Chapter 187: Invitation

"Michael, I'm sure we'll have opportunities to collaborate in the future."

In the reception room, Duke shook hands with Michael Ovitz in farewell. "Disney is an excellent partner."

Michael Ovitz forced a smile, turned, and walked out. As a former agent, reading people was his most basic skill. He could tell Duke cared about Disney, not him as CEO; there was absolutely no need for them to continue talking.

Watching Duke sit back down, Tom Cruise's expression stiffened. Although Duke hadn't said it outright, Tom could tell from his words that he had no interest whatsoever in the project, even with the exceptionally generous terms.

Why did Duke always have to go against him?

At that thought, Tom Cruise stood up as well, preparing to leave.

"Tom..." Duke looked at Pat Kingsley, then at Nicole Kidman, before his gaze finally settled on Cruise. "Can we talk alone?"

Tom Cruise thought for a moment and slowly nodded.

Nancy Josephson handed her briefcase to Duke and was the first to leave the reception room. Nicole Kidman and Pat Kingsley whispered a few words in Cruise's ear before stepping out as well.

"Please, have a seat." Duke gestured to the chair beside him. Once Tom Cruise sat down, Duke opened the briefcase, took out the script for Chicago, and handed it over. "Tom, I'd like to invite you to star in my new movie."

"A new movie?"

Taken aback for a second, Tom Cruise flipped open the script. "A musical?"

Even without reading the specifics, seeing that it was adapted from a Broadway stage play immediately confirmed the genre for him. After all, this musical had once achieved unparalleled glory.

"You want to invite me to play Billy?" he asked tentatively.

"That's right, Tom."

Despite his sincere expression, Duke was spouting complete nonsense. "I've wanted to work with you for years, but due to salary and other factors, it's been delayed until now. I think this is a perfect opportunity..."

Duke didn't notice the slight, continuous twitch at the corner of Tom Cruise's mouth, nor the disbelief in his eyes.

From the moment he saw the script, he felt as if ten thousand thunderbolts had exploded above his head. It was as if the world had gone mad. Hollywood's famous explosion maniac was going to shoot a musical? And inviting him to be the male lead? Just how crazy was this?

Would he succeed?

Tom Cruise instinctively wanted to refuse, but though he opened his mouth, no words came out.

Sitting there, Duke held off on doing anything else for the moment. If Tom Cruise flat-out refused, there would be no point in continuing.

Flipping quickly through the script, Tom Cruise remained silent. Even though he was utterly astonished, he had no intention of voicing that surprise.

As he turned the pages one by one and his eyes skimmed over the lines of text, Cruise gradually let go of his shock. After all, Duke wasn't the only Hollywood director who wanted to pivot genres; there were successful precedents in the past, like Spielberg. Moreover, Duke's string of consecutive successes easily gave the impression that he would just keep succeeding.

In Hollywood, everyone from the studios to every profession within the industry chased the footsteps of winners.

Would he succeed?

This was the question Tom Cruise cared about most. Why did A-list stars love working with major directors? Because their films were usually a guarantee of success!

Past memories flashed through Cruise's mind. Starting with The Rock, there had been opportunities for them to collaborate, but they had fallen through for various reasons. The result? The Rock was a success, Independence Day was a success, and Saving Private Ryan was a success. Even someone like him, who didn't particularly like Duke, had to admit that not a single one of those hits was a fluke. They were all hard-won battles against CAA, other rivals, and the fierce competition of the Summer Season.

If he had been the one starring in those films instead of Nicolas Cage or Tom Hanks, his status and asking price would undoubtedly be a level higher right now!

To this day, he didn't have a single movie that surpassed 200 million dollars at the North American box office!

Closing the script, Tom Cruise turned to look at Duke sitting beside him. Just as he had seen in the past, Duke was calm and indifferent, seemingly knowing all along that he wouldn't reject it outright.

Duke simply didn't care. In his mind, no one in Hollywood was indispensable—including himself.

"What is the production budget for the film?" Tom Cruise broke the silence, handing the script back. "When do you plan to start shooting?"

"Shooting won't start until next year."

Taking the script, Duke thought for a moment before saying, "The production budget will be around 15 million dollars."

Hearing that number, Tom Cruise immediately frowned. That wasn't even enough to cover his standard salary.

Duke knew very well that he had to say something now. "Tom, this is a low-budget musical. To be precise, it'll be an independent film funded out of my own pocket..."

He knew Cruise's state of mind; besides elevating his own status, what the actor wanted most was recognition for his acting skills. So, Duke directly offered an empty promise. "I plan to release the film before next year's awards season. The old men at the School are nostalgic. They always miss Hollywood's Golden Age, and musicals are one of the genres they miss the most. If we perform exceptionally well..."

Duke didn't finish the thought, but he could see Tom Cruise's eyes seemingly light up a bit.

"You do have a point."

In a rare move, Tom Cruise agreed with Duke's sentiment. "Nostalgia is indeed a good strategy for an awards run."

Just like before, Duke didn't actually care much about awards; he was merely feeding Cruise a line. Seeing that the actor was tempted, Duke continued to spin a web of lies. "Tom, you're called the actor of the 'greenhorn clique,' and I'm recognized as the representative of the director's 'greenhorn clique.' We've both proven ourselves in the market, so it's time to win some major awards from the School Faction! To prove that our success relies on pure skill, not on luck or looks!"

In order to pull in this highly marketable superstar at a low salary, Duke completely threw away his past prejudices. After all, if this succeeded, the actor would generate massive profits for him.

It was a pity he didn't possess some sort of brainwashing aura, otherwise he might have been able to get Cruise to join for zero pay.

Tom Cruise was still considering it. On matters involving money and honor, even someone as impulsive as him wouldn't casually agree after hearing just a few words from someone else.

Since he hadn't refused yet, Duke was already certain there was a fifty-percent chance Tom Cruise would eventually accept the invitation.

If Cruise accepted, there might be variables regarding the lead role of Mission: Impossible. To shine in Chicago, he would have to perform the singing and dancing himself, which wasn't something achieved overnight. Cruise would inevitably have to dedicate several months, maybe even half a year, to practice and rehearsals.

As for Cruise's acting, Duke wasn't too worried. Richard Gere's past portrayal of Billy had been as terrible as it could possibly be, with utterly awful acting and dancing. While Tom might not be much better in that regard, he completely crushed Richard Gere when it came to box office appeal and debonair looks.

His past memories told Duke that Tom was equally obsessed with the Oscars. If he could be seduced by the Oscars and turn into an award-chasing maniac, diving headfirst into the independent and arthouse circles...

Only Duke knew just how much the Oscars disliked Tom; even Xiao Li had to bow down in defeat compared to him in that regard.

While Tom Cruise was still mulling it over, countless thoughts were also spinning in Duke's mind. He even considered that after the film's release, he could use some covert channels to fund film critics to hype up Tom's acting. It would be best if Tom got an Oscar nomination but just barely missed out on the Golden Statuette, leaving him feeling overwhelmingly hopeful that he might win the next time, and thus continuing his relentless pursuit of the award.

In Hollywood, there was no shortage of actors and directors who had been led into a ditch by film critics and the Oscars.

If Tom transformed into "Award-Chasing Tom" or "Arthouse Tom," he actually wouldn't be far from ruining his career. Chicago might just end up becoming his swan song at the box office.

Of course, the prerequisite for all of this was that Duke managed to successfully produce Chicago and that things developed exactly as he imagined.

Next, Duke and Tom Cruise discussed the film's production and future prospects for a while. He could completely feel Cruise's thirst for the Oscars and the School Faction's approval, and he did his utmost to steer the actor toward the pit of arthouse films and Oscars with his words.

Tom Cruise was neither an idiot nor a fool. Even when he finally left, he didn't give Duke a definite answer, only stating that he needed some time to think it over.

When a major star signed on for any movie, there were always many people involved behind the scenes. The opinions of publicists and agents were especially important. Duke had heard from Nancy a long time ago that Pat Kingsley had previously advised Cruise to work with him, so she likely wouldn't be a huge obstacle.

Besides, even if Pat Kingsley was exceptionally sharp and capable, she wouldn't know—like Duke did—that the probability of Cruise winning an Oscar was infinitely close to zero. Otherwise, she wouldn't have campaigned so hard for him for awards in the past. She might even give Cruise a push from behind; after all, holding an Oscar Best Actor in her grasp would also cement her own status in the agency industry.

"How did the talk go?"

Stepping out of the club, Nancy got into Duke's car and asked, "Does Cruise have any interest?"

"It's hard to say right now." Duke shook his head. Watching Pat Kingsley drive away nearby, he added, "Get in touch with Cruise's agent a bit more."

If they wanted Tom Cruise to take a pay cut to star, there was still a lot of work to be done.

The two of them discussed the film for a few more minutes before Nancy changed the subject. "I just got a call from New York. ICM has connected you with a choreography director on Broadway."

"Just give me his contact info." Duke nodded. "I'll be going to New York next week, I'll arrange to meet with him then."