HWI 432

Hollywood What If Chapter 432

The first movie of the Saw franchise was memorable for a reason.

Despite having only a $1 million production budget, the movie grossed more than $100 million. That was a 100× return on investment in just a year. That kind of investment was very very hard to find in the entertainment industry. Only a few, such as Blair Witch Project and Napoleon Dynamite,e, could do so.

Furthermore, the storytelling of Saw was immaculate for being a horror movie. The plot twist at the end was unexpected, and the audience was so shocked to see a "dead" old man rising from the dead and expected to be the mastermind of the whole ordeal of brutal games.

It made it better that the movie tackled the morals and ethics of the victims while playing the death games. After all, Jigsaw never picked an innocent player.

Furthermore, Jigsaw was an iconic horror villain. Comparable to Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, and Ghostface.

There were a lot of factors why Saw became a box office hit, but it all came down to how entertained the audience was when they watched the movie.

Because, low-key, Lionsgate didn't promote this movie that much. Saw was not the kind of movie you want to promote on television. Even the posters were horrifying to look at. Mind you one of the posters in circulation was a realistic chopped hand.

Lionsgate discovered a gold in Saw. This movie would become one of their most successful franchises.

Horror movies would always have loyal fans. Even if the box office was not a lot, the DVD and rental markets would bring so much profit to studios and this was technically a passive income at this point.

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As for Kazir, his feelings regarding Saw was indifferent. It was true that he had the script of Saw before its original creation. It was one of his choices when he returned in 1994.

He didn't register it to the Writer's Guild because he already had a lot of shit in his arsenal. Like, he could pull a script out of his ass because he had a lot of them.

Right now, he was watching a banquet behind dozens of monitors.

In the banquet hall, an extravagant party was happening. Bruce Wayne was looking around, quite uncomfortable with being around rich but disgusting people.

But his feeling of being uncomfortable turned worse when he saw one of the members of League of Shadows attending the party. He thought that was it, but it became worse when he turned around.

Bruce found the person he saved, the man who taught him how to overcome his fear, standing before him. He thought he destroyed the League of Shadows but he was wrong.

The person he saved, Ducard, was Ra's Al Ghul.

Bruce was surprised as he didn't expect that Ducard and Ra's Al Ghul were the same person.

"Cut--!"

Kazir announced a break.

He looked at Liam and Christian.

"Guys, you are doing well, but I need more than that."

Kazir turned to Liam.

"Liam, I know that this is your first villain role. I just want to say that you don't have to act sinister, be a gentleman instead. Ra's Al Ghul has a unique charisma, he has this heroic vibe to him."

Ra's Al Ghul wanted to see peace but his method was not peaceful at all. He believed that "cleansing" Gotham was the best way to save it.

"Christian. The Machinist is a great movie, but it's not meant for cinemas. You didn't fail your role, cinemas are just not meant for your movie. You should relax your mind and forget about other things, such as your role in The Machinist. I want you to return to us. Where is Bruce Wayne? I can't see him. All I can see is Christian Bale being bitter about his plopped movie in the cinemas."

"... I understand, director."

There were many ways to correct an actor. Most actors/actresses didn't want to receive the truth and prefer hearing lies.

But other people prosper after learning the hard truth.

The Machinist was a movie made for DVD and rental markets. It was meant to plop, but Christian Bale was affected mentally and he couldn't return to being Bruce Wayne.

Kazir did say sugarcoating words to Christian to maintain his mentality but it failed. He then realized that Christian Bale was the type of actor who preferred hearing criticism instead.

"Remember, this is your once in a lifetime to make it big. I chose you because I thought you fit the role of Batman. Don't let me down."

"... I thought you chose me because of my low salary?"

"That's also one of the reasons. Now go back to your trailer, and calm your nerves. I don't care what you do, you can scream and brainwash yourself. Heck, you can call for a prostitute to calm your mind, I don't give a fuck. Make sure that once you come out of the trailer, you're not the bitter Christian Bale anymore. I want to see Bruce Wayne, Batman, and the Dark Knight of Gotham!"

Some actors do some bullshit rituals before stepping into the studio and playing their roles. If Christian was one of those, then Kazir would gladly support him as long as the movie was successful.

The filming this week seemed slow because Christian couldn't keep his mentality as Bruce Wayne, while Kazir had to make sure that the movie would succeed.

"I'll give you two hours. Don't break my trust."

"Yes, director."

Christian Bale nodded and returned to his trailer. As for what he had to do to return to the zone, Kazir had no idea, and he didn't care.