Michael Ovitz comforted David Ellison: "David, we still have a chance. Complicated films have never been very popular. Audiences don't go to the cinema to use their brains."
David Ellison felt a little better: "Yes, audiences go to the cinema for enjoyment, not for mind games."
At this moment, Martin Bob, who had been silent, added: "That makes sense, but don't forget The Sixth Sense and The Matrix."
David Ellison and Michael Ovitz were immediately speechless. Both were among Gilbert's representative works, and both were prime examples of mind-bending films.
The result was that both films had been massive successes in terms of both reputation and box office, while also catapulting many people to stardom.
Bruce Willis transformed from an action star into a representative of serious acting, and Keanu Reeves became a global icon through Neo.
Faced with such achievements, no one could argue that complicated films couldn't succeed.
If anything, it only proved one thing—that the director of the film was incompetent.
Was Gilbert incompetent? From past experience, clearly not.
Nights in Silicon Valley were always filled with countless overtime workers, even though the Chinese internet of the previous life was full of praise for Silicon Valley's work environment.
No clocking in, working whenever you wanted, open office layouts, no mandatory overtime, and so on.
It sounded like paradise, making people yearn for it from afar.
But the reality was that such work models existed only in a few companies, mostly in startup internet tech firms with such cultures.
Any company even slightly more formal was no different from regular companies—employees still clocked in, and work hours were fixed.
The only possible difference from companies back home was that there really wasn't much mandatory overtime. But Amazon was an exception. Because of Jeff Bezos's ruthless management style, the work environment at Amazon was known as the harshest in Silicon Valley.
By after ten at night, several members of Amazon's planning department were already dizzy with fatigue, wishing only to get off work and go home to rest.
At that moment, their team leader spoke up: "Thanks for the hard work, everyone. That's all for today. The higher-ups arranged a few tickets—we're going to the movies!"
One team member stretched and groaned in pain: "Leader, do we really have to? I'd rather just go home and sleep."
"Yeah, leader, we don't want to go…" The team members all voiced their strong desire to rest.
But the leader disagreed: "No, you must go. This is goodwill from above, and we can't refuse."
The employees felt tormented, but this was simply how Amazon operated. Helplessly, they had no choice but to agree.
"What movie are we going to see?"
"The False."
"Directed by Gilbert, and I heard Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise are in it."
At this, the employees instantly perked up: "Now that's worth seeing. I'm a die-hard fan of Gilbert."
"Me too…"
"I heard Gilbert is a shareholder of Amazon?"
"Seems like it."
"No wonder we got midnight tickets. I heard they're hard to buy."
In theaters near busy commercial districts, midnight screenings of Gilbert's films were indeed difficult to get. But at slightly out-of-the-way theaters, there wasn't such a problem.
At one theater in Brooklyn, New York, a young man arrived, weary and travel-worn. His name was Alex. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he was a true street kid.
His father had died on the streets, and his mother had taken six or seven boyfriends, eventually contracting HIV.
Alex despised his street upbringing, despised everything around him. But he had to face life with a smile, or else he would meet fists and vicious words.
Alex's dream was to escape the neighborhood—to go to Wall Street, to Manhattan. Maybe even Los Angeles, maybe even see the whole world.
Now eighteen, he had graduated high school but had not received any college admission notice. He could only make a living doing odd jobs.
At twelve, his mother's third boyfriend had stolen a DVD. On that disc, Alex first encountered a film by Gilbert, and from then on he became a fan.
Perhaps it was the shared pain of youth meeting Gilbert's gift for dream-making that made Alex fall in love with the art of cinema.
But for a street kid like Alex, going to the movies was a luxury, even more expensive than marijuana or cocaine.
To catch Gilbert's newest film, Alex had scrimped and saved for a week, finally collecting enough money for two tickets.
He immediately called to book seats, then phoned a girl he knew, Valerie.
"Hey, Valerie, it's Alex.
Here's the thing—I've got two movie tickets, and no one to go with. Do you have time?"
Hearing the girl's positive response, Alex was a little excited: "Great, then let's meet at the theater entrance."
For a street kid, going to the movies was an incredibly high-class activity.
So Alex put on the only somewhat expensive, formal outfit he owned, sprayed himself with two squirts of his mother's cheap perfume, styled his hair, and set out.
Not long after, Alex met Valerie. She was in the same situation, and when the two of them saw each other's getup, they couldn't help but laugh.
"Valerie, you look so beautiful today." Tongue-tied Alex couldn't find the words, so he just kept praising Valerie's beauty.
To the street boys, Valerie was the most beautiful diamond on the streets, and even speaking a word with her wasn't easy.
Although they didn't know that diamonds were a lie and not truly precious, that didn't stop Valerie from being popular.
Such a girl, shining like a diamond, happened to favor Alex, making a group of street boys furious with envy.
The two met, chatted while waiting for the movie to start, and then went into the theater together to watch The False.
A great movie always provides plenty of topics to discuss, and The False was no exception.
During the movie, Alex seemed to have endless things to say, chatting happily with Valerie.
When they walked out of the theater, they were still passionately discussing the plot, and then the discussion carried on to the bed.
After a night of passion, Valerie, feeling Alex's chest muscles, said to him: "Alex, since you love movies so much, why don't you chase your dream?"
"Chase a dream?" Alex was stunned. "How can I chase a dream? I'm just a street kid."
"Go to the West Coast, go to Los Angeles, go to Hollywood, to the center of the film industry." Valerie encouraged him. "You don't belong to the streets of Brooklyn, Alex.
A man should go out and make something of himself. You've really got good potential; you could start from the bottom…"
Valerie and Alex talked a lot that night. Later, the girl fell asleep, but Alex couldn't sleep at all.
He held Valerie's soft body and thought for a long time, until the sky grew faintly light at dawn. With no sleepiness left, Alex got up, went to the table, and wrote a letter for Valerie.
He packed up his things—though there wasn't much to pack, just a few sets of clothes.
While his mother wasn't back yet, Alex stole the money hidden in her shoe cabinet, then bought a plane ticket to Los Angeles and began his journey to chase his film dream.
"This damn brat, he stole my money…" Alex's mother stormed in, and upon entering the room, immediately found Valerie who had just woken up.
"Valerie? What are you doing here?" Alex's mother was stunned, then asked: "Where's Alex?"
Valerie shook the letter in her hand. "He went to Los Angeles to chase his dream."
"This damn brat," Alex's mother gnashed her teeth, swearing that when Alex came back, she'd skin him alive.
Of course, Alex, who had set out on his dream-chasing journey, didn't know this. Likely, by the time he returned in glory, his mother wouldn't care about such a thing anymore.
It had to be said, Gilbert's films truly produced significant social influence, changing the life trajectories of many people.
For example, the couple Jack Zhao and Erin. The once poor Chinese boy marrying the rich white beauty Erin became a classic case of the Chinese-American Dream.
To this day, many young Chinese men still take Jack Zhao as their role model, though few succeed. Most are still struggling at the bottom.
The American Dream belonged only to the few. For most, the American Dream existed only in newspapers and books.
The False was not like The Return of the King, a phenomenon-level film that caused a huge sensation, but with several Hollywood superstars backing it, its performance at the midnight premiere was decent.
That night, Gilbert did not go home but instead slept in the lounge behind his office.
There was a bed there, as well as a change of clothes.
Though rarely used, it was something that couldn't be absent.
Ivanka also hadn't gone back; she had dozed off on the sofa in Gilbert's office, waiting for the midnight numbers to come out.
After one in the morning, the specific box office data came in and was handed to Ivanka.
After looking at it, Ivanka showed a "just as expected" smile, then knocked on the lounge door and walked in.
Gilbert was awakened by the noise. Rubbing his eyes, he asked: "The box office data is out?"
"It's out, and the performance is pretty good. The midnight screenings took in 9.47 million dollars. For an original film, that's a very high midnight box office number," Ivanka said.
"Not bad," Gilbert wasn't surprised at all.
Whether it was Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise, or Charlize Theron, each of them was an actor with strong box office appeal.
In a time slot like the midnight premiere, where star power mattered the most, the lineup of director plus superstars would undoubtedly attract more attention.
Gilbert then asked: "How's the situation with Van Helsing?"
"Not very good," Ivanka flipped through the data sheet and replied: "The average review score is only B-, attendance is less than twenty percent, and the midnight box office only earned 1.98 million dollars."
Gilbert was a little surprised: "Actually, that's okay. I originally thought it wouldn't even exceed one million!"
Ivanka found it strange: "I think this project had the potential to be a hit! This performance is too poor."
"Ivanka, in the film market, it's the audience who decides. Just because you think it will be a hit doesn't mean it will be." Gilbert knew Van Helsing wasn't a threat, and he could rest easy.
"All right, you've stayed up so late—go get some rest too!"
Ivanka paused but didn't move.
This late at night, going home alone wasn't safe!
"What? You want to sleep with me?" Gilbert asked with a smile.
That damn boss—Ivanka gnashed her teeth. "No need…"
After speaking, Ivanka quickly left, slamming the door hard behind her.
Gilbert shook his head speechlessly. This little assistant didn't listen. Another day, he'd have to give her a good lesson with a stick…
....
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