Kazir understood it very well. Showbiz is not that simple. It's an intense competition for the purpose of making more money.
He didn't blame Warner Brothers and Walt Disney. Because he understood their situation. These two companies just wanted to take advantage of the situation to defeat one of their rivals.
Sony-Colombia was getting stronger and they didn't want that to happen. If Kazir was in their position, he would also do the same.
However, even though he didn't blame them, his feelings were still filled with anger. He was just a person after all, he had feelings. And he didn't like that the three giants were trying to destroy his project. He didn't like it at all.
Thankfully, Kazir was mature enough to control his emotions. He was not stupid. He experienced so many things in life and he knew that life was not over just because of one mistake. In his opinion, he experienced far more painful things than this.
So what if Spider-Man 2 flopped?
Would it affect his position in the industry?
Yes, but Kazir understood that it would never stop him from making movies.
If Hollywood wanted to kick him out, he had other countries to migrate to.
Well, TV Shows were also not bad.
Kazir was not afraid. As long as he could pursue his art, it didn't matter.
However, he also understood that the situation would badly affect everyone around him
Tobey Maguire and the cast of Spider-Man 2 would be affected.
The crew members who worked just to finish the project would be affected.
The workers from Sony-Colombia would be affected.
This was not about him. Kazir was the director, and it was his responsibility to make sure that the project would be a success.
So he didn't hesitate to contact the current Chairman/CEO of Warner Brothers, Chairman Barry Mayer.
'If I have to work with Warner Brothers to protect Spider-Man 2, so be it. This is not about me anymore.'
Kazir stared at Barry who seemed surprised by what he said.
"Kazir, can you repeat what you said? You said you want to direct Batman?"
"That's right. Or is there another person who you want to take care of the project?"
"..."
There was actually a new director they were interested in working with. But compared to Kazir, the value that the new director could bring to the table was nothing.
Kazir was the most profitable director for a reason. His creation was all for the purpose of making money.
His artistic passion was about making money. That was the reason why so many studios wanted to work with him, because their mission was the same.
"I've been interested in Batman. He is my favorite superhero. Actually... If Warner Brothers acquired the shares of Grey Pictures, I want to work with DC Comics and Warner Brothers to revive Batman."
"..."
Unfortunately, the acquisition failed and Grey Pictures became part of 20th Century Fox. Even though it was wrong, Barry was blaming Terry Semel for that mistake.
The value that Grey Pictures could bring to Warner Brothers was immensely huge.
The last live-action of Batman was Batman & Robin. The result was awful that Warner Brothers hid the Batman movie adaptation rights in their film library for almost a decade. They wanted people to forget about Batman with nipples... The costume designer was immediately fired after that.
Who thought that putting nipples on Batman's armor was a good idea?
Barry took a deep breath. He suddenly wanted to call his secretary to bring cold water to calm him down. Instead, he made do with warm tea.
Barry took a sip of the tea.
Of course they wanted to work with Kazir. In fact, they wanted to contact Kazir in hopes that he would direct at least one of their DC movies.
"Kazir, you do understand that you're actually helping your enemy by doing this."
Marvel Comics and DC Comics were rivals yet Kazir wanted to do something outrageous.
"I know it well... But do I even have a chance?"
He smiled but his gaze didn't seem happy.
"I will only direct Batman... A Trilogy at best. But I want Warner Brothers and Time Warner to stop sabotaging Spider-Man 2."
Trilogy? Barry almost jumped. Trilogy was a huge thing. Still, he controlled himself.
"Kazir, you know that's hard to do."
"No deal then."
"... I will contact some people."
It would be stupid if Barry said no. Of course he would agree with Kazir.
"Glad to hear about it."
The only way to stop Warner Brothers was by giving them an equal or a better deal.
Kazir directing Batman was enough. Barry hated to say it but Kazir had enough power to negotiate with them.
This was just a verbal agreement but it meant that the negotiation started. It meant that Kazir had a high chance to direct Batman. Of course, Salvatore and the producer would talk about the contract in further detail.
The two had a handshake.
"It's nice working with you, Barry."
"The pleasure's mine. Good luck with your movie this year."
"Hm."
Even though they had an agreement, it was obvious that the two were not on good terms.
.....
.....
...
It was subtle but Time Warner slowly stopped talking about Tobey Maguire. It seemed that Warner Brothers was serious about working with Kazir. Their reason was simple, if Kazir could make another $1 billion superhero movie, then the deal was super worth it.
Besides, condemning Tobey Maguire wouldn't help them that much. Spider-Man already had a solid fan base. The best that this incident could do was lower the box office down to a few million. Even then, the chances of Spider-Man 2 earning more than $700 million were still high. Why is that? Because Kazir Grey was the director of the movie.
His presence was enough to offset the scandal.
Thankfully, February 1 arrived and another big news happened that buried the issues related to Tobey Maguire.
On the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake had a performance but because of a "wardrobe malfunction", Janet's breast was exposed in the live broadcast.
This became a huge sensation and things regarding Tobey Maguire died down