The public signing of the contract happened right in front of the media. Both Kazir Grey and the representative of 20th Century Fox, Tom Rothman, signed the thin piece of paper.
For the record, this public signing was just a publicity and the two companies already signed a proper contract three days ago, when Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley witnessed the procedure.
Kazir and Tom shook hands and many reporters took pictures of this signing. Now, the public learned that 20th Century Fox owned 30% of Grey Pictures' shares while Kazir Grey owned 3.50% of 20th Century Fox's shares.
This business venture was good news for 20th Century Fox because their stock price increased to 21% these past three days. The price of their stock went stable at $27.42.
20th Century Fox gave Kazir a promise that he would win the Best Director this year. Just like Miramax, 20th Century Fox had a strong influence in the Academy.
In fact, this was one of the reasons why Kazir signed the contract with 20th Century Fox. Although he knew that it was nothing but a promise.
At the end of the day, only the old farts of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences could decide if they wanted to support Kazir.
Well, having the help of 20th Century Fox was not that bad. At least he had insurance that would ease his mind.
...
...
...
"Kazir, what's the meaning of this?"
Frank Price, the CEO of Sony-Colombia, called Kazir about the recent happening in Hollywood. To be precise, the news that Grey Pictures and 20th Century Fox decided to work together.
"Frank, I'm sure you know what's happening."
"..."
Frank could not help but sigh. Sony and Sony-Colombia were interested in Grey Pictures and they were not cheap about spending money. However, Sony-Colombia lost the battle in the end.
Sony-Colombia understood that they lacked high-quality movies and they needed Grey Pictures's filmography.
"You don't have to worry, I will stay true to the contract. I will be the director of Spider-Man 2."
"... That's good to hear."
This was the main reason why Frank called Kazir. If Kazir wanted to stop cooperating with the other studios, it would be bad for Sony-Colombia.
They already experienced the taste of a $1 billion movie, and they wanted more. Only someone like Kazir could provide them with that amount.
"The project will keep on going, just prepare the production and negotiate with the cast. I'll make sure that Spider-Man 2 will be released in 2004."
Kazir assured the CEO of Sony-Colombia. He knew that keeping his promise was the right thing to do. He didn't want to tarnish his reputation.
After all, Kazir still had a chance to jump from another house if working with 20th Century Fox didn't work.
"Okay, I will contact Jezebel regarding the negotiation. By the way, why don't we keep your contract the same? ... You know, $27 million + 27% worldwide box office + 7% peripheral profit share is already a lot, right?"
"Frank, you should contact Salvatore about that. Not me."
"Okay, fine..."
Based on Frank's voice, the guy was suffering from overwork.
Kazir was not stupid enough to promise anything regarding his salary. Only Salvatore and Kazir's other agents could do that. Those people would probably do their best to get a better amount of money. Kazir decided to trust them and let them do their jobs.
The call ended and Kazir put his phone into his pocket. Tonight, Grey Pictures decided to celebrate the success of The Revenant.
Since the movie already ended its worldwide screening, Grey Pictures decided to have a party and invited a lot of people. The Revenant grossed $532.95 million at the worldwide box office.
Being the fifth highest-grossing movie of 2002, The Revenant gained a good reputation.
The 1st highest-grossing movie last year was The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Grossing $936.68 million.
2nd was the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Making $878.97 million at the worldwide box office.
3rd was the Bourne Supremacy with $710.68 million.
4th was the Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Grossing $645.25 million.
5th was The Revenant with $532.95 million.
6th was Mr. And Mrs. Smith, grossing $487.28 million.
7th was Men in Black II with $441.81 million.
8th was Die Another Day with $431.97 million.
9th was Signs, grossing $408.24 million.
10th was Ice Age, grossing $383.25 million.
These were the top ten highest-grossing movies of 2002.
Despite being a second-rate production studio, it didn't change the fact that Grey Pictures had three movies in the top 10.
This was proof of Grey Pictures' capability. Enough to increase the stock price of 20th Century Fox.
"Congratulations, Kazir. You're a certified billionaire now!"
"Thanks, Tom."
Tom Cruise and Kazir Grey hugged and laughed. Even though their movie didn't get a lot of nominations at the Academy Awards, they were not bitter because the performance of the movie was amazing.
A lot of people knew that Kazir probably received at least $1 billion from 20th Century Fox. Making him a real billionaire with liquid assets... He might have to invest that amount in something since the IRS was going to knock on his door for sure.
Anyway, the party was going quite well and a lot of celebrities attended the party for some reason... A lot of actresses tried to flirt with Kazir because Angelina was busy filming Lara Croft: Tom Raider.
"Excuse me, are you Director Kazir?"
"Hm?"
Kazir turned around to see a young woman calling him. The woman was confident despite her young age. She seemed to be 18 years old at the least.
The woman extended her hand, asking for a handshake.
"Hi, I'm Elizabeth Holmes. I'm 19 years old. I'm here to ask you for at least five minutes of your time. I just want you to introduce my company, Theranos."
"... Excuse me, what?" Kazir was shocked.
Kazir had a lot of reasons why he was shocked. He knew who Elizabeth Holmes was... This woman might be the biggest scammer of the century!
+++++
[I just remembered that I should add at least one scammer/con artist in the novel, because why not