May arrived and the box office of 2 Fast 2 Furious obviously slowed down. As of May 5, 2004, 2 Fast 2 Furious grossed $219.78 million in North America after 35 days of screening.
The scandal that happened affected the box office. However, the movie still prevailed. At the end of the day, 2 Fast 2 Furious didn't have much to do with Kazir Grey. People would still watch the movie as long as it was entertaining.
Now that the scandal was gone, there was nothing that could inflict damage on 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Unfortunately, the current box office was slightly lower than what 20th Century Fox expected. They believed that within a month, the movie would cross the $250 million mark at least.
Well, things didn't work out and they knew the reason why. Universal Pictures and Walt Disney's plan worked.
"As expected of my son. He's amazing even if he is faced with obstacles that can destroy his career. This incident will never stop him."
Elizabeth smirked as she watched the replay of Game Of Thrones. This show received so much praise from critics, it had positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
The average viewership rate of the show was 15 million households. This was a high rating.
The Internet was still not that popular so people still preferred watching television as a way of past time and hobby.
Although once the internet became a household name, the viewership rates of many TV shows would be affected.
In the 2010s, having 5 million viewers watching a show was already a hard thing to achieve.
Even the original Game Of Thrones which was originally released in 2011 only has a rating of 2.22 million viewers. That was already an amazing feat.
And now, Grey Pictures's version of Game Of Thrones was now a critically acclaimed TV Show this year, receiving many praises and even awards. The show was nominated for Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, and Satellite Awards.
The replays of the show had at least 2 million viewers per episode.
Elizabeth watched the show since it was released. She never missed any episodes.
She recognized that her son was a talented person.
"As expected, something like false allegations will never defeat my son."
The one who actually offered the idea of spreading rumors was Elizabeth. She "talked" to one of the higher-ups of Universal Pictures, while passionately hugging.
In exchange for her daughter to be part of the Dawn Of The Dead, Elizabeth sided with Universal Pictures.
Universal Pictures hoped that Elizabeth knew something about Kazir that could destroy his career. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was never close with her son so she couldn't find anything to use against. Universal Pictures was disappointed.
However, Elizabeth used her wits and experience to secure the role for her daughter. Elizabeth was good at seducing men, after all.
She also heard that Universal Pictures paid a private detective to stalk Kazir but the detective couldn't find anything bad except for the fact that Kazir and Angelina stopped interacting.
"Speaking of Angelina..."
Elizabeth smiled. She actually had a chance to talk to the actress.
"Let's just say that I told her that her relationship with Kazir will never work. My son will only love his career, but never a woman... Just like his father."
Was it based on her own experience? That single interaction probably caused their separation.
"I told her that Kazir doesn't have any intention of marrying, it's my conjecture but I'm probably right. I've seen so many men who became afraid of marriage after getting destroyed in a divorce. Nothing's new."
The Game Of Thrones ended and Elizabeth turned off the television. Then, her daughter showed up with a big smile on her face.
"Mommy, I got an interview!"
"Honey, that's amazing."
Dawn Of The Dead was released in March and its performance was average for a movie invested by a big studio.
Although the movie garnered fans, particularly people who loved watching zombie movies. Dawn Of The Dead was different from the usual slow zombies. The zombies in Dawn Of The Dead were fast and dangerous, making the movie unique from most zombie movies.
Sadly, being a horror movie released in March, which was not a popular month for moviegoers, Dawn Of The Dead only made $58 million after almost two months of screening.
Elizabeth hugged her daughter. She already had an idea that the interview was from a small publisher, perhaps for tabloids.
"The interview asked me some stuff, such as my job and how I act in the set. Of course, I said that working on a mid-budget is an amazing experience."
"..."
Elizabeth listened.
"You didn't say that Director Snider scolded you?"
It was not something new in the set of Dawn Of The Dead. In fact, the filming schedule was late because of Mara's county NGs.
"... No. I want to but you said that I shouldn't talk about it to people. Gosh, that director is the worst!"
"That's good."
Elizabeth knew her daughter's capability. Mara was a spoiled brat but Elizabeth made sure that her daughter would stay as innocent as possible. She didn't want Clara to experience the disgusting truth of the world. So far, Elizabeth has been doing well at protecting her daughter.
...
...
...
"How's your day?"
"I'm fine."
Angelina and Kazir smiled at each other but the atmosphere between them was awkward.
"Congratulations on your movie."
"I'm just one of the voice actors. I should congratulate you instead." Angelina replied.
"What do you mean? Shark Tale grossed over $375 million. I think you deserve congratulations for being a part of it."
"Thanks... 2 Fast 2 Furious is also doing well."
"I guess so..." Kazir chuckled. The performance of 2 Fast 2 Furious was lower than their expectations, but they couldn't change the fact that the movie already grossed $219 million just a month after screening. A clear success.
The two looked at each other and things became awkward again. They didn't know what to say.
"Kazir... I..." Angelina bit her lip.
"I want to break up with you. Let's end our relationship." She looked into his eyes and Kazir bitterly smiled