Mehdi Thomson reaped great rewards this marked the third time he had won the Best Editing Oscar.
But the journey of The Return of the King didn't end there. Later that night, it also took home the Best Visual Effects award, which went to Orange FX Studio.
This was the second consecutive year Orange FX Studio won the award they had also claimed it last year for The Matrix Reloaded.
The members of Orange FX Studio were fairly calm now, no longer as thrilled as they had been when they first won.
The team leader,gave thanks: "Over the years, our boss has kept investing non-stop, allowing our effects studio to reach Hollywood's top-tier standard.
We'll continue working hard in the future and keep contributing to the progress of Hollywood's visual effects industry."
The celebrities and guests in the audience applauded. Indeed, Orange FX Studio had developed rapidly over the past two years, now rivaling established studios like Digital Domain.
After the Best Visual Effects award, The Return of the King picked up another Oscar for Best Sound, bringing its total to ten statuettes.
Next came the Oscars' traditional nostalgia segment.
Famed comedic actor Jim Carrey hosted this part. With his exaggerated expressions, he looked back at the 75-year history of the Oscars, also poking fun at the politicians in Washington.
In Hollywood, mocking any group can be risky and offend someone but making fun of the folks in Washington usually isn't a problem.
This segment was quite popular with audiences. However, the following, more solemn nostalgic section couldn't make viewers laugh, even with Jim Carrey on stage.
ABC, the network broadcasting this year's Oscars, noticed that once the nostalgia segment began, real-time viewership started to dip from a peak of 35 million down to 29 million.
ABC was helpless. The Oscars were stubborn despite knowing the nostalgia segment drove away viewers, they still clung to it.
It was as if the Oscars would cease to exist without their nostalgic interlude.
The Academy's stubbornness and conservatism were plain to see from how they set up the show to the movies they awarded each year.
This wasn't the past anymore. Nowadays, people have many entertainment choices. The Oscars faced more competition than ever.
Actually, saving the Oscars' ratings wasn't that hard. All they had to do was pick movies with broader audience appeal, and the problem would be solved easily.
Take the 70th Oscars, for example Titanic singlehandedly lifted the ratings for the entire ceremony.
And this year's ratings were entirely thanks to The Return of the King.
Sadly, unless a film reaches the level of Titanic or The Return of the King, the Oscars' choices often go against public taste.
Five minutes of nostalgia passed. Not just TV viewers even the stars and guests at the ceremony were starting to nod off.
The Academy seemed to realize this too. Right after the nostalgia bit ended, they used the Best Adapted Screenplay award to bring ratings back up.
Normally, that award wouldn't be enough to revive ratings.
But today was different. Today, there was The Return of the King. Everyone wanted to see if it could break the record.
On the live Oscar commentary show, Kenneth Turan was still speaking passionately: "The Return of the King has absolutely no chance of winning Best Adapted Screenplay. In my view, The Pianist is the stronger contender."
Before Kenneth Turan could finish his thought, the presenter announced the winner.
"The Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay goes to... The Return of the King. Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Gilbert—congratulations…"
Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens were both screenwriters at Melon Studio. The two of them, along with Gilbert, had collaborated on adapting the Lord of the Rings trilogy screenplay.
"Gilbert, should we all go up together?" the two writers asked.
Gilbert gestured politely: "You two go ahead. This honor belongs to you."
The writers understood Gilbert had his eyes on the Best Director award. So they didn't insist and happily went up to accept the Oscars.
Far away in New York, the Ruiz and Evans families had gathered for a party, mainly to watch the Oscars together and discuss the ceremony.
They were both loyal fans of Gilbert. By now, both had married wives who also loved films.
This gave the two families plenty to talk about, and they remained close friends.
"How many awards is that now?" Evans asked.
Ruiz, eating apple pie, counted on his fingers: "If I'm not wrong, Best Adapted Screenplay makes the eleventh one. Two more to go, and The Return of the King will break the Oscar record."
Evans exclaimed, "That's incredible. But The Return of the King truly deserves it."
"Yeah," Ruiz agreed. "This time the Academy did a decent job at least they didn't go against public opinion."
"Hmph!" Evans snorted, clearly unimpressed with the Academy. "Those old geezers only know how to point fingers—their time's long gone."
The awards show carried on. The most anticipated two prizes of the night for The Return of the King were still to come also the most important.
If it didn't win those two, then the other eleven Oscars wouldn't mean much.
But those final awards would be revealed later. First came the presentation of Best Actor and Best Actress.
Adrien Brody won Best Actor for The Pianist. But as he gave his acceptance speech, countless Gilbert fans watching at home were growing impatient.
In the online chat rooms, fans gathered to discuss in real time. Messages flashed by so fast it was hard to follow.
Everyone in the chat was complaining: "Who even is this guy? Hurry up and get off the stage!"
"Exactly, who wants to watch him?"
"What even is The Pianist?"
"No idea…"
"Never heard of it…"
"Never seen it…"
Compared to a film like The Return of the King, The Pianist just wasn't widely known. Its North American box office earnings were only a few million barely even a fraction of what The Return of the King made.
In terms of recognition, if not for the Oscars shining a spotlight on it, most people probably wouldn't even have heard of the film.
Scarlett was also complaining: "Can't he talk any faster? It feels like he's been up there forever."
Gilbert knocked Scarlett lightly on the head. "Scarlett, mind your manners. Show some respect. The Pianist is actually a pretty good film."
"Good?" Scarlett looked puzzled. "Is it better than The Return of the King?"
"At the very least, it's better than Flipped," Gilbert replied.
That made Scarlett even more upset. "Did it make more money at the box office than Flipped?"
"Uh…" Gilbert's tone faltered. "Probably not."
Indeed, not every arthouse film could earn more than the $173 million that Flipped had brought in.
Although Flipped's box office success was entirely due to Gilbert's star power holding it up.
Fortunately for Scarlett, the torment was finally over. Adrien Brody clearly knew what the audience wanted to see.
Even though this was his first time winning the Oscar for Best Actor, he just said a few words briefly before heading backstage for interviews.
Up next was the Oscar for Best Actress. With several major awards being presented one after another, Oscar viewership ratings began to soar.
Charlize Theron was now one of the top actresses at the Oscars, with strong personal appeal perhaps due to Gilbert's influence or perhaps because of The Matrix series.
With her up for Best Actress, both her fans and Gilbert's fans were highly invested.
ABC's backstage data showed that at this point, the Oscars had surpassed 40 million live viewers making it the highest-rated Oscars moment in years.
As expected, Charlize Theron successfully won the 75th Academy Award for Best Actress for Monster, becoming the newest Oscar-winning leading lady.
When Denzel Washington read out the winner's name, the Monster team erupted in cheers.
Charlize Theron graciously accepted congratulations from those around her, unable to hide the huge smile on her face.
Gilbert stood up to applaud, giving her a big thumbs-up in encouragement.
Charlize Theron responded with a blown kiss, igniting the atmosphere in the venue.
Just when Gilbert thought she would head straight to the stage to receive her golden statuette, she instead walked toward him.
In front of the whole audience, on live television, and with tens of millions of Americans watching, she gave Gilbert a passionate kiss.
That moment completely lit up the venue Oscar viewership ratings had already surpassed 45 million.
"Go, Sally, and claim the glory that belongs to you," Gilbert said, patting Charlize Theron on the shoulder.
This woman was bold and confident, her steps now firm: "Mm, I'm going!"
With that, Charlize Theron walked confidently toward the stage and received her Oscar.
There was no doubt that the real highlights of the Oscars lay in these final four major awards.
Two had already been revealed, and the remaining Best Director and Best Picture made this year's Oscars even more anticipated.
Everyone was wondering whether The Return of the King would get its wish fulfilled.
Originally, it was announced that last year's Best Director winner, Ron Howard, would present this year's award. However, due to scheduling issues, he couldn't attend.
So the presenter for Best Director this year became the veteran Hollywood star Harrison Ford.
Mr. Ford appeared on stage with an envelope in hand, suave as always, and began introducing the nominees and their films.
"This year's Best Director nominees come from different countries and regions. Without exception, they are all among the finest in the film industry.
Among them are Oscar regulars, newcomers, films wrapped up in just over a month, and epic masterpieces that took years to complete.
They are all outstanding filmmakers. But tonight, only one can win Best Director. Let's take a look at the nominees…"
The big screen displayed the five directors nominated for Best Director, along with some exciting clips from their respective films.
For some reason, the previously lively online chatroom suddenly fell silent. At Evans's house,Ruiz and Evans were holding their breath, awaiting the final result.
Scarlett had her tiny hands clenched tightly. Anne Hathaway was silently praying.
Charlize Theron, who had finished her interview and returned to the ceremony, now sat beside Gilbert, holding his hand as if trying to transfer her luck to him.
Gilbert, on the other hand, didn't seem nervous at all. He wore a calm smile, listening as Harrison Ford announced the winner.
"The winner of this year's Oscar for Best Director is… The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Gilbert Landrani! Let's give him a big round of applause…"
His name announced, and it was a complete triumph.
This was Gilbert's second time winning the Oscar for Best Director, yet he didn't feel particularly emotional.
Instead, it was the people around him who were thrilled. Scarlett gave him a celebratory kiss, Anne Hathaway kissed his right cheek, and Charlize Theron kissed his left.
The online chatroom, silent just moments ago, suddenly burst back to life.
Messages were now scrolling by so quickly that it was impossible to read anything without pausing the feed.
Countless fans were celebrating, cheering, and rejoicing in this victorious moment.
"Go on, claim your moment of glory!" Charlize Theron said, pulling Gilbert away from the crowd and watching him walk toward the stage.
Watching Gilbert's back as he ascended the stage, Charlize Theron silently said in her heart: My dearest, may you reach the very peak of Hollywood!
...
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (60 Chapters)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Douluo Dalu: Reincarnated as Yan(40 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler (30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu