Hollywood What If

Chapter 69

Chapter 69

June 28th, 1996. Friday. 

Movie companies usually released their movies on Thursday around midnight, so it was basically part of Friday. 

When the movies were released and the midnight results were in, the movie companies would start planning how to continue the publicity. After all, publicity was the biggest part of a successful movie. 

Even The Blair Witch Project had very good publicity despite the horrible production... Erm, Maybe unique? Everyone in the publicity department took the Blair Witch Project as a well-crafted publicity stunt. Almost no one could duplicate it. 

But that was not the point. Warner Bros decided to follow Kazir's plan to use his scandal to promote The Hangover.

As a result, many people showed up to see the movie on opening night, and the results were huge. 

7.86 million dollars was a huge amount, especially when it was just the opening night. 

Even the other companies heard the news. 

In the office of Universal Pictures, Ronald Meyer was waiting for the results of The Nutty Professor. 

The Nutty Professor was one of their movies for the year, and it was a huge investment. It had a production cost of 55 million dollars. 

Of course, being the CEO of Universal Pictures, Ronald Meyer had to understand the importance of the movie.

That's why he didn't hesitate to work with Disney to smear Kazir's reputation. It was always about the money. 

Just like The Hangover, The Nutty Professor was released around midnight. 

"Sir, this is the result." The secretary appeared. 

Ronald Meyer took the papers and read the statistics. He knew that these numbers were just the base and that this amount could change. 

"$4.23 million."

"Congratulations, sir."

He sighed in relief. This amount was already good for the midnight result. To be honest, he had expected less. 

"What about The Hangover?"

Of course Ronald Meyer hadn't forgotten about the movie he had smeared. 

"Sir... This is the result of The Hangover. Please excuse me."

Knowing that Ronald Meyer would scold him, the secretary left the office.

Ronald Meyer picked up the documents. He was stunned when he read the figures. 

"Is this even possible? 7.86 million dollars!?"

He almost stood up out of shock. The plot of The Hangover was no stranger to him, as Salvatore Barlowe had sent Universal Pictures a copy of the script. 

"This kind of vulgar, profanity-laced comedy has $7.86 million? Are you kidding me?"

The reality, however, was often disappointing. The truth about The Hangover was just beginning. 

Ronald Meyer rubbed his forehead. He felt that everything he had done to destroy Kazir's career was useless.

"I heard he wants to sell his script..."

Ronald Meyer called his secretary.

"Give me the copy of Teddy Bear."

Ronald Meyer was not interested in the script because he knew he had to find a teddy bear company to solve the patent issues. Unless Universal Pictures was interested in making a teddy bear toy and making their own teddy bear.

"Yes, sir." Although it was late at night, the secretary decided to call the people in the script library. 

Ronald Meyer was not interested. But if the profit was much greater than the cost, Ronald Meyer would not hesitate. 

......

...

...

Just like Universal Pictures, the other film companies were shocked when they heard the result of The Hangover.

"Sigh, it will probably clash with Independence Day next week."

Tom sighed and leaned back in his chair. As the CEO of 20th Century Fox, he looked at Kazir's situation with the utmost seriousness. 

Kazir Grey was the director of Napoleon Dynamite, and Tom Rothman was eager to work with him again. As for the scandal, he was confident that it could be resolved with the help of News Corporation. 

"I should have agreed to his terms."

He muttered weakly. This was exactly the feeling he had when he realized that Se7en was successful, he regretted that he didn't cooperate with Kazir. But there was always a second chance. Especially now that Kazir's name had been cleared. 

"If he doesn't like doing sequels, maybe we can work together on other projects.

......

...

...

After the midnight results of The Hangover came in, the next day arrived. 

June 28, 1996. Friday. The Hangover grossed $16.73 million. 

June 29, 1996. Saturday. It made another $15.05 million. 

June 30, 1996. Sunday. The Hangover made $13.18 million. 

Combined, the movie made $44.97 million in just three days. 

This was the power of hyping a subject to gain traction. A lot of people would be interested in seeing the movie. Especially if the movie was funny and entertaining. 

As for The Nutty Professor, which was released by Universal Pictures, it earned $25.41 million in the first three days. It was a very successful movie. But because of The Hangover, it only got second place for the week. 

Obviously, the box office champion of the week was The Hangover. 

"Congratulations, Kazir."

At the Twister party, many actors and actresses greeted Kazir on their own. 

In the past few days, almost no one wanted to talk to him because he was a "wife beater. But the success of The Hangover has erased that stigma.

Now almost all the actors and actresses wanted to talk to him. Especially the small actresses who wanted to talk to him to deepen their friendship. 

'... Is that Angelina Jolie? Even Julia Roberts is here. Oh, and Halle Berry too.'

Kazir found several famous actresses at the party. Some of them were still unknown, but their careers would blossom over the next decade.

"Who are you looking at?"

Reese Witherspoon stood next to him and asked. 

"Nothing. I'm just wondering if the special effects on Twister cost a lot of money."

He replied. 

He knew when to be honest and when not. He wanted as little trouble as possible. 

"By the way... When can you help me act for my audition?"

"How about later?"

"Fufu, okay. Let's enjoy the party first."

Reese giggled and squeezed his arm.