Roger Moore decidin' to be in The Rock totally threw Sean Connery for a loop.
He honestly thought that The Rock crew didn't have many options and would eventually cave, agreein' to his demands.
But no way, they just made a quick call, heard his conditions, immediately gave up, and went with someone else.
And get this, he knew the guy – it was Roger Moore, the third Bond.
That made Sean Connery furious. He blew up again, yellin' and ragin' at home, punchin' and kickin' his wife and kid to let out his anger.
"That jerk, how dare he? How dare he?!" Sean Connery's rage at Gilbert was outta control.
If Gilbert had been there, he would've ripped him apart.
Too bad, it was just powerless anger.
Gilbert was in charge, had the full trust of Warner Bros. and Disney, and wasn't scared of some washed-up old 007.
What pissed Sean Connery off the most was that the crew would rather pick an even more washed-up Roger Moore than him.
When this news got out, what would people think? The 007 image wasn't exclusively his; could Sean Connery really accuse the crew of bad casting?
Sean Connery, blinded by rage, immediately called Martin Bob: "Martin, can't you do something to mess with Gilbert's new project?"
Martin Bob on the other end of the line was surprised: "Mess with Gilbert's new project? Sean, what are you thinkin'?"
"That damn jerk, he dared to play me. I'm gonna make him pay," Martin Bob could practically feel Sean Connery's gritted teeth through the phone.
He tried to calm him down: "Sean, don't be mad, anger won't help.
Right now, the most important thing is to focus on ourselves and wait for Gilbert to mess up. That's when we strike."
Sean Connery quieted down but was still a bit annoyed: "Are we just gonna sit here and watch Gilbert keep succeedin' like this?"
Martin Bob said, "No way. Nobody stays on top forever, not even if Spielberg and George Lucas teamed up."
As he said that, Martin Bob sounded a little unsure himself.
He always felt like Gilbert was a strange guy, and nothing good ever happened when he was around. This whole "wait for a chance, wait for Gilbert to fail" thing – when was that day ever gonna come?
Actually, it wasn't just CAA's Martin Bob and his crew who hated Gilbert. A lot of people in Hollywood were jealous, resentin' Gilbert's success at such a young age.
And Universal Pictures was definitely one of the more bitter ones. I mean, Gilbert movin' to Disney was a normal business choice, but why'd he have to keep succeedin'?!
The more successful Gilbert got, the more miserable Universal Pictures felt, 'cause that success should've been theirs.
But their parent company, Panasonic, didn't have to worry anymore. After getting hammered in Hollywood, Panasonic finally realized their name meant squat in Hollywood and actually became a reason to be targeted.
So this year, Panasonic Films sold Universal Pictures to a Canadian liquor company, pullin' out of the Hollywood market, leaving only Sony Columbia strugglin' to hold on.
The movie business and the electronics manufacturing industry are totally different; those Japanese folks got totally fleeced.
Akio Taniguchi, whom Gilbert knew well, also went back to Japan. Before he left, he specifically visited Gilbert and invited him to Tokyo, which Gilbert accepted.
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### Roger Moore Signs On
So, Roger Moore became the second confirmed actor after Nicolas Cage.
The upside of not pickin' Sean Connery was that the salary wasn't as high.
Roger Moore ended up gettin' only $500,000 with no box office percentage.
Even though he hadn't done any work in recent years, for Roger Moore, the pay was still kinda low.
His agent, Dawson, tried to push for better terms, but Roger Moore wouldn't even discuss it; the minute Charles Roven brought it up, he agreed.
He agreed so fast that Charles Roven almost thought he misheard him.
With that, the highest-paid actor in the cast ended up being Nicolas Cage, with just a $3 million salary and no extra clauses.
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### Building the Team
After that, Ed Harris, John Spencer, and others all passed their auditions and signed acting contracts with the production team. Gilbert's crew members also passed Warner Bros. and Touchstone Pictures' reviews one by one and joined the production.
After these actors and crew members' contracts were set, it cost the production another $8 million, leaving Gilbert with $48.5 million in production funds.
If they spent carefully, that money would be totally enough.
But just then, someone unexpected showed up.
While busy settin' up for The Rock, Gilbert got a call from George Lucas.
"Gilbert, you free? I got this awesome French chef here; come over for dinner," George Lucas invited Gilbert to his place.
Dinner was just an excuse; there had to be another reason. Gilbert felt awkward turnin' him down, especially since the movie he was prepping still needed help from Industrial Light & Magic, so he accepted the invite.
"Sounds good, when?"
"Tonight, maybe! You haven't left L.A. yet, have you?" George Lucas knew Gilbert was takin' the crew to San Francisco, so he'd already checked.
"Nope, so I'll swing by tonight?"
"Awesome, I opened a good bottle of wine, just waitin' for you."
Hanging up, Gilbert told Naomi Watts: "Naomi, come with me tonight; we're goin' to visit someone."
"Where are we goin'?" Naomi Watts asked.
"Director Lucas's house. He called me specifically."
"Do I need to get anything ready?" Naomi Watts asked.
"Nah, nah," Gilbert waved his hand. "Just keep it casual. It's a private dinner, just buy a little something to bring over.
Oh, and bring that Chinese tea I've been savin'."
Naomi Watts followed Gilbert's instructions, quickly put on some makeup, grabbed the tea, and left with Gilbert, buyin' a few other things on the way.
Cameron Diaz was too wild, and Charlize Theron was still too young, so for events like this, Gilbert usually brought Naomi Watts.
The petite woman was steady, knew how to act, and was pleasant to talk to, so she could chat happily with the hostess.
Even though George Lucas was married early on, he'd divorced and wasn't married now; he just had a girlfriend.
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### The Fox Enters
Arriving at George Lucas's home in Beverly Hills, Gilbert met another person: Tom Rothman, the CEO of 20th Century Fox.
"Gilbert, let me introduce you. This is the CEO of Fox Film, Tom Rothman. Tom, this is Director Gilbert," George Lucas introduced them.
Actually, Gilbert and Tom Rothman had met a few times before at celebratory events, but they hadn't talked much, so this was, like, their official introduction.
They greeted each other and shook hands.
"Gentlemen, dinner's ready. Let's eat first. Today's French chef is pretty good, you know!" Soon, George Lucas's girlfriend came to call the three of them to dinner.
George Lucas gestured: "Let's enjoy dinner first..."
"Okay, please..."
During the meal, everyone had a great conversation. Coupled with the French cuisine and expensive Bordeaux wine, it was a truly unique experience.
Everyone had a blast at dinner. After they finished, Naomi Watts, George Lucas's girlfriend, and Mrs. Tom Rothman went to the living room to chat, while the three men went to George Lucas's study to talk business.
George Lucas was just the introducer; in fact, the one who came to see Gilbert was Tom Rothman.
Americans, when they talk business, rarely beat around the bush like some Chinese business dinners.
Tom Rothman got straight to the point: "Let's cut to the chase, Gilbert. 20th Century Fox wants in; we want to invest in your new project."
Gilbert was a bit surprised, but he quickly understood why.
The big studios all had corporate spies, and non-classified info would quickly get passed around.
The Rock was such a huge project, and Gilbert was the director.
Gilbert's previous movies had been so successful that his every move was closely watched in Hollywood. It was no surprise that a film company would want to get in on the action, based on his past success.
But Warner Bros. and Disney were tightly holdin' onto the investment opportunities, not givin' any other companies a chance to get involved.
Fox Film was gettin' antsy. Knowin' they couldn't just jump in, they decided to take a roundabout approach, goin' around Warner Bros. and Disney to talk directly with Gilbert.
Gilbert said, "Mr. Rothman, you should know that Warner Bros. and Disney won't let any other companies in. They're really keen on this project."
"Yes, of course, I understand," Tom Rothman nodded, then quickly added, "As long as you support it, I can talk to Jeff Robinov and Robert Iger. I believe they won't refuse."
Havin' been in Hollywood for so long, Gilbert totally knew what Tom Rothman was doin': it was just a resource swap.
20th Century Fox had a lot of appealing projects up its sleeve, no worse than Gilbert's projects. If they brought up the Star Wars series, Warner Bros. and Disney would probably agree.
But a hot property like Star Wars probably wouldn't be used for a resource swap.
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### A New Partnership
Considering it was a good idea to get on 20th Century Fox's good side now, Gilbert figured he could at least get a piece of James Cameron's big boat.
So Gilbert said, "On principle, I'm not against 20th Century Fox investing in this project, but Mr. Rothman, I don't want anyone interfering with my control of the production."
Tom Rothman promised: "Don't you worry, our investment in this movie at 20th Century Fox is entirely based on our trust in you. We will absolutely not interfere with your creative freedom."
After they reached a preliminary agreement, George Lucas clapped his hands and said, "Gentlemen, congrats on your partnership. I think we should celebrate."
So, George Lucas opened another bottle of champagne, and the three of them raised their glasses together, celebratin' the moment their partnership was made.
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### The Aftermath
On the way home that night, Naomi Watts was drivin', and she asked, "What did you talk about with Director Lucas and Mr. Rothman?"
There was nothing to hide, so Gilbert replied, "20th Century Fox wants to get involved, so they went through Director Lucas to get my support as the director."
"And did you agree?"
"Why not? It's not gonna hurt me," Gilbert said with a shrug.
After gettin' Gilbert's support, 20th Century Fox quickly swapped some resources with Warner Bros. and Disney, snaggin' the chance to invest in The Rock.
This decision got Tom Rothman the support of Fox executives, and they gladly shelled out $10 million.
Warner Bros. and Disney each gave up $5 million to let 20th Century Fox join the project.
So, The Rock became a four-way investment.
The movie's total budget was $70 million. Disney took $25 million of that, with their Touchstone Pictures handlein' North American distribution.
Warner Bros. took $25 million and was in charge of international distribution.
Cantaloupe Studios took $10 million and was the film's production company.
20th Century Fox took $10 million, just puttin' in the cash and waitin' for their cut, not gettin' involved in any other work.
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