He was a typical African-American, seemingly also a professional American football player. Duke found him very familiar but couldn't recall his name or where he had seen him before.
"That's Michael Oher."
Compared to Duke, this somewhat unreliable team owner, Leonardo seemed to be more familiar with the team's specific affairs. "He's one of the targets for recruitment this year."
"Michael Oher?"
Duke repeated the name and gradually remembered who he was.
At last year's Academy Awards, Sandra Bullock had won Best Actress for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side, a film adapted from a real-life story. The Black man whom Leigh Anne Tuohy helped in the movie was Michael Oher.
Thanks to that film, Michael Oher had become a well-known figure across the U.S., with fame far surpassing his actual professional football capabilities.
"I think someone mentioned him before…"
Looking at that tall, robust figure like a black iron tower, Duke said to Leonardo, "After he entered the league, he didn't perform up to public expectations."
Leonardo nodded, "His performance was indeed far below expectations. The team is considering bringing him in only as a backup left tackle."
Hearing Leonardo say that, Duke withdrew his gaze. The conversation between the two gradually shifted to other topics. In most cases, Duke didn't interfere too much with the team's normal operations. A backup left tackle wasn't worth his particular attention either.
However, a team manager later brought Michael Oher over specifically to meet him and Leonardo, along with Oher's adoptive parents.
"Hello, Director Rosenberg."
Leigh Anne Tuohy took the initiative to shake hands with Duke. "We're all happy that Michael can join your team."
"Hello, Mr. Tuohy. Hello, Mrs. Tuohy."
Duke greeted the couple as well and politely said, "I'm also glad to have an outstanding player like Michael join the team."
As he spoke, he discreetly sized up Leigh Anne Tuohy. After all, she was the real-life inspiration for an Oscar-winning Best Actress role.
The two sides only exchanged a few words. Leonardo was clearly not too fond of the Tuohys.
"The NCAA suspects the Tuohys adopted Michael Oher so he could play football at the school they favored. There's still some doubt about that."
Leonardo clearly didn't have a good impression of the Tuohys. After they left, he didn't hold back and said to Duke, "Anyone with eyes can see there's something shady about their adoption. Oher's high school coach got a job as an assistant athletic director at Ole Miss just days after Oher received his admission letter. You think there's nothing suspicious about that…"
He let out a cold laugh and shook his head.
Duke patted him. "Does whether there's a problem or not have anything to do with us?"
Leonardo froze for a moment, then raised his hand and scratched his hair. "Yeah, it really doesn't. I'm just complaining."
This kind of thing doesn't have a definitive conclusion. From Duke's point of view, regardless of what the Tuohys' intentions were, the fact that they helped Michael Oher is undeniable.
It's just like the stars in Hollywood for example, Angelina Jolie adopting one impoverished Third World child after another. Sandra Bullock and Charlize Theron both adopted Black sons. Their motives might have been to gain fame or build their public image, but it's a fact that these children, who were destined for suffering, had their fates changed.
Speaking of Charlize Theron's Black son, Duke had met him too. After all, his relationship with Charlize wasn't ordinary. That South African diamond even wanted him to be the little guy's godfather, but Duke had flatly refused.
To be honest, he didn't understand why Charlize Theron wanted to adopt a Black child. But that was her personal matter. They were just regular friends, so it wasn't his place to say anything.
After the Raiders' reception dinner, Duke continued his vacation. The back-to-back releases of Inception and Gravity last year had brought him considerable pressure. Although his next project was already in planning, Duke didn't intend to start it immediately. He wanted his entire team to take a good rest.
While Duke could handle such high levels of pressure and workload, not everyone on his team could. To maintain quality and efficiency on the upcoming crucial project, Duke needed the support of his well-coordinated and mature team.
Without an entire team backing him, even he would expend far more time and energy on many projects.
Although technically on vacation, Duke didn't leave Los Angeles nor completely let go of work. He just temporarily stopped thinking about filmmaking. In the first half of March, he visited both Marvel Studios and Warner Bros., and also convened short meetings with key personnel from both companies to prepare for the next stage of work.
Since its founding, Marvel Studios had produced a total of five superhero films: Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor. The first four had already been released with solid performance, and Thor was slated for release this summer. As the final solo film before the gathering of six superheroes, Thor would also serve as the lead-in to The Avengers.
Duke paid particular attention to Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of Loki. As the villain in The Avengers, Loki was a key character.
The cartoonish and comedic portrayal of villains in Marvel films had already become a common impression among audiences, but Loki was arguably the most charismatic villain in Marvel's Phase One.
Meanwhile, Duke also instructed Marvel Studios to begin negotiations with the agents of various actors to quickly finalize contracts for upcoming films.
Nowadays, Hollywood stars were no longer as "valuable" as they had been in the '90s. This was already a widely accepted fact in the industry. But that didn't mean some stars were earning less than before.
There was also another consensus in Hollywood: if you want to earn a huge paycheck, go star in the sequel of a blockbuster commercial film.
Marvel's films, although nominally standalone, are mostly classified as sequels. In fact, the sequels to previous Marvel superhero films have long been plagued by actor salary issues.
The most typical example is X-Men: The Last Stand. The film had a production budget of $210 million, and the bulk of that went to cast salaries in the ensemble. Just the salaries alone nearly crushed the film's budget.
There's also Iron Man. When Duke filmed the first one, Robert Downey Jr.'s salary was only $500,000. But when Jon Favreau directed Iron Man 2, Robert Downey Jr.'s pay had risen to $10 million.
The same goes for Scarlett Johansson. When she appeared in Iron Man, her salary was just $400,000. After starring in Captain America and Iron Man 2, Nancy Josephson was already demanding a base pay of $15 million from Marvel Studios for her.
Duke has no doubt that in the upcoming Avengers, Robert Downey Jr.'s agent will surely demand a sky-high salary of $20 million.
That's almost certain.
Many might think Duke saved Robert Downey Jr.'s acting career and that he should be eternally grateful, even voluntarily lowering his pay to Duke, a major shareholder in Marvel Comics…
But that kind of thinking is naïve. In this industry, business is business. It won't be discounted for vague sentimental reasons, and Duke isn't that idealistic. Let alone that he and Robert Downey Jr. aren't friends—even if their relationship were as close as his with Leonardo DiCaprio, business matters would not be affected.
Not to mention Robert Downey Jr.'s personal opinions, there are always professionals publicists, agents, managers surrounding every Hollywood star who take commission from their income. Robert Downey Jr.'s earnings are directly tied to their interests. How could they possibly sit by and watch their own profits take a hit?
Duke never holds onto such naïve ideas. Business collaboration is business collaboration. If you don't offer cold hard cash, why would the other party willingly serve you?
Therefore, bringing this group of actors together in one film makes salary a factor Duke cannot ignore.
And top Hollywood stars are extremely mindful of their return in commercial films.
For example, Robert Downey Jr. once told him that when his income was low, he felt he had infinite potential and could accomplish many things, with several paths of development. But as his income gradually increased and he eventually became a superstar, he felt he was approaching the maximum of his capabilities, and his room for growth was shrinking.
If at that point he made the wrong move—put simply, several years could pass in a daze; more complexly, he could spiral downward, never to recover.
So, he would seize every opportunity to extract the maximum return within the limit.
Just like Duke could earn a huge share from a film, in their minds, that kind of return is equally justified.
Among all the actors, the one Marvel Studios finds most headache-inducing is undoubtedly Robert Downey Jr. He has brought the cheeky and lovable "Iron Man" character to life so vividly that most fans highly approve of his performance. It's safe to say he and the character have become one.
If, due to pay issues, Robert Downey Jr. were allowed to leave, it would currently be more harmful than beneficial for Duke and Marvel. As for the future, it would depend on what Robert Downey Jr.'s side demands.
Fortunately, there's still plenty of time, and Marvel Studios can take its time negotiating with Robert Downey Jr.
....
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