The things that happen to public figures are always the focus of public interest and entertainment what people usually refer to as "eating melons" (watching the drama).
Naomi Watts' pregnancy had become one of the biggest pieces of gossip in Hollywood recently.
Leaving aside the reactions of outsiders, the response from people within the industry was mostly to send their congratulations to Gilbert as soon as they heard. Executives from companies like 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and Paramount all reached out.
Whether they had business or not, it was a way to show their face and maintain a presence.
It wasn't just Hollywood; even major figures in the internet and tech industries sent in their congratulations Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Larry Ellison among them.
Larry Ellison also shared a piece of news with Gilbert: "You know, Gilbert, David and Michael Ovitz are preparing a massive plan. At some point, they're going to challenge you."
"Is that so?" Gilbert wasn't surprised in the least. "And what kind of massive plan might your son have prepared?"
"That I can't reveal. But it'll be highly competitive. Just wait and see you might just face a real Waterloo. If that happens, it'll definitely be headline news."
Though Gilbert was a shareholder in Oracle, Larry Ellison spoke bluntly, true to his eccentric nature.
Gilbert didn't show any concern at all: "All right then, let's wait and see what kind of surprise it is."
Larry Ellison's loose tongue didn't actually reveal much he didn't even name the project. But Gilbert still didn't take it to heart, not worried at all.
The reason was simple. Every film he made had already proven itself successful in his past life. Achieving success was easy for him.
As for the plan that David Ellison and Michael Ovitz were preparing, although Larry didn't reveal the project's name, Gilbert guessed it was probably a box office flop.
Gilbert wasn't very interested. He didn't think it would have much impact.
To truly go up against Gilbert, David Ellison wasn't qualified yet. As for Michael Ovitz, he was already outdated. This era didn't belong to him anymore.
At the same time, over at the International Creative Management agency, Michael Ovitz was introducing this grand plan to his partner, David Ellison.
"At present, I've basically secured Stephen Sommers. He's agreed to direct the movie."
"What about the female lead? The female lead is very important," David Ellison was particularly concerned about this.
"Kate Beckinsale can take the female lead. Though Pearl Harbor didn't meet expectations, she's still quite popular," Michael Ovitz explained.
David Ellison didn't seem too satisfied. Ideally, he wanted someone with even more star power like Charlize Theron or Naomi Watts.
Unfortunately, the former had flat-out declined the project, and the latter was pregnant and wouldn't be filming anytime soon.
Kate Beckinsale, then, was a compromise.
David Ellison gave his opinion: "The female lead feels a little weak. As for the male lead, we must choose someone with strong box office appeal."
"What do you think of Keanu Reeves? I think he's pretty good."
Thanks to The Matrix series, Keanu Reeves had become one of the highest-paid actors in all of Hollywood, with incredible influence.
But Michael Ovitz shook his head and said, "Keanu Reeves is quite temperamental. We sent him the script and even visited him personally.
But Keanu didn't seem interested. He won't be taking the role."
Seeing David Ellison's displeased expression, Michael Ovitz turned to Martin Bob.
Martin Bob caught on quickly and chimed in: "We've already finalized things with Hugh Jackman. He'll play the male lead. He's not inferior to Keanu Reeves."
"Hugh Jackman?" David Ellison furrowed his brow in thought.
At this time, Hugh Jackman had already become a top Hollywood star thanks to his role as Wolverine in X-Men, and had starred in several successful films.
Though he didn't quite measure up to Keanu Reeves, he was still a solid choice.
It was said that X-Men 2 was already in production. With the continued success of the series, Hugh Jackman's popularity would surely rise even further. His potential was limitless.
Thinking of this, David Ellison agreed it was acceptable, and gave his approval.
Michael Ovitz continued introducing the situation: "I've already spoken with Ron Meyer at Universal Pictures. Universal will collaborate with us.
With Universal on board, there's no need to worry about distribution."
In fact, after hearing Michael Ovitz's pitch, Ron Meyer almost immediately agreed to push this project forward at the highest level.
Stephen Sommers had previously directed The Mummy series for Universal, which had achieved solid success one of the few standout hits Universal had in recent years.
Speaking of which, Ron Meyer felt somewhat unlucky. In the early '90s, Universal Pictures once had a super-director like Gilbert.
Of course, back then, Gilbert wasn't yet a super-director, just someone with potential.
Unfortunately, due to internal chaos at Universal and several ownership changes, by the time Ron Meyer took over, Gilbert had long been deeply tied to Disney and Warner Bros.
Michael Ovitz confidently told Ron Meyer, "I have a lot of faith in this project. It can definitely go head-to-head with Gilbert's films."
If it were the Lord of the Rings series, Michael Ovitz would think this project had little hope.
But with the Lord of the Rings series temporarily concluded this year, Ovitz didn't believe Gilbert would find another mega-project on par with it.
Based on Ovitz's knowledge, Gilbert's latest project was about a pirate-themed fantasy film, which overlapped a bit with their fantasy film.
Unfortunately, the two films likely wouldn't clash. With current planning, their project wouldn't be ready to meet the public until at least next October.
And for a film like this, it had to be released during the summer box office season. Otherwise, it'd be a huge loss.
Who knows what kind of project Gilbert would bring out in 2004 to compete with theirs?
"What's the name of this movie?" Ron Meyer asked in the end.
"Let's call it Van Helsing," Michael Ovitz thought for a moment and then confirmed, "We can treat this movie as a sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula!"
Michael Ovitz still felt a bit regretful. Bram Stoker's Dracula was a 1992 film, and Keanu Reeves had appeared in it, playing the second male lead.
But he declined to join Van Helsing. Perhaps if it were directed by Gilbert, Keanu Reeves would've said yes.
Then again, if they could get Gilbert, would they still be having so many problems?
The projects being greenlit weren't limited to Van Helsing. Two other films from Melon Studios were also approved: one was Rush Hour 3 starring Jackie Chan, and the other was 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Gilbert and Jackie Chan had agreed that Rush Hour 3 would be the final installment in the series.
Jackie Chan was still quite exhausted, traveling back and forth between Hong Kong and Hollywood. His core foundation remained in Hong Kong, and that side of his career couldn't be easily abandoned.
Maybe Jackie himself felt that while he was currently a top-tier action star in Hollywood, he couldn't stay hot in Hollywood forever.
Keeping a fallback option was always a wise move.
.....
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