"Hi, George."
As soon as Duke walked into the café, he spotted George Lucas and hurried over to greet him, apologetically saying, "Sorry, I’m a little late."
George Lucas shook his head without minding. "We just got here early."
As he spoke, he turned to the two people beside him and introduced them to Duke. "You should rember them—you waved lightsabers together on set when you were a kid."
He was referring to sothing from the 1970s. Because of the friendship between their families, Duke had visited the Star Wars set several tis as a child. Although it had been many years, he still vaguely rembered those tis. And besides, as a director about to helm a new Star Wars trilogy, how could he not know two of the most iconic mbers of the Skywalker family from the original trilogy’s Iron Triangle?
"Hello, Mark. Hello, Carrie."
Duke shook hands with the two middle-aged actors in turn—they were Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who had played Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, respectively, in the original Star Wars trilogy.
After exchanging greetings, they moved to a quiet booth. Duke, as always, went straight to the point. Glancing briefly at George Lucas, who sat beside them, he said openly, "I’m preparing to begin production on the new Star Wars trilogy, and I sincerely hope both of you will return to the series."
Such words did not surprise Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. Hollywood had long been abuzz with rumors that, after Duke’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, he planned to restart the Star Wars saga.
However, neither of them responded imdiately. They fell silent, and Carrie Fisher even glanced over at George Lucas.
George Lucas had long said that the prequel trilogy marked the conclusion of his Star Wars saga. But since Duke was the one continuing the series, it couldn’t really be considered a betrayal of his earlier statent to the dia and fans. In fact, back in the mid-1990s, he had invited Duke to direct the Star Wars prequels, though Duke had declined at the ti.
In Lucas’s eyes, if Star Wars was to be revived, there was no one more suitable to direct it than Duke.
As the creator of the Star Wars universe, Lucas felt most at ease handing the series over to him.
Thus, George Lucas gave Carrie Fisher a small, reassuring nod.
Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher remained quiet, but Duke wasn’t the least bit anxious. These two had once been among the biggest beneficiaries of Star Wars, but also the most confined by it. Since the trilogy ended, neither had produced any notable works.
They had once been stars, accustod to the extravagant lifestyles of Hollywood celebrities. Yet the pay scale of the 1970s and 1980s couldn’t compare to that of the 1990s onward. In truth, both were not in great financial shape and could hardly find suitable roles. If things continued this way, they would inevitably end up like Marlon Brando—famous in na but living a rather bleak old age.
From Duke’s investigation, unlike their Iron Triangle counterpart Harrison Ford—who had remained a major star—Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were no longer true working actors. They didn’t even have proper agents anymore.
To be blunt, even if Hamill and Fisher refused, Duke wouldn’t particularly mind. He could always use props, scenes, or nostalgic monts to tug at the fans’ heartstrings—it wouldn’t be difficult.
Mark Hamill lifted his coffee cup, took a sip, and said slowly, "It makes happy to see the Star Wars series restarting again. It’s a great franchise."
Hearing this, Duke smiled faintly, then turned to Carrie Fisher.
Like Hamill, Carrie had no agent and couldn’t give a formal commitnt, but she made her stance clear: "It’s been my dream to be part of Star Wars again."
Once she said that, the atmosphere instantly beca warm and relaxed. They reminisced about the old days when Duke had visited the set as a child, laughing occasionally at the mories.
Only now, Hamill and Fisher fully realized that the boy from those days had grown into soone they now looked up to.
Duke was busy, so he couldn’t stay long. After finishing his coffee, the eting ca to an end.
Before leaving, Duke reminded the noticeably overweight Hamill and Fisher, "I hope starting today, both of you can co up with so proper fitness plans."
Hamill and Fisher imdiately understood what Duke ant and nodded repeatedly in agreent.
Then, Duke exchanged a few parting words with George Lucas, who had been watching quietly, before leaving the café and heading back to Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank.
Inviting Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher back to the Star Wars series was, in essence, an emotional gesture to appeal to fans’ nostalgia. And they were only part of the returning cast. Producers Kathleen Kennedy, Charles Roven, and Robin Grande were also reaching out to other surviving cast mbers from the original trilogy.
For instance, Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, had already agreed to reprise his role.
By comparison, Chewbacca’s old partner Han Solo was proving to be the most difficult among the original cast.
Charles Roven personally approached Harrison Ford and his agent, only to be t with a demand of twenty million dollars plus a share of the profits.
If this had been during Ford’s pri, such a salary wouldn’t have been unreasonable. But the current Harrison Ford was no longer the man he once was. Unless Duke and Lucasfilm had lost their minds, there was no way they would agree to such a deal.
At present, Roven was still negotiating with Ford’s agent, though the talks were proving extrely difficult—every inch fiercely contested. Duke had already prepared for the possibility that Han Solo might not appear in the film at all.
For Star Wars, even the original Iron Triangle was not absolutely indispensable.
The plan to restart the Star Wars series had already entered the implentation stage, and no obstacle would be enough to halt it.
While Duke remained busy with his own work, he also kept an eye on his competitors.
David Ellison, for instance, needed little elaboration. Since withdrawing from Hollywood, even though he was free from Duke’s pressure, he was still entangled in investigations by the Los Angeles County Police Departnt and the FBI regarding Vin Diesel’s death. However, the series of North Korea-related hacker incidents sparked by The Interview had diverted both dia and official attention away from him. From this perspective, conceding so interests to Duke and exiting Hollywood wasn’t entirely a bad move.
Simply put, much like Larry Ellison and Bill Gates, people at their level might dislike each other and even resort to underhanded "janitor spy" tactics, but none of them would ever start a fight to the death. Such a conflict would benefit no one—even the victor would end up battered and bruised, leaving an opportunity for others to swoop in and trample them.
From beginning to end, Duke was always very clear. In Hollywood and across Arica, though he had strong collaborators like Ti Warner and Google, he was never short of competitors or even enemies. Even within those two groups, there were restless figures like Robert Solomon.
This was a fiercely competitive society, and Duke wasn’t stupid enough to think that if he shouted once, all his enemies would kneel before him and willingly beco his followers.
Not to ntion enemies—even the movie stars who had once worked with Duke, what they truly thought of him was anyone’s guess.
Between Duke and the Ellison family, things had always stayed on opposite sides of a line. Even with Larry Ellison’s arrogance and defiance, he wouldn’t easily cross that line.
Between the two interest groups, a single transaction finally ended nearly a decade of entanglent.
The Ellison family’s reach into the film industry had been severed, while Duke neither understood nor cared about Oracle’s business. Without any conflict of interest, it was impossible for the two sides to have large-scale disputes or confrontations again.
Then there was Walt Disney—among Hollywood’s traditional six major studios, it was the one most affected by Duke’s influence.
The once mighty "Mickey Mouse," beginning with its acquisition of ABC Television, had transford from a traditional production and distribution company into a dia conglorate, and among the six major studios, it was the only one to truly succeed in that transformation. Later, it acquired Pixar Studios, swallowed Marvel Comics, and rged Lucasfilm, at one ti becoming the world’s most valuable dia company—utterly dominant.
Now, however, Walt Disney had only acquired ABC Television. Not only had Duke snatched away Pixar Studios, Marvel Comics, and Lucasfilm, but the company was also deeply mired in an internal power struggle between Robert Iger and Michael Eisner, unable to extricate itself, which severely hindered its developnt.
Especially losing Pixar Studios brought imasurable negative consequences to Disney. Under the leadership of Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, two of Pixar’s "five generals," Disney’s animation division had once risen again, even producing comrcial miracles like Frozen.
However, without Pixar’s support, Disney’s current Christmas release was another Frozen that Duke found sowhat unfamiliar—but its performance was far from ideal. The clichéd plot of a prince saving a princess with a true love’s kiss was fiercely criticized, and its opening weekend box office barely surpassed $20 million.
Without the "girl saves the world" twist, without the brainwashing anthems, this version of Frozen could only beco one of the most ordinary among Disney’s many animated films.
Duke rembered this film but couldn’t find a suitable production partner. A musical fairytale like Frozen, filled with singing, dancing, and excessive sweetness, simply didn’t fit Pixar Studios. Forcing it on Pixar would only turn it into sothing entirely different—or a guaranteed loss-making venture.
As for writing a script and selling it to so other animation studio? Don’t be ridiculous. An animated feature takes an extrely long production cycle, and the script is one of the least significant parts—far less important than production technology.
And then there was 20th Century Fox.
....
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