Chapter 104: Good Morning

Paramount Pictures, the only major studio still physically located in Hollywood, finally fell to the Viacom Group's financial onslaught in the waning days of 1993. As a representative of the traditional major studios and independent production companies, Paramount's surrender marked the definitive end of Hollywood's independent era, ushering the film industry into a true age of titan competition.

Yet despite gaining the backing of the massive Viacom media conglomerate, Paramount Pictures had not enjoyed a smooth run recently.

First, the acquisition forced many of its film projects, including Forrest Gump, into a temporary hiatus. When the projects finally got the green light, Forrest Gump—which had been in development for years—ran into adaptation disputes with the original author, Winston Grumman, nearly taking both sides to court. After things settled down and the crew finally got on track, an inexplicable fire broke out on set, forcing them to redo much of their work...

Furthermore, when the project was greenlit in the first half of the year, it was slated for an early July release in North America. Who could have expected Independence Day to suddenly emerge? Initially, rumors suggested its release was wavering between the Independence Day holiday and Memorial Day, so Paramount opted to wait and see. Just a few days ago, however, Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox officially locked in the release date for Independence Day: the Independence Day holiday!

This was dangerously close to the release window for Forrest Gump, making fierce competition inevitable.

"Wendy, what are your thoughts?"

Sitting behind her desk, Paramount's new CEO, Sherry Lansing, looked at the producer of Forrest Gump. "Does Forrest Gump have the strength to compete directly with Independence Day?"

"Sherry, you know that director, Duke Rosenberg."

As a prominent Hollywood producer, Wendy Finerman seemed full of worry. "In my opinion, Duke was practically born for the summer season. Independence Day is an explosive sci-fi action film. Judging by his first two movies, the chances of him failing are extremely small. Furthermore, Forrest Gump is naturally at a disadvantage in terms of budget and genre."

"Jonathan, what's your opinion?" Sherry Lansing asked Paramount's executive director.

"I suggest we avoid a direct summer season collision with that destructive maniac's film," Jonathan Dolgen said bluntly. "It's true that Forrest Gump has a reader base, and Tom Hanks has genuine box office appeal, but don't forget about Interview with the Vampire and Tom Cruise. To be exact, their genre had even more of an advantage than Forrest Gump, yet they still lost their firefight against The Rock."

What kind of movie was best suited for the summer season? No one in the room was an amateur. In terms of genre, Duke Rosenberg's popcorn flicks were the quintessential summer blockbusters.

"The official promotional campaign for Forrest Gump hasn't started yet," Sherry Lansing noted, seeking their consensus. "There's still time to adjust the release date..."

Hollywood held few secrets. The news that Paramount Pictures was moving the release date of Forrest Gump forward by a month soon reached Duke's ears. He was slightly taken aback at first, but quickly breathed a sigh of relief.

The situation was clear: Paramount Pictures wanted to dodge Independence Day. That was the reason for Duke's surprise—after all, Forrest Gump was a masterpiece capable of sweeping North America. His relief, aside from shedding a fierce competitor in the same release window, came from figuring out the reasoning behind their move.

He knew that Forrest Gump was destined to sweep across North America, but Paramount and the film's investors didn't. Although the movie possessed a distinct nostalgic theme, its genre clearly lacked an advantage against a classic summer season popcorn flick like Independence Day. On top of that, its production budget and early audience and media buzz lagged far behind.

More importantly, Duke had already proven his competitiveness in the past two summer seasons. When Speed faced off against Alien 3—a franchise heavyweight—it not only successfully surpassed the sequel at the box office, but also seized the top spot on the weekly box office charts twice.

With The Rock, his opponents had switched to the even more formidable Interview with the Vampire and Tom Cruise. He still emerged victorious. Not only did he snatch the weekly box office throne, he subsequently suppressed Stallone's Cliffhanger, securing yet another back-to-back championship in North America.

Paramount couldn't possibly ignore those track records, even with the addition of Tom Hanks, the newly minted Oscar best actor.

Furthermore, the relative underperformance of Interview with the Vampire made many film distributors acutely aware of just how crucial genre was during the summer season.

Of course, not every film company believed that only popcorn movies were suited for the summer season. Although Paramount's Forrest Gump chose to back down, the vacated weekend release slot presented an opportunity for others. Consequently, a prison-themed film produced by Castle Rock Pictures and distributed by Columbia Pictures smartly swooped in to occupy Forrest Gump's original date.

This round of release date shuffling was an alternative form of Hollywood competition, and a smart tactical choice for films that considered themselves the underdogs.

None of this affected Duke, however. The film's pre-production finally concluded before Christmas. After he returned to Santa Monica to spend the holidays with his mother, filming was no longer solely focused on stunts and explosions, and the cast gradually joined the production.

"Stan, are you ready?"

Standing behind a pane of glass, Duke looked at Stan Winston beside him. "Not just the two hands. I want all of the alien's tentacles moving."

"Don't worry," Stan Winston said, giving Duke a thumbs-up.

Duke nodded and shouted over his shoulder, "John, get ready!"

John Schwartzman personally manned a camera, while Ben Watts rigged up the Steadicam, moving into position to shoot from the optimal angle.

"Action!"

Through the glass, Duke gestured to the people inside the isolation room, then stepped back.

The actor playing the President and several soldiers immediately walked over from their marks. One of them inspected the glass wall. Suddenly, a scientist, his neck tightly strangled by a tentacle, slammed flat against the glass, his expression filled with sheer terror...

Standing next to John Schwartzman, Duke watched the actors perform. Frankly, aside from Bill Pullman as the President, the rest of them showed varying degrees of overacting, their expressions a bit too exaggerated. However, Duke had no intention of calling cut. For this film, the acting just needed to clear the baseline. If this group was considered unqualified, then the current Will Smith could be fired on the spot.

The take ended with the glass wall shattering. Duke reviewed the footage and nodded his approval.

All the aliens here were shot using practical models. The flailing tentacles were mechanically operated by a special effects technician, and the two alien hands gripping the scientist were merely prop hands worn by a prop master on his own arms.

Aside from the rows of aliens inside the outer space battleship at the end, which would be generated via CGI, the rest of the aliens were entirely practical. The models created by Stan Winston and the Industrial Light & Magic Special Effects Team were exactly as Scarlett Johansson had described them: realistic enough to pass for the real thing.

After capturing a few more shots of the aliens, Duke moved the crew to the next location. The sets here had been constructed well in advance. Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum sat inside the alien spaceship interior, familiarizing themselves with the environment and rehearsing their upcoming scene.

"Jeff, and Will."

Standing in front of the two actors, Duke kept his directions concise. "You're seeing hope amid a desperate situation, but the tension outweighs the excitement. Don't forget, not only do you have pursuers on your tail, but there's also a Nuclear Bomb that could detonate at any moment."

Duke felt relatively at ease with Jeff Goldblum. Although his acting range had its limits, he had starred in numerous films and possessed a wealth of experience. Will Smith, on the other hand, was a major sticking point. Since joining the production, even with Duke's very relaxed acting requirements, Smith averaged nearly double-digit NG takes per scene.

This time was no different. Just as filming started and the alien spaceship shook, the nervous expression on the face of this future superstar—whose acting skills would always leave something to be desired—immediately morphed into an exaggerated, roaring grimace.

"Cut!"

Duke dodged the cables on the ground and stepped into the spaceship. Looking at Will Smith's apologetic expression, he ultimately suppressed his anger. Losing his temper would only increase the pressure on the actor. Since Duke had chosen to cast him, he needed to be mentally prepared for this.

"Will!" Duke said with strict severity. "Remember one thing: you are an actor right now, not a hip-hop singer. If you show me that kind of hip-hop singer look in the next take, I'll send you up to the studio roof and make you sing R&B all day long!"

"You just need to be excited and nervous! Think about what it was like the first time you performed on stage! Don't tell me you were able to handle it effortlessly back then."

Although he could provide some guidance and use camera blocking and lens angles to improve Will Smith's on-camera performance, Duke was only a director, not some divine filmmaking guru with a magical aura.

The crew's time and energy were limited. If Will Smith continued to flounder, Duke planned to only shoot him from behind. Fortunately, during the subsequent takes, Smith's performance improved slightly. Though the progress was limited, he still managed to successfully nail the scene after three NGs.

Perhaps because Duke's acting requirements were relatively relaxed, or maybe because the core team had ironed out the kinks during The Rock, their teamwork was far more synchronized. Combined with the fact that Duke himself had made significant directorial progress after shooting two movies back-to-back, the production of this film—which relied more on stunts and special effects than acting—proceeded extremely smoothly.

The rest of 1993 passed in a flash, and 1994 soon arrived. By mid-January, news arrived from the Pentagon: both Edwards Air Force Base and the White Sands Missile Range were entering a brief window of availability, meaning the crew could finally move in and begin filming.