Chapter 400 Big-name Actor
On a sunny afternoon, a ship set off from Baja California, Mexico, and passed through the Pacific Ocean all the way south.
This ancient ship in the style of the 16th century sailed on the ocean, heading south along the coast of Mexico, preparing to cross the Panama Canal.
The sailing time was sunny and windy, and sometimes you could see dolphins accompanying the ship for a period of time.
The crew members were very comfortable and kept traveling at a fast speed in order to reach the scheduled location as soon as possible.
The ship sailed to the port at the entrance of the Panama Canal. The local staff at the port looked at the retro-looking ship and curiously asked the crew: "Where are you going?"
The crew replied, "We're going to the Caribbean island of St. Vincent."
The port staff asked again: "What is the purpose of your trip?"
"We're going to make a movie!" the crew member replied matter-of-factly.
The port staff became even more curious: "So you are actors?"
"No," the crew member shook his head and said, "We are just staff serving the actors."
"What kind of actor is so famous? He needs twenty people to serve him? Is he a Hollywood superstar?" The port staff became interested.
As everyone knows, even a super-big Hollywood star might not have so many people to serve him, including bodyguards, assistants, and other entourages.
Celebrities with such a large number of assistants should probably be found among the traffic florets in their previous lives.
Little Gilbert had once heard that a certain idol, Fresh Meat Brother, had a team of more than 30 assistants. They were all crowded around him when he came out, and he had no idea what these assistants did.
Including his entourage, such as makeup artists, nutritionists, stylists, etc., this brother would have at least fifty people waiting on him when attending a business event, which is extremely exaggerated.
But on the other hand, the brothers also solved a problem, that is, the employment problem...ahem!
The staff at the port were very surprised that this big star had a very special hobby and was actually riding on such a retro ship.
But then the crew solved the doubts of the port staff and found out that it was not the people who needed to be served, but the ship.
Yes, this ship is the actor.
As for the movie to be shot, it goes without saying that it is of course the work of the famous Hollywood super director Gilbert Jr.: "Pirates of the Caribbean".
Anyone who travels around the Caribbean island of St. Vincent knows that a large crew from Hollywood built a very large landscape on the island for filming movies.
If the same scene was built in Los Angeles, the cost would be four to five times higher.
Putting it in the Caribbean is no problem, and it just fits the name of the film.
In fact, long before Gilbert Jr., two screenwriters got the idea while playing in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean project, then wrote the script and showed it to Disney.
After Disney read the script, they hired two more screenwriters, and the four of them worked together to complete the entire script story.
But then this script never appeared on the desk of Disney executives. The first reason was that at that time, Disney executives had a fierce struggle due to conflicts between Michael Eisner and the board of directors.
The second reason is that Robert Egger, who is in charge of the live-action film business, believes that the story is too cliché and unattractive.
By that time, Disney had already secured Little Gilbert. As the flagship of Disney's live-action film business, there was no longer as urgent a need as before.
When Gilbert Jr. proposed to film the story of Pirates of the Caribbean, Robert Egger dug out the sealed script and provided Gilbert with a reference.
When he saw this script, little Gilbert was shocked and almost thought he had plagiarized it wrongly.
However, after reading the content of this movie script, little Gilbert was relieved. The story was indeed not outstanding, not even attractive, and was far inferior to the script he had in hand now.
The script written by these four screenwriters is as follows: In order to save his lover Elizabeth Swann, jailer Will Turner secretly released the pirate Jack Sparrow and asked him to take him out to sea to save his lover.
They found the big pirate Black Heart on the sea, and found out that it was Black Heart who kidnapped his lover. Then they joined forces to defeat Black Heart and rescued Elizabeth Swann. After reading it, little Gilbert told Robert Egger that the story was really vulgar.
And judging from the script, the leading male lead in the film is obviously Will Turner, but Gilbert Jr.'s script actually focuses on Jack Sparrow, who is the absolute core.
Little Gilbert emphasized with the rest of the crew during the preparatory meeting that all stories revolve around Jack Sparrow, and the rest of the people basically serve the plot and Jack Sparrow.
Of course, there's nothing you can do if Captain Barbossa tries to steal the show, do it naturally, and play his own role without overshadowing him.
But this is thanks to the outstanding performance of actor Geoffrey Rush. His scenes with Johnny Depp are very enjoyable.
The performance of the rest of the actors cannot be said to be bad. At least Jack Sparrow's weird crew members all have their roles.
On the contrary, the scenes of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are not enough to watch compared with these people.
Little Gilbert has made enough efforts to make the combined scenes of the two of them have a better balance with Johnny Depp.
But the role of Jack Sparrow was born to be played by Johnny Depp, and Depp played it so well.
His enchanting eyeliner, catwalk, swaying back, and the eccentric charm displayed in every move make people unconsciously attracted to Jack Sparrow.
You can't ask Johnny Depp to be more restrained, because he is the absolute leading man. In this role, no actor can overdo it.
In fact, before "Pirates of the Caribbean", Carlock Pictures invested US$95 million in 1995 to produce a pirate-themed movie called "Cutthroat Island."
As a result, the film was a huge success, earning $9.5 million. It successfully allowed Carlock Pictures to be acquired by MGM, and also cast a shadow over pirate-themed movies.
It is worth mentioning that MGM, one of the Hollywood giants, is now on the verge of collapse due to the failure of this summer's "Windtalker" and the poor performance of the new "007" film as expected.
As I said before, for a giant company to rely on a movie to save its life, the company itself is already facing a serious crisis.
This is MGM's hope. It's nothing if the movie hits the market. What's really scary is that shareholders and the stock market have lost confidence in MGM, and the stock has begun to decline.
If this continues, MGM will enter bankruptcy liquidation in a few years.
At this time, MGM began to seek external acquisitions, hoping to find a good buyer and sell itself to save its own life.
If Gilbert Jr. were not already a shareholder and director of Disney and Time Warner, he could definitely take this opportunity to acquire MGM and become the boss of the movie giant.
As for how to save MGM, Gilbert Jr., who owns Marvel Studios, thinks this problem is not a problem.
But it's a pity that Gilbert Jr. can't buy MGM.
Because although MGM is on the verge of bankruptcy, it is still a giant company with very high-quality assets, including a huge copyright library, which are coveted by Hollywood companies.
Any company can acquire MGM, but Gilbert Jr. cannot, because he has already cooperated deeply with the two giants.
Coupled with MGM, other giants who are forced by Gilbert Jr. may ask Gilbert Jr. to forcibly sell all his shares in the film company in the name of antitrust.
Although little Gilbert is a super rich man and can be considered a tycoon in the entertainment industry, he is not God after all, nor is he invincible.
The more he gets, the more people he offends.
Faced with the stranglehold of many interest groups throughout North America, the interest groups built around Little Gilbert could not resist. Once you fail to resist, you will end up being eaten.
But just because Gilbert Jr. doesn't take action doesn't mean that no one is interested in MGM.
(End of chapter)