The turn of the century inevitably came again. Just in 1999, the doomsday remarks that had been circulating in the public and media have even become a trend. Doomsday theory has always had a market in religious society like the West. The remarks about the return of the demons and Satan's arrival in the world have been constantly thrown out by many famous religious figures, and then hyped by gossip media.︾,

Even the sunrise industrial network and computer industry that saved America have rumored about the outbreak of the millennium worms. Computers have penetrated into all walks of life in this country. If there is a outbreak of the millennium worms, American society will inevitably be in chaos.

But for the business and financial circles, these are all small issues that can be ignored in the face of commercial profits.

Especially Hollywood, how it worked in the past, and now it is still running. As the old year passed and the new year came, in addition to the busy stars, directors and major companies, newspapers and magazines focusing on Hollywood's Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, and Hollywood Reporter have also summarized the past year in Hollywood in the new issue of the New Year special edition journals.

"Vanity Fair" released the Hollywood annual revenue rankings, "Entertainment Weekly" is the Hollywood power rankings that have been in the ten years, and "Hollywood Reporter" is the North American box office rankings in 1998.

Among the three lists, Duke not only ranked first, but also ranked first.

In the 1998 North American box office rankings of "Hollywood Reporter", "The Matrix" ranked first without any suspense with a North American box office of $327.58 million. Michael Bay's "The Peerless Tribulation" ranked second is nearly half of its more than $189 million.

In addition to box office, The Hollywood Reporter also commented on the film.

"Last summer season, we witnessed a breathtaking movie The Matrix. We talked about the cool moves such as 'bullet time', 'explosion time' and 360-degree volleyball kicks. We experienced the most revolutionary moments in film history."

"Now, director Duke Rosenberg and his "The Matrix" have been worshipped by fans around the world. They appreciate every detail of the film over and over again, analyze the metaphor of each dialogue, and begin to discuss 'existentialism' and 'nihilism'; the most influential philosophers of the contemporary era are working hard to explore the philosophical connotation of the film, and books like "The Matrix and Philosophy" are constantly being published; its religious spirit has also been explained increasingly by people, and the debate on the self-consciousness of people in the future digital world has even become a fashion in the religious world."

Although there are still films released in North America that have not ended their screenings, no one would expect films like "Daidai Forward" and "Shapes Love History" to win a box office of $300 million in North America. There is no doubt that "The Matrix" won the annual box office list.

In addition to being the first in the box office list last year, Duke also ranks first in the annual revenue list.

The annual income list released by Vanity Fair only counts job remuneration from the film industry, and investments and other asset appreciation will not be counted.

With the basic pay and box office dividends of the director of "The Matrix", Duke sat firmly in the first place with the pre-tax income of $125 million.

Then came James Cameron, as before. Although the truck driver gave up the director's pay, he did not give up the director's share. He received a total of US$85 million in pre-tax income from the terrifying box office and peripheral income of the ship, ranking second on this list.

"Vanity Fair" writes that Duke Rosenberg is setting a new benchmark for Hollywood commercial directors' income. His directorial pay not only reached the highest peak in Hollywood's history, but also continued to push the highest to a further distance. According to insiders, in the latest "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy", Duke Rosenberg serves as screenwriter, and the total pay for directors and producers is as high as $45 million. The cap of the step-sharing agreement is 25% that Hollywood has never seen before!

On another list, James Cameron made a reversal of Duke.

In the new Hollywood power rankings of "Entertainment Weekly", James Cameron ranked first with the huge success of "Titanic". The calculation of this list of collective revenue, fame and influence is quite complicated. The second place is Jack Leonardo DiCaprio, who is popular all over the world. The third place is Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves, who further consolidated his status with "Mission: Impossible", ranked fourth with the popularity of "The Matrix" and the super cool power of the savior. Duke ranked fifth as the director of the film.

Since Titanic was released in 1997, Duke is the only one who can squeeze into the top five of these three heavyweight lists.

At the same time, various media are publishing strange lists. People or things related to "The Matrix" have become winners in many of them.

For example, among the 100 most sexy actresses in "The Gang of Men", Charlize Theron squeezed into the top three; among the top ten classic movie shots of the 1998, "Explosion Time" ranked first...

Even Duke was ranked among the top 50 of the world's sexiest men by a gossip magazine.

Because he decided to have a long holiday for himself, Duke stayed in New York from before Christmas to after the New Year. Apart from fitness exercise, he spent most of his time reading books and newspapers, chatting and drinking tea with Erin Lauder, and even went to Philadelphia to visit Sofia Coppola.

Her first feature film, "The Death of a Virgin" was filmed in a middle school near Wharton, Pennsylvania.

“You don’t look different from before.”

While the crew was resting, Sofia Coppola chatted with Duke for a while, "I talked to Tina on the phone some time ago, and I heard that your physical and mental state are not good."

“It’s much better now.”

Sitting beside Sofia Coppola, Duke looked at the students around him watching the filming, and then turned his eyes back. "Probably the fatigue accumulated over the years has been induced by high-intensity work, before Christmas last year..."

He sighed, "Not only my body and spirit, I feel that there is something wrong with my fighting spirit."

"Dear, you're too strict with yourself."

Holding Duke's arm, Sophia said seriously, "You keep urging yourself to move forward, and you are unwilling to stop and relax. In the past few years, even on vacation, your nerves have been tense. Among all the directors in Hollywood, even Spielberg, who is recognized as the most diligent, is not as hard-working as you do."

After taking the hot coffee handed over by Sofia's assistant, Duke thanked him, leaned on the low-high backrest of the chair and said, "I always have a sense of urgency in time. I want to keep succeeding. I have understood from a very young age that there is no luck in success. If you want to succeed, you must make efforts."

Sofia rolled his eyes, "You're successful enough now."

"So I've thrown away all my work for the time being," Duke said, taking a sip of coffee, "had a long vacation for himself."

Then Duke turned the topic to Sofia's movie, "Is the shooting going smoothly?"

“It’s pretty good in general.”

Sofia Coppola said, "I have been preparing for the script and filming plan for two years. You and my father have also given me enough advice. The performance of several actors is also excellent, especially Kelsten Dunst. She is in very good shape and is worthy of being one of the best actresses since the 1980s."

When Sofia Coppola talked about the actress, Duke suddenly thought that he seemed to have ignored someone, "Where is Scar? Why didn't he see her?"

"There is no scene for her today." Sofia Coppola asked the assistant next to her and said, "She has been here in the morning and left before lunch. She should have visited Wharton next to her."

Someone came over and said a few words to Sophia. She turned to Duke and said, "You can take a look around yourself, I'm going to start shooting."

Duke came to visit the set, not to disturb Sofia Coppola's shooting. He was very conscious of staying away from the shooting site and wandering around alone.

Actually, there is nothing good here. Sophia Coppola chose this middle school to shoot a story about Michigan, which was to have a crush on the long history and relatively old-school buildings of the middle school. Duke walked around the library and couldn't help but feel bored. He simply took out his cell phone and dialed Scarlett Johnson's number.

After all, she is her mother's goddaughter. Since she has arrived in Philadelphia, Duke always wants to see her.

"Mary and I are having coffee in the Wharton cafe. Are you going to come here? Well, I'll wait for you..."

When Duke heard the name of the cafe reported by Scarlett Johnson, he hung up the phone and left the middle school. He asked a driver in the crew to take him to Wharton, walked into the school, and found a few students to find out where the cafe was located. It took him nearly ten minutes to find it.

He pushed the door and walked into the cafe, and immediately saw a blond girl standing up and waved to the side, strode over.

"Hello, Director Rosenberg..."

Scarlett Johnson's agent Mary quickly stood up and greeted Duke. Duke nodded, pulled open the chair and sat opposite the blonde girl.

"Are you here to see me specifically, Duke?" Scarlett asked expectantly.

"Ah, yes." Duke nodded casually, "I'll come and visit you and Sofia Coppola's class."

The space in the cafe was a little crowded, Duke moved backwards and said to the waiter who was walking over, "A cup of latte, thank you."

This is an extremely tall waitress. She suddenly stared at Duke and asked, "Why are you here?" (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!