Chapter 577: Time is Precious

"What a huge mansion. The grounds have to be at least ten thousand square meters, right?"

Inside the black Rolls-Royce, a young man looked out the window at the estate's facilities and said, "If this were back in China, what film director could afford a luxury home like this?"

"Is making movies really this profitable?" he asked the person beside him.

Mountain Eagle gently patted the young man's arm. "Xiao Liu, did you see Batman Begins when it was released back home last year?"

"I did."

The young man named Xiao Liu nodded immediately. "It was a very interesting movie."

"Do you know how much money Duke Rosenberg took home from that movie?"

Without waiting for the young man to answer, Mountain Eagle held up a single finger. "Not counting his share of the dividends, he walked away with at least a hundred million dollars in after-tax income just from his position as director."

"Th-That much..." Xiao Liu's eyes widened.

"Those are just the publicly announced figures. The actual amount is likely even higher." Mountain Eagle sighed. "Xiao Liu, you're about to head off to the Film Academy. The old leadership had me bring you along this time so you could see the latest developments in the global film industry and experience the presence of the industry's top director..."

"I know!"

Although these elite-educated youths could be bastards in certain respects, their attitude toward serious matters was undeniably meticulous, and they knew how to prioritize.

Xiao Liu nodded heavily. "Duke Rosenberg has always been my idol."

If he could achieve even half of what Duke had in the future—no, even just a fourth or a fifth of his success—then choosing the film industry would not have been in vain.

The Rolls-Royce that had picked them up pulled to a stop in front of a uniquely designed villa. Someone immediately came over and opened the doors. Xiao Liu straightened his formal suit and followed Mountain Eagle out of the car.

The first thing he saw was the hosts standing at the villa's entrance. They were a man and a woman. The man was Duke Rosenberg. He looked to be in his early thirties, his short brown hair standing straight up, giving him an especially energetic look. His dark brown, almost black eyes were like bottomless pools; no matter how hard he looked, he could not see the bottom.

Even without having truly interacted with him, Xiao Liu's upbringing told him that this was undoubtedly a wise and resolute man.

The blonde woman standing beside him was a standard American beauty. Although her facial features were a bit sharp by Eastern standards, she was undeniably sexy and beautiful.

Xiao Liu recognized the woman. She was a moderately famous Hollywood actress. Judging from the way she held Duke Rosenberg's arm, she was likely this super director's girlfriend.

In recent years, as information flowed more freely, a lot of news from Hollywood had made its way back home. This director, for example, was the most famous Hollywood director there, and rumors of his various romantic affairs circulated all over the internet. Xiao Liu had even read a tabloid piece claiming that the Hollywood stars Duke had dated could form a reinforced platoon.

However, Xiao Liu didn't dwell on it. In a setting like this, and given his status, he would absolutely not do anything inappropriate. He followed Mountain Eagle toward the villa's entrance.

"Hello, Mr. Han. Welcome."

Stepping forward, Duke shook the man's outstretched hand and introduced his companion. "This is Miss Scarlett Johansson."

Mountain Eagle shook hands with Scarlett, then introduced the young man named Xiao Liu to Duke. Under Duke's guidance, the group entered the small banquet hall.

Dinner took the form of a formal banquet. Both sides knew that this so-called banquet was merely a formality. Duke definitely had his own motives for inviting Mountain Eagle over, and Mountain Eagle certainly hadn't accepted an American director's invitation just for a meal.

After a brief dinner, the two parties moved to a reception room facing the ocean. They chatted a bit about the local customs of their respective countries before the topic gradually shifted to their shared profession—film.

"Theaters are part of the fundamental infrastructure for the film industry's existence," Mountain Eagle said, setting down his cup after taking a sip of coffee. "The theater chain established through the partnership between Warner Brothers and the China Film Group has already built over fifty locations, and it's currently expanding at a rate of five new theaters per month."

He suddenly extended an invitation. "Director Rosenberg, we've always maintained a close partnership. On behalf of the China Film Group, I would like to invite you to attend the China-US Film Forum held this November."

"I can't confirm my schedule right now."

Since the date was still a ways off, Duke couldn't be certain if he could make the trip, and he didn't want to agree rashly; it would be even more troublesome if he ended up unable to go.

"Mr. Han, I'll need some time before I can give you an answer," he said.

"I understand." Mountain Eagle laughed. "Director Rosenberg is a busy man."

He suddenly changed the subject. "Aside from your current work on Iron Man, I wonder what other future film projects Director Rosenberg has planned?"

Guessing at Mountain Eagle's intentions, Duke thought for a moment before saying, "For now, just the Batman sequel and a movie about robots."

"I wonder if Director Rosenberg has considered investments from China?" Mountain Eagle suddenly asked.

Duke didn't beat around the bush. He raised an eyebrow slightly. "Mr. Han, does the China Film Group intend to invest in my movies?"

Mountain Eagle nodded slowly. "We do indeed have that intention."

Ever since the China Film Group officially began importing Hollywood films, Duke's movies had been the most popular and best-selling titles in their market. By the turn of the century, a massive fanbase for Duke Rosenberg had emerged. The films he directed that were imported by the China Film Group almost always generated the highest box office revenues and the greatest profits among all imported films.

Capital, after all, was profit-driven, regardless of whether it came from the private sector or the government.

After considering it for a moment, Duke said, "Hollywood is all about international cooperation, and I personally don't reject investments from outside of Hollywood. But Mr. Han, you should go to Warner Brothers to discuss the specific terms."

Given the current state of affairs, Warner Brothers probably wouldn't outright refuse their investment. However, these foreign funds would likely only be entitled to a cut of the box office revenue; getting a slice of the merchandising pie was basically impossible.

Duke's attitude was clear: he neither rejected nor actively participated in the business side. He was solely responsible for making movies. And from the very beginning until now, aside from Independence Day being overly infused with Great Americanism and Chicago being relatively niche in subject matter, all of his other films had been imported by the China Film Group.

Relatively speaking, he was a director who maintained a very neutral attitude toward the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Importing films from a director like him undoubtedly saved the China Film Group a lot of political trouble as well.

Overall, the two parties had a rather pleasant conversation. This kind of partnership was inherently a process of seeking common ground while reserving differences. Duke would need the market across the Pacific Ocean in the future, and the China Film Group earned handsome profits by importing his films. This established a solid foundation for their cooperation.

"Director Rosenberg..."

Mountain Eagle couldn't stay for too long. Over half an hour later, he took his leave.

As he was departing, he said to Duke, "The China Film Group sincerely invites you to shoot a movie in our country. We also hope to see Chinese actors or behind-the-scenes crew members participate in a top-tier production helmed by a top-tier director like yourself."

Duke shook his hand. "There will definitely be opportunities for that in the future."

As soon as that market exploded, Duke wouldn't need them to say another word; he would naturally start casting a few Chinese actors in minor roles in his films.

For example, according to his plans, by the time Transformers hit theaters, the market across the Pacific Ocean would enter a phase of rapid development, and he fully intended to bring in a few actors from over there as appropriate.

Moreover, Transformers held extraordinary significance for many people across the Pacific Ocean. As long as it was managed well, it was bound to become a massively lucrative franchise. Optimus Prime and Megatron were indelible memories for countless people.

The difficulty of making this series was also relatively low. As long as the special effects were up to par and Optimus Prime and Megatron were always present, box office attendance would be guaranteed.

In Duke's view, for commercial reasons, Optimus Prime and Megatron would endlessly battle each other on the big screen. Even if they died, they could always be resurrected.

When the time was right, they could even cast an actor from across the ocean to serve as one of the franchise's main stars.

After seeing off Mountain Eagle and Xiao Liu, Duke returned to the living room and sat down on the sofa, still pondering his future plans. His schedule was already booked several years out, mostly with big-budget, large-scale commercial films. Shooting one movie a year was already pushing his limits.

As for the Oscar, ever since he won Best Director for The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King, Duke had stopped considering making a run for another Academy Award in his plans. Unless the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences changed its ways and stopped discriminating against commercial films, he would essentially have no shot at an Oscar.

However, Duke, knowing full well the Oscars' future trend toward increasingly niche films, knew that this possibility was infinitesimally small.

Though many people constantly criticized his completely commercialized filmmaking style, Duke knew exactly what he liked and what he needed. He wouldn't alter his carefully planned path just because of a few disparaging remarks.

It was just like what he had thought when he first entered Hollywood: if he didn't even like the movies he made, what would be the fun in making them?

Those dreary arthouse films might be synonymous with elegance or art in some people's eyes, but Duke knew full well that if he were forced to make such a movie, his sheer lack of interest would bore him to death, let alone the issues of style, concept, and technique.

For instance, there were rumors in the industry that a certain director he had once kicked out had won the admiration of certain people with his concept of filming a movie in a single continuous take, and had finally secured investment. But Duke didn't care in the slightest.

Perhaps that man would sweep the Oscars in the future, but what did it matter? Setting everything else aside, how many years had that director spent talking his head off just to scrape together a mere few million dollars in investment?

Time was precious. He wouldn't waste it on anything he deemed unworthy.