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Chapter 95: Spending Money Like Water
🕑 Added 2024-10-24 17:11:04 +0000 UTCFilming was still ongoing. The live-action scenes in "Real Steel" were not complicated, nor were they difficult or dangerous.
Unlike the filming of "Speed," where there were constant explosions every day, making the third-party insurance companies anxious, worried that the crew would have an accident and they'd have to pay compensation.
Starting in August and lasting until October, the crew finally wrapped up filming.
At the wrap party, Bruce Willis specifically spoke to Gilbert: "To be honest, at first, when I decided to take on this movie, I had some doubts."
"And now, Bruce?" Gilbert asked.
Bruce Willis clinked glasses with Gilbert and said, "Now, I have no doubt the film will perform quite well."
"Thank you, but it's a team effort," Gilbert responded modestly.
After Bruce Willis walked away, Charlize Theron came over to chat, "Gilbert, I followed your recommendation and watched some kung fu movies. Some of them are actually quite interesting, really good."
"The Asian actor with the big nose who was with our crew, he's also from kung fu films, right?" she asked.
"Yes, his kung fu comedy style is very popular," Gilbert replied.
"I can finally see why you're so interested in kung fu films," Charlize said while holding a glass of lemonade—she wasn't 21 yet and couldn't drink alcohol.
In fact, at this private party, even if she drank or smoked a little, it wouldn't matter. But she held back, wanting to make a good impression on Gilbert.
Charlize Theron thought Gilbert might be hinting at something—could he be planning to make a kung fu film?
Charlize wasn't sure, but she decided to prepare just in case.
Little did Charlize know, Gilbert's movie idea wasn't a traditional kung fu film, or even a genre film with kung fu elements.
However, it was still too early to bring up this project—"Real Steel" wasn't even finished yet!
After the wrap party ended and the crew officially disbanded, Gilbert's work wasn't done. He still had post-production to focus on, which was even more critical.
The most important part of "Real Steel" was the robot boxing scenes. If these weren't done well, the movie would end up being just a typical drama.
So, Gilbert couldn't afford to be careless—he had to personally oversee the post-production process.
Since the film was greenlit, visual effects work had already begun. By the time the live-action scenes were wrapped up, the VFX work was only halfway done.
"Director Gilbert, here's what we've come up with so far. What do you think?"
At Industrial Light & Magic, Gilbert watched a few of the completed sequences.
Compared to what would come in decades, it wasn't perfect, but for its time, it was incredibly realistic.
Even with Gilbert's critical eye, aside from some minor inconsistencies, there wasn't much to complain about.
So Gilbert nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Very good, the effects look great."
ILM's VFX supervisor Wilson was excited to explain the current progress: "For this film, we've used a lot of newly developed technology. We've made several scaled models, used optical motion capture, and even employed the latest virtual filming techniques."
Every new technology Wilson mentioned was cutting-edge, and it was being used for the first time in movie production.
These innovations significantly increased the likelihood of "Real Steel" being a success.
In a way, "Real Steel" could be seen as a testing ground for ILM's newest technology.
Of course, new technology is expensive. Most of the film's budget was spent here, forcing the production to cut corners elsewhere.
Fortunately, the movie didn't require many large-scale scenes, and the visual effects didn't disappoint Gilbert.
"Real Steel" wasn't just a movie—it was a showcase of cutting-edge technology.
Thanks to the global success of "Speed," the watch worn by the male lead Jack, the outfits of the female lead Annie, their shoes, sunglasses, and other products skyrocketed in sales in the third and fourth quarters of 1993.
Advertisers and brands now deeply understood how valuable product placement in a successful Hollywood film could be.
Hamilton's watches sold out immediately after the movie was released, and the factory had to work overtime to meet demand.
They even launched a special edition in collaboration with "Speed," priced significantly higher, yet it still sold out, bought up by eager fans.
This massive market reaction made Hamilton extremely happy. They didn't forget their promise either—they rewarded the film's creators with a $5 million bonus and gave Gilbert an additional $1 million.
After all, without Gilbert, there wouldn't have been the story of "Speed."
Of course, the collaboration with Hamilton was also part of the film's revenue, and both Warner Bros. and Disney were raking in cash bags from "Speed," with their profit reports driving both companies' stock prices upward.
Hamilton planned to release a couple's version of the watch, and there were rumors that Disney and Warner Bros. were moving forward with "Speed 2," and wanted to invite Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock to be their brand ambassadors.
Naturally, they didn't overlook Gilbert either. A youth-oriented concept watch endorsement was handed over to Gilbert's agent, Sheena Boone.
This endorsement contract could be seen as a reward for Gilbert, as it's quite rare for a director to endorse products.
But in reality, Hamilton wasn't losing out, because Gilbert was different from other directors.
Most directors worked behind the scenes and weren't active in front of the camera.
And to be honest, many directors weren't exactly known for their looks—some could even be described as odd-looking.
But Gilbert was different. He had high media exposure, fan discussions, and, on top of that, his looks were just as good as any Hollywood star, making him a perfect spokesperson.
With this unexpected bonus, Gilbert didn't hesitate to let Sheena negotiate the best terms. Once the conditions were right, he happily accepted the endorsement.
Following this, Hamilton also sponsored "Real Steel," with both the male lead Charlie and the young boy Max wearing Hamilton watches in the film.
Of course, being a sci-fi movie, there was no shortage of technology and electronics companies eager to sponsor and advertise in the film.
Ads for computers, phones, headphones, and other electronic products poured in.
Altogether, product placements brought in more than $5 million in sponsorships.
And these sponsors promised that if the film performed well, there would be additional bonuses.
On top of that, the movie would also earn licensing fees through tie-ins, such as Charlie's sunglasses, Max's headphones, and the concept edition of branded computers.
However, all of this depended on the movie doing well in the summer box office.
After the battle with the animal rights organization, the name "Real Steel" was already known across the U.S., and sponsors were confident the film would make a splash in next summer's blockbuster season.
Interestingly, because Gilbert was an Apple shareholder, the company wanted to place its latest electronic products in the film.
But when Gilbert saw the actual products, he was unimpressed with their old-fashioned designs, feeling they didn't fit the vision of the new era, so he suggested Apple create something new.
Since he was a shareholder, outright rejecting them would've been unwise.
To address this, Apple's new president even visited the set to meet with Gilbert, but Gilbert stuck to his point: "Bring Steve Jobs back, and everything will be fine."
The president, having just landed the top job at a company on the brink of collapse, was unwilling to give up so easily.
So the meeting ended on a sour note, and the Apple president returned to the board, denouncing Gilbert for disregarding the company's interests and suggesting that the board buy back Gilbert's shares.
The problem was, most of the board members were already planning to jump ship and escape from Apple's sinking ship. No one had the appetite to buy Gilbert's stock.
Setting Apple's issues aside, Gilbert still had a mountain of post-production work ahead of him.
As mentioned earlier, visual effects and model work had begun long before filming started, and with the shoot finished, they were only halfway done.
One of the key challenges was designing a robot with an industrial aesthetic that didn't resemble anything currently on the market.
Art director Serena Hayfe and the art department, along with ILM's model engineers, unleashed their full creativity.
They had to balance the design's appearance with functionality, and to some extent, convey human emotion—something Gilbert insisted upon.
They did an outstanding job, creating robot models so lifelike that they were the pinnacle of robot design at that time, except for lacking the agility and intelligence of the film's robots.
Producers Charles Roven and Kane Wechsman marveled at the twenty-plus robot models on display.
"Charles, these robots could be turned into toy models!" Kane Wechsman immediately saw the merchandising potential.
"Absolutely," Charles Roven agreed. "If this movie is a hit, I think the merchandise sales won't be far behind 'Jurassic Park.' At the very least, my son will want a set of robot figures."
The two producers began calculating how much the film could make from merchandise and how much of that they could claim for their company.
While companies like Melon Studio and other small investors had put money into the film, their earnings were limited to box office, video, and TV rights, as well as short-term merchandise profits.
Movie merchandise sales, however, were more central to the income stream than video or TV rights, and the big players were not about to share that revenue easily.
Steven Spielberg managed to secure 5% of the merchandise revenue, and with his salary, video, and TV rights, he took home $250 million from "Jurassic Park."
But Universal Pictures' earnings were several times that of Spielberg's.
The key difference was that Spielberg's revenue was short-term, while Universal's long term revenue
Whether it's ten years or twenty years, as long as "Jurassic Park" continues to generate revenue, Universal Pictures will keep profiting.
In fact, this was also one of the reasons Spielberg was immediately besieged by Hollywood giants after founding DreamWorks.
Hollywood's major players are naturally exclusive. There is competition and cooperation between them, but once a new player tries to enter the field, they unite to confront the newcomer.
Before Gilbert entered the Hollywood film industry, he imagined, like those stories in online novels, that he could become a super-rich tycoon, control media capital, and dominate Hollywood.
However, after actually entering the industry and gaining deeper insights, Gilbert realized he had been too naive about everything.
In novels, the author can lower the intelligence of characters.
But in reality, aside from a few exceptions, most of those who thrive in Hollywood or the media capital circles are incredibly shrewd.
Before his rebirth, Gilbert was at best a director shouting out to popular stars and influencers, never having access to the top circles, and completely ignorant of the capital games involved.
The only things he knew were that Apple's stock would rise, Microsoft and Cisco stocks would be valuable, and Amazon and Google would be founded.
But as for specific events and processes, he had no idea, no understanding at all, so it was inevitable that he would make investment decisions that others might view as foolish.
Because of this lack of understanding, he could only invest in familiar names, which in Gilbert's eyes was the safest bet.
Of course, people learn as they grow.
At the very least, the now-declining Apple stock taught Gilbert that he could wait until Steve Jobs returned to the company before making an investment.
After learning this lesson, Gilbert became much more cautious in his investment actions.
These are all side matters unrelated to film. When it comes to filmmaking, Gilbert is still very confident.
The success of three consecutive films has honed his abilities and built up his self-confidence.
