After Fast & Furious 4, Pixar Studio released another major production, WALL·E, better known to Chinese audiences by the translated title Robot Wally.
However, this film belonged to the type that was critically acclaimed but not commercially explosive. Although it earned a solid $63.05 million at the box office in its first weekend and received strong professional reviews, it lagged far behind Kung Fu Panda in the most important aspect for animated films—merchandising.
Kung Fu Panda's North American box office reached $183.57 million, while its global box office climbed to $433.85 million.
In terms of merchandise revenue, North America generated $65.4 million in sales, with the global total reaching $124 million.
As for WALL·E, its first-weekend merchandise sales were only $3.5 million, not even comparable to the merchandise revenue of most live-action commercial films.
Disney was, of course, dissatisfied with such results—especially considering WALL·E's production budget of $120 million, paired with such modest box office and merchandise performance.
However, Disney had a prior agreement with Pixar Animation Studios not to interfere with Pixar's creative freedom, so there was little they could do.
Fortunately, Pixar also understood that failing to turn a profit might trigger Disney's dissatisfaction, which was why they continued producing animated films that leaned more toward commercial appeal.
This year's Kung Fu Panda could already be considered Pixar completing its KPI. As long as WALL·E did not lose money, Disney had little ground to complain.
Meanwhile, that same week, The Dark Knight's North American box office reached $466.31 million. Considering its long remaining theatrical run, the film had a strong chance of surpassing $500 million domestically.
More importantly, the film's global box office had already exceeded $1 billion, reaching $1.07793 billion that week—setting the highest box office record in history for a superhero film.
Judging by its momentum, the film still had considerable room to grow and might even surpass $1.2 billion.
For a superhero movie with such a heavy theme, a painful viewing experience, and a dark, oppressive tone, achieving such results was truly remarkable.
Moreover, Heath Ledger was still alive and well, and the film did not rely on any "death marketing."
It was precisely because of The Dark Knight's impact that film companies holding superhero film rights, or investing in new productions, began rushing to emulate this direction.
Hollywood is an industry notorious for severe trend-following. Whatever the market favors, studios rush to produce en masse. When action films were popular in the 1990s, the market was flooded with action movies.
Later, when The Lord of the Rings series became a massive success, epic blockbusters filled the market.
Now that The Dark Knight was a huge hit, everyone wanted to follow suit by producing serious, realistic, dark, and thematically heavy films.
Sony Columbia Pictures announced that Spider-Man 4 would delve deeply into Peter Parker's painful past, telling a story of overcoming suffering and personal growth.
20th Century Fox also stated that Wolverine would tell Wolverine's origin story, adopting a darker and more somber tone.
There was no doubt—this was all moving closer to The Dark Knight's style.
However, amid this wave of imitation, some people remained clear-headed.
Renowned producer David Robey stepped forward and stated: "Although The Dark Knight appears to be a serious, realistic, and heavy film, that is actually just the surface.
Gilbert very skillfully used these labels to elevate The Dark Knight beyond previous superhero films in terms of quality.
But in reality, The Dark Knight is a vivid, engaging, high-quality, well-structured, and tightly paced big-screen entertainment film.
I don't need to painstakingly recount the film's witty dialogue and engaging content—anyone who seriously watched the movie knows that The Dark Knight is an entertaining work.
Seriousness and entertainment are often considered opposites, yet The Dark Knight is highly entertaining, and its PG-13 rating alone proves that point."
David Robey went on to say: "Rather than blindly copying the same genres and themes, Hollywood studios and directors might want to think about why Gilbert is able to make such films.
Have we imposed too many restrictions on creators, limiting their creative freedom, causing Hollywood to become increasingly homogenized? If this continues, Hollywood will gradually lose its ability to innovate—this is the real crisis facing Hollywood."
After reading David Robey's article, Gilbert praised it highly. He said to Naomi Watts, Cameron Diaz, and others: "It's rare to see someone in Hollywood who understands things so clearly."
Cameron Diaz asked, "Does giving creators maximum creative freedom really guarantee good movies?"
"That depends a lot on luck," Gilbert replied. "Many directors and screenwriters have wildly imaginative ideas that don't necessarily resonate with audiences.
If audiences like it, it's a good movie with a good script.
But if audiences don't like it, then it becomes incomprehensible and too lofty for the masses.
At its core, Hollywood films are commodities, and the most important thing about a commodity is that buyers like it. Only when buyers like it will they be willing to open their wallets and buy a ticket."
"So audience taste is the most important thing," Naomi Watts said thoughtfully.
She had been acting less frequently lately, only taking on one or two films occasionally. The rest of the time, she managed Melon Studio together with Cameron Diaz and was also responsible for liaising with Disney.
At present, Naomi Watts was serving as a producer and had strongly advocated investing in several independent films. Although Gilbert did not particularly like independent films, he did not oppose Naomi Watts' investment plans.
Independent films competing for awards could also add some prestige to the studio.
"By the way, what has Jacqueline been busy with lately?" After finishing breakfast, Gilbert asked Naomi Watts.
"She's working with Johnny Depp, filming Alice in Wonderland," Naomi Watts replied.
"Oh right, she asked me to remind you not to forget to canvass votes for her during awards season. Her new film, Rachel Getting Married, is aiming for the Oscars."
"That's the one you invested in? I know. I'll call Tom and Sofia later," Gilbert said.
Among the women at Melon Manor, Naomi Watts won the Academy Award for Best Actress with Chicago, while Charlize Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress with Monster.
As for Cameron Diaz, she was quite happy working a white-collar job now, and would only go act in films when she felt interested.
Jennifer Connelly won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for A Beautiful Mind. She was now also trying diversified challenges and had taken on quite a few films.
On the commercial side, starring in the Batman series of films also counted as Jennifer Connelly proving herself.
Ivanka was Gilbert's right-hand woman in business. Many matters of Fruit Company were handled by her. She was highly capable and wielded great influence in the business world.
As for Avril Lavigne, needless to say, although she would occasionally make cameo appearances in a few films, her main focus was still on the pop music scene. She was now charging from rock princess toward the position of pop diva and was currently on a concert tour.
Among the remaining ones who harbored dreams of competing for an Oscar were Anne Hathaway and Scarlett.
Gilbert thought for a moment and said, "I'll call her later and tailor a film specifically for her to compete for the Oscars.
Most of the film will be a one-woman performance, and I think it should suit her very well."
"What movie is it?" the two women asked curiously.
"Gravity, roughly a space version of Robinson Crusoe," Gilbert said.
Since Gravity could win an Academy Award for Best Director, winning an Academy Award for Best Actress wouldn't be much of a problem either.
...
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