Chapter 469: A Traitor's End

On the day of the Premiere, fueled by two consecutive years of hype from The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, the fans' long-suppressed fervor seemed to have finally found the perfect outlet. Over 100,000 fans from across the United States gathered in Los Angeles, treating the Premiere as a massive carnival.

To catch an early glimpse of Return of the King and see their favorite stars, fans camped out overnight, pitching tents to secure the best vantage points.

By 8:30 AM, tens of thousands of fans had packed the Walk of Fame leading to the Hollywood Chinese Theater. Wearing wizard hats and cloaks, they transformed the streets of the City of Angels into Middle-earth. Fans dressed as hobbits, elves, and Orcs were everywhere.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy displayed its immense influence, and the media responded to the grand event with equal enthusiasm. Nearly five hundred journalists from around the globe formed a massive press corps.

Los Angeles City Hall gave its full support to the grand event. Mayor Helen Clark specifically authorized a massive fan parade through the city's main streets and hosted an official welcome ceremony for the cast and crew at City Hall before they headed to the Chinese Grand Theater for the Premiere.

The streets of Los Angeles were plastered with posters featuring characters from The Lord of the Rings, and an enormous, eight-story-tall poster hung from the Highland Center.

When the cast and crew began stepping onto the red carpet, the crowd's excitement practically exploded.

A good beginning often points to tremendous success, and The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King had brought together the right time, right place, and right people!

"I am merely a representative of a massive team. I want to thank all the partners who participated in the filming!" Duke said briefly while giving interviews in the press area.

He left them with just that one sentence. The atmosphere at the scene was already enough for the media to write about; the Premiere was destined to snatch the front-page headlines of almost every entertainment outlet tomorrow.

Because the street parade had delayed them so much, the cast and crew were led straight into the auditorium by Duke and Charles Roven right after taking a group photo, where they waited for the film to begin.

Meanwhile, the fans gathered on the streets of Los Angeles dispersed in a swarm, scattering with staggering speed. They weren't going home. Instead, they marched toward the nearest cinemas. Alongside the Premiere, three thousand advance screenings were taking place simultaneously, and no fan wanted to miss being among the very first to see the final chapter of the trilogy.

Since it was a Thursday workday, Brad Miller arrived at the cinema a little late. He rushed into the auditorium with only five minutes left before the movie started. Stepping into the massive auditorium that could seat over 500 people, however, all he saw was a dense sea of heads. Looking around, he couldn't spot a single empty seat.

Standing at the entrance, Brad Miller was certain the attendance had crossed ninety percent. But as he walked down the aisle and circled the auditorium looking for a spot, he quickly discarded that notion. He only found a single seat tucked away in a deep corner. The attendance here was practically at maximum capacity!

'The attendance is definitely at ninety-nine percent!'

Brad Miller thought as he finished his lap and sat in the corner.

Over at a cinema in Beverly Hills, Oliver Stone had arrived early and picked a seat fairly close to the front. Given his status and reputation, he could have easily attended the Premiere, but he had no desire to go. For one, The Lord of the Rings Studio hadn't invited him; for another, his project had been obstructed by Duke Rosenberg.

Starting from Gladiator and carrying through to the massive success of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, a craze for epic films had swept Hollywood and the entire world. Oliver Stone had joined the trend as well. He and Anchor Bay Entertainment Company planned to bring the magnificent life of Alexander the Great to the big screen. To that end, Anchor Bay Entertainment Company had raised over 150 million dollars and reached a preliminary agreement with Warner Brothers to distribute the completed film.

Not long ago, however, Warner Brothers had rejected the film's distribution. Oliver Stone caught wind that during the Warner board's review, it was Duke Rosenberg's fierce opposition that had led to that decision.

Suddenly losing the project's distributor had driven Oliver Stone somewhat crazy. Although he was full of grievances against Duke, he was also shooting an epic and understood the formidable power of The Lord of the Rings. He had come specifically to see what kind of heights Return of the King could push the epic genre to, and what inspiration he could draw from it.

As the sky gradually darkened, a car pulled up in front of the Romy Cinema in Chicago. Roger Ebert stepped out unhurriedly, walked into the cinema to pick up his pre-booked ticket, and headed toward one of its largest auditoriums.

Entering the auditorium, Roger Ebert frowned slightly. Although he had mentally prepared himself, seeing so many people crammed into the extra-large space still made him uncomfortable. Such high attendance practically guaranteed that the director he utterly loathed was about to achieve yet another massive success.

However, his pressing concern right now wasn't that, but finding an empty seat.

There were simply too many people. Roger Ebert walked down two aisles before he finally spotted an open seat. He approached and asked the young man sitting on the outside, "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

"Sorry, it's taken," the young man said after a brief glance, offering no other reaction.

Roger Ebert didn't walk away. Instead, he turned his body slightly, letting the overhead light fully illuminate his face. His distinctive face was practically a living billboard in the Chicago area.

"Do you need something else?" the young man asked, seeing he hadn't left. "This seat is taken!"

"I..." Roger Ebert opened his mouth, just about to say something.

Hearing their voices, a man in the front row glanced back curiously. He immediately stood up and asked in pleasant surprise, "Are you Mr. Ebert?"

Hearing this, Roger Ebert subconsciously tilted his chin up slightly. "I am."

"It's such a pleasure to meet you!"

The man turned and nudged his companion. "Go sit in the inside seat."

Then, he turned back to Roger Ebert. "There's an empty seat here. Mr. Ebert, you can sit here."

Roger Ebert nodded lightly and walked over. An inexplicable sense of satisfaction flashed through his heart; his face and name were still quite useful.

"Hello, Mr. Ebert."

Once Roger Ebert sat down, the man—who looked to be in his forties—pulled a notebook from his pocket. "My name is Kirk. I used to really love your reviews. Could I get your autograph?"

Roger Ebert automatically ignored the phrase "used to" and scrawled his signature across the notebook.

"Hello, I'm John..." The slightly younger man who had been sitting there reached out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Ebert."

"Hello, John." Roger Ebert gave him a light nod.

The two men really did seem to be his supporters. In the time before the movie started, they kept bringing up Roger Ebert's past glorious achievements, especially his winning of the Pulitzer Prize.

A smile gradually crept onto Roger Ebert's face. As the older generation of moviegoers slowly bowed out and people born in the eighties became the mainstream theatrical market, it had become increasingly rare for him to be surrounded and flattered when he went to the cinema. Now, he had finally regained a bit of that feeling from the old days.

'See? I'm not obsolete yet, am I?'

His face, which had been tense at the prospect of watching a movie by a director he detested, also broke into a smile.

Inside the Hollywood Chinese Theater, Duke didn't get a moment of free time before the screening. People sitting nearby constantly came over to greet him. After some simple socializing, Mrs. Leah, who had just flown in from New York that morning, also seemed to have something to ask him.

"Duke, I heard you and Evie went to Stockholm?"

Duke had never mentioned this to anyone. Hearing his mother's question, he nodded and admitted, "Yes, Mom. Evie and I were just traveling the world..."

He felt Ivanka gently squeeze his arm, realizing that she definitely wasn't the one who had leaked the trip.

"Did you see Neeson Lant?" Mrs. Leah asked.

Duke smiled softly and linked his arm through his mother's. "He invited us over as guests. Evie and I had dinner there."

"Mom, are you in touch with him?" he asked, voicing the doubt in his heart.

Mrs. Leah nodded. "After you got famous, he started emailing me occasionally."

She gently patted Duke's hand and sighed. "It's been so many years. Some things are in the past. There's no need to be enemies. As long as you're willing, you can keep in contact with him. You don't need to worry about me."

Duke didn't say anything; he just shook his head firmly at his mother.

If Neeson Lant came looking for him, he naturally wouldn't avoid him. But he had absolutely no interest in actively seeking the man out.

After all, his experiences were unusual. His bond with his mother had been built up over time. As for someone like Neeson Lant, who had disappeared for over two decades—how could there be any affection?

The man was destined to be nothing more than a passing traveler in his life.

Probably guessing Duke's thoughts, Mrs. Leah finally said in a low voice, "You can make your own decisions."

The massive screen suddenly lit up, and the overhead lights dimmed one after another. Duke and his mother said no more, focusing all their attention on the movie that was about to start.

"It's starting!"

A dozen rows behind them, Jones and Curtis, who had barely managed to squeeze into the Premiere, looked thrilled, cheering with the excitement of children.

The film carried Duke's usual style—there were no lengthy opening credits. Right after the Warner Brothers and Duke Studio logos flashed by, the movie cut directly to Isengard, which had been destroyed by the Ents. Gandalf, newly promoted to the White Wizard, confronted Saruman, the former head of the Holy White Council.

There was no massively grand opening battle. The brilliance of the first two installments was more than enough to keep fans watching patiently. This was just a minor skirmish. Saruman, who was merely exiled in the original books, met a far more miserable fate here: he was ambushed and killed by Grima, who was subsequently shot through the heart by Legolas's arrow.

In typical Western culture, no matter what kind of traitor one was, they would never meet a good end. The change here was entirely meant to cater to the current trends in cultural values.