Chapter 181: Invincible

Every weekend of the Summer Season was a fierce battleground, a time when competing films practically crossed bayonets and drew blood. The Bridges of Madison County and Saving Private Ryan were no exception. However, even with the former boasting a strong premiere backed by two powerhouse actors, and the latter already entering its second weekend, no one had any faith in The Bridges of Madison County.

Never mind the film itself—just look at the director and the cast.

Films directed by Clint Eastwood were never known for their commercial appeal. Meryl Streep certainly had incredible acting chops, but her box office draw was quite limited.

There was absolutely no suspense in the battle for box office and audience attention.

Over the three-day weekend, The Bridges of Madison County opened in 1,805 theaters across North America and raked in $10.51 million. It successfully suppressed the $2.68 million of Braveheart and the $8.25 million of Die Hard with a Vengeance to claim second place on the box office charts. Standing firmly in first place, utterly unshakable and far beyond the reach of these other films, was Saving Private Ryan.

Playing in 2,865 theaters, Duke's film pulled in $38.95 million, securing the weekly box office crown for the second week in a row!

Combined with Thursday's $9.87 million, the film's cumulative North American box office had reached $149.93 million. Breaking the $150 million mark was now only a hair's breadth away.

"Tell me!"

An old man's angry shout rang out from a luxurious hospital room in Los Angeles. "What is the cumulative box office of my new movie!"

"Sean, calm down!"

As both his publicist and his friend, Jack shouted a reminder to Sean Connery, who was lying in the hospital bed, "This is bad for your recovery!"

At those words, resentment flashed in Sean Connery's eyes. He squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth, "Tell me, Jack!"

Jack hesitated for a moment before answering, "Braveheart has reached $13.57 million in North America."

$13.97 million? $149.93 million? How massive was the gap between the two? Was the new movie he had counted on for a comeback doomed just like that?

Sean Connery took several deep breaths in a row before he could suppress the anger churning in his chest once again. His new collaboration with Mel Gibson was looking very unlikely to recoup its costs at the box office. From a market perspective, Braveheart was already a failure.

It was all because of that bastard! It was all because of that bastard named Duke Rosenberg!

Instantly, Sean Connery linked the film's failure to his competitor. If it weren't for Duke Rosenberg, would the release dates of their two films have clashed? If it weren't for Duke Rosenberg, would the crew's filming schedule have been delayed? If it weren't for Duke Rosenberg, would the production budget have bloated to $60 million in the end? If it weren't for Duke Rosenberg, his leg wouldn't have...

As he glanced down at his completely immobilized right leg wrapped in bandages, all of Sean Connery's anger suddenly vanished. According to the diagnoses of multiple doctors, given his age, even with the most optimistic recovery, he wouldn't be able to exert much force on his leg once it healed, nor would he be able to handle prolonged periods of walking!

This meant that he was essentially bidding farewell to his acting career and to Hollywood!

As arrogant as he was, even he had to admit one thing now: without the gentlemanly image meticulously packaged for him by CAA, he was actually nothing. Even if he stubbornly continued to act in the future, how many Hollywood film crews would be willing to risk hiring an elderly actor with a lingering injury?

Retirement was the only path left for him!

Sean Connery's heart grew colder and colder. It wasn't just the blow of his competitive failure, but also the attitude of his talent agency. Ever since Martin Bob visited him once at the very beginning, no one else from CAA had come to see him. They had completely forgotten about him now that he was a worthless asset.

The most shameless part was that when CAA's press spokesperson was interviewed by the media, they actually claimed they would keep his office at CAA for him forever!

What a bunch of sanctimonious bastards. Even with his value depleted, they still wouldn't miss a chance to use him for publicity!

Compared to Duke, Sean Connery now felt that CAA, which had betrayed him, was far more despicable!

Everything... it was all over... Sean Connery only saw darkness before his eyes, unable to see where the road ahead led.

After wrapping up their promotional push in New York, the crew went on a temporary break. Once they regrouped, they would head to Europe to kick off the film's European promotional tour. Saving Private Ryan was set to debut across the entire continent, but before that, the crew would travel to Normandy to join politicians and royalty from numerous European nations in attending the D-Day commemoration events.

"This is our new home?"

Following his mother back to her newly purchased home on the Upper East Side, Duke curiously surveyed the two-story villa. "Looks pretty nice."

"Go take a look for yourself. Your room is upstairs."

Mrs. Leah tossed the remark over her shoulder and went back to busying herself with her own affairs. Duke walked up the stairs and took a lap around the second floor before sliding open a glass door and stepping out onto a terraced balcony with a small garden. Standing by the railing, he gazed off into the distance, where he could faintly see the silhouette of Manhattan. After carefully picking out a few of the tallest skyscrapers, he turned and went into his own room.

The room's decor closely mirrored his old bedroom back in Santa Monica. Sliding open the closet, he found it already packed with clothes, exactly as he expected. Duke dug out some loungewear, took a quick shower in the bathroom, changed, and headed back downstairs.

His mother had already prepared dinner. Although it was incredibly simple, the atmosphere of eating at home was absolutely incomparable to anywhere else.

"Have you finalized your contract with the Lauder Group?" his mother asked with concern.

Duke nodded and swallowed a mouthful of spaghetti. "Nancy finished negotiating it last month, and I've already signed the contract. Right now, I'm thinking about a suitable storyline for the commercial. Shooting won't start until September."

"Don't brainstorm a commercial using the same wild imagination you apply to movies," Mrs. Leah reminded Duke. "A commercial has to account for public acceptance. If you pitch unreliable ideas that don't fit mainstream aesthetics—like you used to when you were little—the commercial will inevitably fail."

"I know, Mom."

Hearing this, Duke naturally recalled some of the foolish things he had done in the past. He had once cooked up so-called "futuristic" commercial concepts and showed them to his mother, but not a single one had managed to pass Saintphia's review. The reason was incredibly simple: they hadn't matched the mainstream aesthetics of the time.

When it came to shooting the commercial for the Lauder Group's Youth Dew, Duke certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to blindly copy examples from the future. The years before 2000 and the years after 2000 belonged to two entirely different eras.

After staying in New York for a day, Duke reunited with the crew and flew to France.

During that time, he received another piece of news. A film agency from a certain country far across the Pacific Ocean wanted to import his movies. Warner Brothers had initially recommended Independence Day, which had taken the world by storm and was still screening in some remote regions, but it had been rejected due to ideological issues. Instead, the other party's first pick was The Rock, and they were also very interested in Saving Private Ryan.

When the news reached him, Duke couldn't help but think of an old rumor. Could it be true that some high-ranking official over there was a Nicolas Cage fan?

Of course, he just glanced at this news before tossing it aside. While that overseas market was vast, even ten years from now it still wouldn't be worth paying much attention to.

Opening up new markets was naturally a job for The Big Six of Hollywood, not something a film director needed to worry about.

On June 6th, the small northern town of Ouistreham in France became the focal point of global attention. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of victory in World War II, politicians and dignitaries from all over the world gathered at Ouistreham's Sword Beach to attend the commemorative events.

"That's the French President, that's the British Prime Minister, that's the German Chancellor..."

Standing in the beach's viewing area, Tina Fey whispered the identities of the politicians standing not far ahead to Duke. It wasn't just these leaders who held the fates of their nations in their hands; there were also European monarchs and their royal family members, such as Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

These people were the true stars of the event, drawing away the vast majority of the media's attention. The presence of the Saving Private Ryan crew here was no different from their previous appearances: it was entirely for promotional needs.

Although few independent media outlets paid them much heed, the camera lenses of television networks and reporters belonging to Time Warner and News Group in Europe constantly trailed the crew throughout the event. The news of such a prominent film and its crew appearing on D-Day in Normandy was bound to attract the attention of quite a few European audiences.

Furthermore, the film's massive box office explosion in North America had shown both conglomerate corporations enough profit potential. Displaying their profound institutional depth and the powerful, boundary-crossing influence of capital in both politics and business, they not only scheduled the European premiere of Saving Private Ryan for tonight in the small town of Ouistreham, but also invited a number of European royals and politicians to attend.

The central theme of Saving Private Ryan was also a crucial factor in attracting these individuals. Showing support for this kind of film was, in itself, an expression of political correctness.

The film's screening was held inside a small local theater. Aside from the dignitaries and socialites in attendance, the crew had also invited a large contingent of World War II veterans.

In short, they operated on a single principle: during this special window of time, the crew would do whatever it took to garner public attention.

Naturally, it went without saying that a premiere like this drew heavy media coverage. Following the press conference at the end of the premiere, the crew adhered to political custom by hosting a formal reception banquet at a nearby hotel.

The most highly scrutinized member of the crew was Tom Hanks. As a two-time Oscar Best Actor winner, he was the primary target for networking among the socialites, especially the royal family members. To some extent, modern European royals were no different from Hollywood stars. The two circles had been mingling since the 1950s and 60s, and they always managed to find a common language.

Just as many people paid attention to Duke. Even though the other parties all bore illustrious identities, with titles like prince, princess, and grand duke sounding incredibly intimidating, in Duke's eyes, their importance didn't even match that of Tom Hanks. As a result, he was naturally able to treat them with casual ease.

After politely socializing with a few princesses and princes, Duke found a slightly quieter spot, planning to rest for a moment.

A girl nearby seemed to notice him. Once she confirmed she hadn't mistaken his identity, she walked straight over.

"You are... Director Rosenberg?" Her English wasn't particularly fluent.

Duke nodded, confirming that she was a guest invited by the crew, and offered a polite smile. "You can just call me Duke."

"You can call me Victoria..." The girl clearly had an outgoing personality. "Or just call me Vicky, or Alice."