Hollywood What If Chapter 498
"Babe, you said that you have three weeks of free time before you start the filming of The Dark Knight, right?"
"That's right."
Kazir nodded. He was still deep in thought regarding Shadows Beneath.
Warner Brothers had already started the pre-production of The Dark Knight a year ago. The props, locations, scripts, and cast had already been prepared by the studio.
Of course, Kazir also checked on the project once a week while he was working on Pirates of the Caribbean and Shadows Beneath. The only time he couldn't visit the studio was when he was far from Los Angeles. Most of the time, Kazir stayed updated on everything happening with The Dark Knight.
When Superman Returns flopped last year, Warner Brothers realized that their plan to launch a Cinematic Universe had to be put on hold for a while.
Because of this, their future projects had to be restructured. Kazir spoke with Warner Brothers and asked them to make the Batman trilogy a stand-alone franchise with no connection to their DCEU plans. Warner Brothers reluctantly agreed since the DCEU was still not happening.
As a result, Kazir convinced Warner Brothers to change the theme and essence of the trilogy. He also changed the title to The Dark Knight.
He wanted the movie to focus on more realistic and deeper themes.
When he sent the unpolished script to Warner Brothers, the studio was initially against it. They weren't stupid, they read the script once and immediately understood that the lead role of the movie was the Joker, not Batman.
This went against common practices. Perhaps this was also the reason why Kazir changed the title to The Dark Knight, deliberately shifting the tone and theme of the movie.
If they added "Batman" to the title, people might think it seemed childish or cartoonish. Perhaps Superman Returns also suffered from that perception.
Hence, the title was changed to The Dark Knight.
However, the script was another issue. Warner Brothers wasn't sure how to proceed with it.
Kazir personally adjusted his schedule to meet with the management of Warner Brothers and DC Comics to convince them. He explained that he wanted to change the tone of the franchise since it was going to be a stand-alone anyway. Furthermore, he believed they could attract more fans if they went in this direction.
Some people said that Rachel Dawes didn't need to die, but Kazir insisted on keeping that scene. He even discussed it with his girlfriend, and Scarlett had no issue. In fact, she liked the scene because it was so heavy and dramatic that it could help her career as an actress.
If it weren't for Kazir's credibility as a scriptwriter and director, Warner Brothers probably wouldn't have listened to him.
Anyway, after a year of negotiations and pre-production, The Dark Knight was ready to go.
And since they still had three weeks before filming began, Scarlett invited Kazir to go on vacation.
"We didn't go on vacation last year. Let's go and relax." She clung to his arm and kissed his cheek.
Kazir weakly smiled. Honestly, he'd been on edge lately because of Shadows Beneath. He admitted that he needed a proper vacation.
As for the results of Shadows Beneath, he believed that the movie would surpass $300 million at least. He was already satisfied with that. It proved to him that he wasn't a failure.
Perhaps because all of his previous films were highly successful, he wanted Shadows Beneath to receive the same level of recognition.
"Yeah, let's go. I'll move my schedule."
"Hmm, I love you, babe."
"Love you too."
January obviously wasn't the summer season, so their best choice was a winter vacation. The two decided to go to Hokkaido, Japan, to go skiing.
Kazir and Scarlett promised not to use their phones or the internet while on vacation. They referred everything business-related to their assistants.
The couple had fun, and Kazir slept soundly throughout the trip. Occasionally, they saw news about mental hospitals and mental health in the headlines, but they didn't think much of it.
Just like that, three weeks passed. Two days from now, Kazir would officially start filming The Dark Knight...
But that wasn't the current concern.
Kazir and Scarlett sat in silence in the limousine after a nice a vacation in Japan.
"Where the fuck have you been? I talked to Erica, and she said you went on vacation! You didn't even bring Anderson with you, so I had no way of contacting you. I almost called for a police search."
Stella clicked her tongue in annoyance. The more she learned about Kazir, the more she realized he wasn't her type at all.
"…Did something happen?"
Kazir felt guilty even though he hadn't done anything wrong. He had spoken to Stella before going to Japan, and the CEO even told him to take care of himself.
Yet now, Stella was fuming.
"You need to see this."
Shadows Beneath Weekly Box Office:
1st Week: $58 million.
Kazir nodded, recalling the number. He was already satisfied that the movie earned over $50 million in its opening week.
2nd Week: $49 million.
This was the week when Kazir left for Japan. He had read the second week's results and wasn't surprised, it aligned with their expectations.
"Hmm?"
However, he was caught off guard when he saw the third week's performance.
3rd Week: $67 million.
Kazir was stunned. The box office should've gone down. That was the typical trend. Movies usually started losing momentum around the second or third week, and only a handful ever made a comeback.
Then Kazir looked at the fourth week…
"What the fuck? Are you sure this is the right document?"
Kazir glanced at Stella, and the woman nodded. Scarlett curiously looked at the document and was just as shocked.
"Fourth week, $72 million," Scarlett muttered.
"While you guys were gone, our promotion started gaining traction until TV networks picked it up. Even the President wants to promote Mental Health Awareness Month this coming May. While you were away, the topic of mental health, mental hospitals, and asylums became huge. It's a serious subject, the World Health Organization even released a statement."
"What?"
Kazir and Scarlett looked at each other. They had only been gone for three weeks, yet so much had happened without their knowledge.
"Shadows Beneath grossed $246 million while you guys were away. Next week, Universal Pictures will release the movie internationally, right when mental health awareness is at its peak."
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[Last chapter today.]