Hollywood What If Chapter 303
Most of the big movies have already been released and so far only one movie has been a massive flop worldwide.
Yes, Walt Disney was still delusional and couldn't accept that their movie failed miserably. So they ended up promoting the movie, John Carter, in different countries.
In total, they spent over $200 million on promotion. Together with the production costs of $150 million, John Carter wasted $350 million.
So what was the worldwide gross of the movie? The answer was $284 million... Yes, Walt Disney just lost their money.
Even with DVD sales, it would take them decades to recoup their loss. They screwed up very badly.
So to make up for it, Walt Disney decided to join the acquisition battle to get Grey Pictures.
Unlike Warner Brothers and Sony-Colombia, Walt Disney offered a stock swap instead. There were already a bunch of shareholders and adding one was no problem.
Steve Jobs, Harvey Weinstein, Roy Disney and even Michael Eisner had shares in Walt Disney, so adding Kazir Grey was not a problem.
For 30% of the stock, Walt Disney was willing to give Kazir 1.2% of Walt Disney stock.
Mind you, Walt Disney's total assets were huge and their net worth was $105 billion. Walt Disney owned ABC Studios, ESPN, Disneyland, part of Pixar since Steve Jobs was still alive, Touchstone, part of Miramax, and Hollywood Records.
In some ways, Walt Disney was comparable to Time Warner and News Corporation. Moreover, this company would become stronger once it acquired LucasFilm, Marvel Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox itself.
If not for Kazir's bad experience with Walt Disney, the director might agree.
However, Kazir was still waiting for another party to join the fun. Kazir felt like another studio was cooking.
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The release of Mr. And Mrs. Smith was extravagant as many actors from CCU showed up. Most of them were there to promote their own movies, and Kazir had no problem with that.
In fact, that was the reason why he attended the premiere.
After the reconciliation, Kazir and Angelina became close again and showed their affection to each other in front of the public.
They were holding hands when they attended the premiere of Mr. And Mrs. Smith.
"Kazir!"
Brad Pitt greeted Kazir and his partner Angelina.
... Actually, Kazir felt uncomfortable seeing Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie together. He knew he had changed the timeline, but he could not forget that they had actually become a couple and gotten married.
Anyway, Kazir was mature enough to understand. Brad Pitt didn't stay long after greeting them. He knew that Kazir and Angelina wanted their own time.
Brad Pitt met Kazir in 1994. At that time, Kazir was nothing more than an unknown director/screenwriter.
Honestly, Brad Pitt accepted the role in Se7en because the salary was enticing. He also knew the consequences of joining Se7en, a mystery thriller.
But he didn't expect his choice to be the right one. Se7en was a success.
Since then, every project Kazir has touched has been a success.
Everyone in Hollywood had high expectations for the man, and Kazir always made sure to deliver. Once his name was attached to the movie, the chances of it being a box office hit were higher.
Kazir also saw Jennifer Connelly in her dress... He immediately looked away when he felt that the woman next to him was staring at him with a cold gaze. He smiled and kissed Angelina's forehead to calm her down.
Kazir felt bad that Angelina was not part of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. After all, Angelina was the original female lead in the movie. But since Kazir added this movie to CCU, and since Angelina and her role in CCU was Fox, it would be impossible to cast her as another character.
Kazir promised to make it up to her. He knew that How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days would be a box office hit and that Angelina would keep her fame.
The theaters went dark and the movie began. The Grey Pictures and 20th Century Fox logo greeted the audience first.
On the other side of Hollywood, at Grauman's Chinese Theater, Miramax was in crisis. Just like Mr. And Mrs. Smith, Miramax began the premiere of Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dream.
Based on audience reaction, the movie was mediocre at best. Miramax invested $38 million in this movie and it would be a disaster if it failed.
Miramax was not Walt Disney, which could shoulder hundreds of millions in losses. In the first place, Miramax used a safer way to make money.
As everyone expected, Mr. And Mrs. Smith easily won first place that week.
On August 7, 2002, Mr. And Mrs. Smith grossed $17.47 million on its first day. Something that made 20th Century Fox and Grey Pictures very happy.
As for Spy Kids 2, the movie made $4.67 million on the same day. Considering the fact that Spy Kids 2 had a strong opponent, this kind of result was already good.
By the first weekend, both movies were doing well on their own. Spy Kids 2 earned $25.04 million, while Mr. And Mrs. Smith earned $50.34 million.
In a way, Miramax was worrying for nothing. Even though both movies were about spies, their plots and genres were different.
Spy Kids focused on family comedy and a light-hearted plot.
As for Mr. And Mrs. Smith, it was more of a serious action movie with a dash of romance and comedy. Maybe that's why the two movies didn't have much of an impact on each other.
Even though August was the last month of the summer season, the release of movies didn't stop. Next week, a strong contender could trouble Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
The title of the movie is xXx.
It sounds like a porn site or something, but I swear it's a real movie.
xXx is an action movie starring Vin Diesel.