Chapter 103: Concessions and Follow-Ups

For Independence Day to be a massive hit, meticulous pre-production and shooting detailed down to every last aspect were absolutely essential. Although they were currently only shooting without actors, most of the main cast had already joined the crew. Not only did they have to undergo appropriate military training, but they also needed to rehearse their scenes. Whether director or actor, anyone who didn't work hard would inevitably be eliminated by Hollywood.

As time crept into December, pre-production entered its final stages. Duke was still leading the crew in shooting special effects scenes. Shots requiring CGI compositing took the highest priority; he had to leave the Industrial Light and Magic visual effects team ample time for their work.

Computer special effects were forged entirely by burning through dollars. There were no shortcuts. When projected onto the big screen, the difference between CGI produced in half a month versus a full month was like night and day.

Spacecraft, the alien mothership, alien models, and the F-18 and F-16 models made their appearances before the camera one after another. With the basic raw footage secured, the visual effects team began compositing the massive aerial combat scenes while perfecting the explosion sequences.

Inevitably, explosions rang out across the soundstages every single day. The frequency far exceeded what it had been during the filming of The Rock. In just over half a month, Duke had tortured many of the crew to the brink of a nervous breakdown.

"Aunt Leah is here to visit the set."

Hearing Sofia's words, Duke, standing on the filming platform, nodded. He turned and waved toward his mother on the perimeter, showing no intention of dropping his work.

"Joss, count down from twenty and detonate!" he shouted into the megaphone.

With a thunderous boom, an alien spacecraft model measuring thirty feet across plummeted amid the explosion, smashing heavily onto the green-screen-covered floor. The moment Duke called the take, the firefighters waiting on standby rushed forward, hosing down the scattered embers with their fire extinguishers.

Even though the investigation into the previous fire consistently indicated it was just an accident, Duke took the matter far more seriously now. Not only did he have the footage shot that day copied and sent to a bank vault immediately, he also had Warner Studios assign an adequate number of dedicated safety personnel to the crew.

Don't assume that just because Hollywood had a complete industrial system, fires would vanish into the annals of history. Just this month, a fire had broken out on the set of Forrest Gump at the Paramount Lot. Robert Zemeckis had been far unluckier than Duke. The blaze had not only destroyed a massive amount of props and camera equipment but also burned up a portion of the film. Even though a timely rescue kept the majority of the footage safe, they still had to reconvene the crew for reshoots.

Rumor had it that this fire was also an accident. As for whether it truly was, perhaps only God knew.

The crew temporarily took a break. Duke stepped down from the lift, gave a few instructions to assistant director Zack Snyder, and walked to the perimeter of the set. While still some distance away, he waved to his mother.

"Mom..." He walked over quickly. "How did you find the time to come over?"

His mother was a busy woman. Currently, she was flying back and forth between New York and Los Angeles, occasionally making trips to Europe.

"A commercial crew from Saintphia is shooting at the studio." Mrs. Leah's eyes landed on the little girl beside her. "Scar said she missed you, so I brought her along to have a look."

"Hi, Duke," the little blonde girl waved at him.

"It's been a while, Scar."

Nodding to her, Duke asked directly, "How are you coming along with your role? Tell your mom that starting next week, you need to find time to come to the set and rehearse your scenes with Bill Pullman."

"Oh, I know."

Holding Mrs. Leah's hand, she followed Duke toward the soundstage's rest area. "I don't think this role is too hard. I'm just acting as background scenery most of the time."

"Mom, sit here."

Pulling up a chair for his mother at a lounge table, Duke spoke to a female assistant nearby. "Ellie, two coffees and a glass of juice, please."

"Hey, Duke!" Scarlett said with considerable dissatisfaction as she sat down. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Of course."

The fact that his mother had brought Scarlett Johansson along made it obvious she was quite fond of her goddaughter. Duke pushed the juice the assistant delivered toward her. "Go on, Scar."

"Um..." The little girl's bright eyes darted around. She picked up her juice, hiding her grinning face behind the glass. "Could you add a few more lines for my character?"

Her eyes remained fixed on Duke's face. Seeing his expression shift slightly, she hurriedly added, "Just ten lines! No... three is fine too..."

"I might as well add an entire scene for you."

Duke didn't joke around when it came to work, nor would he make random changes just because someone asked, even if she was his mother's goddaughter. "Maybe you should pilot a fighter jet and go bomb the alien spacecraft, Scar!"

Scarlett Johansson pouted and slowly lowered her head. "Never mind, then."

"Scar..." Mrs. Leah reached out and rubbed the little girl's head. "Patience is a beautiful virtue. Waiting now can be exchanged for success later."

"Mhm," she nodded vigorously. "I understand, Godmother."

Perhaps emboldened by the backup, while Mrs. Leah turned to speak with the approaching Sofia Coppola, Scarlett Johansson wrinkled her nose and quickly stuck her tongue out at Duke. Duke ignored her. This little girl was a genuine troublemaker who just so happened to have a close relationship with his family.

Sofia sat down as well, chatting with Mrs. Leah about the film.

"Duke's way of thinking isn't something an ordinary person can understand," Sofia teased. "According to the script, the key weapon humanity uses to finally defeat the aliens is actually a computer virus. I'm no computer expert, but I imagine viruses rely on specific programming languages and operating systems. Do the aliens really use the exact same technological systems and computer languages that we do?"

Mrs. Leah laughed outright. "Even as his mother, I can't guess what he's thinking most of the time."

"My dear..." Duke set down his coffee cup and looked at Sofia. "This is a sci-fi film. It doesn't need rigorous logic. If we went with the most reasonable premise, the aliens would inevitably conquer Earth, and our movie would lose money from a lack of an audience."

"But you can't deny it, Duke." Seeing someone waving from the other side, Sofia stood up. "Many of the film's concepts are too crude."

"I need to get back to work, Auntie."

"Sofia, come visit Santa Monica when you have time."

With the break nearing its end, Duke called the female assistant over, intending to have her take his mother on a tour.

"Let's go see the aliens." Scarlett Johansson eagerly jumped out of her chair and pulled Mrs. Leah up. "I saw them once when I came last time. They're made to look so real—so creepy and scary."

Returning to his post, it wasn't long before the sound of explosions rang through the soundstage again. Just as the media had commented, Duke wouldn't rest until he turned everything upside down.

The explosion scenes that could be shot on the soundstage or studio lot were basically all concentrated in this time frame. North America's landmark buildings had long since been annihilated in front of the cameras. As for why the aliens specifically targeted landmarks instead of far more crucial military targets when they attacked—did that really need an explanation?

Duke, at least, felt it needed no explanation at all. In this kind of sci-fi film, the primary goal was to give the audience a thrill. When they watched familiar buildings get reduced to ash in massive explosions, their spiking adrenaline would be enough to cover up a few logical plot holes.

Independence Day was different from both Speed and The Rock. It was a movie completely sold on its visual effects.

'Perhaps I'll be the one to truly usher in Hollywood's era of visual effects?'

During lulls in filming, these thoughts would pop into Duke's head. After all, the future of Hollywood was such that mainstream commercial blockbusters would follow exactly this kind of simple, crude, and direct path to raking in cash, just like Independence Day.

While Duke was filming, Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox were drafting a detailed promotional and distribution plan to maintain preliminary buzz. Furthermore, in mid-December, they officially locked in the film's release dates: it would premiere in North America on June 30, 1994, and officially open in theaters on July 1. This way, the film's opening weekend of July 1, 2, and 3 would lead right into the Independence Day holiday, potentially maximizing public enthusiasm for a movie titled Independence Day.

Without a doubt, this was a film brimming with Great Americanism. To use Sofia's mocking words, it was even delusional enough to try and change the national holidays of the rest of the world. The former Duke would have felt an innate repulsion and aversion to this type of film. But standing in his current position, once Independence Day succeeded, it would bring him massive profits.

The buttocks determine the head—this phrase held a certain truth. Standing in Duke's current position, why would he ever give up a film like this?

The first people he had to face were the North American audience. What he was making was a commercial film, and the first people he needed to pander to were the North American audience. Even though the movie's subject matter and certain aspects would inevitably provoke the disgust of quite a few people in other countries and regions, one fact couldn't be forgotten: movies that sold exceptionally well in North America could always sweep through overseas markets.

In other words, as long as Duke could guarantee the quality of the film, he didn't have to worry too much about the reaction of the overseas market.

However, whether a Summer Season film could succeed didn't just depend on its quality and promotional push; it also depended on its competitors in the same release window. The most classic example: if The Rock had clashed directly with Jurassic Park, its box office results definitely wouldn't have been as outstanding as they were now.

Therefore, amid his busy filming schedule, Duke also had Warner Brothers compile a list of films confirmed for release next June and July.

Even though James Cameron's True Lies was slated for mid-July, it was a full two-plus weeks away from Independence Day, so the two wouldn't pose too fierce a competition to each other.

Yet when looking back earlier into the schedule, Duke saw an extremely familiar name—Forrest Gump, opening in North America on July 6!