Echoes of Hollywood

Perhaps it was the effect brought about by "The End of the World" that Murphy didn't expect. George Miller actually invited him through Charlize Theron to audition for the lead role in "Mad Max 4"!

"This is for you to be the absolute lead."

Margot Robbie, who was visiting the manor, joked with Murphy when she heard Gal Gadot talking about it. "It's a rare opportunity, you should agree!"

In the garden, Murphy was sitting on a bench with an easel in front of him, sketching the lines of a motorcycle with a graphite pencil. Without looking back, he said, "If I really wanted to be the lead, I wouldn't be casting Henry Cavill in my next movie."

It wouldn't be difficult for him to play the lead in a film now.

Margot Robbie, standing behind Murphy and looking at the upgraded motorcycle sketch of Chris Dane, said, "Kara Faith would be the first to oppose it."

She turned her head to the side. "Right, Gal?"

Gal Gadot shrugged. "For the sake of the film's quality, I would oppose it too."

"You guys..." Murphy shook his head. "Is my acting that bad?"

Margot Robbie, regardless of whether Murphy could see her or not, nodded seriously. "As you once said, your directing skills and acting skills are like night and day."

"I still don't get it," she said, crossing her arms. "Why would George Miller want you?"

"Why?" Murphy continued his work, replying casually, "How would I know why?"

"Do you know?" Margot Robbie asked Gal Gadot.

"I can guess a bit." Gal Gadot took Margot Robbie by the arm, sat on the chair behind, and took a sip of tea before speaking. "There are roughly two reasons. Industry sources say that the lead actor wears a mask most of the time, so top-tier actors are not interested. Secondly, I suspect Warner Bros. wants to use this opportunity to show goodwill to Stanton Studio and ease tensions with Murphy."

She added, "Warner Bros. just replaced their CEO recently due to poor performance."

"Bruce Rosenblum stepped down?" Margot Robbie was a bit surprised.

After all, she had a contract with Warner Bros. too. However, the film "Suicide Squad," which kept changing scripts and directors, had been postponed repeatedly, with no clear start date in sight.

Murphy also knew about this. "Time Warner Group just appointed Kevin Tsujihara as the CEO of Warner Bros. Entertainment last week."

It is said that this Asian-American might eventually take over the entire Time Warner Group.

Time Warner's performance had been poor in recent years, with stock prices plummeting. Both Hollywood and Wall Street were rife with rumors of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation planning to acquire Time Warner.

But the problems Warner Bros. faced couldn't be solved just by replacing one CEO. The newly appointed Kevin Tsujihara had a tough job ahead.

To be precise, it's challenging to be in a high-level position in any of Hollywood's major studios.

Murphy knew a bit about this because of his friend Kara Faith.

According to Kara Faith, the daily hope of Hollywood executives is much like that of ordinary people: that they still have their job when they wake up the next day.

Despite Hollywood achieving record-high global box office revenues this summer, fierce competition among blockbuster films and the dramatic firing of top executives at several major film companies caused a sense of crisis among Hollywood executives and board members towards the shareholders who control the company's stock.

Walt Disney's high-budget film "John Carter" performed disastrously at the box office, resulting in Rich Ross, known as the "star maker" at Disney, being ousted from his office.

Not long after, Tom Rothman, who had managed daily operations at 20th Century Fox for eighteen years, lost out to Kara Faith in a power struggle and was forced to step down. Warner Bros.' "chairman battle" ended with the victory of Kevin Tsujihara, the president of the home entertainment division, leaving Bruce Rosenblum to depart Warner Bros. for Legendary Pictures.

Just like the competition among Hollywood stars and films, there is intense competition within major companies.

Bill Ross had hinted to Murphy that the most significant move in Warner Bros.' recent restructuring was Kevin Tsujihara's team's success in persuading J.K. Rowling to continue collaborating with Warner Bros. on Harry Potter spin-off films, with the condition that J.K. Rowling would have scriptwriting rights.

On another note, Kevin Tsujihara wanted to ease tensions with Murphy and invited him to return to oversee the DC comic film series.

Warner Bros. representatives had already contacted CAA and Bill Ross, who, along with George Miller, had conveyed their goodwill to Murphy. A few years ago, Murphy might have considered this, but now that "Diego Ross" had just started its awards season run, he had crucial plans in place for the next few years. Abandoning these plans to pivot to the DC comic film series would be counterproductive.

After years of struggling for the Oscars and gathering resources, he finally had a comprehensive plan to win an Oscar. How could he give it up so easily?

Even if Warner Bros. showed enough sincerity, it would have to wait for a few more years.

The problem is, with Marvel's series of new releases, how could Warner Bros. and DC Comics wait patiently?

After finishing a concept sketch, Murphy stood up, stretched, put away his drawing board, and returned to the table. He took the tea Gal Gadot handed him, tasted it, found it just right, and drank the entire cup.

"Looking at your draft..." Margot Robbie poured Murphy another cup from the teapot. "Is Chris Dane's vehicle getting an upgrade?"

"Yes," Murphy said before taking another sip. "In the setting, he inherits a large fortune, enough to buy many advanced vehicles or materials for modification."

Once the Oscars were over, Murphy would officially start preparing for the film. For now, his focus was on "Diego Ross" and its awards season campaign.

In the late afternoon, after Gal Gadot and Margot Robbie changed into evening dresses, Murphy joined them to attend a screening in Burbank organized by the production team, where 20th Century Fox had invited numerous critics and Academy members.

There wasn't much to say about such screenings, primarily focused on networking. At the end, the production team would hand out some gifts that didn't violate the Academy's sensitivity guidelines.

The production team had a dedicated budget for this, and the funds were quite ample.

Of course, you could choose not to give anything, and no one would force it. However, the Oscars have their own set of operating rules. While some judges are serious and vote based on the quality of the work, many others vote based on personal impressions.

The number of judges in this latter group is significant, and to win their support, mere words are often insufficient.

Almost every film aiming for Oscar nominations has a dedicated plan for this.

In addition to the screening, 20th Century Fox had arranged several Academy member screenings over the weekend for "Diego Ross" to make it convenient for members to watch the film.

These screenings were, of course, free for Academy members.

Moreover, Oscar voters attending the screenings would receive a beautifully made "Diego Ross" premiere souvenir booklet.

In short, all the PR, promotion, and marketing efforts necessary for an Oscar-nominated film were being made for "Diego Ross."

Simultaneously, the film's release expanded to seven cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco, increasing to ten theaters in total.

After the first limited release weekend, "Diego Ross" had mixed audience reviews, not particularly good but not bad either. With the strong draw of Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., the film maintained a steady performance over the following four weekdays, averaging about $5,000 per day, accumulating over $20,000 in five theaters from Monday to Thursday.

Regarding word-of-mouth, after Murphy and 20th Century Fox initiated a word-of-mouth marketing campaign, the ratings on various internet review sites didn't rise significantly but remained stable, which was already a positive sign given the increasing number of user reviews.

In stark contrast to the audience reviews were the media and professional reviews, which, despite some critical voices like those saying, "In Murphy Stanton's eyes, his friend's mistakes are never their fault but society's fault," remained relatively strong. The industry gave the film a positive evaluation.

Under these circumstances, the film was very likely to make a splash during the awards season. Murphy's goal was an Oscar nomination. Just securing a nomination would be a significant milestone, laying a stronger foundation for future endeavors.

No matter how you look at it, Murphy's youth was an undeniable disadvantage in the eyes of those old Oscar judges.

Bill Ross once told him that a highly appreciative Oscar voter had said to him: "Murphy Stanton is clearly still on the rise, obviously not at the peak of his directing career yet. If we give him the Oscar statuette now, it might be too unfair to him. Besides, he's young, he can wait."

Murphy could only respond with silence upon hearing this, as the reality of seniority-based recognition exists everywhere.

After the second weekend, "Diego Ross" performed moderately in the ten limited release theaters.

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