Hollywood What If Chapter 500
"If there's a miracle, then what I'm seeing right now is a miracle."
Barry Mayer frowned as he looked at the miraculous statistics on his table. He had been in the industry for more than a decade, and these kinds of numbers were impossible to achieve. Even his Warner Brothers, the current number one studio in Hollywood, could only replicate two $900 million movies.
That was the best achievement they had accomplished so far.
But the statistics he was looking at proved that two $900 million movies were just child's play.
Have you ever seen a production studio with three $1 billion movies in just one year? Probably not.
However, Grey Pictures was close to doing exactly that.
After five months of screening, Kingsman: The Secret Service had grossed $926 million worldwide.
A great movie could last six to eight months in theaters as long as people remained interested in watching it. In the case of Kingsman: The Secret Service, the movie was making at least a million dollars per day. That explained why it had already earned $900 million.
Barry could see that Grey Pictures would have three $1 billion movies. Kingsman: The Secret Service would be the third to reach that mark.
He realized that 2006 was the year of Grey Pictures. The other studios had lost this particular year, and they didn't like that.
Warner Brothers was recognized as the current number one studio in Hollywood because most of its movies in recent years had been box office hits. Even low-budget movies from Warner Brothers were earning more than $100 million.
Walt Disney couldn't compete at all.
Disney was going strong with its 3D animated movies, but their live-action films weren't selling enough.
As for the other big studios, they couldn't consistently release box office hits like Warner Brothers. Only Grey Pictures could match that level of performance.
Honestly, if Grey Pictures decided to compete against the Big Six and acquired distribution lines, it would probably have the power to face them head-on.
But that kind of threat would easily get plucked out, just like what had happened to their other competitors. So far, only Lionsgate had shown steady performance year after year, but even Lionsgate couldn't match the Big Six.
Barry turned the page, and his expression worsened as he realized that Shadows Beneath had grossed $635 million after nearly three months of screening... It didn't sit well with him that the horror movie he had dismissed was performing so well.
Warner Brothers had been content that Kazir had a trilogy with them. They also didn't think that Shadows Beneath would make that much. They had been too full of themselves.
'If I had known this would happen, I would have increased the bid. At least I'm confident that we could have acquired the copyrights if we had offered more than Universal Pictures did.'
$100 million plus 5% of worldwide shares was a contract that Warner Brothers could easily handle. The fact that Shadows Beneath's copyright had been acquired for that amount was almost laughable. A movie performing that well could bring far more profit.
'It's because of those disgusting experiments on the internet...'
People were so intrigued and curious that they began searching for gruesome content. There was even this thing called the Dark Web that many became curious about...
Barry admitted that Grey Pictures had pulled off an amazing marketing strategy. Even though their own marketing department was studying the secret behind it, Barry had reprimanded them and forced them to study it more seriously.
Regarding The Dark Knight, there were some questionable elements that Barry didn't agree with, but he decided to trust Kazir.
The script was a bit too dark for a superhero movie... Barry had to use his influence to convince the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to rate The Dark Knight PG-13.
Warner Brothers had a seat in the MPAA, and that helped them protect the ratings of their movies.
If The Dark Knight had received an R-rating, it would automatically mean a loss for them. Warner Brothers was already preparing to make sure that never happened.
By the way, the six members of the MPAA were the Big Six. Their seats in the MPAA were also one of the reasons why other studios couldn't surpass them. Being part of the board that decided movie ratings, they had the power to sabotage competing studios.
"If not for his credibility, I would never have agreed to Kazir's plot. This kind of script is too much for the fans to handle. I'm not sure they'll want to see their superhero lose..."
Management had been strongly against it even now. But the recent performance of Grey Pictures' movies was so outstanding that they eventually agreed to Kazir's idea.
......
...
...
"Hey, so I want to ask, is it all right that you're letting Heath do his own makeup?"
Jane, the head of the makeup team, asked Kazir about his opinion regarding Heath Ledger's decision to do his own makeup.
Kazir glanced at her before turning his attention to the trailer where Heath was currently staying. He paused for a second before nodding.
"Let him do what he wants."
Jane narrowed her eyes and whispered something.
"Hey, are you sure that actor is doing fine? I talked to him earlier and he gave me creepy vibes."
Kazir just chuckled. That only showed that Heath Ledger was doing well... as an actor. It showed he was fully immersed in the role.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it."
Some people had been against hiring Heath Ledger because of his past role. Two years ago, Heath starred in a movie called Brokeback Mountain, his role in that film was a gay cowboy. To be precise, the movie was about two gay cowboys who periodically went to Brokeback Mountain to rekindle their love.
Some people were against hiring Heath because they feared it would negatively affect The Dark Knight's performance, but Kazir had been firm in his decision. In his opinion, Heath Ledger was one of the main reasons why The Dark Knight became successful.
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[First, I'm sorry if my uploads haven't been consistent lately. I have no excuse.]
[Second, I want to celebrate the fact that this novel has reached 500 chapters. Thanks to all of your support, guys. I appreciate it a lot.]
[Third, I'm quite confident that this novel will end around chapter 100 to 200. Let's be honest, almost everything in Kazir's bucket list has been completed, except for Ninja Assassin. As for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Dark Knight Trilogy, I'll probably not go into too much detail about them.]
[Fourth, the reason I want to end this novel within 200 more chapters is that I feel Kazir's story is nearing its conclusion. I don't want to lose the essence of this novel just because I want to milk it for money. No, this novel needs a proper ending, instead of me spamming plots just for the sake of it.]
[Fifth, as for the days I missed, I'm not going to promise anything anymore, because it feels like a heavy burden that's hard for me to carry. I feel stressed whenever I owe chapters. All I can say is I'll try my best to write this story until we reach the end.]
[Sixth, this is my second novel that will be completed. It's the second novel of mine where I can clearly see the ending. I hope you'll continue supporting me until the very end.]
[If you have any questions, feel free to comment. I'll do my best to answer them.]