Made In Hollywood

"After the performance of The Diary of Anne Frank concluded, a special celebration party was held."

There are some things that are only appropriate to say among Jewish people, especially since Duke had taken a very clear stance following the Mel Gibson incident. Thus, Natalie spoke without much reservation, saying, "Many prominent Jewish figures residing in New York attended the party. I saw Mrs. Leah there. Although I only had a brief conversation with her, I was deeply impressed by her charisma."

"Thank you!" Duke nodded.

He had also heard his mother mention these things over the phone. The final performance of The Diary of Anne Frank attracted a large audience of prominent Jewish figures from New York. When the performance ended, the atmosphere in the theater was so enthusiastic that the cast had to come out for a curtain call four times, lasting a total of more than forty minutes.

Duke was not surprised by this. After all, The Diary of Anne Frank had a much greater actual influence than Schindler's List. Moreover, Jewish people sometimes cannot be judged by normal standards, especially those who lived through wartime. Whether one describes them as paranoid or as people who enjoy sticking together, they always seem to exhibit immense passion and support for certain people or things.

It's possible that Natalie Portman gained the favor of certain individuals precisely because she starred in The Diary of Anne Frank.

After all, there are very few actresses who have had similar experiences. Despite being surrounded by as many controversial figures and events as other Hollywood stars, mainstream media rarely publishes negative reports about her. If one were to claim that it's merely because her PR team is strong, that would be an understatement...

When the conversation between Duke and Natalie temporarily came to an end, George Lucas suddenly asked, "I heard you're adapting Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy?"

"It's already in preparation."

As time passed, the news began to spread among people of relatively high status in the industry. Duke saw no reason to deny it. "Many members of my team are currently in New Zealand."

Lucas nodded. "No wonder you declined to direct Star Wars. You've chosen a more challenging project instead."

Duke smiled but said nothing. George Lucas had publicly admitted that the world-building in Star Wars was largely inspired by The Lord of the Rings.

Sitting nearby, Natalie was a bit surprised. She had not expected the director sitting beside her to have turned down Star Wars. In her understanding, how many directors in the world could refuse the opportunity to direct Star Wars?

Even she herself had acted naïve, played cute, and subtly showed her maturity to win Lucas's approval. When she received the invitation to play Padmé Amidala, she spent an entire week dealing with insomnia—not from nervousness but from excitement. She knew that this role would fulfill a significant portion of her ambitions and desires. She would become a Hollywood star admired worldwide!

She glanced at Duke, combining what she saw with past reports in the media, and confirmed that he was a director with clear goals and a resolute mind.

After exchanging a few words about their respective films, Duke glanced at the time and was the first to excuse himself from the restaurant. He still had other work to do in the afternoon.

"I won't disturb your work then," Naomi Watts also prepared to leave. "Goodbye, Duke. If I have time, I'll visit you again."

"You're always welcome."

Watching Naomi Watts board a golf cart and drive off into the distance, Duke turned and walked into the studio. Waiting for him in the nearby office were Panny Kallis, who had just flown in from Los Angeles, and Doug Walter, the head of Warner Bros.' distribution department.

After exchanging simple greetings, Panny Kallis pointed out the window. "Was that Naomi Watts just now?"

"Yes." Duke nodded and sat in the chair opposite her. "She's on vacation and came by to visit."

"She's very popular right now, and the buzz around her..."

"Hold on!"

At this point, Duke interrupted his publicist directly. "Panny, this isn't an art film; it's a summer sci-fi movie."

"Duke, I didn't mean anything else," Panny Kallis said innocently. "That type of promotional tactic can only be used sparingly; it loses its effect if overdone."

"Exactly, which is why it was the first and last time."

Duke was well aware that the kind of promotional stunt he had used during Chicago with Catherine Zeta-Jones could only work once. Doing it again would only create problems, as even a fool would see through it.

More importantly, he was returning to the summer blockbuster market with a sci-fi action film—not a niche genre like a musical.

Doug Walter, who was sitting nearby, waited until Duke and Panny Kallis had finished their discussion before speaking. "Duke, can you now tell me the exact completion date for the film?"

Because of factors such as actor training progress, Duke had not yet finalized the film's completion date, which had caused Warner Bros.' promotional efforts to lag slightly.

After considering Keanu Reeves' training progress and consulting the plan based on the most challenging scenarios, Duke thought for a moment and said, "Early April next year, and no later than the end of April."

"That's plenty of time for the summer release." Doug Walter opened his briefcase, took out his work log, and reviewed it for a while. "The third weekend of May—currently, no major films are scheduled for release that weekend. How about we release The Matrix on May 15 in North America?"

"You're the professionals." Duke had no objections. "You can decide the release schedule."

"Then we can also start the pre-release publicity."

Although Warner Bros. and Duke's studio had already held a project announcement press conference and released some information during casting, there had not yet been a large-scale, systematic promotional campaign. Now that the release date was almost set, the entire promotional plan could officially begin.

Warner Bros. was well-prepared. Sarah, a female reporter from The Los Angeles Times, had accompanied Doug Walter and Panny Kallis to Fox Studios.

Facing Sarah's microphone, Duke cooperated by giving an interview. Since the film was still far from completion, Duke only shared a few simple details about the film.

"For this film, I started with a hypothesis: What if everything in the present world, every part of everyone's body, is created by the digital world? What if what we see, smell, hear..."

He raised his coffee cup and took a sip in front of the camera, continuing, "Even taste, might be fake, signals forcibly imposed on us by the forces controlling this world?"

"If you discovered this," Duke looked at the female reporter and asked, "what would you do?"

"Of course, I'd expose the truth to everyone." Sarah played along well.

"What if others didn't believe you? If they only trusted what they saw and heard? Even if some people realized the truth, they might choose to ignore it because change often brings pain."

At this moment, Duke seemed to embody the Oracle from The Matrix, speaking in a mystical tone. "Throughout history, since the dawn of human civilization, there have always been those who relentlessly sought the deeper meanings of life and made astonishing discoveries. So, in this story, I want to focus on a small group of people. They question reality and uncover shocking truths. I want their discovery to be the story's beginning, not its end. What interests me is how they deal with it."

While jotting down notes, Sarah subtly rolled her eyes. The director across from her had clearly moved beyond relying solely on explosions and visual effects to attract audiences. After dabbling in humanistic themes and black musicals, he now intended to delve into mysticism.

However, understanding her purpose for being here, she temporarily set aside such thoughts and asked, "I've heard all the actors will undergo three to four months of rigorous training?"

"All the main actors need to acquire some martial arts basics."

This topic wasn't particularly appealing in the current era, so Duke only briefly mentioned it before turning back to the actors. "This has been a challenge for the actors. The training program spans about 100 days, and some of these actors might still be working on other projects simultaneously. How should I have explained this to them? But the result surprised me. All the actors were willing to make sacrifices and agreed to complete the intense training. I'm grateful for their effort and sacrifice, and I feel proud of what they've accomplished."

After asking a few more routine questions, Sarah concluded the interview with Duke.

Both were experienced in their respective roles. Once the formalities were over, Sarah casually asked, "When did you start believing in mysticism?"

"Believing in mysticism?" Duke shook his head at her. "I'm just borrowing it."

Just like with martial arts—if it benefited the film, he didn't care about its origins or roots.

After Sarah's assistant packed up, she left the office and headed to the studio to interview the main cast. When the office was once again reduced to four people, Duke suddenly remembered another matter.

"Doug, do you know much about the internet?" he asked.

"I've done some research." Doug Walter gave Duke a puzzled look. "Influenced by your film, I specifically studied computer networks."

"Don't you think our promotional campaign could expand to include computer networks?" Duke continued, "The film is closely tied to computers and the internet, and most internet users are young people—the same demographic that sci-fi films primarily target."

"Duke, in fact..." Doug Walter chuckled, "We've already partnered with Yahoo to develop a related promotional strategy."

Duke nodded. Although he hadn't paid much attention to it, how could media companies overlook the convenience of the internet?

He turned to Panny Kallis. "Panny, is my personal website finished? I think it's time to make use of it."

...

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