Chapter 89: Why Refuse

"Tom, what do you think of these two roles?"

Sitting in the reception room of the Cruise mansion, Pat Kingsley didn't touch the coffee Nicole Kidman had served. "Fox also hopes a star with your box office appeal will appear in Independence Day."

"One of them is a black character." Tom Cruise didn't hide his disgust. "And the President has too little screen time. I can't play a supporting role."

"Besides, this is a Duke Rosenberg film!" That last sentence represented his truest thoughts.

"Interview with the Vampire and The Rock were just normal business competition!"

Pat Kingsley felt a headache coming on. Although Cruise was her biggest client, he was also the most troublesome. "There is no personal conflict between you two! Tom, Duke Rosenberg is clearly on a rapid rise. He's a red-hot director in Hollywood right now. Paramount and Walt Disney both tried to get in on the investment for Independence Day, and Warner and Fox are projecting a North American box office of 200 million dollars for this film!"

"Don't tell me you don't understand the benefits a movie like this could bring you!" Kingsley emphasized. "You still don't have a movie with a North American box office over 200 million! I went to great lengths to get the character scripts from Twentieth Century Fox and secure some people's support!"

"Maybe he'll fail..." Tom Cruise seemed to be thinking.

Ignoring Cruise's muttering, Pat Kingsley turned to look the other way. "Mary, what about you? What do you think of the script and the role?"

"This... this White House Spokesperson," Nicole Kidman said after a moment's thought. "Although she has a fair amount of screen time, it's basically an eye-candy role."

"Mary, even though you've successfully entered Hollywood, you don't have a single standout work," Pat Kingsley said simply. "You need a blockbuster movie to back you up and secure your position in Hollywood."

"I understand."

This smart woman knew very well how to weigh her options. "Pat, try your best to get it."

"Tom, what about you?" Pat Kingsley turned back around. Cruise nodded with a look of reluctance. "Do as you see fit."

'Although this guy is blindly arrogant and sometimes acts like a fool, he isn't completely hopeless yet!' Pat Kingsley thought as she left Tom Cruise's mansion.

Right at the start of September, with the establishment of Independence Day Studio in Burbank as the project's shell company, pre-production for Independence Day officially kicked off. Although the producers, Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox, mobilized their own media outlets and those of their parent conglomerates to drum up hype for the 100-million-dollar super blockbuster, Duke politely declined many public media events. Instead, he poured all his energy into the film's early preparations.

He now had the capital to bargain with the production companies. While he couldn't just quietly start shooting the way James Cameron always did, he didn't want his attention scattered by too many outside forces. A director was not a celebrity, and there was no such thing as staying popular despite producing terrible work; ultimately, he had to let the outstanding quality of his productions speak for him.

"Some very interesting news."

Sofia Coppola's flat, nasal voice drifted down the corridor of Independence Day Studio, accompanied by the clacking of her high heels. "Twentieth Century Fox recommended Tom Cruise and his wife to star in this movie together."

"What?" Duke didn't stop walking as he turned to look at Sofia. "Does CAA want to do another package deal?"

"No..." Sofia trailed right behind him. "Just the two of them, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman."

With that, she handed the latest documents over to Duke. He slowed down slightly, skimmed through them, and only then pushed open the conference room door and walked in.

This was the crew's pre-production meeting. Almost everyone who filed into the room was a familiar face: Warner Brothers' representative Jeff Robinov, Twentieth Century Fox's Tim Fisher, the financial supervisor from the third-party guarantor National AIA Company, and so on.

Then there were the core members of the crew: first production manager Charles Roven, second production manager Robin Grande, executive producer Jon Landau, assistant director Zack Snyder, director of photography John Schwartzman, art director Hannah Selina, pyrotechnics head Joss William, and the head of the special effects team from Industrial Light and Magic...

As for the effects team from Industrial Light and Magic in particular, Duke had personally called George Lucas to bring in Stan Winston, the premier model master in all of Hollywood, to build the alien spacecraft and alien models for the film. Getting him wasn't easy; it wasn't just a matter of salary, but also involved cashing in some favors.

As for why he invited him, one only needed to look at the last two films where Stan Winston oversaw the special effects models—Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park—to understand Duke's intent.

Special effects would take up the bulk of the investment and be the film's largest expense. Duke had asked for 100 million dollars, and while the two companies had temporarily only granted a budget of 90 million, that was still over 10 million higher than the original timeline's budget. Duke fully intended to pour this extra money into the visual effects. The version of Independence Day he remembered had a somewhat lower investment, so it relied on practical models and in-camera effects without sufficient CG refinement, which made some scenes look rather mediocre.

Judging purely by special effects, the Independence Day that had come out years later was clearly a notch below Jurassic Park.

Therefore, Duke didn't plan to spend too much money on the cast at all.

"I don't agree with inviting Tom Cruise."

When the discussion shifted to the cast, Duke outright rejected Fox's suggestion. "First, I don't have that much of an acting budget. Second, Cruise doesn't fit the role of a mature, wise President. Third, the other protagonist is a black man..."

"We can just change the character settings," Tim Fisher's assistant suddenly chimed in.

"Settings for the other actors can be adjusted appropriately." Duke shot a cold glare in that direction. "But skin color and ethnicity are absolutely not up for revision!"

Some things didn't need to be spelled out too clearly. In the settings for Independence Day, the one who discovered the alien signal was of Jewish descent, the man who perished alongside the alien ship was Latino, the Air Force hero was a black man, and the President was a textbook white man, alongside others of Asian, Slavic, and various descents. Duke didn't believe these veteran industry insiders couldn't see the reasoning and benefits behind such an arrangement.

"Of course, if Tom Cruise can accept a salary under five million dollars, I have no objections," Duke added.

If Tom was truly willing to give up a high salary to star, Duke would welcome him with open arms. The funding he had fought so hard to secure was meant to bolster the special effects, not to pad someone's paycheck.

"Duke," Tim Fisher said with a frown, "Tom Cruise's box office appeal is unquestionable."

"Tim, I think everyone here knows very well that the film's biggest selling points are the special effects, the explosions, and the epic scale." Duke slightly softened his tone; he didn't want to make things too tense with the investors either. "The star's draw will actually be diminished to a bare minimum! Also..."

Thinking for a moment, Duke continued, "Nicole Kidman is also interested in this film, and the two of them are absolutely not suitable to appear in the same movie together."

It might not be very obvious right now, but the Hollywood of the future held a consensus: production companies would do their best to stop married couples or even lovers from starring in the same film, as such movies almost always turned into box office poison.

To be exact, Duke wanted to outright reject Nicole Kidman as well. He knew North American audiences had never really bought into the Australian actress. Aside from the sympathy she garnered during a certain specific period, she was arguably the biggest box office poison among actresses of her tier.

However, since he had already firmly rejected Tom Cruise, Duke didn't want to make Fox look too bad. At worst, he would just send out an audition invitation for now and then directly cut Nicole Kidman later.

Although Fox didn't explicitly withdraw their recommendation for Tom Cruise, Warner Brothers consistently stood by Duke's side, so the matter ultimately had to be dropped.

Next, they discussed other preliminary work such as set design, props, special effects production, and intended filming locations. The crew members with a voice at the table also pitched a few of their favored actors for auditions.

Duke specifically highlighted Will Smith. Even though the black actor was a Grammy-winning rapper, he was still a rookie in the film industry looking to branch out. A six-figure salary would be enough to secure him. Even if his acting was terrible, it would be plenty for a movie like Independence Day.

As for the rest, aside from recommending his temporary bedmate Naomi Watts for the White House Spokesperson, Duke largely kept quiet. As long as the actors' skills reached the baseline—or weren't too far off it—it really wouldn't affect the film much.

"One last thing."

Just as the meeting was adjourning, Duke realized he had almost overlooked an important aspect. "I need the Pentagon's support! Please contact the Department of Defense and the White House!"

For this type of film, lacking the sponsorship and support of the White House and the Pentagon would definitely incur a massive extra expense. Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox naturally had no reason to refuse.

"Duke, after the signing ceremony tomorrow, there will be a party."

As he walked out of the conference room, Charles Roven chased after him. "This is a crucial part of the film's early promotion. I trust you won't be absent."

He kept his eyes glued to Duke, seemingly waiting for a promise.

Although the director's contract had been officially signed the day before yesterday, the producers were still planning to hold a signing ceremony akin to a press conference to promote the film.

"Don't worry." Duke gave a slight nod. "Once the signing is over, I'll attend the party on time!"