Chapter 378: Toy Adaptation Rights

Even though the trailer was only thirty seconds long, Michael Ovitz abandoned his unrealistic fantasies.

His fantasy was simple: if The Fellowship of the Ring turned out less impressive than expected, Pearl Harbor could simply return to its original release window. After all, there was no better time to release a World War II epic than Memorial Day.

At the same time, he still harbored hopes of avenging his defeat over Godzilla.

But reality rarely bent to personal will. Duke Rosenberg clearly hadn't made any mistakes—at least, not in the trailer.

He had read The Lord of the Rings too. While the world-building and cultural descriptions were undeniably brilliant, they operated mostly on a macro scale. To a certain extent, the famous battles in the original books were glossed over in just a few lines.

If a film adaptation strictly followed the books' structure and skimmed past the war scenes, it wouldn't necessarily fail, but its chances of becoming a massive blockbuster would plummet.

In truth, he had been hoping Duke Rosenberg was a hardcore fan who would adapt them as faithfully as possible, focusing on character relationships and cultures while neglecting the war scenes...

But Duke Rosenberg was, after all, Duke Rosenberg.

Michael Ovitz shook his head. The Fellowship of the Ring's short thirty-second trailer had unexpectedly unleashed a massive fantasy war spectacle, effortlessly shattering his delusions.

Then again, how could a director who had scored successive hits in the Summer Season not know what audiences wanted to see?

Shaking off these wandering thoughts, Michael Ovitz placed a call to Touchstone Pictures. He specifically stressed that Pearl Harbor must not change its release schedule again. With a weekend separating the two films, there would be enough of a buffer to soften the fierce competition.

He hated to admit it, but this time he simply lacked the courage to face Duke Rosenberg head-on.

Wait a few more years? He was bound to find the right opportunity. Rumor had it that Steven Spielberg was still brooding over the failure of Deep Impact and was constantly searching for a powerful new subject...

The halftime commercials on Super Bowl Sunday triggered massive reactions, just as they did every year. The internet proved to be the fastest medium; by the time the third quarter of the game began, countless users were already buzzing across various websites and forums.

Norman Hiller switched off his television and sat down at his computer. Unlike before, however, he didn't log into the Explosion Maniac Chat Room; he went straight to Duke's personal website.

Ever since The Matrix, this personal website—where visitors could leave messages and share their thoughts—had become the central hub for Duke's fans.

Hiller navigated straight to the message boards. The place was already buzzing with activity, and the sole topic of discussion was The Fellowship of the Ring and its newly released first trailer.

"I never doubted Duke would create a fantasy classic, but I didn't expect a mere thirty-second trailer to be this stunning! Yes, stunning! That was a fantasy war scene I wouldn't have even dared to imagine!"

A massive wave of replies followed right beneath his comment.

"It was just a trailer, but I couldn't tear my eyes away!"

"I swear, on my family's honor, I didn't blink once for the entire thirty seconds!"

"Blink? You've got to be kidding me. Missing even a tenth of a second of that footage would be a tragedy."

"I'm definitely watching this the moment it hits theaters!"

"Does anyone know when tickets go on presale? I can't wait..."

Reading through the comments, Norman Hiller rested his hands on his keyboard. Logging in with his Duke of Destruction account, he typed out a reply of his own.

"I'm not a fan of the Lord of the Rings books, but thirty seconds later, I decided to become one. Not because the original novels are so great, but because the trailer for The Fellowship of the Ring drove me absolutely crazy! I've decided to temporarily put aside my complaints against Duke over The Matrix and go enjoy a trip to Middle-earth this summer!"

Ordinary moviegoers weren't the only ones enjoying this magical journey; many actors were too.

"Why can't I be in a massive production like this?"

In an apartment on the outskirts of Beverly Hills, Jessica Alba had just changed the channel.

"I can only become a massive star if I work with top-tier directors and act in top-tier productions..." she complained to Christophe Rocancourt, who sat beside her.

Thinking of the breathtakingly epic trailer, and then of Fast & Furious, which had also aired an ad, Jessica Alba felt there was absolutely no comparison. The former was a master-class dish from a three-star Michelin restaurant; the latter was a bucket of cheap popcorn.

Despite being the female lead of Fast & Furious, Jessica Alba didn't like the film at all. The director was a nobody, her co-stars were nobodies, and the budget wasn't even worth mentioning. Trying to become extremely popular through a project like that was simply too difficult.

If she wanted to hit the big time, she needed to work with a great director like Duke Rosenberg.

"Don't worry, darling. You'll get your chance soon enough."

As a professional smooth-talker, Christophe Rocancourt seized upon Jessica Alba's complaints and perfectly dropped a new piece of bait.

"When we met last time, I spoke with Duke," he said. "He's incredibly interested in the French Revolution and wants to shoot a film about it."

His words carried absolute confidence and sincerity.

"Jessie, you know I'm French," he said. "I have connections in France that can help Duke realize his vision. I'm planning to find him a suitable epic subject based on French history so we can launch a collaboration."

"Is that true?" Jessica Alba asked, her tone carrying irrepressible excitement.

Christophe Rocancourt gave her a deeply solemn nod.

"If the partnership goes through, I will absolutely recommend you for the lead role!"

Jessica Alba looked thrilled at first, but then she pouted with a touch of grievance.

"It won't end up like Fast & Furious again, will it?" she asked.

"Of course not," Christophe Rocancourt said patiently. "It's exactly because of this potential collaboration with Duke that I pulled my investment out of Fast & Furious. This new project will require a truly massive amount of funding."

Seeing that Jessica Alba wanted to ask more questions, Christophe Rocancourt quickly cut her off.

"Don't ask me for a timeline or specific figures, darling," he said. "Duke and I have an agreement. Everything must remain strictly confidential until the partnership is officially announced."

"Mm-hmm!" Jessica Alba nodded cheerfully. "I'll keep it a secret."

As she sat there dreaming of her future path to superstardom, the man beside her was busy dreaming of his own future.

Certain tricks could be pulled off once or twice, but never too often. Ever since he had arrived in Hollywood in 1991, going from a penniless nobody to a millionaire, he had always been on the hunt for the perfect marks: people with deep pockets, grand dreams, and burning desires.

Dreams and desires blinded people, and that was exactly where he found his opportunities.

Duke Rosenberg was undoubtedly such a mark. In recent years, his film investments had routinely soared into the tens of millions of dollars. If Rocancourt could run a successful con on him, he'd be set for life. He could retire right then and there.

It was an incredibly rare opportunity!

In Hollywood, any opportunity was hard to come by. Now that Duke held the adaptation rights to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and had poured massive funds into its production, he naturally wanted this rare flower of an opportunity to bear successful fruit.

Following Super Bowl Sunday, while burying himself in post-production for The Fellowship of the Ring, Duke actively cooperated with Warner Brothers' marketing campaigns. He made frequent media appearances to discuss The Lord of the Rings and even attended that year's Golden Globe Awards purely for promotional purposes, serving as a guest presenter for the Best Motion Picture – Drama award.

And with that, the promotional blitz for The Fellowship of the Ring officially kicked into high gear. Even with the Summer Season still months away, Warner Brothers deployed every marketing weapon in their arsenal—from the internet to radio, magazines to newspapers, and outdoor billboards to television trailers.

Yahoo, IMDB, and Duke's personal website formed the core of the online campaign. Duke's site, in particular, became the prime hub for exclusive drops about The Fellowship of the Ring. Behind-the-scenes photos and videos were released frequently, capturing the attention of countless internet users and even getting reposted by traditional entertainment outlets.

Meanwhile, Warner Brothers' TMZ Website played to its gossip strengths, frequently running stories about the romantic entanglements and drama between Elijah Wood and two gorgeous models on the New Zealand set...

News of Duke acting in one of his own films for the first time triggered another massive wave of fan interest.

The film's posters were another focal point of this intense carpet-bombing campaign.

As an ensemble film, it featured a massive cast of characters. Given the inherent cultural footprint of The Lord of the Rings, many of these characters were already famous in their own right, making their official posters and costume reveals incredibly valuable for building hype.

Warner Brothers rolled out massive, staggered drops of the character posters. By February, posters for Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn, Saruman, and the rest had already begun to dominate cinemas and outdoor advertising boards across the entire United States.

Among all of these, one specific poster dropped on Duke's personal website completely stole the show.

It was an image of an Uruk-hai leader wearing a little red flower in his hair, standing in front of Viggo Mortensen in his full King of Men costume and trying to play kissy-face with him.

This parody poster pushed past the limits of what most people were prepared for. Even those who didn't recognize the characters couldn't help but laugh out loud, which naturally drew their eyes to the film's title and release date printed at the bottom!

The many behind-the-scenes bloopers and outtakes Duke had ordered filmed back in New Zealand had become devastatingly effective marketing weapons.

However, when it came to a promotional event that could send ripples across the entire Western world, the real heavy hitter was an upcoming super show. According to the agreement reached between Time Warner and Victoria's Secret, the theme of the next Victoria's Secret Fashion Show would be Angel Elves!

And this massive promotional spectacle was going to be held in Britain, the birthplace of The Lord of the Rings.