Hollywood What If

Chapter 488

Last year, Batman Begins was released, and its box office was $549 million. The production cost was $150 million. The movie earned more than twice its investment, so it made a profit.

However, just like the management, Barry couldn't help but be bitter that Batman Begins only made that amount. They expected a bit more, around $600 million at least. Especially when Kazir Grey was the one who directed the movie.

And now, his current movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, grossed $135 million in just three days.

Compared to Batman Begins, which only grossed $54 million in three days, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest had twice the profit in the same timeframe.

It was devastating to compare them, but he couldn't help but do so. Both movies were made by the same director. Sure, the genre of the two movies was different, but still...

Barry sighed. He felt like Kazir was not taking their cooperation seriously. Perhaps he was indeed sabotaging their projects.

And now, Barry was thinking if he should hire Kazir for the sequel to Batman. In the contract, Warner Brothers had the upper hand, and they had the power to stop working with Kazir. The director didn't have a say about that.

"...No, let's wait for a while. Based on the performance of Superman Returns, we might have to postpone our plans of making a Cinematic Universe, as we can't afford the losses. For the time being, let's keep the Batman Trilogy. As long as the contract is in effect, Kazir will surely work with us."

The Batman Trilogy was the first trilogy contract that Kazir signed.

As much as he wanted to deny it, Kazir's movies were profitable. He never had a movie that failed except for his first three movies, which were also horror movies...

"Hm, let's watch it first before making a move."

Barry recalled that Kazir's weakness was horror movies, so he had to think about it seriously before buying the movie.

......

...

...

Being part of the summer season, July had some movies that surpassed $100 million.

Aside from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, movies such as Little Man, You, Me and Dupree, Monster House, Little Miss Sunshine, John Tucker Must Die, and Miami Vice were released, which grossed more than $100 million.

However, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest smoothly dominated the month. No other movies could face it head-on. When July ended, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest grossed $361 million at the North American box office. The movie was only in theaters for 25 days, yet its box office hit was that tremendous.

The word of mouth and the CinemaScore ratings of the movie helped a lot. People just knew that if Kazir made a movie, it was a sure box office hit.

While the director and his movie were the topic of the month, the director in question was busy with the post-production of Shadows Beneath. After a month of promoting Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Kazir left the scene and let the cast do their jobs.

After all, directors were meant to stay behind the spotlight. No matter what people say, the cast will always be the face of the promotion. Jack Sparrow will always be the face of Pirates of the Caribbean. Even if a certain animation studio decided to fire Johnny Depp from his role, people would still acknowledge the fact that Johnny Depp was the face of Pirates of the Caribbean.

So yeah, Kazir was not the face of promotion, and he was happy about that. At least now he could focus on editing his horror movie.

"Yeah, another sleepless month."

Kazir yawned as he looked at the monitors that replayed the scenes. Next to him was Rector, the head of the editing/post-production team.

The post-production team consists of many positions.

Film Editor. This position was taken by Rector, the oldest editor whom Kazir worked with. The guy was now a permanent editor at Grey Pictures, responsible for editing Grey Pictures' movies.

Aside from the Film Editor:

There was an Assistant Editor, who organized the footage, managed media files, and synced sounds.

Sound Editor, who was responsible for editing dialogues, sound effects, and ambient sounds.

Colorists, who adjusted the colors and tone of the footage. This created a specific mood for the movie.

Music Editor, who worked on background music that was aligned with the movie narrative.

They also had Visual Effects Artists, but Grey Pictures usually hired ILM whenever they needed heavy special effects scenes.

Again, Grey Pictures was not a simple studio anymore. After years of success, it became one of the best B-list studios in Hollywood.

"I still can't believe that you reached this height. Sometimes I feel like you're not even living in the same timeline, I feel like you're from the future," Rector muttered to Kazir who was happy now that he had time to work on his movie.

Rector remembered the time when Kazir was still an unknown director who hired him to edit Napoleon Dynamite. It was a memory that sparked the start of their long-term cooperation.

And now, the unknown director was no more. Only a successful director who was addicted to making movies.

"Kazir, when was the last time you took a long-term vacation?"

"I think it was four years ago, back in 2002."

"..."

Rector sighed. It was impossible to fix the guy.

Just like that, two months passed, and big news shocked Hollywood.

The Bourne Ultimatum surpassed $1 billion at the worldwide box office! It was the first movie that surpassed $1 billion this year and probably the only movie, unless another miracle happens!

++++

[If my prediction is right, I can probably end this novel around 600-700 chapters. Haha, let's see how I will cook.]

[Edit: This novel is already completed.]

[By the way, which studio should I sell Kazir's horror movie to? I'll make a poll for that.]

[Edit: The poll ended.]