Hollywood What If Chapter 195

The first week of The Bourne Identity grossed $39.15 million.

Using this trend, the next week would also be a positive result. Even though The Bourne Identity was released, the promotion didn't stop. There were many advertisements all over the place, radio stations and TV channels were promoting the movie. 

People heard the title of the movie everywhere. The word of mouth about the movie was also strong. People liked The Bourne Identity and recommended it to their friends. 

Even Kazir Grey and Cameron Diaz were seen dating and acting lovey-dovey. The media used this method as another form of promotion. 

The movie had the same ingredients as Taken and John Wick. Because of this, people were already used to the unique style of the movie. The movie was realistic, but it had a touch of non-realism. Since these ingredients had been shown in the previous movies, people were already used to them and accepted them easily. 

Together with people's positive opinion, more moviegoers decided to see The Bourne Identity. There were no good movies in August anyway. 

The box office of The Bourne Identity for the second week (August 22, 1999) was $68.52 million. 

August was the least popular month in the summer schedule, so this amount was expected. In fact, this amount was already a huge thing, considering that The Bourne Identity didn't have a strong cast. Matt Damon and Cameron Diaz were A-list stars, but they were not superstars. 

Compared to Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise, the cast of The Bourne Identity was A-list at best. Their box office appeal was not star-studded. 

Anyway, the third week (August 29, 1999) came and The Bourne Identity already grossed $86.60 million. 

Just $14 million and The Bourne Identity would cross the $100 million mark. 

The production cost of The Bourne Identity was $50 million. Grey Pictures' initial investment was $60 million, but it went down to $50 million when all was said and done. A blessing for Grey Pictures as they were short on cash as they have two projects this year. 

For reference, a movie can generally make a profit if the box office is 2.5 times the production cost. 

This means that for The Bourne Identity to be profitable, it would have to gross over $125 million. Based on the trajectory of the film, The Bourne Identity would exceed $150 million. Of course, that was based on statistics and probabilities. No one knows the future, uh, except Kazir Grey...

'The North American box office for The Bourne Identity will be around $150 million. That's a good business. After all, we have the overseas release to get more profit.'

If the movie did well in North America, it would definitely do well internationally. That would be the case with The Bourne Identity.

If Kazir's deduction was correct, The Bourne Identity would have made $200 million internationally. People all over the world like to see action movies, hehe. 

'In that case, our profit for The Bourne Identity will be over $100 million. As long as nothing bad happens, The Bourne Identity will bring us more than $100 million.'

It was amazing that a situation like this could happen. Investing in movies was a quick way to make a profit, but it was not a sure thing. There were cases where the movie flopped. 

'A movie can be finished in a year and the investment will be returned quickly. As long as you know the trick, you can make it big.'

The fourth week (September 5, 1999) came and The Bourne Identity grossed $107 million. 

In four weeks, The Bourne Identity crossed the $100 million mark. This was an obvious answer that the movie was successful. 

"These people... I swear, they always try to harass me when my movies come out!" 

Kazir muttered, rubbing his forehead. 

"Well, every movie you direct is successful. They want to congratulate you." Cameron Diaz sat next to him and rubbed her skin against him. 

"Congratulations my ass, they want me to work with them."

"That's a good thing."

"I know... It's just that some people are trying to invite me to those parties again and I never like going to parties."

Cameron just smiled and let the man grumble. 

"Besides, a lot of agents are trying to contact me. Most of them are trying to offer me a better contract and leave CAA."

The William Morris Agency (WMA) tried to contact him again. This time they expressed their thoughts and hoped that Kazir Grey would return to his "original home". They said that Carl Morin and Lawlor Dean no longer worked at WMA and that no one would harass him again. 

'Bullshit, they only want me because of my status and power to get them roles for their clients.'

CAA loved him for that. Most members of his cast came from CAA. 

Not only WMA, but even UTA (United Talent Agency) tried to get him on their roster. They dropped the contract down to 2% commission! They were crazy. 

Unfortunately for them, Kazir was not interested. What he needed was stability. The Continental Cinematic Universe was still in its infancy, and he didn't want to cause trouble. 

Besides, his relationship with Salvatore Barlowe and CAA was going well. Much better than with WMA, who kicked him out. 

'I don't want to tell Cam, but an agent actually tried to push his client on me just for a role. Of course I never agree.'

The actress was beautiful, but Kazir was immune to beautiful women. He had no reason to have sex with a woman just because his libido was boiling. He was mature enough to control his primal urges. 

Not only that, but even his crew members got caught in the turbulence. They were getting recruited by other studios, leaving Kazir and the production to find new workers to takeover their positions. 

'Freddie from the camera department was hired by a production studio to direct a small budget movie. I don't blame him. If I were in his position, I'd take the risk.'

Some of the important people in the crew were almost kidnapped as well. Enticing them with higher salary and better position. 

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[Author's note: I know it's late, but rest in peace to Akira Toriyama, the Mangaka/Creator of Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump, Blue Dragon, and Dragon Quest (Artist). His creations are masterpieces that created many childhood memories for me and many people. His legacy will never be forgotten].

[Another Note: I know I was gone for a almost a week now. I have no excuse, I reached the point of my life where I want to spend my whole day laying in my bed, watching YouTube shorts and do nothing. And yes, I fucking hate myself.]