The promotional tour in South America lasted a week, coinciding with the third week of Pirates of the Caribbean's North American release.
By the third week, Pirates of the Caribbean's box office continued to decline, grossing only $38.245 million this week, bringing its total North American box office to $195 million.
However, this week's North American box office champion remained X-Men 2, which earned $68.585 million over seven days, pushing its North American total to $164 million.
This performance had the folks at 20th Century Fox grinning from ear to ear.
Not only did the film surpass the previous installment's North American total in just ten days, but it also outperformed Pirates of the Caribbean's ten-day box office.
As a result, 20th Century Fox popped champagne and threw a celebration party, even planning to invite Gilbert. But Gilbert didn't attend.
The media caught wind of this, and soon, articles claiming Gilbert had suffered a crushing defeat began to surface again after a brief lull.
At Melon Manor, Scarlett looked at the newspapers with displeasure. "Hmph, these unethical media outlets blow things out of proportion the moment they catch wind of something.
Pirates of the Caribbean is an original film—why don't they mention that at all?"
Gilbert, on the other hand, remained unfazed. "That's how the media works. They only care about hype, not the truth."
"The truth is that Pirates of the Caribbean's overseas box office also isn't doing as well as X-Men 2. That's why the media is predicting a flop," Naomi Watts said as she came over with a plate of tea snacks.
"Where's the little one?"
"Just finished feeding and fell asleep."
Naomi sat next to Gilbert and continued, "Pirates of the Caribbean expanded to more than a dozen new markets this week, but the box office didn't see a big jump, only reaching $110.51 million.
Meanwhile, X-Men 2 opened in France, China, South Korea, and several other markets this week and easily took in $135 million."
Scarlett protested, "The gap's not that big! Do they really have to keep calling it a flop?"
"They do," Gilbert understood the media's mentality. "The media loves building someone up, then tearing them down and trampling them into the dirt."
Scarlett was speechless. "Don't we own a few media outlets ourselves? Can't we have them speak on our behalf?"
"Scarlett, you need to understand, in the face of public opinion shaped by the majority of the media, a few outlets we own don't make a difference," Gilbert said with a smile. He went on, "Besides, if we overreact to this kind of criticism, wouldn't that confirm that I really am declining? That I'm panicking?"
Scarlett nodded in agreement. "That's true. As long as we're making money, who cares what the media says."
"Exactly, that's the right mindset."
Gilbert patted Scarlett's head, but the girl shook him off, suspecting that her short stature was due to Gilbert's frequent head pats.
Gilbert continued, "You guys also need to be careful not to care too much about what the media says, or you'll end up getting misled by them."
"Is that so?" Naomi Watts blinked. "So, you're saying we shouldn't care about those rumors involving you, Paris Hilton, and Ivanka?"
"Uh," Gilbert immediately explained, "It's all a misunderstanding, really—those two insisted on coming along, I didn't invite them!"
"Aww, don't be so reactive, I didn't say anything!" Naomi giggled behind her hand.
"No really, I turned them down every time. If you don't believe me, call Anna and ask her," Gilbert swore to the heavens.
"Alright, alright, I believe you. Look how flustered you are—where's that cool director vibe now?" Naomi chuckled. Gilbert's reaction was truly amusing.
Actually, Gilbert hadn't been like this before, but after all, Naomi Watts had borne his child and was now considered a great contributor to the Landrini family.
So when rumors linked Gilbert to other women, even if he'd done nothing, he still felt guilty in front of Naomi Watts.
Fortunately, Naomi wasn't one to throw fits—just a few teasing remarks and she'd let it go.
Naomi also reasoned that someone as shallow as Paris Hilton wouldn't appeal to Gilbert anyway.
Ivanka, on the other hand, did have some competence. Naomi figured Gilbert might actually like her.
The new film released this week was Daddy Day Care, distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was a comedic family film.
The story revolved around two unemployed middle-aged men who had a sudden burst of inspiration and opened a daycare center.
In a Hollywood summer box office season dominated by sci-fi and action flicks, this film's unique tone helped it earn $35.624 million in its opening weekend.
Given its modest budget and lack of big-name stars, the film's performance was more than enough to make Columbia Pictures overjoyed.
Gilbert paid attention to this film not just because he was now a new dad, but also because he noticed a familiar name among the cast—Elle Fanning.
Don't get the wrong idea. No matter how twisted Gilbert may seem, he would never harbor any inappropriate thoughts about a four-year-old girl.
How to describe this feeling? It was like treasure hunting—discovering a future celebrity who was currently unknown, a kind of inexplicable joy.
Yet it was a joy he couldn't share with anyone, so Gilbert could only quietly savor the moment on his own.
Elle Fanning's sister, Dakota Fanning, was also a famous child actress. The two sisters breaking into Hollywood together was quite a rare sight.
In his previous life, Gilbert had gone through a phase where he was obsessed with researching Hollywood sister duos, like the Olsen twins and the Fanning sisters.
But it felt like the Fanning sisters lost their charm and uniqueness as they grew older, becoming just ordinary faces in the crowd. So if he wanted to cast them in anything, he'd have to act quickly.
After returning from South America, Gilbert took a short break and made time to check on the production of The Fast and the Furious 2.
"I heard Vin Diesel had a tantrum on set?" Gilbert asked while chatting with producer Derek Haas.
"Yeah, apparently Paul Walker upset him, so he lost his temper," Derek Haas replied, clearly a bit troubled by it.
"But Miss Tyler stepped in and put a stop to Vin Diesel's behavior."
"Well, well," Gilbert was surprised. "Didn't expect Liv to have that kind of authority!"
"Hahaha, she said herself it was only because she invoked your name that Vin Diesel got scared," Derek Haas explained.
Indeed, unlike those women involved in rumors with Gilbert but who had never actually been with him, Liv Tyler had genuinely been with Gilbert.
Though she came from a rock 'n' roll family, and looked like a sweet and obedient girl, her temper was no joke—both the director and producer had to tiptoe around her.
If Liv Tyler whispered in Gilbert's ear at night, things would get difficult for everyone else.
Vin Diesel might be arrogant, and certainly not afraid of Liv Tyler, but he was wary of Gilbert.
Despite being bald, he wasn't stupid—he knew whom he could mess with, and whom he absolutely couldn't.
After understanding the situation, Gilbert immediately told Derek Haas, "I'll have Sheena warn Vin Diesel.
If he keeps acting like this, we'll replace him in the third movie."
"Now that you've said that, I feel a lot better," Derek Haas said with a smile.
In truth, film crews generally didn't want to get involved in actors' disputes. But when those disputes began to interfere with the production, the crew had no choice but to intervene.
The conflict Derek Haas mentioned must have impacted the filming process, or else he wouldn't have brought it up with Gilbert.
A few days later, Vin Diesel received a warning.
He personally called Gilbert to express his apology.
"You don't need to apologize to me—you need to apologize to Paul Walker. You're a team, a family. If you can't get along with family, how are you supposed to be a leader?" Gilbert reprimanded him sternly.
The hot-tempered bald man had to endure it. What choice did he have? Go head-to-head with Gilbert? How would he survive in the industry after that?
After being scolded by Gilbert, Vin Diesel immediately promised, "Don't worry, I'll apologize to Paul. I won't cause any more trouble."
"Good," Gilbert felt reassured after hearing that.
If you're fighting with family, how can you lead the Fast Family?
The Fast and the Furious 2 was progressing smoothly, and early test screenings received positive feedback. Critics agreed it was a solid popcorn action flick.
Compared to the original Fast and Furious series from his previous life, the one produced by Gilbert had undergone significant changes.
For starters, several lead roles had changed. While still maintaining diversity with Latin, Black, and Asian actors, the absolute central leads—Vin Diesel, Liv Tyler, and Paul Walker—were all white.
Next, the entire story structure had been significantly altered. Vin Diesel hadn't left the franchise. Instead, he had signed a five-film deal with the Fast studio from the start. After this movie, three more were planned.
According to the roadmap, new characters would be introduced in the future. Gilbert was especially impressed by Dwayne "The Rock" and had no intention of leaving him out.
However, in the previous timeline, there had been tensions between Vin Diesel and The Rock, which was something to be cautious about.
Still, Gilbert believed that under his command, the two bald stars would get along harmoniously without any drama.
After watching The Fast and the Furious 2, Gilbert turned his attention to Rush Hour 3. The film continued with the usual Jackie Chan-style action paired with Chris Tucker's American humor.
Past experience proved that this formula was popular, but this would be the final installment in the series. There would be no more after this.
Maybe ten years down the line, if work dried up, Rush Hour 4 might be revived or something.
Gilbert also had a conversation with Jackie Chan: "For The Curse of the Talisman, which starts production this year, I'm planning to shoot the second and third films back-to-back."
Jackie Chan was surprised: "Isn't that a risky move?"
"Not at all. The market research team has conducted surveys. Though the two films will cost over $260 million combined, the total box office is expected to exceed $1.2 billion.
The key is maintaining strong reviews and quality, but I trust our team."
Jackie Chan was relieved. "That's good to hear. In a few years, Shuchang will be grown up—it'll be harder to film by then."
"Exactly," Gilbert nodded, then brought up another matter. "I plan to attend the Shanghai International Film Festival in June.
Bring the Rush Hour team and The Curse of the Talisman crew along. After all, these are films and faces that Chinese audiences are familiar with."
Jackie Chan agreed without hesitation. "Sure, no problem."
And so the plan was finalized.
Now that the kung fu and China craze in Hollywood was gradually fading, it wasn't easy for Jackie Chan to maintain his presence and continue developing in Hollywood.
Gilbert had always closely monitored changes in the Chinese market. He believed that, in a global film industry where most dynamics had stabilized, the only major variable left was the Chinese market.
His previous life had already proven this point. Even if it weren't for his yellow-skin heritage in that lifetime, Gilbert would still need to strategically position himself here purely for business reasons—to seize the advantage.
Fortunately, Gilbert had already seized that advantage.
...
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (60 Chapters)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Douluo Dalu: Reincarnated as Yan(40 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler (30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu