Chapter 277: Treating Each Other with Sincerity?

In early February 1998, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held the Oscar nominees luncheon at the Regent Hotel. To the surprise of no one in the media or the industry, Titanic emerged as the biggest winner.

Even though Miramax, having tasted Oscar success the previous year, had the double award-bait insurance of Good Will Hunting and Life Is Beautiful, none of it mattered against Titanic's unprecedented box office numbers. Furthermore, this was not a genre fantasy; the Academy's conservative voters couldn't possibly ignore it, ultimately handing the film a total of fourteen Oscar nominations.

When an epic masterpiece based on a true historical event sailed into the Oscars carrying over 1 billion dollars in global box office revenue, the conservatives finally bowed their heads.

Yes, by early February, Titanic's North American box office had reached 462.15 million dollars, with a cumulative global total of 1.0621 billion dollars, firmly securing its position as number one in film history!

The fourteen Oscar nominations undoubtedly acted as a booster for the massive ship. That weekend, the North American box office surged dramatically, jumping by seventy-nine percent week-over-week! Moreover, many countries that originally had no intention of importing Titanic finally set their sights on the massive production, such as some nations across the Pacific Ocean...

Riding the momentum of its Oscar nominations, the film's merchandise development was also spreading like wildfire.

Licensing agreements for postcards, T-shirts, kaleidoscopes, pencil cases, handbags, and action figures of Jack and Rose were finalized in early February. The North American market alone brought in 70 million dollars in licensing revenue.

Counting the original soundtrack album, which had held the number one spot on the Billboard album sales chart for nine consecutive weeks with 6.43 million copies sold, the film's North American merchandise profit—excluding labor, revenue sharing, and other costs—had already reached 120 million dollars!

After more than two months of screening and promotion, Titanic also welcomed its first revenue split. Twentieth Century Fox, whose capital flow was always tight, was far more enthusiastic and proactive than Duke, constantly pressing Titanic's North American distributor, Paramount Pictures.

Following the Oscar nominees luncheon, the North American Theater Alliance conducted two box office splits with Paramount Pictures, totaling a massive 400 million dollars. Because this early-stage split favored the distributor under their agreement, Paramount Pictures took in over 224 million dollars.

After deducting the ten-percent North American distribution fee of 40 million dollars, as well as the North American promotional expenses already invested by Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox, the remaining pool for the three major investors still amounted to a massive 160 million dollars.

Because the three parties had a clear agreement, and their respective accountants—along with Vito's professional agency—had monitored the promotion and distribution all along, the split amounts and proportions were clear at a glance. With his 50 million dollars accounting for a quarter of the investment, Duke reaped 40 million dollars.

Although this was pre-tax profit, the early North American box office split alone allowed him to recoup more than half of his investment.

As for the North American merchandise profit, it sat in the accounts of the studio specially established for the film. The three parties conducted their first split there as well, with Duke taking his quarter of the 120 million dollars—30 million dollars.

Two and a half months after Titanic's release, the investors finally used actual data to deliver the most powerful counterattack. The ship mocked by some as a "ship destined to sink" had already brought profits to its three major backers!

Moreover, this 70 million dollars in pre-tax income was only a fraction of the overall profit. Nowadays, the overseas revenue of Hollywood blockbusters had already surpassed their North American returns. Once the film's overseas profits were settled, the numbers would shock many people.

A film like Titanic didn't just earn income from the box office. Its merchandise sales were somewhat weaker compared to Jurassic Park, but they still could not be ignored.

However, Duke knew very well that he would have to wait patiently to collect his share of the overseas revenue.

For more than a month after Christmas, Duke spent his workdays focused on post-production for The Matrix. On weekends, he flew to New Zealand to coordinate prep work for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Even with his strong willpower, abundant energy, and solid physique, he gradually grew fatigued, feeling as though he were being split in two.

"I finally understand why even Spielberg, Hollywood's fastest shooter, has only managed to produce two films in the same year once, and he spent ten years prepping Schindler's List just for that."

Sitting at a table in the editing room's lounge area, Duke chatted with Tina Fey. With post-production down to just special effects, assistant directors Zack Snyder and Anna Printz had already left for New Zealand to join the prep work for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Only Duke, Mike Dawson, and Dawson's assistant remained in Duke Studio's editing room.

"You should take a vacation," Tina Fey reminded him, pouring a strong cup of coffee and handing it over. "You haven't taken a real break since Christmas."

"Are you tired too?" Duke asked.

Since he wasn't resting, Tina Fey naturally couldn't rest either as his personal assistant.

Tina Fey didn't deny it. "If this were a few years ago when I first started, I'd definitely be hiding in my room crying right now."

"Once I finish this commercial for the film, I can rest for a bit," Duke said, feeling the physical exhaustion himself.

With the expansion of Duke Studio, there were more and more administrative matters to handle. After Christmas, he had brought over an executive from his mother's side at a high salary. The man had previously worked in Hollywood and could manage the studio's administrative affairs with relative ease, though final decisions still had to be filtered through Tina Fey for Duke to make the call.

Furthermore, Warner Brothers had also sent in executives. This was an inevitable outcome of the share exchange, and given their rich experience, they could provide significant help as long as the necessary supervision was in place.

He was currently in a honeymoon phase with Warner Brothers. Their interests were closely intertwined, and while conflicts did arise, they were kept strictly contained.

After an entire afternoon of work, Duke, Mike Dawson, and Industrial Light and Magic's special effects team finished adding the final effects to the commercial. The thirty-second ad, slated to air during the Super Bowl halftime, was officially complete.

"Tina..."

As they drove away from the studio, Duke asked his assistant in the passenger seat, "I'll be taking a few days off next week. Do you want to vacation by yourself, or come watch the Super Bowl with me?"

Tina Fey thought about it. "I'll just go watch the Super Bowl with you. If any emergencies come up, I don't want to have to rush back from my vacation spot."

The Matrix was confirmed for release at the start of the summer season. Naturally, Duke Studio and Warner Brothers wouldn't miss the promotional battleground of the Super Bowl halftime. Ever since Duke put The Rock in a Super Bowl ad and achieved massive box office success, more films had focused on the event. Super Bowl commercials were gradually becoming a traditional promotional avenue for Hollywood blockbusters.

Orchestrated by Warner, the promotional campaign for The Matrix was already systematically rolling out. As always, a summer commercial blockbuster wouldn't rely solely on one promotional method. Busy juggling two films, Duke had offered little input on the marketing aside from doing interviews or attending Warner's promotional events.

There was only one exception. The film frequently mentioned computer networks, and in 1998, the internet in North America was already highly developed. How could he ignore a promotional arena that held such massive influence over teenagers?

The film consistently ran ads on high-traffic websites like Yahoo, and per Duke's suggestion, they had hired paid online shills to post on various film and television forums. This was already attracting the attention of the online community.

In particular, Duke had Penny Kalis hire someone to build a personal website. Once finished, its link was directly pinned across many film forums. Right now, its main content was purely promoting The Matrix.

...

In the dim light, Allen sat in front of his computer. He exited the Explosion Maniac Chat Room and, out of habit, clicked a link in the forum section. A strange website subsequently loaded.

The website was dominated by gloomy, dark tones, with streaks of green cascading downward. Allen knew enough about computers to recognize it as something resembling programming code. However, the site was very simple overall. Aside from a prominent message board, the most conspicuous element was a man wearing black sunglasses and a black trench coat. To a veteran movie fan like him, the figure was incredibly familiar—the famous explosion maniac and Duke of Destruction, Duke Rosenberg.

The young director in the image sported a look Allen had never seen before, yet it was exceptionally—cool!

Absolutely badass!

The director clutched a supremely evil-looking Mechanical Squid in his right hand, while his left raised a handgun matching the color of his trench coat. What sprayed from the muzzle wasn't a bullet, but a very strange message—"Is this world real? Do you think what you see, smell, and hear is all real? This is what the real world looks like!"

This was clearly a link. Allen clicked it open, and numerous images appeared. Some showed machines farming, only what was growing in the fields wasn't crops...

Then there was the most prominent one right in the center—"Stop being lost. The Matrix is deceiving you. Follow Duke to find the truth of this world; you are the one and only Savior!"

Moving his mouse, Allen clicked on this link as well. The resulting images were shocking: skies heavy with dark clouds, Manhattan reduced to blackened ruins, and humans slumbering one by one inside unknown capsules...

What kind of world was this?

Even though he had looked at it many times, Allen was still extremely curious. What was this Matrix? The only Savior?

Of course, complete idiots who couldn't use their brains were in the minority. Allen quickly realized this was related to Duke's new film. Looking at the cool aesthetics, the quiet slice-of-life scenes, and the apocalyptic environments, boundless anticipation swelled within him.