At a time when all the major Hollywood studios were successively affected by the financial crisis, Warner Bros. and Disney were actually doing relatively better.
Disney managed to hold things together by relying on films from Melon Studio, while its animated movies continued to sell extremely well as always.
Warner Bros., on the other hand, was doing well because Gilbert had made The Dark Knight for them. The film not only achieved both box office success and critical acclaim,
but more importantly, it stabilized the company's stock price, and its merchandise also generated considerable profits.
At the end of the day, all of this was still inseparable from Gilbert.
The other film companies, however, had a miserable year. They were forced to tighten their budgets and cut expenses just to get by. As a result, fewer large-scale projects were approved, making it seem as though there wouldn't be many blockbusters next year.
But in reality, that was not the case at all. On the contrary, there were even more highly anticipated commercial blockbusters scheduled for release next year, which was truly a strange phenomenon.
Looking back at every economic crisis, whenever something major happened on Wall Street or elsewhere in the United States, Hollywood would instead usher in an unprecedented period of prosperity.
Analyzing the audience's psychology, it was likely because the real world was simply too cruel, prompting people to flock to movie theaters to escape reality.
Thus, even though the financial crisis had not yet passed, competition during next year's summer season still appeared to be extremely fierce.
And in fact, that was indeed the case. Aside from Melon Studio announcing that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would be released during next year's summer season,
there was also Transformers 2, produced by Sky Dance Studio, distributed by Sony Columbia Pictures, and directed by Michael Bay.
What was somewhat different was that the male and female leads had been changed.
The original Andrew Garfield and Megan Fox were both replaced, with Channing Tatum and Alexandra Daddario taking over instead.
Speaking of which, Alexandra Daddario actually knew Gilbert. She had previously appeared in one of Gilbert's films in a role before.
With the Transformers series having changed so drastically, even Gilbert had no idea what direction the franchise would ultimately head toward.
However, given Michael Bay's abilities, even if the film turned out poorly, it would at least ensure that it wouldn't lose money.
Moreover, the Transformers series was far more important for its peripheral revenue. Selling toys was the true focus of this franchise.
This was also why Sky Dance Studio, despite being under immense pressure from the financial crisis this year, still spent heavily to produce Transformers 2.
This was Sky Dance Studio's ace series, and their performance was essentially riding on these films.
Originally scheduled for release during this year's Christmas season, Angels & Demons was forced by Sony Columbia Pictures to be moved to next year's summer season due to the impact of the financial crisis.
In addition, 20th Century Fox's produced and distributed X-Men spin-off Wolverine was confirmed for release during next year's summer season.
Disaster-film master Roland Emmerich brought his new work 2012, a film tightly centered on the Mayan prophecy that the year 2012 would mark the end of the world, once again showcasing the classic spectacle of America leading the effort to save the world.
Another Hasbro toy brand, G.I. Joe, was also adapted for the big screen, with the success of Transformers giving Hasbro tremendous confidence.
There were also Terminator 2018, Ice Age 3, Up, as well as Paramount's major reboot Star Trek, and Nicolas Cage's new film Knowing, among others.
Finally, the most heavyweight of them all was Marvel Studios' Iron Man 2, which was set to be released on the very first weekend of the summer season.
Before Iron Man 2, Captain America would be released in March, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe plan continuing to advance steadily.
Movie fans searched everywhere and eventually realized one thing: where was Gilbert's new film?
Could it be that he would once again be absent from the summer season next year?
Being absent from the summer season did not mean being absent from the film market next year.
In fact, Gilbert believed that Knives Out did not have sufficient competitiveness for the summer season, so it was not scheduled for a summer release.
He temporarily handed the preparatory work over to Charles Roven and Annie Burton, while he himself took Anne Hathaway to Sydney to check on the production progress of James Cameron's Avatar.
"At present, the visual effects rendering stage is still underway. We are using an entirely new motion-capture technology. The visuals are more refined, and the 3D effects are even more stunning."
James Cameron brought Gilbert along to watch a short segment of footage that had already completed rendering, and the 3D effects were indeed exceptionally impressive.
For Gilbert, who had already been exposed to a large number of 3D films, this level of quality was within expectations, so he wasn't particularly surprised.
But Anne Hathaway, who came along with them, had her mouth hanging open the entire time and never once managed to close it.
After watching the clip, Anne Hathaway exclaimed, "The effects are incredible, absolutely unparalleled.
James Cameron was very pleased with Anne Hathaway's reaction; this was exactly the effect he wanted.
If the audience wasn't blown away, then all his massive investment and years of 3D filming would have been for nothing.
Gilbert's reaction wasn't as strong, which didn't surprise James Cameron at all.
After all, the 3D technology was supported by Gilbert himself; the two had collaborated on it. Considering Gilbert had experimented with test films before, it was not surprising to him.
"This isn't even the final version yet. Once the full film is complete, it will be even more breathtaking," Cameron said confidently.
"I believe this film will astonish the entire world," he added proudly.
Gilbert agreed: "Indeed, this is a milestone movie. Starting with this film, Hollywood will be divided into two eras."
The Dark Knight had also marked a technological innovation, being a large-scale use of IMAX technology.
But in terms of revolutionary impact, the 3D technology in Avatar was even more groundbreaking.
James Cameron added, "3D technology will indeed revolutionize the film industry, but it's not without flaws."
"Yes, the biggest flaw is that 3D doesn't perform as well in darker scenes as it does in brighter ones," Gilbert responded.
"Essentially, this isn't live-action. It's created frame by frame through modeling and rendering. No matter how immersive it feels, it's still artificial," Gilbert continued.
"Exactly," Cameron agreed.
He had always considered Gilbert a kindred spirit; the two shared many conversations about the development and application of film technology.
Cameron further explained, "That's why, when producing this film, I made Pandora dazzlingly colorful.
Even in nighttime scenes, I added multiple light sources to attract viewers' attention and guide their focus.
At present, there's still no effective solution for 3D's poor performance in dark scenes."
Gilbert recalled that in his previous life, The Bourne Ultimatum starring Matt Damon was a representative example. The 3D version released in mainland China had many dark scenes—sometimes pitch-black. Combined with constant camera movement and 3D effects, it made quite a few audience members nauseous.
The Bourne Ultimatum was simply not suitable for 3D; in 2D, it would have performed much better.
Of course, some older films were still being converted to 3D, like The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The upcoming Hobbit series was also planned by Peter Jackson to be produced using 3D technology.
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