Hollywood What If

Chapter 38

The month of November had very strong movies. Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls was released on November 10th. The movie starred the great actor Jim Carrey. In the 90's, Jim Carrey has a very strong box office appeal. Most of his movies have grossed over $100 million at the North American box office. 

Another movie released on November 17th was 007 Goldeneye. James Bond has been in theaters for decades. He has a strong influence not only in North America but internationally as well. The current actor who had the banner of James Bond was Pierce Brosnan. 

Then, on November 22, the very first computer-animated movie was released. Toy Story changed the animation industry and caused a rapid evolution. Because of its success, Pixar has become one of the most respected animation companies in Hollywood. 

These three movies were well received this month. 

But no one expected a $500,000 dark horse to win at the box office. 

"$106 million!"

Robert Shaye slammed the newspaper down on the table. 

"Napoleon Dynamite was only in theaters for over 80 days, and it made $106 million!"

Robert Shaye had an ugly face as he read the information about Napoleon Dynamite. For a movie with a small budget, that amount was so damn big! 

In his opinion, this movie should have been released by New Line Cinema. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. 

"..."

He pressed the button on his phone and asked Manager Clent to come into his office. 

Three months had passed since the release of Se7en. It was December 8, 1995.

Se7en had grossed $129.60 million at the North American box office. It had already crossed the $100 million mark. In addition, the movie was released overseas and had a strong reception. 

Its first month overseas was $81.22 million! 

This meant that the current worldwide box office for Se7en was $210.82 million! That was a lot of money for a movie with a budget of $35 million. 

Robert actually grinned when he saw the numbers go up. However, he felt bitter when he realized that Napoleon Dynamite also had steadily rising numbers. 

If he had known that this movie had a strong reception, he should have fought for its distribution. Unfortunately, he thought Kazir's directing skills were mediocre compared to his writing talent. 

He was dead wrong. Napoleon Dynamite was still digging for more gold! 

"Sir..."

Clent entered the office with a nervous look on his face. He already had an idea why Robert Shaye was looking for him. It had to do with Napoleon Dynamite. 

Clent was the manager who had seen Napoleon Dynamite. He offered Kazir $2.3 million for a complete copyright buyout of the movie. 

Unfortunately, Kazir decided to work with Fox Searchlight Pictures for a better deal. 

"Clent, looks like you know why you're here."

Robert Shaye was clearly angry. He glared at the poor manager. In his opinion, Clent was an incompetent manager and had failed to buy Napoleon Dynamite. 

"I'm sorry, sir," Clent bowed his head with no choice. 

He had no choice but to accept the abuse. 

"Useless! Do you know how much damage it does to the company?!"

Robert Shaye roared. Maybe he called Clent just to blame him. He continued to curse and yell at the manager. 

When Clent left the office, he was bitter and pale. These were the usual scenes in corporate workplaces. 

The little people were blamed, while those in positions were free to live their lives. 

"Did I make a mistake?"

Like Robert Shaye, Warner Bros' CEO Terry Semel frowned as he looked at the statistics.

Napoleon Dynamite had only been in theaters for two months, and it was still going strong. Especially now, with the Christmas holidays approaching. Families usually chose comedies and heartwarming movies. 

Napoleon Dynamite was rated PG-13, so families could watch it without a problem. 

Terry Semel rubbed his forehead. 

Warner Bros' biggest investment this year was Batman Forever. It cost $100 million to make. It was released in June. 

Warner Bros thought this movie would be successful. However, its worldwide box office was $336 million in December. 

It may look big, but the production cost of $100 million was also big. Added the fact that the publicity was around $100 million too. The result of Batman Forever was mediocre in their opinion. 

At least Napoleon Dynamite did much better than Batman Forever in its first 80+ days. 

Suddenly, his secretary told him that producer Enrico Pusi had arrived. 

"Let him in."

Enrico entered the office. Like Terry Semel, Enrico Pusi was bitter. They got the script for Napoleon Dynamite just like they got the script for Se7en. But they ignored both scripts. Now, both movies had grossed more than $100 million each at the North American box office. 

"Sir, I'm here about Napoleon Dynamite."

"Go ahead."

But unlike Robert Shaye, who was grumbling, Terry and Enrico were much better. 

At least they have a chance to get the overseas and video distribution rights to Napoleon Dynamite. 

"I heard that Kazir Grey is currently writing two scripts. The first was an original screenplay, it's also a comedy, but I didn't have enough information. The second is a sequel to Napoleon Dynamite. Kazir Grey has hired writers to help him write the sequel to Napoleon Dynamite."

Sequel!

Terry Semel's eyes lit up when he heard this. Clearly, Napoleon Dynamite had a chance to make more money! 

"You did a good job, Enrico."

"Thank you, sir."

Enrico got in touch with Salvatore Barlowe, Kazir's agent. He found out that Kazir was currently writing two screenplays. 

Losing Napoleon Dynamite was humiliating enough. 

"If his script is promising, I want you to get in touch with him. As for overseas distribution, video distribution, and the sequel, I want them all." 

His face was serious. Fox Searchlight Pictures got the first cut of the pie, then Warner Bros would fight for the bigger share. 

Everyone knew that the movie companies' main revenue came from the sale of videotapes. /Puji_maki

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