Filming continued. The live-action portions of Real Steel weren't overly complicated, nor did they involve dangerous, high-difficulty scenes. It wasn't like filming Speed, where explosions were an everyday occurrence, making third-party insurance companies nervous about having to pay out if something went wrong.
Filming began in August and concluded in October.
At the wrap party, Bruce Willis specifically approached Gilbert to talk: "Honestly, when I first signed on for this movie, I had some reservations."
"And now, Bruce...?"
Bruce Willis clinked glasses with Gilbert: "Now, I have no doubt the film will achieve excellent results."
"Thank you, the film is a collective effort," Gilbert said politely.
After Bruce Willis left, Charlize Theron also came over: "Gilbert, I watched some kung fu movies based on your recommendation. Some of them are really interesting, very good. Is that big-nosed Asian actor who joined our crew also from kung fu films?"
"Yes, his kung fu comedy style is very popular," Gilbert replied.
"I finally understand why you're interested in kung fu movies," Charlize Theron said, holding a lemonade. She wasn't yet 21 and couldn't drink alcohol. In such a private party, she could have had a drink or even smoked some weed, but she held back to leave a good impression on Gilbert. Charlize Theron felt that Gilbert was hinting at something. Was he planning to make a kung fu movie? Charlize Theron wasn't sure, but it didn't stop her from preparing in advance. No matter how much Charlize Theron racked her brain, she couldn't have imagined that the movie Gilbert wanted to make wasn't a traditional kung fu film, or even a genre film with kung fu elements. However, it was still a bit too early to bring up that project; Real Steel wasn't even finished yet!
After the wrap party, the crew officially disbanded, but Gilbert's work wasn't over. He had more important post-production tasks to attend to. The most crucial scenes in Real Steel were the robot boxing matches. If this part wasn't done well, the film would, at best, be just an ordinary drama. So, Gilbert couldn't be careless; he had to personally oversee the post-production process.
From the moment the film was greenlit, special effects production had already begun. By the time the live-action filming was completed, only half of the special effects work was done.
"Director Gilbert, this is the effect we've produced. What do you think?"
At Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) studio, Gilbert saw several early completed clips. Compared to decades later, there was a gap, but for this era, it was realistic enough. Even from Gilbert's perspective, apart from a slight lack of realism, other issues were minor. So, Gilbert nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, the effect is excellent."
ILM's special effects supervisor, Wilson, happily explained the current production situation to Gilbert: "For this film, we utilized a large number of newly developed techniques. We created multiple scaled-down models, used optical motion capture for filming, and the latest virtual shooting technology." Every new technique Wilson mentioned was ILM's latest, being used for the first time in film production. These brand-new technologies maximized the chances of Real Steel's success. In a way, Real Steel could be considered a validation film for ILM's latest technologies. Of course, new technologies didn't come cheap; most of the film's production budget was spent here, meaning other aspects of filming had to be as economical as possible. Fortunately, the film didn't have many grand scenes, and the special effects didn't disappoint Gilbert. Real Steel was more than just a movie; it was a testament to cutting-edge technology.
Because Speed was a global hit, the value of embedded advertisements, such as the watch worn by the male lead Jack, and the female lead Annie's outfits, leather shoes, and sunglasses, increased. Thanks to this film, sales of these products surged throughout the third and fourth quarters of 1993. This made advertisers and brands even more aware of the incredible benefits of product placement in a Hollywood commercial film. The watch produced by Hamilton sold out directly after the movie was released, forcing the factory to rush production. They also collaborated with the Speed movie to launch a commemorative watch, which was expensive but still snatched up by enthusiastic fans.
Such an enthusiastic market response brought a huge smile to Hamilton. They didn't forget their promise, directly rewarding the film's main creators with five million dollars, and Gilbert alone with one million dollars. After all, without him, there would be no Speed story. Of course, watch merchandise tie-ins were also part of the film's revenue. Warner and Disney literally made money hand over fist this summer with Speed, and their profit reports caused both companies' stock prices to rise.
Hamilton also planned to launch couple watches and heard that Disney and Warner were preparing to push for Speed 2, so they intended to invite Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as spokespersons. Of course, they didn't miss out on Gilbert, this highly popular young director. An endorsement for a youth concept watch from their brand was sent to Gilbert's agent, Sheena Boone. This endorsement contract could be seen as a reward for Gilbert, as it seemed uncommon for directors to take on advertising endorsements. However, Hamilton didn't actually lose out, because Gilbert was different from most directors. Most directors are usually behind the scenes and not active in front of the camera. And frankly, many directors aren't good-looking enough; some can even be described as oddly shaped. But Gilbert was different: he had high media attention and fan discussion, and he was as good-looking as any Hollywood male star—he was the perfect endorser.
With this unexpected bonus, Gilbert naturally wouldn't refuse. He asked Sheena Boone to negotiate better terms. Once the terms were agreeable, he happily accepted the endorsement. After this, Hamilton also sponsored Real Steel; the male lead, Charlie, and the young male lead, Max, both wore Hamilton watches. Of course, as a sci-fi film, it naturally attracted advertising investments from technology and electronics companies. Product placements from computer, mobile phone, and headphone companies flooded in. The total advertising placement sponsorships amounted to five million dollars. These advertisers also promised bonuses if the film performed well. Not only that, but in terms of merchandise tie-ins, the film could also collect licensing fees through its peripheral effects, such as Charlie's identical sunglasses and watch, Max's headphones, and conceptual co-branded computers.
However, all of this hinged on the film being a hit during the summer release. After the battle with the animal protection organization, the name Real Steel was known across America, and sponsors believed the film would definitely make an impact in the summer box office next year. It's worth mentioning that because Gilbert was an Apple shareholder, Apple wanted to embed its latest electronic products into the film. However, after seeing the actual products, Gilbert found the design too old-fashioned and not suitable for a new era, so he suggested Apple design new products. After all, being an Apple shareholder, a direct refusal wouldn't be good. For this matter, Apple's new president even made a special visit to the set to see Gilbert, who still maintained: "Invite Mr. Jobs back, and everything will be negotiable." It was not easy to get to the presidential chair. Although the company was about to go bankrupt, he could at least struggle for a bit, so how could he give up? Thus, both parties parted ways unhappily. The Apple president returned and fiercely criticized Gilbert in a high-level meeting for disregarding the company's interests, suggesting that the board of directors initiate a buyback of Gilbert's shares. But the problem was that most board members were currently looking to escape, eager to get out of the Apple quagmire, so how could they be in the mood to acquire Gilbert's shares?
Putting Apple's matters aside, Gilbert still had a heap of post-production work to deal with. As mentioned before, special effects and model production had already begun design and creation before filming even started, and after filming wrapped, the work was only halfway done. Among these, some of the challenges included how to design a robot that embodied industrial aesthetics and avoided being too similar to existing designs on the market. Art director Serina Heffey and the art department, along with ILM's model engineers, fully exercised their imagination. They balanced appearance with feasibility and functionality, and also aimed to express human emotion to some extent, which was Gilbert's requirement for the art department and ILM.
They, of course, completed these tasks admirably, designing life-sized robot models that were increasingly realistic. Aside from not being as agile and highly intelligent as in the movie, they were already at the pinnacle of current robot design. Producers Charles Roven and Cain Waxman looked at the lifelike two dozen robot models, marveling.
"Charles, these robots could be made into toy models!" Cain Waxman immediately thought of the film's merchandise promotion.
"Indeed," Charles Roven agreed. "If this movie sells big, I think in terms of merchandise, it won't be much weaker than Jurassic Park. For nothing else, at least my son would want a set of robot models."
The two producers began to calculate in their minds how much the film could achieve in terms of merchandise and how much profit their companies could secure. Although Cantaloupe Studio and other small investors also invested in the film, their profits were limited to box office, video and television rights, and short-term merchandise revenue. The movie merchandise product segment was a more core revenue stream than video and television rights, and the giants would not easily share it externally. Spielberg received five percent of the merchandise revenue, plus his salary, video and television rights, taking home $250 million from Jurassic Park. But the distributor, Universal Pictures, earned several times what Spielberg did. Crucially, this wasn't the end point; Spielberg's earnings were short-term, while Universal Pictures' were long-term. Whether it's ten or twenty years, as long as Jurassic Park continues to generate revenue, Universal Pictures will continue to profit. In fact, this was also one of the reasons why Spielberg was immediately besieged by Hollywood giants after founding DreamWorks. Hollywood giants are inherently exclusive; they have competition and cooperation among themselves, but once a new player wants to enter the field, they unite against the newcomer.
Before entering the Hollywood film industry, Gilbert also thought about becoming a super-rich person, controlling media capital, and dominating Hollywood, just like in online novels. But after actually entering and deeply understanding the industry, Gilbert realized he had taken everything for granted. In novels, authors can reduce the intelligence of their characters. But in reality, except for a few, most people involved in Hollywood and the media capital circles are shrewder than the last. The Gilbert before his rebirth was, at best, a small director who called various popular young stars "teachers," never having contact with the top tier circles and knowing nothing about capital games. The only things he knew were that Apple's market value would rise, Microsoft and Cisco stocks were valuable, and Amazon and Google would be founded. He knew nothing about the specific events and processes, so he inevitably made investments that seemed foolish to others. Because of his lack of understanding, he could only invest in familiar names, which was the biggest insurance in Gilbert's eyes.
Of course, people learn as they grow. At the very least, Apple's continuously falling stock price was telling Gilbert that he could completely wait until Steve Jobs returned to Apple before investing. After learning his lesson, Gilbert's investment actions became much more cautious. These were all miscellaneous matters outside of film. Returning to the film domain, Gilbert was still very confident. The success of three consecutive films had honed Gilbert's abilities and boosted his confidence.