Chapter 562: Cameron's Project

Los Angeles never lacked for good hotels, least of all in the Beverly Hills area where Hollywood stars gathered, yet the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills maintained a stellar reputation. Its classical Renaissance style exuded the intimate atmosphere of a private luxury residence, making it the premier choice for anyone who valued elegance and class. At the same time, it enjoyed the deep trust of entertainment stars and business elites alike.

The party hosted by Rupert Murdoch, the man who controlled News Group, was being held in the rooftop garden restaurant of the Peninsula Hotel.

A black Rolls-Royce pulled up to the Peninsula Hotel's distinctly Renaissance main entrance. A valet hurried over to open the door, and Duke, dressed in a black formal suit, stepped out unhurriedly. Before he could even take a step, countless camera flashes erupted, illuminating the twilight hour as brightly as midday.

"Mr. Rosenberg..."

A staff member walked over and gestured toward the red carpet at the entrance.

"This way, please."

"Thank you."

Duke nodded to him. Ignoring the frantically snapping reporters and paparazzi, he walked straight into the hotel and took the dedicated elevator up to the rooftop garden.

This was a party hosted by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Although he faced plenty of external criticism and his reputation was indeed poor, given his status, every single person Murdoch invited was a renowned figure.

"Hi, Duke."

Just as he stepped out of the elevator lobby and into the rooftop garden where the party was being held, Duke heard a rather enthusiastic greeting. A gray-haired old man and a woman with long black hair came over to welcome him.

They had met on many occasions. While they weren't exactly close, they were far from strangers. Duke quickened his pace and reached out to shake Murdoch's extended hand.

"It's been a long time, Rupert," he said in an equally warm tone. "You haven't changed a bit."

"But you have changed." Murdoch gave Duke's hand a firm squeeze. "You've become even more famous than before."

Duke gave a faint smile and turned slightly toward the woman beside Murdoch.

"Hello, Ms. Deng."

The woman, who was world-renowned by virtue of being Murdoch's wife, immediately returned a warm smile.

Though he wouldn't ignore anyone, Duke only offered her a brief greeting before returning his attention to Rupert Murdoch. After all, what kind of person this woman actually was had nothing to do with him.

After exchanging a few casual words with Murdoch, Duke went off on his own. The Murdochs were the hosts of the party and had dozens of guests to entertain; they couldn't possibly spend all their time talking to him alone.

Grabbing a glass of soda water from a waiter, Duke exchanged pleasantries with people who greeted him as he made his way toward the garden's small open-air restaurant. Quite a few familiar faces were seated there, making it a veritable gathering place for Hollywood's elite.

The rooftop garden had to be at least 8,000 square feet. Not only was it fully equipped with a restaurant and a swimming pool, but it also had many tall palm trees planted throughout. A gently flowing stream had even been built into the landscape. Looking out in any direction, one could clearly see Beverly Hills and the Century City Shopping Center.

'Getting a penthouse apartment like this in a spot with a good view wouldn't be a bad idea, would it?'

As he strolled through the garden, perhaps because the obligatory socializing was a bit dull, the thought wandered into his mind.

"Hi, Leo. Why are you leaving right as I get here?"

Just as he neared the small restaurant, Duke saw Leonardo DiCaprio walking out, leading an exceptionally tall blonde woman by the hand.

"Where are you off to?" Duke asked.

Leonardo winked in his direction. Coming close to Duke, he lowered his voice and said, "I've got things to do, so I'm heading out early. I'll come find you in Malibu later."

Duke gave a slight nod. Leaving Leonardo DiCaprio to his own devices, he walked straight into the open-air restaurant. Suddenly, he noticed a short, chubby man sitting alone beneath a tall palm tree, sipping wine. The man's frustration was practically written all over his face.

This was an acquaintance, someone he had worked with a long time ago. Duke walked over and unceremoniously took the seat across from him.

"Whatever could make the famous Jon Landau this angry must be no simple matter."

The chubby man across from him was the producer of Titanic. Duke raised his soda water to him and asked before taking a sip, "Why are you sitting here all alone?"

"Because I've managed to offend just about everyone." Jon Landau took a sip of champagne and shook his head. "A certain someone has pushed me to the point where I'm practically ready to sell my ass!"

Seeing that Jon Landau had no intention of holding back, Duke's curiosity was piqued. "What happened, Jon? Who could possibly push you to this extent?"

Although he was a bit behind the likes of Katherine Kennedy, Charles Roven, and Jerry Bruckheimer in the producing game, Jon Landau was still an absolute power player. The number of people in all of Hollywood who could push him into a corner could be counted on two hands.

"Who else could it be!" Jon Landau turned his gaze to his left. "He already drove me halfway to madness once before. This time, I'm definitely going to lose my mind!"

Duke followed his gaze. In a corner thirty feet away, a bearded man sat alone, silently staring at the distant scenery as if pondering a very important question.

That man had been absent from Hollywood's radar for a long time—so long that many people had forgotten about him. No one knew what he was actually doing or if he was even still involved in the film industry.

But Duke would not forget him. He knew perfectly well that this man's temporary dormancy was merely to accumulate power for his upcoming madness, laying the foundational technical groundwork.

That's right. The person who had once driven Jon Landau to the brink of insanity was James Cameron.

"I haven't heard anything about James preparing to shoot a massive commercial blockbuster lately," Duke said, deliberately adopting a puzzled expression. "Could he really be hounding you for money?"

"He is indeed asking for money, and an unrealistically massive sum at that."

Muttering the words so quietly that only he could hear them, Jon Landau pulled his gaze away from James Cameron and turned to Duke. Memories of certain events during the production of Titanic suddenly flooded his mind, and his eyes instantly lit up.

Despite his complaints, Jon Landau had a close working relationship with James Cameron and was currently seeking funding for the King of the World's next project. It was an extraordinarily massive figure—so massive that, even with the unprecedented success of Titanic backing him, Twentieth Century Fox had unhesitatingly rejected his demand for full investment.

The man sitting across from him was different from James Cameron. Duke wasn't just a director; he was also an investor and a businessman. Ten years ago, when James Cameron faced a crisis of confidence with Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox, it was Duke who had signed off on a massive sum to save the Titanic project.

Thinking of this, Jon Landau couldn't help but ask tentatively, "Duke, you had a pleasant collaboration with James during Titanic."

Seeing Duke give a slight nod, he continued, "James has a new project in the works. I wonder if you might be interested?"

"A new project?" Duke's eyes lit up briefly before his expression returned to calm. He shook his head and chuckled. "Jon, don't tell me James wants to go underwater exploring and shoot another documentary? If that's the case, I'm not interested."

As everyone knew, ever since Titanic, James Cameron had practically turned into a deep-sea explorer.

Of course, Duke knew very well that the King of the World wasn't just exploring for the sake of it; he was conducting tests and laying the groundwork for a new project.

"No, no, no..."

Across the table, Jon Landau shook his head vigorously. "It's not an underwater documentary. It's a sci-fi film—the genre you and James are both best at."

"Oh..." Duke immediately put on an interested expression. "So James is finally ready to return to Hollywood?"

He paused deliberately before asking, "What's James's estimated budget for the investment?"

"Uh..."

Even with his thick skin, Jon Landau looked slightly embarrassed at Duke's question. There was no faking this kind of thing anyway; James Cameron's attitude toward budgets was an open secret. He hesitated for a moment before admitting, "The preliminary estimate is around 200 million dollars."

"Then it will take at least 400 million." Duke immediately doubled the number he had just stated.

Jon Landau didn't refute it, simply throwing his hands up in resignation. James Cameron's notoriety was just too overwhelming; it was no wonder Twentieth Century Fox had turned him down.

Slowly tapping his fingers against the armrest of his chair, Duke was in no rush. From the looks of it, the project was still in the very earliest stages of attracting investment. Furthermore, such a massive budget wasn't something any single person or company could swallow alone. Even with the immense prestige James Cameron had accumulated from Titanic, anyone would be cautious when faced with an investment of this scale.

Let alone James Cameron, who hadn't directed a commercial feature in nearly ten years—even when Duke set up a new project, Warner Brothers' review committee still had to conduct mandatory audits and preliminary assessments.

"I want to talk to James."

After saying this, Duke walked over to James Cameron, accompanied by Jon Landau. James Cameron had noticed the two of them approaching. Despite his arrogant personality, he still took the initiative to stand up and shake Duke's hand.

Although this man had once been his most worshipped idol, Duke possessed more than enough professionalism. He adopted a standard businesslike attitude, skipped the small talk, and asked James Cameron directly about his new project.

James Cameron currently lacked funding, and Duke had large amounts of liquid capital on hand. The two of them had the perfect foundation for a collaboration.

Moreover, after James Cameron gave a brief introduction, Duke confirmed that it was indeed that particular movie. However, Duke was well aware that even though Cameron was short on funds right now, a project like this wasn't something he could digest all by himself.

Duke's goal was very simple. Just like with Titanic, carving out a slice of the pie for himself would be more than enough.