Chapter 268: Collision

No one knew how long the big ship had been gestating in James Cameron's mind before the project was officially greenlit. But in late October of this year—exactly three and a half years after approval—production finally wrapped. Not counting the ongoing promotional expenses, the production budget alone had consumed 200 million dollars!

Even fifteen years from now, that would be a staggering production cost.

With the film delayed time and time again and the set tyrant constantly pushing back the schedule, it was easy to imagine just how desperate the heavily invested studios were to recoup their costs.

Most importantly, everyone inside and outside the industry was mocking the big ship, convinced it was destined to sink. The critics in particular, upon learning that 50 million dollars of the funding came from Duke, offered endless sneers. They flat-out labeled him and James Cameron the biggest fools in Hollywood history.

Even on Roger Ebert & Siskel at the Movies, every recent episode routinely mocked the pair, dubbing the film "the Titanic destined to sink"!

The capabilities of the Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox executives were beyond doubt—they wouldn't hold such high positions otherwise—but people were always swayed by their environment. It wasn't as if they harbored no doubts about the film. According to Duke's sources, Twentieth Century Fox had already prepared to file for bankruptcy protection if the movie failed.

After Titanic wrapped, Duke flew back to Los Angeles specifically to attend the internal test screening held by Fox and Paramount, and walked away completely relieved.

The big ship differed slightly from his previous life, mostly in the minor details. This was perfectly normal; a director's editing choices could change from one day to the next. What remained unchanged was the film's sheer quality. Duke firmly believed that even if its marketing campaign fell short like it had in the past, its chances of breaking out were still astronomical!

Besides, with his 50 million dollars invested in it, Duke certainly wasn't going to sit back and watch the promotional campaign repeat those old mistakes.

In truth, just like in his past life, the endless mockery from the media and critics, combined with the massive 200-million-dollar investment, meant the film's visibility was not an issue at all. The real objective of the marketing campaign was to figure out how to spread positive audience word-of-mouth as rapidly as possible after the test screenings or official release.

The big ship of his past life had already proven that audience word-of-mouth could easily steamroll over the critics' biases.

The other major issue was the theater count. Duke met with Sherry Lansing and Thomas Rothman back-to-back, urging them to secure as many screens as physically possible. Although his vocal confidence in the film made the executives take it more seriously, empty words were never persuasive. Duke went a step further, declaring he was willing to shoulder the film's marketing and distribution costs in proportion to his investment!

Over the past few years, Duke had thoroughly proven his grasp on the commercial film market. That track record, combined with his proactive stance on the marketing campaign, gave Paramount and Fox a massive boost of confidence. Both studios naturally wanted a blockbuster, so they quickly ramped up negotiations with the North American Theater Alliance to secure the highest possible screen count.

Next were the test screenings. In his past life, the big ship hadn't held any test screenings at all. Duke insisted that before the premiere, they absolutely had to organize two or three test screenings for the media, average moviegoers, and theater representatives. Furthermore, they needed to use every means at their disposal to broadcast the audience's genuine reactions to the public.

The final issue was the premiere. Because Japanese sponsors were willing to put up a significant chunk of change, and since James Cameron was a textbook enthusiast of Japanese culture, Paramount and Fox wanted to hold the film's global premiere in Tokyo.

"We absolutely have to hold the premiere in North America!"

Facing Sherry Lansing and Thomas Rothman, Duke seemed more like the film's director. At this stage, James Cameron's say in the matter had actually been reduced to almost nothing. He couldn't really speak up anyway; the film's fate was no longer in his hands.

"Invite as many stars to the premiere as possible," Duke added. "Don't forget, this is the premiere for a production of unprecedented scale!"

Although Paramount Pictures held the North American distribution rights, Sherry Lansing still consulted with Thomas Rothman. By the time Duke returned to Sydney, he received a call from them: the premiere would be held in Los Angeles! Furthermore, the film would enjoy a simultaneous release in both the US and the UK!

Duke's suggestions were merely the most conventional marketing tactics. A film like the big ship didn't need any bizarre, out-of-the-box promotional stunts. However, because the Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox executives were so desperate to recoup their massive investments, they had lost their perspective. Duke was simply sounding the alarm to help them regain their composure. When it came down to the actual execution of the marketing campaign, he was nowhere near as capable as the studios' seasoned professionals.

As Duke returned to the Fox Lot in Sydney to resume filming, a steady stream of good news trickled in from the two studios. Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox had ceased to be independent production companies a long time ago. With massive media conglomerates backing them, they could mobilize a staggering amount of resources with minimal effort—provided they gave the project the attention it deserved and kept a rational mindset.

By early November, following three consecutive test screenings, the media's consensus on the film suddenly shifted. The reactions of numerous moviegoers were made public, with a substantial portion of the audience praising the movie as being "unprecedentedly spectacular"!

Theater representatives were, of course, an indispensable part of these test screenings. The North American Theater Alliance subsequently struck a deal with the distributor, Paramount: Titanic would hit North American screens with a massive 3,100-theater rollout.

Having invested a massive amount of his own money into the project, Duke also stepped up to beat the drum for the film, granting an exclusive interview to the Fox Television Family Channel.

"Yes, I've seen the film. It's beyond description," he told them. "I don't think any word of praise in my vocabulary would be an overstatement! I know some people are mocking it out of pure prejudice, but the facts will prove just how ignorant those sneers are. When this movie premieres, everyone will realize that a new era has arrived. Cinema history will be divided into the era before Titanic and the era after Titanic!"

Now, everything was in place; all that was left was the official release. Unless the end of the world arrived, absolutely nothing could stop that huge ship from riding the wind and breaking the waves!

However, before he could witness the big ship's glorious voyage, Duke first had to wrap up the final shooting schedule for The Matrix.

By mid-November, after seventy days of shooting, The Matrix had only one scene left. It was also the most technically demanding sequence of the entire production—Bullet Time!

How was Bullet Time actually shot? In his past life, Duke had read through a vast amount of material on the subject, but every source seemed to contradict the others. He had never been the type to follow blindly, nor would he rashly attempt to film based on some internet theory of questionable reliability. Thus, he had restricted himself to offering the initial concept, allowing John Schwartzman and the professionals from Industrial Light and Magic to design the actual schematics. Through trial and error with various setups, they eventually found the most suitable method.

"Duke, you have a visitor."

Fresh off a grueling burst of work, Duke heard his assistant's voice and turned around. It was a petite, slender girl with her brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She looked noticeably more tanned than she had over a month ago.

"Hi, Duke," she greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, Nat."

Handing his coffee cup to his assistant, Duke asked curiously, "How did you get so tan all of a sudden?"

"The crew went out to the desert for a location shoot." Natalie gently rubbed her cheek. "The sun out there is brutal. But don't you think it makes me look healthier?"

She glanced past Duke at the crew bustling around the set and asked, slightly embarrassed, "Am I interrupting your work?"

"Not at all." Duke shook his head. He took two fresh cups of coffee from his assistant, handed one to Natalie, and led her toward a temporary rest area. "I just finished a setup. I'm on a break."

They sat down at a small table. Natalie's curious gaze constantly swept across the soundstage. "I heard this is your last scene. Why are there so many cameras rigged up?"

"We're shooting a special sequence." Duke briefly explained the concept behind Bullet Time before adding, "The VFX artists from Industrial Light and Magic design the movements first, and then we shoot it with a regular camera. We'll scan those frames into a computer and use a custom laser-guided tracking system to map out the exact camera trajectory needed to capture the final shot."

Duke pointed toward the fully prepped set. "Then, we rig an array of still cameras along that tracked path. Every camera snaps exactly one static photo. Once we scan those photos into the computer, the software uses that data to interpolate the fluid motion between the frames. Ultimately, through digital effects, it strings that series of images together into a complete, seamless shot—either sped up or slowed down."

"It sounds incredibly complicated and magical," Natalie said, shaking her head. "I still don't really get it."

"Just sit here and watch."

Finishing the rest of his coffee, Duke stood up. "It's a lot less magical when you actually see it being filmed."

The actual shoot had no magic to it at all. Because they had done so much extensive testing beforehand, when Keanu Reeves—donning a wig—stood in front of the cameras and leaned all the way back into a rigid bridge, it didn't look like anything special to the naked eye. But having gone through the massive blue-screen shoots for Star Wars, Natalie knew full well that increasingly advanced post-production technology could turn the impossible into reality.

Just to be safe, Duke shot several takes to ensure they had enough raw material. By the time they wrapped, even with the support of the wire harnesses, Keanu Reeves had done so many backbends that he was too exhausted to stand up straight.

"I've got an announcement!"

Standing on the green screen set surrounded by the massive camera rig, Duke called out loudly, "Principal photography for The Matrix is officially a wrap!"

As usual, scattered applause broke out across the set. Duke spoke up again, "I've rented a private island in Fiji! We'll be hosting our wrap party there!"

With that, he stepped off the set and walked back to the rest area. Seeing that Natalie seemed a little spaced out, he tentatively offered an invitation. "Nat, would you want to come to our wrap party? I've already invited quite a few people from the Star Wars cast and crew."