Chapter 210: The Opportunity to Counterattack Has Arrived

The Regent Hotel on Wilshire Street in Beverly Hills was star-studded. Even as a formal banquet, it was far more luxurious and glamorous than the recently concluded Golden Globe Awards. This was the Oscar nominees luncheon, where the nominations for the 68th Oscar Awards Ceremony were announced.

The nomination announcements were nearing the end. On stage, Richard Dreyfuss was reading the nominees for Best Picture.

"The Postman, Babe, Braveheart, Sense and Sensibility, and Saving Private Ryan."

"YES!"

Even though they had anticipated this result, the two production managers, Charles Roven and Robin Grande, still high-fived in celebration. Duke glanced at them, then addressed the female assistant beside him.

"Tina, have you calculated how many nominations we received?"

Tina Fey flipped through her notebook and said, "Best Original Score, Best Makeup, Best Art Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture. A total of eleven nominations!"

"What about our competitor?" Robin Grande leaned over to ask.

Without needing clarification, Tina Fey knew he was asking about Braveheart. She replied, "Best Original Score, Best Makeup, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Director, and Best Picture. Ten nominations."

She added, "Except for Best Costume Design, they are in direct competition with us in every category."

Charles Roven glanced over at the Braveheart table. Mel Gibson, who was currently being fiercely criticized by the media and despised by nearly everyone in Hollywood, had not attended. Charles sneered.

"They'll win a few technical awards at most. If they want to win the heavyweights, heh..."

The others looked at Duke simultaneously. Duke spread his hands innocently, signaling that this had nothing to do with him.

Over the past few days, news had poured in constantly. The most substantial developments came from Mel Gibson's original partners, Paramount Pictures and Viacom. Likely provoked by Gibson's remarks, Sumner Redstone had personally intervened in his subsidiary's projects. Just yesterday, Paramount announced that they would be dropping Mel Gibson as the male lead for their new film project, Ransom. CBS would also be abandoning programs related to him.

Several other companies hadn't made public statements, but word was already circulating privately that they would not consider working with Mel Gibson in the short term.

These actions were taken not solely because of people of Jewish descent. Racial discrimination was a forbidden zone for public figures. Anyone who stirred up that kind of trouble would face boycotts from a massive audience, and no company wanted to produce a guaranteed box office bomb.

After the presentation of the Academy Scientific and Technical Award to Pixar Studio's John Lasseter and Steve Jobs, this year's nominees luncheon concluded.

"Robin, we need to get our formal wear ready in advance."

As the banquet dispersed, the group was in no rush to leave. Charles Roven spoke to Robin Grande.

"If nothing unexpected happens, we'll be holding up the Best Picture Golden Statuette."

The specific work of campaigning for awards had always been handled by these two production managers in coordination with the distributors. Duke looked at him.

"You seem very confident," he remarked.

"The original probability was only sixty percent." Charles Roven was brimming with confidence. "Now it's eighty!"

Robin Grande patted Duke's arm.

"You should start thinking about who you're going to walk the red carpet with. This is the best opportunity to promote the film."

Duke knew he was talking about Chicago. The film was destined to miss the Super Bowl halftime commercials, making the Oscar red carpet an excellent promotional avenue. Walking the red carpet alone would be a complete waste. Maximizing the value of his Oscar invitation was an issue he, as the film's investor, also had to consider.

After some thought, Duke decided to toss the matter to the professionals. Penny Kalis had far more experience in this area than he did.

While the others continued chatting, Duke's eyes drifted to the other side of the room toward John Lasseter and Steve Jobs. Pixar Studio had finally transformed from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan, propelling the latter into the ranks of billionaires.

He just wondered when Jobs would return to Apple.

After thinking about it for a moment, Duke still had no impression of the timeline. He could only sigh inwardly at his own dull memory; aside from film-related knowledge and major mainstream events like 9/11, he actually had zero recollection of many things that had happened in North America.

He quickly made peace with it. After all, he didn't have Google installed in his brain.

Stepping out of the Regent Hotel and preparing to part ways in the parking lot, Duke called out to Charles Roven.

"Charles, the Oscar campaigning is in its final stretch." He walked over to the man.

"I've looked into it, and you don't have any recent projects with Warner. Are you interested in continuing to work with me? Starting next year, I'm going to need someone I can trust to head to New Zealand to begin prepping a massive project. You might have to stay there for three to five years."

"Can I have some time to think about it?" Charles Roven didn't ask for the specifics of the project.

Until he expressed a clear intent to cooperate, Duke wasn't going to share the details either.

Leaving Beverly Hills, Duke and Robin Grande headed to Warner Studios in Burbank. The chaos of the outside world hadn't affected the crew. All sorts of prep work had been ongoing steadily. The props, sets, and equipment rentals had all been completed; they were just waiting for the actors to finish their rehearsals.

The song and dance routines Lily Fred had rehearsed had also earned Duke's approval. Based on their current rehearsal progress, he tentatively scheduled the film to start shooting after the Oscar Awards Ceremony.

"Congratulations, Duke."

Just as he walked into the soundstage, Duke ran into Tom Cruise. His smile looked exceptionally genuine.

"Congratulations on your Best Director nomination."

"Thank you, Tom." Duke greeted him quite politely. Ever since Cruise joined the cast, the two had maintained a decent superficial relationship.

"I'll remember everything you've done to help me."

"You're welcome."

Thinking back to the night of the Golden Globe Awards and Mel Gibson's current state, Tom Cruise—for reasons he couldn't quite articulate—always felt a touch of fear toward Duke.

"We are partners. We should work together to the fullest."

He checked his watch.

"My dance classes for today are done. I have some errands to run, so I'll head out first. Let's talk another time."

"Sure." Duke waved at him.

"Goodbye, Tom."

Wherever Tom Cruise went, there was never a shortage of reporters and paparazzi. Just walking in earlier, there had been dozens of people with cameras slung around their necks lingering near Warner Studios. From a purely promotional standpoint, inviting him to star in Chicago had been an incredibly cost-effective move.

After visiting the dance studio to check on the actresses' training, Duke headed to the Warner Building out front. He met with the head of Warner Brothers' distribution department to discuss future promotional strategies. Compared to the Summer Season blockbusters he had produced in the past, Chicago's subject matter was inherently disadvantaged, and its overall budget was relatively low.

More importantly, the golden age of musical films was too far in the past. Even with him as the director, it wouldn't change the fact that Chicago would only be able to open in North America with a limited release, or even just test screenings.

How to utilize limited resources to promote the film had become the focus of recent discussions between the production team and Warner Brothers.

Tom Cruise was the brightest promotional hook, but overusing him would lead to audience fatigue. Bombarding the public could even trigger a backlash. Finding new promotional angles was exceptionally important. Upon leaving Warner, Duke simply called Penny Kalis and handed the job over to her.

Time ticked steadily toward the Oscar Awards Ceremony. Because Saving Private Ryan had secured eleven Oscar nominations, the film returned to mainstream commercial theaters following the nominees luncheon. That weekend, its screen count expanded from the previous 115 theaters to 812.

In this era, the Oscars had a far stronger pull on the box office than they would after the internet explosion. Moviegoers who hadn't seen it yet bought tickets because of the nominations, while some who had already seen it chose to revisit it in anticipation of the ceremony.

Like most nominated films, Saving Private Ryan saw a sharp box office rebound. Over the last week of January and the first two weeks of February, it earned $3.52 million, $2.76 million, and $2.11 million, respectively. Its cumulative North American box office hit $322.17 million!

This film had completely exhausted all of its market potential. By mid-March, on the final day for the Oscars to collect ballots, it was pulled from all North American theaters. Its final North American box office locked in at $325.79 million.

Duke easily secured his second annual North American box office championship, leaving the second-place Toy Story nearly $150 million in the dust!

On that exact same day, Braveheart also concluded its North American theatrical run. After securing its Oscar nominations, the film had enjoyed a minor bounce. However, hampered by the Gibson scandal, the rebound was decidedly limited. It merely pushed the film's North American box office past the $30 million mark, wrapping up with $31.75 million in North America.

That final push in the North American market also brought a noticeable increase to Braveheart's global box office. After screening in major markets like the British Commonwealth, Europe, and Australia, the film's box office numbers were finally no longer completely tragic. On March 15th, its global box office painstakingly crossed the $100 million mark!

Factoring in post-Oscar Videotape and television broadcasting rights, it wouldn't take too long for Braveheart to recoup its costs. But CAA, the leading force behind the project, couldn't summon a shred of happiness. Their concurrently released rival, Saving Private Ryan, had essentially pulled out of the global market with a towering worldwide box office of $649.27 million...

This number trailed only Jurassic Park, Independence Day, The Lion King, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, sitting at fifth place on the all-time box office charts!

"Although Lucasfilm is preparing to re-release Star Wars, and the box office from that re-release will inevitably surpass Saving Private Ryan, two of the top five films currently on the all-time box office list come from Duke Rosenberg! Such a director, someone who can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Spielberg, is an outcast from CAA. Shouldn't someone at CAA be held responsible for this?"

The cold voice drifted through the CAA conference room. No one could utter a word of rebuttal.