Chapter 837: Jedi Knights Become Avengers

Since preparation for his new film wouldn't begin until July, Duke had plenty of free time after returning to Los Angeles from China. Even though The Avengers was still in theaters, Marvel Pictures and Warner Brothers couldn't wait to team up again to host a grand celebration party.

The party drew many well-known figures. Aside from Duke and the returning "Avengers" who had rushed back from all over, the retired George Lucas and James Cameron—fresh back from his deep-sea diving—also made appearances in the banquet hall.

"Duke."

"Hello, George."

Giving George Lucas a quick hug, Duke gestured toward a nearby chair.

"I heard you went on a trip around the world recently?" Duke asked.

"Yeah, it's been a long time since I've been this relaxed," George replied.

George Lucas was a smart man. Since he had chosen to step down from Lucasfilm, he simply left North America so as not to interfere with Duke and Katherine Kennedy's optimization of the company.

After exchanging only a few words, Duke steered the conversation toward preparations for the seventh installment of the Star Wars Series, which was already on the schedule.

"Are you interested in serving as a special consultant for the new Star Wars?" Duke asked. "Perhaps you could offer some advice."

"Forget it." George Lucas shook his head. "Duke, I really want to step away from commercial filmmaking."

"Alright then," Duke said.

Duke didn't push it. His offer had mostly been a courtesy. George Lucas excelled at building backgrounds and constructing worldviews, but he was clumsy when it came to handling details—something that had been thoroughly exposed throughout the Star Wars Series. Over the past thirty years, Star Wars had already formed a complete universe in the hearts of its fans. If the upcoming sequels were to maintain that success, optimizing those details was absolutely essential.

These details were precisely George Lucas's weakness.

They only chatted a little longer before a crowd wandered over and sat around them, discussing some of the industry's hot topics.

Duke then sought out James Cameron.

"How are the sequels coming along?" Duke asked. "Any ideas?"

Though they couldn't quite be called friends, collaborating on two super-blockbusters had allowed James Cameron and Duke to become well-acquainted. The director cracked a rare joke.

"I hope you have a massive check ready," Cameron said.

James Cameron was only ever concerned with technology and funding. Duke knew this perfectly well.

"I don't think anyone at Warner Brothers or Twentieth Century Fox will object," Duke replied.

Nor would Duke himself.

Following the massive success of Avatar, the production budget for the sequels would definitely increase. However, the promotional costs in the latter stages would be significantly reduced in return. All of those savings could be reallocated into the production budget.

Recently, quite a few individuals and companies had approached James Cameron. They all harbored the same intention: to secure his approval and join the Avatar sequel projects to grab a piece of the pie.

However, the former truck driver paid them no mind. Who knew if these new investors would end up becoming a hindrance?

According to the plan, four Avatar sequels would be shot back-to-back. Originally, when the first film was hot in theaters, James Cameron had solemnly promised the media and fans—mostly to drum up attention—that Avatar 2 would definitely be released in 2013.

But as of now, let alone the film, he hadn't even finished the script. The Avatar sequels were bound to be delayed.

Of course, industry insiders all knew that the words of many major directors on this topic couldn't be taken seriously; they were mostly just promotional tactics.

Across the Pacific Ocean, there was an idiom that "a person cannot stand without trust," but many major Hollywood directors continued to thrive in the film industry even after repeatedly breaking their promises. Therefore, that saying didn't necessarily apply to Hollywood—it all depended on who was doing the talking.

Ever since before Transformers 3 began filming, Michael Bay had declared that he would "never shoot another Transformers movie again." In the blink of an eye, Transformers 4 was about to start shooting, and the director was still Michael Bay. Though this time, he had added, "This is truly my final Transformers film."

Whether anyone else believed it or not, he certainly believed it himself.

The benefits of doing so were obvious: it garnered attention and pressured the producers, securing a better paycheck for himself.

Another increasingly fat director, Luc Besson, had announced to the world eight hundred years ago: "I will only direct ten films in my lifetime."

After finishing his ninth film, Luc Besson went on to direct the Arthur and the Minimoys animated trilogy, and after that... In short, he was already shooting his umpteenth film.

How should one put it? That idiom from across the ocean about "repeatedly breaking promises"—literally meaning to eat one's words and grow fat—had certainly come true for Luc Besson.

Another director who claimed he would wash his hands of the industry after ten films was Quentin Tarantino. Currently, Django Unchained was reportedly completed, and his next film, The Hateful Eight, already had a script outline. He considered that one to be his eighth film.

The problem was that the number of directorial works listed under the rogue Quentin's name had already surpassed ten... Of course, if Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 counted as a single film, and if you excluded co-directed works like Grindhouse with Robert Rodriguez, then Quentin hadn't technically broken his word.

One point worth noting was that Quentin Tarantino had shown obvious signs of gaining weight in recent years; he had indeed grown quite a bit fatter.

Another representative director whose "lips said no, but body was honest" was Ridley Scott. Unlike the others, Old Ridley didn't claim he would stop making movies. He had once stated that if there were Xenomorphs in Prometheus, he would "shoot himself."

Duke had watched an internal test screening at Twentieth Century Fox a while ago. In this life, the female lead of Prometheus had become Charlize Theron, but a Xenomorph had still made a flashy, albeit brief, cameo appearance.

As for Ridley Scott, not only had he not shot himself, but he was also preparing to bring the biblical "Exodus" back to the big screen.

Aside from these directors who constantly waffled about what they "would or wouldn't" do, there was another batch of directors with "terminal procrastination" who loved to test fans' patience over and over. They treated film production "deadlines" as if they didn't exist, and the most typical example among them was the "king of the world," James Cameron.

The release date for the Avatar sequel had shifted from 2013 to 2014, and then from 2014 to 2016. By the time the party ended, James Cameron sought Duke out to conclude that the sequel would have to be pushed to 2017 at the earliest. The film still couldn't start shooting anytime soon.

Originally, he had claimed he would build it into a tetralogy. A few days later, James Cameron consulted with Duke, Warner Brothers, and Twentieth Century Fox to change it to a trilogy. Earlier this year, he had claimed the script was finished, but now he had changed his tune, saying everything was ready except the script...

If the person negotiating with them wasn't named James Cameron, Duke, Warner Brothers, and Twentieth Century Fox would have absolutely kicked him to the ground and tossed him into the Pacific Ocean to feed the fish.

But what could they do? He was James Cameron, after all.

So, even now, Duke still couldn't be certain if 2017 would be the final release date for Avatar.

There had been a lot of messy business lately. Just after dealing with James Cameron, the "king of delays," Marvel Pictures CEO Kevin Feige and old man Stan Lee came knocking on his door together, proposing a highly unbelievable suggestion.

"Wait..." Duke said.

Even with Duke's trademark calmness and steadfastness, he suspected he was hallucinating after hearing their words.

"Could you repeat that?" he asked.

The reception room of Duke Manor fell completely silent. Scarlett Johansson, sitting beside Duke, and Tina Fey, who was participating in the meeting, were both looking at Kevin Feige and Stan Lee with looks of sheer disbelief, as if they were looking at aliens.

For those two to elicit such a reaction, their words had to have been truly shocking.

Stan Lee exchanged a glance with Kevin Feige before speaking again.

"Rumor has it that the new Star Wars sequel has already been put on the agenda by Lucasfilm," the old man said. "Kevin and I share a common thought: could Star Wars and Marvel be established within the same universe? Sometime in the future, the Avengers could fight side-by-side with the Skywalker Family, or Jedi Knights could become members of the Avengers."

Hearing this, Duke confirmed he wasn't hallucinating. Looking at Stan Lee and Kevin Feige, he silently marveled at the powerful, divergent thinking of these comic book professionals.

The suggestion seemed absurd, but after mulling it over, Duke realized it wasn't entirely unfeasible.

Just like Westerns and musicals, superhero movies would eventually face a day of decline. When that time came, what could be used to attract audiences? A crossover between the Avengers and the Skywalker Family might actually be a great idea.

Above all, it would allow them to develop new merchandise. If it succeeded, the merchandise alone would let him—the actual owner of Marvel Pictures and Lucasfilm—count money while lying down.

Of course, this could only be a long-term plan. It was far too early to implement it now.

"Tell you what, Kevin, Stan," Duke said.

After thinking for a moment, he continued, "Draft up a more comprehensive plan, then go to San Francisco and find Lucasfilm CEO Katherine Kennedy to discuss its specific feasibility. After that, establish a relevant file for it."

Jedi Knights wielding Lightsabers fighting side-by-side with Iron Man and Captain America... thinking about it was actually quite thrilling.

Although there would be some difficulties in truly implementing it, both companies belonged to the same boss, which undoubtedly provided the prerequisite conditions for collaboration. Moreover, Marvel possessed an ample sense of crisis awareness. They knew very well that superhero movies couldn't stay wildly popular forever. They hadn't let the success of The Avengers go to their heads, and were instead already considering future plans.

No matter how one looked at it, this was a good thing.

After seeing off Kevin Feige and Stan Lee, Duke had Tina Fey call and notify Katherine Kennedy, before turning his attention back to the market progress of The Avengers.