"Thanks, my friend. Haha, of course I will never forget about this. You helped me a lot. Tell the others that I also thanked them. What? Your niece wants to be an actress? Hmm, let me see, haha, of course I have a role for her. By the way, how old is she? Is she beautiful?"
Harvey Weinstein laughed out loud, being in a good mood. He talked to one of the members of the Academy.
"I'll promise. You know me, I know you. We are friends. What you're going to blackmail me? Haha. My friend, I know a lot of dirty secrets here in Hollywood. That blackmail of yours will not work on me. Why do you think I dodged the jail last time? Well, just send your niece to the company and I might think about giving her a role." Harvey licked his lips and ended the call.
He looked at the newspaper and he could not help but chuckle.
"Kazir, you are still new to this industry. I've been in Hollywood for almost two decades now and your status is nothing compared to me. You lose this time."
Miramax was the king of PR and their movies always won at the Academy Awards. It showed how strong their PR team was.
Harvey Weinstein had a lot of connections and he was more famous than Kazir who usually stayed in his office.
"All I did is tell the old farts that Kazir is obviously striving for the Best Director and there's no reason to waste any nominations since Kazir just wants the Best Director Award." He snickered. Because he knew that he was not lying.
Everyone who had a brain knew Kazir's intention.
Because of that, The Revenant only got two nominations. As for their chances of winning, well, Miramax would make sure that they would never bring any trophy back to their houses.
Box office and Academy Awards were different things. Grey Pictures might win at the box office but Miramax would also dominate the Academy Awards. They have done so for so many years.
"Kazir, you still need experience to face me. You're too young."
... For the record, Kazir was more than 30 years old. But yeah, Harvey had a point.
Miramax's business has already matured in terms of Public Relations.
...
...
...
A week after the announcement of Academy Awards' list nominations, Kazir was now watching clips of actresses who auditioned for the role of Elizabeth Swann, one of the leading roles in the Pirates Of The Caribbean.
Kazir already saw Keira Knightley's performance personally. He attended the audition to watch the actresses.
However, Kazir was in a dilemma because two other actresses were trying to get the role. First was Julia Roberts, a superstar since the 90s. Even though Julia Roberts' fame diminished, it didn't change the fact that the woman had a wow factor.
Kazir was actually impressed with her performance. Julia Roberts was still 36 years old so she passed the age requirements. However, her salary was expensive. If they hired her, the production studio might pay her at least $10 million.
Kazir and Julia were not friends, unlike Tom Cruise who was ready to lower the salary. The Revenant was meant to compete at the Academy Awards so Tom Cruise didn't have a problem with a low salary.
'We already spent a lot in casting Johnny Depp.' Kazir said to himself.
Being the iconic Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp was the one who fit the role the most. Kazir was ready to spend as much as money possible just to hire him... As expected, the outcome was terrifying.
At first Johnny Depp wanted a $10 million salary + 5% North American box office share.
Based on Kazir's last three movies, Pirates Of The Caribbean could make $300 million at the North American box office alone.
If Kazir's pirate movie did well and made $300 million, then Johnny Depp would receive around $15 million as his share... That was too much for Kazir and Grey Pictures to shoulder.
This was just the start of the trilogy and Grey Pictures could not afford to do that.
However, Johnny Depp wouldn't easily sign the trilogy contract if it was bad for him.
Johnny Depp was a famous actor and he could easily find another project to work with. Furthermore, pirate-themed movies were usually cursed and Johnny Depp wouldn't easily gamble his career if the salary was not worth it.
In the end, Grey Pictures signed a contract with Johnny for $23 million. This was just the first movie alone. They would have another negotiation once the second movie started production.
Was it worth it?
Based on Kazir's opinion...
'Yes, it's worth it. There are no irreplaceable in Hollywood, but Johnny Depp is the only Jack Sparrow that I will recognize.'
So yeah, the planned budget for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl of $140 million was now down to $117 million.
More than 15% of the budget disappeared just like that.
Thankfully, signing Orlando Bloom was much easier. The actor's team and the production had an agreement with $8 million. Orlando Bloom also signed a trilogy contract.
Now, Kazir was still thinking about the female lead.
Keira Knightley could be cast for $3 to $6 million. Depending on how the agreement would end.
Julia Roberts was a nice actress and her box office appeal was powerful, but her salary was also expensive.
In the end, Kazir decided to cross her name on the list. Pirates Of The Caribbean was an expensive project and Kazir never liked to increase the budget.
Now, he decided to insert the last DVD into the DVD player. This was the last and third actress that Kazir was thinking of casting.