hollywood melon man

Chapter 382 Depp's Oolong

Naomi Watts is resting at home because of her pregnancy, but being pregnant doesn't mean she can't work.

Many female stars insist on filming and participating in commercial activities even when they are pregnant. This is largely because the pregnancy vacuum period is too long and they are afraid that the audience will forget about them.

However, after years of hard work and only having this one child, Naomi Watts still wanted to be more conservative, so she took a break.

Just after the birth, Peter Jackson's "King Kong" can start filming, and Naomi Watts can return to work directly after giving birth.

When she is free, Naomi Watts will come to the Cantaloupe Studio, sit in Gilbert's office, read books, and play games.

One day, she saw a script and asked little Gilbert: "Honey, what is this?"

Little Gilbert looked up and explained, "It's a script that Bob passed on to me. It's called National Treasure!"

"National Treasure? Is it also a treasure hunting adventure movie?" asked Naomi Watts.

"Yes," Little Gilbert nodded gently and said, "After the good success of "The Mystery of the Spell", movies of this type have also found a certain market.

Jerry Bruckheimer came to Disney with the script, so Bob asked me to come and look at it.”

"Did Bob want you to direct this film?" Naomi Watts was curious.

"No," Gilbert Jr. refused. "Even if that were the case, I would not direct the film. There is no need."

At this point, Gilbert remembered that there was a female lead in the script who had a lot of scenes and was just a vase, so he asked Naomi Watts: "Are you interested in playing the leading female role?"

Since winning the Oscar, Naomi Watts has become less artistic in her role selection and has returned to the commercial film route.

The reason is very simple. An Oscar-winning actress can be a decisive factor in a female star's promotion to the top, but the real foundation is still commercial performance.

Just like Meryl Streep, she has won Oscars all her life, but no one has ever considered her a top Hollywood actress.

On the other hand, there were few actresses who could compare with Julia Roberts in the entire 1990s. She was the hottest top-tier Hollywood actress, but she did not win an Oscar for Best Actress.

Of course, last year Julia Roberts won the Oscar for Best Actress for "Erin Brockovich", breaking her own curse of not having won any Best Actress awards.

Naomi Watts was very lucky. With the help of Gilbert Jr., she easily became a top actress and won the Oscar for Best Actress.

However, after that, Naomi Watts still took the route of commercial films, and if there was a good script, she would take a pay cut to star in some art films.

But overall, commercial performance is the basis for determining whether Hollywood actors are first-line stars.

Naomi Watts took a quick look at the script and found that "National Treasure" was a very standard Hollywood script.

A down-and-out male protagonist with a mission, a follower, a female protagonist who only plays the role of a vase, a silly villain, and a very stupid puzzle setting.

No wonder Gilbert Jr. was not interested. The script of "The Mystery of the Spell" was co-written by Gilbert Jr. and Jonathan Nolan.

Although it is still the same, you can feel that "Mystery of the Talisman" has a sense of sophistication in the setting.

However, this kind of high-end feeling is not seen in "National Treasure". The whole film feels like a light-hearted and brainless commercial film.

It's not that this kind of movie is bad, in fact, the audience will prefer this kind of simple movie. It's brainless and relaxing, not tiring to watch, and you will laugh after watching it, which can make you happy all day long.

Movies as complex as "The Matrix" are actually rare. Even "The Matrix" stimulates the audience's adrenaline through a large number of visual effects and exaggerated action scenes.

Those discussions on philosophical and religious metaphors serve as icing on the cake, but are not the main reason for the film's success.

This is also the reason why James Gunn did not continue to explore the philosophical and religious aspects when he took over the subsequent two films of "The Matrix".

First make sure the audience likes it, then talk about other things. This is what Gilbert Jr. repeatedly emphasized to James Gunn during the production of the film.

After the completion of "The Matrix" project, James Gunn seemed to be very interested in zombie movies and planned to make a zombie movie for fun.

What’s more, young Gilbert was also very interested in this subject, and there is a very good story.

Back to "National Treasure", although it looked like it had the potential to be a big hit, Naomi Watts declined the role considering her schedule and her pregnancy: "Let Michelle play it, I think she can do it."

"Will Michelle go?" Little Gilbert dragged his head and said, "She may not be willing to go. Michelle has decided to change her career to become a producer and work behind the scenes."

"Why don't you go and ask? Being a producer doesn't mean you can't act in a movie," said Naomi Watts.

"Okay, I'll ask her when she comes over." Little Gilbert nodded in agreement.

There are not many well-known projects in Hollywood every year, but at least little Gilbert has heard of the name of the movie "National Treasure".

Cameron Diaz has no interest in pursuing an Oscar for Best Actress, but she must be happy to occasionally act in a movie for fun.

As the two chatted, they talked about Gilbert Jr.'s new project.

Naomi Watts asked Gilbert Jr., "How's your pirate project going?"

"It has been officially launched. It's called "Pirates of the Caribbean" and it's also a fantasy adventure movie," Gilbert Jr. replied.

In fact, in two days, "Pirates of the Caribbean" will hold a project launch conference to announce this matter and start selecting actors.

Gilbert Jr. has already invited both Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, and after a simple audition, the two will be able to join the crew.

Orlando Bloom is fine. The elf prince in The Lord of the Rings made him an American and even global idol with unrivaled popularity. Orlando Bloom now is like his brothers in his previous life. Although his acting skills are poor, he has many fans.

However, Orlando Bloom has several advantages over his brothers. He is not effeminate and he has muscles even when he takes off his clothes.

Not to mention that Orlando Bloom is very dedicated when filming. Although this is what actors should do, it is a rare quality among his brothers.

Orlando Bloom didn't think much about Gilbert's invitation again. He didn't even read the script and agreed directly.

In the words of Orlando Bloom, he was willing to play the role even if it was just a supporting role, mainly to thank Gilbert Jr. for promoting him.

Compared to Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp's situation has not been very good in the past two years.

He himself is a person with a strange personality, a weird temper, is difficult to get along with, and speaks without restraint, which has offended many big directors.

At least he managed to maintain his position as a top director in Hollywood with the help of Tim Burton, an equally weird director.

However, in the past two years, several movies starring Johnny Depp have failed at the box office, and they are gradually becoming box office poison.

For an actor like Johnny Depp, normal roles are really not suitable for him. He is more suitable for neurotic and abnormal roles.

Coincidentally, Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean" is such an abnormal character, which perfectly fits Johnny Depp's personality.

However, when the invitation was sent to Johnny Depp, he did not agree as readily as expected, but hesitated.

"John, what are you hesitating about? This is Gilbert Jr.'s project?" the agent was anxious.

"Well..." Johnny Depp seemed to be drunk: "I don't like this role very much. I don't want to play it."

"What role? You still need to hesitate. If you don't play it, there are plenty of other people who can play it." The agent was very anxious: "John, you can't go on like this.

The movies we took on in the past two years have not been very successful, and now you urgently need a hit movie to prove yourself and return to the top of Hollywood.”

However, Johnny Depp still went his own way and did not listen to his agent's words at all. No one knew what was going on in his muddy brain.

The agent was helpless. Just at this time, Keanu Reeves came over. After hearing about this, he said to the agent: "Leave it to me!"

The agent was also helpless and could only hope that Keanu Reeves could persuade Johnny Depp to sober up.

"John, I still remember the last time I considered whether or not to take on the role in Speed, you and River both strongly urged me to take on the film.

Now, River is gone, but I still want to advise you that you should really take on this project." Keanu Reeves took the wine glass from Johnny Depp and said to him earnestly.

When Johnny Depp heard the name River Phoenix, his cloudy eyes brightened a little.

He still repeated the reason for his refusal: "I don't like this role."

"What role?"

"This is it," Johnny Depp pointed to the character introduction on the script, which was Will Turner.

Keanu Reeves was stunned: "Will Turner? I heard from Charles that Orlando Bloom was cast for this role?"

"What do you mean? I have to compete with a sissy for a role?" Johnny Depp was even more unhappy.

If Orlando Bloom heard this, he would probably cry. He was actually regarded as a sissy? I am an elf prince, okay?

Keanu Reeves was very confused and called Johnny Depp's agent in: "Cantaloupe Studios invited Johnny to play Will Turner?"

The agent was stunned and replied, "No, it's Jack Sparrow, the pirate captain."

“???” After the agent finished speaking, the three people in the room were stunned.

It turned out that the agent did not explain it clearly, causing Johnny Depp to think that he was playing the role of Will Turner, a young blacksmith.

The air froze and there was silence for a while before Johnny Depp reacted: "Fuck, I'm sorry, I misread it, I thought it was for me to play Will Turner.

If it's Jack Sparrow, I... I'd love to be in it."

Keanu Reeves and his agent were speechless. Keanu Reeves shook his head helplessly and said, "John, you should stop drinking. You drink too much and your mind is not clear."

"Oh, right," the agent remembered something, "Cantaloupe Studios said that if John agrees to act, he can't drink or take drugs during filming."

"Is that so?" Johnny Depp was stunned and quickly said, "Then I won't answer it."

"No, we have to take it." Keanu Reeves and his agent said in unison.

Keanu Reeves grabbed Johnny Depp, and his agent quickly called Cantaloupe Studios: "Hello, Cantaloupe Studios? John has agreed to take the role."

So, under the semi-coercion of his good friend, Johnny Depp took on the role of Jack Sparrow and became the second officially confirmed actor.

There are still several roles in the film that have not been directly confirmed and require auditions to make a decision.

The most important character is Elizabeth Swann, a female character who is among a bunch of strange men.

Gilbert Jr. did not directly choose Keira Knightley as he did in the previous film, but held auditions to see if there were more suitable actors.

(End of this chapter)