[Shout out to Hamza I!]
Hollywood What If Chapter 125
Celebration. People tend to celebrate when something good happens.
And well, generating a $200 million North American box office is definitely a good thing.
Grey Pictures officially created their own party and invited people in the industry. This was their first time throwing a party. They just hired an event planner and let her do most of the work, the company was just responsible for paying her.
Grey Pictures was a new studio and they had only done two projects, The Hangover and Taken. However, these two movies could make a combined $1 billion.
The Hangover has grossed over $500 million worldwide. As for Taken, the current status of the movie was $387 million.
It was already October 20, 1997, and the internal promotion of Taken was over. Kazir and most of the cast returned to the United States after a tiring month of endless travel. They had literally flown around the world.
At the North American box office, Taken was already losing steam, and the number of theaters showing the film dropped to 426. Still, the movie was making a few million every week. The current box office total for Taken is $265.63 million.
As for the international box office, the movie made $121.37 million. The good thing was that some countries just recently started to show Taken and the final box office would continue to increase.
Paramount believes that Taken will gross over $500 million.
Unfortunately, each country had different laws regarding foreign films. In some countries, Hollywood could only get 15% of the box office and the local theater companies would get the rest.
So the profit was quite complicated in that regard. Still, the bigger the box office, the higher they can get. So Paramount would still work to promote their movies.
"Congratulations Kazir! You are a superstar now!"
"David, nice to meet you."
Even though Grey Pictures was a new studio, many famous people attended the party. They didn't care about the company, they just wanted to make a connection with Kazir Grey.
Kazir was a promising director. And so far, his movies and scripts were making huge profits. Being friends with him was a good thing.
"Congratulations on The Game too. It's a great movie."
"Kazir, let's not joke around here. The influence of The Game is nothing compared to Taken."
David Fincher smiled. He did his best and believed that the movie would be great, but it was a shame that the result was not good.
The Game was distributed by PolyGram Films, a second-tier studio company. Maybe that's why the movie didn't have a strong reception. The Big Six were the Big Six because of their ability to promote their movies through various media.
The movie was released on September 12 and it was a cold schedule. September was not the best month to release movies. One of the reasons why The Game didn't do well.
So far, the movie has grossed more than $44 million as of October 20. It was not bad... However, the production of The Game cost $80 million. One month had passed and they had not even recovered their investment.
"I heard you have a new script, can I read it?"
"That's actually my problem right now. I'm trying to pitch this script to the Big Six, but none of them are interested."
"I'll try to contact my friends at the 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers." Kazir Grey's influence was growing.
"Thank you, Kazir. My next movie is a little different, I've decided to call it Fight Club, but it's still an experimental name."
"Of course. Do you want me to invest in your movie?"
"That depends."
Kazir grinned. He remembered that the box office of Fight Club was not that great. However, it's videotape/DVD sales were different.
'Maybe we can get a share of the videotape profits.'
It would have to be negotiated, and he knew the Big Six would be tough on that kind of thing.
"Let's enjoy the party."
"Okay."
The two clinked wine glasses.
The face of the party was none other than Kazir Grey. He was the owner of Grey Pictures and the director of Taken. He had to greet a lot of people to make sure they felt welcome. That was his duty as the main star of the party.
He said hello to the people from Warner Bros who kept pestering him about The Hangover Part 2.
He talked to the people from 20th Century Fox who asked him about the script for Napoleon Dynamite III.
Even Sony-Columbia and Walt Disney came to the party to ask about his next project.
All in all, his job was very tiring. Especially when there were so many beautiful women staring at him. He felt like a weak prey in the wilderness, surrounded by wolves.
"Hello, Kazir."
"Oh, hello, Cameron."
"You can call me Cam."
Kazir was slightly shocked when a woman blocked his way to the bathroom. Moreover, the woman was someone he recognized. It was none other than Cameron Diaz. Cameron Diaz of the 90s was the bomb.
Kazir looked helplessly at the woman's figure. She was sexy and beautiful. As a man, Kazir Grey could not help but admire her beauty.
Yet he kept his composure. He was no fool, the woman definitely had a reason for talking to him.
"Can I get your number?"
"Ah? You mean my business number. Here, you can take this..."
"No, I want your private number. You know, so we can talk privately..."
She winked and leaned closer.
"...I'm sorry, Cameron, but we're not close enough to exchange private numbers. But if you are interested in working with Grey Pictures, this is the company's contact information."
Kazir pulled out a business card and handed it to her.
"Is that so? Maybe we can meet later? What do you think? I know a nice scene here in L.A."
She giggled.
Kazir swallowed hard. He was just a man, and he understood that his former(past life) status was nothing compared to a famous actress like Cameron Diaz.
Even though his lower half was screaming, Kazir kept his composure and declined her offer.
"I'm sorry Cameron, but I have a lot of things to do."
He walked away rather quickly and stiffly. Trying to hide his...