[Shout out to Overated!]

Hollywood What If Chapter 115

The Marvel Studios. It was a production company created by Marvel Comics to try to revive their company. After watching Spider-Man take over the world, Marvel Comics found a reason to stay alive.

Sony-Columbia had the movie copyright of Spider-Man, but Marvel had the other copyrights such as the comics, merchandise (costumes, toys, etc.), and games.

Marvel made a profit after the release of Spider-Man. The comics related to Spider-Man increased in sales and even products related to Spider-Man sold out.

It was a win-win situation for both Marvel and Sony-Columbia. After that, many film companies tried to buy their superheroes, but Marvel was adamant about keeping them.

Marvel had already lost some of its big superheroes like the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Marvel gritted their teeth after selling X-Men and Fantastic Four to 20th Century Fox. They regret that.

In fact, they regret almost every superhero they sold. They did their best just to get back the movie rights to the Hulk and other superheroes.

When the 2000s arrived, Warner Bros had the idea of bringing the Justice League to the screen by releasing Superman Returns and Batman Begins. The information was limited and no one could confirm if Warner Bros was really trying to start a Cinematic Universe. But it was clear that Batman Begins had a bit of a superhero vibe, unlike The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

Unfortunately, Superman Returns was a huge disappointment. So Warner Bros decided to make The Dark Knight Trilogy instead.

While DC was busy with The Dark Knight Trilogy, Marvel was making plans and starting their Cinematic Universe.

The superhero they chose was none other than the Incredible Hulk... However, working with Edward Norton was not so good. They decided to change the actor, maybe Edward Norton had an extravagant salary and unreasonable requests and Marvel Studio could not afford his wants.

Marvel Studio wavered in their decision at first. But their next movie said otherwise.

Iron Man was distributed by Paramount and it did well. A second-rate superhero like Iron Man became one of the most famous superheroes of the next decade. Everybody knows him, Tony Stark, Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr.

Kazir never expected that his first opening film for the Continental Cinematic Universe would be distributed by Paramount. Maybe that was a good sign.

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On top of that, they agreed to sign two more movies for the same deal. It's a very good deal.

A 25% box office deal was hard to come by. Even Kazir was shocked when he heard Paramount's intentions. Well, it was good for Grey Pictures. At least they didn't have to worry about their two upcoming projects. Their problem was solved for a while.

With the exchange of the Meet The Parents script, Kazir felt that the negotiation was worth it. Unlike Meet The Parents, which had three possible films, Taken was the first film in the Continental Cinematic Universe. It was very important, because there are billions in that movie alone. Although Kazir was the only one who thought so.

So far, nobody thinks that Cinematic Universe was profitable. But once it was pioneered, every movie company would salivate.

"Paramount will release the movie at midnight on July 24, 1997. Two weeks from now."

It was actually July 25th because it was released at midnight, but whatever.

The thing was that Taken had to face a strong opponent. Air Force One with Harrison Ford would be released the same day.

'Sigh... I can't help it. Paramount already has a schedule for their movies. They can't put Taken ahead of their own movies. They can't give us a good release date because their summer schedule is already packed.'

It was already a good thing that Taken had a release schedule. Besides, Paramount already showed their sincerity by giving Grey Pictures a good distribution deal.

'The initial advertising budget for Taken is $4 million. If the movie doesn't do well, they'll stop advertising it.'

So for now, Kazir could only trust in his movie... He was actually scared because Air Force One was a strong opponent. It was one of the top 10 grossing films of 1997.

'I hope Sony-Columbia will not do anything bad. I can't protect myself because Taken is under Grey Pictures. If Sony-Columbia tries to make trouble, I can't defend myself against the media.'

Paramount would not protect him, nor would Warner Bros or 20th Century Fox. That was the downside of not working with the Big Six, he was all open with no defense.

'That's why I prefer to work with the Big Six. Because their umbrella is safe. They'll never hurt me as long as I'm useful.'

Kazir was lying when he said that he was not interested in starting his own film company. But he knew it was the stupidest decision he could make.

Building distribution channels was not that easy. The Big Six had already absorbed almost all the companies that had distribution channels.

DreamWorks and Lionsgate might try, but their track record was not good.

Even in the next two decades, DreamWorks and Lionsgate didn't have international distribution.

As soon as he showed his intention to build a distribution channel, the Big Six would destroy him. Just like they did to their competitors.

'If you can't beat them, join them. Also, I didn't like working with business. It's a hassle. I would rather make movies than run a company.'

With that, Kazir Grey let time pass. He waited for the release date of Taken. No lie, Kazir Grey was lonely with Reese Witherspoon gone. She was busy with The Hangover Part 2.

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[Author's note: Do you want this novel to be a harem or not? Although I can't assure you that all of your favorite actresses will be part of the harem. I didn't want to focus on romance in the first place. Anyway, say yes if you want a harem. Say No if you don't. Write down the actresses you like, I might set up scenes for them].

[Update: Most patrons prefer not to have a harem. And I'm glad about it.]