Although Gilbert was busy sparring with certain media outlets and individuals, he did not forget his primary work: post-production on The Dark Knight.
A year later, Gilbert returned to the summer release season, and the impact was undoubtedly significant.
Warner Bros. announced in December that The Dark Knight would be released on May 2, with thirty-three countries and regions screening the film simultaneously with North America.
Due to time differences, Asian markets including China, Japan, and South Korea would be able to see The Dark Knight slightly ahead of North America.
In China, the censors had given full approval. Although the publicized quarrels at the beginning of the year had not received a direct response from China, Gilbert's contributions were still remembered.
It had already been decided that he would be formally awarded the title of International Friend during the Olympics and receive a set of national gift porcelain.
So far, only two people had received such porcelain gifts: Canadian doctor Norman Bethune and German John Rabe.
Gilbert would become the third recipient, and there was a reason for him receiving this set.
Clearly, at this moment of public scrutiny, while external influences stirred up trouble, Gilbert's steadfast stance on justice and fairness moved the Chinese people.
As a result, Gilbert's position as Olympic artistic advisor was well-earned. He also became the top foreign celebrity on China's rankings.
In this context, as long as his films did not include highly controversial content, they would essentially face no obstacles.
China's film market was now flourishing, far surpassing the same period in the previous world. In 2007, thirteen films broke 100 million RMB at the box office. Among these, only five were Hollywood productions; the rest were Chinese-language films.
Although the annual box office champion remained the Hollywood blockbuster Spider-Man 3 with 542 million RMB, the second-place Assembly still earned 506 million RMB, becoming the first Chinese-language film to surpass 500 million RMB.
The fourth-place The Warlords garnered 421 million RMB, only 6.5 million RMB short of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
The market was vibrant, offering a wide range from war films to action, comedy, and romance. Of course, science fiction had not yet emerged as a strong genre.
Nevertheless, 2007 had achieved the best results since the market-oriented reform of the film industry, validating the growth of the movie market.
The success of so many films resulted in a flood of speculative capital into the industry.
At that time, the financiers of the Chinese-language film industry were not yet connected to major internet companies. Instead, it was hot money from coal magnates and real estate enterprises entering the entertainment world.
Guo Fan's partner, Mr. Wang, was a coal magnate with tens of billions in assets. Guo Fan secured investment from him to establish his own company.
Of course, Guo Fan did not disappoint. Two films combined brought over forty million RMB at the box office, enough to mark the young Guo Fan as a promising director.
Guo Fan had now returned to Hollywood for further study, with Mr. Wang eagerly anticipating the day Guo Fan's skills reached their peak.
Indeed, after The Dark Knight, Gilbert did not send Guo Fan back but kept him working at Melon Studios.
Currently, Guo Fan had been assigned as the assistant director on another Melon Studio project, an adaptation of a novel called Twilight.
Gilbert had acquired the rights to this novel long ago and finally began production at the start of this year.
Melon Studios would also release Christopher Nolan's District 9 and the action film Fast & Furious 4 during the summer season.
Compared to last year's slate, these two films seemed less competitive.
Although The Dark Knight was directed by Gilbert, the film did not belong to Melon Studios but to Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. was also interesting. Besides The Dark Knight, it would release Four Christmases, Gran Torino, 10,000 BC, and The Bucket List this year.
However, apart from The Dark Knight, the rest were scheduled for spring and fall, with less competitive impact.
The most attention went to DreamWorks, Lucasfilm, and Paramount. Spielberg had made enough art films and was ready to return to the summer season.
He brought a sequel to a classic adventure series, Indiana Jones 4: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, set to hit theaters on May 22.
With DreamWorks facing turbulence, Spielberg's influence on Paramount was significant. His original partner, Universal, had broken ties with him when DreamWorks was founded.
Now that DreamWorks had fractured, Spielberg returned to being a pure film director and remained one of Hollywood's most sought-after directors.
However, in this era, he was no longer the top director. Hollywood had many directors achieving excellent results, especially his student Gilbert, now the leading commercial film director in Hollywood.
Still, Spielberg would not simply step aside. By releasing a sequel to a classic series in the summer, he was testing how much influence he still had.
Sony Columbia announced the release of Hancock for July 2 after The Dark Knight's date was confirmed.
The film had a new lead, pairing Brad Pitt with Charlize Theron. The results were uncertain, but Sony Columbia was optimistic and invested heavily in promotion.
Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia 2 was scheduled for May 16, and Pixar's Kung Fu Panda was slated for June 6.
Universal's Wanted and Mamma Mia! were slated for June 20 and July 18, respectively, while MGM's latest James Bond installment, Quantum of Solace, was also scheduled for July 18.
Marvel Studios, distributed by Disney, released Thor in March. The summer season was too crowded, and since the film lacked major stars, it avoided the summer release window.
There was also an interesting story about Thor. Initially, Kevin Feige and director Kenneth Branagh wanted to cast a top-tier male actor.
However, after Gilbert reviewed the choices, he repeatedly vetoed them, reasoning that these actors were too short and did not have the presence of a god.
What does the presence of a god feel like? It should be tall and physically imposing. Therefore, Gilbert was dissatisfied with all the initial candidates.
He did know who the actor for Thor would eventually be, but the problem was that the actor, Chris Hemsworth, could not be found at the time.
Unexpectedly, a twist occurred. Sean Bean, who had previously worked with Gilbert on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, recommended Luke Hemsworth to Gilbert.
Through Luke Hemsworth, Gilbert was able to locate his brother, Chris Hemsworth, who was then working as a miner.
As a result, Luke Hemsworth was out of the running, and his brother Chris Hemsworth became the lead.
Although Chris Hemsworth had little acting experience, he had extensive experience handling a hammer, which closely aligned with the character of Thor.
Gilbert held final decision-making authority, so even though Kevin Feige and Kenneth Branagh did not fully understand his choice, they complied with his decision.
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