"It won't win! It won't win!"
As the live broadcast momentarily switched to the Kodak Theater, a makeup artist came to retouch Roger Ebert's makeup. The famous film critic kept his eyes fixed on the large screen in the live broadcast room, repeatedly muttering the phrase in his mind like a curse.
"It absolutely won't win!"
Recalling the efforts of nearly four hundred professional film critics working together, Roger Ebert felt a slight twinge of fear but was soon filled with confidence again.
He firmly believed that professional critics wielded immense influence and even dominance during award season. They could easily sway the outcome of awards!
Just under five miles east of the live broadcast room, young David Ellison and his sister Megan Ellison sat in front of their television, also watching the Oscars.
"So this is the director who refused your offer?"
Looking at the close-up of Duke on the screen, Megan Ellison spoke dismissively, "Hollywood's poor guys, actually going against money?"
"He didn't just refuse my funding," David Ellison's displeasure was written all over his face. "He repeatedly rejected my goodwill. That's what I can't tolerate!"
"Such an arrogant director."
Fifteen-year-old Megan's temper seemed even more impulsive than David's, a spoiled young girl through and through. "David, you have the money. You could just take his projects, his theaters, his release schedules, and bring him down from his high horse!"
David Ellison laughed heartily. "Darling, that's exactly what I'm doing!"
On the Kodak Theater stage, Angelina Jolie opened the envelope, looked at it briefly, and immediately announced, "The winner of the Oscar is... 'The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,' Hannah Serina!"
"Wow!"
Billy Boyd was the first to clap, standing up, and Duke also stood, applauding. He turned to his art director, and it wasn't the first time Hannah Serina had won an Oscar. She appeared calm, hugging the crew members one by one before walking to Duke's side.
Duke opened his arms and embraced Hannah Serina deeply.
"Thank you, Duke," she whispered. "It has been my greatest fortune to work with you."
After speaking, she turned and walked onto the stage, and the background music "Minas Tirith" played for the first time in the Kodak Theater.
Hannah Serina took the golden statue from Angelina Jolie and stood in front of the microphone.
"Thank you, thank you to everyone. I love this job. I love working in such a great team. I have so many people to thank. My parents, my boyfriend, all my colleagues. I especially want to thank Duke. I still remember when I first went to his set for an audition, he said to me, 'Hannah, we are about to embark on a magical journey!' Yes, his words came true. The feeling I have now can only be described as unbelievable."
Below the stage, the crew, led by Duke, applauded for Hannah Serina.
In the live broadcast room of ABC TV, even though thick foundation covered his face, Roger Ebert's expression was still a bit pale. He had just sworn that "Return of the King" wouldn't win the golden statue, but the actual result had slapped him in the face. How was he supposed to explain this now?
However, as a professional film critic known for his scathing and venomous attacks, he quickly adjusted his mindset. This was just a technical award. The Academy had likely, just like the previous two years, thrown Duke Rosenberg some consolation prizes. As long as he didn't win Best Picture or Best Director, he would still be the loser, and Ebert would still emerge victorious. He was looking forward to attending the Oscar ceremony to see Duke's face then.
"We won!"
The instant share website exploded in excitement. A few circles, centered around Duke's die-hard fans, were as happy as if they had won the lottery.
"Great start!"
"We will keep winning more awards!"
"'Return of the King' will sweep this year's Oscars!"
The successful beginning was indeed continued in the Kodak Theater. After Pixar Studio won Best Animated Feature with "Finding Nemo," the soundtrack "Minas Tirith" played several times, and the "Lord of the Rings" crew continued to cheer, undoubtedly becoming the stars of the night.
Best Costume Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Effects, and Best Visual Effects—all four golden statues went to the crew. By the time the ceremony reached its third segment, "Return of the King" had easily won five golden statues and claimed every nomination it received.
"We're getting closer to our goal," Ivanka whispered in Duke's ear.
As his bed partner, she certainly knew what kind of ambitions Duke had for this year's Oscars and was well aware of how difficult it was to achieve them.
Duke smiled at Ivanka. "Seven more to go."
With twelve nominations, they had already secured five golden statues. Whether the remaining awards would slip away was anyone's guess.
Oscars not only feature serious awards but also plenty of comedic moments. Though mocking others could cause trouble, poking fun at Washington politicians was always a staple of the Oscar ceremony.
Ben Stiller, the well-known leader of the Hollywood bad boys, walked onto the stage to the rhythm of music. "Oh my God, they're using this music, it suits me so well. Don't you all think I'm full of leadership charisma?"
The background music was none other than the famous "Hail to the Chief"!
"In the past year, many celebrities have taken a liking to films," Ben Stiller said, pointing at a woman's photo on the big screen. "For example, Hillary Clinton, I heard she loves 'Kill Bill'..."
Laughter erupted from the audience.
Besides the jokes, the Oscars also enjoy nostalgic segments, which resonate with the Academy's core members. Every year, the Oscars are filled with long nostalgic programs.
Nielsen's ratings company had been monitoring the viewership of this year's ceremony. When Marlon Brando took the stage, the screens at the venue and on televisions turned to black and white. A Nielsen company representative kept reporting the viewership numbers.
"North American viewership has dropped from 34 million to 32 million..."
A minute later, as the nostalgic segment continued, the representative reported again, "It's now 31 million!"
With each passing minute, the numbers kept declining, signaling that the nostalgic segment wasn't very popular, and was a ratings killer. "30 million, 29 million, 28.5 million, 28 million. We're about to hit the lowest ratings for the Oscars in the past decade!"
Luckily, the nostalgic segment ended after about five minutes, and the Best Supporting Actress award helped lift the viewership slightly.
The Academy was clearly not foolish, knowing the audience disliked this type of program. They had deliberately arranged the Best Supporting Actress award to help the ratings. However, this also showed the Academy's stubborn and conservative side. Despite knowing the segment wouldn't be well-received, they still insisted on including it and allotted over five minutes to it.
When Renée Zellweger picked up the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, the viewership finally rose above 30 million.
This was a difficult situation for the Oscars in the new century. As information became more fluid and entertainment options increased, viewership had been steadily declining, even hitting new lows not seen since the 1970s.
In fact, saving the Oscars' viewership wasn't that difficult. Choosing more widely popular films would easily fix the issue. For example, the highest ratings in recent decades were for the 70th Academy Awards, where "Titanic" effortlessly carried the ratings.
However, the Academy's choices often went against mainstream audience preferences.
Though the Best Supporting Actress award brought the numbers back above 30 million, it couldn't raise them much higher. The task of saving the Oscars' viewership certainly couldn't be carried by a film like "Cold Mountain," which only had a few million viewers.
When it came to total viewership, was there any film in this year's Oscars that could surpass "Return of the King"?
Sure enough, "Return of the King" continued its dominance, sweeping awards in the Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, Best Score, and Best Cinematography categories.
The strong performance of "Return of the King" also boosted the Oscars' viewership. By the time the Best Cinematography award was presented, Nielsen showed the viewership had increased to 36 million.
After the commercial break, the Nielsen company was surprised to find that the viewership didn't just stop increasing—it continued to rise and was even approaching the 40 million mark!
"The next award is Best Adapted Screenplay," the assistant reminded.
The representative snapped out of his thoughts. "No wonder the viewership is rising, it's because the director who created this magical journey might be up next!"
On the Kodak Theater stage, Sofia Coppola slowly walked up, and many people's eyes turned to Duke.
Sofia Coppola was Duke's best friend in the industry, a well-known fact in Hollywood. In fact, many believed that Sofia's Best Director nomination was more due to Duke's influence than to Francis Ford Coppola's.
Given the Academy's past practices, many couldn't help but wonder if Sofia Coppola presenting the Best Adapted Screenplay award meant Duke was going to win.
The audience in the Kodak Theater applauded, and Ivanka clapped loudly for Sofia as well. Though she didn't understand some of the unwritten rules of the Academy, she could feel that having Sofia present the award increased the chances of Duke winning.
At Nielsen, the viewership had already surpassed 40 million!
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