hollywood melon man

Chapter 148 World War II Blockbuster
  Gilbert Jr.'s two companies also brought about an unexpected result, and that was Apple.

In recent years, Apple has been experiencing internal turmoil and its stock price has continued to fall.

But after Facebook and Banana went public, Apple's stock price actually rebounded for the first time in several years, which Apple executives didn't expect.

It's a pity that when Facebook and Banana raised funds, Apple had no money and had no choice but to miss this opportunity, otherwise Apple might just come back to life.

It's okay now, I'm not fully alive, but at least I'm guaranteed not to die.

At this juncture, little Gilbert went to Pixar Animation Studio to communicate with Jobs.

In a screening room, little Gilbert saw the animation of the upcoming "Toy Story" in advance.

"How do you feel?" Jobs asked after watching the movie.

"Very good, Steve, Pixar Animation has revolutionized animated movies. This will be the world's first 3D animated movie." Little Gilbert commented.

Like Facebook, Pixar Animation Studios also went public this year, but it has not received as much attention as Facebook and Banana.

But after "Toy Story" is released, Pixar Animation Studios' stock price will rise, giving Jobs enough capital.

"Steve, I think the time is ripe for you to return to Apple. After this animated movie, the Apple board of directors will invite you to return to the helm of Apple." Gilbert Jr. said.

"Do you also support my return to Apple? After all, you can directly control Apple yourself." Jobs said.

Little Gilbert shook his head and said: "For me, I don't know much about the technology and Internet companies. I am a complete layman."

"After Facebook and Banana went public, no one dares to say that you are a layman."

Jobs pointed to the cover of Silicon Valley magazine, which said the super leader of Internet technology: Gilbert Landrini Jr.

They are already leading the industry, but even if they say they are a layman, no one will believe them.

Little Gilbert smiled, without explaining, and it was useless to explain.

He patted Jobs on the shoulder and said: "Be prepared. You will be able to return to Apple next year at most."

Jobs looked confident: "With your full support, I will definitely be able to return to Apple."

A lot happened in August. Netscape announced their new generation browser, which once again caused the company's stock price to increase significantly.

Microsoft released the Win95 system, completely establishing its dominance in the field of operating systems.

After all, Bill Gates did not agree to Little Gilbert's share exchange plan. Except for a few shares circulating in the market, Little Gilbert did not get any more Microsoft shares and was not qualified to join the board of directors.

However, buying Microsoft stocks is to achieve asset preservation, and the same is true for Cisco and Oracle stocks.

The U.S. dollar has been depreciating, and it is not appropriate to hold a large amount of cash in hand.

After being busy with investment business outside of these movies, Gilbert Jr. returned his focus to movies. In mid-August, he officially submitted the script for "Saving Private Ryan."

After 20th Century Fox became involved in "The Island", it is logical to continue investing this time.

For Gilbert Jr., after working on "Braveheart" and affecting 20th Century Fox, some compensation must be given.

"Braveheart" failed miserably at the box office, and after the Mel Gibson incident, there was no hope for an Oscar.

However, Paramount Pictures was a bit unlucky and did not have the opportunity to participate in Gilbert Jr.'s new project.

However, Paramount Pictures soon cooperated with Tom Cruise to make a movie from a TV series from the 1960s, titled "Mission: Impossible". Chinese audiences are more familiar with another title: "Mission: Impossible" .

In fact, Tom originally wanted to cooperate with little Gilbert. After hearing that little Gilbert was preparing for a big project, Tom even invited little Gilbert to go hunting in Australia.

Nicole Kidman is Australian, and the Kidman family owns many farms and estates there.

But Gilbert Jr. refused, after all, he had already invited Tom Hanks.

Tom Cruise's grievance is that he always wanted to work with Gilbert Jr., but he missed it due to various reasons. It's really a pity.

Tom Hanks had already agreed to Gilbert Jr.'s offer, and when he saw the script, he didn't hesitate to let his agent accept the offer.

The script of "Saving Private Ryan" is full of the humanistic care that Oscar's gang of old men love most. Although it is an ensemble scene, his character John Miller has a lot of room to shine.

If it works properly, it might even get an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, or even win an award.

On his side, DiCaprio passed the audition of James Cameron's big ship, but the film was still very early in the filming process, so he was pulled to his side by Little Gilbert first.

The script quickly passed the review of the three companies. Somehow on Disney's side, Robert Iger, who had always worked happily with Gilbert Jr., was actually replaced by Michael Ovitz.

Needless to say, it will definitely be another battle between Michael Ovitz and Michael Eisner, and Michael Ovitz is more popular with Disney shareholders than the powerful Michael Eisner.

So Robert Iger was originally responsible for promoting the "Saving Private Ryan" project, and now Michael Ovitz is in charge.

Michael Ovitz is very confident. As long as he is responsible for the successful sale of this project, his position will be very stable. It will not be so easy for Michael Eisner to get rid of him.

As usual, the film had no other small investors, and Gilbert Jr.'s $80 million budget was quickly met.

Disney and Warner each contributed US$30 million, and 20th Century Fox and Melon Studios each contributed US$10 million to form the film's investors.

At the first preparatory meeting for the film, Michael Ovitz made a special trip to attend. Facing the young director Gilbert Jr. who had embarrassed him before, Michael Ovitz was thick-skinned enough: "Hello, Director Gilbert Jr., I hope we can have a happy collaboration on this movie."

"Oh?" Little Gilbert seemed quite surprised: "I didn't expect that you would be in charge of this project."

"As President of Disney, I am qualified to be responsible for Disney's most important projects." Michael Ovitz said.

"Really?" Little Gilbert said in a lukewarm tone: "As long as it doesn't interfere with the normal operations of the crew, you can do whatever you want!"

For the younger Gilbert, it was too lazy to explore who was in charge of the project as long as it didn't disturb his control of the crew. Although he had a good relationship with Robert Iger, he had no intention of getting involved in this internal company dispute.

Disney is very different from other movie companies in that it is a large media group in itself.

Moreover, Disney's core business is basically in the animation field, which is one of the reasons why Disney's live-action film business was sluggish in the early years.

It wasn't until Robert Iger poached Gilbert Jr. from Universal Pictures that Disney's live-action film business picked up.

Therefore, for Disney, Little Gilbert, as the signature of live-action movies, must be the target of various internal factions to win over. No matter who is in charge, they must please Little Gilbert.

The same goes for Michael Ovitz, of course. Although little Gilbert didn't look very dignified, he was still smiling and sat next to little Gilbert, acting as a mascot.

Little Gilbert ignored him and assigned himself the task: "Kane, start negotiating with the actors and try to keep Tom Hanks' salary as low as possible. I don't want his salary to squeeze my space for making movies."

Gilbert Jr.'s own salary of US$15 million, if coupled with Tom Hanks's salary of US$20 million, will undoubtedly squeeze out a large part of the cost.

Kane Waxman understands: "1+2?"

Nowadays, Tom Hanks is worth a lot. If he lowers his film salary, he will definitely have to give him a higher share of the box office.

Although Gilbert Jr. is already a first-line director in Hollywood, he still cannot compare with famous Hollywood superstars in terms of salary and box office share.

Little Gilbert nodded: "Try to keep it as low as possible."

Charles Rowan reminded: "Tom Hanks is from CAA."

When talking about CAA, Michael Ovitz looked a little unnatural.

Gilbert Jr. said: "CAA will not be an obstacle to our cooperation, and Enoch Martin will not refuse."

Now everyone knows that Little Gilbert's project is one of the most sought-after projects in Hollywood. As long as you are not a fool, CAA will not make excessive demands based on Tom Hanks.

It seems that being a mascot is not the purpose of Michael Ovitz. He timely interjected: "I have a good relationship with CAA, let me go talk to Eno Martin!"

Little Gilbert glanced at Michael Ovitz. Since Michael Ovitz was determined to take on this task, let him do it, and nodded in agreement.

Little Gilbert added: "There are still a lot of roles in the film, Annie, Sophia, I need you to start auditions as soon as possible and choose the right actors.

Starting in September, the actors need to undergo a month of military training to master basic tactical movements. "

Anne and Sophia noted in their work diaries that they had received it.

Charles Rowan asked: "Little Gilbert, where are we going to shoot? In France?"

"It's not easy to get a filming permit in France. I recommend shooting in the UK." Kane Waxman said.

Little Gilbert remembers that in his previous life, the opening scene of this film was shot in Ireland, and some scenes were also shot in England.

So he said: "Talk to the British and Irish sides to see which side is willing to provide a troop to participate in the filming, and we will place the opening scene there.

We scouted locations in both places at the same time to select a suitable shooting location. "

Little Gilbert also said: "Charles, contact the historical experts who studied World War II. I need to keep the film with a realistic texture of a documentary. This is also a gimmick in the early stage of publicity.

At the same time, contact the prototype character Fritz Niland, we need him to tell us the entire story. "

In fact, Gilbert Jr. learned about the existence of prototype characters at the beginning of the script creation, so he and two screenwriters from the studio made a special trip to visit the World War II veteran.

The entire script is an artistic creation based on the story described by Fritz Nyland. The existence of the prototype story makes the film's historical texture even stronger.

Gilbert Jr. also communicated with art director Serena Haifei: "I need a large number of World War II U.S. military uniforms, as well as German uniforms.

At the same time, a large number of firearms, tanks and other equipment are needed, so let the prop team and costume team find them. If they can't find them, we will modify them ourselves. "

"Okay, director, leave it to me!" Serena Hafey agreed.

After the initial preparatory meeting, everyone split up and quickly became busy.

The film also carried out initial publicity, and information about the film's upcoming preparations was announced in newspapers and media.

"Little Gilbert's new movie is about to start shooting. It is reported that it will be a historical action blockbuster of World War II..."

"It is reported that both Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger are interested in starring in the film, and I am looking forward to their cooperation with little Gilbert."

"Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has been confirmed to join Gilbert Jr.'s new film. The specific role has not yet been announced."

As soon as the news was announced, it attracted the attention of many movie fans.

(End of this chapter)