Seeing her son holding cake, Zoey snatched it right out of his hands, acting all self-righteous.
"Too many sweets are bad for kids. Mommy will help you digest it."
The son was very displeased, staring at his mother, but Zoey's eyes never left the TV, not willing to look away even for a single second.
The son then looked at his father, but Doug showed the exact same expression.
Although his cake was taken away, he thought about it and realized the Super Bowl trailer was more important. So he gave up struggling—watching the trailer came first.
The first to appear was the trailer for Spider-Man 2. Watching those over-the-top scenes, Zoey asked Doug.
"Darling, are we going to see this movie?"
"Of course, isn't it coming out at the end of June? Perfect time to watch it." Doug replied.
"OK."
The two didn't bother asking their son's opinion. Anyway, whatever the couple decided to watch, their son would also watch. He had no say in the matter.
The son pouted without commenting. He decided that when he grew up, he'd watch whatever he wanted.
Next, trailers flashed by one after another like a revolving lantern, dazzling to the eye.
The Jackie Chan Adventures 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Monsters, Inc. 2, National Treasure, all appeared in the Super Bowl ads.
Just as Doug and his wife were waiting for the The False trailer, Van Helsing suddenly showed up.
"This is the one coming out the same season as The False?" Doug sneered. "From the trailer, it doesn't look that great!"
Zoey, however, was worried: "But it's Hugh Jackman starring, and also Kate Beckinsale. Plus it's adapted material—could it be a bit dangerous?"
"No way," Doug said confidently. "The False is Gilbert's work."
"Yeah, and there's Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, plus Daddy's favorite Empress," their son suddenly interrupted.
The couple glanced at each other, then both patted their son's head.
"That's right, kid…"
"You really get it."
After the Van Helsing trailer, the final trailer came at last—the much-anticipated The False appeared.
"In this world, only one in a million can be the protagonist."
The trailer opened with Tom Cruise as Charlie Dyke and Tom Hanks as Ido Dash having a conversation.
Next flashed the Warner, Disney, and Melon Studio logos, paired with Hans Zimmer's music. The atmosphere was already there.
"Which master's painting do you want to copy?"
With several rapid shots, Charlie Dyke held up a dollar bill between his fingers: "I want you to copy this U.S. dollar…"
From this line, it was clear the film was a crime story about counterfeiting currency.
Doug speculated that Tom Hanks's character was probably a forgery expert who teamed up with Tom Cruise's character to make counterfeit bills.
But the trailer didn't reveal much. Charlize Theron's character only appeared for three seconds, giving no clue about her role.
In just thirty seconds, the lines and images together grabbed enough attention.
With three megastars, plus a veteran Oscar-winning actor, and many familiar Hollywood supporting faces—all directed by Gilbert.
Doug and Zoey were already itching, wishing they could watch the movie tomorrow—no, right now.
Zoey shook her son's shoulders and asked: "Son, are you excited?"
The son was helpless: "Mom, I'm really excited, but I'm also worried I won't get to see the movie."
"Why?"
"Because you and Dad are shaking me to pieces."
"Oh!" Zoey realized a bit late and let go: "Sorry…"
The son sighed helplessly. What could he do? These unscrupulous people were his parents. Sometimes he suspected he'd been picked up from the roadside.
It had to be said, the combination of three megastars plus Gilbert made the False trailer extremely, extremely captivating.
Statistics showed that when the False trailer played, the viewership numbers spiked higher than at any other time.
But then, something happened that instantly pushed the Super Bowl's ratings to an even greater level, stealing all the spotlight from The False.
Here's what happened: this year's Super Bowl halftime featured many guest performers, but the final act was Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson performing together.
Gilbert had seen Michael Jackson's halftime show and was still deeply impressed, so he was really looking forward to this one.
At first everything was fine—Gilbert was even chatting enthusiastically with Charlize Theron about pop music gossip, like Justin Timberlake's rumored relationship with Britney Spears.
But then, suddenly, an unexpected incident occurred.
While performing their duet Rock Your Body, the two expressed the song's emotions vividly.
In the final minute of the performance, when Justin sang the line, "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song," his hand suddenly reached for Janet Jackson's right breast.
And right in front of tens of thousands of live spectators and 89 million TV viewers, he tore away part of her costume, exposing her right breast for a few seconds.
Because it was a live broadcast, the TV network didn't even have time to react.
The entire stadium gasped. Charlize Theron covered her mouth: "OMG, my God!"
Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise were utterly stunned, and Gilbert was dumbfounded as well. This was absolutely the most shocking performance he had seen in recent years—no competition.
Sharing in the shock were the entire live audience, and all the viewers across America watching the Super Bowl on TV.
After that, no one cared about the second half of the game, even though the New England Patriots ultimately defeated the Carolina Panthers 32–29, winning the Super Bowl for the second time, with quarterback Tom Brady named Most Valuable Player.
But nobody paid attention to that. After the game, even sports news outlets pushed the Patriots' championship to the second page, putting the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction on the front page instead.
The game had ended, but the storm stirred up by the incident was far from over.
News reports flooded in, tabloids kept fanning the flames, and journalists went around collecting interviews.
That day, Gilbert and the three movie stars who watched the Super Bowl naturally became targets reporters wanted to interview. They wanted to hear what those few thought.
But after watching the Super Bowl, Gilbert and the three megastars, following their public relations manager's strategy, completely avoided commenting on the matter, so as not to get dragged into the mess.
It had to be said, this might have been an accident, but nearly a hundred million people across the U.S. saw it.
So the uproar caused by this accident was especially huge. Justin Timberlake was viciously criticized by conservative religious groups and feminist activists, not even daring to show his face.
Justin Timberlake later explained on social media that he had not done it on purpose.
He hadn't intended for Janet Jackson to have a wardrobe malfunction—his move at that moment had directly caused Janet's leather costume to rip.
But it was only an accident, absolutely unintentional, and he apologized to every person affected by the incident.
Janet Jackson, on the other hand, stated that she was innocent. She said that the move was a last-minute decision after the final rehearsal, and that the TV network had not been informed. As for the accident, she expressed deep regret.
Beneath this apology statement, the top-liked comment was from a netizen:
"I think Janet Jackson did it on purpose. She deliberately wanted us to see the jewel on her breast."
Because of the negative public impact of the incident, federal investigators got involved. The broadcasting CBS network claimed they had no prior knowledge, insisting it was a personal act by Justin and Janet.
The Grammys, MTV, and other music award organizations also issued statements, refusing to allow Justin and Janet to attend their ceremonies until the two made public apologies.
Judging by the situation, this Super Bowl incident could drag on for years, since it involved compensation and liability issues.
The Super Bowl organizers, the TV network, Justin Timberlake, and Janet Jackson would likely be tangled in disputes for a long time.
The whole thing caused all the Hollywood movie ads shown during the Super Bowl halftime show to pale in comparison.
Hardly anyone paid attention to the trailers—the audience had all gone chasing the hot scandal instead.
Still, it wasn't without effect. Because this incident shook the entire United States, this year's Super Bowl received extremely high levels of attention.
Even those subconsciously following the scandal would notice the Super Bowl halftime ad showcase, and from there, notice the summer blockbusters.
As Gilbert put it, this was just making a fuss over nothing. The people of North America these days were so sheltered.
If they saw the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics twenty years later, they'd realize Justin and Janet Jackson's accident was nothing in comparison.
Janet Jackson might not be pretty, but at least she was a woman…
This incident stirred up sensational hype for a long time, but it didn't affect the normal promotional schedule of The False.
In March, Gilbert attended the Academy Awards ceremony with Charlize Theron.
That year's Oscars saw Pirates of the Caribbean earn five nominations: Best Actor, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Makeup.
The biggest surprise was Johnny Depp, who, thanks to his role as Captain Jack Sparrow, actually received a Best Actor nomination.
In fact, it wasn't so surprising. Johnny Depp's PR team had done a lot of work for that nomination and spent quite a lot of money.
But to actually win Best Actor was absolutely impossible.
Gilbert's friend Sofia also received many nominations. Her film Lost in Translation picked up nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay.
These awards were all very heavyweight, and Sofia's father, director Coppola, had helped her a great deal.
Of course, Gilbert also helped Sofia get in touch with many people. With the Italian and Jewish judges, Gilbert had plenty of connections.
The only pity was that Scarlett didn't receive a Best Actress nomination.
But Scarlett wasn't too upset. She still remembered Gilbert's promise to tailor a film specifically for her to win the Best Actress Oscar.
She always remembered it—she wouldn't forget.
.....
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