On stage, Keanu Reeves opened the envelope, then glanced at it with an incredulous expression, seemingly unable to believe the result. After adjusting for a full two seconds, he slowly read the result, "The winner of the Best Drama Film at the 61st Golden Globe Awards is... Cold Mountain!"
In the banquet hall of the Hilton Hotel, the atmosphere instantly became tense. A monotonous round of applause started in one corner, where a few film critics were seated.
No matter what, applause was bound to follow. The situation in the hall was being broadcast live across America. Even if the result was unexpected, with prepared stooges by the organizers, the applause could not be sparse.
One by one, people clapped. The surprise lasted only a brief moment, after all, the Golden Globe's dark side was well-known not only among industry insiders but even the public.
If it didn't cause a stir or create controversy, could the Golden Globe still be the Golden Globe?
Sitting at the banquet table, Duke also lightly clapped. In front of him was a Golden Globe trophy, the Best Director award he had just received. The Golden Globe was even more transparent than the Oscars when it came to dividing the spoils; with fewer than 100 judges, the awards always needed to cater to various interests.
"I didn't expect it to be Cold Mountain."
To Duke's left, Nancy Josephson looked towards another table, where Harvey Weinstein from Miramax Films was sitting. "Duke, we focused all our attention on Master and Commander, and somewhat neglected the double insurance strategy from the other side."
"It's fine." Duke shook his head nonchalantly. "Nancy, it's just the Golden Globe."
Since when did the Golden Globe become considered the best indicator of the Oscars? Duke had been in Hollywood for over ten years and knew very well that this idea was far from reliable. The judges for the Golden Globe and the Academy voters—the members of the Academy—had no overlap. To borrow words from a certain comedian, the Academy members wouldn't deign to be judges for the Golden Globe because of the poor reputation of its judges.
Compared to the Golden Globe, which had almost no connection to the Oscars, the Producers Guild Award, Directors Guild Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award were the real indicators for the Oscars. The reason was simple: the judges for these industry guild awards were mostly members of the Academy...
Forget about these guild awards, a quick look at the history of the Oscars would show that even the three major film critic associations had more influence on the Oscars than the Golden Globe.
Duke didn't spend much energy on the Golden Globe. Winning the Best Director award was a bit of a surprise to him.
As he had predicted earlier, the competition for awards this season would come from Miramax. The Weinstein brothers had ensured that Cold Mountain and Master and Commander acted as their double insurance strategy for securing heavyweight Oscar nominations.
After the awards ceremony ended, Duke didn't attend the subsequent celebration party and directly left the Hilton Hotel.
As February drew closer, the announcement of the Oscar nominations loomed. The global box office for The Return of the King had gradually surpassed $1.55 billion. This was both an advantage and a disadvantage for the upcoming Oscars.
When a commercial film's earnings exploded to a certain level, many judges could no longer ignore it. But The Return of the King wasn't a commercial film like Titanic, which was based on a real-life event; it inherently had some shortcomings.
Especially the film critics, who had been writing articles in their columns, constantly reminding Oscar voters. Veteran critics like Roger Ebert frequently used his long-established network of contacts to meet with senior members of the Academy, aiming to influence more votes.
"The Return of the King being nominated for the Oscar is already the highest recognition."
In an office, Roger Ebert said firmly to the woman in her fifties across from him. "Sheryl, The Return of the King is a purely non-realistic commercial film, shouldn't the Academy maintain the rigor of art? The Oscars have always been the last bastion of Hollywood art films. Do you want to see the final stronghold also be overtaken by commercialism?"
"No one wants to see a commercial film win the Oscar." Sheryl Isaacs slowly replied, "Roger, I understand what you mean."
Roger Ebert looked at her. She wasn't well-known across America, but she was a household name in Hollywood, especially with the Academy. As a member of the executive committee, she could easily influence many people's choices. However, it wasn't easy for actors or directors to get her to act; her most famous trait was her "celebrity collection" hobby.
Every time before the Oscars, there would be men who tried to get her to help them make an impact at the Oscars.
In Roger Ebert's eyes, Sheryl Isaacs had likely been involved with more Hollywood male stars than anyone else, ranking among the top in the entire industry.
Sheryl Isaacs wasn't easily swayed. Roger Ebert knew he had no such charm, but the two had decades of friendship. Back in 1995, she had sent certain signals through channels to Duke Rosenberg, only to be firmly rejected by the young director.
Sheryl Isaacs didn't want to see Duke Rosenberg become the Oscar winner.
Not just Roger Ebert, but many famous film critics like David Denby and Todd McCarthy were running around Los Angeles, meeting with Academy members, trying to prevent the one person they disliked from winning the Oscar.
Externally, professional critics were attacking. Internally, there was competition from Miramax Films. Duke was very clear that the situation he faced was far more difficult than what Peter Jackson had faced. The possibility of The Return of the King losing at the Oscars was not out of the question.
Since Independence Day, his long-standing conflicts with film critics had reached a boiling point.
But Duke never regretted it. If he had the chance to go back in time, he would still stand up to create media frenzy in defense of a film's profits that he would never abandon.
Of course, Duke's enemies were not limited to just professional critics.
However, another group had more pressing projects and couldn't focus on Duke and the Oscars for now.
"A critic created by the media really thinks he's the god of the film industry."
In a spacious office, Michael Ovitz had a look of deep disdain on his face. "Roger Ebert is too arrogant. Does he really think this is still the '80s or '90s?"
"Does that mean..." Martin Bob said, somewhat unwillingly, "we just watch him become the Best Director at the Oscars?"
He then turned to the young man in the room, "David, do you want to see Duke Rosenberg win the Oscar?"
David Ellison replied without hesitation, "Of course not! If someone rejects your offers of friendship and cooperation multiple times, would you like them?"
Though the initial proposal was rejected, he still held some hope. While negotiating with Artist Management for cooperation, he didn't abandon contact with Duke's studio, but the results were far from ideal. No matter what kind of cooperation he proposed, the reply was always a refusal.
For someone who had always gotten whatever he wanted since childhood, this hurt his face and pride.
Perhaps Hollywood's old foxes wouldn't care, but a young man in his twenties with wealth and power couldn't swallow this insult.
David Ellison wasn't thinking of letting it slide.
"Michael, are we really doing nothing?" He looked at Ovitz, his demeanor full of arrogance and pride, just like his father. "Are we really just watching Duke Rosenberg get the little golden man?"
"You don't understand the actual situation, David." Michael Ovitz remained calm. "Even if we make a move, it will be hard to stop Duke Rosenberg. The Academy is not anyone's to control. It doesn't belong to Harvey Weinstein, nor is it a puppet of the professional critics..."
At this point, he paused for a moment, sighed, and continued, "Duke Rosenberg may not be the type of director the Academy likes, but his trilogy has accumulated too many advantages. Even if the Academy is high and mighty or engages in underhanded tactics, it still has to maintain the most basic fairness. Though this fairness is extremely limited, it's enough..."
He shrugged, not continuing, and changed the subject, "Even if we make Duke Rosenberg lose the Oscar, would it really have a substantial impact on him?"
Martin Bob and David Ellison sat there, deep in thought.
Michael Ovitz didn't make them wait and directly gave his answer, "Even if he loses the Oscar, the impact on Duke Rosenberg will be negligible. He stands on commercial films, and commercial films are his foundation. As long as his movies continue to generate high returns, his position in Hollywood will continue to rise, so high that everyone will have to look up to him!"
"So we target his commercial films, and destroy his foundation in Hollywood!" David Ellison said confidently.
"I've got some news." Michael Ovitz suddenly smiled. "Duke is planning to reboot the Batman series with Warner Bros. How hard will it be to resurrect this series? I'm sure you all know."
"You mean..." David Ellison immediately understood. "Our project targets the new Batman?"
"Exactly!" Michael Ovitz's eyes gleamed with light. "The Batman series is our best chance. Its reputation has already been ruined. For Duke Rosenberg to turn it around by himself is not so simple."
"And our aerial combat project..."
David Ellison laughed, as if he had transformed into an aerial hero, shooting down that big bat from the sky.
.... .
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