, and they had already seen what it could do.
If things ran smoothly, then Kingsman would also surpass $1 billion! The movie was set to be released in November, and fans were already booking tickets, even though Cinema Alliance had just started releasing bookings. It was an experience that Hollywood rarely saw.
Grey Pictures could probably have another movie that would surpass $1 billion.
While this excitement was happening, Kazir was nearing the end of finishing The Shadows Beneath.
However, Kazir had no time to rest after that. Now that the special effects for the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie were done, Kazir had to lead the team again to edit the footage into a complete story/movie.
Some of the editors resigned because the workplace was so toxic and suffocating.
The editors who resigned said that they couldn't rest at all because it was awkward to rest while their boss was working so hard and never even thought of resting. Kazir was not just the director, he was the big boss of Grey Pictures.
The workers were so conscious of their surroundings that they couldn't rest at all. Furthermore, they had another project to work on, which was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. They realized that they had to keep up with the heavy workload for at least two more months before getting a breather. It would be hell.
Because of that environment, they decided to resign instead. Kazir was not cheap when it came to paying salaries, but they couldn't keep up with Kazir's work ethic, so they might as well find another employer to work with.
When Kazir heard that, he felt bad and decided to give the editing team a week to rest before starting Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
The Shadows Beneath was finished, and it only needed polishing. It was ready to be presented to the distributors.
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"The Bourne Ultimatum grossed $1 billion, and Kingsman: The Secret Service might also surpass $1 billion because it's the movie where the CCU protagonists will assemble..."
Ronald Meyer read the headlines and sighed... Lately, he had been sighing a lot. The position of being the CEO of Universal Pictures was amazing, but the responsibility it carried also put a lot of pressure on him.
Just like Walt Disney, Universal Pictures was having a tough time finding a franchise that they could milk. They didn't own a comic publisher like DC Comics or Marvel Comics as sources of franchises. Universal Pictures was also not a family-friendly animation studio that could spam cartoons every year.
Since its creation, Universal Pictures had focused on live-action movies. And now, they couldn't find live-action franchises to milk. They were in dire need of huge movies.
Ronald looked at the newspaper for the nth time. He might have been old-school because he preferred reading the newspaper rather than watching the news on television. Perhaps most CEOs and Chairmen liked reading newspapers.
Anyway, the headline didn't sit well with him. Based on his understanding, Continental Cinematic Universe wouldn't just have three movies that would exceed $1 billion at the box office. The franchise would probably have four movies that would exceed $1 billion at the box office.
On top of that, Grey Pictures had a franchise apart from CCU that earned a lot.
Based on the numbers that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was showing, this once-unpopular pirate-themed movie had already grossed $841 million at the worldwide box office as of September. And it was obvious the reception was still strong because the fuel of this movie was still pumping.
It wouldn't be a surprise if Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest surpassed $1 billion.
This fact made Ronald absolutely livid.
"If this so-called Kingsman: The Secret Service performs well, it's obvious that it's going to surpass $1 billion."
Two years! Three movies! Three fucking movies were created by Grey Pictures, and each one grossed $1 billion in just fucking two years. That was so painful to watch.
Wanted 3
The Bourne Ultimatum.
And Pirates of the Caribbean was getting there, near $1 billion.
At this point, Ronald thought of trying to destroy Kazir and Grey Pictures again, but he held back.
Why? Grey Pictures had just announced that they would have a small screening of Kazir's horror movie in November, and Ronald Meyer was invited... Ronald didn't want to disrupt Grey Pictures' business because Universal Pictures was interested in Kazir's horror movie.
"Whoever thought of this plan is a genius. This way, the Big Six will refrain from sabotaging Kingsman: The Secret Service, which is going to be released in November."
Stella Willow was the person who thought of it. Kingsman: The Secret Service would be released in the second week of November, while The Shadows Beneath would have a small screening in the last week of November.
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[Author's Note]
[I have a favor to ask, please support my new novel Behind The Spotlight by giving it Power Stones on Webnovel. I want to see if it's possible to break into the Top 10 in the Last 30 Days ranking. This ranking is for new novels that are not a month old.]