Chapter 568: Underworld

Driving through the seaside villa district of Santa Monica, Duke made a point to visit his former home before turning around and heading to the Yacht Marina District. He had barely arrived at the parking lot when an attendant came over to guide him down the long pier.

Although this was a strictly managed private yacht club, Duke still spotted traces of quite a few paparazzi along the way. They had clearly caught wind of the event.

The name Wallace Lee wasn't familiar to the media or the general public. Only industry insiders who kept an eye on Duke knew that he had been the assistant director for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Taken, and that his independent directorial debut would hit theaters soon.

Kate Beckinsale, however, still had some name recognition. Even though she had never reached A-list status, and calling her B-list was a stretch after the failure of Van Helsing, she had been popular in the past. She still retained a solid base of fans and supporters, giving her enough value for the entertainment media to cover her.

Moreover, well-informed sources knew she had a daughter out of wedlock. This engagement had naturally attracted the attention of quite a few paparazzi and entertainment journalists.

Stepping onto a luxury yacht, Duke saw Wallace Lee and Kate Beckinsale coming over to greet him.

He offered a slight smile. "Congratulations to both of you."

With that, he handed over his prepared gift. It was accepted by a little girl of about five standing next to Kate Beckinsale.

"Thank you!"

Although he had only joined after the year 2000, Wallace Lee was a member of Duke's core team, so there was no need for excessive small talk.

After expressing her thanks, Kate Beckinsale gently pulled the little girl forward and introduced her. "This is my daughter, Lily."

"Hi, Lily," Duke said, bending down to look at the little one. "How old are you?"

The little girl blinked and answered with a hint of shyness, "Five."

"You're very cute."

After saying this, Duke took his leave, as there were other arriving guests behind him. He couldn't take up too much of Wallace Lee's time.

Walking up to the yacht's front deck, Duke found that most of the people attending the engagement ceremony were members of his own team, with only a few being Kate Beckinsale's friends.

What Duke didn't expect, however, was a photographer taking pictures under Nancy Josephson's direction.

Spotting his agent, Duke walked over. Nancy Josephson gave the photographer a few instructions, then accompanied Duke to the port-side railing.

"What's going on?" Duke asked, resting both hands on the railing and sizing up the photographer, who looked exactly like a media professional. "They even invited the press?"

"Just taking some pictures, and they're mainly of Wallace Lee and Kate Beckinsale." Nancy Josephson smoothed her wind-tousled hair. "They aren't you; they need to seize every opportunity."

She turned to look at Duke. "Darling, I'm guessing you forgot. Underworld, directed by Wallace and starring Kate, hits theaters next weekend. The film has a limited budget and needs explosive news to draw the market's attention."

Nancy Josephson was also the agent for Wallace Lee and Kate Beckinsale, so seizing such an opportunity was part of her job. Duke thought about it for a moment and quickly understood. Like the vast majority of Hollywood stars, Wallace Lee and Kate Beckinsale certainly wouldn't pass up a chance to use their engagement for promotional hype.

It was slightly better for Wallace, since he was a director, but strictly speaking, Kate Beckinsale could now be classified as a washed-up actress. Making a comeback would be no easy feat.

If Duke remembered correctly, the former Kate Beckinsale had never truly bounced back after Van Helsing, even with her consecutive starring roles in the Underworld series.

However, now that she was back under Nancy Josephson's management, there would surely be opportunities for her in the future.

As for her relationship with Wallace Lee, Duke wasn't very optimistic.

The reason was simple: his deputy and former classmate was somewhat similar to how Duke had been in his younger days. The chances of those two ultimately staying together were slim to none.

"Duke, if you have the chance..."

Perhaps still seeing Kate Beckinsale's potential just as she had in the beginning, and believing she could reap sufficient returns from her in the future, Nancy Josephson said, "Find a suitable role for Kate in one of your films. She'll never hit the big time again if she only stars in small productions like Underworld."

"I'll keep it in mind."

After all, this was the agent who had served him for over a decade. Duke wouldn't refuse such a minor request.

Nancy Josephson knew when to stop pushing and immediately changed the subject. "I heard the negotiations on Tina's end have yielded results?"

"Yeah, the tripartite talks have basically reached a consensus."

There was no need to hide such a thing, so Duke spoke directly. "Time Warner will fully acquire Duke Studio and Pixar Studio through a mix of cash and stock swaps. To resolve the investment issues brought about by the acquisition, they will prioritize my capital in the new round of equity financing."

Recalling the specific figures for a moment, Duke added, "All told, between Duke Studio and a large sum of capital, I should be able to secure around seven percent of Time Warner's shares in this transaction. Meanwhile, Steve Jobs and I will both become members of Time Warner's board of directors."

In this transaction, it seemed like Duke was the victor, but Time Warner were no fools either. Just the portion of the copyrights for Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy held by Duke Studio was an absolute money-making machine.

Put simply, it was just the difference between long-term and short-term returns. From the year 2000 to the present, even excluding box office grosses, the Harry Potter Series had raked in over ten billion dollars in revenue from various merchandise in the global market.

Moreover, as time went on, the influence of the Harry Potter Series became more deeply rooted in people's hearts, making the revenue it brought in even more obvious. Even though Duke Studio only held a portion of the rights, it was still an object of envy for all of Hollywood and the entire American business sector.

Besides, this move thoroughly tethered Duke to Warner's war chariot.

In the past, Spielberg had proven how important a massively successful director was to a company. Throughout his rise, Duke had similarly proven his worth and his influence over Warner's financial performance.

Steve Jobs was able to profit entirely because of Pixar Studio, which possessed the qualifications to earn the absolute focus of any conglomerate.

In this day and age, absolutely no one would object to calling Pixar Studio the undisputed leader of Hollywood's entire animation industry.

Although the three parties had yet to reach a formal written agreement, this negotiation, which had dragged on for years, was finally nearing its conclusion.

The end of these negotiations would bring another benefit. Time Warner Group, Duke, and Steve Jobs would become an inseparable alliance of interests. The parties could concentrate their efforts to aggressively target the market with the greatest potential, doing their utmost to supplant Walt Disney's Disneyland with Warner Grand World.

Nowadays, Warner Group held the rights to the DC Comics series, the Harry Potter Series, The Lord of the Rings spin-offs, Pixar's animated series, as well as the distribution rights to Duke's planned Transformers series and the Marvel Grand Universe. These massive productions, with their ever-increasing investments, required boundlessly expansive market space.

Furthermore, Time Warner's products had never been limited solely to movies.

Of course, this planned theme park could also potentially be named Warner Fox World.

Following Duke's proposal, after a period of weighing options and consideration, Rupert Murdoch and News Group had already shown an intention to cooperate.

Although the Disneyland name carried more weight, Duke's side had gathered the combined might of two major media conglomerates, granting them more than enough power to put up a fight.

The engagement ceremony was not complex. After the routine formalities came a party. Subsequently, following Nancy Josephson's plan, Wallace Lee and Kate Beckinsale's engagement photos were sent to major media outlets and websites, appearing on quite a few entertainment pages the very next day.

Perhaps it was because Kate Beckinsale, the English Rose, hadn't been completely forgotten, or perhaps Wallace Lee's titles as the assistant director of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Taken had done the trick. Their engagement news generated a solid amount of attention. The Underworld crew and its distributor, Warner Brothers, also used the opportunity to launch their promotional campaign for the film.

Since the production budget was only thirty million dollars, the promotional scale wasn't huge. They merely capitalized on Wallace Lee and Kate Beckinsale's relationship to make a fuss.

At the same time, Duke also stood up to endorse the film during its promotion. After all, he was one of its investors.

He even shared his thoughts on the film on Instant Sharing—Underworld was unlike any previous vampire or werewolf movie. It systematically explored the origins of vampires and lycanthropes, along with their centuries-old blood feuds. For audiences who enjoyed the genre, it was well worth a trip to the theater.

Presumably because it had drawn enough preliminary attention and its overall quality was decent, Underworld premiered in North America in mid-November and raked in over 27.5 million dollars in its opening week. For a film with a thirty-million-dollar production budget, such a first-week box office figure was quite good.

Although the film could only be described as a niche release verging on a B-movie, it had received a fairly positive response from its core demographic. Such a movie could never become a mainstream blockbuster, but as long as it attracted a large enough built-in audience, it would be fully capable of turning a profit.

By the time Thanksgiving had passed, Underworld's North American box office had surpassed fifty million dollars. Even though the hype for this genre faded exceptionally fast, recouping the costs through ticket sales wouldn't be a problem at all. The subsequent television and Videotape rights would essentially be pure profit.

Thus, a sequel was naturally placed on the agenda.

Kate Beckinsale also used this to shake off a bit of the bad luck that had plagued her in recent years. In the eyes of some viewers who loved Underworld, she even earned the title of "Goddess of the Dark Night."