Chapter 328: A New Investment Target

After returning to Wellington, Duke first worked with Charles Rowan and Zack Snyder to review the progress of The Lord of the Rings trilogy preparations. This process lasted an entire week before he shifted his focus to the post-production of Critical Emergency.

Duke's dedicated editor, Mike Dawson, had also come to Wellington, and the two resumed their collaboration on the film's post-production.

This film required very few visual effects in post-production. The primary tasks were music, dubbing, and editing. Especially crucial was how to seamlessly align the two main storylines and one subplot, ensuring smooth and natural transitions between scenes.

As a film rooted in realism, the editing needed to strike the right balance. Like the cinematography, long takes would be heavily utilized.

According to Duke's plan, the plot would progress through three narrative threads: the two criminals, the father-daughter duo played by Liam Neeson as Officer Michael, and the mother-daughter pair played by Kate Beckinsale as Katherine. These three threads would intertwine, diverge, and eventually converge. Although the early storyline deviated significantly from real-life cases, it embodied the hallmark of a Hollywood adaptation.

In the true events, the two criminals began robbing in the early 1990s, primarily targeting armored trucks. During one heist, they killed several security guards before disappearing, only to reemerge later.

In the film, Duke shifted the events closer to the time of the North Hollywood shootout. Katherine's husband becomes the leader of the armored truck team, and Officer Michael is one of the policemen involved in the case. The three parties intersect at the beginning of the film, sparking emotional collisions within their respective families or individuals. This drives the three threads forward, culminating in a climactic gathering at the American Bank branch on Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

Why structure the story this way?

The reason is simple: Duke intended to use this film as a practice ground for multi-threaded narratives, preparing for the storytelling complexity of The Lord of the Rings. The progression from an initial intersection to divergence and final convergence mirrors the narrative structure of The Lord of the Rings.

How much of the film aligns with reality? How much is fictionalized? Ultimately, these questions are secondary. What's important is that Duke uses this project to refine his skills.

Perhaps true geniuses exist in this world, but there are no omnipotent geniuses. Duke understood that he had a knack for filmmaking but wasn't arrogant enough to believe that any subject matter or narrative structure would succeed just because it passed through his hands.

Although this film had evident experimental qualities, Warner Bros., as the investor, wouldn't miss the opportunity to aggressively market it. Duke's previous successes had given them tremendous confidence.

When Duke confirmed that all post-production work would be completed by late February, Doug Walter from Warner Bros.' distribution department came to Wellington specifically to discuss promotional and release strategies with him.

"Duke, we've been discussing your new film over the past few weeks."

In the office at the Wellington studio, Doug Walter looked at the poster of two humanoid monsters wielding AK-47s on the wall and said, "We've come up with two general distribution plans."

"Let's hear them."

Duke had never been the type of director to operate in isolation. Even for an experimental project, he added numerous mainstream elements—such as poignant familial relationships and an intense, realistic final shootout.

However, realistic shootouts had seen lukewarm reception in recent years, and Duke couldn't guarantee audience approval.

"The first option is a standard release strategy," Doug Walter began, wasting no time. "Given the genre and budget, the film's initial theater count won't be high. It may need to go through limited releases across about a hundred theaters before scaling up, depending on the final cut and our campaign efforts."

After pausing briefly and seeing Duke remain silent, Doug Walter continued, "The second option is the film festival route. Warner Bros. could secure a spot for the film in the competition section at Cannes or at least in the out-of-competition screenings, and then..."

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

"I understand."

This was just Warner Bros.' suggestion. Doug Walter, familiar with Duke's likely choice from past interactions, was prepared for this response. "I'll coordinate with theaters to hold test screenings as soon as the film is complete."

The marketing and distribution tasks naturally fell to Warner Bros. After Doug Walter left New Zealand, Duke resumed work on the film's post-production.

From his entry into Hollywood to now, Duke had completed six films, accumulating significant experience. He was no longer the novice he was when making his first two movies. Although editing a multi-threaded narrative was more complex than his previous work, it wasn't as challenging as he had imagined.

After all, he was no longer a rookie director.

Warner Bros. soon relayed their decision: the film's release date would be in March, traditionally a low season. Though Warner Bros. had faith in Duke, they weren't blind to the film's limitations in terms of subject matter and budget. They wisely avoided the blockbuster-heavy peak season, opting for a quieter release window.

While busy with Critical Emergency's post-production and The Lord of the Rings' pre-production, Duke used his limited downtime to convene with his investment team to discuss upcoming ventures.

Calling it a discussion might be generous; it was more of Duke issuing orders.

By late January 1999, Duke recalled the IT stock crash happening around the turn of the millennium. He wasn't sure of the exact timing but vaguely remembered it being related to the Microsoft antitrust case.

A January news report mentioned the federal court's ongoing investigation into Microsoft. Duke estimated that the market crash wasn't far off.

What about selling stocks a few months before the crash?

Even with limited financial expertise, Duke knew this was an unrealistic fantasy. The stock market's unpredictability aside, dumping his holdings—amassed steadily over the years—might trigger a chain reaction.

A long-term, gradual, and planned divestment was a relatively prudent strategy.

Setting aside Apple and Microsoft, Duke's Yahoo shares alone, acquired since 1996, had skyrocketed to over a hundred million dollars in value.

Duke planned to hold onto his Apple shares for the long term as they were initially bought for preservation and growth. His priority was to offload Yahoo, Microsoft, and other IT stocks recommended by David.

Per Duke's directive, David and his team had to liquidate all these stocks before the new millennium dawned.

"If the market trend holds and there's no crash, Duke, you'll see substantial returns," David assured him in the office.

However, holding cash was not a wise financial strategy. David suggested finding new investment opportunities.

New targets?

Google? But Google wasn't planning another round of financing anytime soon, and its founders would undoubtedly limit the shares he could acquire.

Who else? He vaguely recalled something called Facebook, but that seemed far off.

Holding large amounts of cash was undoubtedly foolish, given the rapid devaluation of the U.S. dollar. Increasing his stakes in Warner Bros. and Victoria's Secret?

Duke was already the largest individual shareholder in both companies. Without substantial incentives, their management would certainly resist further investments.

He also had last year's earnings from The Matrix, including royalties and bonuses. Although tax season was approaching, even after purchasing a private jet and co-investing in The Lord of the Rings trilogy with Warner Bros. at a 1:1 ratio, millions of dollars still remained in his account.

Now, Duke realized another issue: compared to other young, spendthrift millionaires, he wasn't great at spending money.

After dismissing these thoughts, Duke wrapped up the meeting with David. Shortly after, David returned to North America to formulate a detailed plan to translate Duke's amateurish requests into practical actions.

By February, the crew resumed extensive casting for non-combat roles. Duke quickly confirmed Cate Blanchett as the first choice for Galadriel after seeing her costume photos.

Christopher Lee also arrived in Wellington. With a willingness to reduce his pay, he quickly reached an agreement to play Saruman, the White Wizard of the White Council.

Meanwhile, the core members of the Fellowship of the Ring and their stunt doubles, who had been undergoing training, were given a long break. Some actors had other contractual obligations, forcing the production to accommodate them.

For instance, Gandalf—Ian McKellen.

"I'm leaving this afternoon and came by to say goodbye," the veteran actor courteously informed Duke in the editing room. "If you need anything, just have someone contact me. I'll coordinate my schedule between the two roles."

"Two roles?" Duke felt like he had missed something.

"You've been busy, so it seems you forgot," McKellen said with a smile, lowering his voice slightly. "Besides Gandalf, I've also taken on the role of Magneto in X-Men."

X-Men? Magneto?

After McKellen left, Duke quickly pieced things together and couldn't help lamenting his poor investment foresight.

In the IT industry, he had only thought of familiar names like Microsoft, Apple, and Google. In film, his focus remained solely on close collaborators like Warner Bros.

He had never looked far enough ahead to the era when superheroes would dominate the big screen.