Chapter 255: Working with Tom Cruise

"Jeff, I recommend you pitch it to the board of directors."

Despite talking at such length, Duke knew he didn't possess some magical aura that lowered the intelligence of those around him.

"I personally think this will be a franchise on par with The Lord of the Rings," he added.

If anyone else had said this, Jeff Robinov would have laughed it off. But with Duke speaking so solemnly and at such length, he paid full attention.

"I'll have my people conduct a targeted study," Jeff said.

He then asked, "Does this mean the rights are already in your hands?"

"I'm a Warner shareholder, and Warner has always been my best partner," Duke said, spreading his hands. "Let's put it this way, Jeff: no one can guarantee a franchise's success, myself included. But the potential of Harry Potter is undeniable. It requires our joint promotion. With the right media platform and the right film adaptations, I believe it will achieve incredible brilliance."

Duke knew his current importance to Warner, so he emphasized, "I think we need to establish an even closer partnership!"

Hearing this obvious overture, Jeff Robinov smiled brightly. "That is exactly what Warner strives for."

Warner Brothers currently had two major performance priorities: the Batman Series and Duke's projects.

Jeff Robinov knew this very well, and so did Duke. Furthermore, Duke knew something Robinov didn't: once this year's Batman and Robin hit theaters, the Batman Series would be temporarily dead in the water. Warner Brothers would desperately need a new profitable franchise, and their original choice had been the little wizard.

The Harry Potter Series was an incredibly lucrative piece of the pie. If it succeeded, the ensuing momentum would be monstrous. However, Duke kept a clear head. He knew the pie was too big—and the production process too massive and complex—for him and Duke Studio to swallow alone.

Could a small company of dozens or even a hundred people, lacking the backing of any media platform, really trigger the little wizard craze?

This was the harsh reality of business, not a fairy tale!

Of course, even though Duke's words carried heavy weight nowadays, Jeff Robinov wasn't going to overstep his authority and make a decision for all of Warner based solely on a brief pitch.

The two parties shared massive common interests, but this remained only a preliminary intention to cooperate.

After the party, Duke quickly shifted his focus to pre-production. Aside from retaining core team members like Zack Snyder, John Schwartzman, and Josh William, he gradually dispatched many of his people to New Zealand to assist Charles Roven. Meanwhile, Duke Studio launched a large-scale recruitment drive to expand its own ranks and find suitable new crew members for the project.

Because the entire crew needed to be moved to Sydney as soon as possible, the preparatory work in Los Angeles was incredibly intense.

However, Duke's current influence far exceeded what it had been a few years prior. Multitudes of industry professionals in Hollywood wanted to squeeze their way onto his crew, and the flood of applicants nearly burst the doors of the Duke Studio office building. All he and Zack Snyder had to do was select the right candidates from the crowd.

All things being equal, Duke naturally prioritized candidates recommended by industry acquaintances. For instance, he hired Geof Darrow—recommended by Tom Hanks—as the art director and set designer, and he brought on John Bowring as the armorer on the recommendation of Warner Brothers. Both men were industry veterans, so their competence was beyond question.

In addition, following Sofia Coppola's departure, Duke entrusted Anna Printz with leading the team in charge of schedules and storyboards. As always, he would personally review all the completed storyboards and plans.

Although some team members had gone to New Zealand and couldn't participate in The Matrix, the core backbone was still present. Furthermore, the project was a commercial sci-fi blockbuster—a genre the team was extremely familiar with. Compared to Chicago, the pre-production process felt smooth and seamless, progressing methodically in Los Angeles.

However, one aspect of the process was quite similar to Chicago: the actors had to be brought in early so they could undergo roughly three months of kung fu training.

Therefore, casting auditions also needed to be pushed to the forefront of the schedule.

Since Duke had announced his return to the Summer Season with a new sci-fi film, anyone on the crew who had even a slight say in casting—or simply the ear of the director—quickly became a prime target for agents and hordes of second- and third-tier actors.

Even Tina Fey found herself the focal point of intense networking by various talent agents.

"So, someone tried to honey-trap you with a handsome guy?"

During his downtime, Duke would joke around a bit with his assistant. "Which role were they after?"

"I have no interest in their honey traps."

Sitting across from him, Tina Fey gave a playful shrug. "They're just short-sighted idiots."

Tina Fey was a smart woman. She knew she had earned Duke's trust through a long track record of solid performance, and she certainly wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that. Furthermore, she could see that her employer's future held far more than his current success. As one of his most trusted aides, her own path forward was equally boundless.

Besides, where else was she going to find a contract with such a generous salary and benefits package?

After a bit of idle chatter, their conversation circled back to work.

"Tina, keep an eye on the audition list," Duke told her directly. "If they aren't already on it, remember to send audition invitations to Hugo Weaving, Laurence Fishburne, and Joe Pantoliano."

Tina Fey nodded and jotted the names down in her work log.

"Also, remember to notify Gray."

Gray was the casting director and a veteran member of Duke's team.

"Push the auditions for the male and female leads to the very end," Duke added.

In the original timeline, the female lead had been a model. Her acting skills were an absolute mess. On top of that, she hadn't been pretty enough, and her figure was only passable at best. She had completely failed to fulfill the eye-candy role required by a commercial blockbuster.

In truth, anyone who had studied Hollywood even a little knew that a proper piece of eye candy was crucial for a commercial blockbuster. With a good enough performance, she could attract a massive audience of hormonally charged teenagers.

Because of this, Duke filtered out the original actress without a second thought.

Strictly speaking, aside from the kung fu, the role of Trinity only required the most basic acting chops. Assuming that baseline of acting ability, beauty and sex appeal were mandatory prerequisites. The character needed to keep a stoic face, and since the film was a sheer interpretation of "cool" from start to finish, the ideal actress would be someone who could pull off an icy scowl and project a commanding aura, all without diminishing her beauty and sexiness.

Just as he had cast a quintessential American girl-next-door for the role of Annie in Speed, even eye candy couldn't be chosen at random. The actress had to fit the film's actual needs.

As for the idea that any random, pretty piece of eye candy could secure a role just by stripping naked and screaming, 『Come on』—that was nothing but a joke in the mainstream commercial film industry. What director or producer would gamble tens of millions of dollars in investments like that? And how many actresses were actually worth risking that much money?

Perhaps Jodie Foster or Julia Roberts in their prime were worth it. But even Duke couldn't deny the facts: for people like Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, and the newly resurgent Julia Roberts, finding a perfectly tailored script or role might be difficult, but these currently booming A-list stars and super A-list stars never lacked scripts and invitations!

Take Julia Roberts and Jodie Foster as examples. The former's unsavory audition scandals had almost entirely occurred in the early stages of her career; by the time she hit her prime, her status meant she absolutely did not need to use her body to curry favor with any director, producer, or studio. The latter's issues had occurred when she was transitioning from a child star to an adult and desperately needed a breakthrough; once she became extremely popular, she grew famous for maintaining a squeaky-clean public image. These A-listers and super A-listers possessed immense inherent value.

The idea that merely tossing out a script and a role would have A-listers and super A-listers eagerly throwing themselves at you to be your plaything wasn't just a fantasy—it was the raving of a lunatic in an asylum.

Superstars and actors were two entirely different species. Once someone climbed to the rank of superstar, everything changed.

These elites might unhesitatingly sleep around out of mutual attraction, a moment of passion, or sheer physical need, but trying to lure an A-lister or super A-lister into becoming someone's toy with just a script or a role was an absolute joke. It was no exaggeration to say that even if Spielberg and James Cameron merged into a single entity, they probably still couldn't pull that off.

It was true that actors—especially actresses—could be a pack of bitches when competing for a role, but that was just the norm in any commercial competition. Just as successful directors and producers fiercely guarded their pride and dignity, superstars also had face and dignity to maintain.

The only superstars Duke had worked with so far were Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise. Whether it was the relatively even-tempered Hanks or Cruise—with whom Duke originally had conflicts—he had given them sufficient respect as the director during filming. Even with Cruise, they had managed to superficially smooth over their relationship on set.

Both men had chosen to join Duke's cast simply because it suited their career needs, not for any other convoluted reasons.

Yes, Duke loved picking up beautiful actresses, and in that regard, he was no different from any other man. But he was never foolish enough to try and seduce an A-list or super A-list star using a script or a role as bait.

Of course, out of budget considerations, he generally avoided casting superstars unless absolutely necessary.

Pushing these stray thoughts aside, Duke settled his mind on a suitable candidate for the female lead. He figured she wouldn't refuse the offer.

Finally, there was the matter of casting the male lead. Keanu Reeves was his first choice, but Duke didn't plan on sending the invitation just yet. At the moment, Reeves's asking price was still relatively high. It was already May, meaning the Summer Season box office battle had officially begun, and Speed 2—starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock—was about to hit theaters!