As the film's producer and the initiator of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Gilbert naturally appeared at the premiere.
By April, New York was still a bit chilly—definitely not the time to show off one's figure in a short skirt.
However, the Metropolitan Theater, located at the intersection of Broadway and 39th Street, was bustling with activity.
The Metropolitan Theater is one of New York's most famous landmark buildings, and together with Broadway theaters, it has become a sacred site for American theater.
From 2000 to 2002, the Lord of the Rings summer concerts toured here for three consecutive years. At that time, Gilbert had attended the Metropolitan Theater three times to promote the Lord of the Rings films and enjoy the performances.
Seven years later, Gilbert returned to the Metropolitan Theater.
His purpose wasn't to watch opera—he actually had little interest in opera. Attending a concert was acceptable, but watching an opera performance was barely tolerable.
Yet if New York's wealthy and elite didn't attend a Broadway theater to see an opera, they would likely be mocked for quite some time.
It was an art activity representing upper-class social status; few genuinely loved opera—it was mostly pretentious sophistication.
North American high society had always envied the European nobility, even though their country was founded by descendants of criminals, leaving a hint of inferiority in their bones.
To align themselves with European aristocrats, even if they didn't understand opera or theater, it didn't stop them from pursuing the arts.
In simple terms—it was all about showing off.
This helped Broadway flourish. From the early 20th century to today, Broadway has become the center of Western theater, even surpassing London's West End.
Gilbert wasn't following these conservative North Americans. In fact, he appeared at the Metropolitan Theater simply because the Captain America premiere was being held there.
Since he wasn't directing the film, Gilbert didn't invite many friends, only walking the red carpet alongside Cameron Diaz.
Disney executives, however, were very generous, with Robert Iger, several vice presidents, and distribution heads all attending the premiere.
In the VIP lounge, Robert Iger found Gilbert to chat, inquiring about his plans.
"Honestly, Gilbert, how about merging Marvel into Disney?"
Gilbert raised an eyebrow: "Bob, does Disney want to see my Disney shares increase again?"
Robert Iger hesitated before saying, "Perhaps we could structure the deal with a combination of cash and shares."
"Cash is meaningless to me. The dollar is devaluing faster than an avalanche in the Alps. Ten billion today might be just eight billion tomorrow."
Gilbert's unspoken message was that he wouldn't accept cash—he wasn't lacking liquidity. After profiting handsomely during the financial crisis, he had quite a surplus of cash.
To spend it, he waved his money around, investing heavily in various stocks.
Under Larry Fink's guidance, Gilbert completed over a dozen transactions, acquiring a 0.62% stake in BlackRock.
Though this stake was small, it already made him a notable shareholder. Other BlackRock investors knew a new shareholder had entered but didn't realize it was Gilbert.
His other investments were even larger. He injected $500 million into Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies for reusable rocket development.
Elon Musk was also poaching NASA talent, bringing over numerous engineers and technical experts.
This was partly due to recent Washington policy changes—NASA funding had decreased, making it impossible to retain all these engineers and specialists.
As a result, many sought new opportunities, and a company aligned with their work presented an easy transition.
Robert Iger understood Gilbert's considerations but still held high hopes.
In his view, Disney's future performance largely depended on Marvel Studios.
Disney's determination was strong, but for Gilbert, any discussions would wait until after The Avengers.
This strategy would maximize his leverage and bargaining power in negotiations.
Captain America had significant structural changes in its plot, the biggest being Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow joining the story.
The previous version of Captain America had a somewhat clichéd plot. This version was similar, but Black Widow's addition brought a spark of vitality.
In the film, Black Widow was also a secretly enhanced super-agent.
She provided valuable intelligence and later fought alongside Steve Rogers, becoming his friend.
It could be said that the Black Widow role was forcefully inserted by Gilbert, but the effect was excellent. At the very least, male fans found it difficult to resist admiring her sexy figure.
Scarlett was very pleased to see her character receive such a warm reception.
She leaned over to Gilbert and whispered, "I still have that outfit. Do you want me to wear it for you?"
Gilbert's eyes lit up: "Which outfit?"
"The tight one! I know you like this set."
Noticing Cameron Diaz looking over curiously, Scarlett also whispered to her: "I've prepared one for you too, very sexy."
Cameron Diaz blushed and scoffed, "Pfft, no way I'm wearing that!"
Even so, seeing Gilbert's eager expression, Cameron planned to quietly ask Scarlett for it later.
That evening, as Gilbert looked at the two Black Widows, he was instantly blown away. Then came an eruption of chaos, as if mountains crumbled and the sun and moon disappeared, leaving the world dim and shadowed.
In short, the battle was intense, leaving not a blade of grass untouched.
Following the premiere, Captain America officially began its theatrical run.
Compared to the already popular Marvel heroes like Spider-Man, X-Men, and Iron Man, Captain America felt a bit dated.
This superhero, born during World War II, seemed somewhat old-fashioned in the modern era.
Yet as the core of The Avengers, Steve Rogers' story had to be told clearly. Otherwise, suddenly introducing a hero unfamiliar to non-comic readers would leave them confused.
Fortunately, the film quality of Captain America was solid. Though not released in the summer, the midnight screenings still generated $10.37 million at the box office.
This midnight box office was impressive; besides Marvel fans, it was likely only Gilbert's own followers who supported it.
After the premiere, reviews for the film flooded in.
As expected, professional critics were not overly impressed, and audience scores were moderately high.
Still, with Chris Evans' muscles and Scarlett's sexy figure on display, the film remained quite popular.
During its run, Marvel Studios also specially organized a mini theater event. The concept was to create a chat group for the film's characters, allowing them to interact and converse.
Surprisingly, this mini theater was very engaging; fans found following these superhero chats quite entertaining.
At the end of the chat, Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man appeared, delighting fans with their presence.
Finally, Iron Man mentioned that a non-local enemy was preparing an invasion, urging all superheroes to get ready.
It went without saying that this was a setup for The Avengers.
...
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (Completed)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler (30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu