On a sunny afternoon in Los Angeles, just as the fake trainee scandal was being hyped up everywhere, Disney, Warner Bros., and Melon Studios announced on their official social media accounts Gilbert's next project. The tentative title of the project was False—a single word meaning "fake."
In fact, Gilbert had already teased fans earlier on his own social account with three hand-drawn sketches, asking them to guess which project it would be.
One sketch was a design draft resembling an armored vehicle, making people think Gilbert was preparing a war film.
But in reality, it was the design for the Batmobile. Unlike the vehicles seen in previous Batman films, this design looked so different that most fans couldn't recognize it.
Warner Bros. grew anxious. To reassure them, Gilbert had already struck a deal with Lamborghini: the company would manufacture a prototype based on his sketches for future filming.
When Lamborghini's designers and engineers first saw the draft, they thought Gilbert was daydreaming. According to the paper sketch, the vehicle could never run on real roads.
Yet Lamborghini valued the collaboration highly. Difficult as it was, with enough time they decided to bring out their most cutting-edge technologies.
Of course, fans eager to see this Batmobile would still have to wait.
Another sketch was even stranger: it looked like fungal spores sprouting and spreading, forming a bizarre and eerie image that gave people chills.
This baffled the fans. Many thought they already understood Gilbert well after watching his films for over ten years.
But in the end, they realized they didn't understand him at all.
Indeed, Gilbert's sketches fully displayed the temperament of a riddle-maker, leaving the audience clueless.
The third sketch was the most baffling of all—it was a hand-drawn U.S. dollar bill. Some fans speculated Gilbert might be planning a heist film about bank robbers.
Not entirely wrong. Though the guess missed the mark, the genre was in that ballpark.
No one expected it would actually be about counterfeit money, since the hints were far too vague.
At the time, Gilbert revealed nothing more, remaining silent until now. For this "original" story, he needed a far more skillful method of hype.
As luck would have it, this year the Federal Reserve had issued a new series of U.S. bills to replace the 1998 edition. This gave Gilbert the perfect opening to build buzz.
Soon the internet began filling with half-true reports. For instance, TMZ claimed that in May this year, the FBI busted a counterfeit operation.
The suspects had robbed Canada of color-shifting ink, and after their faces were caught on surveillance, the police traced the lead and arrested the entire counterfeiting gang.
Alongside the article, the site posted grainy, ambiguous photos that blurred truth and fiction, creating a sense of news.
Other sites also reported similar counterfeit cases—some true but years old, others fabricated with embellishment.
As such stories kept appearing, netizens were naturally drawn in, sparking curiosity and interest, eventually leading them to Gilbert's new film.
And if people weren't interested? No problem. Gilbert still had online influencers and marketing teams to stir the discussion.
Once most of the internet was talking about it, human psychology of conformity kicked in. Even those who weren't originally curious would join the conversation.
By then, North America's internet had already been around for more than a decade. Promotional strategies kept evolving, and Gilbert was among the masters.
This tactic wasn't brand new. Years earlier The Blair Witch Project had used the same trick, with online reports of witches and hauntings drawing traffic to the movie, ultimately securing its box office success.
It's fair to say audiences didn't watch The Blair Witch Project for its quality. In terms of craftsmanship, Gilbert's early horror film Final Destination was ten times better.
Viewers went to Blair Witch purely out of curiosity. Driven by curiosity, they stepped into theaters.
That's why, when Blair Witch 2 tried the same stunt again, it failed.
Audiences knew it was a publicity gimmick and had no interest. So the director faded into obscurity, while the studio made off with a fortune.
False followed the same promotional formula, using counterfeit-currency intrigue to spark audience curiosity and build hype.
The difference was that False had a far stronger script than Blair Witch, and a much more powerful cast.
Taking advantage of the ongoing media storm, Gilbert began early preparations, mainly selecting the right actors and choosing filming locations.
The story was moved from Asia to North America, and the filming would be even bolder.
The two male leads were named Charlie Dyke and Ido Dash, corresponding to the roles of Wu Fusheng and Lee Man in the Hong Kong version.
Tom Hanks, with his earnest demeanor, was well-suited to play Ido Dash. That way, the final plot twist would be all the more surprising.
And Tom Cruise, portraying Charlie Dyke, was no less fitting. His performance in Collateral had already shown audiences that Tom Cruise as a villain carried irresistible allure.
In addition, the film featured a large number of gunfight sequences.
Gilbert wanted audiences to see Tom Cruise and immediately know that the movie would not lack the essentials of an action film.
Charlize Theron would play the painter Mary Cassatt, as well as the counterfeit Mary Cassatt. The name was inspired by the American female painter active at the end of the 19th century, fitting the character's setting.
With the three leads confirmed, there were still many supporting roles worth paying attention to. These roles also stirred competition among Hollywood actors.
For Charlie Dyke's main assistant and butler, Clahan Ross, Tom Cruise recommended veteran Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman.
The two had previously worked together in Rain Man. Many said Tom Cruise was temperamental and difficult to deal with, but Dustin Hoffman admired him greatly, and their relationship was quite good.
Perhaps that was because Dustin Hoffman himself also had a rather eccentric temper.
Gilbert adopted Tom Cruise's suggestion and immediately sent an invitation to Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman gladly accepted, not even bothering to look at the pay offered by the production.
At Hoffman's age, his film work was gradually decreasing.
In other words, he was on the verge of fading out.
Though old in years, his spirit wasn't, and he wasn't ready to become irrelevant so soon. Working with a top director like Gilbert was an excellent opportunity. The salary wasn't the main concern anymore.
The role of police officer Julia Yarrow also attracted fierce competition. Hollywood starlets practically broke their heads during auditions.
But for such a crucial role, only Gilbert had the final say.
Vera Farmiga ultimately stood out and was chosen by Gilbert. His reason was simple—her face looked familiar, her acting was solid, and her bright blue eyes were strikingly beautiful.
As for the minor role of Officer Mark, Gilbert let Matt Damon reluctantly cameo in it.
For the remaining roles, Gilbert didn't choose big names. The casting director would hold auditions, provide a list to Gilbert, and then Gilbert would decide and finalize.
Once the cast was confirmed, Warner Bros. and Disney's $140 million investment had already been deposited into a third-party insurance company's account.
This was an original crime film on the subject of counterfeit money. For such a project, the studios putting down $140 million was quite a bold move.
Robert Iger stated directly in a senior executive meeting that if this project had not come from Gilbert, any other director proposing it would have been thrown out of the company.
Only directors like Gilbert—one of the very few—could make studios pay for such capricious creativity.
In fact, Gilbert had already proven this year that he wasn't blindly pushing originals. By mid-September, Pirates of the Caribbean had already grossed $750 million worldwide.
That too was an original film, yet it had achieved an astonishing box office while bringing in massive merchandising revenue.
Thus Disney and Warner believed Gilbert was a mature commercial filmmaker.
He belonged to that rare group of directors who balanced commerce and artistry exceptionally well. He wouldn't make something like Heat.
Yet, to be fair, Gilbert himself actually liked Heat quite a bit. In particular, the style of its gunfight sequences had influenced many later action films.
But the pacing of that movie was overly drawn-out. Though critics praised it, its box office performance wasn't very good.
False would definitely not follow Heat's path. Its appeal lay in the star-studded cast, jaw-dropping action scenes, and shocking twists.
And truly, only Gilbert had the ability to bring Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks together in one film.
Not to mention adding an Oscar-winning actress like Charlize Theron, an Oscar-winning actor like Dustin Hoffman, and an A-lister like Matt Damon to the lineup.
This was also why False required a $140 million budget. The salaries of the three leads plus the director ate up most of the production funds, along with the rest of the cast and crew's pay.
Then there were costs for set construction, props, and other expenses.
Fortunately, the film didn't require heavy special effects; otherwise, the budget would have easily shot up to $200 million.
A $200 million crime thriller? Forget Gilbert—even James Cameron, known for extravagant spending, would have hesitated.
With the cast assembled, by mid-September Melon Studios held a grand press conference to officially announce the film's title and subject.
....
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