[Shout out to average joe gaming, suleyman m, ChrisMasterSky and L4kritz!]
Hollywood What If Chapter 188
Several people testified that they had seen the movie.
-- "Me? Oh yeah, I saw the movie about the witch or something. I even had a picture of the movie with my friend. High-definition camera? Yes, my boyfriend is a photographer, so the pictures are always clear."
In the picture you could see a couple... Behind them was a fat guy with a serious look on his face. It was none other than Harvey Weinstein!
Harvey Weinstein actually attended the Sundance Film Festival and saw The Blair Witch Project!
"Harvey, did you just let someone take a picture of you? And the couple even showed the evidence to the media!"
Michael Ovitz was furious. He didn't care about Harvey Weinstein's predicament, but it could cause trouble for Disney. After all, ABC News was the one promoting the movie.
"I didn't know they were trying to take a picture! My eyesight was affected after seeing the movie!"
Harvey Weinstein explained.
"Then find a way to fix it!"
Michael Ovitz said coldly. This could implicate Disney.
Disney tried to project an image that they were family oriented. They didn't want that image to change as much as possible.
'If we had no choice, then Disney would put all the blame on Miramax and Harvey Weinstein. Me and Micheal don't like this fat guy anyway, Harvey's in alliance with Roy Disney. If we let them get more power, it will be a problem for Michael Eisner and me.'
He was looking at Harvey Weinstein like a dagger.
Harvey Weinstein just nodded, but his face was very ugly right now. He was in a bad mood.
"I'm going to try my best to fix this."
"You should."
Harvey Weinstein opened his phone to call his friends. Harvey Weinstein was Jewish and had many friends in show business. He knew someone at Fox News and CNN.
But before he could dial the numbers, the news changed.
-- "The fat guy you see in this picture is actually Harvey Weinstein, the founder of Miramax. Our team has discovered that he bought The Blair Witch Project. If our deduction is correct, he is the one responsible for the movie's publicity."
The news anchor explained.
Then another person was interviewed. This time it was a middle-aged woman. She was crying, sadness clearly in her eyes.
Suddenly, Harvey's chubby cheeks twitched uncomfortably.
-- "My son is a good man! He never did drugs! He never drank alcohol or smoked cigarettes! His friends are only interested in visiting Burkittsville, Maryland, and yet I can't believe this will be the last time I see him alive! All because of a movie! Just because of a fake witch!"
She cried at the top of her lungs and looked miserable on camera. It was very painful for a mother to lose a child.
...
...
...
July 14th, 1999. It was Wednesday and many people were lining up to enter the movie theater.
While they were peacefully trying to buy tickets, some protesters were causing trouble outside the theater.
"Justice for John, Meredith, Angelito and Roel!"
These were the slogans they kept repeating. Well, the moviegoers didn't care. They were only interested in the movie.
Two days ago, the truth was revealed that The Blair Witch Project was a movie and the witch and the missing students were not real.
But that didn't stop them from trying to see the movie. Maybe it would be an exciting experience? The hype could never be erased, even when the truth was revealed. People were easily persuaded by peer pressure or perhaps social pressure.
The Blair Witch Project had already made so many headlines and people were now interested, even though the movie was fake.
But when they entered the theater and spent at least 10 minutes watching the movie, their expectations were thrown into the dirty trash can.
The movie, The Blair Witch Project, was boring at best. The cinematography, the unfocused scenes, everything was so amateurish.
"I can't believe I spent more than 1 hour watching this movie. I thought something interesting was going to happen. Damn, I wasted my $7 on a ticket".
"You're damn right. Four people lost their lives because one crazy person tried to make this movie seem real."
The people who saw the movie realized that they had been scammed. They could not believe that anyone could be evil enough to do such a thing.
"What is the name of the owner of Miramax again?"
"I think it's Harvey Weinstein."
"Yeah, I think he needs to explain himself or a lot of people are going to come after him."
The first day of The Blair Witch Project was actually amazing, even though the truth was revealed.
The midnight premiere was $4 million, then the next day it was $8 million.
This trend continued until the first week of The Blair Witch Project grossed over $37 million.
Because of the unique publicity of the movie, many people were interested in seeing the movie.
Of course, the people who saw it realized that they had been scammed and became angry.
However, compared to the original timeline, people were not angry at the two directors and actors of The Blair Witch Project. After all, they were innocent too. After they sold the movie to Miramax, they had no power over it.
This time, people had a clear target to direct their anger at.
Thousands of people protested in front of the Miramax headquarters. But Harvey Weinstein didn't show his face.
'This kind of protest will easily dissipate once the matter is over.'
Being good at his job, Harvey Weinstein knew the best way to survive this incident was to remain silent. He was innocent anyway. He didn't intend to cause an uproar. His hands were clean.
Even though The Blair Witch Project did well and he recouped his investment, the damage it did to him was much worse.
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[Author's Note: There will be another chapter a few hours later. Tomorrow, I will also post two chapters.]