"Hi, George."
As soon as Duke walked into the café, he spotted George Lucas and hurried over to greet him, apologetically saying, "Sorry, I'm a little late."
George Lucas shook his head without minding. "We just got here early."
As he spoke, he turned to the two people beside him and introduced them to Duke. "You should remember them—you waved lightsabers together on set when you were a kid."
He was referring to something from the 1970s. Because of the friendship between their families, Duke had visited the Star Wars set several times as a child. Although it had been many years, he still vaguely remembered those times. And besides, as a director about to helm a new Star Wars trilogy, how could he not know two of the most iconic members of the Skywalker family from the original trilogy's Iron Triangle?
"Hello, Mark. Hello, Carrie."
Duke shook hands with the two middle-aged actors in turn—they were Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who had played Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, respectively, in the original Star Wars trilogy.
After exchanging greetings, they moved to a quiet booth. Duke, as always, went straight to the point. Glancing briefly at George Lucas, who sat beside them, he said openly, "I'm preparing to begin production on the new Star Wars trilogy, and I sincerely hope both of you will return to the series."
Such words did not surprise Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. Hollywood had long been abuzz with rumors that, after Duke's acquisition of Lucasfilm, he planned to restart the Star Wars saga.
However, neither of them responded immediately. They fell silent, and Carrie Fisher even glanced over at George Lucas.
George Lucas had long said that the prequel trilogy marked the conclusion of his Star Wars saga. But since Duke was the one continuing the series, it couldn't really be considered a betrayal of his earlier statement to the media and fans. In fact, back in the mid-1990s, he had invited Duke to direct the Star Wars prequels, though Duke had declined at the time.
In Lucas's eyes, if Star Wars was to be revived, there was no one more suitable to direct it than Duke.
As the creator of the Star Wars universe, Lucas felt most at ease handing the series over to him.
Thus, George Lucas gave Carrie Fisher a small, reassuring nod.
Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher remained quiet, but Duke wasn't the least bit anxious. These two had once been among the biggest beneficiaries of Star Wars, but also the most confined by it. Since the trilogy ended, neither had produced any notable works.
They had once been stars, accustomed to the extravagant lifestyles of Hollywood celebrities. Yet the pay scale of the 1970s and 1980s couldn't compare to that of the 1990s onward. In truth, both were not in great financial shape and could hardly find suitable roles. If things continued this way, they would inevitably end up like Marlon Brando—famous in name but living a rather bleak old age.
From Duke's investigation, unlike their Iron Triangle counterpart Harrison Ford—who had remained a major star—Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were no longer true working actors. They didn't even have proper agents anymore.
To be blunt, even if Hamill and Fisher refused, Duke wouldn't particularly mind. He could always use props, scenes, or nostalgic moments to tug at the fans' heartstrings—it wouldn't be difficult.
Mark Hamill lifted his coffee cup, took a sip, and said slowly, "It makes me happy to see the Star Wars series restarting again. It's a great franchise."
Hearing this, Duke smiled faintly, then turned to Carrie Fisher.
Like Hamill, Carrie had no agent and couldn't give a formal commitment, but she made her stance clear: "It's been my dream to be part of Star Wars again."
Once she said that, the atmosphere instantly became warm and relaxed. They reminisced about the old days when Duke had visited the set as a child, laughing occasionally at the memories.
Only now, Hamill and Fisher fully realized that the boy from those days had grown into someone they now looked up to.
Duke was busy, so he couldn't stay long. After finishing his coffee, the meeting came to an end.
Before leaving, Duke reminded the noticeably overweight Hamill and Fisher, "I hope starting today, both of you can come up with some proper fitness plans."
Hamill and Fisher immediately understood what Duke meant and nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Then, Duke exchanged a few parting words with George Lucas, who had been watching quietly, before leaving the café and heading back to Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank.
Inviting Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher back to the Star Wars series was, in essence, an emotional gesture to appeal to fans' nostalgia. And they were only part of the returning cast. Producers Kathleen Kennedy, Charles Roven, and Robin Grande were also reaching out to other surviving cast members from the original trilogy.
For instance, Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, had already agreed to reprise his role.
By comparison, Chewbacca's old partner Han Solo was proving to be the most difficult among the original cast.
Charles Roven personally approached Harrison Ford and his agent, only to be met with a demand of twenty million dollars plus a share of the profits.
If this had been during Ford's prime, such a salary wouldn't have been unreasonable. But the current Harrison Ford was no longer the man he once was. Unless Duke and Lucasfilm had lost their minds, there was no way they would agree to such a deal.
At present, Roven was still negotiating with Ford's agent, though the talks were proving extremely difficult—every inch fiercely contested. Duke had already prepared for the possibility that Han Solo might not appear in the film at all.
For Star Wars, even the original Iron Triangle was not absolutely indispensable.
The plan to restart the Star Wars series had already entered the implementation stage, and no obstacle would be enough to halt it.
While Duke remained busy with his own work, he also kept an eye on his competitors.
David Ellison, for instance, needed little elaboration. Since withdrawing from Hollywood, even though he was free from Duke's pressure, he was still entangled in investigations by the Los Angeles County Police Department and the FBI regarding Vin Diesel's death. However, the series of North Korea-related hacker incidents sparked by The Interview had diverted both media and official attention away from him. From this perspective, conceding some interests to Duke and exiting Hollywood wasn't entirely a bad move.
Simply put, much like Larry Ellison and Bill Gates, people at their level might dislike each other and even resort to underhanded "janitor spy" tactics, but none of them would ever start a fight to the death. Such a conflict would benefit no one—even the victor would end up battered and bruised, leaving an opportunity for others to swoop in and trample them.
From beginning to end, Duke was always very clear. In Hollywood and across America, though he had strong collaborators like Time Warner and Google, he was never short of competitors or even enemies. Even within those two groups, there were restless figures like Robert Solomon.
This was a fiercely competitive society, and Duke wasn't stupid enough to think that if he shouted once, all his enemies would kneel before him and willingly become his followers.
Not to mention enemies—even the movie stars who had once worked with Duke, what they truly thought of him was anyone's guess.
Between Duke and the Ellison family, things had always stayed on opposite sides of a line. Even with Larry Ellison's arrogance and defiance, he wouldn't easily cross that line.
Between the two interest groups, a single transaction finally ended nearly a decade of entanglement.
The Ellison family's reach into the film industry had been severed, while Duke neither understood nor cared about Oracle's business. Without any conflict of interest, it was impossible for the two sides to have large-scale disputes or confrontations again.
Then there was Walt Disney—among Hollywood's traditional six major studios, it was the one most affected by Duke's influence.
The once mighty "Mickey Mouse," beginning with its acquisition of ABC Television, had transformed from a traditional production and distribution company into a media conglomerate, and among the six major studios, it was the only one to truly succeed in that transformation. Later, it acquired Pixar Studios, swallowed Marvel Comics, and merged Lucasfilm, at one time becoming the world's most valuable media company—utterly dominant.
Now, however, Walt Disney had only acquired ABC Television. Not only had Duke snatched away Pixar Studios, Marvel Comics, and Lucasfilm, but the company was also deeply mired in an internal power struggle between Robert Iger and Michael Eisner, unable to extricate itself, which severely hindered its development.
Especially losing Pixar Studios brought immeasurable negative consequences to Disney. Under the leadership of Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, two of Pixar's "five generals," Disney's animation division had once risen again, even producing commercial miracles like Frozen.
However, without Pixar's support, Disney's current Christmas release was another Frozen that Duke found somewhat unfamiliar—but its performance was far from ideal. The clichéd plot of a prince saving a princess with a true love's kiss was fiercely criticized, and its opening weekend box office barely surpassed $20 million.
Without the "girl saves the world" twist, without the brainwashing anthems, this version of Frozen could only become one of the most ordinary among Disney's many animated films.
Duke remembered this film but couldn't find a suitable production partner. A musical fairytale like Frozen, filled with singing, dancing, and excessive sweetness, simply didn't fit Pixar Studios. Forcing it on Pixar would only turn it into something entirely different—or a guaranteed loss-making venture.
As for writing a script and selling it to some other animation studio? Don't be ridiculous. An animated feature takes an extremely long production cycle, and the script is one of the least significant parts—far less important than production technology.
And then there was 20th Century Fox.
....
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (Completed)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler (30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu