In addition to the posters, The False also announced its release date — Friday, April 30, 2004, with a simultaneous release in North America and more than thirty countries across Europe, Asia, and America.
It seemed as though everyone was waiting for The Flase to announce its schedule, and once it did, other films quickly set their own dates.
Among them, Melon Studio's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban made its debut in the summer slot, releasing on June 4.
This was the third installment in the series, and also the one that marked the transition from the family-friendly children's films of the first two entries to a more adult-oriented direction.
The leads were still the trio. Haley managed his figure quite well — he didn't gain weight or grow unattractive. Harry Potter grew more and more handsome, much to the delight of fans.
As for Emma Watson, needless to say, she was beautiful from childhood into adulthood, and Hermione's popularity surpassed the other two.
The only one left questioning life was Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley. Of the trio — one a charming handsome boy, one a pure beauty — only he had grown less attractive.
Rupert Grint was innocent, really. It wasn't as if he wanted it.
It was worth mentioning that as the series continued, the salaries of the three young actors inevitably increased to varying degrees.
This was a situation Gilbert had long foreseen. Even if the three actors themselves didn't want a raise, their families and agents would demand one.
In Hollywood, demanding higher pay for sequels was only natural. The problem, however, was that it wasn't just salary — the actors even wanted a cut of the box office and merchandise profits.
This was something neither Gilbert nor Warner, nor Disney, could accept.
J. K. Rowling could enjoy a share of the box office and merchandise profits because she was the core figure of the series. Winning her over was a price they had to pay.
But for the three young actors to be included — that was something Gilbert did not want to see.
No matter how much he admired Haley, or how much he liked Emma Watson, Gilbert would not allow personal feelings to influence his decisions.
But in such situations, Hollywood giants had their countermeasures. The simplest one was accounting.
The Harry Potter series was operated by a separate studio, and all expenses were processed under that studio's name.
In other words, Harry Potter was essentially a film financed by borrowing money from Warner and Disney.
After filming was done, there was still promotion, and the promotional budget was added to the total investment. But in reality, that promotional money was just moving from the left pocket to the right, flowing back into Warner and Disney's coffers.
By maneuvering this way, the books showed a loss. And with a loss, naturally, there was no box office profit to share.
Even though everyone knew there were problems here, not even the sharpest accountant could find any flaw in the books.
Of course, unless the actors were excessively greedy, film companies usually didn't resort to this tactic.
There was also the last resort — replacing the actors.
But for Harry Potter, recasting was an absolute last measure, not something done lightly.
Another thing worth mentioning was Emma Watson. This girl was shrewd — she had even proposed before that she wanted to come study at Melon Manor.
As she grew older, Emma Watson became more mature, more aware of Hollywood's true nature.
A pretty girl without a powerful backer was in great danger in Hollywood, so she was eager to draw closer to Gilbert.
But Gilbert hadn't interacted with Emma Watson much. First, because of his busy work; second, because he already had many women around him, so his attention never landed on her.
Still, the young girl wouldn't give up. In public, she frequently promoted her "close relationship" with Gilbert, sweetly calling him "brother" again and again.
This tactic was very effective — at least many of the predatory gazes directed at her diminished.
Everyone knew Gilbert was petty and vindictive. To start a war with him over a young girl was simply not worth it.
Emma Watson's urgent task now was to truly establish a close relationship with Gilbert.
Otherwise, if too much time passed and people realized that Emma Watson was only talking big and had no real connection with Gilbert, those gazes would return.
There was no helping it. Beautiful girls in Hollywood were destined for hardship. Having schemes wasn't a bad thing — it was actually a good thing.
Just look at Natalie Portman — a girl with deep thoughts, thriving in Hollywood, loved by the Squid Club of Hollywood, even more favored than Gilbert.
After all, Gilbert was rebellious, but Natalie Portman was obedient.
Emma Watson naturally understood her own situation. She couldn't be like Scarlett — Scarlett's case was special. What girl gets raised from the age of five until adulthood, then naturally becomes his?
Many in Hollywood suspected Gilbert had a "raising" fetish. The key point was that he endured it, waiting until Scarlett came of age before making a move, leaving not a whisper of gossip for outsiders.
This year was an opportunity for Emma Watson. Fourteen to eighteen still counted as "raised," and it would add a different color to Gilbert's life.
To please Gilbert, Emma Watson had even redesigned her Hogwarts school uniform with a bit of "spice," ready to put it to use.
At this age, girls began to understand things. And an Emma Watson mixing in Hollywood matured even faster.
To maintain her position and climb higher, even if Gilbert disciplined her with stick and rod, Emma Watson was willing.
Gilbert, however, had no idea this girl harbored so many schemes. He simply hadn't paid much attention to her.
Aside from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the most heavyweight film this year was Spider-Man 2.
When Spider-Man 1 was released, although its opening weekend box office also broke 100 million, its brilliance was completely overshadowed by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
But this year was different — there was no Return of the King.
Although there was still a Harry Potter movie, Sony Columbia Pictures believed the time had come for Spider-Man 2 to dominate the summer box office.
Of course, because Gilbert was such an unpredictable figure, Spider-Man 2 was not scheduled in the same slot as The False, but was instead placed on June 30.
Sony Columbia Pictures didn't want a head-on clash. That didn't mean others didn't.
David Ellison, ignoring Michael Ovitz's advice, decided to release Van Helsing in the same slot as The False.
Michael Ovitz regretted it deeply — The False boasted two Toms plus Charlize Theron in its cast. Counting the Best Actor and Best Actress winners, there were four.
Not to mention, the director of this film was Gilbert.
Over the years, Gilbert had already proven that even with original films, he could make them spectacular and full of highlights, not to be underestimated.
David Ellison, in a rush of hot-headedness, chose to go head-to-head, and the outcome was already obvious.
But David Ellison clearly didn't think so. He had finally graduated college and arrived in Hollywood.
Strictly speaking, Van Helsing was the first film for which he served as producer and financier. Arrogant and proud, David Ellison didn't believe his film was inferior to Gilbert's.
As Martin Bob said privately, people like this wouldn't grow without going through hardships.
"Let him smash his head bloody. By then, he'll know we were right."
These were Martin Bob's exact words. Michael Ovitz was helpless, and could only agree.
Aside from these few films, the summer lineup also included DreamWorks' release Shrek 2.
DreamWorks was still stubbornly resisting the giants, though it was becoming increasingly difficult. The animation division of DreamWorks had long been coveted by the major studios.
Once DreamWorks was divided up, its animation division would be an extremely valuable asset.
Others included The Day After Tomorrow, The Bourne Supremacy starring Matt Damon, and I, Robot starring Will Smith.
In addition, The Jackie Chan Adventures 2, co-directed by Alfonso Cuarón and Tsui Hark and starring Jackie Chan, would also land in the summer slot.
National Treasure, starring Cameron Diaz, had a slightly later release date. With so many films crowding the summer lineup, it was moved to the Thanksgiving slot.
Another film worth mentioning was The Passion of the Christ. This film had already begun test screenings, facing heavy criticism from religious groups.
However, the word-of-mouth from test screenings looked quite good, with excellent data.
The film hit theaters very early, on February 25. Gilbert was very optimistic about its market performance, despite the heavy controversy.
But controversy brought attention, and attention brought more box office.
The competition that summer was extremely fierce, forcing Gilbert to pay extra attention to The False's publicity.
In addition to the Super Bowl trailer, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks would also appear on various shows to promote the film, and Charlize Theron wouldn't be absent either.
This star-studded crime film had garnered a level of attention never before seen by Hollywood crime films.
This was both good and bad.
The good part was that attention could be converted into box office. After all, the ticket sales pull of three major stars plus a great director was no joke. With such a lineup, raking in four to five hundred million at the box office was no problem.
The bad part was that if word-of-mouth collapsed, the situation would be far worse, collapsing completely.
But Gilbert had immense confidence in the film's quality. Although The False looked brain-burning and didn't fit with the simple films dominating the current mainstream market—
Gilbert believed The False's story, while seemingly brain-burning, was actually not complicated and very appealing.
Audiences also needed to get used to such films, at least to engage their brains, to think and process.
At worst, everyone could learn from the film how to make U.S. dollars. All they needed was to figure out color-shifting ink. Though the Federal Reserve, upon finding out, probably wouldn't be too pleased.
All in all, this year's summer season looked to be a bloody battlefield, the competition pressure immense, and even Gilbert could not relax.
Amidst the busyness of film work, Peter Thiel, introduced by his cousin Ellie, also came to Los Angeles to meet with Gilbert.
The two held a roughly two-hour meeting on how to change America and change the world.
As for the contents of the meeting, outsiders could not know.
....
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