hollywood melon man

Chapter 424 Opportunity Comes
There are always new winners in the film market. Even strong films like "Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" can only dominate for a short time.

The two big winners at the beginning of the 2003 summer season were undoubtedly "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "X-Men 2", and the rest of the movies followed suit.

It is the fourth week in North American theaters, which is also the fourth week of the release of "Pirates of the Caribbean". The film's North American box office has reached 2.18 million US dollars.

With the release of the film in overseas markets, the overseas box office of "Pirates of the Caribbean" has reached 2.83 million US dollars, and the global total box office has reached 5.01 million US dollars.

Judging from the box office performance, "Pirates of the Caribbean" has already made a profit.

However, "Pirates of the Caribbean" cannot be compared with "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. It is not as durable and its box office declined sharply in the fourth week.

Although new markets continue to open overseas, they are small in scale and have limited growth. As the popularity of several major ticket markets declines, the total overseas box office is also declining.

Little Gilbert had anticipated this and believed it was a normal situation.

"X-Men 2" was released a week later than "Pirates of the Caribbean", and its popularity also declined rapidly.

In the fourth week, the North American box office was only 1.81 million US dollars, but the overseas box office was slightly higher than "Pirates of the Caribbean", with 2.91 million US dollars, and the global box office was 4.72 million US dollars.

The main reason for this phenomenon is not that "Pirates of the Caribbean" is not as good as "X-Men 2" or that Gilbert Jr. has gone downhill.

The main reason is that "Pirates of the Caribbean" was not released in several East Asian markets, mainly China and South Korea, while "X-Men 2" landed in these two markets early.

The Korean market has already been arranged, and it will be released in the fifth week of the summer season. The Chinese market will be a little slower, and will be officially released after the Shanghai Film Festival.

Even without these two major markets, the overseas box office gap between the two films was not that big. However, the media took advantage of the small gap in overseas box office to say that Gilbert Jr. had suffered a Waterloo.

Sometimes I think these media are quite unreasonable.

As time enters the end of May, the cold wave in China's capital city has faded, but the hot summer is about to arrive.

On the tree-lined avenue of the Beijing Cinema Academy, Guo Fan was walking and reading a science fiction novel with great interest.

His destiny underwent a miraculous change. He was supposed to study law in college, but unexpectedly, the Beijing Film Academy had enrollment quotas in Shandong Province that year, so Guo Fan was successfully admitted to the directing department of the Beijing Film Academy.

He graduated from the Beijing Film Academy this summer, and currently has no idea what he will do next. After all, it is not easy to find a job as a directing major.

The counselor contacted him with an advertising company so he could shoot some commercials first.

But this would take me one step further from my dream of becoming a movie star. I don’t know when I can make the leap from advertising to the film industry.

Guo Fan was a little distressed, and couldn't help but sigh as he thought about it.

He thought of his idol, director Gilbert Jr., who was the founder of the film industry. It was after watching "Real Steel" in the cinema that he decided to become a director, and a science fiction director at that.

But unfortunately, in the current Chinese-language film environment, where is the space for science fiction films?

Director Gilbert Jr. became famous at a young age, and his first film attracted the attention of Hollywood, but opportunities like his are hard to come by.

And even if there is that opportunity, you must have the talent to match it.

Who has the talent of director Gilbert Jr., who can come up with such an exquisite story, as well as mature production ability and strong personal style?

There is only one little Gilbert in the history of cinema, and no one else.

Of course Guo Fan also wanted to be like his idol, but he also knew that was impossible. He was the same age as Director Gilbert Jr., but he could not do the same things as him.

It has to be said that because Director Gilbert Jr. is the Hollywood director most familiar to Chinese movie fans, his story of becoming famous at a young age is well known to Chinese movie fans.

It was also the story of little Gilbert that attracted a large number of people who yearned for the American dream, and it seemed that more and more people were going to the United States.

But what everyone doesn’t know is that Gilbert Jr.’s father has deep connections in Hollywood, so Gilbert Jr. naturally belongs to the Jewish power group in Hollywood.

It is true that he has personal abilities, but without background and connections, he would not be able to make it.

At the very least, Universal Pictures would not give a 21-year-old a multi-million dollar investment. Similarly, if it weren't for his connections, Spielberg would not have recommended Gilbert Jr. to Universal Pictures.

Similarly, having background and connections but no ability will not work.

There are many second- and third-generation stars in Hollywood who have the same status, background and connections as Gilbert Jr., but few of them can make it and instead become a playboy in a life of dissoluteness and decadence.

Sometimes it is hard to tell whether ability or background and connections are more important, but one thing is certain: people without ability are like mud and cannot get anywhere, and their background and connections are useless.

Guo Fan didn't understand the details of this. He only knew about little Gilbert's growth story from newspapers and books.

It was not until young Gilbert's mother died early and he depended on his father for support that he was appreciated by Spielberg and got the opportunity to direct.

The media did not tell Guo Fan about the things behind the scenes, so Guo Fan still admired the fact that little Gilbert grew up in a difficult environment!

"Hey, Lao Guo, what are you doing?" a classmate greeted from behind.

"Oh my god!" Guo Fan was startled, and he covered his chest and looked over. It turned out to be a classmate, and then he relaxed: "I was scared to death, Liu Ji, why are you so startled?"

"Really?" Liu Ji scratched his head, a little embarrassed: "I'm sorry, but I have something to talk to you about."

"whats the matter?"

"Have you found a job?" Liu Ji asked.

"Not yet, but my counselor said he would introduce me to an advertising company. What about you?" Guo Fan asked Liu Ji in return.

Liu Ji clapped his hands and said, "Don't go to any advertising company, it's not worth it. Come with me to the crew!"

"Go to the crew? What crew?" Guo Fan asked curiously, "It won't be that underground crew, right?" Underground crews refer to those crews that take funds from foreigners and specialize in making movies about the poor, backward and ugly appearance of Chinese people. They are different from the national master and the sixth generation directors.

The sixth generation of directors were walking on the edge of the big scissors review, and these underground crews were completely illegal, even worse than the sixth generation of directors.

Liu Ji suddenly became serious: "What are you talking about? Can I do that? It's a regular crew, a big Hollywood crew."

"A big Hollywood crew? You have the connections to join a big Hollywood crew?" Guo Fan was surprised. Liu Ji had lived in the same dormitory with him for four years, but he didn't know that Liu Ji had this background.

"I do not have it!"

"Then why are you talking about joining a big Hollywood crew? Aren't you just trying to frame me?"

"How come?" Liu Ji raised his eyebrows and asked, "Have you heard of the Shanghai Film Festival?"

"I've heard of it, what's the matter?" Guo Fan blinked.

Liu Ji looked around and saw many students coming and going, so he said to Guo Fan, "This is not a place to talk. Let's find a place to eat."

"Okay!" Guo Fan nodded in agreement.

The two went to a snack bar outside the school, ordered a few things and two bottles of beer, and talked while eating.

Liu Ji said mysteriously, "I heard that Director Gilbert Jr. is coming to Shanghai to attend the Shanghai International Film Festival."

"What's so special about this news? I've heard about it too." Guo Fan didn't take it seriously, thinking it was some big news!
Liu Ji waved his hand and said, "Hey, what you heard was all official news, it's all fake. What I heard is different."

"What do you mean?" Guo Fan became interested.

Liu Ji motioned Guo Fan to come closer and whispered in his ear: "I heard from the instructor that the department head and Principal Wang have discussed that they plan to send a group of interns to intern in a Hollywood crew, and it is the crew of Little Gilbert."

"Is this true?" Guo Fan was surprised: "How come I don't know anything about this?"

"Tsk," Liu Ji said disdainfully, "How could you know about this? The list is all predetermined, okay? I told you to give more gifts to the instructor, but you didn't listen.

When something good happens, how could someone possibly imagine you?

I, your brother, can't bear to see you miss this opportunity, so I told you this."

Guo Fan showed gratitude on his face: "Thank you so much, I didn't expect this to happen. I'll treat you to a meal."

"That's more like it," Liu Ji continued to talk to Guo Fan, "Did you see those guys who participated in the filming of The Lord of the Rings?

Now they are all in high demand and have top salaries in the industry.

The national director hired a group of people at a high price and now claims that his crew is a Hollywood team.

Go and gild yourself, and when you come back you will be as good as those big brothers, how great it is."

Guo Fan nodded. Indeed, no matter which industry one is in, people who have studied abroad now have natural advantages and an extra layer of status.

If I could intern in Gilbert Jr.'s crew, it would naturally be much better than going to an advertising company.

However, Guo Fan still has some questions.

"Pirates of the Caribbean has just been released, and Director Gilbert Jr. didn't even take a break. Is he starting work right now?"

Liu Ji said as if you are an outsider: "He is not only a director, but also a producer. Brother Cheng Long's "Mystery of the Talisman" is about to start filming.

This movie has a strong Chinese cultural atmosphere, but it is produced to Hollywood standards.

It is reasonable to let us interns participate and do some internship.”

Guo Fan was still a little curious: "Our school is so powerful? Can it be related to this matter?"

"What are you saying?" Liu Ji rolled his eyes and said, "Director Gilbert is the honorary principal of our school after all. His photo with the former principal Zhu is hung in the small auditorium!
We should give them some consideration!"

"That makes sense." Guo Fan was actually worried about himself. "But my advisor didn't tell me, how can I fight for it? Aren't the names on the list all predetermined?"

"Don't worry, the candidates are all from our school. The Hollywood crew has their own requirements." Liu Ji did not keep the secret and said directly:

"At the Shanghai International Film Festival, Director Gilbert Jr. will give a lecture, and after the lecture there will be a test session, which anyone in society can participate in.

If you choose to be a member of society, you will graduate in June and you will be considered a member of society. You do not belong to the school and it does not violate school rules."

"Are you still recruiting people from society?" Guo Fan was still surprised.

"When we say people in society, we actually mean people working in the film and television industry. Anyone who provides corresponding work certificates can participate," Liu Ji explained.

"Then what should I do if I don't have a proof of employment?" Guo Fan was a little confused.

"Oh, who has this thing? Just forge one." Liu Ji said nonchalantly, "Everyone does this."

Hearing that everyone was doing this, Guo Fan felt relieved.

He chatted with Liu Ji again and agreed to meet at the Shanghai Film Festival.

The Shanghai Film Festival is not far away, and Guo Fan still needs to prepare so as not to miss the opportunity without knowing it.

(End of this chapter)