Hollywood What If Chapter 531
After the question-and-answer portion, the host smiled and announced the next segment.
"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the exclusive first trailer of The Dark Knight!"
The fans cheered, but they quickly turned quiet as the lights turned off. The projector screen lit up and the trailer for the movie began to roll.
Kazir turned around and looked up… The angle he was watching from wasn't the best, so he just laughed. Well, he was the one who created this trailer, so he already knew what it was all about.
The low, dark, haunting sound played. Then Batman appeared on top of a building; he fell and glided into the dark night.
The logos of Warner Brothers and DC Comics flashed on the screen. Then came the Joker's monologue while scenes of the chaos he created played out.
Explosions and cars rolled around like toys, while the Joker's maniacal laughter echoed in the background.
The Batmobile made its cool appearance.
Bruce Wayne talked to Harvey Dent.
Then the climax of the trailer began as the Joker appeared and hijacked a party, holding a shotgun.
The music intensified.
More explosions followed.
A monologue between the Joker and Batman.
In the final second of the trailer, the release date of the movie was revealed.
July 18, 2008.
And yeah, the trailer was only 2 minutes and 30 seconds, so it didn't last that long. Still, it was enough to satisfy the fans, who screamed and clapped their hands once the lights returned.
The cast bid their farewells after promoting the movie.
"Let's see each other on July 18. You will witness Batman's glory."
That was what Kazir said before leaving the venue.
As expected, the Marvel section also ended their programs around the same time, and Kazir couldn't attend. Marvel Studios also hoped that fans would watch Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk in theaters.
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March passed by, and Kazir spent most of his time filming Ninja Assassin. This was just the norm for him, and he liked what he was doing.
The production crew had already adapted to Kazir's work ethic and knew that the director was the liveliest when he was sitting in his director's chair… This was confusing because almost everyone agreed that sitting in a director's chair was uncomfortable.
Anyway, only three movies performed well at the box office in March.
They were:
10,000 B.C. A movie distributed by Warner Brothers with a budget of over $100 million. The movie grossed over $269 million by the end of its screening. It received mixed reviews regarding historical inaccuracies. Overall, its performance was great, and audiences liked it.
The second was Horton Hears a Who! A movie based on Dr. Seuss's work. It was a 3D animated film, produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. This studio was getting stronger after three of its movies received great attention from moviegoers. The movie grossed over $383 million while having an $83 million production cost.
The third and final movie was 21. Yes, the title of the movie was 21. It was a drama-heist about making money in Las Vegas using card-counting strategies. The movie only had a $36 million budget but grossed over $187 million.
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In April, Kazir continued the filming of Ninja Assassin. Whenever he had free time, he would spend it with his girlfriend.
The promotion of summer movies intensified, and people could see posters and billboards promoting films everywhere. Many comic-related materials spread around this time. Perhaps this was a signal, since three superhero movies would be released in the summer.
As for the movies released this month, they were basically weak, and none surpassed $200 million, so it didn't matter if they were listed or not.
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Just like that, May 2 arrived, and Iron Man had its premiere. Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox did their best to promote the movie. They knew that Iron Man was not a popular superhero, so they had to spread Iron Man comics across the United States. They basically gave the comics away to catch people's attention.
The budget of Iron Man was around $140 million, and they hoped the movie would make at least double that amount to make it worthwhile.
In the original timeline, the distributor of Iron Man was Paramount Pictures, but 20th Century Fox took that role this time. Perhaps this change could affect Iron Man's performance.
Since Kazir couldn't attend the promotion at Comic-Con, he had to make up for it by attending the premiere. He had a stake in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so he couldn't disregard the premiere.
In fact, Grey Pictures had a 3% box office share and a 6% peripheral profit share with Iron Man since they technically owned the copyrights to the character.
Even though Grey Pictures didn't invest a single cent in the movie, they were still qualified to receive a share of the profits. Sometimes, people were amazed at Kazir's prediction. The director probably saw the potential of Marvel characters and bought them.
As for Ninja Assassin, Kazir had already filmed most of the scenes. The movie was not heavily reliant on CGI, so Kazir could probably end the production in three months. That was fast, as expected.
As for his next film, Kazir had no idea. Perhaps he would take a year's rest since he had been working too much for two decades now. He never had a chance for a long break.