[Shout out to Suleyman M, Mathew O, Graham J, Jonevermaycry, and Andy A!]
Hollywood What If Chapter 231
"Okay, this scene is over!"
The shooting was done and Liam Neeson wiped his sweat. He admitted that working with Kazir and becoming an action star had changed the course of his career.
Before Taken, Liam Neeson focused more on drama. But now he was invited to do a lot of action movies. Most recently, he appeared in Star Wars as a Jedi Master.
"Good job."
"Yeah."
Matt Damon congratulated Liam Neeson and the old man nodded. Next to them stood Viggo Mortensen.
The three protagonists took a month off from their schedules/jobs to participate in the shooting of Wanted, which was in March. Normally, it took at least two months to finish their scenes, but Kazir was a different kind of director.
They finished most of their scenes already. After that, Viggo Mortensen would return to New Zealand to shoot Lord of the Rings. Comparing the filming of Lord Of The Rings and Wanted was something that Viggo thought about so many times.
Unlike Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson's filmography, Kazir Grey was a fast perfectionist. He could get a perfect shot in just a few takes. Kazir also had a good influence on his cast.
The atmosphere on the set was very relaxed, very different from the usual filming vibes.
In Lord of the Rings, Viggo had to wear thick clothes before shooting. And he had to wear them almost 10 hours a day, it was tiring and sweaty.
"Something is strange... I know Kazir's projects are usually peaceful, but there's something different about this one." Matt Damon muttered.
"I agree, I can't put my finger on the reason, but the atmosphere on the Wanted set is quite carefree. I had 10 NG's yesterday and Kazir didn't even frown or show any anger." Viggo Mortensen added.
Even though Kazir was a quiet person, he would still talk to the actor once they reached the threshold of 10 NGs.
"It seems you are still young. Look over there."
Liam Neeson pointed in a certain direction and found Kazir talking to Angelina. They were smiling, Angelina giggled playfully and patted Kazir's shoulder.
"So you mean... That's the reason?" Matt asked. He hadn't expected this situation. Last year, Kazir had been dating Cameron Diaz.
"I think so. Whatever it is, Kazir and Angelina are fine. I'm not sure if they really love each other, but their relationship is definitely good news for both of them. They have been smiling a lot lately."
As the eldest of the trio, Liam Neeson had a better understanding.
"But... I heard Angelina's a sex addict." Viggo muttered weakly. This rumor was almost everywhere and it could be true or false. Angelina Jolie was known to be a sex addict. Some of her exes confirmed it.
"Whatever it is, Kazir can definitely tame her."
The three knew the importance of this movie. The outcome of this movie would be the result of three years of hard work that Grey Pictures had put into this massive project.
Kazir and Grey Pictures were risking their future just to realize this outrageous plan that could be good or bad. Nobody knew the future.
The three actors got a career boost after working with Kazir. They were grateful for it. So they wanted the movie to be successful.
Besides, their contracts were not over yet. So if this Continental Cinematic Universe was a success, it means they have secure projects to work with when they reach the bottom of their careers. It also gives them more leverage to negotiate with the company because their roles are important.
In a way, the future of the Continental Cinematic Universe was their future. Heck, even though their screen time in this movie was only 10 minutes, the contract already stated that they would earn 4 to 9 million dollars. Liam Neeson, of course, had the highest salary of the three.
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Wanted started shooting in January and finished in April. Four months of filming. That was very fast by Hollywood standards. However, if you compare it to Hong Kong movies, the filming of Wanted was already long.
Usually Hong Kong movies finish shooting in a month or two. It was amazing, but definitely a difficult thing to do.
The laws between the two countries were different, and the cast and crew of Wanted needed rest to keep going.
And even if Wanted finished shooting in two months, they still had to wait for Industrial Light & Magic to finish the special effects scenes.
The good thing was that four months was enough for Industrial Light & Magic to finish all the scenes, so Kazir Grey immediately started post-production on the film. They didn't need any heavy special effects in the first place, so Industrial Light & Magic was in good hands.
Just like that, the summer schedule officially happened.
May started with a bang with the release of Gladiator, distributed by DreamWorks. DreamWorks hired Ridley Scott, the director of Alien, to direct the movie. They cast Russell Crowe as the film's protagonist.
As everyone expected, DreamWorks used their distribution channel. That was the reason they started DreamWorks in the first place. The Big Six used their position to control the industry through their distribution channels.
Unfortunately, DreamWorks only had a North American distribution channel. An international distribution channel was a near-impossible dream to achieve in the short term. It takes years of accumulation, just like the Big Six and Metro Goldwyn Mayer did.
Since Steven Spielberg had a good relationship with Universal Pictures because they worked together on Jurassic Park, the international distribution of Gladiator was taken over by Universal Pictures.
The first week of Gladiator grossed over $49 million at the box office. It was an amazing achievement. But DreamWorks could not rest easy.
Because the anticipated comedy of the year would be released next week. Napoleon Dynamite III will be released on May 11th. Obviously, the two movies would have a rivalry to get the most tickets.