This delegation from across the Pacific stayed in Los Angeles and New York for a total of one week before leaving North Arica. According to the PR departnts of Ti Warner and News Corporation, after gaining an understanding of Disney’s current situation and thanks to the efforts of both companies the delegation is now leaning more toward Warner Fox World.
However, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox aren’t letting their guard down. As long as there’s no written agreent, there’s still a possibility that things might change.
No one underestimates Walt Disney and Michael Eisner’s capabilities especially the latter. During his tenure, he turned a film company primarily focused on animation into the dia conglorate it is today, which is proof enough of his skill.
As for that eting with the "Zhu Shandaigo," Duke believed that, with his fa and influence, along with the relatively neutral stance of his films and his occasionally displayed friendly attitude, his future productions should have no issue entering that market he might even enjoy the sa treatnt as Nicolas Cage.
Speaking of Nicolas Cage, Duke still couldn’t figure out why films starring this actor no matter how terrible could always get imported by the China Film Group?
The guy really wasn’t doing well these days. His financial situation was so bad even Sofia Coppola was a little concerned.
"Though he hasn’t declared bankruptcy yet, he’s not far from it."
Sitting beneath a beachside café’s parasol, Sofia Coppola slowly sipped her coffee and said to Duke, "You should be careful too, Duke. Nicolas was ruined by his financial agent and accountant."
Resting his hands on the armrests of the rattan chair, Duke said, "You know —I don’t trust people easily."
Sophia turned to look at Duke’s side. "What about Scarlett?"
She was clearly joking. Scarlett pursed her lips. "Duke trusts you way more than he trusts ."
Duke didn’t respond to the two won’s words and took the initiative to change the subject. "Has Marie Antoinette finished shooting?"
"All done," Sofia Coppola picked up the coffee pot, refilled Duke and Scarlett’s cups, and said, "Only post-production remains. It should be ready in ti for this year’s Cannes Film Festival."
She suddenly thought of sothing and asked, "I heard you turned down the invitation to be jury president at Cannes last year?"
"I was really busy," Duke shrugged casually, "Besides, I don’t like the films in the competition section. If I were jury president, the final Pal d’Or list would probably be blank."
"You misunderstood Sophia’s aning," Scarlett seed to be in the know, "If you were jury president, wouldn’t Marie Antoinette have the Pal d’Or in the bag this year?"
After saying that, both she and Sofia Coppola burst into laughter.
Although it was a joke, all film festival juries have personal biases. For instance, when Quentin Tarantino was jury president at Cannes, his close friend Michael Moore walked away with the Pal d’Or.
In fact, European film festivals are no more fair than the Oscars. With fewer jurors and more power concentrated in the jury president’s hands, they’re arguably less transparent than the Oscars, which at least divides up the spoils openly.
"Are you planning to stick to the artistic route?"
After a few laughs, Duke shifted the conversation back to business and asked Sofia Coppola, "Not considering a move into comrcial films?"
Sofia Coppola raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a suitable project?"
"How about a female-led superhero film?" Duke turned and looked at Scarlett, half-joking and half-serious, "Like a film about Natasha Romanoff, the agent."
Hearing Duke’s words, Scarlett imdiately perked up and said eagerly, "Sophia, we’ve known each other for years. I’ve always wanted to work with you again."
"Are you sure?" Sophia looked at Duke with a slight smile. "Aren’t you afraid I’ll ss it up? I’d need at least a hundred million dollars."
"But not right now," Duke shook his head, "The timing’s not right. It’ll have to wait a few years."
Right now, making a superhero film with a completely female lead would still be too risky.
"I’m going to the restroom." Scarlett Johansson stood up and temporarily left.
Watching Scarlett’s back, Sofia Coppola suddenly asked Duke, "You’re serious, aren’t you? Scarlett’s a good girl."
"I know Scarlett better than you do."
Duke also looked in the direction Scarlett had left. People grow up in different environnts, which shapes different personalities. Influenced by her mother, Scarlett was indeed a good girl very different from the Black Widow she once played.
Of course, Duke wasn’t the type to hold the won around him to the standards of a moral purist. It was already the 21st century, after all.
"I rember the last ti we talked on the phone, you ntioned sothing," Sofia wisely avoided ddling in Duke’s private life and turned to another topic, "You’re negotiating with Google. Are you planning to sell your shares in Instant Share?"
"I am considering it," Duke nodded.
Sophia was a little puzzled and asked in confusion, "Isn’t the outside world quite optimistic about this company? Although I’m not particularly fond of Ivanka Trump, she does seem like a competent manager, at least compared to you."
"You don’t know the full picture." Duke thought for a mont and then said concisely, "Wall Street has placed a high valuation on the company, but so far, Instant Share hasn’t generated real profits, and according to my estimation, it won’t be profitable for a long ti."
That was only part of the reason. Duke’s negotiations with Google were about a stock swap. Although Google’s shares wouldn’t bring dividends either, from a value-preservation perspective, they were far less risky than the company he and Ivanka Trump had built.
Besides, if Google completed the acquisition of Instant Share, Donald Trump would no longer have a chance to interfere in it.
Duke had never been soone particularly magnanimous.
"What were you two talking about?" Scarlett Johansson returned at this point, sat down next to Duke, and curiously asked, "You looked like you were having a great ti."
"The great director Rosenberg..." Sofia Coppola deliberately adopted a teasing tone, "is planning a grand business sche."
At that, she glanced at her watch, then stood up and said to Scarlett, "It’s about ti, let’s go shopping."
"Sure." Scarlett walked over and took Sofia’s arm.
Just as they were about to leave, Sofia Coppola seed to rember sothing and said to Duke, "If there’s a suitable opportunity, help Nicolas out."
Sofia had rarely ever asked him for anything, so Duke slowly nodded. "I got it."
Watching Scarlett and Sofia walk away, Duke sat in the rattan chair, considering how to lend a hand to Sofia’s cousin.
The debts Nicolas Cage had racked up ant nothing to him, but paying them off for the man would be a truly foolish move.
A forr A-list star, regardless of acting skill, could only rely on market response to roles and projects to determine his standing. In Hollywood, that standing directly translated to how much he could be paid.
In the past, Nicolas Cage had been so desperate to pay off his debts that he stopped caring about the quality of the roles and projects, signing contracts indiscriminately. When those films hit theaters, most bombed at the box office and were trashed by critics. A poorly received project directly reduced his pay. With less inco, Nicolas Cage had to take on more low-quality work to make ends et...
As a result, the films continued to flop, and his pay kept shrinking, forming a vicious cycle.
For Sofia Coppola’s sake, the best way to help Nicolas Cage bounce back was to give him a chance to rise again. As long as the role and film received a strong market response, his future pay would be secured.
There wasn’t much more Duke could do. The best he could offer was to work with Nicolas Cage again at the right ti.
Later this year, he’d be preparing for The Dark Knight. If Nicolas Cage could pass the audition and et his basic requirents, there was a role in the film that could suit him.
This forr Oscar winner had always carried a distinctly ambiguous quality when playing a good guy, he looked born for the role; when cast as a villain, he could make audiences grit their teeth in hatred.
The Dark Knight needed exactly that kind of actor soone who could convincingly play both hero and villain.
As Iron Man entered the final stages of post-production, Duke naturally turned his attention to prepping The Dark Knight. Charles Roven’s assistant had gone to Australia to et with Heath Ledger and his agent, while the scriptwriters at Duke’s studio had already completed a version of the Joker’s script. This crazy role would surely attract many ambitious actors.
After spending a little more ti by the beach, Duke called over his bodyguard and asked for his car. He returned to Burbank. Although it was the weekend, the special effects team—made up of Industrial Light & Magic, Weta Workshop, and the Visual Effects Studio—had decided to keep working overti to et the deadline.
Since there wasn’t anything else pressing, Duke headed to the Warner Bros. lot to take a look.
"Duke, you got here just in ti,"
As soon as he walked into the VFX room, Phil Sanders greeted him and said, "Anna just left for the Warner Building, and we need soone to decrypt the full version of the digital copy."
Ever since The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Duke had basically given up on shooting with film, switching to the more convenient digital format. He no longer stored reels or editing copies in bank vaults like before, but the digital versions were still under strict security. Opening them required two people with different passwords to decrypt.
It wasn’t that Duke was being overly cautious there had been far too many incidents of leaked screeners in Hollywood.
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