HWI 159

Hollywood What If Chapter 159

After watching John Wick, the audience who watched Taken last year realized that the two films were connected. 

The appearance of Raizo. 

The gold coins as means of currency. 

And the High Table. 

These three appeared in both movies, the audience felt like Director Grey was cooking something big. Some of them were excited while others felt that this plan might flop before it happened. 

After all, most audiences believed in stand-alone movies with no connection with other movies. This broad concept was hard to materialize since movie companies preferred safe movies that had an apparent profit. What Kazir Grey and Grey Pictures were doing was a gamble. 

No one knows if this so-called Continental Cinematic Universe would be successful. Even the Big Six were afraid to step into this unknown territory. 

Some tried, but only MCU and DCEU were the winners. The next three decades would be about superhero movies. 

One thing was sure, the audience was interested to watch Director Grey's next movie. Perhaps it would be connected to Taken and John Wick as well. 

The midnight results were within the expectations of Grey Pictures and Paramount. They did their best and promote the movie, using different means. Heck, Kazir Grey even used his love relationship to promote the movie. Something that he didn't like to do.

Perhaps it was fortunate that they didn't have a rival this week. Most movies this month were not promising either. 

September 10, 1998. John Wick grossed $4.60 million. Paramount and Grey Pictures had an understanding that the movie looks promising for the month of September. Perhaps Kazir was slowly gaining a reputation. 

The next day, some tabloids and newspapers talked about Taken and John Wick's connection. Telling that the two movies were set in one universe. Furthermore, one of the characters in Taken showed up in John Wick as well. 

Even Kazir and Fremont's cameo were used to promote the movie. 

On September 11, 1998, with 3,500 theaters. The overall box office of John Wick was $12.84 million. The weekend usually had good reception for theaters. Many people would watch movies at the weekend. 

Saturday, September 12, 1998. The movie grossed $22.52 million. 

Sunday, John Wick's box office was $30.03 million and easily won the box office champion of the week. 

Just like the usual forecast, the performance was bleak from Monday to Thursday. John Wick only increased to $41.08 million. 

"What do you think, Ovitz? Will John Wick surpass the 100 million mark in North America?"

Michael Eisner dropped the newspaper and glanced at his right-hand man. The two old Michaels were watching every move that Grey Pictures did. It would be a lie if they said that they were not interested. After all, Grey Pictures was doing something new. 

"At best, it can get $90 million.'

Michael Ovitz shook his head. He watched the movie in his free time and he didn't like too much violence. Perhaps his old age was one of the reasons why he didn't like the movie. The schedule, the promotion, and the movie itself were too weak to produce a good result. 

"It can surpass $100 million internationally but it might be hard for the movie to produce the same result here in North America."

"So you mean that John Wick can get at least $190 million worldwide? That's not bad, considering that the budget of the movie is only $30 million."

"Indeed. But it all depends on Paramount's decision. Will they distribute the movie internationally?"

The two old men were not interested in this movie so they won't contact Grey Pictures. They believe that the other companies won't do it either.

While people speculate, John Wick surpassed the $50 million mark on its second Sunday which was September 19, 1998. The movie grossed $54.48 million to be precise. 

Unfortunately, John Wick didn't win the box office champion of the week because it was defeated by Rush Hour. Rush Hour amounted to $33 million and obviously kicked John Wick out of its spot. 

After that, Paramount decided to decrease its promotion budget and let fate decide the outcome. Grey Pictures didn't have a say in this aspect unless they use their own money which would be detrimental for their next projects. 

Overall, everyone related to John Wick was satisfied. Even Viggo Mortensen was happy that his first movie as a protagonist didn't flop. On top of that, he heard from Kazir himself that there would be a sequel next two or three years. He even had cameos in some movies. 

Viggo Mortensen was still not famous and almost no one know his name. He was still a nobody. He hoped that his appearance in Lord Of The Rings as Aragorn would bring him fame but after attending the script reading, Viggo realized that he was not the protagonist at all. The plot of Lord of The Rings didn't revolve around him. In a way, he was a side character. 

With no hope, his role as John Wick was his best option. He started studying Russian just to make sure that his performance would be better. As long as he was part of Kazir's movie, he had a chance to turn the tables and become a household name known all over the world. 

Just like that, two months passed and John Wick did its best surpassing $100 million. The movie grossed $103.36 million. Clearly, John Wick scraped by just to exceed $100 million. Cinema Alliance deemed that John Wick already wasted all of its potential and dropped it from the theaters. 

Thankfully, Paramount kept its promise and released the movie internationally. 

Worldwide, the movie grossed $186.72 million. Unlike the North American box office, the presence of John Wick in other countries was quite good. Paramount expected that the movie would get at least $100 million internationally. 

.........

......

...

"... I'm back."

Kazir Grey sighed as he stepped on the ground of Los Angeles. He joined the cast and promote the movie in major countries such as UK, Japan, and Australia. 

However, he returned earlier than the cast since he had a lot of stuff to do this month of November. 

The first was the release of The Hangover 2. 

The second was the audition for The Bourne Identity.

Kazir didn't have any rest. Thankfully, the new crew that Salvatore hired were all enthusiastic so he didn't have a problem working them to the max.