"Didn't George send you an invitation?"
Walking on the Golden Coast beach, Ivanka Trump held Duke's hand and asked, "Why didn't you attend the premiere?"
"I've been busy, traveling for promotions around the world," Duke replied, holding Ivanka's hand in return, stepping on the golden sand, and kissing her cheek. "You wanted to vacation here during the summer, so I had to turn down George."
It was autumn in Australia, and the temperature on the Golden Coast wasn't ideal for swimming, marking the off-season for tourism. But since Ivanka wanted to vacation here with him, Duke didn't refuse.
"The sea breeze is a bit chilly."
Ivanka rubbed her arms, and Duke took off the jacket hanging on his other arm and draped it over her shoulders, saying, "Let's head back."
"Mm."
Nodding, Ivanka followed Duke as they walked back the way they came. She noticed some paparazzi lurking in the distance but didn't pay them any mind. She had gradually become accustomed to this over the past year, casually chatting with Duke, "I'll graduate from Wharton in a year."
"Time flies, doesn't it?" Duke turned to look at her. "I still remember when I first met you, you were just a shy student, and now you're about to graduate."
"My last year will mostly be about internships."
Ivanka smiled sweetly at Duke, continuing, "I've talked with a few others at the company, and next month we'll move to Los Angeles."
"If you need help with promotions, just let me know."
Even though Duke had granted some stock options to a few key technical staff, his share in the company still exceeded 40%, making him a major shareholder like Ivanka. This was part of his efforts to grow his wealth.
Ivanka had found three talented people in computer science and networking at the University of Pennsylvania and brought them into the already incorporated Instant sharing website. In the fast-growing IT industry, such people were rare resources, and offering them some incentives was necessary.
In this business world, no one could expect to control 100% of a company and demand complete loyalty without offering rewards.
And for now, they only held options.
As the two continued walking toward the beach villa they rented, they stopped discussing business. Ivanka was very clear about her intention to move the company to Los Angeles as soon as possible.
"You've had people post posters for Return of the King on the Instant sharing site twice in a row. It's already attracting a lot of attention."
Ivanka, holding Duke's hand, reflected on the data she had seen the day before. "In the last half month, the number of users on Instant sharing has increased by nearly 200,000. Darling, your pull is still huge."
"It's the attraction of The Lord of the Rings," Duke corrected her. "If The Two Towers hadn't been so popular, rekindling people's anticipation for Return of the King, this wouldn't have worked so well."
He laughed, "Actually, I really wanted to upload a trailer, but Instant sharing doesn't support video sharing right now."
"The tech team is working on it," Ivanka slowed her steps. "After the company moves to Los Angeles, we'll roll out this video sharing feature as soon as possible, but with the current network bandwidth, it'll only support small-format videos."
"Don't rush it." Duke slowed his pace to match hers. "The road has to be walked step by step. The speed of the internet's development is incredible."
Ivanka nodded. Suddenly, she asked, "Where's Tina? I haven't seen her since we landed."
"She's in New Zealand." Duke reminded her, "Did you forget that I have an estate there? There's been some tax-related issues, and she went over to handle them."
"Are you going to sell the estate?" Ivanka asked curiously.
Duke shook his head. "I'll keep it. It'll serve as a vacation estate in the future. I still miss the scenery in New Zealand."
This tiny country has managed to preserve so much of its natural beauty, and its geography and development strategies played a role in that. New Zealand almost has no heavy industry. As one of the English-speaking world's five allies, it's essentially a follower. Most heavy industry products are imported.
Compared to the densely populated Los Angeles, New Zealand's climate and scenery are much better.
"What shall we do next?"
As they reached the beach villa, Ivanka asked, "We can't just stay here, can we?"
Duke thought for a moment. "Let's change clothes and go watch a movie."
Although she wasn't a big movie fan and had little interest in watching films not made by Duke, Ivanka nodded, grabbed Duke's hand, and went to their room to change into casual couple outfits. She then called for a car. After about ten minutes, they arrived at the nearest cinema.
She knew exactly what Duke wanted to watch and directly bought two tickets for the newly released Attack of the Clones, and they entered the theater together.
Sitting in the couple's seats, Ivanka asked, "Do you think The Two Towers will lose the North American box office crown this week?"
"Darling," Duke nodded firmly, "This is Star Wars."
"I was dragged to watch Star Wars Episode I by Jane," Ivanka clearly wasn't a Star Wars fan, "I thought it was just okay, apart from the special effects..."
She shook her head and fell silent as the big screen lit up.
However, less than halfway through the movie, Ivanka furrowed her brows. To her, a non-Star Wars fan, this movie was simply torture. She eventually leaned on Duke's shoulder, no longer concentrating on the film.
To her, Duke's marble-like profile was far more beautiful than the movie.
Apart from the special effects, this film had almost nothing to compare with The Two Towers. Ivanka even thought that if this weren't a Star Wars film, the box office might flop.
Especially the characters of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. Not only were they completely unbalanced, but the way their romance developed was extremely melodramatic.
Indeed, the film's romance was clichéd, but their relationship seemed too abrupt.
Ivanka knew very well that Duke wasn't skilled in filming romance scenes, and George Lucas didn't seem to be much better.
To be honest, Natalie Portman's performance was excellent, but when paired with Hayden Christensen, the actor playing Anakin, the contrast in their performances was glaring...
Suddenly, Ivanka heard Duke's voice beside her. "George still chose him."
"What?" Ivanka leaned closer to him, whispering.
Duke turned his head, kissed her on the shoulder, and briefly explained, "I once suggested to George that the actor for Anakin Skywalker should be someone whose acting skills were at least on par with Natalie Portman's, but George..."
At this point, Duke sighed, unsure of what George Lucas was thinking. He had still chosen Hayden Christensen, one of the most infamous and critically panned screen couples in film history.
Ivanka ignored the rest of his words and asked, "Is Natalie Portman's acting really that good? I don't think she's much better than Kirsten Dunst."
"She's okay." Duke shrugged, unconcerned, "Among actresses of her age group, she's one of the best."
As Duke's former assistant, Ivanka knew a lot. She was well aware of the rumors and gossip that tabloids had sensationalized.
However, the smart woman chose not to comment. Some things were best left in the past. What mattered to her was the future.
The film ended at a wedding that no one cared about. Duke thought about Natalie Portman and shook his head slightly. Their connection would likely remain in the past.
In his years in Hollywood, Duke hadn't done many foolish things, but his involvement with Natalie Portman was certainly one of them.
"What are you thinking about?" Ivanka deliberately tugged at his arm. "You've been spaced out since we came out."
In this situation, Duke naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to say the truth and add fuel to their potential conflicts. "I was estimating how much box office this film will make for George."
"Aside from the special effects, this film..." Ivanka shook her head. "If it weren't Star Wars, I think $500 million would be a stretch."
"Global earnings of $500 million won't be a problem." Duke led her toward the car, shrugging, "After all, this is Star Wars."
If memory served, Attack of the Clones was the lowest-grossing and most poorly received of the Star Wars films, with a global box office of just over $600 million.
Even so, The Two Towers couldn't compete with Attack of the Clones' opening weekend.
The latter opened in 3,520 theaters in North America and grossed $80.02 million in its first weekend, easily claiming the top spot at the box office.
After a three-week streak at number one, The Two Towers dropped to second place, but its decline was still stable and healthy, down 41% from the previous weekend, with $22.6 million in earnings.
Including the $19.25 million earned over the past four weekdays, its North American box office had reached $361.9 million and was nearing the $400 million mark.
Overseas, The Two Towers entered markets like North Africa and South Africa, continuing its strong performance. Its overseas earnings had surpassed $450 million, with a global total of $817.55 million!
In addition, merchandise sales were strong overseas. Although some markets, like South Korea and Southeast Asia, saw a decline, sales were high in Western countries and regions influenced by Western culture, with overseas merchandise sales nearing $200 million, similar to North America.
However, with Attack of the Clones' release, The Two Towers had clearly felt the impact, with both its box office and merchandise sales slipping.