Hollywood What If

Chapter 312

Since Harry Potter had a loyal fan base all over North America, it was obvious that many people wanted to see the sequel. Especially since the first movie was a huge success, grossing $974 million at the box office.

Realizing the potential of this franchise, Warner Brothers decided to help J.K. Rowling expand the influence of Harry Potter. The novels were published in many countries and promoted in front of many bookstores.

This was one of the methods to ensure that the Harry Potter franchise would be successful at the box office. Warner Brothers was not cheap when it came to investing in the second film.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets cost $100 million.

The release date arrived and many theaters were filled with moviegoers. Most of them were young people who had seen the first movie or read the novels.

At that time (2002), J.K. Rowling had already written 4 novels and this was the foundation of the success of the franchise, a complete source material to use... Unlike some authors who could not finish their novels.

George R.R. Martin failed to finish A Song of Ice and Fire before Game of Thrones season 8 ended... Probably one of the reasons why the last season was disappointing was that there was no source material to use.

So for the writers who were struggling to finish their novels, they had to stop procrastinating and keep writing, no matter how shitty the writing was. Because that was the only way to finish their novel, to keep writing.

On November 15, 2002, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets grossed $29.63 million in just 24 hours.

Audiences didn't leave the theaters disappointed, the second film did well. There were a lot of cuts since the movie could not include all the content of the book, but it was still entertaining.

Word of mouth was influential as many people recommended the movie to their friends and family.

The first weekend of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ended with $88.35 million. An amazing performance. As expected from Harry Potter, one of the biggest movie franchises in the history of cinema.

Even the first weekend of The Revenant could not compare to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The Revenant's first weekend grossed only $41 million.

Some articles made fun of Kazir Grey because of this result. His movie this year was nothing compared to Harry Potter.

Kazir's last two movies grossed over $1 billion at the box office and the expectations for his next movie were higher.

However, Kazir Grey decided to deliver a biopic movie. The movie had its highlights, but it was mediocre compared to Wanted and Spider-Man.

For some people, art was important. For others, the box office was more important.

In this situation, Kazir decided to focus more on the art because his goal for The Revenant was to win at the Oscars. As long as The Revenant was not a box office flop, it was fine.

As of this writing, The Revenant has already grossed $115.57 million. The total budget for The Revenant was $135 million, plus the promotional budget.

Even though the box office hasn't surpassed the budget yet, The Revenant has already done well, and only fools would believe that The Revenant is a flop.

If some newspapers bashed Kazir, most film critics praised the director instead.

The Revenant was different from the usual movies Kazir made. It was inspiring to see someone as talented as Kazir step away from mainstream genres.

Biopics are based on real people and real events, sometimes not historically accurate, but it still sends the message.

One week after the release of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 007: Die Another Day was released by MGM. The movie grossed $47.07 in its first weekend.

Unfortunately, the box office champion of the week was still Harry Potter, as the movie grossed $148.35 million after ten days in theaters.

No promising movies were released after 007: Die Another Day and the days passed by until December arrived.

Grey Pictures was already preparing most of the props for Kazir's next project. Kazir Grey, Tom Cruise and the cast of The Revenant were out of the country promoting the film internationally. Harold Witsend was in charge of prepping Pirates of the Caribbean while Kazir was gone.

They spent almost three weeks flying around promoting the movie.

Of course, Kazir and Tom would return to Los Angeles on December 19, as the Golden Globes would announce the nominations for the 60th Golden Globes Awards.

The Academy Awards and the Golden Globes were highly respected in the industry.

On December 18, the day before the Golden Globes nominations were announced, the last most anticipated film of the year was released. It was none other than The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Just like Harry Potter, this franchise has gathered so many fans after the success of the first movie.

Both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were adaptations of novels. In this case, it shows that novels should be taken seriously. Because they can be an important source of profit.

The first 24-hour box office for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers grossed $26.15 million. New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers were the clear winners this year.

While the opening day results of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was released, the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California was packed with people, and these people were mostly celebrities and people who worked in Hollywood.

Kazir and Tom were sitting at a table, laughing and talking. They looked professional in their tuxedos.

Everyone was waiting for the announcement.

+++++

[I know it's not related, but I've already finished a novel with over 500 chapters. I say I'm not one of those writers who can't finish a story because I've already finished one... I will also make sure to finish this novel as long as I'm alive. So yeah, thanks for all the support. As for the other novels I dropped, let's just say they don't make enough profit for me to continue them.]