[Shout out to Adam LV, Albert A, and Scott D!]

Hollywood What If Chapter 29

"47 million dollars..."

Tom Rothman put down the newspaper with a bitter smile.

It was September 29th, Friday, seven days after the release of Se7en.

He remembered that Kazir had also sent the Se7en script to 20th Century Fox. But the production management didn't take it seriously.

"Well, it's a little complicated. Production management would never agree to invest $35 million in a movie with no good return on investment. Besides, at that time Kazir Grey was hoping to direct the film. No sane person in the production management would accept such a proposal."

On top of that, the director who took over the project was David Fincher!

20th Century Fox owns the copyright to the Alien franchise!

David Fincher was the director of "Alien 3" and it had a horrible result at the box office. 20th Century Fox made it clear that they would never invite David Fincher back to their company.

But who would have thought that Se7en, directed by David Fincher, would be successful?

Tom Rothman felt that he had allowed two talented people to escape the grasp of 20th Century Fox.

He let Se7en go to New Line Cinema. Well, now, this particular movie had 47 million in its seven days.

September was a mild schedule. It was very different from the summer and Christmas schedules where the studios were fighting for every week.

The month of September wasn't very profitable. So Se7en making 47 million was already a good result. At least everyone in Hollywood accepted that fact.

"The investment is only 35 million. Even if we add the publicity, New Line Cinema already recoups the cost of the film."

From now on, the next profit would be pure profit. Obviously, New Line Cinema was on to something.

"Now that New Line Cinema has been acquired by Warner Bros, this studio will be under their protection.

Tom Rothman was new to his position as CEO of 20th Century Fox. As much as possible, he wanted to see the company thrive under his care.

After a few minutes of thought, Tom Rothman picked up his phone.

"Get Nancy Utley in my office." He told his secretary.

Since he let the first fish get away, he might as well take the second one. Maybe the second fish was a lot bigger than the first.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Comedy..."

Unlike Se7en, which had a thriller genre, Napoleon Dynamite was a pure popcorn comedy. That piqued his interest more.

Tom Rothman read the script.

This kind of movie has a good chance of making a lot of sequels.

Napoleon Dynamite didn't have a history of sequels.

But because of Kazir's return, the timeline was already changed. In a way, this timeline was a completely different universe.

The universe where Napoleon Dynamite would have sequels...

"Sir, you called me?"

Nancy Utley arrived a few minutes later. She was one of the Vice presidents of Fox Searchlight Pictures. She was in charge of production management, which had no projects at current the time. Well, Fox Searchlight Pictures was just getting started.

"Nancy, have you heard of Kazir Grey?"

"Sir? Ah, no sir. I have never heard of this man." Nancy was puzzled and answered honestly.

Tom Rothman nodded. Kazir Grey was not so well-known after all.

"What about Se7en then?"

"Sir, Se7en is a thriller that was released last week. As of now, the movie has about 40 million." Nancy Utley scrutinized.

"47 million, Se7en has made 47 million dollars in North America."

"That's..."

For a movie coming out in September, that was pretty big.

"Nancy, Kazir Grey is the writer of Se7en. I heard he just finished shooting his own movie and he is currently editing it. I want you to contact him and see if he's interested in working with Fox Searchlight Pictures."

Since the newly formed company didn't have any projects, Tom Rothman decided to give them the project.

A $500,000 investment didn't faze him. 20th Century Fox would never look at this kind of movie.

But there was always a "what if".

Like what happened with Se7en. The critics said it would be a flop. But the exact opposite happened.

Where are the movie critics who panned Se7en negatively? They just changed their minds and praised the movie as of now.

Tom Rothman was worried about the "what ifs".

"Yes sir, I will do my best to get this project." Nancy Utley noticed that this comedy film was of interest to CEO Tom Rothman.

"That's good. Rector, I think it's better to use a jump cut on this scene."

"Okay, Kazir."

After the sexy incident with Reese Witherspoon, Kazir Grey became much more active. He felt invigorated and alive.

He spent the entire week in the editing room. He focused on Napoleon Dynamite, making sure the movie would be better than the one he remembered.

Napoleon Dynamite was a masterpiece, but it could be a "masterpiece".

As for his relationship with Reese, the woman just asked him out last night... Of course, Kazir happily accepted.

The two had talked seriously about their relationship. In the end, they decided to keep it "no strings attached".

They were both ambitious and wanted to pursue their dreams.

Kazir was recently divorced and didn't want to get into a serious relationship. As for Reese, she wanted to breakthrough into Hollywood and didn't have time for love.

What they were doing was just a way to relieve stress together. Well, their relationship was pretty good.

"About five days and we can finish editing Napoleon Dynamite."

Rector muttered beside him. The movie was nearing completion. Napoleon Dynamite already had its music score. Kazir didn't hesitate to spend money on the movie.

"Congratulations Kazir."

"Don't congratulate me yet, we haven't released the movie yet."

"I know, but with the result of Se7en, I bet film companies are looking for you right now. Besides, your movie is funny and wholesome. Unlike the usual vulgar comedies that use swear words and dirty jokes as punch lines, I think this movie is much better."

Kazir just nodded.

[I apologize about the wrong Halloween info. In the Philippines, we usually celebrate Halloween on November 1 along with All Souls Day. So I subconsciously thought that Halloween was in November].

[As for my grammar... I'm just a guy from a 3rd world country who didn't finish college. I only learned grammar seriously at the age of 18 when I started reading manga and light novels. Other than that, I'm an idiot.]

[I'm not a computer that can consistently write sentences without grammatical errors. I spent hours proofreading this shit, but mistakes will still show up. I'm not an AI, so I apologize if reading my novel makes your eyes hurt. Hell, AI will probably mock me for thinking Halloween was November 1st].