The special point of Lucy as a film is that it is a movie carried entirely by a female star at the box office.
Compared with Inception, which is packed with superstars, and the special nature of Marvel films, if Scarlett can prove herself through Lucy, an original science-fiction film, the effect will be even better.
The original version was written and directed by French director Luc Besson, and now Luc Besson is busy working as a producer and screenwriter.
Rashly approaching him and asking him to direct again does not seem very appropriate.
However, there is still a director at the studio who happens to be free. After the success of District 9, Christopher Nolan has been idle.
Gilbert has also learned that Nolan currently has no new ideas and is basically taking it easy.
Since he had already taken Inception away from him, it was only fair to compensate him with another project, so Gilbert called Christopher Nolan.
The next day, Christopher Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas came to the Melon Manor for afternoon tea.
Gilbert handed him the script for Lucy and said, "Scarlett will be the female lead. Leaving this script to you puts my mind at ease."
Christopher Nolan did not agree immediately, but instead read the script carefully and seriously.
After a long while, he finally said, "I can direct it, but you have to agree to a few conditions."
"Go on…"
"The script is good, but I think there is still room for improvement."
When Christopher Nolan said this, Scarlett glared from the side. In her view, any script written by Gilbert was the best.
This detestable Nolan—Gilbert was giving him an opportunity, yet he still said the script was not good… how annoying!
Gilbert gestured for Scarlett to calm down, then said to Nolan, "No problem. Revise the script according to your ideas. But I need to make it clear that this is a commercial film."
"Of course," Nolan nodded. "So my second requirement is that the investment must be at least 100 million dollars."
For cash-rich Disney, this was naturally not a problem, and Gilbert immediately agreed.
"No problem…"
"Alright, I'll take this script." Christopher Nolan extended his hand toward Scarlett. "Miss Johnson, happy cooperation."
Scarlett was just about to put on a sour face, but Gilbert shot her a look, and only then did she reluctantly shake hands with Christopher Nolan.
"Please forgive her," Gilbert apologized helplessly as he watched Scarlett walk away in her little leather shoes. "I've spoiled her too much. But don't worry, she's a dedicated actress. If she doesn't listen, you can talk to me."
Christopher Nolan was full of confidence. "No need to worry. I think our cooperation will go very smoothly."
Just like that, Christopher Nolan took on the film Lucy. However, he said he would need some time to revise the script.
Gilbert was very at ease. Christopher Nolan's level was very high, and with Gilbert keeping an eye on things, there was no way it would turn into a mess.
While Gilbert was preparing Inception, Melon Studio's flagship series released its sixth Harry Potter film.
Strangely enough, although Warner loudly claimed it would withdraw from all projects related to Melon Studio, it refused to loosen its grip on the Harry Potter rights even a little.
As a result, the establishment of the sixth Harry Potter film went through quite a bit of wrangling. In the end, under the drive of interests, all parties quickly compromised, leading to the project's approval.
By now, the Harry Potter series could be called the highest-grossing film series in the world, bar none.
Not only in terms of box-office revenue, but more importantly, the surrounding merchandise industry—it is incredibly profitable.
It seems that although Warner's management may be foolish, they still know what is most profitable, which is why they cling tightly to the Harry Potter rights and refuse to let go.
Disney was extremely contemptuous of this.
Didn't they say they were going to cut ties with Melon Studio? Then why keep holding onto the rights? If Warner were willing to let go, Disney could enjoy exclusive ownership of the Harry Potter rights.
Unfortunately, dreams are beautiful, but Warner clearly had no intention of fulfilling Disney's wishes.
Generally speaking, film series rarely get better the more they are made. Especially by the sixth installment, films usually face serious quality problems.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was no exception. The film only earned 77.83 million dollars in its opening weekend in North America. Worse still, audience approval stood at only 82%.
Even many loyal fans of the series expressed disappointment with the film.
However, for Disney and Warner, although the box-office performance was not outstanding, the overall results still met expectations.
Just like Star Wars, Harry Potter had also become a cultural symbol for a generation of young people.
So no matter how bad the movie is, there will always be loyal fans who support it.
What's more, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince can only be said to be average in quality; it was not so bad as Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
And the most important thing about this film has already been mentioned—merchandise. Compared with the North American opening-weekend box office, the 56 million dollars in merchandise sales it generated was the real key.
From this, one can see why Warner refused to let go. The merchandise is simply too profitable; they have no reason to release it.
Now the problem facing the Harry Potter series is how to bring the series to an end.
According to high-level meetings between the two companies, it was decided to split the seventh Harry Potter installment into two parts to be released separately, in order to squeeze out more money.
Gilbert naturally supported this decision, after all, he stood from a capitalist's perspective rather than that of a film creator.
For the Gryffindor trio, how to transition after the end of the Harry Potter series was a problem. Among them, Emma Watson had latched onto Gilbert.
"What is this?"
Looking at a huge, rotating ring structure on the Fox studio lot, Emma Watson's small mouth hung open in astonishment.
Gilbert patiently explained, "This is a structure used to shoot zero-gravity scenes."
"Does that mean there are scenes set in outer space in the film?"
"No," Gilbert explained. "This is a hotel corridor, along with part of the hotel room set. During filming, the actors will fight inside it. We're currently testing it."
The stunt coordinator responsible for building the facility, Brandon Crawford, introduced it: "Because filming inside this structure inevitably involves hard surfaces,
and the long side has a height difference of up to ten meters, it's very dangerous. If actors are not familiar with it when shooting, safety issues will arise.
Gilbert, you need to give me the actors for training, otherwise I can't guarantee we'll stay on schedule."
Gilbert nodded. "Don't worry, Brandon. I'll hand the actors over to you very soon."
"That's good," Brandon Crawford continued. "We use computers to precisely control the rotation speed of the entire device.
When it rotates to the short side, the speed increases. When it reaches the long side, the speed slows down, giving the actors enough time to switch positions."
As he spoke, Brandon Crawford also had the stunt performers demonstrate it once for Gilbert, and the effect was quite impressive.
Gilbert was very satisfied as well, praising them: "Your work is excellent, really great."
Brandon Crawford was also a little excited. "This is our responsibility, Gilbert. Being able to shoot a film in this way is truly amazing."
Beside them, Emma Watson's eyes were practically sparkling. She looked at Gilbert with admiration.
"Is there a role suitable for me? I want to be in it too!"
"Uh!"
Gilbert froze for a long moment before finally squeezing out a single word.
"No…"
...
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