In the production of the film, Jon Favreau maintained excellent communication with Gilbert, and the movie was shot almost entirely according to Gilbert's ideas.
Privately, Favreau admitted that what Gilbert was actually doing was the work of a behind-the-scenes director, providing him with a great deal of guiding advice.
With Gilbert's comprehensive oversight, the preparation and shooting of Iron Man proceeded exceptionally smoothly.
However, another project wasn't progressing nearly as well.
Although The Island had failed, Michael Bay still hadn't lost David Ellison's trust, and the Transformers project was once again handed over to Bay.
In the previous timeline, this project had been under DreamWorks, so Steven Spielberg served as producer and even pushed his godson, Shia LaBeouf, into the crew as the male lead.
Megan Fox was selected through an audition, but later she offended Spielberg and was consequently replaced.
This time, however, the project wasn't in DreamWorks' hands—it belonged to David Ellison's Sky Flim Studios—so naturally, the cast and crew would not be the same.
At Sky Flim Studios, David Ellison was in a meeting with Michael Bay, Michael Ovitz, and Martin Bob, discussing the preparations for Transformers.
"The latest news I've heard is that The Last of Us is moving along quite smoothly. Tom Cruise is staying in Los Angeles for training, and he'll head to Australia next month to begin filming," said Martin Bob, sharing the public information he'd gathered.
"Hmm." David Ellison nodded, then asked, "Have you heard anything about the script?"
"Not really—only that it's a zombie movie," Martin Bob replied. "The script is being written personally by Gilbert. He's already won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, so his writing ability is absolutely trustworthy.
I believe that with Gilbert writing the screenplay and Tom Cruise starring, The Last of Us definitely won't disappoint."
As one of Hollywood's most talented directors, what amazed people most about Gilbert was his dual mastery of writing and directing—both at the highest level.
Many directors were extremely skilled at directing but often lacked a truly great script or story. Gilbert had no such problem—if he didn't have a good story, he would simply write it himself.
And his scripts always had both depth and thrill, satisfying the tastes of a wide range of audiences.
Films like The Matrix, The False, and The Sixth Sense, which he both wrote and directed, were all paragons of original screenwriting. These films not only won the acclaim of critics but also achieved tremendous commercial success.
Hearing all this, Michael Bay felt quite uncomfortable. There had been a time when his name was mentioned alongside Gilbert's, but after several of his movies underperformed, no one ever brought up their names together again.
As Scarlett once said bluntly, "Compare yourself to Gilbert? You're not worthy…"
Still, Michael Bay wasn't ready to give up. He believed that Transformers had great potential. He was determined to seize this opportunity and erase the shadow left by The Island.
So Bay suggested, "David, Mr. Ovitz, what if we invite a top-tier star to join Transformers?"
"Who do you have in mind?" David Ellison immediately understood what Bay was getting at.
Seeing that The Last of Us had Tom Cruise, Bay didn't want to be outdone—he wanted a big-name celebrity to star in Transformers.
But Ellison knew full well that the true leads of Transformers were robotic life forms. What major movie star would be willing to play second fiddle to a bunch of machines?
And even if someone agreed, what kind of cost would that demand from the production?
Michael Ovitz added, "Someone who can match Tom Cruise in star power—there's probably only one other Tom: Tom Hanks.
But Tom Hanks is older now, and he's not exactly known for his looks, so I don't think he'd be a good fit."
David Ellison nodded in agreement. Ovitz was right. Asking Tom Hanks to play a young college student showing off in Transformers would indeed be too much of a stretch.
Besides, Hanks wasn't short on work—he certainly wouldn't accept Transformers anyway.
In fact, Tom Hanks had already reached an agreement with Ron Howard to star in The Da Vinci Code, a film produced and distributed by Sony Columbia Pictures.
That project, adapted from the bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code, was already attracting massive attention, with Hanks set to play a Harvard professor.
Having an actor playing a professor suddenly turn around and play a college student—well, that would be completely inappropriate.
"What about Keanu Reeves?" Michael Bay offered another suggestion. "Or maybe Will Smith?"
But Martin Bob immediately rejected both. "No, Keanu Reeves hasn't had any major hits since The Matrix series—his career's been declining.
And as for Will Smith, he's a Black actor. For this particular project, I think sticking with a white lead would be the safer choice."
After several of his suggestions were rejected in a row, Michael Bay finally gave up struggling. "Then who should we pick?"
At that moment, David Ellison said, "Let's choose through auditions. The actor must be handsome, young, and not too expensive."
"Exactly," Michael Ovitz added. "We can't spend too much of the budget on the actor's salary. The most important thing in this movie is the visual effects.
If we don't invest enough in that area, we simply won't meet the required standard."
Everyone knew that visual effects burned money. Even Iron Man, which had no major stars, still cost 130 million dollars largely due to its special effects.
If Transformers was going to deliver visuals that truly amazed the audience, an enormous amount of production funding would have to be poured into the effects.
And the studio responsible for Transformers' visual effects had already been decided—none other than Industrial Light & Magic, Hollywood's legendary effects powerhouse.
In recent years, as Gilbert's own Orange Studio had risen to prominence, the once-dominant ILM seemed to have been partially overshadowed.
But people shouldn't forget—it was the birth of Industrial Light & Magic that had given rise to the entire visual effects industry in Hollywood in the first place.
Even now, ILM remained at the forefront of technical innovation, and in some specialized areas, even the up-and-coming Orange Studio couldn't match its capabilities.
So, as the saying goes, "You get what you pay for."
If the result turned out to be cheap-looking effects—the kind seen in those third- or fourth-tier Hollywood productions—then the Transformers project would be doomed from the start.
After hitting a few walls in his early attempts, David Ellison had gradually come to understand how the Hollywood system really worked.
With Transformers being led by him, and supported by Michael Ovitz, Martin Bob, and Michael Bay, they truly had a chance to make something remarkable.
After all, this was the very project that Gilbert and DreamWorks had once fought fiercely to acquire—yet in the end, David Ellison had managed to reap the benefits as the fisherman.
Of course, not everything had gone his way. For instance, his recent attempt to compete with Melon Studio over the rights to I Am Legend had ended in failure.
The rights holders clearly trusted Gilbert more, so they sold the adaptation rights to Melon Studio instead.
However, even after securing the rights, Melon Studio hadn't immediately started production—adapting a novel into a film naturally required time and process.
Still, this setback only strengthened David Ellison's belief in the potential success of other major projects like John Carter, Tron: Legacy, and Battleship.
At present, David Ellison was actively engaging with Wall Street film investors, planning to collaborate with them in developing these ambitious projects.
...
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