In fact, Scarlett could hold her own at the box office with a good film like Lucy, which could later be released under the direction of another director.
But the movie Gilbert had prepared for Scarlett to aim for the Oscars was a completely different film.
At that time, the hope was that the Oscar judges could overlook Scarlett having starred in a superhero movie and give her the recognition she deserved.
Thinking about it, this wasn't too difficult; after all, Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor for Joker.
Scarlett hadn't even starred in a superhero movie yet, and with proper management by the studio, winning the Best Actress trophy shouldn't be too hard.
March didn't have many competitive films. The movie Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, released during the same period, had been in theaters for three weeks, barely breaking $15 million in box office.
However, during the third weekend of Knives Out, it didn't hold the weekly box office crown. Instead, the new release Bride Wars took the top spot.
"How's it going, Gilbert? My new film is pretty good, right?"
Anne Hathaway was ecstatic. Bride Wars was a small-budget romantic comedy she had collaborated on with Kate Hudson.
In its opening weekend, it earned $22.3 million, successfully surpassing Knives Out and claiming the weekly box office crown.
Gilbert congratulated Anne Hathaway: "Wow, our little princess is amazing! She actually beat the famous Gilbert. That's no small feat!"
"Giggling…" Anne Hathaway laughed so hard it sounded like a clucking chicken.
"Of course, our little princess is remarkable.
But our great Hollywood director also has to keep working hard, you know!"
"Hahaha, alright, alright."
A bit of playful teasing between them was harmless, but the media headlines were amusing.
For example, The Hollywood Reporter ran with the title: Gilbert Defeated by His Fifth Wife, reporting on how Bride Wars ended Knives Out's three-week streak.
By the end of that weekend, Knives Out had reached $143.6 million in North America and $269.72 million worldwide.
For a film with a $40 million budget, and promotion costs not exceeding $100 million, this was a solid result.
Profiting from the box office alone wouldn't be difficult, and for mystery films, revenue from licensing and rights sales is crucial.
Although platforms like Watermelon Video and Netflix exist today, DVD sales remain one of Hollywood's most important ancillary revenue streams.
For Gilbert's fans, however, this result was not entirely satisfying.
After all, The Dark Knight had grossed $1.335 billion globally, topping both North America and worldwide the previous year. Fans used that film to confront critics and emerged victorious.
A saying circulated among fans: Gilbert may not need North American or global box office championships, but his fans do.
No matter how many box office titles Gilbert earned, the stubborn critics refused to acknowledge his achievements. So fans needed Gilbert to keep winning box office crowns, slapping the critics in the face.
In this sense, Gilbert shared a similar treatment as Faker, the pro esports player in the previous life's League of Legends scene.
No matter how many championships Faker won, some foolish LPL commentators always had objections. After the ancient champions came the custom champions, and after custom champions, industry champions.
Faker, like Gilbert, had limits, but the critics' mouths had none.
As a side note, Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, had been acquired by Banana Company, becoming one of its subsidiaries.
Gilbert wasn't a hardcore player, but he knew about the esports wave ignited by League of Legends, so he acted proactively.
Time moved into April. On April 3, two new films were released: Earth Day and Monsters vs. Aliens.
However, both flopped, making almost no impact.
On April 10, the live-action adaptation of the Japanese manga Dragon Ball: Evolution premiered. This film even featured Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat, but still had little presence.
In recent years, Hollywood's lack of fresh ideas led them to look to Japanese manga for inspiration, but most of the resulting films were subpar.
Kenneth Turan, a critic who had previously been known for criticizing Gilbert, now became a strong supporter.
He argued that Hollywood's problem wasn't a lack of originality but that filmmakers were being lazy.
Turan cited Knives Out as an example: "It proves that as long as you put your heart into creation, you can always come up with a good story. Gilbert is a perfect example—taking movies seriously, respecting the audience, and no longer deceiving them."
Those directors who had been criticized felt wronged. You may call it easy, but how many Gilberts does Hollywood actually have? Just that one.
In fact, it wasn't really the directors' fault. The greatest responsibility lay with the studios.
Hollywood creators have never lacked originality, but the studios, seeking security, rejected overly risky choices.
Studios preferred genres that had already been validated in the market, ensuring safer investments.
Not to mention the studios—Gilbert himself was similarly conservative.
Every year, Melon Studio received over a thousand scripts from Hollywood screenwriters and directors. These writers and directors hoped Gilbert would select their scripts for funding.
But in reality, how many of these scripts were actually considered or recommended? The answer: none.
The scripts that received investment or recommendations were essentially written by Gilbert himself or commissioned by him from other writers.
As for the massive backlog of scripts at Hollywood's major studios, it was enormous. Disney alone had tens of thousands of scripts gathering dust, with very few ever reaching the development stage.
So it wasn't that directors and writers lacked originality—it was the studios' conservatism that stifled that creative spirit.
For someone like Gilbert to push creative boundaries, he had to first achieve certain results, such as consecutive box office hits. Only then could he approach a studio and say, "I want to do original work."
Returning to Kenneth Turan, after the renowned critic Roger Ebert retired due to health reasons, Turan seized the opportunity to become Gilbert's main booster.
Today, he is Gilbert's number one fan, praising nearly every film Gilbert releases.
His shameless adulation disgusted many in the industry but unexpectedly won over Gilbert's fans.
Perhaps this almost servile praise helped fans gradually forget that Kenneth Turan used to be a harsh critic of Gilbert.
It goes to show that when there's profit to be made, changing sides is effortless.
After these smaller films stirred the market, a major release finally arrived: Marvel Studios' Captain America.
Gilbert served as producer, Kevin Feige as executive producer, and Joe Johnston as director.
The film starred Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Hugo Weaving, with Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson in guest roles.
It premiered in North American theaters on April 17.
Before the release, a special premiere was held in New York, coincidentally the home of Marvel Comics.
...
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