On the eve of the Oscars, there was still one thing worth paying attention to.
The global theatrical run of The Return of the King had come to an end, with only a few countries and markets still screening it, reaping meager box office returns.
By February 2003, Disney and Warner had decided to release the DVD of The Return of the King.
This DVD did not include a preview for the Lord of the Rings series, but it did add a lot of new behind-the-scenes content, including some information about The Hobbit revealed by Gilbert.
Likewise, the DVD version had nearly an hour of additional footage compared to the theatrical release, ensuring audiences could enjoy it to the fullest.
Additionally, the deluxe edition DVD included a live performance of The Lord of the Rings concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, a consolation for fans who couldn't attend in person.
In the previous timeline, Peter Jackson's version of The Return of the King offered a conclusion for all members of the Fellowship.
But in Gilbert's theatrical version, such resolutions were omitted the story ended when Frodo returned to the Shire.
From a box office and public reception standpoint, this approach was undoubtedly successful, though it left a touch of regret among series fans.
They were eager to know the fate of the main characters after the expedition to Mount Doom.
Where did the Elves go? What was Frodo's life like back in the Shire? How were Aragorn and Arwen living? These questions stirred intense discussion among fans.
Now, with an extra hour of content in the extended DVD edition, those fantasies and curiosities about the story's aftermath could finally be satisfied.
Perhaps it was this abundance of satisfying content that prompted fans to willingly pay. In its first week on the market, The Return of the King DVD generated $152 million in sales a huge success.
Sales continued strong in the following weeks, with projections estimating over $300 million in the first month.
But that wasn't the end. According to the plan, a special collector's trilogy DVD set for the Lord of the Rings series would follow, along with the development of animations, TV series, and more.
Warner's gaming division also intended to collaborate with Banana's game studio to jointly develop The Lord of the Rings video games another major profit point.
Incidentally, after a creative brainstorming session, Banana's leadership believed that online video would have immense potential in the future. So they launched a new department focused on creating an online video platform.
However, due to current limitations in video clarity barely reaching even 270p the image quality was poor and unappealing. Thus, the project remained in its testing phase.
Nevertheless, Gilbert was very interested in this project. He told Banana that online video would become a crucial part of the entire industry ecosystem in the future.
Gilbert gave this still-experimental video site a name YouTube.
However, YouTube was still quite immature. It would take at least another one to two years before it could be publicly launched. At the very least, video resolution and transmission speed needed to improve.
This is worth mentioning because video platforms are closely tied to the future of film and video rights.
Just as DVDs had replaced VHS tapes and VCDs, video websites would eventually replace DVDs and become an important part of movie-related revenue.
In a previous life, some people even predicted that video platforms would one day replace movie theaters entirely, fundamentally changing the way cinema exists as an art form.
Gilbert had felt this in his past life after all, he had been a director of online feature films, and his works had never been released in theaters.
His motivation for getting into online video was simple: Gilbert believed that the online video industry had the potential to disrupt the Hollywood status quo, just like Netflix had done in the previous timeline.
Understanding the direction of the times, Gilbert figured he might as well make early moves to gain an advantageous position in the new era.
But few could see this clearly not everyone was Gilbert, with his unique experiences.
The release of The Return of the King DVD marked another major commercial success for the Lord of the Rings series, though people had grown used to and numb to such news.
Previously, media outlets would dedicate entire pages to such reports. Now, it was just briefly mentioned and quickly brushed over people didn't care anymore.
What they cared about now was who would be the ultimate winner at the Oscars.
On the eve of the Oscar ceremony, several betting houses in Las Vegas were already open. No one knew who started it, but now there were even online betting websites, allowing internet users to participate virtually.
Every year after the Oscar nominations were announced, the most captivating part was guessing the final winners.
But this year's winners seemed especially easy to predict. From film critics to ordinary fans, everyone believed that The Return of the King would sweep the awards.
So how could one make accurate predictions? That's where professional film critics came in they wielded considerable influence during awards season.
During this brief window, professional critics had the power to stir things up and influence Hollywood.
Among them, aside from a few like Kenneth Turan who made a living off criticizing Gilbert most critics loudly cheered for The Return of the King.
Regarding this year's Best Actor and Actress categories, Kenneth Turan agreed with the majority of media outlets.
He believed that Adrien Brody from The Pianist and Charlize Theron from Monster would get their well-deserved wins.
Actually, in the Best Actress race, there were also contenders like Nicole Kidman from The Hours and Julianne Moore from Far from Heaven.
But in this timeline, Nicole Kidman had not divorced Tom Cruise, so she hadn't earned the Academy's sympathy vote her chances were slim.
Julianne Moore, on the other hand, was still paying for the reckless remarks she made in her youth. A nomination was already impressive no one expected her to win.
The rest couldn't compete with Charlize Theron at all.
As for Best Director and Best Picture, Kenneth Turan firmly believed Gilbert wouldn't win, and The Return of the King wouldn't win either.
"The reason is simple," Kenneth Turan confidently stated on a talk show, "In the history of the Oscars, Best Picture and Best Director have never been awarded to a non-realist film."
"But," the show's guest challenged him, "Didn't Titanic win big too?"
"Well, that's where you're mistaken," Kenneth Turan declared with certainty, "Titanic was based on real events, but The Lord of the Rings is not."
Many viewers watching the show believed what Kenneth Turan was saying.
But at that moment, the only people who knew the real results were a few PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants.
On the morning of the awards ceremony, four PwC accountants split into two groups, escorted by security personnel to the Kodak Theatre, the venue for this year's Oscars.
Due to the impact of 9/11, all large-scale events now had heightened security. The Oscars, being Hollywood's and the film industry's premier event, required a grand presentation but also attracted unstable elements.
Several days in advance, the Los Angeles County Police, in conjunction with the FBI, conducted a sweep of all unstable elements throughout Los Angeles.
The gangsters in the blocks near the Kodak Theatre were driven elsewhere, and there were police officers and FBI agents patrolling the streets to ensure safety.
Of course, these people don't work for free. The Oscar organizers paid a hefty sum to these police officers and agents.
A 600-meter-long red carpet had already been laid out, with a five-meter-tall enlarged replica of the Oscar statuette next to the red carpet cameras, gleaming with splendor.
Media zones and fan viewing areas were arranged on both sides of the red carpet, with cameras, surveillance, and security all in place officers, agents, and security personnel alike ensuring everyone's safety.
Because Los Angeles weather in March is unpredictable and prone to rain, a tent was built at the start of the red carpet to allow the celebrity guests walking the carpet a brief moment to rest.
Starting at 2:00 p.m., the helicopter from ABC, which is broadcasting the Oscars live, began circling overhead. The live broadcast site was fully prepped, ready for immediate television transmission.
However, to prevent accidents, ABC's live broadcast included a 30-second delay.
Naomi Watts, now heavily pregnant, wasn't in a convenient condition to attend this Oscar ceremony. Plus, last time's incident had scared her badly, so this time she stayed home to watch the live broadcast.
Therefore, walking the Oscar red carpet with Gilbert this time was Scarlett. Anne Hathaway would be walking with the Return of the King crew, leaving Gilbert to walk the red carpet with Scarlett alone.
At 3:30 p.m., Gilbert arrived at the starting tent of the red carpet with Scarlett, who was wearing a yellow gown. A light drizzle had begun to fall from the sky by then, but it didn't dampen the fans' enthusiasm in the slightest.
Having walked the red carpet again, Scarlett was already very composed. Holding onto Gilbert's arm, she confidently followed him, greeting the celebrity guests already waiting inside the tent.
"Hey, Sally!" Gilbert exchanged a few words with Steven Soderbergh and happened to see Charlize Theron arriving as well.
"Sister Sally," Scarlett greeted sweetly.
Charlize Theron patted Scarlett on the head. With her tall figure and long legs, and Scarlett being on the shorter side, the two formed a somewhat adorably mismatched height difference.
"Feeling confident about winning this time?" Gilbert asked Charlize Theron.
Charlize Theron replied with confidence, "Of course. With your support, how could I not be confident? How should I thank you?"
"We'll talk about that later. This isn't the place for that," Gilbert glanced around.
Charlize Theron rolled her eyes flirtatiously. "Hmph, what's the matter? It's a private matter between us none of their business."
As they were chatting, Tom Cruise and his wife came over to say hello and introduced someone to Gilbert: "This is Heath Ledger, an actor from Australia."
"Hello, Director Gilbert."
At this point in time, Heath Ledger was at most a second-tier actor. Meeting a top director like Gilbert made him appear slightly nervous and uneasy.
Gilbert gave Heath Ledger a quick handshake, then turned to Nicole Kidman and said, "Looks like your Aussie crew is growing again."
After Gilbert had pulled Mel Gibson out of the circle, Nicole Kidman undoubtedly became the leading figure of the Australian faction.
So whenever a new Australian actor entered Hollywood, they'd tend to gather around Nicole Kidman.
Naomi Watts also technically counted as part of the Australian group she actually had even more seniority than Nicole Kidman. But being pregnant, she hadn't been showing up in public much lately.
Nicole Kidman smiled and said, "Thanks to your care. Please do consider more of our Australian actors they're quite good."
"No problem at all..." Gilbert replied casually. It was all polite talk.
While they were chatting idly, the curtain for the award ceremony slowly rose.
....
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