Hollywood What If Chapter 164
Matt Damon had mixed feelings about director Grey. He respected him for his accomplishments despite his young age.
Most of the directors around the industry were in their 30s and 40s. Someone like Kazir, who was 29 years old and had been a successful director for the past few years, was incredible.
'I can't believe he's only a year older than me...'
Matt Damon thought.
As an actor, Matt Damon wanted to work with Kazir. Of course, he could not deny that he was sad and perhaps held a grudge against director Grey.
The best actor award went to Liam Neeson for his role as Bryan Mills in Taken.
Best Original Screenplay was won by Kazir Grey, the director of Taken.
Matt was nominated in both categories but lost. The Oscars were the dream of every actor/actress in the industry. Some people were willing to trade their bodies just to get the golden statue...
Well, that was all in the past and Matt Damon was mature enough to understand that. There was no reason to hold a grudge against a director. Especially when that director expressed his intention to cast him as the protagonist of his action movie.
Action movie!
For a 28-year-old man, of course Matt likes action movies! Besides, this was different from the war movie he had starred in with director Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
'Filming Saving Private Ryan is quite tedious because we have to wear dirty uniforms and get our faces dirty. On top of that, I don't like the weather in Ireland, it's not for me. Another factor is the atmosphere in the film crew.'
He heard that Kazir Grey was easy to work with... A lot of actors who worked with Kazir Grey said that, but maybe it was just flattery and publicity.
Overall, his opinion of Kazir Grey was quite positive, except for the Academy Awards.
For this reason, Matt Damon agreed to meet Kazir Grey personally. This meeting was not serious and Kazir won't influence the negotiations between his agent and the producer.
Kazir just wanted to meet Matt Damon.
A few minutes later, Kazir showed up, getting out of a Honda car. They agreed to meet at a cafe to discuss the project.
Matt Damon stood up and greeted Kazir and shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Director Grey. Ah, congratulations, John Wick passed $200 million at the box office."
"Thank you." Kazir grinned.
The worldwide box office has already passed $200 million. To be exact, it was $213 million. The movie was still playing in some countries. Maybe Paramount would pay the money next month.
Grey Pictures has already contacted a videotape manufacturer to produce 10 million copies of John Wick for the first batch.
Luckily they have enough money. The money Taken brought in was pretty good and enough for Grey Pictures to relax for at least two years. The budget for The Bourne Identity and Taken 2 was no problem for Grey Pictures.
In addition, Kazir Grey had his personal bank account to invest in the two films if they ran out of money.
He had more than $30 million in his bank account. Maybe he wanted to invest in the stock market again. Microsoft and the other companies were doing well this year.
His least problem right now was money, he had a lot of it. He didn't like to spend extravagantly, he was very cheap with himself. He didn't like to buy things, his hobbies revolve around movies. He would buy old movies from time to time to fill up his library, but even that didn't exceed $1 million.
"Let's talk about your character. I know you have already read the script. I just have a few questions, have you read the novels?"
"Yes, Jason Bourne was supposed to be an old man..."
In the novel, Jason Bourne was in his 50s.
"I decided to change the age. Don't worry, Robert Ludlum agreed with that decision."
Robert Ludlum was the author of Jason Bourne series and Matt knew about it. Never met the guy though.
"I see..."
Matt Damon recalled that the two movies Taken and John Wick had old protagonists, between 40 and 50 years old.
'But it seems that Kazir is trying to do something different...' For a second, Matt Damon was worried about this decision.
'No, to me it's a good thing. If Jason Bourne is 50 years old, then I don't have a chance of getting the role.'
He learned quickly.
"I heard you did some training for Saving Private Ryan."
"Yes, but it focuses more on military training. As for action stunts, I'm still learning."
"That's okay, we have plenty of time."
Kazir was confident because he has fast filming method. He thought it wouldn't be a problem to train Matt Damon and the other actors for three to four months. Also, most of the action stunts would be filmed using stunt doubles.
These stunt doubles are professionals and they can do the job.
'Harold wasn't lying, Matt Damon really put on weight. He didn't look like a teenager anymore. He looks his age, which is 28 years old.' Kazir slightly nodded.
Many actors decided to keep their youthful looks for the sake of their careers. It was difficult for them to get mature roles so they maintained their youthful appearance. The only appropriate roles for them were teenage roles.
But it seemed that Matt Damon was ready to change, which was the best thing to do.
'He's going to be 30 years old and it's time for him to do old, mature, serious roles.'
Putting on weight for The Bourne Identity was the first step in his transformation. Once successful, Matt Damon's career had more paths to choose from.
The two started talking about the movie. Surprisingly, they have a good conversation. Maybe because of their age...
Still, it didn't change the fact that Matt Damon looked younger than Kazir Grey, even though they were only a year apart in age.
'The beard... My beard is the reason...'
Kazir justified the difference, explaining that he was not old.