HWI 480

Hollywood What If Chapter 480

When the sunset arrived and Kazir saw the orange glint of the sun, the two decided to return to the shore. The fish they caught were taken into the kitchen, where a group of people prepared for them.

Kazir knew that he wouldn't always win. The bet he played with Tom Cruise showed that. It was a good sport by the way.

Sometimes he couldn't believe that he would wager millions of dollars just for fun.

The two started talking about their life and their projects. After they won the Best Actor and Best Director Awards at the Oscars, the relationship between the two became closer.

Both of them were not perfect people and they suffered from scandal every other year. So they could relate to each other. As for their personal life, they respect each other's boundaries and never talk about sensitive topics.

Tom said that his next project was Mission: Impossible III. The movie was already in production.

Kazir was not surprised because he was already about it. Mission: Impossible was a well-known franchise at this point after releasing two movies.

"I still can't believe that you didn't agree with directing Mission: Impossible. Paramount is ready to pay you a top dollar." Tom laughed.

"We have had this conversation so many times now. You know I'm busy with other projects and my schedule is full till 2009." Kazir replied.

They had this conversation years ago, even when Kazir was just making action movies. Paramount Pictures and Tom Cruise had already expressed their thoughts on hiring Kazir. Unfortunately, things didn't happen.

While they were filming Revenant, Tom also popped the question once in a while, but Kazir kept saying no.

"How about a cameo? Hm, this sushi is delicious." Tom said his appreciation to the chef.

"A cameo?

Kazir felt like Tom was just tipsy and saying some stuff.

"Nah, I'm serious. This is the 3rd installment of Mission: Impossible and there's nothing wrong with doing the best. I believe if you have a cameo, the audience will like it."

"Aren't you afraid that they misunderstood the movie? What if they think that Mission: Impossible and the CCU are connected?" Kazir frowned. He was sort of a mascot of CCU. People would think that Mission Impossible and CCU were connected if he had a cameo in Mission: Impossible III

"Then I'll also have a cameo in any of your CCU movies. I can also have a cameo in Pirates Of The Caribbean. Don't worry about the money, just think of it as my thanks after you gifted me a yacht."

"You should talk to your agent, the director, and the producer first. Maybe they are not comfortable with what you're thinking."

"Nah, I'm the producer of Mission: Impossible III. I can do whatever I want. Also, Mission: Impossible is my franchise. Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible will never separate."

"Fine, fine. Talk to me tomorrow once you're sober."

The next day, Tom Cruise said that Paramount Pictures was not comfortable with the idea because it could confuse the audience. They might believe that Mission: Impossible was part of the CCU.

It could be used as a hype and great promotion to increase the box office of the third movie. However, it could also affect the franchise negatively if the audience truly believed that Ethan Hunt was part of the CCU. Paramount Pictures decided to go with the safe side.

Kazir said to Tom that he could do a cameo in his next project instead.

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2006 came by and holidays passed. January released some interesting movies such as Hostel, Hoodwinked, Underworld: Evolution, Big Momma's House 2, and Nanny McPhee.

None of these movies surpassed $200 million because January was never a great schedule to release movies. The Big Six usually released their unpopular movies in January. As for the other studios, they released their movies around this month because the competition was less.

Anyway, Kazir had some free time and decided to watch Underworld: Evolution. Kate Beckinsale was truly a gorgeous actress.

This year, many movies were released that were related to him.

Grey Pictures alone had three projects to release. Pirates Of The Caribbean, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Kingsman. The Kingsman was a new franchise that was part of CCU. It was a surprise movie that Grey Pictures was quite about as this movie would become the next assembly of the CCU protagonists.

Grey Pictures could handle three movies in a year since they have a bigger budget now.

For other movies, 20th Century Fox would release 300, directed by Zack Snyder. Kazir also heard that 20th Century Fox was looking for the director of Paranormal Activity.

Ted was also in production but Warner Brothers couldn't confirm if they would release it in 2006.

As for Lionsgate, after meticulous thinking, the studio decided to buy The Quiet Place and The Conjuring. Lionsgate bought the two scripts for $15 million. Kazir was satisfied with the transaction. It was not bad working with Lionsgate since he knew the potential of this studio.

In his opinion, Lionsgate was the studio that DreamWorks failed to be. In a few years, Lionsgate would become the untitled Big Seven because of its continuous success.

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[My mind is clouded when I'm writing this chapter and I paused so many times just to find ideas to write.]