Although many people online had already said that Gilbert was on his way to becoming the King of Movies, this was the first time someone had publicly suggested in a formal setting that Gilbert should become the King of Movies.
Hearing this, Gilbert was touched, yet he felt a bit strange.
He almost thought Kane Wexman was his guiding witch, leading him to become the Elden Lord.
But in reality, Kane Wexman's role was indeed very similar to that of a guiding witch.
It could be said that during the time when Gilbert still lacked experience, it was with Kane Wexman's help that he managed to gain a foothold in Hollywood.
In terms of importance, Kane Wexman was no less significant than Spielberg, who had introduced Gilbert to the industry.
Yet such a producer announced his retirement today, which was quite regrettable.
But the journey must go on. Gilbert had already grown up, and Kane Wexman felt he had completed the mission assigned to him by God, so he could retire with peace of mind.
At the end of the awards ceremony, all the winners came on stage, leaving behind a group photo of the 75th Academy Awards winners that would be fondly talked about for years to come.
The awards ceremony concluded successfully, but Gilbert's moment of glory had only just begun.
Although Gilbert had previously won an Oscar for Best Director, this time the attention he received was far greater than before.
Gilbert even overshadowed the Oscar Best Actor and Best Actress winners of the evening, Adrien Brody and Charlize Theron, stealing most of the media spotlight.
The reason wasn't hard to guess. Past winners of Best Picture or Best Director often faced a problem:
They may have won, but their films lacked sufficient impact.
When Titanic won, James Cameron was the undisputed center of attention, simply because Titanic had such massive influence.
Similarly, The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a film series with widespread influence. The global box office of the series exceeded $4.5 billion, with direct economic value surpassing $10 billion.
The final installment, The Return of the King, was not only a box office smash but also swept the Oscars, winning thirteen golden statuettes.
With Gilbert being the mastermind behind this miracle, how could he not become the focus of media and public attention?
Traditional media that were slower to react were still catching up, but on the internet, public opinion had already exploded.
"Great. There's only one word to describe Director Gilbert: great."
"From 1991 until now, Gilbert has brought us countless joy and emotion, and will continue to do so in the future."
"Celebrate, my friends! Tonight I'm going for a drink!"
"The bar party is ready. Anyone from Chicago? All sexy, hot girls!"
For the Lord of the Rings crew, Oscar night was the peak of their journey.
At the Vanity Fair after-party that followed, the Lord of the Rings team became the center of attention.
Yet at the heart of that attention—Gilbert—left the party shortly after it began.
When others went looking to toast him, he was nowhere to be found. Eventually, Charles Roven informed them that Gilbert had already gone home.
Everyone could only express their regret—they couldn't personally congratulate Gilbert or use the opportunity to build a closer connection.
At this moment, Gilbert had already returned home, and the trophy had been respectfully placed on the display shelf.
The shelf was filled with dozens of trophies, large and small.
Among them were Naomi Watts' Best Actress award, Jennifer Connelly's Best Supporting Actress trophy, and now Charlize Theron's Best Actress award had been added.
Of course, most of the trophies in the cabinet belonged to Gilbert himself—not only Oscars, but many others as well.
Naomi Watts looked at the cabinet with satisfaction and said to Gilbert, "Looks like we'll need to order a few more display cases. I'm afraid these won't be enough in the future."
Gilbert held Naomi Watts' hand and said, "When guests come, the first stop is right here for the tour."
Naomi Watts agreed, "Sure. We should turn it into a photo-op attraction. Ten dollars per picture?"
"Not bad," Gilbert actually liked the idea. "If we're ever short on money, this could be a good way to make some."
Naomi Watts rolled her eyes at Gilbert. "In that case, might as well sell the trophies. Famous Director Gilbert's Oscars—should be worth quite a bit."
Gilbert chuckled, then noticing the late hour, helped Naomi Watts back to the bedroom to rest.
As for discussions about that night's Oscars—they were only just beginning.
The next day, every entertainment media outlet had front-page headlines reporting The Return of the King's sweeping victory at the Oscars.
"Compared to the unexpected dark horses of previous years, the 75th Academy Awards was an Oscar night of few surprises and no upsets.
Adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the final installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, swept the Oscars and emerged as the biggest winner.
The film won 13 awards including Best Picture and Best Director, marking a near-perfect conclusion." — Los Angeles Times
"This fantasy epic co-produced by Warner Bros. and Disney featured over twenty main characters, and though it didn't receive any acting nominations,such a feat is enough to dominate the film industry and leave its mark on cinematic history.
The most talked-about and least controversial event of this Oscar night may well be the overwhelming dominance of The Return of the King." — Variety
"The first two installments of The Lord of the Rings only picked up a few technical Oscars, but the hobbits' final triumph, much like the destruction of the Ring itself, completely overturned the tradition of fantasy films being shut out from major Oscar awards.
It became the first film of its kind to win Best Picture.
It's foreseeable that more films in this genre will soon grace the Hollywood stage." — Film
Outside of the U.S., both British and Chinese media paid close attention to this Oscar event.
British media had a natural interest because The Lord of the Rings originated from British literature.
Chinese media, on the other hand, focused on it for two reasons: one was Hero being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film,
the other was the special connection The Lord of the Rings had with China—after all, the series had earned an impressive box office in China, and was even filmed there.
Given the influence of The Lord of the Rings in China, the nightly news at 7 PM even aired a segment of several dozen seconds covering the story, bringing Gilbert's name back into wide circulation in China.
If a poll were held now for the most well-known Hollywood director in China, Gilbert would undoubtedly rank number one.
Not only that, CCTV-6's "film princess" even broadcast the Oscars ceremony live. As the event neared its end, the host commented:
"Beloved by Chinese film fans, Director Gilbert Landrani achieved a great victory at the Oscars.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King broke the Oscar record with thirteen wins from thirteen nominations, surpassing Ben-Hur and Titanic.
With the trilogy receiving thirty-three total nominations and winning nineteen, it set a new record in Oscar history."
Later, Film Weekly wrote: "Over his twelve-year career, Gilbert has brought audiences fourteen films, including masterpieces like Saving Private Ryan, The Matrix, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
As of now, Gilbert's total career box office has exceeded eight billion dollars, surpassing the likes of Spielberg and George Lucas, making him the number one figure in Hollywood.
And now, having once again held the Oscar for Best Director in his hands, there's no doubt that he has reached the pinnacle of the industry.
Considering he hasn't even celebrated his thirty-third birthday yet, and is still in the golden period of his directing career—
We have every reason to believe that this beloved superstar director will continue to shine brightly."
Compared to other Hollywood directors, Gilbert's legendary status and strong ties to China have made him the most followed director among Chinese movie fans—without question.
Discussions on the Chinese internet are even livelier than those on North American platforms.
Chinese netizens, with their sharp wit, even came up with a humorous poem for Gilbert. It goes like this:
"Film was born a century ago, talentless hacks shot by like meteors aglow.
Had Heaven not birthed great Gilbert dear,
Hollywood directors would face endless dark and fear."
Though it doesn't rhyme well, isn't particularly smooth, and even contains a pun on his name, this playful poem fully reflects the affection Chinese moviegoers have for Gilbert.
Because of this, the Shanghai International Film Festival, held in early June, sent an invitation to Gilbert, inviting him to attend with his new film Pirates of the Caribbean.
In recent years, the influence of the Chinese market has been growing, and many Hollywood films have started placing more emphasis on Chinese promotions.
When The Return of the King was released, Gilbert made a special trip to China for promotion. This time, attending the Shanghai International Film Festival, he also accepted the invitation without hesitation.
However, the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean would not be held at the Shanghai International Film Festival that event would at most count as the film's Chinese premiere.
The true global premiere would be held at the Disney Pirates of the Caribbean theme park.
That, too, counts as a form of advertisement—using the movie to promote the theme park, attract visitors, and boost revenue.
While the Oscars buzz was still fresh, Warner and Disney seized the moment and released the Lord of the Rings trilogy DVD.
To attract movie fans to buy, this version of the DVD included a lot of never-before-seen content and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.
Additionally, the deluxe edition DVD also contained a trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean. Because of this trailer, the deluxe edition went into a frenzy of demand.
Honestly, if you asked Gilbert, he'd say Warner and Disney's behavior was shameless. The Return of the King's DVD had barely been released, and they were already rushing to issue a full trilogy box set.
But even with such greediness on display, fans willingly emptied their wallets to support the film.
Among the surprises for fans, the biggest one was undoubtedly the Pirates of the Caribbean preview.
Nowadays, methods for releasing trailers are quite limited. Mostly, they're broadcast on television, or shown on large commercial screens, like Times Square's billboard.
The downside to this kind of release is that it doesn't allow for detail analysis or free pausing some viewers may even only get to see it once, especially since there are other commercials on TV.
DVDs, however, don't have that limitation you can watch for as long as you want.
In fact, Gilbert had already started laying plans for the future of the online video industry. The internet is deeply intertwined with youth culture, and will be a major promotional platform in the future.
Unfortunately, current online video resolution is still quite poor. If trailers were released through it, it might backfire and leave a bad impression.
For now, all that can be done is wait for the technology to improve. At the very least, resolution needs to reach 720p before online promotion can be truly effective.
Similarly, if internet videos are ever to replace DVDs, the picture quality will need to improve significantly otherwise, people might as well just stick with DVDs!
Film, as it has evolved to this point, no longer depends solely on directors, stars, or pure storytelling.
With the advancement of technology, visuals have become a crucial dimension.
This is also why Gilbert keeps embracing new technologies he's not a conservative director.
To refuse new technology is to guarantee being replaced by it someday, and that is something Gilbert absolutely refuses to accept.
...
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