hollywood melon man

Chapter 551 James Cameron is about to start!

Sky Studios was busy with several projects, and little Gilbert was not idle either.

The project preparation went smoothly. After all, the core members of Gilbert's team had been working together for many years, had a tacit understanding with each other, and were very efficient at work.

Otherwise, Gilbert Jr. would not have been able to follow the progress of the "Iron Man" project while he was busy with his own project.

While he was busy with "The Last of Us", he received an invitation from James Cameron to attend a party.

So Gilbert Jr. hurried back to Los Angeles to attend the party held on the top floor of the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles.

The host of the party was 20th Century Fox, and James Cameron happened to come back to attend and discuss things with Gilbert Jr.

After a brief greeting, James Cameron got straight to the point: "I need a lot of money."

"Oh?" Little Gilbert asked, "Are you going to play with your underwater photography again?"

James Cameron has been having so much fun playing with underwater 3D photography in recent years that people once thought he would never return to Hollywood and would become a documentary director.

However, those who know the inside story know that James Cameron is actually experimenting with new technologies and may use them in future film shoots.

Little Gilbert also understood James Cameron's activities, after all, it was he who proposed the activity of underwater photography.

James Cameron likes water. He believes that water is the source of all things, so the element of water is usually present in his movies.

His ideas are somewhat similar to Taoist thoughts.

After this underwater photography, James Cameron felt that the technology was mature and could be used in movie shooting, so he hurried back to Hollywood to start soliciting investment.

Hearing what Gilbert said, James Cameron laughed and said, "Of course not. This time I have a story in mind. It is a science fiction film, but it requires a lot of production costs."

"How much do you need?" asked little Gilbert.

James Cameron held up two fingers sheepishly and said, "Two hundred million dollars."

Little Gilbert knows James Cameron well. If James Cameron said $200 million, then it would have to be at least $400 million.

"Twentieth Century Fox doesn't support you?"

James Cameron was speechless and said: "The investment is huge, and 20th Century Fox is a little hesitant."

Gilbert Jr. expressed his understanding. If he were a senior executive at 20th Century Fox and didn't know in advance what achievements James Cameron could achieve, he would also hesitate.

When "Titanic" was being produced, James Cameron increased the production costs again and again, almost driving the top executives of 20th Century Fox crazy.

Later, as a last resort, they brought in Paramount and Gilbert Jr. also participated in the investment, which helped share the pressure.

This time, James Cameron was very arrogant and directly announced the production cost of 200 million US dollars. Bad memories instantly came to mind. It would be strange if 20th Century Fox did not hesitate.

Gilbert Jr. smiled and said, "This is a normal reaction. You can't rush this matter. Take your time. I believe that with the success of Titanic, 20th Century Fox will eventually believe in you.

Of course, I would be happy to accept my investment.”

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have come to you." James Cameron said bluntly: "I just hope you can take the lead in investing and give others some confidence."

Gilbert Jr.'s vision for movies is trustworthy. If he is optimistic about James Cameron's project, other film companies will certainly consider it seriously.

The two reached a preliminary agreement, and Gilbert Jr. subsequently let Ivanka get in touch with the matter.

After the chat, Gilbert hid in a corner to eat something to relax. But he was destined to have no rest tonight. Before he could finish a piece of cake, Hall, the vice president of 20th Century Fox, came to him.

"Little Gilbert, the higher-ups are quite dissatisfied with you!" Hall said with a wry smile.

"Oh?" Gilbert Jr. expressed confusion: "How did I offend the Fox executives?"

Hall said: "For the release of Fantastic Four in July, Marvel didn't participate in the promotion and marketing, and even published a comic book."

After the release of "Fantastic Four", Marvel specially portrayed the Fantastic Four as villains in an issue of the comic and killed them all.

This caused some trouble for the Fantastic Four movie, which failed to meet 20th Century Fox's expectations.

Gilbert Jr. put the blame on Marvel: "Hall, I'm just a shareholder. I don't participate much in operational matters."

This is just for reference. Hall doesn't believe that Marvel would dare to do these tricks without Gilbert Jr.'s secret instructions.

But it was hard to continue the conversation. I couldn't have a falling out with Gilbert Jr. at the party, could I? Business competition was normal.

In the previous winter of the comic book industry, in order to survive, Marvel did sell a lot of superhero copyrights. Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four were all sold at this time.

Later, after Gilbert Jr. acquired Marvel, Marvel got rid of its financial difficulties and would not sell its superhero copyrights.

Marvel even wants to take back the copyright. There is a buyback clause in the superhero copyright sold. Once the movie does not achieve the expected performance, Marvel has the right to buy back the copyright.

The continued success of the Spider-Man and X-Men series has made Marvel's buyback clause an instant success.

After Ang Lee's previous film The Hulk failed, Marvel bought back the rights to the Hulk. In the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Hulk is scheduled to return.

As "Fantastic Four" is one of Marvel's signature movies, Marvel certainly wanted to take it back, so it used some tricks.

But unfortunately, although the Fantastic Four movie did not meet 20th Century Fox's expectations, it did not trigger the buyback clause.

It is worth mentioning that Chris Evans also starred in this film. He was the actor who played Captain America in his previous life.

If nothing unexpected happens, he will also have a place in the Marvel Universe led by Gilbert Jr.

After attending the party and meeting James Cameron, Gilbert Jr. also visited the filming set of "Iron Man".

"Jon Favreau is a really good choice," Kevin Feige took Gilbert Jr. to visit the set and was very satisfied with Jon Favreau's selection.

"He is not only good at acting, but also a great director."

"He plays Tony Stark's bodyguard in the film and provides a lot of humorous jokes. He is an excellent comedian," Cameron Diaz also said.

Little Gilbert nodded. He was the one who chose the person, so of course he knew his ability best.

"Is the filming going well so far?" asked Gilbert Jr.

"It went quite smoothly and there were no troubles." Kevin Feige was very happy that the project was progressing smoothly.

"However, Marvel doesn't have much experience in film production. Fortunately, you transferred some people to the crew," Cameron Diaz added.

"Very good, contact me anytime if there is any situation." Gilbert Jr. made a phone gesture and said, "This is Marvel's first movie, and we can't afford to make any mistakes."

"Understood!" Kevin Feige and Cameron Diaz both nodded solemnly. Both of them knew the importance of this project.

(End of this chapter)