Duke returned to New Zealand after a long two-year preparation. The pre-production of The Lord of the Rings trilogy had come to an end, and filming was about to begin.
During the period before filming started, Duke had a detailed discussion with several important crew members. As for the music, he once again brought in Howard Shore, who had just completed the score for Peter Jackson's King Kong. Although Shore wanted to take a break, with enough salary offered, taking on the trilogy's music was no issue.
Next, Duke met with Andy Serkis, who had just finished King Kong as well. He seemed particularly interested in motion capture, and the team quickly signed him up to play Gollum.
However, both of them needed a break and left New Zealand after receiving the relevant scripts.
The trilogy, with an estimated production cost of 350 million dollars, naturally came with significant publicity to match the massive investment.
Before the The Lord of the Rings trilogy began filming, Duke lifted the crew's media silence. Warner Brothers and Time Warner invited a large number of media outlets to New Zealand, ready to flood the public with coverage and witness the trilogy's launch.
The not-so-harmonious part was that, on the day of the press conference, a large group of fans from the UK and US gathered outside the Wellington set, strongly protesting the adaptation of the series into a movie.
Though there were some negative effects, it also stirred up more publicity for the film.
In fact, just like stars, a movie's worst fate is not being talked about at all.
The protesters were easy to ignore, but dealing with a large group of journalists took up a lot of energy. After the morning press conference, Duke felt as though his head was about to explode. If not for the fact that many questions were prepared in advance, the reporters' frenzy would have been unbearable.
It was easy to understand the situation. No movie project had ever invested such an enormous sum, especially one involving the notoriously hard-to-adapt The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Following Hollywood's usual methods, even if a series is planned, they would typically film just one movie to test the waters. Otherwise, if something went wrong like with Cutthroat Island, a first film could bankrupt a second-tier film company. Filming all three parts at once was risky. Even Warner Brothers could not afford a misstep.
Despite protests from fans and the inevitable criticism from the media, the trilogy's preparations were already too advanced to back out now.
After the press conference ended, only a symbolic set was filmed, and then the day's work was done. The subsequent receptions and public relations were handled by others in the crew. Duke didn't need to get involved. He went straight back to the studio's office.
"There's a list of temporary assistants for the set."
Seeing Duke enter the office, Tina Fey handed him a list. "You should take a look yourself."
These matters were usually within Tina Fey's authority, so Duke was a bit curious. "Anything special about it?"
He glanced at the list and his brows furrowed slightly. "No duplicates?"
"I've checked the temporary work contracts." Tina Fey affirmed. "It's Irene's sister, Jane Lauder and Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump."
"What do they want to do?" Duke asked, setting the list down. "Are they in Wellington now?"
"Should I call them?"
Tina Fey looked at him, and after Duke nodded, she picked up the phone and dialed.
About ten minutes later, two girls dressed in blue crew uniforms knocked and entered Duke's office. Ivanka Trump seemed a bit shy, while Jane Lauder greeted him confidently.
"Hi, Duke."
"Sit down, Jane. Ivanka, feel free to sit."
The two girls sat on the bench across from him, and Tina Fey poured them each a glass of water. Duke thought for a moment and asked, "So, how did you end up in New Zealand?"
"We're on vacation." Jane Lauder thanked Tina Fey, flashing a bright smile at Duke. "We were looking for a job to gain some work experience…"
She glanced at Duke. Seeing no change in his expression, she gently nudged Ivanka Trump with her elbow. Since Ivanka remained silent, Jane continued, "It's hard to find a temporary job that not only provides experience but also pays well. We heard your crew was hiring temporary workers, so we decided to try our luck."
Duke nodded. These two girls weren't ordinary people, so he gave them a word of advice. "If you run into any problems, you can call Tina."
"Don't worry." Jane Lauder interrupted. "We'll work hard and won't cause trouble for the crew."
"Tina, leave your number with them."
Once Tina Fey handed out her business cards, Duke waved them off. "Go back to work now."
"Uh…" Jane Lauder paused for a moment.
Duke looked at her and asked, "Is there a problem?"
"No, nothing." Ivanka Trump pulled Jane along and said, "We won't disturb you anymore. Duke, we'll treat you to a meal sometime."
Not long after Jane and Ivanka left, Duke made two phone calls to New York. Then he told Tina Fey, "Move them to your assistant team."
As for Jane, she was Irene's sister, and Donald Trump was cooperating with his mother's Saint Fia company, so Duke knew exactly what to do.
The Lord of the Rings crew was huge, and Duke controlled the entire set through his team. Hollywood crews were notoriously disorganized, and if these two girls were harassed later on, Duke wouldn't be surprised.
However, Duke didn't expect that half an hour later, Irene Lauder called to say that Jane Lauder was leaving to catch a flight back to Los Angeles.
In comparison, Donald Trump seemed very at ease with his daughter being there and even called in the evening to ask Duke to take extra care of Ivanka Trump.
In New York, the wealthy were often closely connected, and even considering the Saint Fia partnership, Duke didn't refuse.
At dawn, when the sun had just set, a large group of journalists gathered outside the Wellington set, but their treatment was very different from the previous day—they were completely blocked at the gate.
These news-chasing individuals rushed toward Duke's car as soon as it arrived. If the driver hadn't slowed down in time, tomorrow's headlines might have been very different.
Ignoring the journalists outside and the protesting fans holding banners, Duke sat in the back seat and quietly discussed work matters with Tina Fey until the car pushed its way through to the set, where they both got out and headed for the studio.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Officially Begins Filming Today!
The first scene Duke prepared was the battle between Gandalf and Saruman.
He entered a small studio set up mainly for the interior of Isengard and Rohan's Golden Hall. After holding a brief meeting with the assistant directors, the director of photography, the art director, and the lighting director, everyone began working with their respective teams to prepare the set.
"Your coffee."
An assistant came over with a coffee cup. Duke glanced at her, it was Ivanka Trump, who had been moved to the assistant team by Tina Fey. He nodded at her and said, "Thanks."
He took a sip of the coffee, frowned slightly, placed it on the director's table without saying anything, and walked toward the group of actors.
Although the scene only had Gandalf and Saruman, the crew had prepared four actors.
Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee were both over 150 years old, and having them perform action scenes in person would be a strain on them.
Naturally, stunt doubles were necessary.
Using stunt doubles wasn't difficult. Both Gandalf and Saruman had long hair, and when fighting, their long hair would naturally cover their faces. As long as the stunt doubles were careful, the difficulty of filming wouldn't be high.
This scene had been heavily criticized by fans, who believed it was ridiculous for wizards to fight like warriors.
But they overlooked an important detail: Wizards are not professions, but races, and they have powerful melee abilities. Gandalf, Saruman, and even Sauron are Maiar, not the typical wizards seen in online games.
So, when enemies attacked, Gandalf's first choice of combat was to draw his sword. Melee combat was one of the wizard's strongest abilities.
Moreover, wizards in The Lord of the Rings don't need spells. Faced with enemies who also have strong melee abilities, would two powerful wizards waste time casting spells?
This is a movie, not a video game! If the film were to be shot like a game, it would be a disastrous mistake.
Why did Peter Jackson film this scene this way? Was he too poor to afford magical special effects? Of course not. He was simply following the original work's setting and the basic movie principles.
Those who thought the battle between Gandalf and Saruman should have flashy magical effects were just naively romanticizing the idea.
This movie is primarily aimed at Western audiences. Duke understood the makeup of the audience who would buy tickets, so The Lord of the Rings had to align with Western views. As for why wizards didn't use magic or why martial arts instructors weren't hired, those were not his concerns.
The crew had spent two years preparing for this, and the designs for Gandalf and Saruman had been discussed and implemented countless times. Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee needed to focus on showing off their wizened faces on camera while the fighting would all be done by stunt doubles.
The unexpected battle between the wizards had no time for spells. It was all about powerful close combat.
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