Chapter 500: Best Director

"Adapting someone else's story, preserving the spirit of the original work, and turning it into a great screenplay requires immense talent."

Standing on stage, Sofia Coppola delivered the organizers' prepared script at a measured pace. "Very few people possess this kind of talent, but this year, many outstanding screenwriters have brought incredible stories to the silver screen."

She turned toward the large screen. "The nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay are—Braulio Mantovani for City of God, Gary Ross for Seabiscuit, Shari Berman and Robert Pulcini for American Splendor, Duke Rosenberg for The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King, and Brian Helgeland for Mystic River."

Sofia Coppola tore open the envelope, glanced down, and immediately locked eyes with Duke. "I am honored to announce that the winner is Duke Rosenberg, The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King!"

"Congratulations!" she said, clapping her hands.

This result was entirely expected. Enthusiastic applause instantly erupted throughout the Kodak Theater. Duke smiled and slowly stood up. Ivanka was the first to give him a big hug, planting a soft kiss on his left cheek.

"Congratulations, darling!"

She released him, and Duke hugged his mother, high-fived his crew members one by one, and walked briskly onto the stage.

"Duke, congratulations."

Seeing Sofia Coppola open her arms, Duke pulled her into a tight hug before accepting the second Oscar Golden Statuette of his life and stepping up to the microphone.

"First, I want to thank Tolkien. Without his magnificent original trilogy, there would be no Lord of the Rings films, and I wouldn't be standing here. I also want to thank the writing team at Duke Studio; they were equally crucial to the success of this script. Finally, thank you to my family and friends. They are always encouraging me to keep moving forward."

Duke didn't say much more. After his brief acceptance speech, he followed the hostess into the backstage area alongside Sofia Coppola.

"A very simple speech."

"Shorter than I expected," Sofia said as they walked.

Duke laughed. "Because this way there's more time to chat with you."

Sofia rolled her eyes silently, calling his bluff. "I think you're saving your words for Best Director."

Upon reaching the interview area, Sofia didn't stick around. She waved at Duke and headed straight down the corridor leading to the main hall, while Duke stayed behind for the routine interviews.

The reporters interviewing him seemed to feel that better opportunities lay ahead; the questions they asked felt more like a mere formality.

Seeing Duke disappear into the backstage entrance, Norman Miller quickly turned back to his computer. Waiting a dozen seconds or so, he refreshed the page, and his Instant Sharing feed was instantly flooded with new posts.

"That's the ninth Golden Statuette!"

"Nine in a row! A one hundred percent win rate—that's terrifying!"

"I think Duke has a chance to break the record if he can sweep the last three awards."

"Best Original Song shouldn't be a problem. The Last Goodbye has a huge advantage. The real keys are Best Director and Best Picture. If they can't take those two, then nine Golden Statuettes will still be a failure for The Return of the King."

That last comment echoed Roger Ebert's own thoughts. When that obnoxious director accepted the Golden Statuette, Ebert struggled to steady his breathing, forcing his rising blood pressure down while comforting himself with the final two awards. He hadn't lost yet, had he?

"Nine Golden Statuettes." Megan Ellison frowned, turning to her brother. "David, is he really going to be the big winner tonight?"

"According to Michael Ovitz's analysis, yes, he will." David Ellison sighed. "As much as I hate to see it, the critics definitely can't stop Duke Rosenberg. Those garbage professional critics can't compare to us, either!"

David Ellison similarly looked down on those bloodsuckers. It was just like whenever Oracle released new database software; some so-called expert would invariably pop up to predict doom, as if Oracle would go bankrupt the very next day over the software's failure. In the end, the software always sold exceptionally well, and the experts would selectively forget what they'd said.

Duke had returned to the Kodak Theater and handed the Golden Statuette to his mother. Mrs. Leah showed a rare, radiant smile; Duke's success was her greatest pride!

"We just won our tenth Golden Statuette!"

He had barely sat down when Ivanka grabbed his hand, unable to contain her excitement. "Billy Boyd and Howard Shore won Best Original Song!"

"That is good news!" Duke nodded.

By this point, the awards ceremony was nearing its end. With ten Golden Statuettes from ten nominations, The Return of the King was indisputably the biggest winner of the night.

But Duke knew very well that if he failed to win Best Director and Best Picture, even ten Golden Statuettes would still feel like a failure.

However, the three awards closely tied to Best Picture—Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay—were already in the bag. Best Picture was essentially a foregone conclusion. The biggest question mark left was Best Director.

His greatest enemy was history: since the inception of the Oscars, no director had ever won Best Director with a fantasy film.

Before that, however, Best Actor and Best Actress had to be presented.

"The winner for Best Actress is Charlize Theron for Monster!"

"The winner for Best Actor is Sean Penn for Mystic River!"

Just as Duke remembered, Sean Penn and Charlize Theron both claimed the thrones of Best Actor and Best Actress through highly unconventional roles. Connecting this with the earlier winners for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor, it wasn't hard to draw a conclusion: winning an Oscar acting award with a mentally and physically normal character was incredibly difficult!

"It's our turn!"

Ivanka clutched Duke's hand tightly, looking extremely nervous. Sitting on Duke's other side, Mrs. Leah also wore a grave expression. She knew Duke's personality well; this was likely his only chance to win the Oscar for Best Director.

Ever since the top four awards began being presented, the Oscar viewership ratings had been steadily climbing. Ultimately, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture were the only awards the general public truly cared about.

Over at the Nielsen Company, the recorded number of North American viewers peaked during the Best Actress presentation—43.26 million people!

This was tied to Charlize Theron's personal star power. Perhaps due to Duke, her role in The Matrix trilogy had already made her extremely popular. Among A-list actresses, she was definitely near the very top. With her current influence, she could naturally attract a massive audience during this critical Oscar-contending moment.

However, this record didn't hold for long. When Billy Crystal announced the start of the Best Director presentation, the North American viewership logged by Nielsen broke past 45 million in less than half a minute!

And it showed a steady upward trend!

The Instant Sharing timelines also experienced a silence unseen all night. Duke's supporters had poured all their attention into the live television broadcast; there was simply no time left to share their thoughts.

In the ABC Television Network broadcasting room, Roger Ebert clenched his hands tightly into fists, a hundred times more nervous than Duke, who was sitting in the venue. After three solid years of busy work, and after thwarting the director during awards seasons for nearly a decade since '95, success or failure would be revealed at any moment.

Norman Hiller stared intently at the television set, his eyes unblinking.

Brad Miller clasped his hands together, seemingly praying for the franchise and the director he loved.

Far away in Paris, Aerin Lauder was also sitting in front of her television, quietly waiting for the moment her friend would step onto the stage!

Countless fans of Rosenberg-style films across America set down their beers, colas, burgers, and sandwiches. They waited in silence for the time to celebrate!

On the stage of the Kodak Theater, accompanied by music from the symphony orchestra, a short-haired Tom Cruise slowly walked out. His smile was as charming as ever, yet he couldn't capture the audience's full attention. At this particular moment, even Tom Cruise was nothing more than a backdrop for the Best Director award.

The moment Harvey Weinstein saw Tom Cruise step out, a bad feeling welled up in his heart. Cruise and Duke had a complicated relationship, but ever since Chicago, the two had forged a solid alliance of interests, drawing incredibly close to one another. Rumor even had it that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's marriage had lasted this long solely because Duke had secretly defused multiple crises between them.

Clint Eastwood's brow furrowed slightly before relaxing again. Tom Cruise's appearance essentially meant his already slim chances of winning Best Director were now plunging toward absolute zero.

Over with the Master and Commander crew, a hint of reluctance flashed through Peter Weir's eyes, yet he was powerless to do anything. The advantage The Lord of the Rings Trilogy had accumulated was simply too great, and the opposing PR campaign was no worse than Miramax's. He would likely just have to wait for the future.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, Tom Cruise walked gracefully up to the microphone.

"This year's nominees for Best Director hail from three different continents," he said, flashing his signature smile. "Among them are Oscar regulars and some newcomers. Their projects range from low-budget productions that wrapped shooting in twenty-something days to epic blockbusters that took years to complete. Though they are so very different, they share one thing in common: an exceptional talent for making movies!"

"The nominees for Best Director are..."

Coordinating with the visuals on the large screen, Tom Cruise began listing the nominees one by one. "Fernando Meirelles—City of God; Sofia Coppola—Lost in Translation; Peter Weir—Master and Commander; Duke Rosenberg—The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King; and Clint Eastwood—Mystic River!"

He tore open the envelope, not even lifting his head. "And the Best Director is... Duke Rosenberg, The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King!"