Dunn Pictures.
George Paxton, Glenn Feyero, Reese Witherspoon, Andrew O'Hare, Manola Dargis, Bryce Roach, Christopher Nolan, Nia Vardalos, and a few others were gathered in Dunn's office.
Dunn was laying out his latest plan—Dunn Pictures was about to jump into shooting a new movie, pronto!
After working with this guy for a while, the team was used to his wild, out-of-the-box ideas. They all started tossing suggestions around.
"Finishing a movie in six months— isn't that a bit rushed?" Nolan asked, looking skeptical.
Dunn grinned. "Yeah, it's tight, but if we hustle, it's not impossible, right?"
Manola Dargis, who knew her strengths leaned toward the artsy side, frowned. "With such a short timeline, we'd only manage a low-budget commercial flick. Awards? Forget it."
Dunn nodded thoughtfully.
His head was buzzing with great ideas, but picking one was the problem. Manola's comment slashed his options in half—small-budget commercial films it was.
Bryce Roach chimed in, "Even for a commercial movie, polishing a script takes at least two or three months. Six months to finish the whole thing? That's kinda unrealistic, no?"
Dunn blinked. "But I've already got a solid story framework!"
"Even so," Bryce countered, "fleshing out the details still takes a month or two for the script. Time's not on our side."
Glenn Feyero piped up, "Boss, why the six-month deadline? We're starting from scratch here. A movie in that time? We'd end up with some cheesy B-grade flop."
"Uh…"
Dunn hadn't expected it to be this complicated. He decided to come clean. "Okay, truth is, I want to direct another movie—ideally before the Oscars. You know, after that, it's all Star Wars promo time. I'll be swamped."
Reese Witherspoon stared at him, dumbfounded. "Dunn… you're joking, right? You're not busy now? You've got Star Wars: Episode I post-production, the Marvel acquisition talks, and you're even micromanaging the Harry Potter rights. Where's the time for another movie?"
"Yeah, Dunn, this feels impulsive," George Paxton added bluntly—he was Dunn's right-hand man, after all. "Buying Marvel's no small expense. Where's the cash coming from? Loans? Fundraising? Selling stock? You can't stretch yourself thinner right now."
"Er…"
Dunn rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed. His "brilliant" plan to exploit a system glitch was getting trashed by everyone.
Looking back, yeah, he'd been a bit full of himself lately.
Nobody's Superman. With his plate this full, how could he possibly squeeze in another movie?
Andrew O'Hare, seeing Dunn squirm, jumped in to smooth things over. "I'm all for another film. My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a huge win—proof of the boss's sharp eye and our teamwork!"
Christopher Nolan nodded. "True. Directing might be a stretch, Dunn, but producing? That's doable."
"Agreed."
"Me too!"
"Count me in!"
…
In a few quick exchanges, they'd nixed Dunn's directing dreams and slotted him as producer instead.
Dunn couldn't help but laugh at himself. It hit him—no matter how genius you are, you mess up sometimes. Going solo's a trap; teamwork's the real way to grow a company.
Like right now.
He took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine, I'll produce. But what kind of movie are we making? We need to brainstorm that together."
After seeing the power of the group, Dunn dialed back the ego a bit.
"Dunn, if you're not directing, let's play it safe," George Paxton said seriously. "Dunn Pictures can't afford a flop."
The message was clear: with Marvel on the horizon, this was a critical time. They needed to boost confidence for the market and fans. Better to skip than to fail!
George's words set the tone.
No risky projects allowed!
Andrew O'Hare mused, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding crushed it. The boss said it's looking at $1.5 billion in revenue, conservatively. Wedding movies are gonna be hot after this."
Glenn's eyes lit up. "You mean… a sequel?"
"No sequels!" Dunn shut that down fast. "That series is done."
Andrew nodded. "Yeah, Greek Wedding doesn't lend itself to a follow-up. But we could start fresh with another wedding-themed movie."
"Smart!" Bryce clapped. "Great idea!"
Nolan agreed. "Riding Greek Wedding's wave with another wedding flick? I'd bet on that succeeding."
Dunn's mind cleared, a movie title popping into his head. He smiled at the group. "What about you guys? On board?"
Everyone nodded.
Dunn laughed. "Guess great minds think alike!"
"Boss, you were thinking the same?"
Dunn, totally straight-faced, said, "Duh, I've had this planned forever. Just testing you all. Even got the title ready."
"What's it called?"
"Wedding Crashers!"
The room went quiet, a few blank stares exchanged.
"I told you, I've got the framework down," Dunn said, grinning confidently. "The lead, John, and his buddy Jeremy are work partners with a shared hobby—crashing weddings and engagement parties. Jewish, British, French, Chinese, Italian—you name it, they sneak in."
"With their slick talk, they spin wild stories, stealing the spotlight at every event. It's their trick to charm the single ladies and bridesmaids—works every time. But after the party? Poof, they're gone, no trace. That's the Wedding Crashers code."
Andrew's eyes sparkled, catching the humor and hook. "But then, at one wedding, something goes wrong. John falls for a bridesmaid, breaking the code, and it turns into a romantic love story."
Nia Vardalos nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe she pursues him—wins him over with sweet, romantic moments."
Christopher Nolan, ever the writer, closed his eyes and pitched, "Add some class differences for laughs. She's from a fancy family, he's out of his depth, facing weird challenges. He uses his quick wit and cool-headedness to handle it."
Bryce laughed. "Make it a quirky Central European noble family—odd rules, hilarious chaos. John's freaking out, comedy gold. We could borrow a bit from Greek Wedding there."
"And I think we could…"
Dunn sat there, stunned, as they pieced the whole story together, bouncing off each other.
Man, what a team!
He'd just thrown out the opening for Wedding Crashers, and these heavyweights turned it into a full-on masterpiece.
Sure, Dunn had foresight from his past life, but in front of these Hollywood pros, it didn't even stand out.
And why would it? The original Wedding Crashers was a team effort too. Now, with some of the best writers in the game, all he had to do was spark the idea—they'd make it better than ever!
Strength in numbers!
Suddenly, Dunn felt like the road ahead was wide open.
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