HWI 465

Hollywood What If Chapter 465

Even though Zack declined Kazir's offer to direct 300, and the new director chose Dawn of the Dead instead, Kazir still recommended the director to 20th Century Fox to direct 300.

Because of what happened a year ago, when Kazir suffered from a scandal and chose to work with Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox felt jealous and asked for "attention."

In the end, to solve the problem, Kazir sold three of his scripts to 20th Century Fox. These were Final Destination, Paranormal Activity, and 300.

20th Century Fox already released Final Destination, and the movie was a success. So far, after two months of screening, Final Destination had grossed $158 million at the North American box office. Unfortunately, the competition in the summer season was tough, so Final Destination would probably end its screening two to three weeks from now. Even the theaters that were screening the horror movie were down to 400.

Aside from Final Destination, 20th Century Fox also had Paranormal Activity and 300.

After some discussion, 20th Century Fox decided to invest in 300 and Paranormal Activity. The company was confident in both movies, so they might as well do it.

Because they had high confidence in Kazir's recommendations, 20th Century Fox decided to contact Zack Snyder. This was not a final decision, and 20th Century Fox could change their minds if Zack Snyder didn't pass their criteria. In a way, Zack had to attend a job interview.

Well, Zack's last movie did great at the box office for a zombie movie standard. It was a profit. However, they still had to know the director before giving him the project.

While the two sides were negotiating, Kazir's opinion on the matter was a bit different.

"Zack Snyder is crucial for the DCEU to happen. If he's not working with Warner Brothers, then his chances of being part of the DCEU will be slimmer."

300 was a profitable movie, but it was not the main reason why Kazir bought the movie adaptation. What he wanted was to make Zack Snyder stay away from Warner Brothers.

Kazir was making chess moves.

He recognized that the DCEU was a rival that could affect the CCU and MCU. He didn't want that to happen. So he might as well entice Zack Snyder to work with him or 20th Century Fox so that the director wouldn't have the time to work with Warner Brothers.

As for Zack's movie projects, Kazir knew a lot of movies that he could direct.

"If he wants, I can give him the script for Rebel Moon."

If there was one thing that Kazir deeply regretted, it was the fact that Zack Snyder might not direct Watchmen in this timeline.

In his opinion, Watchmen was Zack Snyder's masterpiece. Man of Steel, Batman vs. Superman, Justice League, and not even Justice League Snyder's Cut could be compared to Watchmen. That was what Kazir believed.

"Everything depends on Zack's decision. He will have to make a choice. In my opinion, the DCEU is a rival I don't want to face. But if DCEU and Zack Snyder worked together, then I don't have any choice but to face them."

......

...

...

"It's nice to meet you again, director."

"Yeah, I didn't expect that we would meet twice in a year," Kazir replied nonchalantly. He had an idea, but didn't think much of it.

The person across the table was Mason Aiden, a producer working at Lionsgate. It seemed that this person had some relevance in the story since he appeared twice.

Anyway, their conversation today was quite different from the last time. A few months ago, Mason and Kazir talked about the completion of Now You See Me. Mason was the producer while Kazir was the executive producer (in-name), so it was not a surprise that they had a meeting.

But this time was a bit different. Mason was facing Kazir as the representative of Lionsgate in buying another script from Kazir.

They hoped that Kazir would work for them as a director, but that dream was too much, so they settled on buying a script instead.

Buying a script from Kazir was complicated. Because he didn't sell scripts even if the price was high. It all depended on his feelings, whether he would sell the script or not. Kazir's position as a scriptwriter was that high to have that kind of selling power.

Not everyone in Hollywood could buy his script. Two of the Big Six, which were Walt Disney and Universal Pictures, never tasted Kazir's grace. It showed that Kazir's status was not simple.

"I promised that if Fremont and Brianna won their awards at the Oscars, I would sell one script to Lionsgate."

"That's right," Mason nodded.

An opportunity like this was very rare.

"I won't break my promise. I even let you choose which one you want to buy."

Kazir gave Mason a document listing the movies he intended to sell and their summaries.

Lionsgate specifically asked for horror movies because horror movies had a small budget yet big profits. They were not looking for big investments that could fracture their company.

So Kazir had four horror movies for them.

A Quiet Place.

The Conjuring.

Annabelle.

Get Out.

Kazir wrote short summaries for each script. There might be chances that Lionsgate would copy his horror movies, so he couldn't give the scripts or the detailed summaries.

It might look like Kazir was disrespecting Lionsgate. But at this point, it didn't matter. Kazir was not that weak anymore.

Lionsgate should be happy that Kazir gave them a chance to buy a script from him. Only selected companies had the chance to do so.

"... Can I bring this document back to the company?"

Mason's voice trembled. He didn't feel disrespected at all. He was excited instead. Four scripts!

The last horror movie that Kazir sold was Final Destination, and it was making money even now.

"You can, but you have to sign a non-disclosure agreement."

"I'll contact the management right now, please excuse me." Mason stood up and dialed on his phone.

"You can take your time."