Chapter 258: Acquiring Harry Potter

As time crept into early June, the production team officially signed contracts with Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron, and the rest of the cast. With Industrial Light & Magic's visual effects team fully prepped, Duke chartered a flight and led the crew straight to Sydney.

After arriving in Sydney and giving a brief rundown of the tasks there, Duke first flew to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. He spent nearly a week there consulting with Charles Roven on their current progress before returning to Sydney to officially kick off the local prep work for The Matrix.

Scouting locations around Sydney with his director of photography and art director, revising storyboard drafts and script notes, inspecting rented equipment and props, and discussing wardrobe concepts for the lead characters with the costume designer—these were all indispensable parts of Duke's job. But the other major focus of this pre-production phase was coordinating with the action choreography team from Hong Kong.

"They... they look like they're in a lot of pain."

A small soundstage had been converted into a makeshift training gym. Standing beside Duke, Tina Fey looked out at the floor, her eyes brimming with pity.

"Does this really have to go on for three months?" she asked.

"At least three months," Duke said without hesitation.

The cast had begun their training regimens a few days prior. They were only doing basic stretches for their muscles and ligaments—nothing too difficult, but for actors without a martial arts background, it was nothing short of a nightmare. During the first two days of practice, Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, who had the most action scenes, both had to be carried out by their assistants.

It was just a matter of adjusting. No production would ever dare joke around with its actors' safety, and Duke was no James Cameron; his demands weren't quite so draconian.

This grueling, extended training wasn't just surface-level martial arts. Keanu Reeves and the others also had to acclimate to wirework. While this filming technique had long been perfected in Hong Kong, it still wasn't widely used in Hollywood. When shooting similar scenes, American productions usually relied on high-pressure air rams to launch actors into the air to complete their moves.

Moreover, Hollywood rarely employed such fluid, flashy combat styles. In the eyes of North American audiences, those wall-running, high-flying martial arts flicks were practically sci-fi movies anyway.

Fortunately, The Matrix actually was a sci-fi movie, so this wouldn't clash with the North American audience's preconceived notions.

A muffled groan drifted across the gym. Dressed in a white training uniform, Keanu Reeves had just managed his first full split with Tiger Chen's help. The expression on his face, however, was quite a sight...

Duke turned his head to look at Yuen Woo-ping, who was sitting on the sidelines. Perhaps it was just the established culture in his corner of the film industry, but the famed action choreographer showed no intention of stepping onto the mats himself. All the physical demonstrations were handled by Tiger Chen and the rest of his disciples.

Over the previous two days, Duke had made initial contact with him and communicated some basic training requirements. Though the man was stubborn and conservative, his professional work ethic was beyond doubt.

"Interested, Tina?" Duke asked, pointing at the actors currently being tortured on the mat. "You could make a cameo. I could add a Guardian Angel for The Oracle, for instance."

"Are you sure about that?" Tina Fey blinked at him, speaking with perfect innocence. "Because if you're willing to handle all the work on my desk yourself, I'd gladly take up that training."

"Let's just forget it, then."

In truth, Tina Fey had been handling a large portion of the work at Duke Studio since last year, with Duke only stepping in for final approvals. Otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned hiring her as a future executive for the studio.

About half an hour later, the training session on the floor came to a temporary halt. Duke crossed his arms and walked over.

"How are you feeling, Hugo?"

Agent Smith was grimacing as he rolled his wrists. Hearing Duke's voice, he turned around and said, "Duke, you really need to experience this for yourself. I strongly demand a raise!"

Knowing he was just joking, Duke said simply, "We've got extra food for lunch today. Chinese food, too."

"I'll pass on that."

Charlize Theron walked over and stood nearby, swaying on her feet as if she might collapse at any second. "Flavor aside, I took a look at it yesterday, and it's way too greasy. It's an absolute figure-killer!"

"I think it's alright." Keanu Reeves plopped straight down onto the floor. "It's pretty good for an occasional treat."

They joked around for a bit. Though the training was arduous, the main cast didn't voice any real complaints. There had never been a case in Hollywood where someone continually succeeded without putting in hard work, and they were all keenly aware of this.

The others gradually dispersed to rest, leaving only Charlize Theron behind.

"Are your legs holding up alright?" Duke remembered her mentioning previously that she had left her ballet school due to a leg injury. "If anything feels off, let the medic know immediately."

"I'm fine." She leaned in a little closer. "I've never felt better."

Her eyes grew bright as she looked at Duke, a hint of genuine delight surfacing on her face. "I didn't expect you to remember that I was injured."

"Go get some rest," he said.

Duke turned and walked toward Yuen Woo-ping's location, but Charlize followed right behind him.

"Are you going to discuss the action choreography?" she asked. "Can I listen in?"

Duke looked at her. Since the discussion concerned her as well, he nodded. Charlize smartly snapped her mouth shut and followed silently as Duke approached the action team.

"Director Rosenberg."

Before he even got close, Yuen Woo-ping stood up. Though he held his own private biases against foreigners, he wasn't foolish enough to show it on his face.

"Hello, Mr. Yuen."

Though he couldn't understand a word the man said, he could guess it was a greeting. Duke shook his hand and walked over without standing on ceremony, taking a seat at the break table and gesturing to the chair opposite him. "Please, sit."

Charlize sat to his left. Once Yuen Woo-ping sat down, Tiger Chen immediately walked over and stood behind him to act as their translator.

Having not spoken Chinese in over twenty years, Duke had no intention of showing off his Mandarin. Besides, just as he couldn't understand the man's Cantonese, Yuen Woo-ping only had a half-baked grasp of Mandarin himself. Rather than forcing a stiff, awkward conversation, it was better to just use a translator.

Tiger Chen had lived for years in both Hong Kong and America, so acting as an interpreter was no issue for him at all.

"Will three months of training be enough to achieve the results I'm looking for?" Duke asked.

"Kung fu is a profound discipline," Yuen Woo-ping answered bluntly. "Three months is only enough to scratch the absolute surface."

"I just need their forms to look elegant enough on camera. That's all."

Kung fu wasn't taekwondo, after all, and Duke was well aware of that.

"Power and perfect form don't matter," he added.

"Without power," Yuen Woo-ping said, furrowing his brows, "the fights will look soft and hollow."

"Actually, that's exactly the effect I want."

Before the other man could reply, Duke held up a hand and continued, "You should have read the Chinese version of the script I had specially prepared for you. The main plot of the story..."

At this point, Duke abruptly changed the subject. Even some of the crew didn't fully understand the Matrix and the simulated network; trying to explain it to Yuen Woo-ping would be completely pointless.

"Mr. Yuen, I'd like to ask—is it possible to combine firearms, kung fu, and hand-to-hand combat to design a completely new style of close-quarters fighting?"

After Tiger Chen translated this, Yuen Woo-ping looked at him with a puzzled expression, clearly not understanding what he meant.

Duke thought for a moment, then turned to the female assistant standing behind him. "Tina, fetch a few prop guns."

Tina Fey picked up her Mobile Phone and dialed a number. Soon after, someone from the props department brought over several model handguns and submachine guns.

"Tiger, catch."

Duke tossed a handgun to Tiger Chen, then picked one up himself. He stepped out into the open space and said, "In my vision, this is a formidable technique that integrates Physical Martial Arts, marksmanship, and cerebral calculation into one fluid system."

"Tiger, don't move!"

Duke pointed at Tiger Chen across from him, then pantomimed drawing his gun and charging forward. Without any martial arts training, his movements were painfully slow, to say nothing of lacking any stylish flair, but he only wanted to visually demonstrate the concept.

"For example," Duke said, "if I ran into an expert like Tiger right now, I would draw my gun as fast as possible, using high-speed fire to strike and suppress him first. At the same time, I would use that covering fire to sprint at him, engaging in a hybrid style of half-shooting, half-brawling. I would strike with the pistol grip, my fists, elbows, knees, and feet, unleashing devastating close-quarters combat capabilities."

As he spoke, Duke demonstrated a few more of these strikes on Tiger Chen. Between his visual cues and Tiger Chen's translation, Yuen Woo-ping gradually began to understand.

Duke continued, "In my mind, watching two masters of this style duel would be absolutely spectacular. But Hollywood's traditional action choreography relies mostly on brute force. It isn't suited for designing this kind of combat."

"That... doesn't sound very realistic, does it?"

Many people had overheard Tiger Chen's translation. One of the slightly older martial artists suddenly muttered this in Mandarin, probably assuming no one around him would understand.

This sentiment was clearly shared by Yuen Woo-ping. "No human has the cerebral calculation speed or physical coordination to meet those requirements," he said. "It's completely impractical."

Realistic? Duke furrowed his brows. He was coming up with these concepts precisely because they were cool and visually dazzling enough to draw in massive audiences.

"Mr. Yuen, this is a sci-fi film. We can toss reality completely to the wayside." Duke handed the prop gun back to Tina Fey and sat back down in his seat. "Besides, all those scenes in kung fu movies where people go flying through the air aren't exactly realistic either, are they?"

Yuen Woo-ping thought for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "I'll study the concept and try to draft a suitable proposal as soon as possible."

"I'll leave it in your capable hands, Mr. Yuen." Duke remained very polite. He pointed to Charlize beside him. "Mr. Yuen, I also believe we should design distinct action styles based on the physical traits of our male and female leads. For example, with Miss Theron here, her choreography should highlight her agility and sex appeal."