Through Godzilla, it was also proven that for a film based on a foreign culture to succeed in North America, it was not as simple as it seemed.
The Matrix also contained many foreign cultural elements, including a significant amount of Chinese influences—kung fu, Buddhism, Taoism, and other philosophies.
But these elements were only secondary points in the film, not its main focus.
The primary theme of The Matrix was still rooted in Western universal values and carried a strong Christian undertone.
Neo was called the Savior. And what is a Savior? Isn't that just another form of God?
The Matrix enslaved humanity, and God came to save them—a very clichéd yet effective Hollywood storyline.
This was the real reason The Matrix gained popularity in North America. It wasn't because of so-called Eastern philosophy, Buddhist teachings, or kung fu. At its core, it still followed Hollywood's traditional formula.
However, few people could see through this. Many believed the film's massive success was due to director Gilbert incorporating a large number of foreign cultural elements, especially Chinese culture, which wasn't exactly mainstream in North America.
Because of this, when Godzilla, a film representing Japanese culture—which was supposedly even more popular than Chinese culture—failed at the box office, many people were left baffled.
Even Disney and Warner Bros. found it puzzling. They had believed Godzilla had strong market potential, but they hadn't expected it to collapse so easily.
But confusion aside, neither company let up in their efforts to completely sink Godzilla.
The most direct tactic was to repeatedly remind audiences that Godzilla was a foreign product—a monster from Japan.
"You saw this coming, didn't you?" Charlize Theron asked Gilbert while looking at the newspaper articles that kept emphasizing Godzilla's origins.
Gilbert smiled and said, "Darling, Columbia Pictures wasn't wrong in their assessment. Japanese culture is indeed popular in North America.
But that popularity creates an illusion—the belief that Japanese culture can fully cater to North American market demands.
What we need to do is simple: just keep reinforcing the idea that Godzilla is a non-Western creation."
Charlize Theron still wasn't entirely convinced. "But the Godzilla posters look great. It looks like a T-Rex—very similar to Jurassic Park."
"You see? You just said it yourself—it looks likeJurassic Park," Gilbert pointed out. "Which means the film is nothing more than a poor imitation. It's only natural that a knockoff can't surpass the original."
North America had always had a market for monster movies. Jurassic Park was a film born out of this trend, and it became a massive success.
But a monster movie craze wasn't the same as a copycat craze. If Godzilla wanted to succeed in the North American market, it needed its own distinct identity.
In a past life, the MonsterVerse did a decent job. It wasn't a massive success, but by integrating Godzilla and King Kong, it at least helped introduce Godzilla into the North American mainstream.
Unfortunately, the studio behind it hadn't thought things through properly. They failed to create a stronger, more cohesive long-term plan, resulting in a loosely connected MonsterVerse. If they had, the franchise could have achieved even greater success.
Charlize Theron still didn't fully grasp why Godzilla had flopped, but she didn't bother dwelling on it. The Matrix had already become a box office phenomenon, and she was now one of the most talked-about actresses in Hollywood.
With The Matrix's overwhelming success, Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron skyrocketed in popularity across the U.S.
Everywhere they went for promotional events, they triggered massive fan gatherings and hysteria.
As the third week of the North American summer movie season began, the cast and crew arrived in Chicago—the crime capital—for another promotional event.
Chicago had always been one of North America's key box office markets. Almost every film aiming for blockbuster status would make the city a major stop in its promotional campaign, and The Matrix was no exception.
However, the crew ran into unexpected trouble after arriving in Chicago.
"What's going on?"
On their way to the premiere venue, the film crew's convoy was completely surrounded by an overwhelming crowd, making it impossible to move forward.
The enthusiastic fans kept banging on the windows, scaring the cast members into staying inside the vehicles, not daring to roll down the windows or step out.
The real problem was that most of these "fans" were covered in tattoos, with fierce and intimidating looks—clearly not the type to be taken lightly.
The security team hired by the production had never encountered fans like this before. They were so intimidated that they backed off instead of stepping in to protect the convoy, leaving the vehicles entirely surrounded by these tough-looking, overly enthusiastic supporters.
Even assistant Anna was starting to panic. "Boss, I think we're surrounded by gangsters."
"Gangsters?" Gilbert was taken aback. "What do they want? Extortion? Protection money?"
"I don't think so…" Anna hesitated. "I've never seen anything like this before. I already called the police. The Chicago PD is sending backup."
"Tell them to hurry up, or we might not make it out of here today," Gilbert urged.
"Yes, sir." Anna quickly made another call, urging the Chicago PD to dispatch reinforcements as soon as possible.
"It should be fine," Gilbert reassured Charlize Theron, holding her hand. "If this were a kidnapping, extortion, or ransom situation, they wouldn't be causing such a scene."
Charlize Theron smiled, feeling comforted. "With you here, I'm not worried at all."
Since they were stuck for the time being, Gilbert took the opportunity to admire Chicago's urban landscape.
There was a saying that Chicago had 30,000 police officers but 100,000 gangsters.
That was obviously an exaggeration, but it did highlight the city's rampant gang activity.
However, this lawlessness had its limits. These gangs mostly bullied ordinary civilians, engaged in smuggling, and ran protection rackets.
But they never targeted high-profile, influential figures. They had their own code of conduct.
Obviously, the higher-ups in the gangs understood that if they ever targeted such people, the federal government would surely wipe them out.
The government might not care about ordinary people, but if it turned a blind eye to the extortion and threats against the wealthy and influential, the very foundation of North American society would collapse.
That's why Gilbert wasn't too worried about his personal safety. As long as these gang members weren't completely reckless, they wouldn't threaten his life.
And indeed, that was the case. The Chicago police took the situation very seriously and responded with unprecedented efficiency, quickly assembling a team of elite officers to rush to the scene.
To maintain order, the police chief even contacted the mayor of Chicago, requesting authorization to deploy the state's National Guard in the city.
Considering the massive influence of The Matrix and Gilbert across America—not to mention Gilbert's identity as the "squid man"—the mayor knew that if anything happened to Gilbert in his city, his political career would be over. He swiftly approved the police chief's plan.
However, both the mayor and the police chief soon realized it was all a false alarm.
The gangs made no hostile moves. Instead, several gang bosses quickly stepped forward and ordered their subordinates to back off.
Seeing the bald, tattooed, middle-aged white man in front of him happily holding a notebook, waiting for an autograph—along with the Latin American, Italian, and African American gang leaders standing nearby acting like excited fans—Gilbert found the whole situation surreal.
It turned out that these gang bosses were his fans. They had mobilized their gang members simply to chase after their idol.
The bald boss in front of him even apologized sheepishly. "Sorry, Director Gilbert. I couldn't get a ticket to the premiere, so I had no choice but to do this."
Mobilizing an entire gang just to meet a celebrity—this guy was about to become a legend in the criminal underworld.
What could Gilbert say? Could he refuse? Of course not. So he generously agreed to sign autographs and take photos with the gang boss.
Not only that, but Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron also fulfilled the requests of a few gang leader fans, posing for pictures and signing autographs.
By the time the Chicago police chief arrived at the scene with his officers, they were completely dumbfounded.
Wasn't this supposed to be a gang kidnapping of The Matrix crew? Then why did everything in front of them look so… peaceful?
The police chief couldn't figure it out, and before he knew it, he was being pulled into a group photo with the film crew and the gang bosses.
After getting their autographs and pictures, the gang leaders left with their men, deliberately avoiding any conflict with the police—highlighting their image as a "law-abiding" gang.
The next day, this extraordinary group photo made the front pages of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and other major North American media outlets.
The headlines and reports were amusing, with most of them saying something along the lines of how The Matrix had used the magic of cinema to significantly ease tensions between the Chicago police and the gangs.
This bizarre incident became a hot topic among fans. No one had expected that the gang's blockade of The Matrix crew was just a case of starstruck criminals chasing after their idols.
The story didn't need any embellishment—just reporting the facts was already incredible enough. If people hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed it.
Perhaps due to the buzz surrounding the gang leader fan incident, The Matrix managed to maintain a relatively healthy box office decline going into its third week.
This week's new release, The Horse Whisperer, featuring Scarlett Johansson, received poor reviews and failed to pose any threat to The Matrix.
As a result, The Matrix secured its third consecutive weekend as the box office champion, bringing in $37.7 million.
Meanwhile, Armageddon hadn't claimed the top spot any week, but it remained firmly in second place, earning $30.57 million this week.
Godzilla, on the other hand, crashed hard, making only $10.15 million this week. Industry analysts predicted its North American total wouldn't exceed $80 million.
Originally, even if Godzilla wasn't well received, it still shouldn't have performed this badly.
In Gilbert's previous life, this version of Godzilla had at least managed to surpass $100 million at the North American box office.
But under the influence of the butterfly effect, Godzilla, caught between two major blockbusters, suffered a humiliating defeat.
This failure served as a lesson to many film studios—never challenge movies that seem dominant in the market unless you're equally powerful.
Gilbert and his films weren't something just anyone could go up against.
However, this also highlighted Michael Bay's value. While his Armageddon had never beaten The Matrix in weekly box office rankings, it had also never been completely crushed.
This made Hollywood studios recognize Michael Bay's potential, leading to even more big projects coming his way.
Michael Bay became a key player in Michael Ovitz's roster. If they couldn't get Gilbert, having a Gilbert substitute wasn't a bad alternative.
After wrapping up the North American promotional tour, Gilbert didn't follow the crew on their international tour. Instead, he went on vacation.
Although there was still plenty of work left for The Matrix, that was no longer Gilbert's primary concern.
Aside from regularly traveling to China to oversee the production of The Lord of the Rings, he was also preparing to adapt Chicago.
Gilbert had finally decided to bring this Broadway classic—whose rights he had acquired years ago—to the big screen. Naomi Watts had been waiting for this project for a long time.
In addition to Naomi Watts, who had been cast from the start, Gilbert also extended an invitation to Catherine Zeta-Jones. At the same time, he finally offered Tom Cruise the long-awaited opportunity to collaborate.
The original choice, Richard Gere, was scrapped. Who in their right mind would pick a third-tier actor over Tom Cruise?
Gilbert certainly wasn't that foolish. So, he chose to work with Tom Cruise.
However, since this film was primarily targeting next year's Oscars, Tom Cruise would have to accept a pay cut—otherwise, the production couldn't afford him.
Gilbert also agreed to take only a symbolic $1 million salary, but he wouldn't budge on profit-sharing rights.
Meanwhile, over at Warner Bros. and Disney, when they heard that Gilbert planned to direct a musical, their first reaction was:
Our summer blockbuster king has lost his mind…
Indeed, it seemed crazy. The Matrix was performing so well!
Even if he wasn't planning to shoot a sequel, wouldn't it make more sense to focus on The Lord of the Rings? Why on earth was he doing a musical? They just couldn't understand.
But since the film's budget wasn't huge, Gilbert's Melon Studios would fund it independently.
Gilbert's exact words were: If anyone's interested in handling distribution, let's talk.
That was a clear signal—whoever got the distribution rights would have an advantage in Melon Studios' future acquisition negotiations.
Without hesitation, despite their doubts about the market potential of musicals, Warner Bros. and Disney shut out other competitors and secured the film's distribution rights for both North America and overseas.
Gilbert wasn't about to walk into a losing deal, and both studios were prepared to take a financial hit if necessary, all in hopes of drawing Gilbert closer to their side.
But was it really impossible for a musical to succeed in today's film market?
That remained to be seen.