"This cake is pretty good, have a bite."
Cameron Diaz held a tray and fork, stuffing a piece of cake into Gilbert's mouth.
Gilbert barely swallowed it down and then complained: "Michelle, aren't you also supposed to be getting back in shape? Aren't you afraid of getting fat eating so much cream?"
Cameron Diaz's cheeks were puffed up, clearly having eaten quite a lot.
She swallowed the food, then looked over her voluptuous figure, completely unconcerned: "It's fine, I can lose it.
Besides, wasn't it really comfortable when you were holding me last night? You said the fleshiness felt nice in your hands."
"???" Gilbert gave her a questioning look, glaring at Cameron Diaz: "You can say something like that here? Aren't you afraid of others overhearing?"
"I'm not afraid…"
As the two bickered, Prince Abdul came over.
"Director Gilbert, finally, I get to meet you." Prince Abdul was very enthusiastic, jogging over slightly to shake hands with Gilbert.
Gilbert looked at Prince Abdul's suit attire and felt a little unaccustomed.
After shaking hands with Prince Abdul, Gilbert curiously asked: "Why the change in dress?"
"To blend into Hollywood, one must make some changes. I believe Allah will forgive me." Prince Abdul made a gesture of faith.
Gilbert didn't dwell on it, and greeted the man behind him: "Mr. Ovitz, long time no see."
"Yes," Michael Ovitz reminisced: "Back when we worked together at Disney, those were the most wonderful times of my life…"
Michael Ovitz began reminiscing about the past, but Cameron Diaz understood that Ovitz was not there out of sentimentality.
For someone like him, there was no such thing as old feelings; everything was for profit. Still, Cameron Diaz didn't say anything. She trusted her man to handle it well.
Sure enough, Ovitz pulled Gilbert along, recounting to Prince Abdul the details of their cooperation at Disney.
After listening, Prince Abdul pretended to be moved: "Remarkable, I didn't expect such a pleasant history. I truly hope there will be another chance to work together."
Michael Ovitz pressed further: "Yes, Gilbert, would you be willing to cooperate with MGM-UA? We can easily work out a profit-sharing deal for the director."
Over the years, many Hollywood companies had offered Gilbert very favorable terms. If he had wanted to leave, he would have already left.
Now that he was a board member at Warner and Disney, there was no reason to go elsewhere.
So Gilbert politely declined: "I'm sorry, Your Highness, Mr. Ovitz. You know my schedule is already fully booked for the next several years."
"That's fine, we can wait." Prince Abdul might have truly wanted to collaborate.
Ovitz knew it wasn't realistic, but since Prince Abdul insisted, he could only try.
"Your Highness," Gilbert organized his words, speaking more tactfully: "You know I am a shareholder of Warner and Disney. I cannot direct for rival companies.
It would harm the interests of both studios, and my own as well."
The Middle Eastern tycoon was unfazed: "Don't worry. As long as you agree to cooperate, we'll convince Disney and Warner. I will personally cover their losses."
Truly befitting a Middle Eastern magnate—beneath the sands lay black gold, so wealthy that oil practically flowed from him.
But things weren't that simple. Once Gilbert took on work for another company, it would send the wrong signal.
That was something Warner Bros. and Disney would never allow.
This also revealed that Prince Abdul wasn't yet familiar with Hollywood's workings; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so reckless.
Ovitz should have understood—whether or not he warned Prince Abdul was unclear, but perhaps he actually supported the idea.
Ever since partnering with David Ellison, Ovitz had been abandoned by Hollywood's traditional powers.
Adding another outsider like Prince Abdul made no difference. Ovitz might have wanted to rally these new forces to reshape Hollywood's landscape.
Still, Gilbert refused: "Your Highness, you must understand, my position is special. I can't easily work with you."
Prince Abdul was about to press again, but Disney vice president Solomon soon arrived.
"Your Highness, poaching our star director right in front of us is a bit impolite, don't you think?"
Solomon's words left Prince Abdul slightly embarrassed, but with his thick skin, he endured it.
Since Solomon was there, Prince Abdul couldn't openly poach anymore. After a few casual words, he went off to mingle elsewhere.
Solomon clinked glasses with Gilbert: "Ivanka said you were in trouble, so I came to rescue you."
"Thank you, Solomon. Otherwise, I'd probably have been stuck for a while." Gilbert laughed.
Cameron Diaz chimed in: "From the looks of it, Prince Abdul really is sincere. He seems to genuinely want to work with you."
"My dear, we must have bottom lines and principles," Gilbert said.
"Exactly," Solomon shifted the topic and asked Gilbert: "I heard Prince Abdul's acquisition of MGM was your idea?"
"Not exactly," Gilbert explained: "He had the idea himself. I simply told him to talk to Michael Ovitz."
Solomon laughed: "Looks like you've pushed Ovitz into being the public enemy. He's really lucky."
"He already was."
"That's true."
The party itself was uneventful, but it announced the rebirth of MGM-UA.
To avoid excessive backlash, Prince Abdul followed Ovitz's advice and didn't change the name or logo.
Although the party drew attention, to the public, it made little difference—just another company on the verge of collapse brought back to life.
Perhaps fans of the new James Bond series would care, and the capital markets would certainly watch closely to see what big moves MGM-UA, now backed by the Kingdom Investment Group's wealth, would make.
Time moved on to the second weekend of the 2004 summer season. The new releases this week were Paramount's comedy Mean Girls, Lionsgate's One Missed Call, and New Line's New York Minute.
But none of these had strong box office competitiveness. Mean Girls grossed $24.432 million in its first three days, becoming the new weekend… third place finisher.
Van Helsing still held second place, taking in $15.356 million in its second weekend. Thanks to weekday accumulation, it managed to beat Mean Girls, but its North American total still failed to break $100 million.
As for the rest, One Missed Call and New York Minute only pulled in a few million dollars in their opening weekends, hardly worth mentioning. However, since both films were low-budget productions, profitability was not a major issue.
And the box office champion of the week was, of course, The False, taking in 38.058 million dollars and bringing its North American box office to 158 million dollars.
What was even more surprising was its overseas box office performance. In its second overseas weekend, The False once again secured 72.36 million dollars, and together with weekday earnings, it remained the overseas and global weekend box office champion.
The reason the overseas box office did not drop sharply in the second weekend was precisely because of the expansion of overseas screenings.
By this point, after ten days of release, The False had already reached 445 million dollars globally, temporarily ranking second on the annual box office chart.
The first place was The Passion of the Christ, released in February, with a global box office of 610 million dollars—a surprisingly explosive hit.
In the original timeline, this film was directed by Mel Gibson, but Mel Gibson was sitting in prison!
So the director was replaced with an obscure Duncan Jones. Born in 1971, he was one year younger than Gilbert.
In 2002, Duncan Jones directed his first short film, Whistle, which caught the attention of producer Bruce Davey, who then invited him to direct The Passion of the Christ.
Thus, Duncan Jones rose to fame overnight. Although The Passion of the Christ was highly controversial, its global box office of 610 million dollars was solid.
As long as Duncan Jones keeps up, he will have a bright future in Hollywood.
Now among Hollywood directors born in the '70s, apart from Gilbert and Christopher Nolan, there was also Duncan Jones.
However, it was clear that the global box office crown of The Passion of the Christ was not stable, because even The False was capable of surpassing it.
The summer season still had many films awaiting release. Spider-Man 2 and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban were both eyeing the throne.
Gilbert did not make a trip to China this year. After all, last year's fake student incident had left everyone unhappy.
Although Gilbert had done nothing wrong by sticking to his principles, some people would not see it that way, and would resent him for it.
Instead, Charlize Theron showed up in Shanghai to promote the film.
During the Q&A session, a Chinese fan asked: "Miss Theron, this film felt to me like watching a Hong Kong crime thriller.
You know Director Gilbert—can you explain what this is about?"
Obviously, the question was hinting that Gilbert had imitated Hong Kong filmmaking techniques. The organizers became anxious—who was this person?
It was probably someone who had suffered because of the fake student incident, choosing this occasion to cause trouble. Too bad Gilbert was not present, or the scene would have been even more dramatic.
Though Charlize Theron often acted like a silly little woman in front of Gilbert, being coy and playful, she was in fact far from stupid—instead, she was very smart.
Becoming an A-list Hollywood actress required not only Gilbert's support but also her own ability, which was crucial.
Faced with the question, Charlize Theron easily responded: "Director Gilbert has always been a fan of action films. He often exchanges ideas about movies with Jackie Chan.
He told me that every film industry in the world has strengths we can learn from. I think Hong Kong cinema is no exception—it too can be a learning source for Hollywood."
Her words carried two implications: one was that Jackie Chan had taught Gilbert. The other was that learning the strengths of all film industries is the very foundation of Hollywood's strength.
Sticking to old formulas and refusing to innovate meant being abandoned by the times—that was exactly what happened to Hong Kong cinema.
Though her answer was not flawless, it was still highly aggressive. After all, Hollywood's achievements were undeniable, while the decline of Hong Kong cinema was also an undeniable fact.
Therefore, the accusation of borrowing techniques was not a flaw at all, but instead became Hollywood's strength.
The strong are justified in whatever they do, while the weak are wrong no matter what they do—that is the world's perception.
Sure enough, the person who asked the question was glared at by the crowd of fans until he had no choice but to sit back down.
In this era, admiring the West was very common. To make a veiled jab at Gilbert's films was like stepping on certain people's tails—they would stand up and defend him.
Yes, blind worship of the West was shameful, but harboring resentment against Gilbert for simply standing by his principles was an even greater problem.
When mistakes happen, one should first change oneself and the environment of the circle, instead of blaming outsiders to excuse one's own failings—that makes no sense.
But such tendencies were the same everywhere. David Ellison also said that Van Helsing losing to The False was not his problem, but someone else's.
Certain aspects of human nature remain universal.
...
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