Chapter 110: Turbulence at CAA

The relatively relaxed post-production schedule gave Duke a little free time. Taking advantage of the weekend, he met with a stockbroker his mother had recommended and obtained a massive amount of data on the stock and financial markets. Holed up in his apartment, he studied the information carefully, discovering that aside from long-established giants like General Electric, General Motors, and Mobil Oil, Microsoft and Apple were the only emerging IT stocks he clearly remembered.

Though he knew companies like Intel were giants—having been bombarded by their ads and frequently using computers—he wasn't sure of their future trajectories. Besides, with Microsoft and Apple around, why choose anything else?

His investment goal was incredibly simple: to preserve and grow his wealth. Holding onto massive amounts of cash was definitely the stupidest approach.

Microsoft was currently a hot stock in North America. After thinking it over, Duke decided to hold off on it for now and turned his attention to Apple.

Of course, Duke wasn't foolish enough to blindly buy up Apple stock in bulk. He hired an investigative consulting firm to look into the current status of Apple and Steve Jobs, just in case reality differed from his fuzzy memories and he ended up going bankrupt alongside them.

Within a few days, the firm returned enough information for him to make a judgment. Apple was deeply bogged down; rumor had it they could face bankruptcy and reorganization at any moment. Their stock price was in a free fall, rendering it virtually untouched by investors.

Meanwhile, Steve Jobs was hiding out in San Francisco running Pixar Studio. Their first animated feature was more than half finished, telling the story of a group of toys...

Because his memories of North America outside the film industry weren't extensive, this alone wasn't enough for Duke to make a clear judgment. But just as with investing in movies, any investment carried risks. With Apple in such poor condition, it was the perfect time to buy their stock on the cheap.

Enduring his stockbroker's gaze—who looked at him as if he were an idiot—Duke stood his ground. Within a week, the three million dollars to his name had been entirely converted into Apple stock.

It wasn't that Duke didn't want to invest more, but he simply had no spare cash. Part of his overseas box office cut hadn't arrived yet, he had just paid back his mother's severely overdue loan, he still needed to pay Nancy and the others their commissions, and he had to set aside enough money for film rights transfer fees in case Nancy's negotiations required it...

Investments aside, Duke had always planned to buy a mansion rather than rent an apartment long-term, but the funding issue remained unresolved.

In Duke's mind, the residence he bought needed to be relatively spacious, with enough cover to prevent paparazzi from peering in directly from the outside. The internet age was approaching. By then, directors wouldn't hide behind the scenes as they did now; even if they were far less appealing than stars, they would still be targeted by paparazzi.

A villa monopolizing a canyon or a cliff in Malibu or Santa Monica was Duke's ideal choice, but without ten million dollars, he couldn't even think about such a property.

But there was no rushing these things. He had to take it one step at a time, and right now, he was on the right path.

Post-production continued. While Duke prepared for the release of Independence Day, the film with the closest release date and the highest relative budget was also making its own preparations. Financed by Castle Rock Pictures and distributed by Columbia Pictures, this film finally confirmed its official title after several negotiations between the production team and the original author, Stephen King: The Shawshank Redemption.

The movie was scheduled to premiere on July 7th and open publicly on July 8th, separated from Independence Day's release by exactly one week.

"Popcorn flicks in the summer season are increasingly relying on their opening week box office."

Inside a Columbia Pictures conference room, head of distribution Jack Muschielli briefed the board on their competitors. "Judging by the released advertising clips, Independence Day is bound to be a standard commercial blockbuster. No one dares underestimate Duke Rosenberg anymore. His commercials and trailers are definitely not the film's only highlights. Based on the style of Speed and The Rock, Independence Day will be packed with scenes just like the ones in its ads."

"Then why did we choose to release it so close to Independence Day?"

The question came from Sony Columbia independent director Pete Peterson, who looked puzzled. "Couldn't we choose another weekend in the summer season?"

"We had no choice."

Company vice president Mickey Schulhof stood up, signaling for the staff on the other side to turn on the projector. He pointed to the movie titles and their corresponding release dates. "Throughout the summer season, even stretching into August, every weekend features films with budgets no lower than The Shawshank Redemption. We couldn't find a single weekend without a strong competitor, but Paramount voluntarily adjusted Forrest Gump's release date. Now, this weekend has no other film of the same caliber releasing."

"There's one more thing," Jack Muschielli added. "The style and genre of The Shawshank Redemption and Independence Day are completely different, and the audiences have almost no overlap. Even if Independence Day is more explosive than The Rock, it won't affect us much."

"Before setting the release date, we held a special test screening for film critics."

The film had been fully completed by the end of last year. Columbia wasn't just the distributor; they had also invested part of the budget, and they were eager to recoup their costs. "A total of 178 critics and journalists rated the film, and the average score reached a staggering 9.8!"

After those words, everyone in the conference room fell silent. They knew that critics' ratings didn't necessarily reflect market acceptance, but since Jack Muschielli had brought it up, this definitely wasn't a PR-engineered score, but real data. Was such a high rating really given by those arrogant critics who looked down their noses at everything? Even the highly acclaimed The Godfather hadn't reached such a high professional score back in the day, had it?

"Roger Ebert, Kenneth Turan, David Denby, and Todd McCarthy all gave the film perfect tens in the test screening!"

Jack Muschielli continued, "They promised to fully recommend this film once it's released!"

Even if professional critics couldn't represent the market, Columbia's executives knew that these critics, standing at the very top of their field, possessed a considerable number of followers. Their influence was nothing to scoff at. If they were willing to give the film their full recommendation, its prospects would undoubtedly exceed Columbia's expectations.

"It's almost April," CEO David Yetnikoff, sitting at the head of the conference table, said. "Hold theater test screenings as soon as possible. Also, pay close attention to any news regarding Independence Day."

Right after Forrest Gump shifted its release slot, Duke saw Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption eagerly seize that weekend. Although the title differed slightly from his memory, based on the production company, he guessed it had to be that masterpiece.

If his competitor the following week had been Forrest Gump, Duke would have definitely worried and perhaps even felt a bit nervous. But since it was replaced by this film, he tossed the matter straight to the back of his mind. In theaters, The Shawshank Redemption had absolutely no qualifications to compete with Independence Day!

However, Duke then thought of another aspect. With such a film releasing concurrently for comparison, the professional word-of-mouth for Independence Day would likely hit a new low.

Critics could influence a portion of film fans; this was a fact Duke couldn't deny. A movie heavily laden with commercial elements like Independence Day absolutely wouldn't endear itself to critics.

Of course, Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox could launch a PR campaign aimed at the critics, but the film's genre meant that getting them to say good things would inevitably require far more resources than before...

"Jeff..."

Sitting in an office in the Warner Building, Duke looked at Robinov across from him. "I suggest we don't invite critics to the test screening. We should only invite theater representatives, ordinary film fans, and media outlets we can influence."

"The critics?" Jeff Robinov frowned slightly.

It was well known that inviting critics to watch a Hollywood movie prior to release had long become standard practice. It was a tacit understanding between the two related industries.

"Critics will accept PR," Duke said thoughtfully. "But the top-tier ones are still relatively impartial."

He placed heavy emphasis on the word "impartial," making it sound like blatant mockery. "Jeff, you know exactly what Independence Day's selling points are. If we want these people to applaud the film, we'll inevitably have to pay more. But in my opinion, rather than wasting too many resources on those vampires, it'd be better to increase our advertising efforts."

What Duke described was the basic reality. For certain films that catered perfectly to critics' tastes, they would champion them for a small price, as doing so wouldn't harm their image.

But for a standard mass-market film like Independence Day, getting critics—who constantly flaunted their unique tastes and touted artistry—to wave the banner of support would definitely require laying out a lot more cold, hard cash.

This was especially true for the top-tier batch of critics; they were the most impartial, yet relatively speaking, they often demanded the steepest prices.

As Duke saw it, tossing millions of dollars to those vampires was worse than running more commercials on the Big Four Television Networks during prime time. Although this might provoke a fierce backlash from the critics' circle, his past experience told him that such reactions weren't necessarily a bad thing.

"I'll consider it." Jeff Robinov didn't agree outright.

"Alright then..." Duke stood up, ready to take his leave. Had the film's promotional impact not been tied to the box office, which directly affected his income, he wouldn't have bothered saying any of this.

"Duke, wait a moment."

Just as Duke prepared to shake hands and leave, Jeff Robinov took out an invitation and handed it over. "April 4th is Warner's founding anniversary. There's a celebration party at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel."

This was the most normal sort of networking, and Duke had no intention of refusing. Taking the invitation, he said, "I'll be there on time."