Chapter 251: An Early Lead Does Not Guarantee Victory

Exquisite pastries covered the dining table in the presidential suite. Victoria, still wearing yesterday's low-cut khaki top, rested her left hand on the table. With a trembling right hand, she picked up a delicious piece of Napoleon pastry, raised it slowly to her lips, and took a bite.

"This is really good," Victoria Adams said, savoring the taste. "It has a very unique flavor. Why haven't I had this before?"

"I had them flown in specially from France," Duke lied casually. In reality, Tina Fey had baked the pastries out of sheer boredom. "Have some more if you like them."

"These are high-calorie."

Despite the excellent taste, Victoria Adams set the pastry down after only two small bites. She patted her slender waist and said, "Eating too much will make me gain weight. A taste is enough."

Duke had felt exactly how thin she was last night. He just shrugged and said nothing.

These thin women made for excellent clothes hangers, but that was all they were. In reality, the sensation of all those jutting bones was incredibly underwhelming. As this single date came to an end, Duke was certain he wouldn't contact Victoria Adams again. Posh Spice could go find her true love elsewhere.

Although they didn't eat much, breakfast stretched on for quite a while. They sipped coffee and chatted about the situation in Britain. Duke was particularly interested in what Victoria had to say about Princess Diana.

From her account, it was clear that ordinary Britons were quite fond of the so-called "People's Princess" and fully approved of her carefully cultivated, approachable image. Conversely, they harbored deep dissatisfaction toward the royal family headed by Elizabeth II.

This was just idle chatter, of course; Duke wasn't stupid enough to get involved in royal affairs. It wasn't until noon, after the Chanel outfit Duke had ordered over the phone arrived, that Victoria Adams finally left the suite.

"I'll miss you, darling," she said, looking somewhat reluctant to leave. "We'll go out again, won't we?"

Her eyes were full of endless anticipation, as though this brief encounter had stirred genuine feelings within her.

Duke ignored the question. Instead, he grabbed a business card bearing nothing but a string of numbers and pressed it into Victoria's hand, giving her cheek a light pinch. "Call this number when you're in Los Angeles."

"I certainly will." Victoria carefully tucked the card away and turned to leave.

Returning to the bedroom, which looked like a devastated battlefield, Duke called for room service. He walked out onto the balcony and dialed Tina Fey's number. Last night was already in the past; he was back in work mode.

Things were progressing very smoothly. Through the publisher, Tina Fey had gotten in touch with Joanne Rowling's literary agent. She would soon meet the author in person to negotiate the film and merchandise rights.

Duke had no intention of handling it himself. First, he was preparing to head back to Los Angeles. Second, it was entirely unnecessary. Rowling couldn't even be considered a professional author yet; if Duke showed up personally, it would only signal how much he valued her, raising her bargaining power. Having Tina Fey handle it was more than enough. Not only could she keep the price as low as possible, but she could also secure the rights to the next book or two for a reasonable sum.

Joanne Rowling's circumstances were certainly sympathetic, and her struggle was admirable, but business was business. Only a fool would let misplaced sentimentality dictate an offer completely out of line with her current standing.

Besides, if the Harry Potter Series became as wildly successful as it had been in his past life, would Joanne Rowling lower her asking price out of gratitude that he had sought her out early on?

What a joke. This was a commercial transaction, not children playing house.

Although he hadn't decided who he might partner with—or whether he even wanted a partner at all—Duke intended to seize the initiative first.

His mother was staying in Europe to negotiate business with several corporate groups, and Tina Fey was meeting with Joanne Rowling and her agent. Duke simply returned to North America alone. Time was very important to him. If The Matrix was going to make next year's Summer Season, and if Tolkien's epic was going to see a smooth adaptation, he needed ample prep time. Furthermore, Chicago was about to leave North American theaters, meaning he still had his North American box office cut to settle with Warner Brothers.

By mid-March, Chicago's North American theater count had dropped to around 150. Its domestic box office momentum had stalled completely, pulling in less than fifty thousand dollars a day. On March 15th, the film officially ended its North American theatrical run.

Its final North American box office haul stood at a staggering 185.5 million dollars!

Meanwhile, the film's global box office also crossed the 300 million dollar threshold. However, with the hype dying down in major overseas markets, its international box office growth had slowed considerably, leaving it to accumulate revenue slowly over time.

Since their Thanksgiving releases, The English Patient had tracked alongside Chicago. Although the prestige drama had edged out Chicago in the 69th Academy Awards nominations, it had been brutally suppressed by Chicago in both North American theater count and box office gross. Now, the momentum from its Oscar nominations had largely evaporated. With a North American total of 68.75 million dollars, The English Patient had suffered a total defeat at the box office.

With Chicago officially out of theaters, Duke's accounting team began frequently contacting Warner Brothers to secure the North American box office cut as quickly as possible. Duke desperately needed the cash. Nancy Josephson had already initiated talks with Tom Cruise's studio and Paramount Pictures; if all went smoothly, this was going to be a massive investment.

Duke's unbroken streak of success brought him immense influence. Warner Brothers was dedicated to maintaining a strong relationship with him, eager to participate in the investment and distribution of his next project. As a result, they settled the accounts for Chicago with Duke Studio at the fastest speed procedurally possible.

Following the film's theatrical exit, after the cinema chains deducted various taxes and fees, Warner Brothers received 84.5 million dollars for the North American box office split. Per their distribution agreement with Duke Studio, they withheld ten percent of the North American box office—18.55 million dollars—as their distribution fee, along with a 15-million-dollar deduction for advanced marketing expenses. Consequently, a total of 50.95 million dollars was wired to Duke Studio's accounts.

Duke Studio immediately paid out a series of required guild fees and dispersed the remaining one-third of the cast and crew salaries. After all of this, the studio's balance sat at 45 million dollars. Factoring in the original soundtrack album, the first-window North American television broadcast rights, and other merchandise, Chicago had netted a pre-tax profit of over 30 million dollars in the North American market alone!

The international box office split would take a while longer to process. However, this sum—combined with the remaining overseas payout for Saving Private Ryan that Warner had transferred in February—was more than enough to support Duke's investment in Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible project, and to kick-start pre-production on The Lord of the Rings trilogy in New Zealand.

Good news soon arrived from Nancy Josephson. Following five long rounds of three-way negotiations, Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures had finally agreed to let Duke Studio buy into Mission: Impossible with a 30-million-dollar investment to quickly secure the final piece of the project's funding. Under the signed agreement, Duke Studio would not only receive a profit share proportional to their investment but also hold the corresponding film copyright.

Naturally, Tom Cruise had only agreed to Duke Studio's investment because Duke promised to fully support him in leading the project. After all, Cruise was also the film's largest rights holder.

Thirty million dollars was no small number. Factoring in the substantial capital required to launch the New Zealand project, alongside the massive chunk of his recent earnings tied up in the stock market, Duke suddenly realized his cash flow was severely strained. The Matrix was the biggest problem. Based on his vision, the production budget would be at least 80 million dollars—cash he simply didn't have on hand right now.

Net worth and liquid cash were, after all, two completely different things.

Even excluding the massive returns from buying tech stocks like Microsoft and Yahoo, Duke's personal net worth was closing in on 400 million dollars. However, the vast majority of that had turned into fixed assets like shares and equities. Because he had been steadily increasing his stakes in Warner Brothers and Victoria's Secret, his liquid cash was indeed limited.

"My recommendation," Duke's accountant David said in the Duke Studio conference room, "is to use the copyright to Chicago or a portion of your Warner Brothers shares as collateral for a bank loan. That will solve the partial funding problem for the new film."

Duke nodded, generally agreeing with David's suggestion. This was standard business practice.

"Furthermore, Duke," added Robin Grande. Although The Matrix hadn't officially been greenlit yet, he would definitely serve as the production manager. "We can bring in outside investment. Warner Brothers is already fast-tracking their review process at the highest speed, so we could accept partial funding from them. Moreover, since this is a sci-fi film, we can also explore some options regarding advertising."

This, too, was a classic Hollywood producer strategy. Duke thought it over for a moment, then turned to his agent. "Nancy, the moment the project clears Warner Brothers' review, I want you to start negotiating the film's investment ratio, distribution cut, and rights pre-sales with them. You know where my bottom line is."

Duke didn't need to spell everything out; Nancy Josephson understood perfectly. This also impacted her future income. If she wanted to earn more, she first had to ensure her employer secured as much as possible.

Nodding, Nancy Josephson suddenly thought of something else. "The Oscar Awards Ceremony is right around the corner. Are you really not attending?"

"I'm not planning on attending." Duke glanced at Robin Grande. "Robin, Charles, and I are heading to Australia and New Zealand first. Then we still have to go to Hong Kong. The people at the Warner Asia Branch Company are already waiting for me."

The trip to Australia was naturally to visit Fox Studios on the outskirts of Sydney. New Zealand was an even bigger priority for the coming years. Barring any accidents, he would frequently be staying in Australia over the next three to five years.

As for Hong Kong, it was even simpler: first, to go take a look; and second, to meet with the two action choreographers Warner Brothers had reached out to.

Warner Brothers had already been in contact with them several times, but they had consistently failed to reach an agreement regarding the price.