"When adapting someone else's story, maintaining the essence of the original while transforming it into a great screenplay requires extraordinary talent," Sofia Coppola said slowly, standing on stage, reading from the script prepared by the organizers. "Few have this kind of talent, but this year, many exceptional screenwriters have brought brilliant stories to the big screen."
She turned towards the big screen. "The nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay are—Brollio Mantovani for City of God, Gary Ross for Seabiscuit, Sally Berman and Robert Persini for American Glory, Duke Rosenberg for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Brian Helgeland for Mystic River."
Sofia Coppola opened the envelope, glanced at it, and her gaze immediately locked onto Duke. "I'm honored to announce the winner is Duke Rosenberg for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King!"
"Congratulations!" she clapped her hands.
This result came with no surprise. The Kodak Theatre erupted in enthusiastic applause. Duke smiled as he stood up slowly. Ivanka was the first to give him a big hug and kissed him gently on the left cheek.
"Congratulations, my dear!"
She released him, and Duke exchanged a hug with his mother, high-fiving the crew members as he quickly walked to the stage.
"Congratulations, Duke," Sofia said as she opened her arms, and the two embraced. Duke then took his second Oscar, standing at the microphone.
"I first want to thank J.R.R. Tolkien. Without his great trilogy, there would be no The Lord of the Rings films, and I wouldn't be standing here. I also want to thank the writing team at Duke Studios. They were key to the success of this screenplay. Finally, thank you to my family and friends. They always encourage me to keep moving forward."
Duke kept his speech short. Afterward, he followed Sofia Coppola to the backstage area.
"That was a brief speech," Sofia commented as they walked.
Duke chuckled. "This way, we have more time to chat."
Sofia rolled her eyes. "I think you saved your words for Best Director."
As they reached the interview area, Sofia waved Duke off and walked toward the lobby. Duke stayed behind to answer the routine questions from reporters, who seemed to think there would be better opportunities later and asked mostly standard questions.
Backstage, Norman Shiller quickly turned to his computer, refreshed the page after a brief pause, and saw his social media flooded with updates.
"That's his ninth Oscar!"
"Nine in a row! A hundred percent win rate—this is terrifying!"
"I think Duke might break the record if he wins the next three awards."
"Best Original Song is practically guaranteed. The Last Goodbye has a huge advantage. The real question is Best Director and Best Picture. If those two slip through his fingers, even with nine Oscars, Return of the King would still be seen as a failure."
The final remark came from Roger Ebert, who was trying to calm his nerves as he awaited the inevitable moment when Duke would collect his awards. He focused on the last two categories as a form of consolation.
"Nine Oscars now," Megan Ellison frowned, speaking to her brother. "David, do you think he'll be tonight's big winner?"
"Based on Michael Ovitz's analysis, yes, it looks like it," David Ellison sighed. "Though I don't want to admit it, Duke Rosenberg is someone the critics can't stop, and those professional critics are a joke compared to us!"
David shared his disdain for the critics, akin to how some experts would predict the downfall of a tech company with no real foundation. In the end, those companies thrived while the so-called experts were forgotten.
Duke had returned to the Kodak Theatre and handed his Oscar to his mother. Leah rarely showed such a bright smile. Duke's success was her greatest pride.
"We just got the tenth one!" Ivanka eagerly squeezed his hand.
"Good news!" Duke nodded. "Billy Boyd and Howard Shaw won Best Original Song."
At this point in the ceremony, with ten nominations, The Return of the King had secured ten Oscars, becoming the undisputed leader of the night.
However, Duke was clear-headed. Without Best Director and Best Picture, even ten Oscars wouldn't be enough to consider it a true victory.
Fortunately, the three awards closely tied to Best Picture—Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay—had already been won. Best Picture now seemed all but certain. The real question now was whether he would win Best Director.
His biggest rival was the long-standing trend that no director had ever won Best Director for a non-realistic film.
Next up were the Best Actor and Actress categories.
"The Best Actress is Charlize Theron for Monster!"
"The Best Actor is Sean Penn for Mystic River!"
As Duke had anticipated, Sean Penn and Charlize Theron had both won for their extraordinary performances. Looking back at the previous awards for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, it was evident: winning an acting Oscar for a normal character—whether mentally or physically—was incredibly difficult!
"It's almost our turn!"
Ivanka tightly held Duke's hand, her nervousness palpable. Leah, sitting on the other side of Duke, wore a more serious expression. She knew that this might be Duke's only shot at Best Director at the Oscars.
Since the top four awards were about to be announced, the ceremony's viewership had been climbing steadily. In the end, it was these four—Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture—that drew the most attention.
Nielsen statistics showed that when Best Actress was announced, the audience numbers peaked at 43.26 million in North America.
Charlize Theron's star power played a large part in this, as she had gained significant popularity after The Matrix trilogy. This added to the anticipation for the Oscars, drawing in a large crowd.
However, this number didn't last long. When Billy Crystal announced the Best Director award, viewership surged past 45 million in just half a minute and kept rising.
Meanwhile, the live broadcast's comment sections went silent. Duke's supporters had turned their attention entirely to the television broadcast, leaving no time for other discussions.
Roger Ebert gripped his fists tightly in the ABC broadcast room, more anxious than Duke himself. After working tirelessly for three years to sabotage him during the award season, everything was about to be revealed.
Norman Shiller sat frozen in front of the screen.
Brad Miller clasped his hands in prayer, hoping for Duke's win.
Across the world, millions of Rosenberg fans put down their snacks and drinks, all waiting in silence for the moment of celebration.
On the Kodak Theatre stage, accompanied by music from the symphony orchestra, Tom Cruise appeared with his signature smile. But at that moment, even Tom Cruise couldn't steal the spotlight. All attention was focused on Best Director.
When Tom Cruise appeared, Harvey Weinstein had an ominous feeling. Cruise had a complicated relationship with Duke, but since Chicago, they had formed a close alliance, helping each other through many challenges. Rumors even suggested that Tom and Nicole Kidman's marriage endured because of the crises they overcame together in private.
Clint Eastwood furrowed his brows before relaxing. Tom Cruise's appearance meant that Duke's chances of winning Best Director had dropped significantly.
At the Master and Commander crew's table, Peter Weir's eyes flickered with frustration, but there was little he could do. The advantages of The Lord of the Rings trilogy were too significant, and its marketing was just as strong.
All eyes turned to Tom Cruise as he walked up to the microphone.
"The nominees for Best Director this year come from three different continents," he began with his trademark smile. "Among them are regulars at the Oscars and some newcomers. The films they made ranged from low-budget productions that wrapped in just twenty days to epic projects that took years to complete. Despite their differences, they share one thing in common—an extraordinary talent for filmmaking."
The screen displayed the nominees as Tom announced, "Fernando Meirelles for City of God, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, Peter Weir for Master and Commander, Duke Rosenberg for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Clint Eastwood for Mystic River!"
He opened the envelope and didn't even look up, "The Best Director is… Duke Rosenberg for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King!"