Hollywood What If Chapter 526
A few years ago, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl received a couple of nominations from the Academy Awards. These included Best Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects.
Out of all those nominations... none won an award. Look at that: seven nominations, but not a single win. This just showed how prejudiced the Academy Awards were.
Johnny Depp was actually excited when he found out he got a nomination, but the Academy didn't care for box office movies, so they didn't give him a real chance.
The members of the Academy gatekeep their small community of rich, hypocritical bastards in Hollywood.
Five years later, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End received a couple of nominations from the Academy Awards. Unfortunately, Johnny Depp didn't get another nomination since he had already received one before. Hey, even getting an Oscar nomination was already a big achievement, only a few actors get nominated each year.
This year, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End got two nominations from the Academy Awards. The announcement came on January 22, and only a few people from Grey Pictures attended the small gathering. Everyone knew that even if the movie got nominations, it would be difficult to win even one.
It's funny because At World's End was the highest-grossing movie of the previous year. The movie garnered a massive fanbase all over the world, and many of those fans were probably disappointed that the Academy Awards didn't give a damn about box office success... The members of the Academy were only interested in maintaining their status and power within the organization.
A decade from now, the Academy Awards would become a laughingstock. They even let a guy who caused a scandal and slapped a host win the Best Actor Award, showing they had no common sense at all. Man, it was just a bald joke. Why go so far as to assault someone?
As for the Academy Awards, yeah, not cool. They essentially supported an assault, and their organization's reputation would be tarnished forever.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End received nominations in two categories: Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects. These were considered minor awards.
When Kazir heard that the Academy took pity on the movie and gave it two nominations, he just laughed. Honestly, he thought At World's End wouldn't receive any nominations this year.
As for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, it would be a miracle if this action-packed, bloody, raw, and testosterone-fueled movie got any nominations. Only something truly unique like Taken would earn that privilege, since that movie had a bigger cultural impact.
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In January, only three movies performed well. Again, this month was not considered ideal for releasing films. Only a few high-quality movies could make money during this time. At best, movies released in January could hope to earn around $200 million.
27 Dresses was released in the third week of January. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The movie grossed over $206 million.
In the same week, Cloverfield was released... This movie was interesting and unique. It belonged to the found footage genre, with a bit of a documentary vibe. Produced by Bad Robot and distributed by Paramount Pictures, this alien invasion film grossed over $201 million.
As for the third movie that performed well in January, it was Rambo. For some reason, this installment didn't include a clear number to indicate which sequel it was, so audiences were a bit confused. Though avid fans of the franchise knew this was the fourth movie.
After Carolco Pictures went bankrupt, the rights to the Rambo franchise were acquired by Miramax. Naturally, the distributor of the movie was Miramax. Miramax had international distribution lines, which was the main reason the Big Six felt threatened by the studio. Eventually leading Walt Disney to acquire Miramax to ensure it wouldn't flourish too much.
If Grey Pictures had followed Miramax's footsteps and acquired distribution lines, the company would probably have been taken out by now or acquired by one of the Big Six... The latter still happened even though Grey Pictures didn't have its own distribution lines. As of now, Grey Pictures still relied on 20th Century Fox to distribute its movies, and the partnership remained strong.
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In a certain location in Los Angeles, the night sky was dim due to the pollution the city produced daily. It didn't help that the location was covered in artificial mist from fog machines.
Extras wore ninja suits and looked intimidating. They carried prop weapons, made of rubber, but designed to look like real blades.
Kazir Grey sat a few meters away from the scene, holding a megaphone. They had secured a permit to film on this street, but only for tonight, so the schedule was tight.
Enzo, standing in a relaxed posture despite having fake blood smeared on his face, waited for Kazir's signal.
"All right, I'm looking for raw action. This part is where Raizo shows why he's the best ninja in the clan."
Enzo nodded, taking the director's reminder seriously.
After that, the set grew quiet as the assistant director, Everest, clapped the clapperboard and announced the scene and take number.
"Scene 28. Fighting the Ninjas in the downtown. Take 8."
The camera rolled.
Enzo and the extras sprang into action. Enzo moved with acrobatic grace... He was trying to follow in the footsteps of most Asian actors in Hollywood, doing most of his own stunts. Thankfully, Enzo was an expert in martial arts, so he didn't struggle with the movements. They had rehearsed the stunts so many times, and that preparation really paid off during filming.