Hollywood What If Chapter 525
In 2008, Grey Pictures had three projects scheduled for release. These projects were Wanted 3, The Equalizer 2, and Game of Thrones Season 3. These three were huge franchises that brought millions in profits to the company.
As for Kazir, there were three movies outside of Grey Pictures that were connected to him and set to be released in 2008.
The first was the superhero movie he directed, The Dark Knight, a movie about Batman and how he confronted The Joker. Kazir poured effort into this film because he knew that The Dark Knight was the true beginning of an amazing trilogy.
Some people could even argue that The Dark Knight Trilogy was the best trilogy of all time, with only a few able to compete, such as The Godfather and The Lord of the Rings.
Aside from The Dark Knight, two other superhero movies would also be released this year, both of which were connected to Kazir.
Kazir was one of the head executives at Marvel Studios and also the executive producer of every MCU movie. Naturally, he was connected to Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk.
These two Marvel movies would compete against The Dark Knight this year for the title of best superhero movie of 2008... Well, almost everyone already knows which movie won.
All three superhero films were great, but The Dark Knight ultimately won the battle. In this timeline, Kazir was the one who directed it. His fanbase was practically a cult at this point, and they would consume anything he released. The performance of The Dark Knight would exceed everyone's expectations.
Funny enough, these three superhero movies released this year were all connected to him. One was personally directed by him, while the other two were built with his help.
Because these three movies were all in the superhero genre and related to Kazir, both studios decided to schedule their release dates in separate months.
Someone from 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers personally negotiated to make things clear. In the end, the two studios reached an agreement. They even signed contracts to ensure that both sides would keep their word.
As a result, Iron Man was scheduled for release in May, though no exact date had been announced at the moment.
The Incredible Hulk was slated for release in June. Just like Iron Man, it didn't yet have a set release date.
As for The Dark Knight, Warner Brothers had already confirmed the release date as July 18.
Just like that, the three movies were spaced one month apart. This was to ensure that they wouldn't compete at the box office since they all targeted the same audience.
Imagine if all three movies had been released in the same month, it would've been detrimental to all of them because they couldn't maximize their profits. People would have had to choose between the three superheroes, and that wasn't good for business.
It was a good decision by both sides to talk about the release schedule. Even though DC Comics and Marvel Comics were rivals, they understood that working together, for now, was the best move.
By the way, when The Dark Knight began its promotion, some people were actually confused. They thought it was another epic movie set in the medieval era or something.
But once they realized the film was about Batman, the confusion subsided. Still, fans were puzzled about why the production chose to name it The Dark Knight instead of simply Batman.
...
...
...
As for Kazir, since he had already completed The Dark Knight, he decided to begin production on Ninja Assassin.
The Dark Knight was already finished. Warner Brothers had conducted a private screening, and the people who saw the movie fell in love with it. Some hardcore Batman fans even cried during the final scene. Some were devastated watching their hero seemingly lose to the villain, but they also understood that Batman had actually won. It was just a matter of perspective.
Still, it was a hard pill to swallow.
It was clear that Warner Brothers and DC Comics had mixed opinions about the direction Batman had taken. Some members of management blamed Kazir for it. But all they could do now was hope Kazir would revive the franchise. After all, Superman Returns had been a failure, and their only hope was The Dark Knight, and to trust in the best director, Kazir Grey.
There were some minor edits that Warner Brothers requested, and Kazir made those changes easily. Overall, The Dark Knight had a very promising future.
Anyway, now Kazir was on the set of Ninja Assassin, watching Enzo face off against stuntmen in ninja costumes.
He had promised to direct the movie, and he kept that promise. The budget for this film was $75 million. Kazir easily took $20 million of that as his salary. He didn't ask for a box office share, since Grey Pictures was his own company.
Enzo Park's salary was $11 million, while the remaining cast shared a total salary pool of $8 million.
That left $36 million to complete the film... Not bad.
Knowing Kazir, everyone at Grey Pictures was confident he wouldn't overspend. That $36 million was more than enough to finish the movie. After all, the biggest reason why movies became expensive was the cast salaries. If the budget wasn't enough, Kazir could reduce his own pay to make it work. He wasn't in need of money.
If he wanted to, his salary could go down to $1 and it wouldn't affect him. However, his agents would probably never approve of that kind of deal.
+++++
[If you want to read the complete story, you can check out my Patr eon.]
P@treon link: https://www.patr eon.com/Puji_maki