[Shout out to Nezher92 and Alex D!]
Hollywood What If Chapter 132
"Yawn... I heard you were busy. I thought you weren't going to see me."
Aaron Grey yawned because his flight to Los Angeles had left him jet-lagged. He had a business in Los Angeles and told his brother.
When Kazir heard that his brother was in Los Angeles, he decided to meet him. He dropped his task of attending the training sessions for the cast.
The two talked in a cafe.
"Isn't it obvious that I want to see my brother?"
"Indeed. But I know you're not the type to call me to meet up just for that."
Aaron smiled. Even though they didn't see each other regularly, he knew his younger brother's mentality. He preferred to do what he loved more than anything else.
"That's why."
Kazir handed a letter to his brother. Aaron raised his eyebrows and decided to read it. The letter was already open and Kazir had probably read it.
"... Sigh."
After reading the contents, Aaron sighed deeply and covered his eyes.
"What is she up to this time? She never contacted me after she left."
"That's why I'm trying to find out."
Both brothers were confused. In fact, they were skeptical that the letter came from their mother at all. Their relationship with their mother ended after the divorce. Their mother was cold at them most of the time even when she was married to their father.
'I heard from Dad that Mom was the one who named me. I'm still curious why.'
"This is the first time I get a letter from her."
Kazir said after taking a sip of cappuccino.
"I have not heard from her for a long time. I hear she's doing well after the divorce. She got alimony from Dad."
For some reason, the judge agreed to give alimony and monthly child support to their mother, even though the two brothers stayed with their father. Perhaps there was a negotiation between their parents regarding that.
"One thing is for sure. She wants to meet you." Aaron added.
"But why me? Shouldn't she contact you instead? You have a more stable income than I do?"
"Yes, but my cash and liquid assets are nothing compared to yours, Mr. Billionaire Director."
"You know that's not true. My income is not even 1/10 of that amount."
"I'm just kidding. Anyway, she wants something from you. I feel sorry for you. You know how Mom roasts a person until she gets what she wants."
"You're going to help me, right, Aaron?"
"Brother, you're an adult. I'm sure you can handle it. Besides, I'm kind of busy."
Aaron yawned for the second time. He hadn't gotten enough sleep lately.
"By the way, congratulations. I didn't congratulate you personally. Am I going to have a niece or a nephew?"
Aaron's wife was pregnant. They married last year. Kazir attended the wedding but left the next day. Taken was still airing at the time, so Kazir was busy.
"It's still not confirmed."
Aaron smiled slightly. He felt like his outlook on life was changing.
"What do you mean?"
"My wife hopes she's carrying a daughter. We are still waiting for the gender test."
"So you're not going to have a gender reveal party?"
"Huh? I never heard of that... But now that you mention it, maybe we can do something like that."
"Let me know when. I'll buy a plane ticket."
"All right, Mr. Billionaire Director."
"Damn it, I said don't call me that."
"Hahaha."
The two brothers began to talk about life and how they had grown up to face the world.
...
...
...
"Congratulations, Director."
"Director Grey, congratulations."
"Kazir, congratulations, man."
During the pre-production of John Wick, Kazir began to hear congratulations from everyone.
Kazir kept his expression and accepted their praise. To be honest, he wasn't expecting this outcome. But he was happy with the results he got this time.
The international box office for Taken ended with a whopping $297 million.
With $268 million from North America, the worldwide gross of Taken was $565 million.
But with the complicated shares, cuts and taxes from many countries, Grey Pictures only got $65 million in the bank.
In addition, Kazir Grey had a 10% share of the box office, so the $65 million was reduced to $36 million. Still, this amount was a good thing. It was pure profit.
Another thing was the television copyrights. Grey Pictures owns all the copyrights to Taken and they were free to rent or sell it to anyone.
For the first two years, Fox TV bought the TV broadcast of Taken for $18 million. This means that only Fox TV was allowed to broadcast Taken in the United States for two years.
Note that this is only in the United States. In Australia, they sold the two-year TV broadcast of Taken for $12 million.
In other English speaking countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada, Grey Pictures received a total of $25 million.
Truth be told, Grey Pictures' profit from Taken was already over $100 million. Especially once the sales of videotapes increased.
They could make money from Taken no matter how many years passed. As long as they owned most of the copyrights, they could make money.
Gone with the Wind came out in 1939. And to date, the movie has grossed more than $3.4 billion in profit after so many decades of sales, tv broadcast, even the re-release.
One of the proofs of why movie companies made money even though movies weren't very profitable in theaters.
The Shawshank Redemption was a huge flop in theaters, yet the movie continued to make money over the years.
There were no unsuccessful movies. As long as people were interested in movies, they would buy them.
"I know it's already obvious, but I think Taken is going to be the box office champion of 1997."
His assistant, Erica Mendez, told him confidently, but Kazir shook his head.
He grinned.
"I don't think so."
It was the last week of January, and news of the Titanic was slowly sinking in the media. No one expected the outcome except Kazir Grey.
[Regarding Gone With The Wind, I just googled it. I'm not 100% sure about that.]