Just as June was approaching, Warner Bros. officially announced that Duke's new film has been launched and preparations are about to begin. The theme of the new film is the type of space adventure.

Due to the tight time, Duke completely threw the promotional work of the film to Warner Bros. The new film project was not even held for a press conference. Duke just asked by reporters when he was asked by reporters that the new film would be a space version similar to "The Rest of the Desert Island".

To some extent, he said nothing wrong. Most of the time in the film is Scarlett Johnson's one-man show.

The plot of this film is very simple, and it can even be said to be without a plot. The heroine played by Scarlett Johnson encountered an accident in space and tried her best to return to Earth.

The name of the new film has not been announced to the public, but after Duke convened his team, he has officially named "Gravity".

And as soon as the new film was launched, Duke finalized another actor. He gave an invitation to George Clooney, who and his agent had almost no consideration and immediately agreed to the invitation.

Originally, Robert Downey Jr. got some inside information from Warner Bros. and wanted to play this role, but Duke refused. Perhaps from the perspective of acting, George Clooney is not the most suitable candidate, but from the perspective of Oscars, the benefits of his appearance in the film are far greater than Robert Downey Jr.

In the first decade, Robert Downey Jr. offended almost everyone who could offend him. If it weren't for "Iron Man", would he have turned around, would he be no less than climbing to the sky?

But George Clooney is different. The other party has a wide network of relationships in Hollywood, and there are definitely a few of them among the actors.

Hollywood actors and directors are enthusiastic about politics and actively participating in social activities are basically the norm. George Clooney is the representative of it. Even by browsing political style, he has gained his current status in Hollywood and has a good relationship with a large group of people who are keen on political activities. For example, Steven Soderbergh, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, etc.

The importance of the network of relationships to the Olympics is self-evident.

Although Duke is unintentional to best director and best film, he wants Scarlett to defeat Natalie Portman, who is very popular in the Jewish club, and must take advantage of all the conditions that can be used.

Moreover, Scarlett himself is also a political activist and has some friendship with George Clooney.

Taking George Clooneyla in and becoming a part of this huge Olympic-winning program will definitely increase some of Scarlett's chances of winning.

Perhaps many people think that George Clooney is not worthy of his reputation in Hollywood, but no matter what means he uses, the status of a first-tier star and his good popularity are real.

Indeed, if you look at it from the perspective and position of the Duke, George Clooney's words and deeds are disgusting, but he is no longer the Duke he used to be. From the identity and position of the Hollywood director, cooperation will only bring benefits.

What's more, if you really have to judge from your previous standpoint, more than 95% of Hollywood people like Steven Spielberg, Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, and even Scarlett Johnson can be defined outside the scope of cooperation.

So does he still use it to keep going in Hollywood?

Politics has never been far away from Hollywood, and Hollywood stars have their own political stances.

In this life, Duke's standard for judging business cooperation is very simple!

Privately, Warner Bros. once asked Duke if he could change the protagonist to a male, but after Duke refused, he did not continue to mention it.

In fact, from the perspective of investors, such a single-man show-like film can be more attractive if the protagonist is replaced by a man. After all, in the concepts of traditional Hollywood companies, male movies are far more popular than female movies.

But this film is not in this ranks. To be precise, "Georgement" has no creativity in the plot, and it is not an exaggeration to say that there is no plot. The film mainly relies on two points to create attractiveness, one is excellent special effects, and the other is the actor's performance.

Needless to say, if the actors are replaced by men, it will greatly reduce the atmosphere of the entire film. The meanings of men and women on the big screen are completely different. Men are born to be synonymous with toughness and strength in the film, while women represent weakness and are protected...

The protagonist of "Gravity" is replaced by a man, and the shock brought by his self-rescue will definitely not be as powerful as that of a woman.

There is no doubt that the film wants to pre-screen at least before the New Year, and time is very tight. Scarlett Johnson's performance and Duke's shooting are easy to say. The film's special effects production is the real problem. Duke asked Warner Bros. for a production budget of up to $200 million, and most of the funds will still be in the special effects.

He went to San Francisco specifically and had a talk with senior executives of Industrial Light and Magic. In the face of a high budget, the other party agreed to send as many special effects engineers as possible to participate in the production of "Georgetic".

Afterwards, Duke went to George Lucas's estate again. Recently, it has been rumored in the circle that George Lucas wants to retire.

The relationship between the two families is unusual, Duke knows very well that George Lucas is really preparing to retire.

"Actually, what I don't want to bear most is Lucas Pictures..."

In the reception room of the manor, George Lucas said to Duke, who was sitting opposite him, "It has been more than twenty years since I started Lucasfilm, and it's like my child."

Speaking to George Lucas, Duke didn't go around in circles and asked directly, "George, are you going to sell Lucasfilm?"

George Lucas glanced at Duke, guessed his intention, thought for a while, and nodded slightly, "I do have plans for this, and the people from Twentieth Century Fox and Walt Disney have also contacted me."

"Water Disney?" Duke frowned slightly, picked up the coffee cup, took a sip of the coffee, thought about it, and asked, "How about transferring it to me?"

Lucasfilm not only owns the copyrights of the Star Wars series and the "Hainan Jones" series, but also has the world's number one division, Industrial Light and Magic!

If Duke said he had no intention of Lucasfilm, it would definitely be fake.

Not to mention Industrial Light and Magic, according to the price of Disney's acquisition of Industrial Light and Magic, as long as the "Star Wars" series is restarted, the quality is guaranteed, and you can get the money back by selling the surrounding area!

"Duke, I'm just one of the shareholders of Lucasfilm." George Lucas did not refuse Duke, but reminded him, "This is business!"

In the face of such a huge deal, the role of friendship can be extremely limited. Duke is very clear about this. He changed into a serious expression and said, "George, my bid will definitely satisfy the shareholders of Lucasfilm."

George Lucas knew that Duke had such wealth and ability, and he rubbed his beard with his left hand. "You have worked with Lucasfilm for many years. Under the same conditions, I believe that Lucasfilm shareholders will give priority to selling their shares to you. However, Duke, you have to seize the time and do something ahead to take the initiative."

"I understand." Duke nodded solemnly, "I will form a professional team as soon as possible to contact the management of Lucasfilm."

He had already taken Marvel Comics and Pixar Studios from Walt Disney and then snatched Lucasfilm without any psychological burden.

Thinking about it, Duke had the opportunity to acquire the digital field, but he didn't move. He watched the digital field fall into Paramount Pictures' pocket because he knew very well that it would not take long to get Industrial Light and Magic and the entire Lucas Pictures.

However, if you want to win Lucasfilm, you will definitely need to have a huge amount of more than $4 billion. Even with Duke's current net worth, this is very difficult.

On the latest Forbes Rich Ranking, he is indeed ranked among the top ten in the world, and even the assets hidden in various foundations have not been counted, but stocks and fixed assets are completely different from the liquidity required for acquisitions.

This kind of acquisition case must require careful planning, and Duke also needs more professionals to participate in it. He knows that he can master the general direction, but he lacks the ability to implement it in detail.

He knew very well that he was not an omniscient and omnipotent so-called genius, and there was no such so-called genius in this world.

Anyway, if the conditions are not much different, George Lucas personally prefers to sell Lucas Pictures to Duke, and Duke also put forward a suggestion that it moved George Lucas. If he becomes the new owner of Lucas Pictures, he will try his best to hire George Lucas' old friend, and Katherine Kennedy, whose philosophy is in line with his lineage, is in charge of Lucas Pictures.

For Lucasfilm, Duke stayed in San Francisco for two days, and then accompanied by George Lucas, went to meet several other major shareholders of Lucasfilm. To a large extent, he had already taken the lead in this acquisition war without gunpowder that was about to detonate the entire Hollywood.

However, to turn this advantage into a winning streak, Duke still needs to draw out billions of dollars in real platinum.

How to raise this amount as soon as possible is undoubtedly one of the tasks he will focus on next.

He even made another plan, if the fundraising is not going well, he would introduce Warner Bros. into the acquisition plan.

Lucasfilm is a temptation that all Hollywood companies cannot refuse. Just Star Wars and Industrial Light and Magic are enough to make people lose their heads.

Leaving San Francisco, Duke returned to Los Angeles to continue preparing for Gravity. After an interview with George Clooney, he flew directly to Washington, DC. With his years of good relationship with the Pentagon, he was introduced to Nasa. (To be continued.)

ps: The old year is about to pass, and the new year is coming soon. Time passes so quickly, and there is always no time to sigh...

In the new year, Thirteen wishes everyone all their wishes come true and everyone will make a fortune. Happy New Year, brothers and sisters!
Chapter completed!