Hollywood What If

Chapter 81

Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Star-Lord, Black Panther, Thor... Almost everyone who was part of the MCU was acquired by Grey Pictures. 

Marvel was facing its biggest slump in history and Kazir used this moment to acquire the movie copyrights to these superheroes.

Marvel still owned the comic book copyrights and other copyrights such as toys and many merchandises. The contract stated that Grey Pictures had the authority over the movie copyrights for twenty years. 

It should have been fifty years, but Marvel wanted an outrageous amount. 

In the end, Grey Pictures bought the copyrights for $27 million. 

These characters are not that famous and Marvel didn't care about these superheroes at all. Their famous superheroes are actually Spiderman, Iron Man and the Hulk.

Kazir sighed. He sighed with relief after acquiring the characters. Now that the contract was clear and he had paid the money, he didn't have to worry about Marvel making trouble. All he had to do was show the contract. 

'Of course I'll still contact them. They know these superheroes better than I do.'

He had no problem inviting Stan Lee. But the MCU had to wait a decade. 

It was December 13, 1996. The Hangover was officially drop by the cinemas. The movie grossed $469.3 million at the worldwide box office. 

Because of this result, many film companies tried to contact Grey Pictures about Kazir's next project. Unfortunately, every one of them was rejected. 

Grey Pictures announced that Taken would be financed exclusively by the company. 

As for Ted, Kazir sold the script to Warner Bros for $2 million. Buying a script for $2 million was a stupid move. But Warner Bros understood Kazir Grey's ability to write a comedy. He had already proven himself twice. 

'They invited me to be the executive producer. No problem. '

The position was nominal. Warner Bros needed Kazir's opinion on how to make the movie funny. All he had to do was show up on set once in a while. Fortunately, Warner Bros would start shooting Ted at the end of the next year, around October 1997. 

'But I think they will postpone this project...'

Kazir thinks he was free by then. 

"Salvatore, what is Liam Neeson's answer?"

"Liam had no project next year... He agreed, but he didn't like the contract."

"I understand..."

Since Taken was a trilogy, Liam Neeson had to sign a trilogy contract. Also, Liam Neeson had to sign cameos in the other movies. This was all done to solidify the Continental Cinematic Universe. Liam Neeson had to show his face in other movies.

"Is he not happy with the salary?" Kazir frowned. 

"He's happy with the $3 million. I think this is the highest salary he has received so far. But he didn't like the clause for the next two movies."

"..."

With each sequel, Liam Neeson's salary would increase by 35%. This means that in Taken 2, Liam Neeson's salary would be $4.05 million. Then his next salary would be $5.46 million in Taken 3.

"His agent is asking for a higher percentage increase. They are fighting for a 60% raise per movie."

"Make it 50%... But you have to sign some cameo contracts."

"Okay. I'll contact Rafael."

The negotiations with Liam Neeson went well. At least Liam's agent was much easier to convince than WMA's. 

In fact, after the problems with The Hangover, Kazir decided that he would not hire actors from WMA. He didn't want that agency interfering with his movie. 

"By the way, I heard Enzo's brother is here. I want to see him."

Enzo's older brother was a stunt director in Hong Kong. He worked in many movies. He was a martial artist and knew many attack patterns. Kazir needed a professional stunt director to help him with the action sequences. 

......

...

...

Tae-Won Park. He is the brother of Hae-Won Park (Enzo Park). He was 32 years old at this time. He worked as a stunt director for seven years. 

Just like Enzo, Tae-Won Park dreamed of going to Hollywood. However, he felt that his profession was not respected in Hollywood. 

The action stunts in Hollywood are different from those in Hong Kong. 

The action sequences of action movies in the 80s and early 90s were too simple and monotonous. They even have to repeat the punches so many times just to make a point. 

The movie that influenced kung fu in Hollywood was The Matrix. Since then, many movies have hired stunt directors from Hong Kong. But that would be a different story from now on. 

Kazir Grey wanted to start the trend of hand-to-hand combat with great choreography. He needed someone like Tae-Won Park. 

The Korean opened the door nervously. He heard the director calling him. Actually, he had been waiting for a while, but Salvatore and Kazir were talking. 

"Director..." His pronunciation was a little awkward. Perhaps influenced by the Cantonese language of Hong Kong. 

Still, Kazir Grey could understand his English well enough. 

"So you are Tae-Won Park."

"Director, thank you for taking care of my brother."

"It's nothing. You are a professional stunt director from Hong Kong. I wonder, do you know mixed martial arts?"

"I know, but we usually never use this kind of action choreography in our movies. The movies we produce are all kung fu."

"It's okay. We have plenty of time to think about it. First I want to hear your thoughts."

Salvatore handed the remote to Kazir. He was slowly becoming an assistant. 

'I need to hire an assistant, huh.'

Kazir was embarrassed because Salvatore had been his "assistant' for the last two years. 

"Anyway, check out this action choreography and give me your honest opinion."

The footage began. On the screen, Kazir Grey and Enzo Park started their fight. In this situation, Enzo Park took the role of retired agent Bryan Mills, while Kazir was simply a mob. 

Enzo began to land direct and deadly punches on Kazir. 

"It's different from what I expected." Tae-Won Park replied. 

The action sequences were precise and lethal. Almost like a veteran soldier with the sole purpose of killing.