Chapter 396: Premiere Amid Protests

The British and American media shared two ugly habits. The first was hyping up nobodies and packaging them into overnight sensations, and the second was relentlessly slinging mud at established stars until their reputations were entirely destroyed. Michael Jackson and Britney had both been direct victims of this second habit. Who would be the next unlucky soul?

While other outlets might still be hunting for a suitable target, the media under Time Warner chose Angelina Jolie without hesitation.

Duke did not need to offer a single word of input. The moment The Fellowship of the Ring clashed with Tomb Raider, Warner's publicity department wasted no time exposing Angelina Jolie's laundry list of vices.

Of course, Warner had nothing against Jolie personally. Just as Viacom's media outlets had contrived to hype up a "grandfather-grandson romance" between Ian McKellen and Billy Boyd, the real target was the film itself.

Stirring up public disgust through an actor's scandals to hurt a rival movie's box office was a standard publicity tactic in Hollywood.

The only difference between the two sides was that Angelina Jolie simply had far too many scandals.

Warner's gossip site TMZ took full advantage of the speed of online media and struck first, publishing a series of photos from Jolie's appearance at the 2000 Oscars. The pictures showed Jolie and her brother James Haven in that infamous sibling display, dragging her incestuous scandal—in which she openly admitted her brother was the love of her life—back into the spotlight.

Right on its heels, a gossip magazine under Warner dropped photos of a young Jolie using drugs, complete with the source of the pictures and a firsthand account from the person who sold them: "Once, Jolie asked me to deliver drugs to her home; when she opened the door, her face was pale and her arms were covered in needle marks. I asked to take photos, and she didn't really care."

Not only that, according to the seller, Angelina Jolie had also talked to him about Billy Bob's "size." She said the man claimed to be as small as a mosquito, only for her to discover after they actually slept together that he was as big as a horse! And she had married Billy Bob back in 2000...

In addition, the website exposed photos of Jolie wearing nothing but a thong and a cowboy hat in S&M poses, along with pictures of her wearing a dog collar around her neck and being whipped.

If all of that was minor in comparison, the story broken by one tabloid was truly jaw-dropping.

"As a teenager, Angelina Jolie had an affair with her mother Marcheline's boyfriend. Marcheline had just had a huge fight with her boyfriend at the time, and Jolie actually saw it as the perfect opportunity to seduce him. Afterward, Jolie wept and begged her mother for forgiveness, and Marcheline ultimately chose to forgive her daughter..."

The moment this report came out, it sparked an uproar and swayed many people's choice of movie.

Although Jolie and Paramount Pictures scrambled to run crisis PR while leaking stories about alleged casting couch scandals and abuse of animal actors on the set of The Fellowship of the Ring to deflect attention, there was no denying the truth: most Hollywood stars were indeed bastards in their youth, but very few came close to Jolie.

Angelina Jolie simply had far too many scandals of her own. Warner merely lit the fuse; seeing money to be made, other media outlets piled on one after another until that fuse set off an earth-shattering explosion.

No one could deny that this country leaned conservative at heart, and most of the public held themselves and others to a double standard. Jolie's antics were bound to disgust a segment of the audience and affect what they chose to watch at the theater.

Moreover, Tomb Raider was more of a fan movie, and word of mouth among general audiences was poor.

"Tomb Raider is just as tiresome as most video game adaptations."

"This movie is as boring as watching someone else play a computer game!"

The internet was flooded with negative reviews of the film. Ever since the video game movie genre was born, not a single one had won widespread public acclaim.

All of this took a toll on Tomb Raider's box office trajectory. After a stunning $18.06 million opening on Friday, its Saturday and Sunday numbers played out a textbook front-loaded drop, pulling in $17.13 million and $12.53 million to mark its rapid slide under the weight of scandal.

By contrast, The Fellowship of the Ring held steady. After taking in $20.97 million on Friday, it brought in $21.08 million on Saturday and $17.89 million on Sunday, continuing its healthy, steady march across the North American market.

Once the first weekend of June wrapped up, The Fellowship of the Ring retained its crown atop the box office charts just as everyone had expected, racking up a three-day second-weekend total of $59.94 million!

Bogged down by the fallout, Tomb Raider still managed to pull in over $47.2 million, but it had to settle for a distant second place on the charts.

Shrek came in third with $28.17 million, while Pearl Harbor and The Mummy Returns ranked fourth and fifth with $5.46 million and $3.88 million respectively.

The combined box office of the top five films this weekend topped $144 million. Counting the other movies playing at the same time, the overall weekend box office in North America broke the $150 million barrier for the first time in history!

"This is a moment worth remembering, as the film market in North America turns a new page. Yet we should not overlook the fact that ever since the name Duke Rosenberg echoed across Hollywood, he has continually reshaped the North American film market and shattered a string of records. In just ten days, The Fellowship of the Ring has reached $210.93 million at the North American box office! That also makes it the fastest film in the history of the North American market to cross the $200 million mark!"

Setting down the newspaper, Ivanka Trump looked at Duke. "Is your promotional tour in North America over?"

"To be precise, my tour is over." Duke picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and gazed at the dusky yellow sunlight outside the window. "The cast and crew will split into two groups. Ian McKellen and part of the cast are heading to Europe, since the film opens there next weekend. Viggo Mortensen and the others will continue the promotional tour across North America before heading to Australia and Asia, where the release dates are a bit later."

"What about you?" Ivanka asked with concern, cradling her glass of water. "How many more days will you be staying in New York?"

"Not too long."

Drawing his gaze back from the window, Duke looked at Ivanka again. "Post-production on The Two Towers has already started. Anna is keeping an eye on it right now, so I can't stay away for long. Besides, Zack has gone solo, and I'm looking for a suitable assistant director. There's a promising candidate I need to go back and meet."

"You always keep yourself so busy," Ivanka said, a note of complaint in her voice. "Just like Aunt Leah, working nonstop for your career all day long."

"Filmmaking is my job, and it's also my greatest passion."

Duke propped his chin on one hand. Around Ivanka, he didn't need to stand on ceremony; much like when he was with Sofia Coppola or Aerin Lauder, he could relax completely in front of her. "I spent my first twenty years studying and preparing for a directing career, and the ten years since working toward success."

"Don't move!"

Ivanka warned him, leaning slowly forward. She reached out, extending two slender fingers to lift a lock of hair on Duke's forehead, singled out a specific strand, and gave it a sharp yank.

A faint sting pricked his scalp. Duke blinked, and when his eyes focused again, Ivanka was holding two fingers right in front of his face, pinching a strand of hair that was half brown and half silver-white.

A flash of heartache crossed her eyes. Ivanka dropped the hair into Duke's hand, her tone growing firmer. "If you keep staying this busy, you'll end up aging prematurely!"

"Aging prematurely?"

Repeating the phrase, Duke tossed the white hair aside and pointed to his chest. "Actually, it's already grown pretty old in here."

With an older mental age, certain things became much clearer. And once his eyes saw through enough of the world, aside from a select few people, there was very little left that he truly cared about.

Duke's mind wandered slightly as it suddenly dawned on him that he had passed thirty once again!

"You really have gotten old," Ivanka muttered quickly. "It's just that you're getting older, but your heart hasn't aged a bit!"

Duke knew full well what she meant by that. He shook his head and let her remark pass without an answer.

"I mean it, you really are getting old."

Lifting a long finger, Ivanka pointed from across the table at Duke's forehead and the corners of his eyes. "The lines around your eyes and the wrinkles on your forehead are starting to show."

"Darling, isn't that completely normal?" Duke didn't mind much. "I'm already thirty-one."

Even though he paid close attention to his diet and worked out regularly, he was still just an ordinary man with a slightly stronger build than most—how could he possibly escape the laws of nature? There was no such thing in this world as an ageless man or an eternally youthful woman. If you ever actually saw one, there were only two possibilities.

Either they were a makeup fanatic, or they were an injection fiend.

Ivanka refused to let him off the hook, adding, "If you're not careful, you'll end up looking like my dad before long."

"Looking a bit more mature isn't bad." Duke turned his eyes back toward the window as the afterglow of the setting sun washed over his face in warm gold. "Don't people always say mature men are more attractive?"

"Wrong!" Ivanka countered. "It's men who are both mature and successful who are truly attractive."

"Like Donald?" Duke joked casually.

Ivanka shrugged without denying it.

The two sat quietly, both turning their heads to look out the window. The sun sank lower and lower until it slipped slowly below the horizon, its golden light shifting into the orange-red glow of sunset clouds.

If the cafe weren't perched high up in the Trump Building, they never would have been able to enjoy the sunset view amid the steel jungle of New York.

After nearly ten minutes of silence, Ivanka suddenly spoke up. "Do you have time? Come out for a walk with me."