[Shout out to Dave, Salman K, David K, Alexander, timelesstrix0, Sintong Wilson H! Thanks for your support. Webnovel doesn't like non-English characters, so I decided to translate some of your names into English instead.]
Hollywood What If Chapter 235
[This summer, three legends will put an end to the powerful organization.]
The trailer started and the people in the pub watched it with curiosity. Most of the people in the pub were men, and of course they had seen at least one of the Continental Cinematic movies.
They saw Liam Neeson, Viggo Mortensen and Matt Damon in their iconic roles. They carried guns in cool ways, reloaded bullets in cool ways, and killed people in cool ways...
The excitement of the music and scenes that the trailer brought captivated the men in the pub.
How could they not, the trailer alone was a masterpiece. It got people hyped. But in two decades, this kind of trailer would be generic and every action movie would use it. The formula was like this:
-- A low and slow build-up of music.
-- An attractive statement from the protagonist that made no sense.
-- An overly establishing shot.
-- Heist shots, lots of them. Scenes with explosions and gunfire. Cool scenes that only last 0.2 seconds each.
-- Background music intensifies.
-- Another line that seemed cool.
-- Villain close-up shot.
-- Wide shot, massive destruction with SFX boost.
-- Reveal cover song.
-- Change the location, somewhere beautiful, blah blah blah.
-- Hyping the strength of the villain/organization. The minor characters tell how dangerous the mission would be.
-- Blah blah blah.
-- An action stunt that almost defies physics.
-- Shots of the protagonist running.
-- A scene where it looked like the protagonist was going to die.
-- Then the title drop, the theme song blended perfectly.
-- Then the release date of the movie.
Honestly, Kazir Grey used every element he could to hype the movie. This time, he used Bryan Mills, John Wick, and Jason Bourne as the hook to lure in the audience.
These three characters already had a huge fan base, so they were easy to draw attention to.
"I'm going to fucking see this movie! It's going to be awesome!"
A man with a thick beard announced, raising his beer in excitement. Even though the movie didn't have much relevance to his daily life, he was still excited to watch it. He was a little groggy, probably from drinking a lot.
"Hell yeah! I'm going to ask my son to watch it, we haven't had any father-son bonding lately! I'm sure he'll be happy!"
Another man agreed.
The men nodded and decided that they had to see this movie. They hadn't expected something as ambitious as three superstars in one movie to happen! This was a piece of movie history! The biggest crossover!
Wallace chuckled as he listened to their banter. He was also drinking in the pub.
'They didn't know that I'm actually the vice president of the Grey Fans. A group of fans who support Kazir Grey, the director of Wanted.'
Wallace had already graduated from college and was now an office worker. Being an adult was not so easy, it was even worse. Wallace sometimes dreamed of being a kid again. Away from responsibilities, bills, and serious human relationships.
When he was a kid, all he had to think about was how to beat the Elite 4 in Pokemon, how to be a Super Saiyan, and how to chokeslam like Undertaker.
Watching movies was his way of escaping reality, and his favorite movies were produced by Kazir Grey.
The Grey fans had already rented a movie theater in Los Angeles. They would watch the movie in tuxedos, in keeping with the John Wick aesthetic.
Wallace was very excited about the movie. He believed that this movie would be the culmination of the last four movies produced by Grey Pictures.
He drank his alcohol and hoped that the days would pass quickly so that he could watch the movie.
...
...
...
"This could be good or bad for us."
Michael Eisner narrowed his eyes as he stared at the television that was showing the trailer for Wanted.
As the chairman of one of the largest film companies in the world, Michael Eisner sensed the impending doom or blessing of this endeavor.
If Wanted was a massive success, it could open up another way for movie companies to make money. If Grey Pictures could make one, so could they.
But Michael Eisner knew that creating a Cinematic Universe was not so easy. He knew the danger. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.
'... Should I buy Grey Pictures? Based on their past performance, their net worth will be around 1.5 billion. The sequels of their movies are promising, so the company will have a better future.'
That amount was nothing to Disney. They could buy it... Although it all depends on Kazir's intentions. He was the sole owner of Grey Pictures.
'If Grey Pictures doesn't agree, or if the company is acquired by one of our competitors, then Walt Disney will have to create its own Cinematic Universe.'
The old man touched his chin. The shareholders' opinion of him was getting worse, influenced by the Disney and Weinstein families.
Michael Eisner had to do something to save his position. In his mind, this Cinematic Universe was the answer.
"Uh, sir, President Ovitz is here."
"Send him in."
Michael Ovitz entered the office and told his friend that Disney had successfully purchased the copyright to an old novel.
"Good. 'A Princess of Mars' looks promising."
Recently, a rumor had circulated that Warner Bros. was starting a project based on a novel. It was about a young wizard named Harry Potter.
Disney didn't want to be left out, so they decided to acquire some old novels that would be profitable if made into movies.
'A Princess of Mars' was the first book in the Barsoom series. The Barsoom series had 11 books that expanded the universe of the series. It was about a guy named John Carter who was transported to Mars and met a Martian princess.
"Ovitz, I have an idea... What if we made movies out of this series with different protagonists? Like the Continental Cinematic Universe."
"You mean...?"
Michael Ovitz quickly understood.
"That's right. We will call the first movie John Carter."
Michael Ovitz smiled, believing in his ability as chairman of Walt Disney.
++++++
[Author's note: Yes, this chapter is about hyping the premiere. It may take a chapter or two before the premiere happens. I have one more scene I wanted to add before the premiere. Anyway, someone mentioned the idea of other movie companies starting their own Cinematic Universe, so I decided to cook up something. Thanks again to David Karlsson].
[... By the way, do you really want Elizabeth Cohen to die so much?]