Chapter 490: The Biggest Competitor

A tall agent crept into the dilapidated factory. Kicking open an office door, he charged inside before the thugs could react, taking them down with clean, efficient moves.

He moved with the agility of a leopard and struck with the ferocity of a starving wolf. There was no hesitation or flashy flair in his attacks; every punch and kick went straight for the vitals—the throat, face, back of the head, and heart.

"Jimmy, great job!"

They had been shooting action scenes for two days. Duke put together a rough cut, and after watching it, he turned to the action choreographer sitting beside him in the screening room. "It's already eighty percent of what I imagined."

Hearing this, Jimmy Carter asked, "Do you need me to reshoot?"

"No need." Duke shook his head and patted his shoulder. "It's enough for this film. Keep up the good work."

Over the past two days, both Liam Neeson and his two stunt doubles had shown excellent form. Duke had simply revised the shooting schedule to tackle the film's various action sequences first. During the shoot, Jimmy Carter operated the camera for the most part, while Duke focused on reviewing the footage and offering feedback.

A director was inherently the coordinator of a crew. Mobilizing the team and maximizing everyone's potential was one of a director's basic duties.

Shooting action scenes was never easy, especially with Liam Neeson already over fifty. Bumps and bruises were unavoidable, and he even sprained his ankle during a chase sequence. Fortunately, the injury was minor and wouldn't significantly impact the rest of the shoot.

The action shoots lasted for half a month before taking a temporary pause. A few remaining sequences still required location shooting in Paris.

Moving into December, Duke began filming the dramatic scenes. Strictly speaking, the rest of the cast didn't have much screen time; it was more like a one-man show for Liam Neeson.

"I don't know who you are..."

The set was dressed as a room. Liam Neeson held a Nokia Phone, performing a solo scene. He kept his expression as calm as possible, but the anger in his eyes burned fiercely. Hidden beneath his seemingly flat words was a father's endless fury toward the people who had kidnapped his daughter.

"I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money," he said.

He stood up slowly, issuing his final warning like a sleeping lion ready to devour its prey.

"But I do have a very specific set of skills," he said. "Skills I've acquired over a long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go, then this ends here. I won't look for you, and I won't track you down."

The lion finally bared its fangs.

"If you don't let her go right now, I will find you, and I will kill you!"

"Cut! That's a print," Duke called out to Liam Neeson. "Good job!"

The film's thrilling, breathless action sequences were crucial, but that deep fatherly love was equally indispensable. Without the emotional anchor of the father-daughter bond, everything the male lead did in his rage would fail to win the audience's support; he would be no different from a ruthless thug.

However, when his family was threatened and his daughter could vanish forever at any moment, a loving father's desperate actions to get her back were entirely justified. This also indirectly highlighted that the people he eliminated were human scum, emphasizing the righteousness of his rescue mission.

One couldn't underestimate this righteousness. While it might not gain much approval from Americans in reality, it was a vital element for attracting an audience to a movie.

In a film, some elements could be changed at will, but others simply could not.

Time had marched into December, and awards season had officially raised its curtains. While Duke was busy shooting his new movie, his PR team hadn't taken a single moment off. Aside from pulling Duke into a few parties between shoots, Penny Kalis often operated on her own. Backed by ample funding and decades of experience, the veteran PR manager made frequent appearances around Beverly Hills and the Hollywood District.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did have various restrictions on PR campaigns, but in reality? The bottom line of this game of fame and fortune was constantly slipping. Ever since the Weinstein Brothers launched their dollar-fueled offensives, the flavor of Oscar campaigning had long since changed.

In the early nineties, an Oscar PR campaign for a film cost only a few hundred thousand dollars, rarely exceeding five hundred thousand.

And now?

Entering the new century, if you didn't throw three to five million dollars into this vanity game, you could forget about nominations for the key awards. Without a budget in the tens of millions, the most heavyweight trophies were destined to slip right through your fingers.

According to the Academy, PR was a manifestation of free competition. And in this highly commercialized society, what was the greatest capital supporting that competition? Money, without a doubt.

Duke knew very well that with his future production plans, he would only drift further away from the increasingly niche Oscars. Return of the King, armed with the cumulative advantage of a trilogy, was his best shot—perhaps even his only shot.

Because of this, he wasn't stingy with his money in the slightest.

Besides, compared to his director's share of the profits from the trilogy, this little investment was practically nothing.

For Penny Kalis and the PR department at Warner Brothers, the primary goal was securing nominations. A nomination was the most basic ticket to the game.

"Based on the reception of currently released films and the PR push from various distributors, we mainly have a few competitors," Penny Kalis said, discussing the recent PR and awards dynamics from the living room of the Eye-Shaped Villa.

"Sofia Coppola's main goal is a nomination," she continued. "Hollywood has never seen a woman win Best Director, and this year shouldn't be any different."

"Sofia can be set aside," Duke said. He had always maintained close contact with Sofia, so he was naturally aware of this.

"In that case, we're left with two main competitors," Penny Kalis continued. "One is Clint Eastwood. His Mystic River perfectly suits the Academy's tastes, but the film is financed and distributed by Warner Brothers. Without backing from the production and distribution side, his chances of winning aren't very high."

There was no real choice to be made regarding who was more important to Warner between Duke and Clint Eastwood.

"According to our team's analysis, your biggest competitor should be Peter Weir," Penny said.

Hearing Penny Kalis's words, Duke asked, "Master and Commander?"

"Exactly, the Master and Commander that came out in November!"

Ivanka, who had been sitting quietly beside Duke, piped up curiously. "I remember that film's box office and reviews being pretty average. How can it be our competitor?"

"Evie, you missed another detail," Penny Kalis explained. "The distributor for Master and Commander is Miramax. Harvey Weinstein is already pushing hard for this film to win awards. The production budget was over 110 million dollars, but its North America box office is only at 60 million so far. Without the blessing of an Oscar, the film is guaranteed to lose money."

"Miramax, Harvey Weinstein..."

Duke murmured to himself, then laughed. "They can't succeed every single time. Miramax has missed the mark quite a few times over the past few years."

"True." Penny Kalis fully agreed with Duke's perspective. "These past few years, Miramax's spotlight at the Oscars has been completely overshadowed by DreamWorks."

Just as Duke had said before, no one could guarantee where those heavyweight Golden Statuettes would end up, not even the Weinstein Brothers.

When other major companies ramped up their Oscar investments—such as DreamWorks, beginning with America Beauty and Gladiator—the Weinstein Brothers could fail just the same.

The Weinstein Brothers were undeniably powerful at the Oscars, but they were by no means invincible. Having navigated Hollywood for so many years, Duke saw things very clearly. The reason the Weinstein Brothers consistently won at the Oscars certainly involved factors like their Jewish descent and specific connections, but most importantly, when operating around the Oscars and awards season, they were simply willing to invest more.

There were times when fairness did exist in this society; for instance, if you didn't invest the corresponding resources, in the vast majority of cases, you couldn't possibly reap a sufficient return.

"We have the advantage over Master and Commander, but we still need to keep an eye on them," Penny Kalis said.

As a veteran Hollywood PR manager, she knew all too well that anything could happen right up until the final moment. "Master and Commander has its own strengths. Their release is closer to awards season, their critical reception is relatively good, and their box office is significantly lower than ours."

Speaking of box office numbers, Penny Kalis wore a somewhat helpless expression. Ever since Titanic, high box office earnings frequently acted as an obstacle to winning an Oscar.

The Academy touted itself as championing popularized art, but how many people across America actually believed that claim? Instead, the more mainstream a film was, the more likely they were to reject it.

"Our advantage is massive, but we can't let our guard down," Penny Kalis said, still erring on the side of extreme caution.

Duke agreed with her perspective. While the Academy wasn't prone to the frequent erratic spasms of the Grammys, even in their lucid moments, they generally favored niche films.

There could be absolutely no slacking in their PR and promotional efforts.

However, while promoting themselves, they also had to monitor their competitors. Duke thought for a moment before asking, "Is Peter Weir the director of The Truman Show?"

At Duke's prompt, Penny Kalis's eyes immediately lit up. "That's him."

"I heard the Academy never liked that heavily sarcastic movie. Penny, when it comes to the crucial voting moment, we can remind the Academy's conservatives once again that Peter Weir directed a film like The Truman Show."