Chapter 407: An Unusual Weekend

Why did the rich and famous like to hire former government agents as security consultants? The performance of Edward Newgate, the former senior FBI employee Duke had hired, was enough to answer that question.

Over the following week, more information on Christophe Rocancourt landed in Tina Fey's hands. After reading through it, Duke felt genuine admiration for the producer who claimed to be a French count. It wasn't hard to see why—the fact that the man had hustled his way to his current position in Hollywood was enough to prove his intelligence and capability.

Duke hadn't initially suspected Christophe Rocancourt because he saw through the man's true colors; it came down to his own personality.

He never minded viewing North America's highly commercialized, profit-driven society through the most cynical lens, and he always kept his guard up around strangers. At a crucial moment, Sofia Coppola's mention of Nicolas Cage had served as a reminder; the future King of Bad Movies' experiences had been widely known back in Duke's former country.

That was what led to everything that followed.

As always, now that it had happened, Duke's first thought was how to leverage the situation for his own benefit.

As for the truth about Christophe Rocancourt, it really did play out like a movie plot.

He certainly wasn't a French count or the descendant of European nobility. His origins were deeply impoverished: his mother was a prostitute and his father a drunk. Abandoned by his parents as a child, he was taken in by his grandmother, who turned out to be a drunkard as well. He ultimately ended up in an orphanage, growing up in relative isolation before heading to Paris as an adult to begin his career as a con artist.

Like most swindlers, Christophe Rocancourt found his early career far from smooth sailing; he had even been arrested by the French police. He was good at learning from his mistakes, however. Using forged real estate deeds and his rather good looks, he swindled over a million francs from a French woman, then made his way to Hollywood, a place renowned for having more money than sense...

Just as the earlier reports had stated, he arrived in Hollywood and moved into a top-tier hotel suite. Spending lavishly, he quickly leveraged the industry's French community to befriend a circle of stars and celebrities, setting foot on his current path to success.

The scam he used was actually quite simple—essentially a financial Ponzi scheme. Although the amounts he had swindled in the past weren't massive, his cash flow had begun to fracture, which was why he had cooked up this massive super-project.

Naturally, a super-project needed a super-director or a major star at the helm to be persuasive.

In Duke's view, it made perfect sense for Christophe Rocancourt to seek him out. Among Hollywood's current top directors, Duke was the youngest, had risen to fame the fastest, and had the least life experience. No matter how you looked at it, he seemed much easier to fool than those shrewd old foxes.

Meanwhile, Nancy continued to pass along updates. With the help of his girlfriend, Jessica Alba, and friends like Mickey Rourke and Jean-Claude Van Damme, Christophe Rocancourt was continuing to expand his investment pool. The number of people investing in his new project had already reached forty, with dozens more expressing interest.

In truth, it operated on the same logic as making it in Hollywood: the first step was always the hardest. Once more people were willing to invest in a project, pulling in further investments became relatively easy.

Moreover, Christophe Rocancourt had been mingling in this circle for years. The identity he had crafted for himself was spotlessly clean. Even if someone used conventional means to investigate him—just as Duke had initially done—they wouldn't uncover much of anything.

Just like a Hollywood star, Christophe Rocancourt had crafted an incredibly glamorous and captivating image for himself.

Although Duke wanted to use this incident to secure future benefits and had drawn up a comprehensive plan, he couldn't afford to focus solely on this issue. He was always keenly aware that directing was his main profession, and box office results were the foundation of his standing in Hollywood.

As time slipped into August, the daily box office for The Fellowship of the Ring had dropped to around 2 million dollars. The initial screening frenzy in major overseas markets had also passed. Although its North American and global box office totals were slowly creeping toward 450 million and 1.1 billion dollars respectively, they could only rely on an extended theatrical run to reach those figures.

Fortunately, the film wasn't some disposable popcorn flick. Word of mouth among audiences remained strong. The North American Theater Alliance had drawn up a long-term screening plan; as long as the per-theater average didn't drop below the theater chains' bottom line, The Fellowship of the Ring might screen in North America for half a year or even longer.

Just as the film's hype began to recede, Duke and Warner Brothers used various methods to harvest the last of its box office potential. At the same time, they leveraged the theatrical market to boost the sales of subsequently released merchandise.

In early August, the original soundtrack for The Fellowship of the Ring launched simultaneously in North America, Latin America, and Europe. Warner Brothers was already preparing a celebration party for the film, and ahead of that event, they specially hosted a grand launch party for the soundtrack album. Numerous cast and crew members, including Duke, attended the event.

With The Fellowship of the Ring surpassing 400 million dollars at the North American box office and 1 billion dollars globally, it marked the highest box office performance of Duke's film career. Naturally, he became the focal point for the media at the launch event.

Duke never rejected interviews that promoted his films.

As a reporter with whom he shared a tacit understanding, Sarah from the Los Angeles Times entertainment desk once again began singing the film's praises in her column the very next day.

"The Fellowship of the Ring touches upon the eternal themes of humanity. The film's structure is more precise than the original novel, the dialogue has a better rhythm, feels more polished, and holds deeper meaning, while the character portrayals are more vivid and powerful. With a rich, ingenious artistic text, director Duke Rosenberg hoists the spirit of freedom high between heaven and earth..."

Such hype was only a portion of the media blitz Warner Brothers had mobilized, all designed to coordinate with the release of the soundtrack album.

Not every film released an original soundtrack album. Much like the movie itself, the score for The Fellowship of the Ring was highly acclaimed. The soundtrack sold 520,000 copies in its first week in North America alone, with global first-week sales exceeding 17 million dollars. It could absolutely be called another major cash cow among the merchandise.

The musical score's momentum wasn't limited to the soundtrack album. The Lord of the Rings Studio was currently in negotiations with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, striving to kick off the Lord of the Rings Concert around the time the film left North American theaters. Moreover, the concert wouldn't just tour North America; through licensing and other means, it would reach numerous countries and regions across Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

The concert might not bring in a massive profit, but it could maintain the hype surrounding The Lord of the Rings, leaving audiences to eagerly anticipate the release of The Two Towers.

In short, now that The Fellowship of the Ring was a massive success, one of the main tasks for The Lord of the Rings Studio was keeping the franchise's momentum alive. Doing so would save a significant chunk of promotional expenses for The Two Towers.

Compared to the 80 million dollar promotional budget for The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers only had 40 million.

Furthermore, comic books and animated series related to the film were also placed on The Lord of the Rings Studio's agenda. These would all serve to boost and complement the movies. Duke and Warner would undoubtedly squeeze out every last drop of profit from this franchise.

After the soundtrack launch event, the primary function Duke had to attend was the grand celebration party Warner Brothers had prepared for The Fellowship of the Ring.

This wasn't just a simple celebration party; it also bore a marketing and promotional mission. A multitude of stars, celebrities, and prominent figures from theater chains and the media had received invitations from The Lord of the Rings Studio. The cast and crew members, along with their families, would naturally be one of the centerpieces of the party. Not only would the members of the Fellowship bring their families, but the production staff would appear at the party with their families as well.

The party aimed to continue building momentum for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, as well as promote other films that Duke and Warner were collaborating on.

Take Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which was already slated for a Christmas release, for example; everyone from the author, Joanne Rowling, to the cast led by Chris Columbus would be in attendance.

There were also the final two installments of The Matrix trilogy, currently being filmed by Zack Snyder. Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, who were now A-list stars, would attend as well.

Outside of private wild bashes, public Hollywood parties were never as simple as mere get-togethers.

"You've reached the age where people usually put on weight, yet you're thinner than before."

In the villa's dressing room, the costume designer who consistently worked for Duke was taking his latest measurements.

"Those stars are going to be very jealous of you, Duke," he said.

"If they saw my workload, they wouldn't be..."

He had just managed to say that when Tina Fey pushed open the door.

Handing the mobile phone she held to Duke, she said, "It's Evie."

The costume designer was smart. He jotted down the final measurement and quickly packed up his tools.

"I'll call you when the suit is ready," he said, taking his leave.

Duke gave him a nod.

Speaking into the phone, he said, "Hi, Evie. What made you call right now?"

As shareholders in the same company, the two of them had a scheduled time to talk on the phone every week. Under normal circumstances, Ivanka rarely interrupted his work.

"I heard Warner Brothers is organizing a grand party?" Ivanka's tone carried a barely perceptible hint of grievance. "I was a member of the crew too, so why didn't I get an invite?"

"Darling, there's still some time before the party. I imagine they just haven't notified you yet."

Without even needing to check, Duke knew full well that The Lord of the Rings Studio had simply overlooked the temporary worker.

"Evie, as long as you have the time, you can come over whenever you want," he said directly.

"Great!" Ivanka said immediately. "I'm definitely going to your celebration party! This is your most successful moment yet..."

"Remember to call before you come."

After chatting a bit more about the website's development, Duke hung up the phone, simultaneously instructing Tina Fey to arrange a car to pick up Ivanka Trump at the airport when the time came.