It was a new week, and Gilbert walked into his Cantaloupe Studio in Burbank, briefcase in hand.
"Morning, Anna!"
"Morning, boss!" Anna stood up, took Gilbert's coat, and hung it on the rack. "Ms. Boone is already waiting for you in your office."
"Alright," Gilbert nodded and entered his office, where his female agent had been flipping through documents, clearly waiting for a while.
"I've spoken with Robert Iger and Jeff Robinov separately. Robert Iger agreed to your terms, but for the revenue split, they want it based on North American box office," Sheena Boone explained the discussions from the past few days.
"What about Warner then?" Gilbert asked.
"Their terms are similar, but Warner Bros. also promised a bonus if the film's box office reaches a certain threshold," Sheena Boone replied.
"That's not bad," Gilbert mused, stroking his chin, then asked, "How about Universal Pictures?"
"Universal has Spielberg, so it's best not to have too high expectations," Sheena Boone said.
Spielberg's Jurassic Park was about to be released, and Universal Pictures' most important work right now was that project. As for Gilbert, while important, he certainly wasn't as critical as Spielberg.
Gilbert considered for a moment, then decided, "Alright, go ahead and leak Warner's terms to Robert Iger."
"You mean, to get Warner involved?"
"There's no harm in it, right? If they can support my terms, I'd welcome them with open arms," Gilbert chuckled.
Sheena Boone understood and jotted it down in her work notebook. She then added, "I've already signed Naomi Watts. Currently, I've arranged a few modeling gigs for her, and she'll be guest-starring in one or two TV series."
"Great, I'll thank you for Naomi, Sheena," Gilbert said gratefully.
"No problem, it's my job."
After Gilbert welcomed Warner Bros.' investment, Disney, though initially hesitant to refuse, couldn't resist Warner Bros. agreeing to Gilbert's demands. With Final Destination's box office climbing steadily, Disney realized their live-action film business couldn't do without Gilbert.
So, after multiple discussions, their subsidiary, Touchstone Pictures, officially reached a co-investment and distribution agreement with Warner. Touchstone Pictures and Warner Bros. each invested ten million dollars, totaling twenty million dollars. Additionally, Disney would handle North American distribution, while Warner would be responsible for overseas distribution.
As the director, screenwriter, and producer, Gilbert received a total of five million dollars in compensation, plus a share of the North American box office. Starting from fifty million dollars, for every fifty million dollars the box office increased, his share would go up by five percent, capping at fifteen percent. This director's contract wasn't the highest in Hollywood, but for a new director who had only made two films, it was already quite substantial.
After the negotiations were complete and no legal issues were found, Gilbert signed his name on the director's contract. "Believe me, you definitely won't regret your actions today," Gilbert told the executives of both companies after signing the contract. For Disney and Warner Bros., their signing of such a generous contract was undoubtedly due to their trust in Gilbert.
Since the contracts were signed, there was no point in regretting it; both companies could only assist Gilbert in doing a good job. Although Final Destination was still in theaters, with its weekly box office returns being negligible, Gilbert had already started the pre-production work for the new film.
The producer sent by Warner Bros. was Charles Roven, and for Touchstone Pictures, it was the familiar face of Cain Waxman. Both would assist Gilbert in handling production matters, including casting.
---
### Casting for Speed
The script review was incredibly fast; both companies approved the script at the quickest possible procedural speed, meaning Speed officially entered the preparation phase.
The first challenge was casting. Since it was an action film, Charles Roven suggested Sylvester Stallone, while Cain Waxman proposed Bruce Willis, who was just starting to make a name for himself at the time. Gilbert immediately rejected both choices. He said, "The film only has a twenty million dollar production budget, and their salaries are too high; we can't afford them." This was indeed a valid reason; either they'd have to increase the investment or find other actors. But Gilbert clearly didn't want to increase the investment. He suggested, "I think we should cast Keanu Reeves as the male lead, Jack."
"Keanu Reeves?" Charles Roven frowned, trying to recall who that was, but Cain Waxman said, "Isn't he the one who starred in Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break?"
"Exactly," Gilbert said. "I've seen his performance in that film. He played a secret agent and did quite well. I think he's suitable for the male lead."
His assistant quickly brought over Keanu Reeves's information. Charles Roven looked at Keanu Reeves's excessively handsome face in the资料 and couldn't help but frown. "Isn't his image a bit too soft? His physique also doesn't seem muscular enough. Will the audience accept that?"
At that time, the concept of an action star seemed to only include muscular tough guys like Stallone, Schwarzenegger, or Jean-Claude Van Damme. An actor with Keanu Reeves's image was considered a "pretty boy" and didn't fit the requirements for an action film male lead. However, Gilbert had good reasons for choosing Keanu Reeves; he was the original lead in the real-world version of Speed.
"How about this, let him audition and see the effect first," Gilbert didn't act arbitrarily but suggested an audition. Although the two producers felt the choice was inappropriate, Gilbert had considerable authority over the production now, so they couldn't directly object and agreed to the audition plan. If the audition didn't go well, they could just reject Keanu Reeves then.
With the male lead's audition requirements set, perhaps considering that he had just dismissed Gilbert's suggestions, Charles Roven then proposed, "For the female lead, Annie, I suggest Cameron Diaz." This was a good suggestion, and Cain Waxman also agreed. Cameron Diaz had just gained some fame from Final Destination and was suitable enough to be a "trophy wife" in a commercial film.
However, Gilbert disagreed: "Michelle has her own things to be busy with. I suggest Sandra Bullock." At this time, Sandra Bullock had starred in Love Potion No. 9 and The Thing Called Love, gaining some recognition, and her salary wasn't high. If possible, Gilbert would have preferred to cast more famous actresses like Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, or Demi Moore. But unfortunately, greater fame meant higher salaries, and with only a twenty million dollar budget, most of it needed to be used for film production, making it impossible to choose overly expensive lead actors.
After all, Gilbert had achieved good box office results with Final Destination using an almost entirely rookie cast. The current choices were at least recognizable and had some fame, so apart from the male lead, the two producers had no objections.
The casting preparation meeting ended there. Gilbert specifically called Naomi Watts: "Naomi, get ready for an audition. The role you're auditioning for is Emily. I'll talk to Annie. As long as you meet the audition requirements, you'll be the preferred choice."
Naomi Watts on the other end of the line thanked him, "Thank you, Gilbert."
"You're welcome, Naomi, good luck!"
After hanging up, Naomi Watts squatted down, buried her head in her knees, her shoulders trembling. After about ten seconds, Naomi Watts finally lifted her head. She was actually smiling, a very happy smile, but the tear stains at the corners of her eyes betrayed her.
After waiting so long, she finally got an important opportunity. Although it wasn't the female lead role like Cameron Diaz, a supporting role was still incredibly rare. Her dream was finally about to take flight...
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