Chapter 359: Crooked Tree

"It's actually Pearl Harbor!"

On an ocean-facing terrace at Duke Manor, Duke sipped his afternoon tea and told Nancy Josephson, who was holding a cup of coffee, "So even you have your clients poached sometimes."

"Michael Ovitz might not be at CAA anymore, but his influence is still astonishing." Nancy Josephson seemed entirely unfazed. "Don't forget, that's the female lead of an A-list blockbuster. Even I would have made the same choice in her shoes."

"You agreed to terminate her contract?"

Actors jumping ship was normal, but fired agents often retaliated with petty tricks of their own. The most classic example in Duke's memory was Tom Cruise and Pat Kingsley.

"She's just a third-rate little actress."

She set down her coffee cup. Sitting on the other side, Tina Fey proactively refilled it. Nancy thanked her, then turned back to Duke.

"Originally, I thought she was quite pretty and had some potential. I figured I could mold her into a second-tier eye candy star in the future, but..."

She shook her head. "Her performance in Daylight was far too clumsy. I realized investing massive resources to promote her wouldn't be worth the future returns at all."

Nancy suddenly laughed. "Even though your own acting skills are terrible, I trust your eye for actors. Since you didn't think her future was worth investing in, I'm confident her achievements will be extremely limited as well."

"Hey, darling." Duke lightly flicked his white porcelain teacup, producing a crisp chime, and asked, "Are you praising me or insulting me?"

"Take it however you like." Nancy opened the sugar bowl and dropped two cubes into her coffee. "Like CAA, ICM has its own evaluation metrics. Our assessment of Kate Beckinsale was only a C."

Thinking about Kate Beckinsale's future, aside from starring in Van Helsing after Pearl Harbor—which barely squeezed her into the Second-Tier Star ranks—she would struggle to be classified as a Second-Tier Star for most of her career.

If he remembered correctly, she never took on another major role in an A-list production after that. Her most famous films turned out to be low-budget B-movies, with North American box office revenues hovering around $50 million...

An agent might fly into a rage over being fired by a massive star like Tom Cruise, but few would care about a minor figure like her.

For a minor actress like her, teaming up with Paramount Pictures to retaliate the way Pat Kingsley had against Tom Cruise simply wasn't worth it.

Of course, Nancy Josephson was not exactly a magnanimous person either. She added milk to her coffee, stirring as she spoke.

"Touchstone Pictures has already reached a packaging agreement with Michael Ovitz..."

"Robert Iger is working with him?" Duke frowned.

Although he no longer worked with Walt Disney, he had kept in touch with Robert Iger.

"You've been in Australia too long. Your information is out of date."

Lifting her coffee cup, Nancy spoke before taking a sip. "Because of his conflict with Michael Eisner, Robert Iger lost his position as CEO of Touchstone Pictures. The current head is one of Eisner's cronies."

Duke pondered for a moment. "Does that mean Michael Eisner and Michael Ovitz are working together again?"

Things had gotten incredibly ugly between the two of them at Disney. They were like oil and water, a feud that directly led to Michael Ovitz suffering the greatest defeat of his life.

"Ovitz is no longer a Disney executive, so his conflict with Eisner has come to an end." Nancy only offered a brief explanation, knowing Duke would quickly figure it out. "Duke, don't forget that Ovitz was the one who brought the All-in-One Packaging Service to Hollywood, achieving constant success with it. Even though Godzilla was crushed by your The Matrix, it still generated a sufficient profit."

"Michael Ovitz's ability in this area is worthy of any film studio's trust," she added.

Duke nodded. In the face of expected profits, personal conflicts were nothing more than trivial issues.

"Who's the director?" Duke asked.

"Michael Bay." Nancy Josephson set down her cup. "I have it on good authority that Ovitz has reached an agreement with Michael Bay. That Little Explosion Maniac is about to jump ship from William Morris to join his banner."

It seemed everything was aligning with his memories.

Just as Duke was thinking this, Nancy offered a word of warning. "There's one thing you must pay attention to. The production budget for Pearl Harbor is up to $140 million, and it's highly likely to be released during next year's Memorial Day release window!"

"Oh?" Duke arched an eyebrow.

For a film depicting the attack on Pearl Harbor, the most suitable release window was undoubtedly the weekend before Memorial Day. Disney and Michael Ovitz were simply making the most natural choice.

But the reason Nancy specifically brought this up was that Duke planned to release The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring during that exact same window!

The weekends of the Summer Season were divided into different tiers of value. The very best release windows were the first two weekends of May, Memorial Day, and the Independence Day holiday.

After a brief moment of thought, Duke looked at Tina Fey. "Communicate with Warner Brothers regarding this."

Tina Fey nodded, then asked, "What about our..."

"We're keeping our release window if at all possible!" Duke declared.

He had never feared competition, let alone when the opponent was Pearl Harbor. Even if someone had to change their schedule, the film stepping aside should be Pearl Harbor.

"Michael Ovitz is incredibly ambitious. He's dead set on forging a brand-new talent agency empire."

Nancy glanced at Duke and deliberately brought up a certain name. "After Martin Bob left CAA, he joined him. The history of CAA's rise proves that while Martin Bob might not be a qualified decision-maker, he is an outstanding supporting player."

Hearing this name he had practically relegated to the back of his mind, Duke raised his teacup and took a slow sip. "Will ICM, William Morris, and CAA just sit back and watch a new company muscle in to share the cake?"

"Of course not," Nancy Josephson said matter-of-factly. "So, ICM and CAA joined forces to sabotage Ovitz's collaboration with Paramount Pictures."

Duke shot her an inquiring look.

"Michael Ovitz wanted to package Paramount Pictures' latest Star Trek installment," Nancy said directly, "but Eno Martin and I snatched the project right out of his hands."

Nancy sighed. "However, Ovitz's influence truly can't be underestimated. After losing Star Trek, he used a new street-racing project to persuade Universal Pictures. It'll be entering official pre-production very soon."

Racing? Universal Pictures? Duke racked his brain, trying to recall films associated with those two keywords. After a long while, it finally clicked.

"Do you know the name of the project?" he asked.

Nancy shook her head. "Universal Pictures has temporarily given the project the codename "Speed". Oh, right, James Cameron also stuck his foot in there."

"Doesn't he dislike Michael Ovitz?" Duke asked in surprise.

"Cameron won't be involved in any of the actual work for this film." Realizing her previous words were ambiguous, Nancy quickly clarified, "He only recommended an actress to the crew—apparently the female lead from a television series he's producing."

Although Anna Printz was temporarily in charge over in New Zealand, it was impossible for Duke to stay in Los Angeles for too long. Over the next two days, he began meeting frequently with the top executives at Warner Brothers. He spoke with Jeff Robinov twice, primarily discussing the sequels to The Matrix, the promotional campaign for the first installment of The Lord of the Rings, and the filming locations for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The Harry Potter Series was settled first. With Joanne Rowling actively making concessions and Duke mediating between them, Warner Brothers hesitated for a few days before finally agreeing to film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone entirely in Britain.

Duke's enthusiasm was, of course, due to the extra percentage point that Rowling had yielded.

Hollywood was, at the end of the day, a commercial circle driven by profit. Even though Duke deeply admired Joanne Rowling for sacrificing her personal interests just to keep the project in her home country, he wasn't going to let that sentiment dictate his business decisions.

Then came the two sequels to The Matrix. Zack Snyder certainly wouldn't receive the same level of directorial authority that Duke enjoyed, but thanks to Duke's backing, his say in the project far exceeded that of ordinary newcomer directors.

Lastly, there was the release date for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

"Duke's position is perfectly clear."

Sitting among several Warner Brothers executives, Tina Fey radiated a sharp, capable aura.

"Unless it is absolutely a last resort, the release window for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring cannot be changed..."

"I also agree with Duke's viewpoint."

Doug Walter planted his flag firmly on Duke's side.

"There is absolutely no need for us to fear competition from Pearl Harbor!"

Nancy Josephson spoke up slowly. "The director for Pearl Harbor is confirmed to be Michael Bay. If Duke takes the initiative to back down, it will damage his reputation."

Although the release date for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring hadn't been publicly announced, it wouldn't be strange if that information leaked out later.

After that sentence, the Warner Brothers executives fell into a temporary silence. They could ignore Nancy's opinion, but they couldn't disregard Duke's feelings. Duke, as a director, was already inextricably tied to Warner Brothers.

The Explosion Maniac being afraid of the Little Explosion Maniac—if that news spread, never mind Duke himself, even the Warner Brothers executives would lose face.

More importantly, Duke was Warner's guarantee of profit. Did they really need to worry about competition from an imitator?

"We're not changing!" Jeff Robinov finally spoke. "Leak the release date for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Let's see how Disney and Michael Ovitz react."

Doug Walter and the others broke into knowing smiles. They weren't the ones who should be afraid of competition!