Chapter 165: Not Absent

"Director Rosenberg, could you share your thoughts on the Golden Raspberries?"

The media reporters clearly came prepared. Duke had barely reached the gates of Warner Studio when they swarmed him, shouting themselves hoarse with one question after another.

"Independence Day won only one Oscar for Best Visual Effects, yet it took seven Golden Raspberries. What do you have to say to that?"

"Has this been a blow to you?"

"Will it affect your career?"

A reporter wearing a CBS press badge suddenly squeezed to the front of the pack and shouted, "Director Rosenberg, regarding the massive failure of Independence Day—"

"Failure?"

Duke cut him off before he could finish. He stared dead at the reporter from the Columbia Television Network. "You consider Independence Day a failure? A commercial production that has currently grossed 905.78 million dollars worldwide is a failure? A movie watched by over 400 million people globally is a failure?"

Giving these reporters—who thrived on chaos—a cold look, Duke shook off their pursuit with the help of Warner Studio security and entered the lot.

Not long ago, when Independence Day's global box office crossed 900 million dollars, these very same guys and the media backing them couldn't wait to praise him to the high heavens. They had painted him as the greatest commercial director in Hollywood history, falling just short of kissing his feet. Now that the Golden Raspberries were out, these exact same people had jumped to the opposing side, framing Independence Day as his personal Waterloo and the turning point of his directing career.

Even with his usually level head, Duke had to admire the media's utter lack of integrity. Saying their morals were shattered on the floor would be a compliment.

Of course, the media outlets owned by Warner, Fox, and Disney—bound by shared interests—had been loudly supporting him all along.

Duke didn't care much, though. He wasn't some naive kid who understood nothing. The media all over the world, from Europe to the Middle East to the Far East, ultimately served interest groups. They would never stand on the side of fairness and justice, not even a relative version of it.

Stepping into D-Day Studio, Duke headed straight for the conference room. Actors like Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio, along with production heads like Robin Grande and Charles Roven, had already arrived.

The massive crowd of reporters gathered outside Warner Studio wasn't just there for him; they were primarily chasing after Tom Hanks.

Soon after, the heads of the distribution and marketing departments from Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox, as well as representatives from Walt Disney, entered the room one after another.

The post-production for Saving Private Ryan had entered its final stages. The next major hurdle was undeniably marketing and distribution, which was precisely what this meeting aimed to discuss.

Just like before, Duke spent most of his time sitting and listening, occasionally offering a few thoughts. This wasn't his field of expertise. Leaving professional matters to the professionals was the most pragmatic rule of business.

As the North American distributor, the Fox representative repeatedly brought up their rival for the upcoming release window: Braveheart, packaged by CAA for Paramount Pictures.

Although Fox and Paramount Pictures were collaborating on James Cameron's project, they weren't foolish enough to extend that partnership to two films in direct competition. The only relationship between Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan was as rivals.

Twentieth Century Fox had crafted a highly targeted marketing plan. It wasn't just about promoting Saving Private Ryan; they were going on the offensive. From the media to theater chains to promotional tie-ins, they intended to suppress Braveheart across the board. Driven by mutual interests, Warner Brothers and Walt Disney would also join the fray.

Though Duke couldn't recall Braveheart's exact box office numbers, he wasn't too worried about the film posing a massive threat.

The reason was simple. No matter how loudly William Wallace roared for "freedom," it couldn't change the fact that the film was a story about Scotland—and one about Scottish independence, which would strike a sensitive nerve with some Anglo-Saxon descendants. Saving Private Ryan, on the other hand, was an out-and-out story about American history, one that perfectly aligned with mainstream values.

Do not underestimate the difference between a foreign story and a homegrown one; it was often the deciding factor in a movie's success or failure.

North America was a bizarre land where isolationism still prevailed. The vast majority of the American public simply didn't care about anything that didn't involve America.

Then there was the American media market, absolutely the biggest insulator in the world. Even looking ahead twenty years, American television networks would never air a foreign program during prime time. The national audience watched far fewer foreign-themed films than one might imagine. The foreign stories that actually succeeded were almost always adaptations of classic literature or fairy tales and myths universally recognized across the Western world.

As for William Wallace—who was practically a traitor to Scotland in reality—how many people in the American public even knew who he was?

The idea of casually pulling a concept from France, Germany, or the distant East and turning it into a massive hit upon filming... the odds of that were barely higher than one percent.

"Leo..." Charles Roven's voice broke through Duke's thoughts. The production manager was instructing Leonardo DiCaprio to cooperate with the marketing push. "In the period leading up to the release, step out with Claudia Schiffer more often. We'll contact the media to cover you."

Exploiting actors' romantic lives to build hype for a movie was the most common promotional tactic.

Unlike Duke, who was just messing around with Heidi Klum, Leonardo DiCaprio had actually developed a real relationship with Claudia Schiffer. A supermodel paired with a handsome Hollywood star was a surefire way to grab eyeballs.

Of course, given Xiao Li's true nature, the relationship wouldn't last very long.

'Maybe when the heat from the movie's release cools down a bit, I'll convince Xiao Li to dump Claudia Schiffer?' Duke thought. 'Then the two of them can have a spectacular public meltdown, which should add a bit more to the box office?'

Despite coming up with such a rotten idea, Duke wasn't about to do the dirty work himself. He planned to have Nancy communicate it to the production team later.

"Charles, I have a few suggestions."

After the production manager finished speaking, Duke, who had been silent, finally spoke up. "Invite World War II veterans, as well as historians who study WWII and the Normandy landings, to attend the test screenings. If we can get their stamp of approval, Saving Private Ryan will be much more appealing to audiences on the war-epic front."

"We hype up their potential positive reviews to draw in war film enthusiasts?" The representative from Fox quickly nodded. "That's a great idea!"

Duke was only responsible for offering suggestions; as for the actual execution, these professionals knew far more than he did.

"Charlie." His main concern lay elsewhere. "How many opening theaters are we expecting to secure for the film?"

"The exact number will depend on the results of the test screenings."

As one of the heads of Fox's marketing and distribution, Charlie Adam didn't hide anything and told him the truth. "Duke, you need to prepare yourself. Saving Private Ryan won't get an opening theater count as high as Independence Day!"

Duke nodded, signaling that he understood.

This was perfectly normal. Compared to Independence Day's sci-fi action genre, Saving Private Ryan had an inherent disadvantage in its subject matter. Moreover, when the former was released last year, it had faced no strong competitors in the same window, easily securing 2,800 theaters. The latter, however, was up against the equally massive investment of Braveheart. No one could underestimate Paramount Pictures' power, and with both films opening on the same weekend, their theater counts would both take a hit.

By Duke's estimation, if the test screenings went smoothly and the audience and theater representatives reacted well, Saving Private Ryan might open in around 2,500 theaters.

The distributors would handle theaters and marketing; Duke's most pressing task right now was to finish the post-production of Saving Private Ryan with high quality and on schedule.

Adding visual effects, adjusting the score, editing the sound effects, and color grading were completed one after another over the following weeks. Duke also called the main actors back to re-record dialogue for certain scenes. By the end of April, aside from adding the opening and closing credits, Saving Private Ryan had essentially wrapped up post-production.

At the same time, the promotional campaign proceeded methodically. Heavyweight news dropped at regular intervals. This week they rolled out posters of Tom Hanks and the other main cast; next week, tabloids and entertainment magazines would be aggressively hyping up the new romance between Claudia Schiffer and Leonardo DiCaprio.

As May rolled in, the production released the first trailer, edited by Duke himself. It sequentially hit theater screens, as well as prime time slots on ABBC and the Fox Television Network.

Much like the Super Bowl halftime spot, Duke's cut continued to feature explosive, authentic, and brutally cruel war footage. After several years of experience, he knew exactly what Summer Season audiences wanted to see. It wasn't that anti-war themes and humanistic messages couldn't be brought up, but they could never be the focal point of the marketing. The current campaign was solely designed to stir up the desire to watch in potential audiences.

Marketing was not just about promoting Saving Private Ryan; it was also about targeting Braveheart.

Many media outlets under the co-producing studios suddenly developed a keen interest in Scottish history, providing basic historical lessons for the North American public. The main focus was on the highly controversial figure of William Wallace. In the campaigns run by Warner, Fox, and Disney media, Wallace was painted as an absolutely disgraceful character—the type most despised in mainstream American culture: a traitor and a sellout.

Paramount and CAA weren't sitting idle either. They launched their own counterattacks, blasting Saving Private Ryan for being excessively gory. They urged the Parent Teacher Association to boycott the film, calling on teenagers across America to avoid such a bloody and brutal movie.

This was merely a microcosm of Hollywood's fierce competition. The two sides went far beyond throwing insults in the media. For instance, they would plant suitable people in each other's test screenings to gather firsthand information, allowing them to formulate even more targeted promotional strategies, and so on.