Across the room, Penelope Cruz's American agent was pointing out Gilbert to her. "That's Gilbert Landrini, the hottest new director in Hollywood right now," she said.
Penelope Cruz looked at Gilbert's young face, a little unsure. "He's really a director? Not an actor?"
"Of course, he's a director! 'The Shallows,' 'Final Destination,' and 'Speed' are all his movies. This summer, his new film, 'Real Steel,' is coming out." Her agent rattled off Gilbert's impressive resume.
Penelope Cruz's eyes lit up. She had seen 'The Shallows' when it came out in Spain. Back then, she'd wished she could have been the lead actress in it. She'd also kept an eye on its box office, and when she saw in the local Spanish newspaper that the movie had grossed over one hundred million dollars worldwide, she felt pretty envious of the lead actress. She never thought she'd actually meet the director, Gilbert, at an event like this.
"I'll take you over to say hello. If you can make a good impression on him, he might think of you for future roles," her agent suggested.
Penelope Cruz nodded, following her agent. She was aiming to make it big in Hollywood, which is what every European actor dreams of once they've made a name for themselves. Hollywood is the heart of the entertainment industry, a huge stage full of opportunities. This is where you really launch yourself onto the world stage.
The most successful foreign actors in Hollywood were undoubtedly the British, since they share roots with Americans. Then came the Italians, who'd produced several famous Italian-American directors and actors. The legendary Francis Ford Coppola is Italian-American, for crying out loud. The Australians did pretty well too, with folks like Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman. Other European stars, like those from Spain and France, were kind of just filling out the roster. As an actress with big dreams and ambition, Penelope Cruz certainly didn't want to just make it big in Spain or Europe; she wanted to conquer the world.
---
"Hello, Director Gilbert..." As soon as it looked like Gilbert was done eating, her agent quickly pulled Penelope Cruz over to say hello.
"Oh, hey there!" Gilbert replied, immediately noticing Penelope Cruz trailing behind. She looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place her.
Her agent quickly introduced Penelope Cruz: "This is Penelope Cruz Sánchez, a Spanish actress who just moved to America to start her career."
"Oh, right! I remember now, you were in the movie that won Best Foreign Language Film tonight. Congrats!" He knew she looked familiar — she was the Latin bombshell!
Penelope Cruz eagerly shook Gilbert's hand, practically buzzing with excitement. "Director Gilbert, it's great to meet you! I've seen your movies; they're really awesome."
"Oh, really? Which one?" Gilbert was curious. It would be awkward if she hadn't seen any, but Penelope Cruz genuinely had. She animatedly described her experience watching 'The Shallows,' making it sound totally legit. Gilbert was just curious since information wasn't as widespread back then, and he didn't really know how overseas fans felt about his films. But judging by Penelope Cruz's reaction, his movies were pretty popular in Spain, at least.
Her agent silently approved; Penelope Cruz was really earning some brownie points. He seized the opportunity: "Miss Cruz has always been a loyal fan of yours; she really admires you."
Having been around the Hollywood scene for a while now, Gilbert totally got what the agent was trying to do. But he was busy tonight, so he just handed her a business card. "Miss Cruz, you're welcome to visit my studio sometime..."
Once they had Gilbert's business card, their mission was accomplished, and the agent and Penelope Cruz took their leave.
---
The party was winding down. After chatting with Spielberg for a bit, Gilbert found Naomi Watts, who had finished her networking, and they left the party together.
On the way home, Gilbert asked Naomi Watts, "Did you meet anyone interesting tonight?"
"Harvey Weinstein," Naomi Watts said, still sounding a little excited. "He runs Miramax Films and handles their movie production. He told me I have a shot at winning an Oscar for Best Actress!"
"Miramax," Gilbert said, remembering Robert Iger mentioning that Disney was about to acquire Miramax Films. "Did he give you his card?"
"Yeah, right here." Naomi Watts pulled a business card from her purse and handed it to Gilbert. He took the card and promptly tossed it out the window.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Naomi Watts was puzzled by his actions.
Gilbert looked at Naomi Watts seriously. "Stay away from him from now on. That guy's bad news."
Naomi Watts scoffed, muttering under her breath, 'Says you, like you're such a saint!'
---
Back at home, seeing that Naomi Watts was still upset about him throwing out the business card, Gilbert said, "Trust me on this one, I wouldn't lie to you about something like this."
Naomi Watts replied, "I don't get it, Gilbert. I can make my own judgments. Who I talk to, who I work with, that's my business."
Gilbert held up his hands. "Okay, my bad. But on this, you gotta listen to me."
Naomi Watts tossed her purse down, a little miffed. "Well, you already threw out the card, so what's there to even talk about?"
"Good then," Gilbert said, wrapping his arms around Naomi Watts's soft waist from behind and whispering in her ear, "Leave the Best Actress Oscar thing to me. I'll make sure you get what you want."
Naomi Watts's ears were always a sensitive spot, and Gilbert's breath made them quickly turn red and feel tingly. Her body went soft, and if Gilbert hadn't been holding her, she would've fallen over.
"Gilbert, you're such a bad boy," Naomi Watts struggled a bit, couldn't break free, and just gave up.
"Thanks, everyone says that," Gilbert said, sweeping Naomi Watts up in a princess carry. "Now, let me show you a bad boy's charm..." With that, he carried Naomi Watts toward the bedroom.
According to some "how to handle a woman" manual, the best way to soothe a woman is to, ahem, get it on with her. Of course, this move comes with risks, because after she's had her fun, she might just take you to court, so you gotta be careful. But Naomi Watts wasn't the kind of girl to just pull up her skirt and then ditch you. After one night, she was feeling much better.
---
She still had work to do next, with Naomi Watts needing to go on a promotional tour with the film crew. At the same time, Naomi Watts also landed the lead role in 'While You Were Sleeping,' produced by Hollywood Pictures.
Hollywood Pictures, as in Hollywood Pictures, is a subsidiary of Disney that handles film production. 'While You Were Sleeping' was also confirmed to be distributed by Buena Vista Pictures, another Disney subsidiary. The original lead for the movie was Sandra Bullock, but Disney was working closely with Gilbert. Knowing that Naomi Watts and Gilbert had a special connection, they chose her instead. Of course, Naomi Watts's portrayal of Bailey in 'Real Steel' was also a factor in her casting for 'While You Were Sleeping.'
That's why Naomi Watts wasn't too upset about Gilbert throwing away the business card; she had indeed gotten a lot of perks because of him. Otherwise, why would Hollywood Pictures pass on the already-popular Sandra Bullock and choose her?
Gilbert had always wondered why Disney had so many subsidiaries, like Touchstone Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures, and Hollywood Pictures. He'd even asked Robert Iger about it, and Iger's explanation was pretty interesting. It was because Disney's core mission was to be family-friendly, G-rated, and geared towards kids. This focus had made Disney number one in animated films. But that mission didn't really work for live-action movies. That's why they had all those subsidiaries, so they could get around Disney's main principles. Otherwise, Touchstone Pictures wouldn't have been able to invest in 'Final Destination'—horror movies and kids' movies are total opposites!
Gilbert had an "aha!" moment. No wonder later on, the Marvel movies directly produced by Disney became increasingly childish. He'd thought the people running Disney were just immature, but it turns out, even before Marvel, Disney was already a big kid who never grew up.
---
The aftershocks of the Academy Awards were still being felt. While Gilbert snagged an Oscar for Best Editing, he wasn't the media's main focus. All eyes were on the Best Actor category. After the ceremony, Tom Hanks's win for Best Actor sparked some debate, mainly because Liam Neeson, the star of 'Schindler's List,' didn't win.
Hollywood is heavily influenced by the Jewish community, and they're pretty powerful. This movie, which told the story of Jewish suffering, was expected to sweep the Oscars in their eyes. Tom Hanks isn't Jewish, so those Jewish-affiliated media outlets naturally spoke out for 'Schindler's List.'
Gilbert just watched the drama unfold without saying a word; this little fuss didn't involve him. Even though 'Schindler's List' was also nominated for Best Editing, he, the one who actually won the Oscar, was also Jewish, so those media outlets left him alone. It's normal to have controversy; it'd be weird if there wasn't any!
Sure enough, the HIV community and the LGBTQ community quickly spoke up in support of Tom Hanks. This was because in 'Philadelphia,' Tom Hanks's character was both gay and had HIV.
It's kinda messed up, but to win an Oscar, you often have to play someone who isn't "normal." Characters with mental illness, who are gay, or who have terminal illnesses often win Oscars. It's like they're not even giving regular characters a chance!
---
As April rolled around, the summer box office battle was already heating up. 'Real Steel' had two test screenings, one for media and critics, and another for theater representatives, both of which received great feedback. The media gave it an average score of 80, which is pretty solid for a big summer blockbuster.
Critics' reviews were a bit split. Some critics thought the visuals and special effects were excellent, and the father-son relationship was clearly developed, making it a decent film overall. Getting a "decent" rating from picky critics is rare for a commercial film. Other critics, however, felt that the robot boxing storyline was unnecessary and that the movie should have delved deeper into the father-son relationship: why they separated, what changed after, and how they eventually healed each other. There was even a divide among critics on whether they were truly "healed," with some feeling the film should have been a tragedy, and that the happy ending greatly reduced its artistic merit. Others thought the father and son healing each other was fine, but that the robots were just extraneous.
Roger Ebert was one of the critics who praised the film. Of course, to get him to say nice things, Disney and Warner Bros. had to cater to that demanding critic quite a bit. With a production budget of eighty million dollars, it was a big-budget commercial film, enough to get a well-known critic like Roger Ebert to show up. This famous critic had a lot of demands; while he was in Los Angeles, he wanted to play golf every week. He also wanted to stay somewhere with a beach so he could swim in the ocean. And he wanted a yacht so he could go out to sea.
Robert Iger once privately griped to Gilbert, "That darn critic, he actually took eighteen models out to sea, and two of 'em were underage!"
"Whoa!" Gilbert exclaimed, wide-eyed. Roger Ebert was an old man, but he sure knew how to party. The thought of Roger Ebert's portly figure pressing down on delicate models made Gilbert cringe.
The critic community is pretty powerful in North America. While Gilbert wasn't too fond of them, he knew he'd need their support when he went for an Oscar in the future, so he swallowed his personal feelings. In this industry, sometimes you can't just do things based on what you like. In that sense, Gilbert was already a seasoned Hollywood director.
---
'Real Steel' was set to open on May 6th, the first weekend of the summer movie season. Since most of the big competitive commercial films were stacked up in June, July, and August, May was a relatively less crowded slot. 'When a Man Loves a Woman,' distributed by Buena Vista Pictures, was moved to April 29th thanks to Robert Iger's coordination. That movie didn't want to go head-to-head with Gilbert's film on the first weekend of summer, so it just got out of the way. Warner Bros.'s 'Maverick' completely avoided the clash, moving its release to May 20th. Another film, 'The Crow,' distributed by Miramax, also didn't want to open on the same weekend as 'Real Steel,' so it shifted to May 13th.
As a side note, 'The Crow' was the last film of Bruce Lee's son, Brandon Lee. Brandon Lee's death was super bizarre; he was actually killed by a prop gun during a gunfight scene. His death became one of Hollywood's biggest mysteries recently.