Chapter 144: Oscar Best Actor

"Hello, Clark, take a seat." Pointing to a chair in the tent, Duke waited for the Marine Corps captain, Clark Lewis, to sit down before turning his attention back to the dozen actors sitting nearby. They would play the most prominent American and German soldiers in Saving Private Ryan.

His gaze swept over them one by one. Aside from Tom Hanks, who was playing Captain Miller, the rest of the actors were completely different from the ones he remembered. Setting Leonardo DiCaprio aside, there were no famous names among them.

Duke didn't mind. These actors had stood out through two rounds of auditions, proving they possessed the fundamental acting chops. All they lacked was a crucial opportunity, and this film just might change some of their lives.

Reaching an agreement with Tom Hanks so quickly had also somewhat exceeded Duke's expectations. Charles Roven and Robin Grande's initial contact with Eno Martin had gone extremely poorly. The agent had refused to budge from a 20 million dollar base salary, causing Duke to briefly consider dropping Tom Hanks. He had even thought of a backup choice: Liam Neeson, who had played Oskar Schindler.

Somehow, that news reached Eno Martin's ears. The veteran agent was clearly a smart man; likely guessing why Duke wanted to walk away, he had consulted Tom Hanks and changed the salary structure to a 1+2 model.

A base salary cut in half was within Duke's expectations, so he naturally had no reason to object. However, things got stuck at the production company level. Over several days of seesaw negotiations, the various parties all made certain compromises. Tom Hanks's compensation was ultimately set at 12 million dollars plus a fifteen percent share of the film's profits.

Once any actor or director had enough leverage, they would do everything possible to fight for their own interests within legal and reasonable bounds. The fact that Tom Hanks signed this contract was not unrelated to Duke being the director. After all, Duke's previous films had brought in massive profits, so increasing the profit-sharing percentage was hardly a bad thing.

Aside from Tom Hanks, the individual salaries of all the other actors were kept under 1 million dollars.

"Starting today, you must become trained soldiers as quickly as possible."

Duke had called this brief meeting specifically to emphasize this point. He introduced the man beside him. "This is Captain Clark Lewis from the Marine Corps. He will conduct your military training over the next twenty days. During this period, you are to forget your identities as actors. You will address each other by your characters' names and learn basic military knowledge."

The actors looked at one another. Seeing that the biggest star among them, Tom Hanks, had no objections, they all nodded earnestly.

Duke continued, "You need to learn how to use World War II weapons, simple close-quarters and individual combat tactics, as well as the military code words and hand signals used during the war."

The military training wasn't just talk. For the next twenty days, everyone, including Tom Hanks, would not only have to live in tents but also conduct daily forced marches. Their meals would primarily consist of canned military rations.

Shooting a classic war film with a distinct documentary style—rather than a pure popcorn flick—required massive effort from the director, the actors, and every member of the crew. Coasting through it as relatively easily as they had on Independence Day was completely out of the question.

When the meeting ended and the actors filed out, Duke called out to Leonardo DiCaprio, pointing at the young man's long golden-brown hair. "Leo, cut that off as soon as possible!"

The current Duke was far from the man he had been when facing Keanu Reeves. The equally young and spirited Leonardo quickly nodded. "I promise, I'll cut it off before military training starts tomorrow."

As he turned and walked out, he muttered, "I heard a French beauty joined the crew next door. I was hoping to ask her out..."

After Leonardo left, only Duke and Tom Hanks remained in the tent. The two exchanged simple greetings and stepped outside together, walking toward an old-fashioned Jeep where the crew's press officer and photographer were already waiting.

Yes, Duke had come over specifically to take a photo with Tom Hanks. This wasn't for the sake of memories, but to coordinate with the film's early promotional campaign.

While Duke stayed busy, early promotion for Saving Private Ryan was proceeding methodically. The film was jointly funded by Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox, and Walt Disney. Even though Disney hadn't yet become the media behemoth of later years, the combined promotional resources invested by all parties still built considerable momentum for the movie.

"Saving Private Ryan, Duke Rosenberg's war masterpiece, the most realistic Normandy landing in history..."

"After leveling North America, explosion maniac Duke Rosenberg turns his sights to Europe!"

Media outlets under the three studios eagerly built hype for the film. Once the photo of Duke and Hanks hit the papers, the promotional blitz intensified even further.

"Oscar Best Actor Tom Hanks joins the cast, teaming up with Duke Rosenberg to forge an epic war masterpiece."

"Duke Rosenberg calls Tom Hanks the actor he admires and respects the most; Saving Private Ryan will be an epic collaboration."

"In an interview, Tom Hanks stated that he is a loyal fan of Duke Rosenberg and has always wanted to work with him on an adrenaline-pumping film. Saving Private Ryan fulfills that dream."

Going by the promotional news reports, Duke and Tom Hanks were lifelong soulmates. Of course, this was strictly for marketing purposes. Their relationship wasn't bad, nor was it particularly good—it was just a simple working partnership.

Following Independence Day, much like Steven Spielberg, Duke had gradually built his own brand as a director and gathered a massive following of fans who loved his movies. Even though the specific plot hadn't been reported yet, the name Saving Private Ryan had already left a distinct impression on potential audiences. The production and distribution companies were clearly using their brains during the promotional campaign; they deliberately glossed over the "saving" aspect and aggressively pushed the angle that this was an explosive, thrilling war film!

"Looking at all of Hollywood, is there a single director who dares to claim they can shoot explosion scenes better than Duke?"

This comment on an emerging film website pretty much summed up the universal recognition moviegoers had for Duke. Continuing to use explosions as the early selling point would naturally generate a larger impact.

Moreover, the campaign seized upon another explosive hook: Tom Hanks's box office draw currently blew that other Tom completely out of the water.

Where there was praise, there would naturally be detractors. Duke's rapid rise over the past few years had brought him immense profits, which inevitably damaged the interests of quite a few others. Those whose pockets had suffered certainly wouldn't just sit by and watch Duke continuously succeed.

This was especially true for the professional film critic community. If there was ever one movie and one man who could unite this demographic in a common hatred, it was undoubtedly Independence Day and Duke.

From the Independence Day holiday right up to the present, the fiercer the critics' attacks on Duke and Independence Day grew, the more viciously the film slashed through the global box office. They had used almost every derogatory word in the dictionary, even resorting to personal attacks, but they couldn't slow Duke's momentum in the slightest. They could only watch helplessly as he broke one North American box office record after another, taking his place among the highest echelon of commercial directors, exposing their total inability to influence the Summer Season market in the most mocking way imaginable!

However many people around the world loved Duke's movies, that was exactly how much professional critics hated him. To this day, even though they had lost the public opinion flame war and Duke couldn't be bothered to entertain them anymore, critics still gnashed their teeth whenever Independence Day was brought up, loudly proclaiming it to be the absolute worst of trash films.

After all, the conflict between them wasn't merely a clash of egos; it was a battle over profits.

North American professional film critics had been waiting for their moment to strike back. As soon as the early promotional campaign for Saving Private Ryan launched, critics immediately took to their columns to trash the film.

"Isn't it enough that Duke Rosenberg ruined North America? Now he's run off to ravage Europe. He's shooting a movie about the Normandy landings? This is a disaster even bigger than Nazi Germany breaching the Maginot Line! We can vividly picture it now: just as the Allied Forces' landing is stalled, spaceships will suddenly descend from the sky and attack the German coastal defenses, turning the entirety of Normandy beach into ruins in a world-shattering explosion!"

It wasn't just Duke; even Tom Hanks, who was collaborating with him, got caught in the crossfire.

"As we can see from his past few works, Duke Rosenberg possesses a special ability: he can drag actors with outstanding acting skills right down to his own level. When the film hits theaters next year, Tom Hanks will become the most pitiful actor on screen. Fans of Hanks, just think about the tired old tricks Duke Rosenberg always relies on!"

"Perhaps you will see an atypical, slacker-style Tom Hanks in this film, wearing his helmet crooked and chomping on a cigar. Perhaps you will even see him driving a landing craft onto the beach single-handedly, smashing into Berlin in a Sherman Tank amidst car chases and explosions, before tying Hitler to the Capitol Building and sending him straight to hell in the most violent explosion imaginable!"

"God, this is going to be an unimaginable disaster!"

Sitting across from Duke, Zack Snyder set down the newspaper and looked at him with sympathy. Duke ignored his gaze entirely, simply taking slow sips of his drink.

They were in a pub in Dublin, right next to the hotel where they were staying. It was quite a high-end establishment and relatively quiet. After returning to the hotel from the film set, Duke would sometimes bring a few of his team members over to sit and relax, using it as a way to unwind from their busy schedule.

"What are you looking at, Duke?"

Zack Snyder had noticed it a while ago; Duke's gaze kept drifting toward a corner diagonally across from them. He turned his head to look over. Sitting there was a woman—a very beautiful woman who was incredibly famous in Europe.