Chapter 27: The Confident Young Man

After leaving New York, Lovett rushed back to Los Angeles on Friday. "Alien 3" was one of CAA's key packaged projects for the year, and as one of its participants with several of his actors starring in the film, he couldn't miss the premiere.

Lovett was particularly concerned about Rick Salomon, whom CAA had signed for public relations with Warner Brothers. With his simple-minded nature, Rick was hardly suited for Hollywood.

"Watch your words and actions, Rick!" Lovett reminded him once again before getting out of the car. "No matter what the reporters ask, always respond with a smile."

Seeing this fool always gave Lovett a headache. If Rick had even half of Duke's calm and intelligence, Lovett's workload would be reduced by at least a third.

"I got it, Lovett! I'll bring my best!"

With a casual wave, Rick Salomon got out of the car. Though Lovett thought of him as a fool, Rick wasn't completely dumb. Walking onto the red carpet, his decent looks and bright smile did attract the attention of several journalists' cameras.

Listening to the waves of cheers and seeing the constant flashes of cameras, Rick couldn't help but feel a bit intoxicated. Especially when he waved to the crowd, the screams grew louder, giving him the illusion that he was already a big star, perhaps even surpassing Sigourney Weaver, who walked ahead of him.

With this light-headed feeling, Rick walked into the interview area and handled the reporters fairly smoothly, as Lovett had taught him.

"Mr. Salomon…" A reporter moved a microphone toward his mouth. "We've heard you were classmates with *Speed* director Duke Rosenberg? And that you played on the same college football team? Do you know him?"

"Yes."

With the question phrased that way, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and say yes.

"Duke Rosenberg's *Speed* reached a cumulative box office of $82.78 million in North America as of yesterday."

Hearing the reporter's words, Rick's joy instantly evaporated. Even though anger boiled inside him, he had to keep wearing his most radiant smile. The reporter seemed to genuinely believe they were just old classmates and continued questioning, "As his schoolmate, how would you evaluate Duke and *Speed*?"

"He is…"

Before the rest of the words could come out, Rick noticed Lovett not far off, giving him a warning look. He swallowed the words back. Rick wasn't a complete idiot; if he showed any disdain or dissatisfaction toward Duke at this moment, the next day, these reporters would make a laughingstock of him. He would become the media's favorite joke.

After all, Duke was the director of a film nearing the $100 million mark, while Rick was just an unimportant supporting actor in *Alien 3*. Who would the media side with, and who would they mock?

"He was a friend of mine in school…"

Even though it felt like swallowing a thousand flies, Rick had no choice but to continue with a forced smile and say with the utmost sincerity, "He's a very talented person. I realized that a long time ago. I'm happy for his success. *Speed* is an outstanding work, and I've always thought so."

After finishing, Rick hurried out of the interview area, fearing that reporters would continue questioning him about his relationship with Duke and how amazing *Speed* was…

By the time he entered the premiere theater, Rick's face was dark, his fist clenched tightly. He thought to himself that *Speed* had been in the spotlight long enough and hoped *Alien 3* would soon surpass it!

He conveniently ignored the fact that he was just a supporting actor, while *Speed* had been in theaters for four weeks and *Alien 3* was only in its first week.

"Hey, Townsend…"

Not far from Rick, Martin Bobb approached Townsend Rossman. "Congratulations, *Speed* is doing well. Fox is making a nice cut."

"Thank you."

Though Townsend Rossman responded with a modest smile, hearing the name *Speed* made him exceptionally happy these days. The higher *Speed*'s box office climbed, the more Fox profited. Even though their distribution cut was only 15%, Fox got to recoup their marketing costs from the box office first. This 15% was almost pure profit. Plus, the higher the box office, the more they could charge for future video and TV rights, from which Fox would take a 50% cut.

And then there were the foreign rights, where Fox held priority purchasing rights…

Townsend Rossman was confident that this one project could bring in around $50 million in gross profit for 20th Century Fox. It was one of the key advantages he would leverage in his upcoming bid for the CEO position.

That little guy, Duke Rosenberg, was indeed very lovable.

"*Speed*'s market potential must be about exhausted by now, right?" Martin Bobb's next words revealed his true intentions. "Townsend, Fox should fully shift its marketing focus to *Alien 3* now, right?"

Following typical market trends, even if *Speed* still had potential, it wouldn't be much. So Townsend Rossman nodded and said, "After this weekend, all resources for *Speed* will be redirected to *Alien 3*."

"I've heard you've managed to convince Lucas to restart the Star Wars series?"

Seeing that Rossman didn't deny it, Bobb lowered his voice slightly. "We've always enjoyed working together. CAA also believes you're the best candidate for the CEO position."

"Pleasure doing business with you." Townsend Rossman extended his hand knowingly. Bobb lightly shook it. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Times Square, one of New York's most famous landmarks, was often the venue of choice for film or music announcements. The final stop of *Speed*'s North American promotional tour was held there.

Like previous events, the focus was primarily on Keanu Reeves and Uma Thurman. The only difference was that, when Duke walked the red carpet in front of the AMG theater, quite a few fans enthusiastically asked for his autograph.

"Are you the director of *Speed*?"

Though the question was a bit awkward, Duke responded politely, "Yes, thank you for supporting the film."

As a reporter for *The New York Times*, Robbie Paget also attended the promotional event. While most of his colleagues swarmed around the film's lead actors, Paget slipped off to the side. Keanu Reeves and Uma Thurman had been covered extensively, and fresh faces were what readers were more interested in.

He remembered other media outlets mentioning that the film's director was a young man…

Amongst the loud shouts of fans outside the interview area and the chaotic press inside, Robbie's sharp eyes caught sight of a young man standing unassumingly in a corner of the interview zone. After cross-checking him with images in his memory, Robbie strode over.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Duke Rosenberg?"

Seeing the man nod, Robbie immediately thrust the microphone forward. "I'm Robbie Paget, a reporter for the *New York Times* entertainment section. May I ask you a few questions?"

"Of course."

The young man's sunny smile was warm and welcoming.

With his looks, he seemed better suited to be an actor.

While thinking this, Robbie didn't voice it. "Mr. Rosenberg... or rather, Duke, this is your first film, and its quality speaks for itself. What inspired you to create such a film?"

"The pursuit of dreams and a passion for cinema."

A very standard response, especially with the calm tone—completely lacking the arrogance or pride typical of a young man fresh off success.

Noting this quietly to himself, Robbie asked another question, "Do you think *Speed* will surpass $100 million at the North American box office?"

"It definitely will."

"This weekend?"

"Maybe next weekend. Time will tell."

Such a confident young man!

"Have you read Roger Ebert's column in the *Chicago Sun-Times*, Duke?"

"I've been busy with promotions lately, so I haven't."

"Roger Ebert wrote in his column that *Speed* is the best action movie in recent years and gave you a perfect score."

After saying this, Robbie watched Duke's handsome, chiseled face closely, hoping to catch a hint of emotion different from his calm demeanor. But he was disappointed.

"Thank you to Mr. Ebert for his praise. It's an honor."

Robbie was left with the sense that Duke Rosenberg didn't seem to care much about the opinions of this revered film critic.

Not blindly believing in authority.

Robbie nodded to himself. Such young men were becoming rare in Hollywood.

"Duke, the *Speed* hype will eventually die down," Robbie asked again. "What's your next plan? Taking a break?"

"I don't need a break. I'm still young and full of energy."

A flash of slyness passed through Duke's dark eyes, too quick for Robbie to notice as he listened intently. "Actually, I've already come up with an idea for my second film. But as you know, Robbie, securing funding in Hollywood isn't easy."

Robbie chuckled. "Will it be another action movie?"

"Yes, another intense, exciting action film!"

"Oh~" Robbie feigned even more interest. "I think with *Speed*'s success, finding investors won't be too difficult."

This was a young director in his creative prime!

The next day, *The New York Times* featured Duke's interview prominently on the second page of the entertainment section. It was his first appearance in such a major publication, but it didn't generate the buzz he had hoped for. Despite teasing his plans for a second project, he faced no influx of calls from Hollywood production companies eager to collaborate.

In contrast, *Speed* garnered much more attention, reclaiming its spot at the top of the North American box office charts for the weekend.