After returning to Wellington, Duke first met with Charles? Rowan and Zach? Schneider reviewed the preparations for the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy during this time, and it took a whole week before he put his energy into the later stages of "One Hundred Thousand Urgent".

Duke's dedicated editor, Mike? Dawson also came to Wellington, and the two continued to work together on the film's post-editing.

There are very few places that need to be used in post-production special effects in this film, the most important thing is the soundtrack, dubbing and editing, especially how to reasonably match the two main lines and a secondary line to make the scene transition natural and smooth, which is extremely important.

As a realistic film, sharp editing must be appropriate, just like during shooting, there will be a lot of long shots.

According to Duke's plan, the two bandits, Liam? Neeson plays police officers Michael father and daughter and Kate? Catherine's mother and daughter, played by Beckinsale, will advance the plot in three lines, and there is a huge difference between the early plot and the actual case, which can be said to be a typical Hollywood-style adaptation.

In the real case, the two robbers started robbing in the early nineties, mainly robbing cash trucks, and shot and killed several escorts during a robbery, and then disappeared until they reappeared.

In the film, Duke moved the incident to a time period near the North Hollywood robbery, and Catherine's husband was the person in charge of the cash truck, and the police officer Michael was one of the police officers involved in the case.

Why?

Quite simply, Duke was originally trained for the multi-line narrative of "The Lord of the Rings", from the intersection at the beginning to the separation and then to the final convergence. It fits the narrative structure of the Lord of the Rings perfectly.

How much of this film is true? And how much comes from fiction? It doesn't really matter, the important thing is that Duke uses it to hone himself.

Maybe there are real super geniuses in this world, but there is no omnipotent genius, Duke knows that he has some talent in film, but he will not be arrogant enough to think that what kind of theme and narrative structure of the film is in his hands. It's going to be successful.

Although Duke's film is obviously of a real nature, Warner Bros., as an investor, will not let go of the opportunity to vigorously promote it to the market, and Duke's success has brought them too much confidence.

After Duke determined that all post-production work on the film could be completed by the end of February, Warner Bros. Distribution's Doug ? Walter came to Wellington to talk to him about the release.

"Duke, we've been talking about your new work all this time."

In his office on the set of Wellington, Doug? Walter said, looking at the posters of two humanoid monsters holding AKs hanging on the wall. "In general, there are two publicity plans."

"Let's talk about it."

Duke has never been the kind of director who makes a film that talks to himself, and even if it's a film with a real nature, he still adds a lot of elements that are appropriate for the mainstream market - such as the obvious sensationalism of family and the fiery realistic shootout at the end.

It's just that the response to realistic gunfights has been average in recent years, and Duke doesn't dare to say whether the audience will buy it.

"One is to take the route of a normal release."

Doug? Walter didn't let Duke wait, and said directly, "Limited to genre and investment, the number of theaters for the premiere of the film will not be very high, and it may have to go through about 100 theaters." in order to expand the screening, but these will depend on the final film. and our operations. ”

After a slight pause, seeing that Duke didn't say, Doug? Walter continued, "The other option is to go the film festival route, where Warner Bros. could get a place in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, or at worst, a screening spot. Then ......"

"Doug ......," Duke interrupted with a raised hand, "Attending the film festival is too time-consuming, and I can't afford to be away from New Zealand for a long time." ”

"I see."

It's just an opinion on the part of Warner Bros., Doug? Walter, after all, had frequent contact with Duke and knew his possible options. I also have enough psychological preparation, "I will contact the theater company, and after the film is completed, a preview screening will be held as soon as possible." ”

Naturally, Warner Bros. was in charge of the publicity and distribution side. After Walter left New Zealand, Duke returned to post-production.

Since stepping into Hollywood, Duke has completed a total of six films, accumulated a lot of experience, and is no longer a rookie when he made the first two films, although the editing of the third-line narrative is more complex than in the past, and in fact it is not as difficult as he imagined.

He's not a rookie director after all.

Warner Bros. soon had news that the film was scheduled for March, which is the traditional off-season, and although Warner Bros. had confidence in Duke, he did not go to the blind Cheng Dù, and was well aware of the disadvantages of the film's subject matter and investment, and took the initiative to avoid the large-scale production that was released in the peak season, and chose a schedule that commercial blockbusters disdained.

While busy with the late stages of "100,000 Urgent" and the pre-production of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Duke took advantage of the small time off to bring the head of his investment team to Wellington to negotiate the next investment.

It's not so much a negotiation as a mandate from Duke.

Now it is the end of January 1999, the IT stocks have plummeted, Duke only remembers that it happened at the turn of the century, but he doesn't know exactly what year and month, and vaguely remembers, it seems to be related to the Microsoft monopoly case.

In the news in January, he saw that a federal court was conducting an antitrust investigation into Microsoft, and he thought that the stock market crash should not be too far away.

What, wait for a few months before the stock market crash to sell stocks for profit?

Even if Duke is not proficient in finance at all, he knows that this is an impossible fantasy, not to mention the vagaries of the stock market, no one can say whether the stocks he has been buying over the years will trigger a chain reaction.

Long-term, small-amount, stable, and planned shipments are relatively safe choices.

Not to mention Apple and Microsoft, just Yahoo stock, which has been bought since '96, has risen sharply over the past few years, and has reached hundreds of millions of dollars.

Apple's stocks and shares, Duke intends to hold for a long time, and the original purchase was to maintain and increase its value, and the most important thing to deal with is Yahoo and Microsoft, as well as several other IT stocks that David bought after David's recommendation.

According to Duke's requirements, the investment team, led by David, must dispose of all these stocks before the dawn of the new millennium.

"According to the direction of the stock market, as long as there is no crash, Duke, you will get a high return."

In the office, except for Tina, who acts as a waitress? Outside the Philippines, there are only Duke and David, David said directly, "But holding cash is the most unwise way to manage money, and I will find a suitable investment object." ”

Who is the right investment?

Google? The problem is that Google has no plans to refinance in the short term, and the two founders will certainly limit the shares he can get, which is inevitable.

And who else is there? I vaguely remember that there was a Facebook or something, but that should have been a long time later, right?

Surely it would be foolish to hold a lot of cash, but the dollar is depreciating rapidly, adding to Warner Bros. and Victoria's Secret?

He is now the largest individual shareholder in both companies, and as long as the management of these two companies is not fools and does not pay enough price, they will certainly restrict him from continuing to invest.

There is also the salary and dividends of "The Matrix" he got last year, although it is about to be tax season, but in addition to ordering a business jet and continuing to invest in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy with Warner Bros. according to the ratio of one to one, there are tens of millions of dollars left on the books.

Now, Duke has discovered another thing, compared to those young rich people who spend money like water, his ability to spend money is a little weak.

Disperse this thought, and tell David a few more words, Duke ended the negotiation, David did not stay long, and returned to North America, after all, he had to make a complete plan to turn Duke's more layman's requirements into the final practical action.

After entering February, the crew began to audition on a large scale again, looking for suitable actors for some important roles without fight scenes. Blanchett's makeup photo, Duke is sure that she will still be the first choice for Queen Galadriel.

Christopher? Lee also came to Wellington, and on the basis of being willing to reduce his salary appropriately, the two sides quickly reached an agreement that he would play the role of Saruman, the speaker of the Holy White Council.

In addition, Duke took a long break for the Fellows of the Ring and their stunt doubles, some of whom had other character contracts to fulfill, and the crew had to let them go.

Like Gandalf Ian? Sir McLean.

"I'm leaving in the afternoon, so I'm here to say goodbye to you."

The old man is quite good at being a person, and he went to the editing room on the set to say goodbye to Duke, "If you need anything, just ask someone to call me, and I will ask the agent to coordinate the schedules of my two roles." ”

"Two characters?" Duke felt as if he had overlooked something.

"You've been busy, and it looks like you've forgotten."

Looking at the editing assistants who were still busy behind Duke, Ian? McLean lowered his voice slightly, "In addition to Gandalf, I also took Magneto from X-Men. ”

X-Men? Magneto?

Wait until Ian? After McLean said goodbye and left, Duke immediately cleared his mind and secretly sighed that his vision in investment was really scummy!

Microsoft, Apple and Google, who invest in the IT industry and only think about a little memory; Investing in the film industry, all eyes are on the close-knit Warner Bros......

He never looked further afield, to the time when superheroes took the big screen by storm. (To be continued......)

PS: I'm going to the hospital today, and I'm running out of manuscripts, so I'm asking for a monthly pass and a recommendation ticket for comfort~