After returning to Los Angeles from New York, Duke didn't say anything to the media and began to concentrate on preparing for "Chicago", which was completely hyped up for the purpose of the previous promotion, and now it is far from the film's release, even from the start of filming.

Soon after returning to Los Angeles, Duke Studio moved to the vicinity of Warner Studios in Burbank, Duke leased a small two-story building, and hired several other staff members in addition to the middle-aged Latin woman who originally answered the phone.

In addition, David, Duke's accountant, will also send assistants to the studio twice a week to deal with financial problems.

Compared to a real film company, the slightly larger Duke Studios is still a standard shell company.

After entering October, the North American box office of "Saving Private Ryan" crossed the $285 million mark, and the world officially exceeded $600 million, as high as $601.05 million, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, and now more than half of 1995 has passed, and anyone with a discerning eye can see that after last year's "Independence Day", Duke is about to once again bagged the annual box office champion in North America and the world.

And "Saving Private Ryan" grossed more than $600 million worldwide, which also meant that the 2% + 10% box office share clause in the director's contract was automatically activated, and Duke's lawyers and accountants began to act, frequently communicating with Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox, urging them to pay their share as much as possible.

It's not just the "Saving Private Ryan" share that Warner Bros. hasn't paid for the "Independence Day" box office yet, and they have so far only taken out $200 million in overseas box office credit and Duke share, which is $40 million, in mid-October. Warner Bros. again paid Duke $40 million on a $200 million basis.

Warner Bros. does not want to deliberately default on the remaining overseas shares, after all, they have determined to cooperate with Duke for a long time, but overseas publishers have not yet remitted the share to Warner Bros. accounts. It is unlikely that this part of the money will arrive this year.

Now Duke is not short of money, the stockbroker is still buying Apple and Microsoft shares for him, the daily operating expenses of Duke Studios are limited, and the investment in "Chicago" will not be very high, and he is not in a hurry to share the remaining shares.

In the case with Warner Bros. CEO Jeff? After a conversation with one of Time Warner's executive vice presidents, Duke decided to invest the remaining share in Warner Bros.'s financing and share expansion, and exchange it for a corresponding share to become a shareholder in one of the six major Hollywood companies.

This is in line with Warner's needs. It is also in his interest to significantly increase his voice in Hollywood and film production.

As for the box office share of "Saving Private Ryan", the two sides are still coordinating, and in the future, part of the share in North America will be received, and the share of peripheral income will be waiting, except for TV, videotapes and VCD copyrights that do not have much influence in North America, this film actually has no peripheral income sources. These will not be able to generate substantial revenue until the film is released from North American theaters.

is the same as "Braveheart", which is still released in a few independent theaters. According to the production and distributor's distribution plan, "Saving Private Ryan" will not be released from North American theaters before the Oscar vote, even if it is forced to go offline by commercial chain theaters, it will insist on being released in independent theaters in several major cities, especially in the Los Angeles area.

The co-producers' ultimate goal for the awards season is very clear, with heavyweight awards such as Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture. In particular, the best film, combined with the publicity and public relations strategy for the 50th anniversary of World War II, worked so well that they almost regarded it as something in their pocket.

According to Duke's directing contract, if the film hits the Oscars, he also needs to attend several key campaigns. But now there is still some time before the Oscars, and he is not needed for public relations for the time being, and Duke's main focus is still on the preparation of "Chicago".

With the official establishment of this song and dance film, the main members of the Duke team have ended their vacations. Schneider, John? Schwartzman, Hannah? Serena and others have almost all become the top and highest-paid people in their respective industries.

This is a commercial society, and Duke knows very well that the team maintained by friendship and personal charm is actually the most unreliable team, and these people can follow him, first, it is easier to succeed by following the footsteps of successful people, and second, they can get tangible benefits.

Even so, Zach? Schneider and Sophia? Coppola also revealed to him that he would leave at the right time to seek the opportunity to direct the film alone.

So, after filming an advertising video for Estee Lauder, due to the fact that Anna? Prinz was generally satisfied, and Duke took Erin? This friend of Lauder's brought to Los Angeles to serve as one of the film's assistant directors.

Except for the temporary addition of a team of singing and dancing directors from Broadway and an artistic director, the composition of the department of the "Chicago" crew has not changed much in the future, and Duke will still form a crew with his own team as the core, Robin? Grande served as production manager, and he and Sophia? Coppola serves as executive producer......

The specific co-ordination is handled by Robin? Grande to deal with it, and his first business was with Tom? Cruise negotiated, and after Liangtang went through the motions of audition and makeup, he signed a performance contract with a salary of $5 million, becoming the first actor officially determined by the crew.

At the same time, Nancy also ended contact with Warner, Fox and Disney, the latter two did not have much interest in "Chicago", only Warner Bros. signed a distribution agreement with Duke Studios, according to which they will not participate in direct investment in the film, and will become the North American and overseas distributor of Duke Studio's next three films, including "Chicago", and Warner Bros. will have the right of first refusal if Duke Studio's next two films accept foreign investment.

In this way, Duke's biggest concern about the distribution of the film has been completely solved.

According to Duke's preliminary plan, the film does not have any location shots, and will all be filmed in the studio, he wanted to go to Fox Studios in Sydney, after all, there are tax incentives there, but considering that the preparation of the film is extremely long, and if there are not a limited number of places, Australia's tax incentives are not particularly large, and finally chose Warner Studios in Burbank.

By the end of October, "Chicago" was officially approved, and the investment of the film was 20 million US dollars. Cruise, the actor, and the salaries of all cast and crew members have been reduced differently than in "Saving Private Ryan".

Preliminary preparations such as script formulation, scene design, and song and dance compilation have all begun to be carried out in an orderly manner, but the actor audition is the next top priority, and the three actors and actresses will undergo systematic song and dance rehearsals in the next few months.

In addition to having someone inform Naomi? Watts, Catherine? Zeta? Jones and Charlize? In addition to Theron coming to audition, Duke did not send out any targeted audition invitations, but there are still many actors' agents who have approached Duke Studios, not only to promote its signature actors, compete for major roles such as male and female leads, but also introduce newcomers to compete for other singing and dancing roles that can be brilliant.

There are many people in Hollywood who think Duke is crazy and rashly make such a huge change in style, but it does not prevent many people from wanting to join it, the reason is very simple, Duke is a top commercial director in Hollywood, even if he will not appear in the ranks of actors in the end, but as long as it is related to his new film, there will naturally be media hype and reports, and maybe one day he will be able to grab the headlines.

No one can ignore the attraction of a continuously successful director to an actor who strives to climb the ladder.

Most of the agents, Duke was handed over to Robin? Grande has to deal with it, but there are always some people who have all kinds of connections and find him to recommend their actors.

"Say, Riley, what's the matter?"

Sitting in the new office of the Duke's studio, Duke looked at the middle-aged man in formal dress across from him, and the person who could enter his office was certainly not a stranger, it was an agent of ICM.

"Can't I come over and see an old friend?"

Hearing this, Duke didn't say anything, just looked at him, they had only met a few times on the pie duì organized by ICM, and they couldn't talk about friendship at all.

"That's right."

The agent, named Riley, took a sip of coffee, "I have an important client who is very interested in the character of Loxi, she has had some troubles in recent years, her fame and works are not as good as before, ICM figured out a heavyweight work and announced her official return." ”

"You can get her to audition."

Although he doesn't like the agency to interfere too much in his projects, Duke also understands the importance of interpersonal communication, as long as the other party does not touch the bottom line, he can be appropriately accommodating, "Tell me her name, and I will let people say hello to the casting director." ”

"On behalf of Julie, I thank you." Riley laughed, and said sincerely, "Before I came, Miss Roberts told her that she would love to have dinner with you if you had time. ”

Hearing this, think about Julia again? Roberts's usual way of auditioning, Duke immediately understood that this was a very obvious hint, but unfortunately the big-mouthed Zhu did not meet his requirements for the role, nor his aesthetics, so he could only apologize.

"I've been busy lately." Duke politely declined, "I'll get in touch with Julie if I have time." ”

Will he give Julia? Roberts auditioned for the opportunity, after all, this is also a topic that can be hyped, but it will not let her appear in the film. (To be continued......)

ps: I just went out for a trip, and the Jinan steamer has begun...... Ask for tickets to be psychologically cool ~~R1292