If history had not changed, the Lakers would still be the champions this season.
After taking photos together, Gilbert also said to Kobe Bryant, "If you have time, you might as well come and guide the young players on our team."
Gilbert had only meant it as a polite remark, but to his surprise, Kobe took it seriously.
"Sure. This summer I have a training camp. They can come and join," Kobe said.
"Alright, I'll let them know later," Gilbert replied with a smile.
May was not only about basketball games; it was also the time when the summer box office battles were in full swing. However, this year's summer season lacked Gilbert, giving it the feeling of "when there's no tiger in the mountains, the monkey becomes king."
On May 1, another Marvel adaptation blockbuster produced by 20th Century Fox, Wolverine, was released.
Marvel Studios had always wanted to reclaim the rights to X-Men, but just as the Spider-Man series was the flagship property of Sony Columbia, 20th Century Fox likewise would not give up the X-Men franchise.
If there was nothing left to shoot in the main storyline, then they would make a spin-off film telling the origin story of Wolverine.
However, before its release, Wolverine encountered a serious source-leak incident, with a high-definition version circulating on the internet.
On April 1, someone claimed online that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was already available for download.
At first, many people thought it was just a boring April Fool's joke, but as more and more people tried it, the joke turned into a harsh reality.
Whenever a blockbuster is released, there are always illegal channels through which certain films leak online.
Yet those leaked versions usually have terrible picture quality and noisy sound. The version of Wolverine, however, was extremely clear.
What was even more shocking was that the leaked full film was actually an unfinished special-effects version, and it appeared a full month before the North American theatrical release.
Although 20th Century Fox took action promptly, the resources still spread like a virus, impossible to stop.
This leak inevitably reminded people of the Transformers leak incident. That time, an unfinished special-effects version also leaked and ended up attracting a massive number of fans.
Later, there were rumors that the Transformers leak had been orchestrated by Sky Dance Studios themselves.
So when the same thing happened again, it was hard not to suspect that this, too, was a self-directed act by 20th Century Fox.
However, Fox's subsequent response didn't look staged at all. Even the FBI got involved, proving the seriousness of the matter.
Although the entire plot had been leaked, Wolverine's appeal was still there.
The film earned $85.05 million in its opening weekend, giving the summer season a strong start. Although its box office numbers showed a step-by-step decline afterward, 20th Century Fox could finally breathe a little easier.
The box office didn't seem to be affected by the leak and performed quite well.
On May 8, during Wolverine's second weekend, Paramount's Star Trek was released, ending Wolverine's dominance with a $75.20 million opening weekend.
Paramount's Star Trek was a reboot, and the start of the series seemed quite promising, laying a solid foundation for future installments.
Meanwhile, in its second weekend, Wolverine earned $26.03 million, plus $15.06 million during the weekdays, bringing its North American total to $126.14 million.
Gilbert paid special attention to Wolverine's performance, and the result did not surprise him.
Despite the source-leak incident, it was not difficult for the film to turn a profit through box office revenue. This meant that 20th Century Fox would not let go of the rights and would continue to exploit them.
That was fine. Otherwise, if X-Men returned, Gilbert wouldn't even know how to arrange all those superheroes.
As for Captain America, which had been released in North America on April 17, this week marked its fourth weekend in theaters. Its North American box office had reached $152.31 million.
Overseas box office reached $166.47 million, bringing the global total to $318.78 million—barely an acceptable result.
A film like Captain America, filled with American spirit, being lukewarm overseas was entirely expected. Still, overall, the film was considered a success and had opened up a new situation.
In June, Iron Man 2 was set to be released, which was Marvel Studios' main focus for the summer.
As for Knives Out, directed by Gilbert, the film had basically reached the end of its theatrical run during the summer season and had entered the stage of relying on time to accumulate box office revenue.
At present, the film had grossed $184.02 million in North America, with little hope of surpassing $200 million.
Achieving this level of box office in North America was due not only to the strong box office appeal of Gilbert and Tom Cruise, but also to the film's excellent storyline, which was a key factor in attracting audiences.
So far, the film held an IMDb rating of 8.1—a solid, high-quality movie.
In terms of global box office, the film has already grossed 453.62 million US dollars worldwide, basically reaching its ceiling. However, for a film with a production cost of only 40 million US dollars, this result is more than outstanding.
After briefly paying attention to the box office performance of his own film, Gilbert no longer concerned himself with it.
During a short vacation, Gilbert did not take his family on a trip. Instead, he stayed at his Stardew Valley farm, acting as a cowboy and a farmer for a while, experiencing pastoral life.
However, when the tree wishes to be still, the wind does not stop. He did not look for trouble, but trouble came looking for him.
"Someone is asking around about our purchase of water resources and is even planning to lodge a complaint against us with the state legislature."
"Who?" Gilbert asked, looking puzzled.
"A wealthy man named Stewart Resnick. He's involved in agriculture, so he needs a large amount of water resources. But now most of California's water resources are in our hands," Ivanka said.
"That's not surprising," Gilbert shrugged. "Then why doesn't he contact us to buy water?"
"Dear, we sell water at a relatively high price. How could it be cheaper than buying it from the state government?"
"That's true."
Ever since building a good relationship with Arnold Schwarzenegger, combined with the impact of the financial crisis, Gilbert had acquired the California water utility company.
After that, he continuously acquired multiple water resources, privatizing them one after another.
Without exaggeration, Gilbert now owned more than sixty percent of California's water resources, almost forming a monopoly.
At present, his water utility company was proposing a plan to build a reservoir between Los Angeles and San Francisco, effectively controlling the water resources of both cities.
To put it bluntly, the citizens of both places all had to act according to his mood. If anyone didn't pay their water bill, he could just shut off the reservoir, and the entire city would have to go drink seawater from the Pacific Ocean.
Although California is coastal, its climate is dry with little rainfall, making water resources extremely precious.
Wasn't there a politician who said that the future would be a war over water resources? Since he had decided to take control of California, Gilbert naturally had to control its resources.
Not only that, Gilbert also acquired Pacific Gas and Electric Company. This company was the supplier of electricity and household energy on the West Coast, yet such an important enterprise was actually privately owned.
That was the advantage of a capitalist society. Since it was private, Gilbert didn't hold back.
He had more than enough cash flow on hand and directly overwhelmed the company's shareholders with money, taking control of the company.
That meant that in the future, Californians would not only have to look at his face when using water, but also when using electricity. Even using natural gas for heating would require his approval.
Naturally, this series of actions could not be hidden from others. And now, this man named Stewart Resnick had come knocking.
...
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