"Original brick wall, early Georgian style, with specially treated seams!"
Inside Citibank's headquarters, Nicolas Cage was in full-on spy mode, his face dead serious as he stared at an imaginary screen, rattling off details rapid-fire.
"The victim's here, the killer's here—aside from location and time, it's just their own influence." Supporting actor Colin Farrell pointed at the "screen," all businesslike and stern.
Both of them had serious acting chops. Sure, their personalities were a bit wild, but when they locked in, they really brought the heat.
This was the set of Minority Report, filming on location at Citibank's HQ.
Dunn watched from a distance for a bit before turning to Natalie. "They treating you alright?"
Natalie tilted her head up with a bright grin. "Yeah, especially Nicolas—he's been super nice to me!"
Dunn's lips quirked up.
Well, duh!
Nicolas Cage landed this role mostly because of Natalie Portman—of course he'd look out for her.
"What about the director?"
"Spielberg? He's great too. Except for me, he's chewed out pretty much everyone on set at some point. It's my first time seeing him mad."
Natalie was clearly loving the chance to work with a legend like him, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Dunn gave a little sigh, eyeing her robotic getup—head loaded with gear. "Making you look like this, all that stuff on your head… doesn't it wear you out?"
"Filming's always tiring," she said, rolling her eyes. "Last week, during an action scene, Nicolas sliced his right leg open—blood everywhere, super scary. But he didn't even go to the hospital. Just patched it up and kept shooting. Total respect! Mr. Bond even called him the Jackie Chan of the set!"
Dunn could only nod. "Alright, just be careful not to get hurt. And if anyone messes with you, tell me—I'll make sure they regret it."
Natalie huffed playfully. "Oh, please! Thanks to you, I can't even make friends. Everyone's so polite it's fake."
Dunn cracked a grin. "Fine, then I won't snag you roles anymore—like with Scorsese, Eastwood, Zemeckis, Tarantino…"
"Okay, enough!" Natalie shoved him, puffing out her cheeks. "What kind of boyfriend are you? Having your fun and then coming here to tease me?"
"Fun?"
"Hmph, you think I don't know? You got to New York yesterday! Where'd you crash last night?"
Dunn's face stiffened, and he gave an awkward laugh, lowering his voice. "C'mon, a guy's gotta unwind sometimes, right? You get it."
"Sometimes? Hmph!"
Natalie shot him a sidelong glare, arms crossed, looking adorably miffed.
Dunn slid an arm around her waist, coaxing her. "We spent all that cash keeping two supermodels on call—not using them would be a waste…"
"Stop! Stop it!" Natalie jabbed him hard in the side, glaring. "What are you even saying? Chauvinist!"
Just then, the shoot hit a break. Nicolas Cage strolled over first, all smiles, waving from a distance. "You two are so cute together!"
In front of others, Natalie always let Dunn take the lead, giving him full respect and authority. She snuggled up to him, sweet as can be.
"I caught your scene just now—solid work," Dunn said.
It wasn't just flattery. Acting opposite Colin Farrell takes real skill. In the original, even Tom Cruise, with Spielberg's coaching, got outshone by Farrell at times.
As an Oscar winner, Nicolas Cage didn't have that problem.
When he dialed in, he could spark chemistry with anyone. When he didn't? If he was just phoning it in for a paycheck, his quirky personality could tank any role.
Nicolas humbly tossed some praise Natalie's way for her hard work.
Good attitude.
Dunn nodded, lowering his voice. "Hey, after this movie wraps, wanna team up with me on something?"
"Your movie?"
Nicolas's eyes lit up.
Dunn said, "I might not direct it myself, but I'll produce and wrote the script. If you're in, I'm eyeing Rose Byrne for the female lead—last year's Venice Film Fest Best Actress."
Natalie's stomach twisted with a pang of jealousy.
Looks like Rose Byrne bringing in Abby Cornish really scored her some major points with Dunn.
Nicolas chuckled. "Can I ask what it's about?"
"Action, adventure, treasure-hunting vibe. The title's hush-hush, but I'll let you in—it's called National Treasure."
In Hollywood, movie titles come with "trademark" rights. Unless it's a remake or re-release, no two films can share a name—it'd confuse audiences. (Note)
That restriction meant Dunn's knack for "borrowing" future hits had limits. Something like Avatar? Script registered in 1994—no chance to snag it.
Luckily, the original National Treasure was a Jerry Bruckheimer project cooked up in 2002, shot in 2003, and released in 2004.
That gave Dunn the jump to swoop in early.
He'd already drafted the outline, handed it to the writing team to flesh out, and rushed to register "National Treasure" with the Writers Guild and film association.
If all went smooth, they could kick off prep by early next year.
Nicolas didn't even hesitate. "No problem! I'll handle my agent!"
Dunn couldn't help but laugh. This guy's brain worked in weird ways.
Any agent with half a mind wouldn't turn down a Dunn movie—people fought tooth and nail for a shot. Plus, Nicolas had been tight with Jerry Bruckheimer for years, and that hadn't exactly been smooth sailing lately.
Dunn offering a hand despite their past? He should be grateful.
Just then, Steven Spielberg finished barking orders and strolled over with a friendly smile. "Dunn, didn't expect to see you here!"
Dunn's eyes narrowed slightly at Spielberg.
The female lead swap for Minority Report and the Band of Brothers rights fees had soured his view of the guy. Still, he kept up appearances with a faint smile. "Just checking on Nat—making sure she's not dragging the shoot down with her skills."
Natalie caught the edge in his tone and discreetly pinched his arm, jumping in brightly. "Spielberg's been great to me!"
Spielberg sensed the chill too—Dunn wasn't as warm as before. With a quiet sigh, he tried to smooth things over. "Heard Six Feet Under's pulling solid ratings? Looks like Tarz TV's on the rise."
Dunn nodded. "Six Feet Under's doing well. Just not sure if Band of Brothers will deliver when it airs. You know, I shelled out a full 80 million for the North American rights."
Natalie tensed, tugging at him again, and laughed. "The buzz for Band of Brothers is huge! I saw in the papers—over 20 countries' networks are bidding for rights, and some groups are even snagging online rights?"
Online rights?
Dunn's mind sparked.
Streaming had been a concept for five years now, but slow internet speeds kept it grounded. Even Netflix's online rentals were more hype than reality.
But ten years from now?
Streaming would explode!
It'd be a content-is-king era, with sky-high rights fees!
Band of Brothers' online rights? No less than 50 million bucks!
Spielberg shook his head. "Online rights? A few jokers are messing around—300 grand for a contract? That wouldn't cover the lawyers."
Natalie giggled. "Yeah, the dot-com bubble popped—those dreamers are all broke now!"
Dunn raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Steven, I'm interested in those online rights. You know I've invested in some web companies."
"Well…"
Spielberg gave him a long look.
Dunn waved a hand. "The internet's gonna take off someday—online video might be huge. Could be 20 years, could be 30, who knows? The bubble's still a mess. How about this: I'll take 20 years of Band of Brothers' online rights. Won't hurt DreamWorks' bottom line."
Spielberg exhaled, grinning. "Easy enough. I'll call DreamWorks' rights team right now."
Clearly, he'd underestimated how fast the internet would grow.
"And the cost…?"
"Forget it!" Spielberg chuckled. "You paid 80 million already—call it a bundle with the North American TV rights!"
Dunn nodded with a smile.
This deal? Total win!
Eighty million for Band of Brothers' North American TV rights was steep, but tossing in the online rights? He'd struck gold.
Band of Brothers was a timeless classic. Even a decade later, its rights would outprice something like The Pacific, despite that show's massive budget.
Seeing the ice thaw with Dunn, Spielberg pressed his luck. "New York filming wraps in two weeks. We'll head back to L.A., finish up at Fox's studio. That'll be late August—I'm thinking of taking a few days, rounding up Hanks and the Band of Brothers crew for a big promo push."
Dunn wasn't about to be won over that easily.
Band of Brothers was a three-way investment. Their promo efforts were mostly for themselves—Tarz TV was just a side perk.
"Sounds good," Dunn said smoothly, keeping it neutral. "Might even stir up some hype before it airs! But I probably can't join—end of September, my movie A Beautiful Mind hits theaters. No time to spare."
Nicolas Cage piped up suddenly. "My film Windtalkers is a war movie too—won't clash with A Beautiful Mind, right?"
Dunn gave him a deep look, lips curling. "Relax, no overlap!"
Windtalkers?
Heh, no chance of hitting screens this year!
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