hollywood melon man

Chapter 496 Schedule Discussion
"Warner's suggestion is to put it in late June or early July," said Charles Roven.

The two were discussing the release date of Batman Begins, and Warner Bros.' intention was obvious. Because this is a reboot of Batman, they want to be safe.

Gilbert Jr. said: "I think it would be better to release it in May."

Although the failure of the 1997 version of "Batman" has led to people's distrust and suspicion of this series of films.

But because seven years have passed, the bad impression brought by the previous work has almost disappeared.

Moreover, little Gilbert is not Nolan of the same period as in his previous life. He has a very strong personal appeal.

So Gilbert Jr. thinks there is absolutely no problem with the film being released in May.

Charles Roven said: "Early May is your usual schedule, but this schedule is not suitable. Fox has just announced that George Lucas's "Star Wars Episode 3" will be released in this schedule."

Earlier, George Lucas said in an interview that this was his last Star Wars movie. I believe that many Star Wars fans will go to the theater to say goodbye to this series of movies.

When "Batman Begins" meets "Star Wars Episode 3", and Gilbert Jr. meets George Lucas, "Star Wars" still has a greater chance of winning.

However, George Lucas had communicated with Gilbert Jr. before, and he knew that early May was usually the release date for Gilbert Jr.'s films, so he called to communicate.

George Lucas also said that if Gilbert Jr. was willing to take over the "Star Wars" series, he could retire with peace of mind.

Gilbert Jr. said he needed to think about it. He was indeed not interested in the "Star Wars" series, but Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic were both high-quality assets and he was envious of them.

In a subsequent media interview, George Lucas revealed that he had repeatedly invited Gilbert Jr. to direct the "Star Wars" series.

The reporter asked George Lucas: "Did Director Gilbert agree?"

"No, Gilbert Jr. has his own plans." George Lucas felt quite regretful: "If he were to direct the Star Wars series, I could retire with peace of mind."

It seems from this interview that George Lucas does have plans to retire.

20th Century Fox was secretly delighted because they had the copyright to Star Wars.

If Gilbert Jr. can take over the "Star Wars" series, perhaps this can be used as a breakthrough, and the company can cooperate with Gilbert Jr. on other movies.

What followed was that the top executives of Fox Film immediately planned to push Gilbert Jr. to direct "Star Wars" and offered a high price.

It’s a pity that there has been no response from little Gilbert so far.

Returning to the discussion of the schedule, Charles Roven continued: “In mid-May, there is War of the Worlds with Spielberg and Tom Hanks.

Based on a well-known science fiction novel and the original 1953 work, and with the participation of superstars, it is probably not easy to mess with. "

Gilbert Jr. said he understood: "Steven's works have always been popular in the summer season. He is also my teacher. It is not appropriate for me to confront him head-on."

In July this year, DreamWorks Animation was spun off as an independent studio. The two sides are currently arguing over several animations produced by DreamWorks Animation.

The separation of the animation department is the result of the Hollywood giants' tactics, which launched a siege against DreamWorks. The final fate of DreamWorks is bound to be dismembered and acquired.

Of course, Spielberg would not give up. He still wanted to struggle, after all, he had been working on it for so many years.

It once had great ambitions to become a new giant, but now it has made a hasty exit, which seems a bit anticlimactic.

So "War of the Worlds" is Spielberg's latest work to continue saving DreamWorks.

Because he had previously worked with Tom Cruise on "Minority Report", Spielberg wanted to invite Tom Cruise, but was rejected.

So he had to find his old buddy Tom Hanks, and the two continued to work together on this movie.

Gilbert Jr. has maintained communication with Spielberg, and of course he will not put "Batman Begins" in this period.

It’s up to other movies to stop DreamWorks! After all, “Batman Begins” is also paying off its old debts, and the outside world is still pessimistic about this movie. So Gilbert said, “Then let’s put it in the end of May!”

"Kingdom of Heaven? That's Ridley Scott's epic blockbuster. Is this choice too risky?" Charles Roven hesitated.

Gilbert Jr. explained: "Most of the time, Ridley Scott is not easy to mess with, but this is different with Kingdom of Heaven."

"Reasons, I need reasons, little Gilbert, Warner can't take any risks." Charles Rowan was cautious.

"Of course," Gilbert Jr. immediately gave a good reason: "I don't know if you have noticed that there are too many so-called epic films on the market in recent years, and the audience is a little tired of it."

"Indeed," Charles Roven also noticed this phenomenon: "Since the success of The Lord of the Rings series and Gladiator, there have been more follow-up works on the market."

Hollywood is a place where people are very obsessed with following trends. In fact, movies everywhere are very obsessed with following trends. So once the market is saturated, it will soon lead to aesthetic fatigue.

“Warner’s release of Troy this year didn’t live up to expectations, did it?”

"Yes, although we made profits through peripherals and discs, the performance was indeed not as good as expected," said Charles Rowan.

"That's right," little Gilbert clapped his hands, put down the teacup in his hand, and motioned Charles Rowan to follow.

The two walked towards the prop workshop, chatting as they walked.

"King Arthur, which was released in July this year, has already failed, with a box office of only over 20 million yuan. There is also Alexander the Great, which will be released in December this year.

I bet this movie won’t do very well.”

Charles Rowan was still very convinced of Gilbert Jr.'s judgment, because countless examples in the past had proved Gilbert Jr.'s vision.

"Warner followed your advice and did not release this film. It looks like Universal Pictures is going to lose money." Charles Roven laughed.

"Every type of Hollywood film will cause market fatigue after reaching its peak. Even if I were to direct Kingdom of Heaven, the result would be the same," Gilbert Jr. concluded.

After thinking carefully, Charles Rowan said to Gilbert Jr.: "I will consider your suggestion carefully with Warner."

After Charles Roven left, Gilbert Jr. called Ivanka, "Bring me the summer release schedule Charles left for next year so I can take a look."

After Ivanka took it out, Gilbert Jr. looked carefully at the schedule for May and found that the one for Kingdom of Heaven was indeed a good one.

Ridley Scott plus Orlando Bloom sounds impressive, but in fact they are just a soft persimmon.

In the past, many people attributed the failure of "Kingdom of Heaven" to Ridley Scott's lack of editing rights. Indeed, the quality of Ridley Scott's director's cut is better.

But in this period of time, even if it is the director's cut version, or if it is directed by Gilbert Jr. himself, the probability of failure is still over 80%.

This is determined by objective market factors. The director can control things within the movie, but cannot control what happens outside the movie.

No matter what type of movie it is, releasing them in large numbers will always cause aesthetic fatigue, and the same is true for superhero movies.

A few days later, news came from Warner Bros.

They accepted Gilbert Jr.'s suggestion and decided to release "Batman Begins" on May 27th next year, the same time slot as "Kingdom of Heaven".

After deciding the release date, Warner announced it to the public quickly.

After hearing the news, Ridley Scott quickly discussed with 20th Century Fox whether to change the release date.

However, the CEO of Fox Films believes that the "Batman" movie is no longer competitive after so many years, so he decided not to change the release date.

(End of this chapter)