Chapter 246: Counterattack

Inside Duke Studio, Duke was having a discussion with his accountant, David. After the New Year, Twentieth Century Fox's financial pressure had eased. Aside from the $50 million Duke had poured into Titanic, they had promptly paid off the remaining debt of over $17 million, along with interest based on the bank rate.

Warner Brothers was equally unwilling to fall behind. Due to the involvement of overseas distributors, the international box office cut for Saving Private Ryan had only paid Duke $30 million so far, but they guaranteed the remaining funds would hit his account within a month.

They wanted to participate in Duke's new film.

There were two reasons they were being so proactive. First, compared to Duke's previous works, Chicago might not have been a mega-blockbuster, but it was still a solid success. Second, his new project was a sci-fi film, and he planned to return to the summer season!

"The king of the summer season is returning to the summer season. Does Warner Brothers have any reason not to participate?"

At a Warner Brothers board meeting, CEO Jeff Robinov had delivered these resounding words to the numerous independent and executive directors.

Of course, the project only had a completed script. Everything was still in its earliest stages, and Duke had merely let Nancy Josephson leak a tiny bit of information to the outside.

Although he had registered the script's outline and character designs with the Writers Guild as early as 1994, Duke had still acquired the adaptation rights to a tangentially related comic. It hadn't cost much and would reduce unnecessary trouble down the line.

But that was all. This kind of thing was simply unavoidable in Hollywood. Thinking back on all the massively successful films of the past, which one hadn't faced plagiarism accusations or had people jumping out to demand a piece of the pie after it became a hit?

Even though those lawsuits were almost guaranteed losers, screenwriters and authors still jumped out one after another. They desperately wanted to tie themselves to famous movies, using the controversy to attract eyeballs and promote their own work.

The most typical example was a certain author who had once accused James Cameron's "human-traitor" movie of plagiarism. After widespread media coverage, his work actually sold out in a short period of time...

Profit was the biggest draw for people like that.

With a massive amount of funds on hand, Duke took out a portion to invest in Yahoo. After noticing the website through Kelis last time, he had specifically asked someone to look into it. One of the founders was indeed surnamed Yang. Although he also uncovered a lot of specific information, it was unfortunately useless to him, because he simply couldn't remember...

Duke planned to put the funds from Twentieth Century Fox into the stock market. It would be even better if he could invest directly. David's team would contact some of Yahoo's shareholders to see if they could buy shares from them, or wait for Yahoo's next round of financing.

If they really weren't qualified to get in and share the cake, then they would just buy as much as they could from the stock market.

He would temporarily hold onto the remaining funds. Charles Roven had already agreed to serve as the production manager for another project, and the two would hold detailed discussions in the coming period. Following that, large sums of money would flow to New Zealand. Tolkien's epic masterpiece required two years or even more of pre-production time.

These were the tasks for the next few months, and they needed to proceed step by step according to the plan. None of it could be rushed.

Recently, it wasn't just Warner and Fox coming closer; even Disney was trying to re-establish good relations with Nancy Josephson. The climbing box office of Chicago had proven that even after leaving the summer season, Duke could still stand out in fierce competition, even if he couldn't sweep all his opponents.

After entering 1997, the number of theaters showing Chicago had dropped below 1,000, and the daily weekday box office didn't even reach $1 million. By mid-January, the film's North American box office had accumulated $139.81 million, and the theater count was still shrinking.

Of the other two films in the same release window, Star Trek: First Contact had been forcibly pulled from theaters because its box office dropped too quickly. Its North American box office ultimately stopped at $91.75 million. Compared to Chicago, it fully illustrated the phrase that an early lead does not guarantee victory.

Meanwhile, The English Patient consistently stuck to the release strategy of an awards-season contender. Its theater count had been maintained at around 500, and its cumulative North American box office was gradually approaching $28 million.

Because the investment in awards campaigning for Chicago was limited, Miramax and The English Patient had clearly taken the advantage in promotional PR recently. However, Duke's primary goal was an Oscar nomination. While it wasn't impossible for Chicago to make an impact at the Oscar Awards Ceremony, it would be somewhat difficult.

In late January, the 69th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon was held on schedule at the Beverly Hills Regent Hotel. Duke did not attend; instead, Nancy Josephson attended on his behalf. Just as everyone had expected beforehand, Chicago and The English Patient became the biggest winners in the nomination list announced by Arthur Miller.

The English Patient snagged a total of eleven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Sound, Best Actor, and Best Actress. It could be said that Miramax won a sweeping victory!

Chicago was not far behind, picking up a total of ten nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Original Song, Best Actor, and Best Actress.

Under Nancy Josephson's maneuvering, Naomi Watts secured the first Oscar acting nomination of her life, while the heavily criticized Tom Cruise also got his wish. After putting in a massive amount of work, he finally earned his second nomination for Best Actor.

As for Catherine Zeta-Jones, her performance was indeed no worse than Naomi Watts's, but right now, she was just a newcomer who had recently entered Hollywood. Her agent, Vivian, wasn't at a major entertainment agency either. If she wanted to get nominated, she would still have to build up a few more years of seniority.

"Yes!"

Inside a Beverly Hills mansion, Tom Cruise excitedly pumped his fist. He hadn't attended the nominees luncheon either. He had just received the nomination list faxed over by Pat Kingsley, and it seemed as if he could see the Golden Statuette waving at him.

Nicole Kidman had also seen the list. She sat to the side with a pale face, not saying a word, her mood appearing rather foul. The reason was very simple—Naomi Watts had received a nomination for Oscar Best Actress!

Someone who had once needed her guidance and even financial relief had suddenly turned her life around, achieving a level of success that far surpassed hers. Only she could truly understand what that felt like.

Just because she had latched onto a director like Duke Rosenberg, she had now faintly stepped into the ranks of Hollywood's near A-list actresses. And what about herself? Was she still just eye candy relying on Tom Cruise? What was the difference between her and Naomi Watts? It was simply that the men standing behind them were different, yet it had resulted in a world of difference!

Her eyes turned toward Tom Cruise. He was still excited, but Nicole Kidman knew clearly that if she relied on him, her future couldn't advance any further. Even Tom Cruise himself had relied on Duke Rosenberg to finally snag a Best Actor nomination again after so many years, hadn't he?

"Hey, honey!" Tom Cruise turned his head to look her way. "Aren't you happy for me?"

Nicole Kidman forced a faint smile. "Of course I'm happy for you. Congratulations, Tom."

"Giving up our past conflicts to work with Duke was absolutely the right move!"

Standing up, he paced a lap around the sofa, still talking to himself. "The film's North American box office is approaching $150 million, and it got ten Oscar nominations. We are the true winners!"

Even though he only had a $5 million salary and couldn't take a cut of the box office, Tom Cruise felt a rare sense of satisfaction. The Oscar for Best Actor of his dreams was close at hand!

Looking at her excited husband, Nicole Kidman temporarily suppressed her negative emotions of jealousy and resentment. They were husband and wife, after all. Even though their conflicts had been constantly escalating over the past year or so, they were truly tied together by common interests.

"Tom, shouldn't you make a phone call?" she couldn't help but remind him.

Cruise paused, asking strangely, "A phone call? Call who?"

Nicole Kidman sighed inwardly. Cruise still didn't know how to handle people. Getting nominated at this year's Oscars was already considered a victory. The difficulty of him actually winning was too high, and since Duke Rosenberg's work could get him one nomination, there would very likely be a second one. If he didn't make a thank-you call right now to pull their relationship closer, was he going to wait until after the Oscar Awards Ceremony?

"Shouldn't you give Duke a call?" Nicole Kidman said slowly. "We don't have any conflicts with him now. Don't tell me you can't see the necessity of getting on his good side!"

As long as someone reminded him, Tom Cruise was still quite shrewd. He immediately understood, hurriedly walked over to the phone, and dialed a private number.

"Hi, Duke. It's me."

He wasn't a real idiot, after all, and Tom Cruise sounded very pleasant when speaking polite words. "It's nothing much. I just wanted to say thank you! No, no, no, I have to say it. I'm incredibly grateful that you gave me this opportunity, and I'm so thankful for your help. If I can win Best Actor, I'll treat you to a wild party in Las Vegas. It's settled!"

Hanging up the phone, Tom Cruise turned to look at Nicole Kidman and nodded at her. Between past conflicts and realistic profits, which one was more important?

That was the question Tom Cruise was considering.

On the other side, Duke had long since figured out this issue. As long as Handsome Tom didn't infringe on his interests anymore, he couldn't be bothered to keep tangling with him. After all, the two sides didn't have irreconcilable differences like with Sean Connery and Mel Gibson.

At this stage, what he was considering was how Chicago could use the Oscar nomination list to expand its theatrical release again and push into overseas markets.