After that, Robert Court, holding more than 200 million dollars in funds, disappeared from Hollywood overnight.
In an instant, numerous production companies and producers were dumbfounded. They hurriedly reported the case and called in the FBI to investigate.
But Robert Court had meticulously planned his scam. By this time, he had already fled North America, and no one knew where he had gone.
Countless victims wailed in despair, but their money was gone forever.
The incident was sensationalized, making headlines in major media outlets worldwide and being reported on repeatedly for over a week.
As a result, the Napoleon biopic project became a taboo subject in Hollywood during this period. Nolan never mentioned it again.
In fact, similar scams had occurred in Hollywood before. Despite past examples, human greed and the cunning of con artists meant that people kept falling for such schemes.
When Liv Tyler stayed at Melon Estate for a few days, she mentioned it to Gilbert: "I've met that Robert Court before. At the time, I didn't see through him as a fraud either.
He really looked like an aristocrat, and he was aggressively pursuing Mary."
This Mary was not Nicole Kidman but Jessica Alba. Westerners tended to use the same names repeatedly, so it was common for people to share names.
Gilbert immediately became curious. "Did she accept his advances?"
"Of course not!" Liv Tyler said matter-of-factly. "How could I let her agree? I was planning to bring her into my sisterhood and make her part of your lovers' circle!"
Liv Tyler had always been outspoken and outrageous, so Gilbert was used to it.
He said, "Looks like Mary was lucky to have you stop her. Otherwise, she would have been scammed by Robert Court."
Once Robert Court fled and the fraud was exposed, the deceived investors wouldn't be able to find the culprit. They would inevitably vent their anger on Jessica Alba.
In that case, Jessica Alba's Hollywood career would essentially be over.
Liv Tyler then whispered mysteriously to Gilbert, "I heard that Robert Court has HIV. During this period, he had been with quite a few actresses.
After he ran off, many actresses rushed to the hospital for checkups. Some of them already tested positive for HIV."
"If you were thinking about being with any of them, be careful not to get infected."
Gilbert rolled his eyes instantly. "I have you all—that's more than enough. I'm not interested in anyone else."
"That's for the best," Liv Tyler said as she straddled Gilbert's lap. "My dear brother, hurry up. I can't wait any longer…"
"…" Gilbert immediately transformed into a beast, launching a fierce assault on the high ground…
Although Nolan never mentioned Napoleon again, he quickly took an interest in another script called Insomnia.
Memento had earned $30.25 million at the North American box office. Considering its mere $5 million budget, it had turned a decent profit.
So, Gilbert had enough trust in Nolan, and Insomnia soon passed Melon Studios' project review. It was now up to Nolan to decide when to start filming.
At the same time, Nolan's younger brother, Jonathan Nolan, also joined Melon Studios as one of its screenwriters.
Over on James Gunn's side, the two sequels to The Matrix had completed post-production. The second film, The Matrix Reloaded, was set to be released in the summer of 2001.
To avoid clashing with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the film's release was scheduled for late June—nearly two months after The Two Towers.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers had announced its release date early. With ample time for planning, the film was set to premiere on May 5, marking the start of the summer blockbuster season and ensuring its momentum would carry throughout the summer.
Every summer film was waiting for The Two Towers to announce its date. Only after that did other films finalize their own schedules.
DreamWorks Animation's Shrek was set for release on May 11, just one week after The Two Towers.
Since animated films had a different target audience than The Lord of the Rings, there was no need to avoid it too much.
However, Pearl Harbor quickly distanced itself, moving its release to late May. It seemed that Martin Bob had indeed convinced Michael Bay.
According to an insider, Martin Bob's exact words to Michael Bay were: "We need to stay far away from that summer blockbuster lunatic—the farther, the better."
Although Michael Bay was reluctant, seeing how aggressively the first Lord of the Rings film had performed, he had no choice but to back down.
Other films also set their release dates. Tomb Raider, Jurassic Park III, Planet of the Apes, and others were all scheduled for summer.
Notably, Spielberg did not direct Jurassic Park III.
He was directing A.I. Artificial Intelligence that summer, so he only served as a producer for Jurassic Park III.
The tumultuous and brilliant year 2000 had passed, and people welcomed the second year of the new century.
By February, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers had completed post-production. Gilbert had a clear understanding of all the final footage, which allowed the post-production work to be completed swiftly.
Disney and Warner were also busy lobbying for the Oscars, ensuring that the film secured as many nominations as possible.
At the Oscar nomination luncheon, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring received an impressive eleven nominations, a great success. However, their efforts stopped there—no further lobbying was done.
It was obvious that the Oscars wouldn't award too many trophies to the first installment of the series. Otherwise, what would be left for the next two films?
Meanwhile, Disney and Warner's media outlets began promoting The Fellowship of the Ring, not to expand its screening scale but to build anticipation for the upcoming DVD release.
This DVD release came in both standard and deluxe editions.
The standard edition, priced at $19.9, included the extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring along with over twenty minutes of behind-the-scenes content.
The deluxe edition, priced at $39.9, contained everything from the standard edition plus an additional twenty minutes of interviews with the director, actors, and production crew.
But most importantly, the DVD featured a three-minute preview of The Two Towers, which included a specially edited sequence of the Battle of Helm's Deep by Gilbert.
This was undoubtedly the most exciting part for fans. Devoted Lord of the Rings book and film fans rushed to buy the DVDs as soon as they hit the market.
Major retail outlets and cities even experienced stock shortages.
For the first time, Gilbert partnered with Amazon to sell DVDs online. The result? The overwhelming demand crashed Amazon's website on release day.
Fans complained for nearly four hours before the website gradually recovered.
A successful film inevitably leads to strong sales of its merchandise—including DVDs. This was a well-established market trend.
In its first week, the standard edition of the DVD sold 6.1 million copies, while the deluxe edition sold 1.15 million, bringing the total first-week DVD sales revenue to an astounding $167 million.
Inevitably, The Fellowship of the Ring once again shattered records, achieving the highest first-week sales for any home video release in history.
By the time the Oscars ceremony arrived, The Fellowship of the Ring had already sold over 12 million copies worldwide.
The DVD alone generated over $100 million in pure profit for all investors—after deducting distribution costs.
Such an impressive commercial success naturally made many companies envious. Even robbing a bank wouldn't be as profitable as The Fellowship of the Ring.
In addition, Warner's HBO network purchased the North American first-run television broadcast rights for The Fellowship of the Ring for an astronomical $25 million.
As expected, at the Academy Awards, The Fellowship of the Ring won only a few technical awards and nothing more.
This was normal. Gilbert also served as a presenter for the Best Actress award, handing the Oscar to Julia Roberts, who won for Erin Brockovich.
The Chinese film community also had a strong presence that night. Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-fat jointly presented the Oscar for Best Visual Effects to Orange Studios for their work on The Lord of the Rings.
Despite being established only a few years ago, Orange Studios had already won this award twice, cementing its reputation as a top-tier visual effects company in Hollywood.
As expected, the Best Foreign Language Film award went to Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film was a massive success—not only did it surpass $100 million at the North American box office, but it also secured the Oscar.
One could imagine the shockwaves this news would send across the Pacific.
In the coming years, a flood of Chinese historical epics would emerge. However, whether they could truly gain international recognition—let alone an Oscar—would be another matter entirely.
At this time, the Academy Awards remained the pinnacle of the film industry—one of the most prestigious movie honors worldwide.
Winning an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film carried far more weight than winning top prizes at the three major European film festivals.
Even though European filmmakers might not want to admit it, as Hollywood's influence continued to grow, the Oscars had become the most coveted stage for filmmakers worldwide.
After the Oscars, The Fellowship of the Ring expanded its screenings once again—from fewer than a hundred theaters to over a thousand.
After one final surge fueled by fan enthusiasm, the film finally concluded its theatrical run on the first weekend of April.
The final North American box office stood at $517 million.
Globally, it reached $1.269 billion before it gradually left theaters worldwide, solidifying its record.
But surprisingly, The Fellowship of the Ring surpassing the billion-dollar mark wasn't even the biggest shock—the young wizard was.
Although Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was released a few months after The Fellowship of the Ring, it ended its theatrical run around the same time.
The film's global box office earnings reached $1.012 billion, an overwhelming success.
With these two billion-dollar films, Melon Studios once again solidified its reputation in Hollywood, becoming one of the industry's most profitable studios.
And Melon Studios' success wasn't limited to The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter—they also had The Fast and the Furious and upcoming releases from The Matrix franchise.
This incredible profitability made many Hollywood companies eager to wrest Melon Studios away from Disney and Warner.
However, after years of collaboration, Gilbert had always enjoyed a good working relationship with the two studios and had no plans to switch partners.
That didn't stop Gilbert from using other companies as leverage to put pressure on Disney and Warner. After all, negotiations for the acquisition of Melon Studios had reached a critical stage.
To secure the best possible terms, Gilbert would use interest from other companies as a bargaining chip.
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