That night at Twin Peaks, Charlize Theron was totally cussing out Gilbert, saying he was a pervert. She almost couldn't make it to set for filming the next day.
And when Gilbert met up with the crew to keep promoting, Naomi Watts totally caught on. She sniffed Gilbert and just blurted out, "Did you sleep with Charlize?"
"Uh," Gilbert was caught off guard by Naomi Watts being so direct, and he felt busted, so he just came clean.
"I knew it," Naomi Watts pouted. "That chick's been eyein' you for ages. You guys were bound to hook up sooner or later."
She was totally used to Gilbert's playboy ways by now. Even counting Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder, he only had, like, five women he was involved with.
The long-term relationships were just her and Cameron Diaz, and now Charlize Theron was added to the mix.
Compared to those Hollywood directors and stars who threw, like, wild parties and naked shindigs, Gilbert was practically a saint.
Naomi Watts heard from Sofia Coppola that her cousin, Nicolas Cage, would often call up a dozen models and invite a few friends over for parties.
As for what went down at those parties, you don't even need to say it; you can totally imagine.
Of course, Gilbert didn't mess around, and Naomi Watts kept it cool too; she wouldn't go to any crazy parties.
Last time, Mel Gibson invited her to a private party, and Naomi Watts didn't even go.
See, the hot-headed Mel Gibson had been super interested in her ever since that Australian crew get-together.
Maybe that's why Mel Gibson was kinda bugged that Naomi Watts blew him off, so Naomi Watts had to bring up Gilbert as a shield.
You had Mel Gibson, a quirky Hollywood actor/director and CAA's ace, and then Gilbert, the hot new A-list director in Hollywood. These two were totally on par.
But Mel Gibson seemed pretty sensible; he didn't get into it with Gilbert just over a woman.
Maybe it had something to do with Gilbert's tough reputation, I mean, he's the kind of guy who even got Michael Ovitz ousted.
When it didn't mess with his actual interests, Mel Gibson wasn't lookin' to go head-to-head with Gilbert; it just wasn't worth it.
And even Cameron Diaz, who's pretty wild, outgoing, and loves to party, would at most drag Naomi Watts along for a threesome adventure with Gilbert; she wouldn't go to any other random parties or events.
Gilbert didn't stop them from makin' their own choices, but both women could tell Gilbert wasn't into that stuff, so they were extra careful.
Don't let the fame fool ya; even though famous actresses in Hollywood sound great, without Gilbert's push, they were nobody.
Of course, now you might have to add Charlize Theron to that list.
---
### Real Steel Dominates the Box Office
No matter how many women he had, it never messed with Gilbert's focus on work.
After the San Francisco promo wrapped up, Gilbert took the crew up north, goin' through Salem and Portland, and then hit Seattle.
When the crew was kickin' off their promotions in Seattle, the North American opening weekend box office for Real Steel just dropped.
After pulling in $18.573 million on opening day, the movie raked in $22.513 million on Saturday and $17.132 million on Sunday.
Add in the $4.275 million from the midnight showings, and Real Steel totally crushed it with $62.493 million for its North American opening weekend.
That number totally broke Gilbert's own record for an opening weekend, and it was, hands down, the first weekend box office champ for the 1994 North American summer movie season.
Before, if Gilbert had landed a weekend box office champion, he'd probably throw a little party, but now, Gilbert was totally chill about it all.
Of course, Real Steel actually did better than expected; Disney and Warner Bros. had originally estimated around $55 million for the opening weekend.
So, $62.493 million for the opening weekend was a pretty sweet surprise.
However, the movie did even better in the merchandise market. Models, sunglasses, watches, headphones, personal computers, and other related products raked in $3.62 million in the movie's opening weekend alone.
It might not look as high as the box office, but these merchandise items are long-term profit makers. As the movie gets bigger, the merchandise will keep bringing in cash.
If the movie does well enough, they might even make sequels, which would keep the merchandise sales goin'.
Of course, even with the good opening weekend, they couldn't just kick back and relax.
'Cause a lot of movies do great on their opening weekend but then totally crash and burn the next week.
Real Steel having such a great opening weekend was really a perfect storm, everything just lined up right.
The buzz from that whole fight with the animal rights group, plus the Super Bowl promo, all helped out.
Even though the movie's core was typical Hollywood stuff, the mech fighting was pretty innovative.
Hollywood had never really had robot movies like this before, so it gave audiences something fresh.
The North American movie market was growin' every year, more and more people were goin' to the movies, and ticket prices even went up a bit.
Plus, Gilbert and Bruce Willis had some serious box office pull, and the competition at the time wasn't that strong, which is how Real Steel totally owned the theaters.
Gotta thank Tom Cruise and his agent, Pat Kingsley, for this. If Interview with the Vampire hadn't moved its release date, those two movies would've been in a serious showdown.
Tom Cruise had huge box office power back then. Even regular movies he was in did pretty well, and Gilbert wasn't confident he could go head-to-head with him.
Real Steel's opening weekend box office numbers were pretty much expected by the media, especially since the movie cost $80 million to make.
If it hadn't pulled in $50 or $60 million on its opening weekend, the movie would've totally flopped, and that would've been the big news.
Gilbert, who had always had smooth sailing, finally hitting a box office wall would probably have kept the media busy for a while. But no such luck, Gilbert didn't give them that chance.
---
### New Opportunities from the East
As the movie entered its second week, Gilbert wrapped up the Seattle promotional tour and took the crew eastward.
Warner Bros. Pictures also started arrangin' for the movie's international release. By the second weekend in North America, the movie would gradually be hittin' overseas markets.
In the suite at the Fairmont Hotel on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive, Gilbert, in his pajamas and slippers, opened the door, took the newspaper from room service, tipped 'em, and then closed the door.
Naomi Watts was still sound asleep in the bedroom; last night was pretty wild, and she was wiped out.
The covers weren't on right, showin' Naomi Watts's smooth back and her kinda red backside.
Last night's impact was a bit much, leaving some marks.
Gilbert was about to pull the covers up for Naomi Watts, but the petite woman was already awake.
"Did I wake you?"
"No," Naomi Watts struggled to get out of bed, her legs went weak, and she almost fell, but Gilbert caught her just in time.
"It's all your fault, usin' so much force," Naomi Watts shot Gilbert a glare.
"And who was it beggin' me to go harder, huh?"
Gilbert's teasing tone made Naomi Watts blush with anger, and she just bit him on the shoulder, leaving a perfect set of teeth marks.
After the petite woman let out her frustration, she stumbled into the bathroom to get ready.
Gilbert ordered breakfast and ate while readin' the newspaper.
Just then, the hotel front desk called: "Sir, Mr. Doug Walter is on the line for you."
As the head of Warner Bros.'s distribution department, Doug Walter knew every stop on the tour, and the Warner Bros. staff with the crew would report back.
So it wasn't weird that Doug Walter called the hotel.
"Put him through..." Gilbert waited a bit for Doug Walter's call: "Hey, Gilbert, just woke up, right?"
"Yeah, did you have breakfast?"
"Already ate..."
After some quick pleasantries, Doug Walter got straight to the point: "Gilbert, there's something I wanted your opinion on."
"What's up? Just spill it."
"Well, here's the deal," Doug Walter paused, seeming to think about how to phrase it.
After gathering his thoughts, Doug Walter said, "We had visitors from China Film Group from China, and some Director Tian from over there.
They came to check out the company and are lookin' into bringin' in Hollywood movies. Your Real Steel and Speed are on the list of movies they're thinkin' about."
"Oh?" Gilbert's heart skipped a beat. Could the market-oriented reforms for movies across the Pacific already be starting?
"How many movies are they planning to bring in?" Gilbert asked.
"The initial plan is to bring in ten movies, and you alone account for two of those spots. We're thinkin' about whether to agree, 'cause that market's still pretty small, and the profit split is only eight percent," Doug Walter said.
Gilbert quickly said, "Doug, let's talk, but that profit split is way too low. We gotta get more."
"Gimme your reasons."
Gilbert gathered his thoughts, then explained: "That's a huge market with over a billion people. Even though the market's small now, it's got massive potential for the future.
We can't just look at what's happenin' right now; we gotta think long-term.
Doug, imagine, they only bring in a limited number of movies each year. What if Warner Bros. gets some of those spots? We could build up a fan base over time, and when that market totally matures, what's that gonna look like?"
Gilbert's pitch, comin' from a market potential angle, was super convincing.
Doug Walter even felt a little excited just thinkin' about that scenario.
Focusing on long-term development, not just short-term gains, Gilbert's words were pretty insightful.
"You've got a solid point, Gilbert," Doug Walter nodded instinctively, then added, "Oh, and that Director Tian of theirs said he knows you, and that you guys met in China.
He wants to talk to you about this."
Gilbert figured this was a good opportunity too. Riding this wave into that market, he might just become the most famous Hollywood director over there someday.
"Sounds good. As soon as I'm done with the Chicago promotion, I'll head straight back to Los Angeles," Gilbert agreed.
They chatted a bit more about other stuff, then ended the call.
Naomi Watts had just finished gettin' ready and sat across from Gilbert to eat breakfast, asking, "What's up?"
"Doug called. People from China are here, lookin' to bring in Hollywood movies," Gilbert said.
"China?" Not really knowing much about that country across the water, Naomi Watts looked confused.
"Yeah, China..." Gilbert looked out the window, his gaze seemingly piercin' through the limits of his sight, lookin' toward the far-off East.