Chapter 322: The Torment Ends

After returning to Wellington, Duke first sat down with Charles Roven and Zack Snyder to review the recent preparatory work for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. A full week passed before he finally shifted his focus to the post-production of Daylight.

Duke's dedicated film editor, Mike Dawson, had also arrived in Wellington, and the two resumed their collaboration on the film's post-production.

The film required very few post-production visual effects. The primary tasks were the score, dubbing, and editing. It was especially crucial to weave the two main storylines and the single subplot together cohesively, ensuring the scene transitions felt natural and fluid.

Because it was a grounded, realistic film, sharp, aggressive cuts had to be used sparingly. Just like during the shoot, long takes featured prominently.

According to Duke's plan, the plot would advance along three narrative threads: the two ruthless robbers; Officer Michael, played by Liam Neeson, and his daughter; and Catherine, played by Kate Beckinsale, and her daughter. Furthermore, the early plot differed drastically from the actual real-life case, making it a classic Hollywood-style adaptation.

In reality, the two heavily armed robbers had been committing heists since the early 1990s, primarily targeting armored cars. After gunning down several guards during one robbery, they vanished without a trace, only to resurface much later.

For the film, Duke shifted the timeline of this event closer to when the North Hollywood robbery occurred. Catherine's husband was an armored car guard, and Officer Michael was one of the policemen assigned to the case. The three factions crossed paths for the first time at the beginning of the movie. From there, the emotional collisions of their respective families and personal lives would drive the three threads forward until they finally converged, drawing everyone to the Bank of America branch on Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

Why structure it this way?

The reason was simple: Duke was using this project as practice for handling the multi-thread narrative of The Lord of the Rings. Going from an initial intersection to a separation, and then building to a final convergence perfectly mirrored the narrative structure of the fantasy epic.

How much of the film adhered to the facts, and how much was fictionalized? None of that actually mattered. What mattered was that Duke was using it to hone his craft.

Perhaps true super-geniuses existed in this world, but an omnipotent one did not. Duke knew he possessed some talent for cinema, but he wasn't arrogant enough to believe that a film of any genre or narrative structure would automatically succeed just because it was in his hands.

Even though Duke's current film was clearly experimental in nature, Warner Brothers, as the primary investor, would not pass up the chance to push it to the broader market. Duke's past successes had given them far too much confidence.

Once Duke confirmed that all post-production work would be finished by the end of February, the head of distribution for Warner Brothers, Doug Walter, traveled to Wellington specifically to discuss the promotional and release strategies with him.

"Duke, we've been discussing your new project a lot lately."

Inside the office at the Wellington Studio, Doug Walter looked at the poster on the wall featuring two humanoid monsters wielding AK-47s and said, "Overall, we've come up with two marketing strategies."

"Let's hear the specifics," Duke said.

Duke had never been the kind of director to make movies solely to indulge himself. Even in a film with experimental undertones, he had still incorporated plenty of elements suited for the mainstream market—such as overtly emotional family dynamics and an explosive, realistic gunfight at the end.

However, realistic gunfights had received mediocre reactions in recent years, and Duke couldn't say for sure whether audiences would buy it.

"One is the standard theatrical release route."

Doug Walter didn't hesitate. "Given the genre and the budget, the film's initial theater count won't be very high. We might have to go through a limited release in about a hundred theaters before expanding. But all of that will depend on the final cut, as well as our marketing."

He paused briefly, and seeing that Duke offered no reaction, Doug Walter continued. "The other option is the festival circuit. Warner Brothers can secure the film a spot in the competition section at the Cannes Film Festival. At worst, we'd get an exhibition slot, and then..."

"Doug..." Duke raised a hand to cut him off. "Attending film festivals takes up far too much time. I can't afford to leave New Zealand for an extended period."

"I understand."

This had just been a suggestion from Warner Brothers. Since Doug Walter interacted with Duke frequently, he knew what choice the director was likely to make and was fully prepared for it.

"I'll contact the theater chains," Doug Walter said. "As soon as the film is finished, we'll hold a test screening."

Warner Brothers naturally handled promotional and distribution affairs. After Doug Walter left New Zealand, Duke threw himself back into the film's post-production.

Since first stepping into Hollywood, Duke had completed a total of six films. He had accumulated a vast amount of experience and was long past being the rookie who directed his first two movies. Although editing a three-thread narrative was more complex than his past work, it wasn't as difficult as he had anticipated.

He was no longer a novice director, after all.

News soon came back from Warner Brothers. The film's release date was set for March, a traditionally slow season. While Warner Brothers had confidence in Duke, they weren't entirely blind to the risks. They clearly understood the disadvantages of the film's genre and budget, and they proactively avoided clashing with the major blockbusters of the peak seasons by choosing a release window that commercial tentpoles wouldn't look twice at.

While busy with the post-production of Daylight and the preparations for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Duke used his meager downtime to have the head of his investment team travel to Wellington to discuss future investments.

Calling it a discussion was a stretch; it was more like Duke issuing strict directives.

It was now late January of 1999. Duke only remembered that the infamous dot-com crash happened around the turn of the century, but he had no idea of the exact year or month. In his vague memories, it seemed to be connected to the Microsoft antitrust case.

Just recently, in the January news, he had seen that the federal court was conducting an antitrust investigation into Microsoft. He figured the stock market crash couldn't be too far off.

What about waiting to sell his stocks for a profit just months before the crash?

Even if Duke wasn't a financial expert, he knew that was an impossible fantasy. Putting aside the unpredictability of the stock market, no one could say for sure whether dumping the massive amount of shares he had accumulated over the years would trigger a chain reaction.

A long-term, incremental, and planned sell-off was the relatively secure choice.

Setting Apple and Microsoft aside, just the Yahoo stock he had been buying since 1996 had surged over the years to a massive valuation of over a hundred million dollars.

Duke planned to hold onto his Apple shares long-term; his original purchase had been intended for wealth preservation and appreciation anyway. The ones that urgently needed to be liquidated were Yahoo, Microsoft, and several other tech stocks he had bought on David's recommendation.

Per Duke's demands, the investment team led by David had to liquidate all of those stocks before the dawn of the new millennium.

"Based on the market trends, as long as there isn't a crash, Duke, you're going to see massive returns."

Inside the office, with only Tina Fey acting as an attendant alongside Duke and David, David spoke directly. "But holding onto cash is the most unwise way to manage wealth. I suggest we look for other suitable investment targets."

Suitable investment targets?

Google? The problem was that Google had no plans for another round of financing in the short term, and the two founders would definitely limit the amount of equity he could acquire. That much was inevitable.

Who else was there? He vaguely remembered something called Facebook, but that wouldn't be around for a long time, right?

Hoarding large amounts of cash was definitely foolish; the US dollar was depreciating rapidly. What about increasing his stakes in Warner Brothers and Victoria's Secret?

He was already the largest individual shareholder in both companies. As long as their management teams weren't idiots, they would absolutely restrict him from investing further unless he paid a steep enough price.

Then there was the upfront salary and back-end points he had received from The Matrix last year. Although tax season was fast approaching, even after ordering a private jet and matching Warner Brothers' investment one-to-one for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, he still had tens of millions of dollars sitting in his account.

By now, Duke had realized something else. Compared to those young billionaires who spent money like water, his ability to blow through cash was lacking.

Dispelling those thoughts, Duke gave David a few more instructions and concluded the meeting. David didn't stay much longer before heading back to North America. After all, he had to draw up a comprehensive plan to turn Duke's rather amateurish demands into actionable steps.

In early February, the production team began another wide-scale casting call, searching for suitable actors to fill important roles that didn't require action scenes. Just by taking one look at Cate Blanchett's costume and makeup tests, Duke confirmed that she remained the prime candidate for Queen Galadriel.

Christopher Lee also arrived in Wellington. With the actor willing to accept a moderate pay cut, the two sides quickly reached an agreement. He would play the leader of the Holy White Council, the white wizard Saruman.

Furthermore, Duke granted a long vacation to the members of The Fellowship of the Ring and their stunt doubles, who had been continuously training. Some of them had other acting contracts to fulfill, and the production team had no choice but to grant them leave.

For instance, Gandalf—Sir Ian McKellen.

"I'm leaving this afternoon, so I came over specifically to say goodbye."

The veteran actor was highly courteous, having gone out of his way to visit the editing room on the studio lot to bid Duke farewell. "If you need anything, just have someone call me directly. I'll have my agent coordinate the schedules for my two roles."

"Two roles?" Duke asked, feeling as though he had overlooked something.

"You've been busy. It seems you've forgotten."

Glancing at the several editing assistants still busily working behind Duke, Ian McKellen lowered his voice slightly. "Besides Gandalf, I've also taken on the role of Magneto in X-Men."

'X-Men? Magneto?'

After Ian McKellen said his goodbyes and left, Duke immediately gathered his thoughts. 'My eye for investments really is garbage!' he lamented to himself.

'When investing in the IT sector, I only thought about the ones I had some memory of—Microsoft, Apple, and Google. When investing in the film industry, my eyes were completely fixed on the closely collaborative Warner Brothers...'

He had never cast his sights further ahead, far enough to see the era when superheroes would sweep across the silver screen.