District 9 had not yet been released when another racing crime film produced by Melon Studio, Fast & Furious 4, was released.
Compared to the previous timeline, the Fast & Furious series had undergone major changes.
However, films of this type are not very particular about plot. They are popcorn movies, and audiences are not there for some profound storytelling.
As long as the street-racing scenes are designed to be cool enough, the action sequences explosive enough to send adrenaline surging, and there are luxury cars and beautiful women accompanying it all, nothing else really matters.
In fact, this was indeed the case. In its opening weekend, the film took in 63.22 million dollars, achieving quite impressive results.
The film also maintained fairly decent word of mouth. Although it definitely could not be compared with The Dark Knight, at least the viewing experience was extremely enjoyable—pure, straightforward fun.
However, for a film series that had already reached its fourth installment, how to continuously provide audiences with fresh and stimulating excitement was something the creators had to consider.
As a result, the investment jumped from 38 million dollars for the first film to 125 million dollars for the fourth.
In addition to soaring production costs, this was also related to the inflation of the lead actors' salaries. In order to reduce salary expenses, a few main characters simply had to die.
Liv Tyler and Jessica Alba successfully died in the fourth installment. The character Letty, who appeared in the first film, was officially promoted in the fourth installment, with the role played by Michelle Rodriguez.
In addition, a new actress named Gal Gadot joined the series and played a role in it.
Liv Tyler clung to Gilbert with grievance. "I died in the fourth film. You have to compensate me."
"Compensate you with what? Hiss… biting that hard, you really had the heart to do it?"
"Hmph. If you don't compensate me, I'll bite that thing of yours off and make your women guard an empty bed."
"You, you," Gilbert shook his head and said, "Alright, let me think. How about you play an elf?"
"An elf? The Lord of the Rings?"
"Yes. The prequel to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit. You'll play an elven archer. It suits you very well," Gilbert said.
Liv Tyler was overjoyed. "I knew you wouldn't abandon me. Love you."
After saying that, Liv Tyler clapped her hands. "I'll introduce you to a good friend. We met on set."
"Wait, what good friend?"
Before Gilbert could react, he saw Gal Gadot walking over with a flushed face.
"Director Gilbert."
"Uh," Gilbert was instantly speechless and glared at Liv Tyler.
Liv Tyler merely laughed softly. "Hurry up, Gal. What did I teach you last time?"
"Got it," Gal Gadot said as she took off her clothes, revealing her incomparably beautiful body.
At this point, Gilbert was no ascetic saint like Liu Xiahui. Naturally, he would not let this opportunity pass. Thus, after a night of passion, Gal Gadot, who had just arrived in Hollywood, found herself a pillar of support.
After a night-long workout, Gal Gadot left early in the morning, but she did obtain Gilbert's private phone number.
"How did you trick that young girl into coming over?" Gilbert asked.
"What do you mean tricked?" Liv Tyler rolled her eyes. "I call this pointing out a clear path for a newcomer.
Besides, since she's going to be slept with sooner or later, it might as well be you. At least you can take care of her a bit."
"What kind of theory is that?"
"The survival theory of Hollywood women," Liv Tyler said righteously. "So many people want to sleep with you and don't even have the chance. She should be thanking me."
As soon as she finished speaking, Liv Tyler's phone buzzed with a text message—it was from Gal Gadot.
"See? I told you!"
Gilbert focused his eyes and looked. Sure enough, it was a message from Gal Gadot expressing her thanks.
Liv Tyler added, "I'm telling you, you should really loosen your restrictions. If you did, I believe you'd definitely surpass Warren Beatty."
Warren Beatty is a well-known Hollywood actor, director, and producer who once won the Academy Award for Best Director at the 54th Oscars.
However, what he is most widely known for is not the works he acted in or directed, but the fact that during his most active years, he slept with numerous A-list Hollywood actresses.
These actresses all spoke highly of him and even defended his image, somewhat similar to Gilbert now.
Still, compared to him, Gilbert was far inferior. It was rumored that Warren Beatty had slept with 12,775 women. The number might be exaggerated, but it certainly proved that he had slept with many women.
Gilbert had heard of this man before, but it was through Agent Smith, involving a scandal from years ago.
It was rumored that Warren Beatty was a frequent guest of a certain former occupant of the White House in Washington, and that the two even played together, often visiting clubs and islands and the like.
Gilbert glared at Liv Tyler. "Stop bringing me random women. I'd already be thanking heaven and earth for that."
"Oh really?" Liv Tyler's eyes lit up. "So what you mean is, I can keep finding women for you? As you command, my king."
Gilbert pointed a finger, utterly speechless.
Liv Tyler chuckled again. "Don't worry. I won't find you that kind of woman. I'm afraid of diseases too. I guarantee they're all clean."
Having run into a woman like this, what could Gilbert say? He could only enjoy it.
Returning to Fast & Furious 4, the core of the series was Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. However, perhaps because he had played the role too many times, Vin Diesel had become somewhat inflated with confidence.
In the negotiations for the latest installment, he demanded greater say, wanted to serve as a producer, and to have the authority to choose actors.
In addition, his salary also needed to increase, reaching the 20+20 level.
Such an outrageous demand was, of course, something Melon Studio could not possibly agree to, and it was decisively rejected. Vin Diesel then threatened to go on strike, saying that if his conditions were not met, he would withdraw from the series.
Gilbert's response to this was: "If he wants to quit, then let him quit. We have replacement candidates."
Gilbert had originally planned to bring Dwayne Johnson into the fifth installment anyway. If Vin Diesel quit, there would be no need to worry at all.
They could simply write Dominic Toretto to death, have Paul Walker become the leader of the Fast family, and then join forces with Dwayne Johnson to avenge Dominic Toretto.
The plot was already there, no need to think about it.
Vin Diesel, on the other hand, would have been the one to suffer. In recent years, after leaving the Fast & Furious series, he had not produced many works worth mentioning. xXx counted as one, and the rest were all forgettable and not worth talking about.
Although he could be stubborn at times, Vin Diesel was not stupid. He knew exactly what this series meant to him.
So Vin Diesel immediately backed down, quickly signed the actor contract, and continued to play Dominic Toretto.
This is the tragedy of actors in franchise films. Once they leave their flagship series, they realize they are actually nothing. Later on, Marvel actors also faced the same dilemma, performing quite poorly once they left Marvel films.
But there is no way around it. There are gains and losses. By relying on franchise films, at least they can maintain their status as first-tier stars.
For stars, their status is extremely important.
...
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