Chapter 735: Planning and Implementation

The restaurant wasn't crowded, and it was quiet. Gal Gadot had long since set down her knife and fork. Her delicate face was taut, her eyes burning as she stared at her agent.

She had only made it into Hollywood thanks to Natalie Portman's introduction. Natalie was her only friend in the industry.

Lips pressed tightly together, Gal Gadot hesitated. To betray her close friend like this...

"Gal, there are some things you need to think through!"

Blake was just an inconspicuous agent at William Morris. Gal Gadot was the client with the most potential in his hands, and she represented his hopes for the future.

"They aren't asking you to do much," he said. "All you have to do is promptly pass along updates regarding Natalie's PR campaign for Oscar Best Actress. In return, you'll get the absolute lead role in a major blockbuster with a budget of at least $150 million!"

Gal Gadot's eyes flickered...

"This isn't some marginalized minor role like in Fast & Furious, but the absolute lead." Seeing her reaction, Blake continued, "Furthermore, Nancy Josephson has already approached me. Whether Natalie Portman's push for Oscar Best Actress succeeds or fails, we can join ICM in the future, and ICM will treat you as a top-tier client!"

"Is it..." Gal Gadot finally spoke, whispering a name. "Is this his promise?"

Blake shook his head immediately. "Don't be silly, Gal. How could he personally get involved in something like this? But Nancy Josephson's promise is just as credible."

Gal Gadot slowly lowered her head, her tense expression gradually giving way to hesitation.

"Taking this step gives you the chance to become a superstar..." Blake continued to urge her. "Not just anyone in Hollywood comes across an opportunity like this."

Opportunities were always rare. In this industry, an opportunity was far more important than acting skills, and Gal Gadot knew this very well.

Was her friendship with Natalie Portman more important, or was taking a step toward becoming a superstar more important?

Gal Gadot slowly closed her eyes. 'This choice really isn't difficult at all, is it?'

The absolute lead in a major production worth over $150 million! A top-tier client at ICM!

These were things she could only dream of right now. Perhaps an opportunity like this would only come once in a lifetime. If she failed to grasp it, she would end up like most actresses in Hollywood, struggling to stay afloat in the industry...

She had come to Los Angeles from Israel, transitioning from modeling to acting. Wasn't it all just to become a superstar?

When she slowly opened her eyes, the hesitation on her face had vanished without a trace. She gave Blake a slow, firm nod.

Actually, taking this step wasn't very hard. She believed that anyone else in her position would make the exact same choice.

Gal Gadot told herself this as she walked out of the restaurant.

As for Natalie Portman's dream of winning Oscar Best Actress, what did that have to do with her? If Natalie won the Golden Statuette, it wouldn't be Gal who benefited!

With her resolve firmly set, Gal Gadot no longer hesitated.

At Malibu Harbor, The Duke sounded its horn and slowly sailed out of the coastal waters along the channel. On the yacht's spacious top deck, Sofia Coppola closed the script, looked out at the distant sea, and then looked at Duke.

With a slight nasal tone, she asked, "You want Scar to push for Oscar Best Actress with a film like this?"

Duke shrugged. "Why couldn't she?"

"This is a sci-fi movie!" Sofia pushed the script back in front of Duke. "How could that be possible?"

"If it were easy, I wouldn't have needed to bring you here." Duke curled his finger and tapped lightly on the script twice. "Besides, the sci-fi elements in the script aren't that strong."

If a movie like this could produce a Best Director, then minting a Best Actress wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility.

He then said to Sofia, "Scar still has her own advantages. She started out in art-house films, she's of Jewish descent herself, and she's famous enough..."

Sofia couldn't help but curl her lip. "How do those count as advantages?"

"Darling, Scar has known you since before she was ten, and you've always treated her like a little sister..." Duke spread his hands. "Are you really not going to help?"

"I personally don't have a problem with it, of course, but..." Sofia shook her head.

"That's fine. When I have time, I'll invite your father out for a round of golf." Duke looked at her. "When the time comes, you just need to put in a few good words among those voters of Italian descent."

"Alright." Sofia could only nod; after all, both Duke and Scarlett had deep ties with her. "I'll do my best."

Seeing Scarlett carrying a tray up the stairs to the deck, she added, "Don't forget Leonardo. He can help too."

"I already spoke to him when he came over to go fishing with me a few days ago."

Duke stood up, took the tray from Scarlett's hands, and placed the drinks and fruit in front of everyone. Scarlett plucked a grape, popped it into her mouth, and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Miss Scarlett Johansson's Oscar Best Actress campaign strategy!" Sofia Coppola teased.

Sitting down beside Duke, Scarlett said, "That's still a long way off. Isn't it a bit too early to be planning for that now?"

"For this sort of thing..." Duke placed the tray on the table behind him, then turned back. "The earlier we plan, the better we can shape a situation that favors us, and the greater our chances of success will be when the time comes."

Pushing for an Oscar was a very systematic project.

Since he had made up his mind to stop a certain someone from winning, Duke definitely had to formulate a meticulous plan and put it into action.

After cruising on the Pacific Ocean for two days, Duke took a helicopter off the yacht and flew back to Los Angeles alone. He was going to attend the North American premiere of Up.

The premiere for this animated feature was held at the Hollywood Chinese Theater, rather than the Los Angeles Dome Theater where Pixar Studio had previously held premieres for Ratatouille and Robot WALL-E.

Changing theaters, in a sense, also meant that Pixar Studio was ending the aloof, artistic route represented by Robot WALL-E and returning to the commercial mainstream.

For years, there had been an unwritten rule in Los Angeles: any film screened at the Hollywood Chinese Theater would not be shown at the Los Angeles Dome Theater.

The Hollywood Chinese Theater had always been synonymous with commercial films, while the Los Angeles Dome Theater was renowned for screening independent and art-house films. The two were distinctly separated.

Both Duke and Warner were happy to see this situation. They hadn't swallowed up Pixar Studio just to have them make award-bait films. Pixar Studio's prominence in Hollywood wasn't due to Robot WALL-E either, but because its animated movies could generate massive revenues, from box office sales to merchandise.

If Pixar Studio evolved into a studio that could only produce films like Robot WALL-E, it would be entirely meaningless to Duke and Warner.

In terms of personal taste, Duke liked Robot WALL-E far more than Cars, but from the perspective of practical needs, he hoped Pixar Studio could churn out more films like Cars.

This was business, and personal preferences could never serve as the standard for judgment.

This was an adventure comedy featuring two main characters: an elderly man and a child with boundless energy.

After going through many things together, they became friends. Due to their personality differences, they would bicker constantly, arguing as they ventured forth. This story brought laughter to the audience, and amid the lightheartedness, viewers could also feel the messages the film conveyed—such as courage, or just how precious beautiful memories were.

Up completely abandoned the aloof route. It had children and the elderly, generational gaps and reconciliation, dreams and disappointments.

Its structure wasn't actually complicated. The journey of two protagonists from opposition to reconciliation was a well-worn movie trope, and 3D technology made the animation look even better. Yet, the packaging and combination of these simple elements ultimately presented a film that was anything but simple.

During its eighty-four-minute runtime, the tear-jerking and hilarious adventure not only made the children laugh but also brought the accompanying adults to tears.

This movie contained the childhoods of adults.

Up pulled in nearly $70 million at the North American box office over its opening three-day weekend. In less than twenty days, it raked in $230 million in North America, absolutely making it one of the most outstanding money-making machines among animated films in recent years.

This film also pulled Pixar Studio out of its previous slump of critical acclaim without commercial success. The movie's immense popularity among the general public also guaranteed that more merchandise would be sold.

For Duke and Warner, this was Pixar Studio's greatest purpose.

Just like during Pixar Studio's earliest stages of development, they had invented all sorts of technologies but remained an ugly duckling. It wasn't until Toy Story snatched the annual North American box office championship in 1995 that they became a beautiful swan in the eyes of the public.

A Pixar Studio that couldn't turn a profit would never attract Hollywood's attention.

Meanwhile, the theatrical run for Fury Road was gradually coming to an end. Even as its director, Duke had to admit that while an R-Rated Film like this had received unanimous praise from both the media and audiences, its theatrical lifespan was far shorter than those massive hit PG or PG-13 films.

Fury Road's North American box office had now reached $256.23 million. Its theatrical market potential had been nearly exhausted, and the remaining screenings were just a routine harvesting of the few lingering moviegoers.

In the global market, the film's overseas and North American box office totals combined had broken the $600 million mark, reaching a staggering $621.55 million.

However, the overseas market faced the same situation as North America; achieving explosive box office growth again was already impossible.

Duke's attention also moved away from Fury Road, and he prepared to start pre-production on his new film, Inception.