Chapter 193: The Person Who Knows Me Best

After returning to Los Angeles from New York, Duke said nothing more to the media and focused on preparing for Chicago. That round of hype had fully achieved its promotional goals, and right now, they were a long way from the start of filming, let alone the actual release.

Not long after returning to Los Angeles, Duke Studio relocated near Warner Studios in Burbank. Duke leased a small two-story building. Aside from the middle-aged Latina woman who answered the phones, he hired a few other staff members. Since the two former screenwriters had officially left to become independent writers, Duke and Sofia hired four new ones, forming Duke Studio's only truly functional department: the Editorial Department.

In addition, Duke's accountant, David, would send an assistant to the studio twice a week to handle financial matters.

Compared to a real film production company, the slightly expanded Duke Studio was still a standard shell company.

Entering October, the North American box office for Saving Private Ryan crossed the $285 million mark, while its global box office officially broke past $600 million, reaching as high as $601.05 million. It became the highest-grossing R-rated film in history. With more than half of 1995 gone, anyone could see that, following last year's Independence Day, Duke was about to claim the North American and global annual box office crowns once again.

With the global box office of Saving Private Ryan exceeding $600 million, the 20 percent profit-sharing clause in his directing contract was automatically activated. Duke's lawyers and accountants swung into action, communicating frequently with Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox, pushing them to pay out his share as quickly as possible.

It wasn't just the profit share for Saving Private Ryan; Warner Brothers had yet to finish paying out the box office cut for Independence Day. So far, they had only calculated his share based on $200 million of the overseas box office, paying out $40 million. In mid-October, Warner Brothers took another $200 million as the profit-sharing baseline and paid Duke another $40 million.

Warner Brothers didn't want to intentionally delay the remaining overseas cut—after all, they were committed to a long-term partnership with Duke—but the overseas distributors hadn't remitted the funds into their accounts yet. Based on information from several sources, there was no way that money would arrive this year.

Right now, Duke wasn't short on cash. His stockbroker was still buying up Apple and Microsoft shares for him, Duke Studio's daily operating expenses were limited, and the budget for Chicago wouldn't be particularly high. He wasn't in a rush for the remaining profit share.

After a discussion with Warner Brothers CEO Jeff Robinov and an executive vice president at Time Warner, Duke decided to invest this remaining share into Warner Brothers' equity financing. He would exchange it for corresponding shares, thereby becoming a shareholder in one of the Big Six Hollywood Companies.

This met Warner's needs and suited his own interests, as it would significantly increase his clout in Hollywood and in film production and distribution.

As for the box office share of Saving Private Ryan, the two sides were still coordinating. A portion of the North American cut would arrive in the near future, but the share of the ancillary revenue would take some waiting. Aside from television, videotapes, and VCD rights—which held little sway in North America—the film didn't actually have many sources of ancillary income. These would only generate substantial returns after the movie left North American theaters.

Just like Braveheart, which was still playing in a few independent theaters, the production and distribution companies had a release strategy geared toward awards season. Saving Private Ryan would not be pulled from North American theaters before Oscar voting concluded. Even if it was forced out of commercial theater chains, it would hold on in independent theaters across major cities, particularly in the Los Angeles area.

The co-producers' ultimate goals for awards season were perfectly clear: they were aiming straight for heavy-hitting categories like Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture. Best Picture in particular was practically viewed as in the bag, thanks to a highly effective PR strategy tied to the fiftieth anniversary of World War II.

According to Duke's directing contract, if the film made an Oscar run, he would need to attend a few key promotional events. But there was still some time before the Oscars, and the PR campaign didn't require his presence just yet. Duke's main energy remained focused on the prep work for Chicago.

With this musical film about to be officially greenlit, the core members of Duke's team ended their vacations one after another. Over the past few years, the likes of Zack Snyder, John Schwartzman, and Hannah Serena had virtually all become some of the most elite and highest-paid professionals in their respective fields.

This was a commercialized society. Duke knew perfectly well that a team held together merely by friendship and personal charisma was actually the most unreliable kind. These people followed him because trailing in the footsteps of a winner made it easier to succeed, and because they could earn tangible, real-world profits.

Even so, both Zack Snyder and Sofia Coppola had hinted to him that they would leave at the right time to seek opportunities to direct films on their own.

Therefore, after shooting the short commercial for Estee Lauder, and since he was generally satisfied with Anna Printz, Duke brought Aerin Lauder's friend over to Los Angeles to serve as one of the film's assistant directors.

Apart from the addition of a Broadway musical choreography team and an art director, the departmental makeup of the Chicago crew wouldn't change much. Duke would still build the crew around his own team. Robin Grande would serve as the production manager, while he and Sofia Coppola would act as executive producers...

Specific logistical matters would be handled by Robin Grande. His first task was negotiating with Tom Cruise. After Cruise went through the motions of an audition and costume fitting, he signed the acting contract with a $5 million salary, becoming the very first officially confirmed cast member for the film.

At the same time, Nancy wrapped up her talks with Warner, Fox, and Disney. The latter two showed little interest in Chicago, and only Warner Brothers signed a distribution agreement with Duke Studio. Under the agreement, they would not participate in the direct funding of the film, but they would become the North American and overseas distributors for Duke Studio's next three films, including Chicago. Furthermore, if Duke Studio accepted outside investment for those two subsequent films, Warner Brothers would hold the right of first refusal for investment.

With this, the film distribution issue that Duke had been most worried about was thoroughly resolved.

According to Duke's preliminary plans, the film would have no location shoots; it would be filmed entirely on soundstages with constructed sets. He had considered heading to Fox Studios in Sydney—after all, there were tax incentives there. But considering that the film's pre-production would be extremely lengthy, and if they couldn't secure one of the limited incentive slots, Australia's tax breaks wouldn't be all that substantial. In the end, he chose Warner Studios in Burbank.

By late October, Chicago was officially greenlit. The film's budget was $20 million. Due to the film's genre, and following Hollywood conventions, the salaries for all cast and crew—from Duke as the director to Tom Cruise as the leading man—were reduced to varying degrees compared to Saving Private Ryan.

Pre-production work like script development, set design, and musical choreography began to proceed in an orderly fashion. But actor auditions were the top priority moving forward. The three leading actors would have to undergo systematic song and dance rehearsals over the next few months.

Aside from having people notify Naomi Watts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Charlize Theron to come in for auditions, Duke didn't send out any targeted audition invitations. Even so, many actors' agents sought out Duke Studio, both to pitch their marquee stars for the leading roles and to introduce their newcomers to fight for other standout musical roles.

Quite a few people in Hollywood thought Duke was crazy for rashly attempting such a massive shift in style, but that didn't stop a lot of them from wanting to join the project. The reason was simple: Duke was a top-tier commercial director in Hollywood. Even if an actor didn't ultimately make the cast, simply being associated with his new film would naturally generate media hype. They might even grab a headline one day.

No one could ignore the appeal that a continually successful blockbuster director held for actors desperately trying to climb the ladder.

Duke left most of the agents for Robin Grande to deal with, but there were always a few who used various connections to reach him and recommend their actors directly.

"Go ahead, Riley. What is it?"

Sitting in his new office at Duke Studio, Duke looked at the formally dressed middle-aged man across from him. Anyone who could make it into his office certainly wasn't a stranger; this was an agent from ICM.

"Can't I come over to visit an old friend?"

Hearing this, Duke said nothing and simply watched him. They had only met a few times at parties organized by ICM; they were hardly what one would call friends.

"It's like this."

The agent named Riley picked up his coffee and took a sip. "I have an important client who is very interested in the role of Roxie. She's run into some trouble these past few years. Her fame and output are nowhere near what they used to be, and ICM wants to use a heavyweight project to announce her official comeback."

"She can come to the audition."

Though he didn't like agencies interfering too much in his projects, Duke also understood the importance of interpersonal networking. As long as the other party didn't cross his bottom line, he could make appropriate accommodations.

"Tell me her name, and I'll have someone give the casting director a heads-up," he said.

"On behalf of Julia, I thank you," Riley laughed, speaking with a sincere tone. "Before I came, Miss Roberts specifically mentioned that if you had the time, she'd love to have dinner with you."

Hearing this, and recalling Julia Roberts's usual style during auditions, Duke immediately understood this was a very obvious hint. Unfortunately, that big-mouthed Julia neither met his requirements for the role nor suited his aesthetic tastes, so he could only pass.

"I'm very busy lately," Duke politely declined. "If I have the time, I'll contact Julia."

He would give Julia Roberts an audition opportunity—after all, it was another topic for media hype—but he would never let her appear in the film.