Chapter 265: King Kong

During an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, Duke once said that for films budgeted under ten million dollars, he could do as he pleased, because he inherently carried that kind of commercial value. But with massive, big-budget productions, he couldn't act recklessly; he had to conform to current market rules and the viewing demands of mainstream audiences.

Duke also had to admit that Japanese culture currently held more market value in North America than Chinese culture. Designing the martial arts dojo in a Japanese style would make it easier for audiences to accept. Besides, from beginning to end, this was the only building in the film with a distinctly foreign style.

The reason was obvious: adding too many non-Western elements to a film in this era would inevitably turn it into a niche movie!

Some might bring up Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the only blockbuster in North America with a distinct Chinese visual style. Setting aside its core themes, its exceptionally long theatrical run, and a budget of just over ten million dollars, no one could deny that it was fundamentally a niche film. Furthermore, a significant number of the North American theaters that screened it were located near Chinese and Asian enclaves.

If a series of massive Chinese-style scenes appeared in The Matrix, one could only imagine how severely it would ruin the film's overall cyberpunk aesthetic.

It was no exaggeration to say that The Matrix could devolve into a niche film because of it.

Duke had no desire to be Quentin Tarantino, making a niche film that catered only to fans of Hong Kong cinema.

The Matrix was a massive, big-budget commercial film that had to meet mainstream audience tastes. Tossing in baffling elements completely unrecognized by the North American market wasn't innovation—it was digging his own grave.

Never mind Duke; just look at James Cameron.

Why had the King of the World resorted to two such cliché and unremarkable storylines for massive investments like Titanic and Avatar? Could he truly not write a better script? Anyone who had seen Terminator 2 wouldn't think so.

James Cameron chose two incredibly cliché stories precisely because it was the safest route. A prince and Cinderella, or a poor boy and a rich girl, were themes audiences never tired of. The staggering budgets of those two films dictated that these themes were the safest, most suited to public taste, and least likely to alienate the vast majority of viewers.

No one could guarantee a film would be an absolute blockbuster—not Duke, not Spielberg, and not James Cameron. But every A-list director knew one fact: acting recklessly while producing a commercial film made the chances of failure infinitely high.

Commercial movies were not experimental films, after all.

After finishing the shoot a couple of days ago, the crew had split into two. Zack Snyder took Keanu Reeves and the others to Sydney for location shooting. Duke kept John Schwartzman, who didn't get along with Snyder, and assigned the increasingly capable Ben Watts to work with him. Meanwhile, Duke stayed at Warner Studios to supervise Yuen Woo-ping as he filmed the remaining action scenes, trying his best to learn as much as he could from the choreographer and his stunt team.

Over the next few days, all the shooting on the soundstage focused on Trinity's fight scenes.

Dressed in a tight, glossy black leather outfit, Charlize Theron perfectly showcased the advantage of her long legs and slender waist on camera as she executed the specially designed action choreography. Furthermore, thanks to her background in ballet, Charlize had much better balance than Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne, allowing her to perform far better on the wire rigs than either of them.

Since this set of moves relied heavily on leg attacks, it pushed Charlize's current role as eye candy to its absolute limit. This was especially true when she combined her body and her guns into an inverted cross while suspended—the visual was stunningly gorgeous.

"I didn't disappoint you, did I?"

Taking advantage of a break, Charlize Theron approached Duke behind the monitor. "I did pretty well, right?"

"Excellent!"

Even without any post-processing on the captured footage, Duke felt that Charlize Theron could effortlessly blow the other Trinity out of the water.

On natural physical gifts alone, she completely crushed that original lead actress whose name Duke had already forgotten.

"Tired?"

Seeing Charlize lightly tapping the heel of her leather boot, Duke pointed to the chair beside him. "Take a seat."

After Charlize Theron sat down, her feet lifted completely off the floor.

A sexy beauty fighting and sprinting on screen in high-heeled leather boots was a frequent sight in commercial films. It looked gorgeous and served as great eye candy, but such footwear was entirely unsuited for real combat. Let alone actually fighting someone, just filming a movie in those shoes often left the lead actress in unspeakable misery.

However, Duke only glanced at her feet and didn't say anything. Enduring this kind of suffering was simply the norm for Hollywood stars.

Seeing Duke reviewing the footage they had just shot, Charlize smartly chose to stay quiet. She lightly brushed a hand over her dyed-black short hair, not daring to press hard for fear of messing up the style. She didn't even know how many blood blisters had formed on her feet over the past few months, but she had gradually gotten used to them. When she thought about the film's potential box office success, this little bit of pain was nothing.

Once Duke finished his work and picked up his coffee cup, Charlize Theron asked, "I heard the film is going to be released next May?"

"That's right."

Although the news hadn't been officially announced to the public yet, it had long ceased to be a secret within the crew.

Duke set down his coffee cup, turned his head, and asked with a smile, "What, can't wait? Sally, as long as you maintain your current form throughout the shoot, I guarantee that even if the film bombs, you'll still become famous."

"How could a film of yours possibly fail?" Charlize first flashed a radiant smile before continuing, "I'm just a little worried. I heard from my agent that there are powerful, big-budget productions releasing the week before and the week after our date. I think it's DreamWorks' Deep Impact with an $85 million budget, and Sony Columbia Pictures' Godzilla with a $150 million budget."

"It doesn't matter." Duke shook his head. "My dear, that's the summer season. Every weekend is a prime slot. Where would you find a summer weekend with completely empty release dates on either side of it? Staggering our release away from those two films is still better than opening on Memorial Day, when commercial movies all pile up together."

How many weekends were there in the summer season from May to July anyway? And how many summer-appropriate movies did Hollywood produce in a year? In reality, competition was unavoidable no matter what.

Furthermore, while the summer season nominally lasted until the end of July, everyone knew that once the Independence Day release window passed, the weekend box office effect would drop to a certain extent. Audiences bombarded by big-budget commercial films for two months would not only have thinner wallets, but they would also develop aesthetic fatigue.

According to North American release traditions, unless it was a unique movie like Independence Day, blockbusters with higher investments and more massive hype typically appeared earlier in the summer season, especially right at its opening.

The market had its levels of hunger and saturation. Ever since the concept of the summer season took shape, March—when the Oscar Awards Ceremony was usually held—and April—after the awards season officially ended—were the blandest periods of the year. Besides, there was no such thing as a hot spring season nowadays. Big-budget movies would never choose to premiere in those two months. After two consecutive months lacking heavy-hitting releases, the market would grow hungry. Consequently, any films scheduled for the first few weekends in May would be the direct beneficiaries of that hunger, provided they weren't too terrible.

In fact, looking back across North American film history, it wasn't hard to notice that the early to mid-May period, which signaled the start of the summer season, always saw a massive pile-up of blockbuster releases.

It could easily be called one of the most fiercely contested release windows of the entire year.

Naturally, any summer season film hoping to be a hit would face intense competition.

Even with DreamWorks' Deep Impact ahead of them and Sony Entertainment's Godzilla right behind, Duke was never afraid of competition. Just as he had told Charlize, even if they switched to another weekend, they would still be facing wolves ahead and tigers behind. Since the film was slated for a summer season release, competition was inevitable.

Plus, this particular weekend had one major advantage. According to the data provided by Doug Walter at Warner Brothers, among the movies releasing on the exact same weekend, Duke couldn't find a single title he recognized, nor were there any big-budget productions exceeding $50 million.

Even though they hadn't yet entered the new century, the percentage of a commercial film's total gross generated in its opening weekend was growing increasingly heavier. Avoiding a same-weekend clash with highly competitive films was the top priority for every distribution company.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Charlize left to touch up her makeup. Duke walked behind the camera and discussed the shooting schedule with Yuen Woo-ping. Not long after, filming for Trinity's action scenes resumed.

Perhaps because she was from Africa, Charlize Theron's sexy figure, hidden beneath the tight leather suit, possessed a natural wildness, much like a leopardess from the African savanna. Furthermore, her body—honed by extensive modeling and ballet training—was incredibly flexible and supple. She actually executed several high kicks herself, and her level of effort was truly commendable.

There might be shortcuts to Hollywood-style success, but there were absolutely no shortcuts to hard work. Moreover, Hollywood success without the foundation of hard work usually meant sliding toward failure even faster than the initial rise to the top.

Once the day's shoot ended, Duke had no plans to work overtime. The Star Wars crew, also stationed at Fox Studios, was hosting a media party. Given the good relationship between Duke and Uncle Lucas, they had invited the main cast and crew of The Matrix to attend as well.

Naturally, this meant more stars and celebrities would be present, drawing even more attention. It was a completely mutually beneficial event.

Packing up his belongings and grabbing the briefcase set off to the side, Duke instinctively wanted to call out for Tina Fey. He then remembered that he had sent her back to North America. He could only shake his head and walk out of the soundstage.

Before he had taken more than a few steps, slightly heavy footsteps echoed from behind him. Charlize Theron seemed genuinely exhausted as she chased after him with heavy steps.

"Can I hitch a ride back to the hotel with you?" she asked.

Both crews were staying at the same hotel, and the party was also being held there.

Duke naturally wouldn't refuse and nodded. "Let's go. Get back early so you can shower and change clothes."