[Shout out to Joe O, Mandy G, MOHIT S, and KumaBEAR!]
Hollywood What If Chapter 124
The management of Warner Bros began their quarterly meeting. To the left sat the influential shareholders, while to the right sat the executives and key positions in the company.
At the end of the table sat Terry Semel, listening to the discussion.
"Our projects for next year have already passed the review. We already have thorough details for them, except for two movies..."
The management was listening to the speaker, who was producer Enrico Pusi. He was promoted to be the head of production management, in charge of making movies.
"And what are the two films we are talking about?"
Some of the management already had an idea, but the shareholders were clueless, so Enrico Pusi had to explain.
"It's The Hangover Part 2 and TED. These two projects are promising, but we are facing some problems..."
Enrico Pusi looked at Terry Semel. The CEO nodded and gave him the signal to speak.
"Go on."
"... We can't find a director. The cast of The Hangover has already expressed their intention to join the sequel. However, director Kazir Grey said he didn't want to direct the sequel and let management choose the next director. As for TED, no one is confident that they can make the movie. It needs computer graphics and it could cost a lot of money."
Enrico Pusi sighed weakly. This problem had been bothering him since last year.
In fact, he had contacted Kazir Grey and Salvatore Barlowe so many times. Finally, the last hurdle was Kazir Grey.
The director was done with directing comedies. He wanted to focus on his own projects, which were the films related to his so-called "Cinematic Universe".
It would be a lie to say that Enrico was not disappointed. He enticed Kazir Grey with many proposals, even going as far as a 20+20 contract, but Kazir was as firm as a cemented rock. Enrico could not move him.
"..."
The Management went silent when they heard about the problem with The Hangover Part 2.
Frankly, they were not confident about TED because the budget for this movie might exceed $50 million. They might push it to two to three years if they couldn't find a director.
But The Hangover Part 2 was different. That movie was their best movie last year (1996). This was the highest grossing R-Rated movie of all time, unless another movie occupied the position. They have to make sure it does not flop.
Usually, sequels do better than the first movie. But some sequels failed at the box office.
The sequel of The Mask(1994) which was called The Son Of The Mask(2004) was a commercial failure. Well, Jim Carrey was not in the cast, so that might have been the reason why the sequel flopped.
Predator(1987) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was a box office hit but its sequel Predator 2(1990) didn't get the same treatment. Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger was not in the cast, so that might have been the reason why the sequel flopped.
The management of Warner Bros understood how this industry works.
Kazir Grey was a talented director and he was the brain of the project. His accomplishments and skills give them confidence, even the crew members and the cast like him.
And now that he was no longer part of the project, it could cause them irreparable harm. Warner Bros was not prepared for that.
"What about Hugo Lameire? He is the one who takes over Napoleon Dynamite II and the movie is a success. Why don't you contact him?"
One of the directors expressed his opinion, and most of them agreed. Napoleon Dynamite was still making money. It grossed over $200 million worldwide on a budget of only $15 million.
"I actually did that and director Hugo Lameire agreed. Unfortunately, he signed a three-movie deal with 20th Century Fox and they are already preparing Napoleon Dynamite III. His schedule is packed."
Kazir Grey and 20th Century Fox decided that Napoleon Dynamite would be a trilogy. Anything more would be too much and bad.
"I see..."
They were all sad about it. 20th Century Fox tried their best to make sure that Warner Bros did not get Hugo Lameire.
They were all rivals and they could fight each other every year. Even if they had a tacit understanding, they would make sure that no one was above them. Simple as that.
Even Terry Semel could not help but sigh. He prayed that Taken would fail so that they could get Kazir on their side. Unfortunately for them, Taken had the opposite effect.
On the continent of North America alone, the film had already grossed over $200 million. Paramount only signed a 25% deal, but they were already winning. A profit is a profit, no matter how big or small.
"Let's look for a replacement... Contact Kazir too, maybe he knows someone who can take the director's position. As for TED, we haven't started the project yet, so we can postpone it. We will start TED once we have a clear plan."
"Yes sir!"
Terry Semel said, and the meeting ended a few minutes later. In the end, their real problem was The Hangover Part 2. This was an important project and they had to take it seriously.
Terry Semel didn't feel good about Kazir Grey leaving the project. He felt that Kazir Grey was the best option.
'If I had agreed with his decision to invest 30% of Taken's budget, this situation might not have happened.'
At least there was a chance that Kazir would listen to their opinion about making him the director of The Hangover Part 2.
'What if...'
They could not bring back the past, so they had to be responsible for their present situation.
'Now that I remember, Kazir is going to start this movie called John Wick. Maybe I can convince him to sign an international distribution deal with Warner Bros.'
As of now, Paramount was responsible for the local distribution of Grey Pictures' two upcoming films, but international distribution was still a question.