Chapter 861: Adorable Machine God

"I was completely blown away by James's performance."

Walking out of the Warner Building, Duke stood beside James Franco. As the reporters swarmed them, he offered a few brief remarks.

"We rehearsed, of course, but it wasn't until I saw James in the actual scene for the first time that I realized just how incredible his performance was. It was truly unprecedented."

This was all for the sake of promotion, though Duke genuinely liked the witty James Franco.

"We worked together on Inception, so I know how exceptionally talented he is," Duke added. "When it came time to cast The Dark Knight Rises, I immediately thought of him."

When the reporters turned to James Franco, he played along perfectly.

"Working with Duke is incredibly inspiring," he said. "I'm thrilled that he reached out to work with me again, especially to cast me in Batman. I've always been a massive fan. I've seen every past Batman project."

"James, we hear you're filming a new project?" A reporter then turned to Duke. "And rumor has it that you highly recommended it."

"That's right," James Franco answered first. "It's a comedy I'm co-starring in with Seth Rogen."

Duke added, his tone slightly formulaic, "James isn't just an actor; he's brimming with creative talent. I really appreciate that side of him, so I simply passed along a recommendation to Warner Brothers."

Saying even these few words in front of the Warner Building only drew more reporters to the growing crowd. Duke's bodyguards immediately stepped up, carving a path through the throng of journalists. Shooting James Franco a glance, Duke took the lead, breaking through the press and ducking into his waiting car. Franco showed no intention of leaving; his new project had already started filming and was slated for a year-end release. It was exactly the time he needed all the promotional hype he could get.

The car had barely started when Scarlett, sitting beside him, began to complain.

"Honey, why on earth are you supporting James Franco's project?"

As a political activist herself, Scarlett Johansson could naturally foresee the fallout a project named The Interview would bring.

In the passenger seat, Tina Fey turned her head as well.

"It really doesn't fit your usual style."

A movie taking a so-called righteous stance to openly assassinate a country's leader—even a nation as universally despised as North Korea—was bound to stir up a massive storm.

Duke knew this perfectly well, yet he still chose to support James Franco.

"I made this choice after careful consideration, of course." A thoughtful look flashed through Duke's eyes. "If the benefits didn't outweigh the drawbacks, why would I ever back this project?"

Scarlett knew exactly what kind of man her boyfriend was. Aside from treating the people close to him exceptionally well, he was absolutely and utterly profit-driven. In her view, it was exactly this philosophy that had brought Duke to where he was today.

Looking at all the successful people across America, who among them wasn't driven by profit?

Still, she felt this particular matter was ill-considered.

"I just don't see where the profit lies," she said. "A comedy that uses toilet humor as its main selling point... even if it's a massive hit, the profits couldn't possibly exceed 100 million dollars."

Tina Fey chimed in.

"We'd be lucky if it makes 50 million dollars. Plus, you're just a major shareholder of Warner Brothers. The dividends that actually reach your hands would be 10 million dollars at most."

Never mind Duke, even Tina Fey didn't think that amount of money was anything special.

Duke looked at Scarlett first, then glanced at Tina Fey before slowly spitting out a single word.

"China."

China?

Tina Fey and Scarlett both frowned. The difference was that the latter, having always actively participated in political activities, possessed a much sharper political sense.

Scarlett asked tentatively, "Are you trying to make your stance clear?"

Duke gave a slight nod, while Tina Fey looked at Scarlett in confusion.

"He visits China too frequently, and he's gotten far too close to their state media and certain government departments," Scarlett said, having figured it out following Duke's hint. "Actually, plenty of people in political circles and high society have already started talking about Duke..."

Tina Fey's mind finally turned that corner as well.

"Duke is currently the most representative figure of American culture. Getting too cozy with the Chinese side will indeed cause some problems," she said.

Politics had never been far removed from Hollywood. Unlike James Cameron, Duke was born in California and raised in Los Angeles. In the eyes of some, he was the quintessential native-born American. Furthermore, a twenty-year directing career had amassed a cumulative box office of over ten billion dollars, granting him unparalleled influence across the globe.

If such a figure were to sympathize with or validate certain ideologies, it would inevitably spark trouble. To say it would cause a nationwide uproar wouldn't be an exaggeration.

True, modern society was much more open than before, but ideology had always remained a massive issue, on par with religion and race.

In some ways, Duke attaching his name to the producer credits of The Interview was his way of demonstrating a specific stance to mainstream American society.

Of course, this stance was mostly focused squarely on North Korea. He certainly had no intention of abandoning the Chinese market.

The Interview was, after all, a low-budget production. It wouldn't be easy to generate a sensational impact. Upon returning to the villa at Duke Manor, Duke called Tina Fey into the study. He solemnly went over a few matters with her, instructing her to personally speak with Doug Walter and Jamie Jensen.

"Wait, Tina."

Just as Tina Fey was about to leave the study, Duke stopped her again.

"Remember to notify the people at Warner Brothers. Tighten the security for the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises."

He vaguely remembered that a severe incident had occurred during a screening of this film.

However, the film would be released in over 4,400 theaters across North America. These theater chains were all independent companies; even if he wanted to do something, there was nowhere for him to intervene.

How could theater companies possibly allow an outsider to interfere with their normal operations?

The only thing Duke could do was bolster security at the premiere. He honestly couldn't remember whether the incident had happened at the premiere or in some other theater.

As long as nothing went wrong at the premiere, everything else would be manageable.

Tina Fey gave a light nod.

"Warner Brothers has already hired two professional security firms. I'll communicate with Jamie Jensen about it again."

The study door was pulled open and then quietly clicked shut. Scarlett Johansson, who had been sitting to the side in silence this whole time, couldn't help but ask curiously, "Honey, what are you worried about?"

"Just taking precautions," Duke said with a soft sigh.

Heath Ledger's death had undoubtedly turned the Joker into a myth, spawning a massive horde of fanatical fans in the process. Duke was genuinely a bit worried that certain individuals might take their fanaticism too far. If they were to imitate the Joker's actions...

The consequences would simply be unimaginable.

With so many moviegoers across America, Duke didn't have any better solutions aside from taking appropriate preventive measures. He couldn't exactly interrogate every audience member who bought a ticket for The Dark Knight Rises, could he? If he did that, The Dark Knight Rises would surely flop hard.

Shaking his head, Duke dismissed the thoughts crowding his mind and stood up.

"Let's go down and have dinner," he said.

Scarlett shrugged, walking over to link her arm through his. Together, they left the study, headed down the stairs, and strolled toward the dining room.

For the past year, Duke had been strictly adhering to a diet formulated by his nutritionist. Whether it was just a psychological effect or the result of resuming his fitness routine, he felt that his body was in much better shape than before. His sleep quality, in particular, had improved immensely.

Dinner consisted mainly of vegetables and fish. Neither Duke nor Scarlett ate very much. Afterward, Duke returned to his study to review the latest Star Wars Series reboot plan sent over by Lucasfilm.

By now, Katherine Kennedy had flown to China for the second time to promote and popularize the Star Wars Series in the world's second-largest film market. After over a year of adjustments, Lucasfilm had also begun drafting specific plans for the new Star Wars. However, the script outlines they had written had been repeatedly vetoed by Duke.

These script outlines were all very creative and innovative, but they failed to win Duke's approval. He was well aware that the first movie of the Star Wars reboot was of monumental importance; it directly tied into the entire series of plans moving forward. So-called creativity and innovation were practically synonymous with risk. What the new Star Wars premiere installment needed wasn't novelty, but stability and conservatism.

The newly delivered plan was vetoed by Duke yet again. He decided to arrange a meeting with the relevant executives at Lucasfilm before The Dark Knight Rises premiered, intending to tell them to directly borrow the characters and settings from the original movie and draft the outline and character concepts with a nostalgic style.

The influence of the Star Wars Series in North America—and indeed throughout the entire Western world—could only be described as unbelievable. Duke understood this perfectly. The first installment of the new Star Wars inevitably had to cater first to the North American market and its audience, and only then to other overseas markets.

As for the Chinese market, he could only say they would do their best to lay the groundwork. Whether it could explode in popularity the way films like Transformers or Avatar had, Duke honestly didn't have much confidence.

However, he wouldn't change the concept and direction of the first new Star Wars movie because of that. Whether in terms of market volume or revenue share, North America remained the number one film market in the world today.

Then there was the merchandise. Looking at it through modern eyes, R2D2, the adorable god of a previous generation, had undeniably grown a bit old. While it could certainly evoke nostalgia for many, securing a bountiful harvest in merchandise required new growth points. Adding a new generation of an adorably cute machine god was undoubtedly the most suitable choice.

Thinking of this, Duke picked up a pen and, in his reply letter to Lucasfilm, sketched out the shape of a robot made of two stacked parts, one large and one small.

However, Duke's drawing skills were incredibly average; he could only produce something conceptual. The specific review and design work still had to be handed over to the professional engineers at Lucasfilm.

After working for half the night, Duke went to the lounge and chatted for a while with Scarlett Johansson, who was studying the new material sent over by Luc Besson. And so, an ordinary day passed by.

As the release date approached, the pre-sale operations for The Dark Knight Rises gradually rolled out. Meanwhile, after being screened for nearly a year, The Avengers had essentially concluded its theatrical run in North America and overseas.