Chapter 223: Vanity Fair Interview

Leaving the Yacht Marina District, Duke drove his sports car toward Beverly Hills. He had bought the Maserati recently. Sports cars didn't really suit his tastes or needs, but according to Penny Kalis's plan, he and Catherine Zeta-Jones had to maintain a relatively high profile throughout the entire promotional period for Chicago.

To protect his massive $25 million investment and ensure Chicago performed reasonably well at the box office, Duke stepped up as a promotional focal point once again, just as he had for Independence Day.

In the passenger seat, Zeta-Jones was still thinking about the yachts.

"When we were leaving, I heard Cruise signed a preliminary agreement with Sunseeker," she said. "Don't you plan to negotiate with Princess Company yourself?"

"There's no rush, darling." Duke stepped on the brakes, stopping at a red light. "Even if I signed a contract right now, it would be a long time before the yacht was delivered."

He didn't intend to negotiate personally. He planned to have Tina Fey or Nancy Josephson's people reach out later. Luxury yachts were expensive, leaving plenty of room for both sides to haggle.

Duke wasn't one of those extravagant, undisciplined Hollywood stars. He came from a traditional business family; he wouldn't abandon practical benefits for the sake of supposed prestige.

The car started moving again. Zeta-Jones checked the time.

"The auction isn't until tonight," she said. "Should we grab dinner first?"

"Sure." Duke had no objections.

A large auction aimed at Hollywood stars and socialites was being held in Beverly Hills that evening, complete with a specially laid red carpet in front of the Hilton Hotel. Events like this were magnets for the entertainment media. On Penny Kalis's advice, Duke and Zeta-Jones needed to attend—or at least make an appearance on the red carpet or buy something.

Once the Maserati entered Beverly Hills, Duke drove straight to Mr. Chow Restaurant. Like Planet Hollywood Restaurant, it was a frequent haunt for celebrities, which meant there was no shortage of paparazzi and entertainment reporters. In the short walk from the parking lot to the entrance, camera flashes went off at least a dozen times.

Building hype for a movie was exhausting, systematic, and absolutely necessary. For films with zero marketing or an abbreviated promotional window, the chances of becoming a blockbuster were infinitely low.

It was easy to see why Mr. Chow Restaurant had become so successful and popular with Westerners. From ingredient selection to cooking and plating, the food was essentially Western cuisine with a touch of Eastern flair. Let alone in this era, even twenty years from now, foreign cuisines that hadn't been Westernized would struggle to succeed on a large scale in America.

This was a universal practice in both the East and the West. Whether Chinese or Western cuisine, perfectly authentic dishes simply didn't cross borders and immediately appeal to the masses as delicacies, except within tiny niche groups.

As usual, Duke and Zeta-Jones ate a very light dinner. They quickly left Mr. Chow Restaurant and drove toward the Hilton Hotel amidst another barrage of paparazzi flashes.

They didn't head straight for the red carpet at the main entrance, as their current outfits were completely unsuited for the occasion. Instead, they slipped in through a side door and headed up to a pre-booked room on the eleventh floor. They changed into the formal wear Tina Fey had sent over that morning, then went back downstairs and circled around to the front of the hotel to walk the red carpet.

Quite a few stars were attending the auction, judging by the hundreds of reporters and paparazzi lining the red carpet. With Catherine Zeta-Jones on his arm, Duke walked through the camera flashes and went out of his way to give a few interviews. He dodged questions about their relationship and constantly brought up their collaboration on Chicago, using every trick in the book to promote the film.

"Those guys are exhausting."

Duke let out a long breath as they entered the Hilton Hotel lobby.

"A few more times of this and I'll go crazy," he said.

A hint of complaint appeared on Zeta-Jones's face.

"Is being with me really that unbearable?" she asked.

"How could it be, darling?" Duke escorted her toward the auction hall. "You know how much I like you."

"Yes, I know." Zeta-Jones matched his pace, deliberately tightening her grip on his arm. "You love me just as much as I love you, right?"

Duke just smiled noncommittally and led her inside.

The auction was structured as a dinner banquet, with dozens of tables arranged neatly across the spacious hall. Walking down the wide aisle between them, Duke suddenly spotted a familiar face and headed straight over.

"Hey, Leo."

He stepped in front of the young actor to greet him. "When did you get back to Los Angeles?"

"Hello, Duke."

Seeing Duke, Leonardo DiCaprio stood up immediately. Duke introduced him to Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Leonardo couldn't help but wink, leaning in to whisper, "Another one?"

"Where's your date?" Duke deflected. "Don't tell me you came alone."

"I came with someone, just not a woman," Leonardo said.

Right on cue, a middle-aged man of Jewish descent approached from behind Duke.

"Duke. I didn't expect to run into you here," the man said.

"Hello, Eno."

The newcomer was Eno Martin, one of the top executives at CAA. Seeing him piqued Duke's interest, and he pointed to the two empty seats at the table.

"Is anyone sitting here?" he asked.

"You'd have to ask the organizers," Leonardo shrugged.

Zeta-Jones immediately waved over a staff member. After some brief coordination, she and Duke moved their seats to join the table.

"Leo terminated his contract with William Morris."

Eno Martin offered the information as soon as they sat down. "He's signed with me now."

"Congratulations, Eno, on signing a Berlin Film Festival Best Actor." Duke turned his head. "Do you need me to congratulate you on signing with CAA?"

"Duke, you know it," Leonardo said with a smile. "I'm on your side."

Eno Martin laughed. "We're all on the same side, aren't we?"

Shared interests and common enemies had forged a temporary alliance between them.

While waiting for the auction to begin, Duke asked about Leonardo's new job.

"Have you been to Baja California recently?" he asked. "How's the progress down there? When do you join the cast?"

"Incredibly slow." Leonardo crossed his arms, looking helpless. "I went down half a month ago and talked with Director Cameron and the producers. An exact start date for filming still hasn't been set."

"Still hasn't been set?" Duke asked. "Hasn't it been in pre-production for almost two years?"

"You didn't know?"

This time, Eno Martin spoke up.

"It's circulating around the industry right now," he said. "Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount Pictures have already poured over $100 million into Cameron's project, but he's still hounding Fox for more money. Fox just dropped a huge sum prepping the Speed sequel, so things seem very tight for them financially. Paramount Pictures has also lost faith in Cameron."

Duke nodded. "So that's how it is."

Twentieth Century Fox was having financial difficulties? They still hadn't paid out his share for Saving Private Ryan. The contract's deadline was the end of June. It seemed there might be an opportunity to step in.

It had been two years since the film entered pre-production, meaning the timeline to recoup the investment would be much shorter than originally planned. Most importantly, he had enough capital on hand right now—capital temporarily sitting in Fox's pockets.

This wasn't the place to consider such things. The thought flashed through Duke's mind, and he turned his focus back to the auction.

The auction quickly began. The items up for bid were mostly artworks and luxury jewelry, clearly targeted at wealthy Hollywood stars who liked to pose as cultured elites. The pieces presented first were famous paintings—the easiest to hype up.

"$500,000!"

"$700,000!"

"$1.5 million!"

It was an oil painting by an artist Duke had never heard of. Thanks to the organizers' hype, the newly minted nouveau riche Will Smith snapped it up for $1.5 million.

The next few paintings also sold for high prices, but neither Duke nor Eno Martin showed any intention of bidding.

Their backgrounds meant they saw things other Hollywood figures couldn't—like what went on behind the scenes at art auctions, especially concerning these so-called famous paintings.

Auction houses, major collectors, and certain companies would collude to inflate the market. They drove up the prices of works by painters with little true value, luring in newly wealthy upstarts only to fleece them dry...

Hollywood stars, who had more money than sense and loved using material objects to elevate their status, were their favorite kind of clients. Getting hooked on collecting famous paintings was even more terrifying than a gambling addiction; a sizable fortune could be squandered in no time. By the time they tried to liquidate the paintings and find a bag holder to take them off their hands, they would realize exactly how little the artwork was actually worth.

Of course, the targets Western collectors and auction houses loved to fleece the most were tycoons from newly rising countries.

Duke had heard his mother mention that in the 1980s, when Tokyo's land value could have bought all of America, Japanese corporations constantly bought up Western-hyped artwork at exorbitant prices in European and American auction houses. After the economic bubble burst, the Japanese spent years trying to sell those pieces off, but very few could actually be liquidated for cash.

In truth, most Hollywood stars shared that exact mindset. They had crawled their way up from the bottom; once they got rich, they lost their heads and loved to put on airs. The consequence of pretending a bit too hard was being treated like a fat sheep ready for slaughter.

There was also the astronomically priced jewelry from luxury brands, which often partnered with celebrities to build hype. The shady tricks involved in that market easily matched the dark underbelly of Hollywood.

But in the end, it was a willing exchange between buyer and seller, so no one else could really complain.

When the auction ended, neither Duke nor Zeta-Jones showed any intention of leaving. They took the elevator up to their room. It wasn't the first time for the two of them, either.

Naturally, Catherine Zeta-Jones harbored a few ideas, but Duke wasn't going to take this temporary relationship seriously. It was solely for the movie. For any film, quality was only the baseline. Promotion and marketing were incredibly important—crucial, even. Without sufficient marketing, a blockbuster would never happen.

After relaxing, he thought back to what had been said at the auction and decided to give it a try.