Chapter 713: Opening Film

A sudden knock on the door drew David Ellison's eyes away from his monitor. After he called to come in, his assistant hurried inside.

"Boss..." The assistant placed a document on David Ellison's desk. "Warner Brothers just announced the release date for Fury Road. In North America, it will hit theaters on May 22nd for this year's summer season."

David Ellison flipped open the document, glanced at it, and asked, "Are you sure they're going to the Cannes Film Festival?"

The assistant nodded. "Yes, I've already confirmed it with the Cannes Film Festival organizers. Fury Road will be participating in the competition section."

"This doesn't seem like Duke Rosenberg's style." David frowned.

After thinking for a moment, he waved his assistant off. "You can go."

Once the assistant left the office, David Ellison's gaze fell back onto the document in front of him. Duke Rosenberg was actually entering the competition section at the Cannes Film Festival. What on earth was he thinking? Had the whole world changed?

As far as he knew, Duke Rosenberg was the quintessential director of big-budget commercial blockbusters. His films were the exact type that the European Three Major Film Festivals naturally rejected. Moreover, this movie had a massive production budget of 120 million dollars. What was such a massive production doing at the Cannes Film Festival?

Harboring these doubts, David Ellison left his office and headed to Disney Studios in Burbank, where he found Spielberg busy with post-production on The Adventures of Tintin. Unlike David Ellison, Spielberg was highly experienced with an extremely extensive network of connections. He was well-informed, and by piecing together the bits of news he had received, he had quickly drawn his own conclusion.

"From what I recall, Duke has absolutely no interest in European cinema or the European Three Major Film Festivals."

Sitting at a break table, Spielberg sipped his coffee as he spoke to David Ellison. "Entering the competition section at the Cannes Film Festival must be Warner Brothers' doing. Their goal is definitely to further promote the movie."

"Aren't the current promotional methods enough?" David Ellison frowned once again. "Duke Rosenberg's work naturally attracts the attention of the media and the fans."

"I've heard people mention it before. Fury Road is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland future."

Recalling the news he had heard, Spielberg spoke at a leisurely pace. "This genre has a relatively smaller audience, especially overseas. That's why Warner Brothers has to brainstorm more ways to promote it."

"A smaller audience..." David Ellison couldn't help but smile. "Can we still register for the Cannes Film Festival right now?"

"Attend the Cannes Film Festival?" Spielberg shook his head. "There's no need."

Although he was an investor for the film, David Ellison still had to respect Spielberg's opinion to a certain extent. He wasn't actually all that interested in the Cannes Film Festival anyway, so seeing Spielberg's opposition, he simply dropped the idea.

"Steven..." David Ellison added, "I want to release The Adventures of Tintin on May 22nd."

Spielberg looked up at him. "On the exact same day as Fury Road?"

David Ellison had no intention of denying it. "I want to compete with Duke Rosenberg head-on. Steven, everyone out there is saying you're old now, that you can't keep up with the younger generation. Don't you want to prove yourself?"

Sometimes, the simplest methods were the most effective.

There was no personal conflict between Spielberg and Duke. Market competition, however, had nothing to do with personal feelings. Even with his status and position, he had to defer to his investors' wishes to some extent—especially since David Ellison was currently the primary financial backer for the entirety of DreamWorks.

Besides, he had never once believed that he was old or outdated...

"David..." Spielberg said solemnly, "You need to understand that when two movies compete, it's not just a contest of film quality!"

Having worked in the industry for so many years, there was no way Spielberg wouldn't understand this. There were simply too many factors that could influence a movie's success or failure. The quality of the film was just one piece of the puzzle; distribution and promotion were often even more critical than the movie itself.

David Ellison understood this as well, which was why he stated directly, "Steven, I will put up a sum equal to the production budget purely to promote The Adventures of Tintin!"

Since the other party was willing to invest so much money, Spielberg couldn't really say much else. After thinking it over, he nodded and agreed.

After all, he hadn't invested any of his own money into the film. Even if its box office returns couldn't match Fury Road, it wouldn't impact his standing in Hollywood.

As for what David Ellison was thinking, that was outside his realm of concern.

A major blockbuster would always draw the attention and schemes of many people. The personnel at Warner Brothers were also hard at work on the film's upcoming promotion and distribution.

Jamie Jensen hurried down the corridor and entered CEO Doug Walter's office.

Doug Walter had his secretary bring in a cup of coffee and asked, "How did the press conference go?"

"Very smoothly." Jamie Jensen took a seat across from his desk. "Duke's movies naturally attract media attention. Plus, we have Charlize Theron and Tom Cruise—a cast like that is eye-catching enough."

"And the shooting progress?" Doug Walter asked.

"The crew returned to Los Angeles from New Mexico the day before yesterday. They're currently on a break."

Accepting the coffee from the secretary, Jamie Jensen thanked her before continuing, "Starting tomorrow, the crew will assemble at Warner Studios to shoot the final soundstage scenes."

Doug Walter nodded. It seemed certain that filming would finish on schedule, which meant it was time for marketing and distribution to ramp up their efforts.

"How are the talks with the Cannes Film Festival going?" he asked.

"It's already been confirmed for the competition section..."

Jamie Jensen furrowed his brows slightly. "But if we want it to be the opening film, we'll need to put in a lot more effort."

"Have the French branch step up their PR," Doug Walter instructed. "No matter what, we have to secure the opening film slot."

Although the Cannes Film Festival had a lukewarm reception in North America, it still wielded considerable influence overseas. Entering Fury Road into Cannes was squarely aimed at the international market.

"I'll make a trip to France myself." Jamie Jensen took this extremely seriously. "I've also scheduled a meeting with Isabelle Huppert. I'm going to have a good talk with her."

Isabelle Huppert was the jury president of this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Both Jamie Jensen and Doug Walter were well aware that they had to do all the groundwork upfront to even have a shot at winning the Palme d'Or.

For a movie like Fury Road, the Palme d'Or would be massively beneficial.

Neither of them was the least bit worried about sparking media speculation regarding backroom deals. Warner Brothers' intent was simply to get more people interested in the movie. Even if the media ruthlessly bashed it and ignited a massive controversy, it would still tempt a substantial number of moviegoers to see it for themselves.

"Winning a few major awards and drawing the ire of the European media actually falls right in line with our expectations..."

Inside the soundstage, Duke was discussing Fury Road's upcoming trip to Cannes with Tina Fey, Anna Printz, Charles Roven, and the others. "The media outlets under Time Warner possess significant influence, and they will inevitably strike back," he said. "Plus, don't forget, the North American media and the European media have never exactly seen eye to eye..."

Tina Fey picked up where Duke left off. "With your influence across America, if the European media furiously bashes you, the mainstream North American media will definitely side with you. Then a war of public opinion will break out between the two sides, making Fury Road the center of attention."

"That's only the most ideal scenario."

Without a doubt, this was exactly what Duke wanted to see. "No one can guarantee that Fury Road will definitely win an award."

Although there was generally room to maneuver behind the scenes for awards in the film industry, actually winning one was never a sure thing.

If Fury Road wanted to achieve stellar commercial results, they undoubtedly had to come up with more angles for their promotional campaign.

Just as Duke had said, sparking a war of public opinion across the Atlantic Ocean was merely the most ideal scenario in their plans.

Glancing at his wristwatch, Duke was the first to stand up. Clapping his hands, he announced, "It's about that time. Get ready to start rolling. Let's finish this last shot as quickly as we can."

There was only one shot left now. After today, the crew could temporarily disband as the project shifted into post-production.

Leaving the rest area, Duke walked onto the set that was currently being arranged and nodded at Anthony Hopkins, who was walking toward him. The veteran actor had already finished his makeup. Not only was his sore-covered body deathly pale, but he also wore a sinister-looking respirator over his mouth. He looked absolutely terrifying.

In truth, the villain in this movie was a highly stylized archetype.

After doing a lap around the set, Duke arrived in front of the green screen. The final shot would be filmed right here. It was the scene where Immortan Joe released the water at the beginning of the movie. And in the background behind him, the most eye-catching element was a model of the Capitol Building.

This was a prop Duke had specifically added to subtly indicate that the story still took place on American soil. It wasn't just the model of the Capitol Building; previously filmed shots had also featured a model of the Washington Monument.

The North American film market was incredibly insular. Duke simply wanted North American audiences to realize the moment they saw the movie that this was a story set in their own country.

Returning behind the director's monitors, Duke raised his megaphone. "Final scene! Action!"

Facing the green screen, Anthony Hopkins placed his hands on the massive metal valves. He stared straight ahead with a commanding, condescending gaze, and then he pulled the valves open...

With that, filming came to an end. It had taken just over sixty days for Duke to complete every single shot. The total runtime of all this footage exceeded 200 hours, which turned the post-production editing into an incredibly massive and complex undertaking.