Gilbert had been staying in Japan for more than a month. After celebrating Gilbert's birthday with him, Scarlett returned to Los Angeles first.
She was starring in Lost in Translation, which was about to be released in August, and she needed to hurry back to promote it.
Although Sofia Coppola's film was aimed squarely at the Oscars, that didn't mean there wasn't also some hope for box office success.
Sofia herself longed to win an Oscar, but the film company that invested in the project did so to make money. Chasing the Oscars was also, ultimately, a means of making money.
Lost in Translation would adopt a conservative release strategy, beginning with limited screenings.
This was the usual strategy for art-house films—through limited release, the buzz could be extended, allowing the film to last throughout the entire awards season.
Generally speaking, an independent film could stay in limited release for two to three months without issue.
Some films would fade away during the process, while others, thanks to strong word of mouth and quality, would expand their distribution scale.
In this respect, Miramax Films clearly had outstanding experience.
The Weinstein brothers were masters of awards-season campaigning. Hiring them to handle the Oscar run and distribution of an indie film, combined with the channels and resources of parent company Disney, was a recipe for great success.
However, recently some rumors had emerged about Miramax. It was said that the Weinstein brothers were dissatisfied with Disney placing too many restrictions on them, preventing them from operating freely.
Therefore, the Weinsteins were considering resigning and starting up their own new company again.
This matter actually had a bit to do with Gilbert, because he found Harvey Weinstein, the big fat man, particularly unpleasant to look at.
The reason was very simple: Harvey had once set his sights on Naomi Watts.
A man loves both power and beauty, but he especially hates it when another man covets his woman. Jealous Gilbert, of course, couldn't stand Harvey the fat man.
What's more, Gilbert was handsome, dashing, and famously known as one of Hollywood's most attractive directors—yet this ugly fat man dared to set his eyes on his woman?
Although Harvey had withdrawn in time and hadn't crossed the line like Mel Gibson, Gilbert still did not let him off.
Beating him up would have been too brainless. After becoming a Disney shareholder and a board member, Gilbert encouraged Robert Iger to initiate reforms of the subsidiaries.
To put it simply, subsidiaries had previously operated independently. Aside from submitting annual financial reports, they didn't need to report to Disney headquarters about other matters, such as what projects they invested in.
This was meant to give subsidiaries some creative autonomy and prevent them from being too restricted.
But Gilbert urged Robert Iger to require subsidiaries to have all projects reviewed and approved by Disney headquarters each year from then on.
In addition, he pushed to change the company-wide subsidiary audit from once every two years to twice a year, throwing the subsidiaries into misery.
Most importantly, Gilbert wasn't firing blindly—he deliberately stirred up Disney.
Previously, because of disputes between Michael Eisner and the board of directors, Disney's internal management had fallen into disorder. Subsidiaries, in turn, had acted like local warlords, taking liberties with their power.
Cases of false and concealed financial reporting were common every year, and some had even gone as far as undermining Disney's foundations.
So after Robert Iger adopted Gilbert's suggestions, he thoroughly investigated all of the subsidiaries' projects and accounts. Although there was some pain during the process, once it was over, Disney had rid itself of many ailments, and its future prospects looked much brighter.
The board of directors was very pleased with this, and Robert Iger was able to use the opportunity to consolidate power within the board, achieving true full control of Disney.
Gilbert, meanwhile, remained humble and low-key. He not only succeeded in cleaning out Disney's internal bad actors, but also managed to take a small measure of revenge on Harvey the fat man.
Of course, Harvey understood what was going on. He realized that if he continued staying at Disney, not only would he never become its ruler, but he might even end up like Mel Gibson, doomed. And so, thoughts of leaving arose in his mind.
Gilbert didn't need to go for the kill—Harvey would inevitably step on a landmine and blow himself up sooner or later. There was no need for Gilbert to waste energy on a man already doomed.
Another issue was Pixar Animation Studios, which was still in the middle of negotiations. Steve Jobs wasn't in any hurry at all—the one anxious was Disney.
Given Steve Jobs's personality, Disney would never be able to acquire Pixar without paying a heavy price.
The key problem was that several other giant companies were also waiting in line.
Everyone knew the value of Pixar. Steve Jobs himself leaned toward cooperating with Disney, but only if Disney's offer was not lower than what other companies were willing to pay.
This, of course, involved Gilbert—after all, he was a shareholder in Apple and had a good personal relationship with Jobs.
Thus Robert Iger hoped Gilbert could persuade Jobs to loosen his conditions and agree to a deal involving partial Disney stock combined with cash.
While enjoying the sun and beaches of the Ryukyu Islands, Gilbert discussed the matter with Robert Iger:
"Bob, Jobs is actually a very stubborn man. I don't think me trying to persuade him will have much effect."
Robert Iger said: "That doesn't matter, Gilbert. All you need to do is show him where you stand. Mr. Jobs is a shrewd businessman, and what he trusts most is someone's judgment."
"All right, I'll give it a try…" Gilbert took a sip of lemonade and continued: "I heard that Warner also has this intention. Doug might very well ask me for help too. If that happens, you mustn't blame me."
Because of Gilbert, Disney and Warner Bros. had been cooperating closely in recent years. But that didn't mean the two companies weren't competitors.
Take Pixar Animation Studios, for example—Warner wanted it even more urgently than Disney.
Universal had Blue Sky Studios, and as for Disney, needless to say, when its live-action division wasn't performing well, the company was sustained by its animation films.
Paramount was working closely with DreamWorks Animation, and 20th Century Fox's animation studio was also strong.
As for Sony Columbia Pictures… well, they had money!
Only Warner Bros. lacked a decent animation studio. Thus Pixar was something Warner desperately needed, and Doug Walter would certainly go all in.
Hearing this, Robert Iger fell silent. After a long pause, he finally said: "It doesn't matter. Do your best to persuade Jobs. No matter who Pixar ends up belonging to, I won't hold it against you."
"Since you put it that way, I feel reassured," Gilbert promised. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to explain everything clearly to Mr. Jobs."
"Good, thank you, Gilbert…" Robert Iger hung up the phone and let out a soft sigh.
Daytime in Japan happened to be nighttime in Los Angeles, and because of the Pixar acquisition case, Robert Iger was still working overtime in his office.
Solomon, who had already been promoted to Vice President of Disney, saw Robert Iger hang up the call and quickly asked:
"Bob, was the communication with Gilbert not going well?"
"No," Robert Iger shook his head, "it went smoothly."
"Then what else are you concerned about?" Solomon asked with some confusion.
Robert Iger sighed and said:
"Gilbert is also a shareholder of Time Warner!"
Only then did Solomon remember—not only do they want Pixar Animation Studios, Warner Bros. must want it as well.
"So who will Gilbert help?" Solomon asked.
Robert Iger shook his head, showing that he himself was also unsure.
After Robert Iger made that phone call, later in the evening Gilbert received a call from Doug Walter, with the exact same request as Robert Iger's.
It was clear that Pixar Animation Studios was a piece of fat meat everyone wanted to eat and they all wanted it for themselves.
In fact, before Melon Studio had been acquired, Gilbert had thought about whether he should create an animation film department.
After all, he had the creativity, and as for technology, that could always be developed.
But later, because work kept him too busy, he had no time or energy to run another animation studio, so Gilbert gave up on the idea.
Now he somewhat understood why Pixar Animation Studios was in such hot demand—just look at Disney.
Released at the end of May, Finding Nemo had already surpassed 200 million at the North American box office, and its global box office had exceeded 400 million.
But the most outstanding performance of the film was in merchandise sales, which had already brought Disney and Pixar Animation Studios 322 million dollars in revenue, while the production cost of the merchandise was less than one-third of the film's production budget.
The core of animated films has always been the merchandise.
Finding Nemo was the last animated feature distributed under the Disney-Pixar agreement, because after Finding Nemo, the contract would expire—hence why Pixar had now drawn the attention of all the major forces in Hollywood.
Speaking of box office numbers, let's take another look at the film market.
Gilbert had been vacationing in Japan for over a month, and by the first weekend of July, as of July 6th, Pirates of the Caribbean had already reached 291 million at the North American box office.
The film was still making anywhere between several hundred thousand to one million dollars per week, so 300 million domestically was guaranteed—it was only a matter of where the final total would land.
As for overseas box office, with the film gradually being released in the Chinese and Korean markets, Pirates of the Caribbean saw another small growth spurt.
Its overseas box office had already accumulated 403 million, though the growth was nearing its end, and it probably wouldn't surpass 450 million.
By this point in time, it was completely normal for Hollywood blockbusters to perform better overseas than domestically, and the performance of Pirates of the Caribbean was exactly what one would expect from a typical Hollywood commercial blockbuster.
For the start of a film series, the current 694 million global box office of Pirates of the Caribbean was more than satisfying.
The final total would probably end around 730 million, which was already the mark of a top-tier commercial blockbuster.
Moviegoers accustomed to The Lord of the Rings trilogy making over a billion each might feel Pirates of the Caribbean's box office was underwhelming.
But in reality, as an original film with a fantasy pirate adventure theme, these numbers were outstanding.
If it had been directed by anyone else, the media would already have praised the director to the skies. But since it was Gilbert, there were still media outlets expressing dissatisfaction.
For example, The Washington Post subtly criticized Gilbert, saying his performance in this summer's box office season was below expectations and very disappointing to them.
The Washington Post had never said a single good word about Gilbert; whatever he did was wrong in their eyes.
Another film that performed well at the box office was 20th Century Fox's X-Men 2. Though not as big a hit as Pirates of the Caribbean, it still grossed 203 million in North America and 622 million globally.
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