Chapter 109: Finding Fault
"Dear, I've already made the call."
Standing in front of the dressing mirror, Duke adjusted his shirt and said to Heidi Klum, who walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, "Have your agent contact Martha Hudson directly; she'll discuss the details with you."
Duke understood that giving always required a certain return. This morning, he had called his mother's assistant to indirectly inquire about the reason Heidi Klum didn't get selected. If it was due to his mother's disapproval, he wouldn't argue further and would find a way to secure a minor role for Heidi in a Warner Bros. film.
This matter had nothing to do with his mother; it was a scheme by one of Heidi's competitors. The competition in the modeling industry was much fiercer than in entertainment. Although he didn't know what kind of agreement the competitor had made with a senior executive at St. Fia, Martha assured Duke that she would intervene.
"How should I thank you?"
Heidi Klum walked over, hugged Duke from behind, and stood on her tiptoes, gently nibbling on his earlobe while blowing air into his ear. These open-minded blonde girls were indeed skilled at flirting.
Turning around, Duke pinched her pointed chin and admired her beautiful face. He slowly ran his hand up, gently kneading her smooth skin, his long fingers gliding over her rounded ears and into her lovely golden hair.
Heidi Klum's striking blue eyes locked onto Duke's, her expression deep and affectionate, like the best of lovers.
As Duke caressed Heidi's golden hair, he suddenly increased the pressure on the back of her head, pushing downwards. Heidi wasn't foolish; she immediately understood Duke's intentions. After a moment's hesitation, she followed the pressure of his hand, gradually lowering herself until she was kneeling in front of him.
She unfastened her belt, her stunning face leaning closer, offering an exceptionally skilled experience.
For Duke, this was quite enjoyable; Heidi Klum's skills far surpassed Naomi Watts's.
Around noon, Duke left the hotel, preparing to catch an afternoon flight back to Los Angeles. Before he left, he made sure that Martha's meeting with Heidi's agent had gone well, and it seemed the German model's inclusion in the soon-to-be-formed Angels wouldn't be a problem.
Though Hollywood had its share of ungrateful precedents, Duke wouldn't stoop to such levels.
Upon arriving at the airport, Duke led Scarlett Johansson, heading to different boarding gates than his mother, who was flying to New York. He boarded an American Airlines flight directly into first class, where their seats were right next to each other. He helped the little one fasten her seatbelt and requested a blanket from the flight attendant to cover Scarlett.
"Where did you go last night?" Scarlett asked, clutching a stack of newspapers. "I knocked on your door, but there was no answer."
"I was with a friend."
Duke casually replied as he sat down, buckling his seatbelt and waiting for the plane to take off.
"Duke, after the party yesterday, the godmother was quite unhappy." The girl's eyes sparkled.
"Really?" Duke certainly wouldn't believe her nonsense. "How come I didn't notice?"
"Hmph…"
Scarlett scrunched her nose, opened the newspaper, and hid her face behind it, not caring if she could understand the content.
While reading might be challenging, looking at pictures was no problem. Scarlett flipped to the entertainment section, which was filled with news about the Victoria's Secret runway show. Among a plethora of model images, there were also half-body shots of Duke and scenes of the White House explosion; *Independence Day* was garnering significant media attention.
She put down the newspaper and looked over at Duke, who seemed to be asleep. "Duke!"
"Something up?" Duke tilted his head.
"Why didn't you include the role I played in the commercial?"
Hearing her sulky remark, Duke turned back. Since their meeting earlier today, he felt that Scarlett Johansson seemed to be playing a game of finding fault.
"There will be a dedicated poster for you later," Duke said, closing his eyes again.
"Really?"
If it weren't for the seatbelt, the little girl would have jumped in front of him. "Is it going to be released this time?"
"Not yet." Duke shook his head. "Before the premiere."
"I thought it was today," Scarlett pouted, dissatisfied.
The plane announced its impending takeoff, and Duke took a pair of headphones, placing them on Scarlett's ears. He also pulled the blanket up around her. "Take a nap; when you wake up, we'll be back in Los Angeles."
Since filming for *Independence Day* wrapped, the promotional campaign kicked off with the Super Bowl ad, just as Duke was flying back to Los Angeles. On the same day, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox held a press conference to unveil seven posters, capitalizing on the buzz from the Super Bowl ads.
Aside from the character designs of Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Bill Pullman, and Naomi Watts, three of the posters were entirely themed around explosions and destruction. Among these, New York, Los Angeles, and the White House were all engulfed in flames.
The most attention-grabbing poster featured the explosion of the White House, which sparked a frenzy among fans for collection.
In the New York Landy Building, Irene hurriedly entered the advertising manager's office, clutching a stack of documents. A few minutes later, she emerged, walking down a long corridor towards the corner near the safety stairs. Glancing at her watch, she realized the meeting time was almost here.
With a creak, the safety door was pushed open from inside, revealing a man of similar age approaching her.
"Hi, Irene" He carried a few cylindrical objects.
"Did you get it?"
Irene hurried over, took one of the tubes, and eagerly opened it, revealing a scene of an alien spaceship descending and obliterating the White House.
"This is amazing! This is exactly what I wanted!" She was extremely happy.
"This is what I fought hard to get."
The young man began to babble about how crowded the poster distribution scene was, detailing how he struggled to reach the front row and bravely secured these posters amid the chaos of grabbing.
"Alright, hand over the poster."
The phrase 'after crossing the river, demolish the bridge' was apt for Irene in this moment. "You can leave now."
"Irene,can I invite you..."
"Oh, sorry..."
She suddenly turned and walked away, glancing back as she said, "I still have work to do; see you next time."
Turning around a corner, Irene held the poster with one hand and took out her phone to dial Anna. "Hi, Anna, I got the poster! The one with the White House explosion is simply stunning! Duke Rosenberg really lives up to his name; he's preparing to bomb the whole world!"
"I got it too."
Standing in an office, Anna walked back and forth, admiring the movie posters just put up on the wall, all featuring the White House, New York, and Los Angeles engulfed in flames. "Let's make a plan, my Miss Lauder. When the film releases, we'll go see the midnight show first!"
"Can we attend the premiere?" Irene's voice over the phone was tinged with uncontainable eagerness.
"Are you sure you can get time off?" Anna reminded her. "Do you have time to go to Los Angeles?"
"That's so frustrating."
After hanging up with her friend, Anna returned her gaze to the posters at her desk. She was the same age as Duke Rosenberg and also studied film production. He had already directed a blockbuster costing a hundred million dollars, while she was still stuck in a Broadway theater.
During her internship, Anna didn't search for opportunities in Hollywood as Irene suggested. Instead, she interned nearby on Broadway. Although her time there wasn't long, she fully experienced the complexity of the industry; for newcomers, breaking through the barriers required not just talent but also opportunities.
Young directors like Duke Rosenberg, who possessed a combination of talent, skill, and luck, were rare in Hollywood history.
Looking at the line "A Duke Rosenberg Production" on the poster, Anna gradually made up her mind: after graduation, she would venture to Hollywood to seek her own opportunities.
While Anna pondered her future, a group of students at her university, who had not yet graduated, plastered the same posters on the walls of their dormitory. They pointed at the shattered White House and agreed to see how that explosive director would blow up North America after the film's release.
In just a few days, amid the heated buzz surrounding the Super Bowl ad showcasing the White House explosion, *Independence Day* posters spread across North America—from Texas ranches to Montana plains, from the cold beaches of Seattle to Miami's overseas bridges, from Cambridge in Boston to the Latin communities in Los Angeles. Everywhere, striking explosion posters caught attention, featuring prominently the words "A Duke Rosenberg Production" and "North American Release on July 1st."
Back in Los Angeles, in order to cooperate with the studio's promotional plans, Duke participated in several media events. After a shutdown party, he quickly immersed himself in the film's post-production. He first gathered first production manager Charles Roven, second production manager Robin Grand, and executive producer Jon Landau, announcing that the production cost would definitely be controlled within $90 million.
According to the publicity plan, "Independence Day" will still be promoted with a production cost of 100 million dollars, which in itself will attract movie fans to boo, and Duke strongly requires the producer to fulfill its promise and invest the 10 million US dollars he saved into the film's production. is being announced in exchange for more box office figures.
You know, his profit share is closely related to the final box office. The higher the box office, the happier he will naturally be.
Although Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox hesitated for a while, after market research and careful consideration, and the fact that almost all of the $10 million came from other investors, they finally nodded.
However, the two parties have also reached a tacit agreement. The book cost of the film must be US$100 million. How to operate it is an issue that Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox need to consider. Increasing the total investment figure can dilute the final investment of foreign investors. Duke had no objection to the share ratio. After all, all of Hollywood was trying to blackmail foreign investors' money, and it was not in his interests.