"The famous Hollywood genius director is actually going to make a musical? When this news gets out, how many people will be completely shocked?"
Leonardo DiCaprio expressed his astonishment upon learning about Gilbert's next film.
Casting his fishing rod, Gilbert lay back on a sun lounger, sunglasses on his face.
His newly purchased yacht had finally arrived, so he invited a few friends out to sea for a trip.
Scarlett was also here, but she wasn't entirely satisfied with the yacht, feeling that it wasn't big enough. The kind of yacht she had in mind was more on the scale of the Titanic.
Gilbert couldn't help but laugh and had to explain to her, "Scarlett, that's a cruise ship, not a yacht."
"What's the difference?" Scarlett asked, clearly puzzled.
"There's a huge difference," Gilbert replied, casually placing an orange juice in her hands before continuing to answer Leonardo's question. "I'm making this film specifically for the Oscars. It's a deliberate move."
"That makes sense. Given your previous two nominations, if Chicago is up to standard, winning an Oscar is practically guaranteed," Leonardo analyzed.
In reality, there was no need for him to analyze it—nearly everyone believed that the next time Gilbert was nominated, he would definitely win.
The first two times, the Academy could justify giving him only a nomination due to a lack of seniority. But if he were nominated again and still didn't win, it wouldn't just be the public that protested—even the members of the Academy who were also squid-like beings wouldn't stand for it.
Sofia, sitting nearby and eating a snack, spoke in her usual monotone nasal voice, tinged with sarcasm. "Gilbert, forget about the Oscars for a second—you're heading straight for a career disaster."
"Oh?" Gilbert asked curiously. "How so?"
"Haven't you read the papers? Your The Matrix hasn't pulled far ahead of Armageddon in box office revenue." Sofia handed him a newspaper.
The headline boldly stated that Michael Bay had overcome his inner demons and achieved a decisive victory over Gilbert in the summer box office battle.
Gilbert stared at the article, confused. "Didn't The Matrix make $20 million more? How did Armageddon win?"
Sofia shrugged. "Who knows? That's just how the media works."
"But no matter how much effort you put into promoting The Matrix, you still didn't widen the gap with Armageddon, so all that effort was wasted," she added.
Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Hey, Sofia, you need to understand a fundamental fact—no matter how much work we put in, The Matrix is still an R-rated film with a limited audience.
We worked hard, and The Matrix still managed to surpass Armageddon. But if we had done nothing, then Armageddon would definitely have grossed more.
And if that had happened, the media would've gone into even more of a frenzy."
Leonardo agreed. "Sofia, you're only reading media that dislike Gilbert. I've seen reports praising him, saying he dominated the summer box office with an R-rated film."
Sofia pouted, conceding the point. "You're right, Leo."
In the fourth week of the North American summer box office season, Universal Pictures released their new film, The Mummy, breaking the two-way battle between The Matrix and Armageddon.
This $80 million adventure epic, after enduring various production challenges, finally made its grand debut.
Actress Rachel Weisz had invited Gilbert to the film's premiere, but he declined—he just wanted to enjoy his vacation.
That didn't stop The Mummy from grossing $43.39 million in its opening weekend, successfully ending The Matrix's three-week streak as the number-one film and claiming the top spot for the week.
The Matrix dropped to second place, earning $17.26 million in its fourth weekend. Its North American total climbed to $194 million, making it the current highest-grossing film of the year.
In third place was Armageddon. Its three-week streak as the runner-up had ended, and it took in $10.18 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its total domestic earnings to $168 million.
Anyone with industry knowledge could see what The Matrix had achieved.
Despite being an R-rated film, it had gone head-to-head with Armageddon and won, even pulling ahead by over $26 million by the fourth week.
And no one should assume this was easy, thinking that The Matrix was simply too good and was bound to outperform Armageddon.
Even if you removed The Matrix from the equation, Armageddon was still an incredibly strong summer blockbuster. In the original timeline, Armageddon was actually the highest-grossing film worldwide that year.
But that wasn't happening this time. Not only was The Matrix crushing it, but now The Mummy had entered the fray as well.
Originally, Gilbert had expected The Mummy to be released the following year. However, perhaps due to the butterfly effect caused by his actions, the production went smoothly, and the film was ready in time for this summer.
Based on audience reactions and reviews, it was clear that people loved this exotic Egyptian-themed adventure.
Of course, some historians harshly criticized the film, arguing that its historical accuracy was severely lacking.
But let's be honest—movies are entertainment, not documentaries.
If Universal had made the film the way historians wanted, their $80 million investment, along with the additional marketing costs, would have gone down the drain.
Some might wonder why The Mummy—a story rooted in ancient Egyptian culture—was able to perform so well in North America, while other non-Western films often struggled.
The answer is simple: Egypt is close to Europe and part of the Mediterranean cultural sphere.
Plus, Julius Caesar once conquered Egypt and had an affair with Cleopatra, which gave ancient Egyptian culture significant appeal in the West—even more than Japanese culture.
Moreover, while The Mummy had an Egyptian aesthetic, its core story structure followed a classic Western narrative. That's why Hollywood and the American audience embraced it.
You can see this principle at work with The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. That installment didn't perform as well as expected, for a variety of reasons.
However, in North America, the most fundamental reason for its poor performance was that it told a story about an Eastern emperor—something North American audiences had absolutely no interest in.
To the average, uninformed North American moviegoer, they couldn't care less about events that took place thousands of years ago on the other side of the world.
Meanwhile, our unfortunate Godzilla continues to flop this week. In its third weekend, it only brought in $5.369 million, marking a massive financial loss for Sony-Columbia Pictures.
Fortunately, they still have Armageddon. Otherwise, the losses would have been even more devastating.
In fifth place is Titanic, which grossed another $3.298 million this week, continuing its strong hold in theaters.
At this rate, the film should be able to stay in theaters for another six or seven weeks without a problem. As long as there are still audiences watching, the film won't be pulled from theaters.
Theater chains are now regretting their decision. Back then, why did they agree to a long-term box office profit-sharing deal with 20th Century Fox? That deal allowed the studio to continue earning a share of the film's extended box office revenue.
If it had been a standard contract like with most films, all of Titanic's long-tail box office revenue would have belonged to the theaters.
But there's no such thing as a regret pill in this world. No one could have predicted that Titanic would turn out to be such a monstrous phenomenon with such incredible staying power.
Beyond its outstanding box office performance, the film's merchandise sales have also been astounding.
The official soundtrack, Jack and Rose figurines, Titanic model kits—all of these products have generated astronomical sales figures, bringing immense profits to Gilbert and the other investors.
Starting in its fourth week, The Matrix also began rolling out in international markets.
British audiences have always had a strong affinity for Gilbert as a young director. Last year, The Sixth Sense had already achieved excellent results when it was released there.
Many British media outlets even referred to Gilbert as "Little Hitchcock" to express their admiration for him.
And in its opening weekend, The Matrix grossed $11.3 million in the UK, securing the number one spot at the box office.
However, the marketing strategies that worked in North America for The Matrix didn't necessarily translate well to other regions. The high-speed internet boom in North America provided an ideal promotional space for The Matrix, but that wasn't the case in many other countries.
Even in developed nations within Europe, their internet infrastructure wasn't as advanced as North America's.
As a result, the international marketing strategy for The Matrix focused primarily on its action sequences, gunfights, and the stylish appearances of the main characters—elements designed to attract audiences.
Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron embarked on an international promotional tour, with their first stop in the UK.
As The Matrix exploded in the UK, the two of them received a reception that was no less enthusiastic than what they had experienced in North America. Wherever they went, hordes of devoted Matrix fans followed.
Under these conditions, as the film completed its first weekend in overseas markets, it achieved notable results beyond just the UK.
In France, The Matrix grossed $7.26 million. In Germany, it earned $9.35 million.
In Italy, with the support of its homegrown audience, the film brought in $8.75 million.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, The Matrix grossed $2.11 million. However, certain media outlets in Hong Kong were quite critical of the film.
The Ming Pao newspaper criticized The Matrix, stating: "Although director Gilbert made a sincere effort to blend martial arts and Buddhist philosophy with Hollywood sci-fi filmmaking, he clearly failed to grasp the true essence of martial arts and Buddhist thought."
Another local entertainment magazine wrote: "The Matrix presents a dazzling fusion of Hollywood and Hong Kong cinema, but it simply cannot compare to Director Wu's Face/Off."
Indeed, while The Matrix's action sequences were widely praised worldwide, they didn't particularly impress audiences in Hong Kong.
After all, the techniques showcased in The Matrix were things that Hong Kong cinema had already perfected.
However, another Hong Kong media outlet posed a thought-provoking question:
"If the elements in The Matrix are so common in Hong Kong films, why haven't we ever produced a movie like The Matrix?"
This question struck a nerve and left many speechless.
Everyone knew the real problem, but no one wanted to say it out loud, let alone address it.
Instead, they buried their heads in the sand like ostriches, pretending not to see, waiting for fate to decide their future.
Elsewhere, The Matrix achieved various levels of success across different international markets.
By the end of its opening weekend overseas, The Matrix had grossed $83.5 million internationally.
Combined with its North American revenue, its global box office easily surpassed $277 million.
At the same time, Armageddon also began its international rollout.
Compared to the more sophisticated and discerning North American audiences, many international markets—particularly those that had only recently opened up to Hollywood films—were more receptive to Armageddon.
As a result, Armageddon performed slightly better overseas than expected.
By the end of its first weekend in international release, Armageddon had grossed $68.3 million, which was a very solid result.
That said, it still fell short of The Matrix's numbers.
This was completely understandable. Gilbert had already established his name in the global film industry, whereas Michael Bay had not yet reached that level.
Another key factor was the film rating system. While North America enforced strict age-based classifications, many international markets did not.
Without the constraints of a rating system, both films had access to the same potential audience size. And in direct competition, The Matrix was simply more appealing to global moviegoers.
It made sense—between Steve Buscemi and Ben Affleck versus Keanu Reeves as Neo, it was clear who exuded more style and charisma.
Similarly, when it came to female leads, Liv Tyler and Charlize Theron's Trinity could compete in terms of long legs, but in terms of overall allure, Theron had the edge.