Chapter 224: A Terrifying Return on Investment

Even though Duke and Warner Brothers had never officially announced the production of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, his status as an A-list director naturally drew media attention. Coupled with the sheer number of B- and C-list actors traveling to and from New Zealand over the past year—some of whom had already received their scripts—it was inevitable that word of the project would leak.

The media's reaction was muted. After all, a Hollywood studio funding such a film was nothing unusual; it merely warranted routine reporting.

However, one particular group had been anything but calm since hearing the news.

"He's going to ruin this fantasy world! He'll destroy this masterpiece!"

Murmuring those words, Brad Miller walked into his study, sat down behind his desk, and turned on his computer. His brown brows remained tightly knitted, as if he had encountered an unsolvable problem.

While waiting for Windows 98 to boot, his eyes drifted from the monitor to the three thick tomes resting on his desk. They were the late Tolkien's epic fantasy masterpiece—The Lord of the Rings.

Though not yet fifty, he was a die-hard fan. Ever since reading the series as a teenager, he had been deeply captivated by Tolkien's depiction of Middle-earth. He was intimately familiar with every race, every location, and every battle. He could even recount every action taken by Legolas, the least-described member of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Now, this series was about to be brought to the big screen...

When the news broke, Brad Miller felt no joy whatsoever, even though the director handling the adaptation was a top-tier filmmaker with several massive successes under his belt.

The reason was simple: every literary work adapted into a film ended up completely unrecognizable. If a movie managed a fifty to sixty percent fidelity to the original text, Hollywood was already considered extremely conscientious. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was simply too long and contained far too much material to be adequately portrayed in a short film format.

Much of it would inevitably be discarded. True to Hollywood's usual style, The Lord of the Rings would certainly be butchered beyond recognition. Would a version like that even be The Lord of the Rings anymore? Rather than watch a movie that so deeply betrayed the original work, he would prefer it not be made at all.

If others didn't want to see a film version of The Lord of the Rings, they might simply choose to ignore it. But Brad Miller was different. As a hardcore fan of the original books, he felt obligated to defend the authority of this masterpiece and stop Hollywood from destroying a classic.

Therefore, the moment news of a The Lord of the Rings movie surfaced, he began to protest. And he wasn't protesting alone. Over the past twenty-odd years, Brad Miller had attended numerous fan conventions across America and befriended many people who shared his mindset.

Once his computer booted up, Brad Miller started sending and receiving emails. One inflammatory message after another was dispatched across the web in all directions.

"We cannot just sit by and watch this happen. We must unite and do something for this masterpiece. We need to call upon more people to head to New Zealand and protest this adaptation!"

Every time Hollywood adapted a literary classic, it sparked protests from die-hard fans. While The Lord of the Rings trilogy might not hold the same lofty status as timeless literary masterpieces, genre fiction had a much broader audience—not to mention this was the foundational work of Western fantasy.

For these hardcore fans to rally enough numbers to draw serious attention, they would need a great deal of time.

While the die-hard fans of The Lord of the Rings trilogy needed time to organize their protest, CAA, the famous Hollywood talent agency giant, was out of time.

CAA's partner meeting was currently taking place at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel. The shareholders and partners of the company had grown weary of stagnant business and a continuous string of failures with their package projects.

They wanted a stronger leader to take the throne at CAA—someone who could guide them to capture a larger market share and earn greater profits.

Martin Bob sat in his seat, his usually calm face completely ashen. Yet, he was powerless to stop Eno Martin, who currently held the floor, from speaking.

"Gentlemen, CAA's total revenue for 1998 was 165 million dollars!"

The other CAA partners looked equally grim, but Eno Martin had no intention of stopping. "Compared to the 163.5 million dollars in 1997, CAA has made zero progress over the past year."

Standing in the center of the conference room, Eno Martin's sharp gaze swept over everyone present. "While the salaries of our clients have generally increased, our revenue has stalled. Why? Because CAA's most important revenue stream, the all-in-one packaging service, is consistently failing!"

"Last year, our service focus was DreamWorks' massive production, Deep Impact." He didn't speak quickly, but he left no room for anyone to interrupt. "But as of right now, that film is operating at a loss, and CAA can't take a single cut from it!"

His eyes shifted toward Martin Bob. "I believe someone must take responsibility for this!"

"I will bear the responsibility that belongs to me," Martin Bob said slowly. "It's true that the package projects I've managed over the past five years have encountered various issues, bringing some negative impact to the company. However, I have already secured a partnership opportunity with Walt Disney, and they are preparing..."

"Apologies, Mr. Bob."

Another major partner suddenly interrupted him. "Now is not the time to discuss operations. I believe CAA has reached a moment where change is absolutely necessary."

"Exactly."

"CAA definitely needs reform."

"We need someone with outstanding capabilities to lead CAA forward."

Several partners, each holding over five percent of the company's shares, spoke up in quick succession. Martin Bob's expression turned even uglier.

He was CAA's largest shareholder, true, but CAA operated on a partnership system. He held less than twenty-five percent of the shares. If these partners cast a vote of no confidence against him in the upcoming motions, his only path would be a dismal resignation.

"I think everyone is overlooking one point."

Pat Kingsley, who had been silent until now, suddenly stood up. Her gaze shot straight at Martin Bob. "I want to remind everyone not to forget the most severe decision-making failure in CAA's history."

"She's right. We never should have let go of Duke Rosenberg."

Another partner immediately chimed in to agree.

"If CAA still had Duke Rosenberg, things would definitely be completely different right now."

"Just think about the profitability of Duke's films. If he belonged to CAA, our packaging policies would let us take a ten percent cut from that!"

Hearing this, a faint sneer surfaced on Martin Bob's face. Why hadn't CAA signed Duke back in the beginning? Packaging policies? If a CAA agent dared approach Duke to pitch a packaging deal, they would be kicked out immediately...

But he didn't want to say anything more. Even if he spoke up, it wouldn't change the current situation. Rather than engaging in a pointless verbal spat, it was better to preserve his last shred of dignity.

Even if he left CAA, it wasn't as though he lacked the opportunity to rise again.

The partner meeting continued, and motions were thrown out one after another. Eno Martin was in high spirits; after waiting for so many years, he had finally seized the perfect opportunity.

The final result was exactly as he expected. Partners representing sixty-five percent of the shares cast a vote of no confidence against Martin Bob. Martin Bob had no choice but to step down in disgrace.

Walking out of the Four Seasons Hotel, Martin Bob sighed. As he stood by the hotel entrance waiting for his car to arrive, he realized that from now on, he would become just another passerby in CAA's history, much like Michael Ovitz. The days when he called the shots in the industry seemed to be fading away from him.

In Hollywood, everyone's career had its peaks and valleys. How many people could actually maintain their brilliance forever?

Although he had inevitably felt depressed earlier, he had weathered many storms in his life and could always adjust his mindset in time. At the very least, he looked calm on the outside.

His car pulled up, and Martin Bob climbed inside. He instructed his driver, "Head home. To North Hollywood."

He had barely finished speaking, and the car hadn't even merged onto the main road yet, when his mobile phone rang. Martin Bob pulled out his phone, glanced at the caller ID, and couldn't help but frown.

Why was he calling? To mock him? Or to congratulate him on becoming a disgraced exile, just like himself?

He pressed the answer button, and an exceptionally familiar voice rang out from the phone. It was his old friend and former partner.

"Martin, is the meeting over?"

Michael Ovitz's voice was just as booming as it had been in years past. "Got any plans? Don't tell me you're thinking of retiring just like that?"

Martin Bob wasn't the least bit surprised that Ovitz had learned of his ousting so quickly. He simply replied in a mild tone, "I've never considered retiring."

"Interested in coming to the Artists Management Agency Company?" Michael Ovitz's voice came through the receiver once more. "Back in the day, when we founded CAA together, we managed to snatch half the entertainment representation market from Hollywood. We can absolutely do it all over again now!"

Start over?

Martin Bob furrowed his brows but didn't answer immediately. He thought for a few seconds before saying, "Michael, I need to think about it."

As the car entered the Hollywood area, Martin Bob was still pondering Michael Ovitz's suggestion. Perhaps this truly was an opportunity to rise again?

Laurel Canyon Boulevard was as congested as ever. As the car neared the Bank of America Los Angeles Branch, it was forced to stop due to a traffic jam. Martin Bob looked out the window and found his gaze drawn by a large crowd of people carrying cameras and microphones near the Bank of America. It seemed they were holding a media event.

"That's a memorial event sponsored by Warner Brothers."

His assistant, sitting in the passenger seat, chimed in at the perfect moment. "Today is the two-year anniversary of the North Hollywood shootout. Warner Brothers, Bank of America, and the Los Angeles County Police Department jointly organized this memorial ceremony."

He pointed out a massive poster hanging in front of the Bank of America to Martin Bob. "Warner Brothers is participating to promote their new movie. Duke Rosenberg adapted a film based on the North Hollywood incident..."

Staring at the giant poster, as well as the actors and police officers surrounded by reporters, Martin Bob sighed inwardly, 'The rival who single-handedly pushed me into this predicament is about to release another new movie!'