Hollywood What If

Chapter 22

Kazir checked his appearance. He looked pretty good, especially now that he had burned off his belly fat. Signing up for a gym membership helped a lot. 

Now Kazir was much healthier than he had been the last time. He was fit, although the bags under his eyes were still there. After all, he hadn't slept for days.

If Rector had not begged him to rest, Kazir would never have left the editing room. 

Kazir wore a suit when he entered the New Line Cinema building. He asked the receptionist, and the woman directed him to the screening room. 

There he found David Fincher talking to Arnold Kopelson. 

"Kazir! I haven't seen you in months! I hear you're filming."

David approached with a smile. They were both having the "best" day of their lives, considering they both had bags under their eyes. 

"Yeah, I just finished shooting. I rented a studio to edit my movie."

"That's good to hear. If you need any help, you can ask me." 

"Kazir."

Arnold Kopelson came over and shook his hand. They were not strangers and they had a good relationship. 

"How is your day Arnold?"

"Everything is going well. David is working hard."

A few minutes later the people from New Line Cinema showed up. Robert Shaye looked at Kazir and nodded. 

Se7en began to play on the screen and they watched it intently. All Kazir could say was that David Fincher's filmography would flourish from now on. 

His films would be classics. 

Se7en, a great murder mystery detective genre. 

Fight Club, amazing, the twist was 'wtf'.

Zodiac, another murder mystery. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, um, another murder mystery.

Gone Girl, a pretty ironic movie, but this movie made more than 300 million dollars at the worldwide box office. 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, deep, a masterpiece in my opinion. 

Kazir thought that apart from Christopher Nolan. David Fincher was the best noir filmmaker of the current era. 

'Noir films...'

In the past, Kazir dreamed of becoming the best director of this genre. However, he failed miserably. 

So from now on, Kazir would change his style. As much as he could, he would never touch dark R-rated movies, especially horror movies. Instead, he would settle for PG-13 and action movies.

'Action movies, I will make action movies for the sake of action movies. For the sake of the audience, not for the sake of the critics.'

Art films can go to hell. Kazir would make commercial films instead. 

But for now, the best he could do was use Napoleon Dynamite as a springboard. 

His budget was only half a million, so he decided to make the best movie he could. Once he had enough status and money, Kazir would definitely choose action movies. 

"Congratulations David, the movie is great." Kazir hugged David. He was happy to see the script he had written become a movie. 

"Don't congratulate me yet, we haven't shown it to the market yet."

"Don't worry, I'm confident this movie will have a strong reception."

Suddenly another person approached them. 

"David, the movie is great."

"Me too, Mr. Shaye. I hope we can work together again."

"Hm," then Robert Shaye turned to Kazir. The founder of New Line Cinema looked haggard. 

"I heard you're shooting a movie."

"Yes, I have already finished shooting. I'm editing it now."

"If you're interested, you can contact New Line Cinema."

Robert Shaye would be happy to buy a movie that has a strong return on investment. If Kazir's movie was worth it, of course he would buy it. 

"It's an honor."

Kazir's first choice was actually Fox Searchlight Pictures, but he didn't have to be picky. 

Robert Shaye left the two. New Line Cinema had to come up with a marketing plan for Se7en. 

"Hey, did you hear? There's a rumor that Time Warner is going to buy Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Maybe that's why Robert Shaye looked tired."

New Line Cinema was owned by Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. If Time Warner bought Turner Broadcasting System Inc., then New Line Cinema would naturally fall into the hands of Warner Bros. 

Kazir just kept smiling. 

'It is not a rumor, New Line Cinema will be under Warner Bros. in the near future.'

He just hoped that Se7en would not be affected. 

David invited Kazir to dinner and they talked. Now that David's work was almost done, he wanted to take a bottle of beer and drink it all down. 

"So you made a comedy? Strange, I thought you preferred horror movies?"

Kazir's first three films were B-grade horror movies. So David thought his current project was also a horror movie. 

"No David, I want to change."

In a way, making a comedy was like shedding a new skin for Kazir. 

"Changing for the better is a good thing. Send me a ticket when it comes out."

"You don't have to worry."

"Where will you show it first? Will you submit it to the Berlin International Film Festival?"

"If I have no choice. But the Berlin International Film Festival is in February. My movie will surely be finished by then, so entering a film festival is my last choice".

"Once Se7en becomes popular, I'm sure many companies will approach you."

"That's right."

The two started drinking beer like there was no tomorrow. They wanted to let go of their work and have fun. 

When Kazir woke up the next day, his head hurt, almost as if his skull was being drilled.  /Puji_maki