On June 30, Tom Cruise's new film Mission: Impossible 3 was released.
Unaffected by his divorce and various negative news, Tom Cruise's star power remained astonishing, and the film pulled in 60.35 million dollars in its opening weekend.
It's worth noting that Paramount was quite satisfied with this opening number, and the film's overseas performance was also very solid.
If Mission: Impossible 3 followed its trajectory from the previous life, Paramount would probably be utterly devastated, and another storm of trouble would follow.
But now, under normal circumstances, although the profit wasn't huge, at least it wouldn't sour the relationship between Paramount and Tom Cruise.
Gilbert didn't show up to show support, but he still helped promote the film on his social media account.
At the same time, he told Tom Cruise, "As we agreed last time, I want to play a cool agent."
Tom Cruise had no issue with that. "Of course, buddy—definitely a cool agent."
Their interaction drew a lot of attention. Many people left comments saying they were already looking forward to seeing Gilbert appear in a Mission: Impossible film.
Directors appearing as cameo actors in movies wasn't uncommon, and Gilbert had also done a few cameos—not many, but a few.
Mission: Impossible 3 enjoyed its moment of dominance for only a week, because on July 7, Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest hit theaters.
Ever since Gilbert's Pirates of the Caribbean 1, the hype around the sequel had never stopped. And this time, the studio even replaced the director, making fans a bit worried.
Fortunately, the original cast all returned. Johnny Depp continued playing the endlessly charming Captain Jack Sparrow, Orlando Bloom returned as Will Turner, and Keira Knightley played Elizabeth Swann.
The biggest surprise was the return of Geoffrey Rush. His Captain Barbossa left a deep impression in the first film, and now he was back again.
As the producer of this film, Gilbert made time to attend the premiere with Scarlett.
Thanks to the influence of the first film, the sequel had already accumulated a solid fanbase. Combined with the high quality of the trailers, the premiere event was lively and energetic.
As usual, Gilbert walked the red carpet quickly and then met the main cast.
Everyone treated him with great respect as a major director—especially Orlando Bloom, who was currently negotiating for The Hobbit project and naturally hoped Gilbert would support him.
"Director Gilbert."
"Orlando, how have you been? I heard you're back in training?" Gilbert asked.
Orlando Bloom replied, "Yes, the skills I practiced while filming The Lord of the Rings have gotten rusty, so I need to pick them up again."
"That's good," Gilbert nodded. "I saw the internal screening of Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Your performance is very solid—big improvement. Keep it up."
"Thank you, Director. I'll work hard." Orlando Bloom looked thrilled.
After Orlando, Keira Knightley also came over to talk. Scarlett took one look at Keira Knightley's rather ordinary figure and nodded in satisfaction—Gilbert wouldn't be interested in a woman like that.
After chatting with Keira for a moment, Gilbert finally saw Johnny Depp.
The Hollywood oddball—no matter whether it was a movie premiere or any other event—always wore bizarre outfits. In most public settings, this would be extremely disrespectful.
But in a country that values freedom, individuality, and standing out from the crowd, Johnny Depp instead earned an enormous number of fans because of it.
Given this, his occasional impolite behavior didn't bother others—in fact, it even generated more buzz.
"Johnny, were you out partying again last night?" Gilbert asked, seeing Johnny Depp looking dazed and groggy.
Johnny Depp laughed. "Hey! Director Gilbert, you have no idea how hot those girls were last night."
Gilbert frowned. "It's your personal life, but I still need to remind you to be careful. Your image affects the film's success—you must be extra cautious."
Gilbert's serious tone made Johnny Depp sober up. He promised, "I'll be careful, Director Gilbert."
There wasn't much to say about the screening itself. Director Stephen Sommers perfectly fulfilled Gilbert's requirements, delivering an excellent commercial blockbuster.
It's worth mentioning that Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones made a cameo appearance as Jack Sparrow's father. And when Johnny Depp created his portrayal of Jack Sparrow, the original inspiration was Keith Richards.
Pirates of the Caribbean used a combined production schedule for its second and third films—just like The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. This year the second film was released; depending on the situation, the third would come next year.
Judging from previous test screenings, the film's quality was quite strong.
After the screening, Gilbert asked Scarlett for her thoughts. "How did it feel?"
Scarlett considered it and said, "I think it was really good. The visuals improved again, and the plot is full of highlights. Especially Johnny Depp's performance—I can see why so many people like him."
Gilbert said, "Johnny Depp took home $40 million for the two films, plus a portion of the box office share. Not exactly shortchanging him."
"If the movie keeps performing well, will there be a sequel?" Scarlett asked.
"That's natural. Even if I didn't want to make one, Warner and Disney wouldn't miss the opportunity."
"Well, you better be careful. What if Johnny Depp demands a fortune? From the looks of it, the film heavily relies on his brilliant performance."
Scarlett wasn't wrong. The last time Johnny Depp played Captain Jack Sparrow, he even received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Although much of that was thanks to publicity, it at least proved how deeply Depp's portrayal of Jack Sparrow had resonated with audiences.
Gilbert, of course, knew Depp's importance to the franchise, but he didn't think merely speaking up could persuade Depp to willingly lower his fee.
Even if Depp agreed, the people around him—agents, friends, family—wouldn't.
Sometimes a star isn't just a star; around them forms a huge network of vested interests, essentially parasites feeding off the celebrity.
Do stars not know this? Of course they do. But they need these "vampires" to fulfill certain needs, like vanity.
Hollywood has a special profession called "celebrity companions." These companions eat, drink, and play with the stars, and join them in seeking pleasure with men, women, or those neither, even partying together.
The role of these companions is to flatter and please the star.
Because of these companions, Hollywood scandals are not few. Angelina Jolie's early controversies, for instance, were all exposed to the media by companions.
So, most people who succeed in Hollywood have a bit of a skewed mindset.
Afterward, Gilbert gave a media interview, praising the film's production team.
"This is an outstanding team—they did remarkable work," Gilbert said. "One interesting thing: Stephen told me that when filming in the Dominican Republic, just handling the food logistics was a massive challenge.
There were 600 crew members on location in the Dominican, plus over 400 locals hired.
For this island nation that evokes 200-year-old Caribbean charm, the film's production brought incredible activity.
On key shooting days, the catering department had to prepare three meals a day for 780 to 840 people. Breakfast alone required 1,100 to 1,500 eggs, 100 to 160 pounds of smoked meat, 80 loaves of bread, 50 pounds of sausage, over ten boxes of fruit, and more.
Apart from locally sourced Dominican items, all other food was shipped from the United States.
The crew put tremendous effort into just managing meals to ensure the film's completion.
Here, I want to express my respect for the crew and hope everyone enjoys this movie."
The premiere ended lively, with high media attention.
Perhaps due to the previous film, or maybe because the production itself was excellent, the movie erupted with incredible energy upon release
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