Chapter 220: The Biggest Winner

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Chicago Theater is honored to present, making their domestic debut... Chicago's own murderesses, the ladies of sin..."

At the Black actor's impassioned introduction, brilliant lights illuminated the stage built inside the soundstage. Directly opposite the main camera manned by John Schwartzman, the stage slowly rose. The blonde Roxie and dark-haired Velma, clad in silver-white leather jackets, stood with their backs to the lens.

They were currently filming the duet sequence for the film's finale. Lacking professional expertise in this area, Duke had only glossed over it in his script; the choreography and musical staging all came from Lily Fred. The sequence she designed consisted of the jazz song Nowadays and the upbeat dance Hot Honey Rag. Aside from rearranged music and new choreography, it largely adhered to the original progression of the Chicago musical.

This was a film built on nostalgia, and Duke had no objections to that approach. However, as he watched the two female leads on the stage, his brow knit in a tight frown.

This was the second take. Just as in the first, Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta-Jones were in excellent form, both radiating an intense drive to perform. Although the film's plot mostly stemmed from Roxie's fantasies, it was clearly a dual-protagonist setup. Yet both women seemed intent on utterly overpowering the other to become the undisputed lead.

"You can be content with the life you're living now, or you can pursue the life you want, you can even marry Harry..."

Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta-Jones had already turned to face the camera. On the monitor, their makeup carried the gaudy, brazen look of the 1920s and 30s, but their immense natural beauty easily carried it. With just a little touching up in post-production, they would be absolutely stunning women capable of drawing every eye.

Beautiful, sexy women were another of the film's selling points. Duke had never intended to make an arthouse musical. This movie was firmly rooted as a commercial film with a nostalgic tone. And that wasn't just true of his version—the original film from his memory had been just as drenched in commercial flavor.

On stage, Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta-Jones were still singing. Duke's frown deepened. Tapping the monitor lightly, he hesitated for a moment before ultimately deciding not to call cut.

The problem with the two female leads' performance was obvious: Zeta-Jones was being upstaged by Naomi Watts.

The song they were singing, Nowadays, was a classic Roxie-style number. It naturally carried the coquettish, lazy charm of a blonde Persian cat, a stark contrast to the wild and straightforward Velma. Zeta-Jones was trying her hardest, but the vocals on stage were already being dominated by Naomi Watts.

Just as in the first take, the scene had grown unbalanced.

Duke still had no intention of calling cut; he planned to let them finish the take.

This situation was the exact reverse of the film in his memory. In the original Chicago, Zeta-Jones had a traditional musical theater background, and her physical appearance outshone the rather plain-looking Renee Zellweger. Whenever Roxie and Velma shared the screen, Zeta-Jones's performance was exceptionally dominant. Renee Zellweger had been completely suppressed, leaving the dynamic between the two female leads utterly unbalanced throughout the entire movie.

Although Renee Zellweger had managed to beat Zeta-Jones at the easily manipulated Golden Globe Awards, she suffered a total defeat at the relatively fairer Oscars.

Frankly speaking, Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta-Jones were far from full maturity. Their acting skills couldn't compare to the original pair, but they made up for it with youth and vitality. Their outstanding physical attributes made them much more captivating during the song and dance sequences.

The physical difference between a Zeta-Jones who had given birth and one who hadn't was like night and day.

As the performance of Nowadays ended, the two female leads stripped off their flashy leather jackets to reveal form-fitting, bright silver mini-skirts underneath. The upbeat dance Hot Honey Rag kicked off, and the dynamic instantly shifted.

No matter how hard Naomi Watts tried, the gap between her and an All-England dance champion was obvious. Moreover, Zeta-Jones seemed intent on stealing back the spotlight. She showed absolutely no intention of holding back, unleashing every ounce of her passion.

At first glance, the two similarly dressed women seemed perfectly in sync and complementary, their brisk, playful dancing highly captivating. But anyone paying close attention could easily tell that Roxie was being completely led along by Velma through the routine. Zeta-Jones's stage presence was dominant and wild.

"Cut!"

Just as the two female leads stepped behind the curtain to grab their Chicago Typewriters, Duke called cut. Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta-Jones walked back out. Without so much as looking at one another, they split up and headed in opposite directions, exiting the stage from different sides.

"Same old problem!" Sofia Coppola walked over, crossing her arms as she stood behind his chair. "What do you think, Duke?"

"If there's a problem, we fix it."

Tapping the armrest of his chair, Duke raised his voice slightly. "Nami, Kate, get over here."

The two female leads, clad in their eye-catching mini-skirts, walked behind the monitor, their heels clicking. Neither woman was a fool; Duke's expression alone was enough to tell them that the director was dissatisfied with their last take.

Sweeping a stern gaze over them, Duke replayed the footage. "Watch closely," he reminded them. "See exactly where the problem is."

The few minutes of footage quickly finished playing. Both Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta-Jones remained entirely silent.

Duke turned back to look at them. "I don't care how you sort this out, but I will get the result I want. If you can't deliver it, we will keep shooting this over and over again until you do."

Zeta-Jones looked as though she wanted to say something, but upon seeing Duke wave his hand, she smartly kept her mouth shut. Just like Naomi Watts, she walked away without a word.

"We're reshooting in fifteen minutes!"

Leaving it at that, Duke picked up the coffee Tina Fey had brought him and took a slow sip.

It had been fifty days since filming began in early April, and the crew's overall progress had fallen behind schedule. Even with a dedicated choreography and musical team, Duke's relative lack of expertise in the genre had created considerable difficulties during the shoot. He had even begun to doubt, on occasion, whether choosing this film was a mistake.

No director was omniscient and omnipotent. No matter how chaotic a massive action set piece might be, Duke had the confidence to manage and coordinate it, a skill honed by his previous films. But when it came to musical sequences, he was largely forced to rely on his professional team. He could offer suggestions, but unlike on his first three films, he couldn't just guide the crew into a highly efficient rhythm after a brief break-in period.

Every director had his own style; a director without a style, or one perfectly suited to absolutely every genre, simply didn't exist. The hurdles he had faced over the past month had given Duke a much clearer understanding of himself. He really wasn't suited for arthouse films. Even if a purely artistic project was dropped into his lap, he would ultimately warp it into a commercially flavored movie packed with crowd-pleasing elements.

Fortunately, while Chicago carried a certain artistic flair, it was inherently a musical film with a very strong commercial sensibility.

"What are you thinking about?"

Seeing Duke lost in thought, Sofia Coppola asked from behind him, "Trying to figure out how to get these fame-hungry, fiercely competitive actresses to cooperate?"

Duke shrugged, but said nothing.

"I'll give you a piece of advice."

On set, Sofia was just about the only one who dared to occasionally joke around with him.

"Drag them both into the dressing room, tie them to some high-backed chairs, and whip them mercilessly with your belt!" she said.

Glaring back at Sofia, Duke turned his eyes to the stage.

Though he hadn't mentioned it, he and Naomi Watts had rarely been in contact over the past year. Given the upcoming promotional strategy for Chicago, Duke didn't want any relationship with her outside of work. Just like the vast majority of formerly intimate couples in Hollywood, when they no longer needed each other, they simply went their separate ways.

The only reason he had even remembered to invite Naomi Watts to audition for Chicago was to pay back the favor she had done him during the fire.

The various departments of the crew quickly finished coordinating, and filming resumed.

"Cut!"

Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta-Jones had ascended the stage. Just as they turned to face the camera and started singing, Duke called cut again.

"Start over!"

The two actresses returned to the bottom of the stage, the lighting and props were reset, and filming started once more.

Things went slightly better this time around; Duke let them get two-thirds of the way through the song before calling cut. If their performance had been placed on a Broadway stage, it probably would have been flawless. But cameras and the big screen magnified even the smallest imperfections, and the perspective of a movie audience differed drastically from that of a theater crowd.

Over the next hour, Duke called cut three more times. The continuous chain of ruined takes left the atmosphere on set increasingly oppressive and irritable.

Duke called Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta-Jones over yet again.

"You two have been rehearsing together for nearly half a year. I don't know what the problem is between you, and I don't want to know. Go to the dressing room right now and talk it out one-on-one. If you can't resolve it, I'll cut down on your close-ups for this scene as much as possible."

A full hour passed before Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta-Jones finally emerged from the dressing room, and the crew began rolling again. Even though they still hadn't quite nailed the effect Duke was looking for by the time they wrapped for the afternoon, there had been noticeable progress.

That evening, Duke called in Nancy and Vivian. Together with Naomi Watts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and musical director Lily Fred, they hammered out a few new compromises and coordinated the sequence once more. The next day, after a full day of shooting, they finally got a perfect take.

Filming for Chicago had fallen even further behind schedule.

The fierce competition between actresses was famously troublesome—a fact known to everyone in Hollywood. But Duke maintained an iron grip on his crew. Even if Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta-Jones had personal grievances with one another, neither woman dared to pull any excessive stunts. Over the following week, the crew successfully finished the duet scenes between the two leads and pivoted to shooting solo scenes for several of the main cast members.