Although the relationship between DreamWorks' live-action film division and Paramount had broken down, ever since DreamWorks split up, DreamWorks Animation had had little to do with the live-action film division.
Therefore, Shrek 4 was still distributed by Paramount Pictures. Gilbert's second wife—now the director of Melon Studio—Cameron Diaz participated in the voice acting and voiced Princess Fiona in the film.
It was also because of Cameron Diaz that, at the film's premiere, Naomi Watts, Charlize Theron, and others all showed up to lend their support.
Shrek 4 was the final installment of the series. For an animated film to reach a fourth installment was enough to prove just how popular the franchise was.
Although it was advertised as the final chapter "as stated," judging by the nature of film companies, as long as it can still make money, it's not impossible for them to dig it back out and make sequels in the future.
In its opening weekend, Shrek 4 raked in 70.84 million dollars at the box office, successfully ending Inception's three-week reign and becoming the box office champion of the week.
Animated films rarely achieve opening-weekend box office numbers as high as live-action films, but the advantage of animated films lies in their merchandise, which usually makes far more money than that of live-action films.
That was why, back when the major giants were carving up DreamWorks, DreamWorks Animation Studio was something every major company coveted.
Meanwhile, this week Inception's North American box office broke through 300 million dollars, reaching 318.49 million dollars.
However, judging from the subsequent box office trend, the film had already entered a long-tail release phase, and another explosive surge in box office revenue was no longer possible.
Still, whether for Melon Studio, for Disney, or for Gilbert himself, this result was more than enough to satisfy them.
Previously, Gilbert had predicted that the film's North American box office would reach 300 million dollars. In reality, the film surpassed 300 million dollars in just four weeks.
According to film market conventions, the theatrical run of a blockbuster usually lasts more than thirty weeks. Breaking 400 million dollars in North America is very difficult, but reaching over 350 million dollars is quite easy.
What was most surprising, without a doubt, was the overseas box office. Disney's distribution strategy for films directed by Gilbert was simple: wherever there were movies, there would be Gilbert's films.
From the North Pole to the South Pole, from cities in developed countries to open-air cinemas in third-world nations, Inception was everywhere.
However, box office statistics in some regions were very rudimentary, and in some places screenings were purely for public welfare, so many of them were not included in the total box office figures.
Even so, the film's overseas box office still reached a staggering 588.03 million dollars, pushing its global box office past 900 million dollars to reach 906.52 million dollars.
Considering that some overseas markets had yet to be released and the long theatrical run still ahead, breaking the one-billion-dollar mark was already a foregone conclusion.
Inception became the second-best-performing original film after Avatar, seemingly proving to Hollywood the vitality of original films.
But as always, adaptations remain Hollywood's mainstream. Unless you are at the level of Gilbert or James Cameron, original films can basically only be found in the independent film circuit or among B-movies.
Film companies simply will not shell out over a hundred million dollars for an original script, a result based on real-world interests and commercial considerations.
This was also why Gilbert was known as Hollywood's foremost figure of the era—doing original work, and doing it fast and well.
Although James Cameron had once again created a miracle, he was simply too slow, taking nearly ten years to produce a single Avatar.
There were far too many variables in between, and no one could say for sure what might happen.
That was why Gilbert was more popular—fast and good, with no need to worry about him messing things up.
Of course, as a blockbuster, it naturally attracted all kinds of people looking to ride the hype. For example, a certain Spanish film director claimed that Inception plagiarized a script he had failed to get produced back in 1998.
There was also an Argentine comic artist who said that he had once drawn a similar comic for Melon Studio, but Melon Studio neither paid him royalty fees nor gave him credit.
Among all these attempts to ride the hype, the most credible accusation came from Satoshi Kon, director of the 2006 Japan animated film Paprika, and its screenwriter Yasutaka Tsutsui.
The two claimed that the concept of Inception was plagiarized from the animated film Paprika.
Considering that both films told stories set within dreams, and that their narrative structures seemed quite similar, this instantly gave many anti-Gilbert media outlets and haters ammunition to launch a furious verbal assault on Gilbert.
On Gilbert's mockery forum, a staunch anti-Gilbert thread starter compared various details of the two films and then reached a conclusion.
"Gilbert is nothing more than an overhyped, mediocre director. Those so-called originals of his are actually just him using power to snatch other people's works and then branding them as his own."
Below that post, all kinds of Gilbert's haters naturally gathered, listing his supposed numerous misdeeds, as if they wanted to drag him down from his pedestal.
The haters pushing back against the tide naturally drew fierce rebuttals and attacks from Gilbert's fanatical fans, and the two sides erupted into a full-scale battle.
But Gilbert's achievements over the past few years were indeed solid, giving his fans strong confidence and formidable strength, beating the haters into total rout.
As for the so-called plagiarism accusations, Gilbert didn't need to worry at all—Disney would step in. When it came to matters involving his interest, Disney naturally wouldn't sit idly by.
To Disney, Gilbert's reputation was Disney's interest, and it had to be vigorously protected.
In fact, what those people said wasn't entirely wrong—Gilbert did plagiarize. But what he plagiarized was the original film version; whether the original film itself involved plagiarism was something Gilbert didn't know.
As the film entered the latter half of its theatrical run, the promotional tour was officially over. Gilbert returned to Los Angeles and invited Leo to go out to sea for some fishing together.
"I heard you want to fight for an Oscar nomination?"
With a toothpick in his mouth, Gilbert looked out at the distant sea surface and chatted with Leo.
"Do you think the chances are good?" Leo asked.
"I don't think so," Gilbert shook his head and said. "You probably won't even get a nomination. But for the film itself, it's actually a good thing. On this matter, I support you."
Leo shrugged. "Then how am I supposed to win an Oscar for Best Actor?"
That was a good question. Anyone familiar with Leo knew that what he most wanted to pursue in recent years wasn't long-legged blonde models, but an Oscar Best Actor trophy.
But the Academy had always been biased against handsome actors. Without making a cosmetic-surgery-level transformation, winning an Oscar was almost impossible.
Tom Cruise was an exception. He latched onto Gilbert's coattails to make Chicago, and happened to run into Academy old-timers nostalgic for the golden age of musicals, thus winning an Oscar for Best Actor.
After winning it, Tom Cruise completely lost interest in chasing Oscars, continuing to root himself in commercial films, unwilling to make changes just to please the Academy.
For Leo now, it was actually a similar situation.
The only thing slightly better than his past-life situation was that, after Gilbert's reminder, he hadn't offended the Academy by shooting his mouth off but the Oscar road was still difficult.
"And you? Gilbert, don't you have any interest in winning another Best Director Oscar?"
Gilbert had already won the Oscar for Best Director twice with Chicago and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Compared with Martin Scorsese, he was undoubtedly much luckier.
But Gilbert wasn't obsessed with the Oscars.
"If the chance comes, we'll talk about it then," Gilbert said. "There will always be a chance to win another one."
...
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