After CAA's period of dominance in the 1990s came to an end, a young agent emerged in Hollywood named Shena Boone.
She first secured the agency contract of the then up-and-coming director Gilbert, and then gradually signed contracts with stars such as Naomi Watts, Matt Damon, and Scarlett Johansson.
Today, Super Artists Management has effectively become a giant in Hollywood's talent agency world. Not only does it represent entertainment stars and directors, but it also represents athletes from the sports world.
NFL stars like Tom Brady and Drew Brees, as well as NBA players Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard, are all signed clients of Super Artists Management.
Such a powerful agency is naturally a dream destination for many small actors and models.
Margot Robbie was no exception. Last year, she participated in an Australian television series called Neighbours. At first, she appeared as a guest, and later became a regular cast member.
In addition, she also starred in a thriller mystery film called I See You. It was also released in Australia, but it basically failed to make any waves.
Like many Australian actors, Margot Robbie naturally harbored a Hollywood dream, just like her predecessors Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts.
So this year, Margot Robbie decisively gave up the promising situation she had built in Australia and came to Hollywood to try her luck.
Before coming, she had already prepared herself mentally, knowing that she would not rise to prominence quickly.
But she still underestimated the difficulty of surviving in Hollywood. The level of competition here was hundreds or even thousands of times fiercer than in Australia.
For a small role with even a single line, dozens or even hundreds of people might compete for it.
In order to secure a role, sleeping with casting directors was nothing unusual. Some even went so far as to attend nude parties and multi-day "sports events," all just to gain a single opportunity.
Margot Robbie was naturally open-minded. She also attended two nude parties and obtained a chance to play a role.
There was one close-up shot, and one line.
The line was very simple, just a single word:
"Ah!!!"
Easy and quick and then it was over.
Of course, this was definitely not what Margot Robbie had hoped for. Her dream was to become a first-line Hollywood star like her predecessors.
Meeting Gilbert at Stewart Resnick's party was an unexpected surprise. When she stepped forward to help Gilbert out of an awkward situation, she did not expect such a big figure to remember her.
But what surprised Margot Robbie was that Gilbert actually gave her an immediate return, telling her to go see the famous agent Shena Boone.
The reason Gilbert gave Margot Robbie the business card was very simple. He just thought she looked somewhat familiar, seemingly having acted with Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, and also having played Harley Quinn.
The impression was fairly deep, so he instructed his assistant to give her a business card. Perhaps handing her over to Shena Boone could help bring her out.
This meeting did not yield any substantive results between the two sides. Gilbert was not going to give up his monopoly over water resources, and now was also the best possible time.
In this restless era, very few people paid attention to the fact that water, electricity, and energy were the true keys to society.
Almost everyone was obsessed with the illusory prosperity of stocks and financial markets. Even after being struck by the financial crisis, the pursuit of the stock market remained extremely fervent.
But this world is ultimately a material world. As long as you are human, you need material resources.
Whoever controls the key materials controls the world.
In California, that material is water.
Stewart Resnick may have noticed the importance of water resources, or perhaps his plantations truly needed it. But he moved one step too late—Gilbert had already acted first.
After returning to Los Angeles, aside from keeping an eye on the early preparations for Inception, Gilbert also attended the premiere of Iron Man 2.
Captain America had performed quite well at the box office and had basically achieved profitability.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe plan was steadily advancing, and coupled with this year's revealed plan for The Avengers, the value of the Marvel IP continued to rise.
As the final Marvel film before The Avengers, Iron Man 2 undoubtedly became the focus.
What must be mentioned here is Robert Downey Jr. When he first played Tony Stark, he was at a low point in his life.
However, after starring in Iron Man, his career took a turn for the better. He subsequently appeared in several films, but the most representative one was still Iron Man.
Now Iron Man 2 had arrived, and it seemed to unleash an unbelievable level of energy as well.
Scarlett still played Black Widow in Iron Man 2, and her salary also increased significantly, reaching eight million dollars for this film.
However, the most exaggerated increase was Robert Downey Jr., whose salary rose to ten million dollars.
During the red carpet event, Scarlett walked together with Kate Beckinsale, who continued to play Pepper Potts in the film.
Recently, Kate Beckinsale's film series Underworld had performed quite well. Although it was a small-budget R-rated production, her sexy and fiery performance helped it achieve respectable box office results.
After the premiere ended, Robert Downey Jr. specifically sought out Gilbert to express his gratitude.
"I don't know what to say. Being able to have what I have today is all because you gave me this opportunity."
Robert Downey Jr. looked at Gilbert with fervent eyes. "I don't even know how to repay you. If I could sell my ass, I'd offer my ass to you."
Gilbert waved his hand in disgust. "Forget it, Robert. You'd better keep your ass for yourself!"
"Then how about letting me make a guest appearance in one of your films? I don't need a paycheck."
That was Robert Downey Jr.'s true purpose. Salary meant nothing—what he really wanted was to act in one of Gilbert's movies.
The proposal was indeed appealing. After thinking for a moment, Gilbert said, "Alright, I agree. As for the specific role, we'll talk about it later."
Robert Downey Jr. looked delighted. "God, I'll keep my schedule open."
After the premiere, Iron Man 2 opened in 4,380 theaters across North America and grossed a staggering 51.23 million dollars on its first day, completely igniting the market.
Such an explosive opening-day performance was the result of Marvel's films building momentum one after another, and it was also a testament to the film's outstanding quality.
Because of its excellent commercial appeal, although Saturday's box office dropped by 10.7 percent, it still earned 45.77 million dollars in a single day.
On Sunday, the film's box office continued to decline, taking in 31.06 million dollars for the day.
Adding up the three days, Iron Man 2 easily broke the 100-million-dollar mark in its North American opening weekend, reaching 128.06 million dollars.
It became the new North American box office champion and the first film of the year to surpass 100 million dollars in its opening week.
This opening-weekend data was more than enough to make everyone at Marvel Studios rejoice and hold a celebration banquet. However, the summer release schedule was still extremely important, and the cast and crew embarked on a global promotional tour.
As the global distributor, Disney could feel even more deeply the explosive data generated by Iron Man.
At a high-level meeting, Robert Iger once again emphasized the importance of Marvel Studios.
"In the coming period, it will be the era of superhero films. Whoever controls superhero films will control the future."
Robert Iger was very serious. "We at Disney cannot rest on our laurels. Marvel Studios must belong to Disney."