America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Early in the morning, while having breakfast at a nearby restaurant, Bruce told Martin about what happened last night.

Martin was somewhat surprised, "It wasn't you who brought it up, but she offered to let you be the male lead in the videotape?"

Bruce posed arrogantly on purpose, "Hey, buddy, look at me. The real Casanova is right here!"

"You're evolving quickly," Martin put down his knife and fork and wiped his mouth with a napkin, "The most crucial question, Casanova Bruce, did you accept?"

Bruce said, "I told her I needed to think it over."

Martin pointed at him and said, "That's it? And you have the guts to call yourself a Casanova? You're clearly just a scaredy-cat with no balls!"

Bruce retorted, "Mr. Playboy, would you dare to do it?"

Martin said without hesitation, "If Annie invited me to do it, I would definitely say yes!"

Bruce really chickened out when facing Kim's request and found excuses and reasons, "Kim will sell the videotape to a distribution company for release across all of North America."

Martin was particularly considerate, even finding a buyer for Old Cloth, "Jenna's company will buy it."

"That's not the point; can you let me finish?" Bruce churned out his thought-through reason, "A gang of dealers from Mexico is still looking for me, what if they see the tape and come after me?"

Martin dismissed it, "Can't you just not show your face? I believe you can manage that." He added fuel to the fire, "Don't forget who you are. You're Bruce, the man whom the King Kong lady Sophia can't stop thinking about."

The day died a little, again. Bruce put down his knife and fork, got up, and left, determined not to say a word to Martin all day.

After breakfast, Martin rushed to Warner Bros. Studios, as the producer for The Hills Have Eyes, and joined Craven and Aga in the post-production and distribution meeting with the studio and Warner Bros.

At the meeting, they specifically discussed the film's promotion.

Since "House of Wax" had achieved great success with its promotion, the suggestions Martin made were also taken seriously.

Of course, while Martin could make suggestions and ideas, the actual operation still depended on the professionalism of the crew and Warner Bros.

The large-scale promotion for The Hills Have Eyes would only kick off after the New Year.

Warner Bros. decided to push the film's advertisements into the Super Bowl.

In addition, Warner Bros. PR staff reminded Martin that it would be best to maintain a certain level of heat until the film's release.

The gold-letter signboard of Craven and the success of the Wax Museum added value to Martin, the male lead.

After the third weekend in North America, the box office for the Wax Museum totaled $47.56 million, and it was bound to break through $50 million the following week.

Overseas, the film was released in more than 30 countries in Latin America, Europe, and Australia, with the overseas box office also surpassing $30 million.

Without surprises, the global box office would break through $100 million.

After the meeting, Martin headed over to the Alexander Post-production Studio next door, ready to call Louise for lunch.

When he got there, Louise was seeing Angelina Jolie out.

Jolie, who had met Martin before, couldn't help her curiosity, "Aren't you going to introduce him?"

Louise introduced him openly and confidently, "A genius actor I discovered in Atlanta, Martin Davis."

Martin took the initiative, "Nice to meet you, Jolie."

Jolie shook hands with Martin, "I see a star on the rise."

Martin, receiving compliments, returned the favor, "Jolie, you are the moon in the night sky, where all other stars pale in comparison."

Jolie humbly said, "I'm just a second-rate actor."

Martin spoke with ease, "You're my idol; I like Laura."

After chatting briefly, Jolie's agent came over, she said goodbye, and quickly left.

Martin followed Louise into her office, where the walls were covered with promotional materials for Alexander the Great.

He looked at the four character setting photos on his left, each portraying a different Alexander the Great, and asked, "The male lead of this film is Colin Farrell, right?"

Louise looked up at the photos, "Director Oliver Stone's initial preference was Heath Ledger, but a few of us producers were really concerned about his condition and vetoed him."

She took off her black-rimmed glasses and massaged her brow, "The investment was too high; we had to be cautious."

Martin sat down across from her and asked, "I heard there was a preview screening for theater managers?"

Louise worried again, "The screenings didn't get great feedback." She paused, voicing her concerns, "Hollywood has made a universal misjudgment of the market; the recent response to several epic films has been generally poor, which increases the potential losses for this project."

Martin reassured her, "No worries, I'll be your sugar daddy when the time comes."

Louise replied bluntly, "I would turn you into a penniless man within a month."

Martin responded, "Alcoholic, you have to look at people with an eye to the future. Right now, I'm making hundreds of thousands of dollars a movie. If The Hills Have Eyes is a success, my salary will hit seven figures."

Louise shook her head with a smile.

"The post-synchronization for The Hills Have Eyes is all done," insisted Martin, "I'll be looking for new work right away."

Louise asked, "Do you still have the energy to join forces in Atlanta?"

Martin knew she was talking about Vincent and Sophia and said, "As long as 'The Hills Have Eyes' is successful, they will definitely continue to participate in joint ventures, even investing more money. They are waiting for 'The Hills Have Eyes' to be released."

He bluntly asked, "Dear, do you have any suitable roles or projects to recommend to me?"

Louise didn't take the bait and reminded him sternly, "You still owe me a debt that hasn't been paid off."

Martin spread his hands and said, "Hey, boozer, isn't there any sincere affection between us, a willingness to give everything for the sake of feelings? I practiced the casting couch with you, and you became an international cocktail master. You practiced the casting couch with me, so shouldn't I rightfully become an internationally famous movie star?"

Louise threw away her worries and laughed happily.

After laughing, she said, "You're really good at making people happy."

"Feeling better?" Martin saw her nod and said crisply, "International Cocktail Master, Miss Louise Mel, I heard you've invented two new cocktails?"

Louise understood, "Correct, I plan to announce them soon, to truly cement my title as the world's cocktail master."

Martin came prepared and handed her a notepad, "Master, could you sign it for me in advance?"

Louise opened it, looked at it, and put it away with satisfaction, "Since you have a support group and can organize joint ventures, to be fair, I'll give you a good opportunity."

She pondered for a moment, then said, "Pacific Pictures' script project library is open to you, which includes scripts submitted by screenwriters, projects personally recommended by directors, and some initial planning books by producers seeking investments. It may not compare to the Big Six studios, but there are still over ten thousand scripts and a few hundred initial project plans."

Martin was very tempted, knowing that a film company's script library is not easily accessible to the public.

Louise poured cold water over his excitement, "Most of them are of no use. Hollywood registers thousands of original scripts every year and starts initial planning for thousands of projects, but only a tiny fraction becomes movies in the end."

Martin asked about the latter, "Initial project plans?"

Louise briefly explained, "Like 'House of Wax' and 'The Hills Have Eyes,' most Hollywood movies don't start with a script.

Instead, producers come up with suitable creative ideas, or find literature works and real-life events suitable for adaptation, and then start organizing, including pulling together investments, finding production partners, securing directors, and hiring screenwriters to write the script, and so on..."

She emphasized adaptations, "Many initial plans stay on paper only. Some producers submit adaptation plans, and if you don't invest, they are almost worthless because they don't even have the rights."

Martin carefully weighed his options, considering how likely he was to succeed if he organized a venture.

Funding would definitely not come from his own pocket, as his money wasn't even close to enough for producing a film. He could only wait for 'The Hills Have Eyes' box office results to come out.

Networking, he glanced at Louise, and if all else failed, there was always the talent agency behind him.

Thinking this, Martin shook his head internally, as he hadn't even found a project yet.

Louise said, "This afternoon, you come with me to Pacific Pictures and just pick one."

"You really know how to do business! Boozer, is this what you call a fair trade?" Martin said bitterly, "All the valuable projects, you've already put forward to join forces. What's left is nothing but the garbage rotting in the warehouse, and then you just throw them at me like I'm some sort of recycling center?"

Louise told the truth, "I don't have any suitable projects at hand."

Martin wouldn't miss the opportunity to freely browse and choose from a film company's script library.

At noon, Louise had lunch with Martin, and afterwards, they went to Pacific Pictures, which was next to Warner Bros. Studios.

As a company that didn't directly produce films, their staff wasn't large, and they rented a three-story office building from Warner Bros. Studios' office area.

Louise had been drinking and was planning to rest after lunch, so she let her assistant Nikki take Martin to the first-floor archive.

The archivist, having been notified by Louise, led Martin into the warehouse.

Pointing at the computer, he said, "This has a directory search. You can look up project summaries. Aside from scripts where the company has purchased perpetual rights, other scripts and planning books are cleared out once a year."

Martin nodded, "Thanks."

"Take your time," the archivist left.

Martin sat at the computer, just about to power it on, when he suddenly remembered the most important thing. He quickly took out his phone and dialed Robert's number, "It's me, I need another favor."

The response on the other side was automatic, "I understand, the ceremony will commence immediately."

Martin thought to himself that it had evolved into a specialized ceremony? He said, "Thank you, Robert."

"Don't mention it," Robert recited as if praying, "May everything go well for Martin Davis."

With newfound confidence, Martin pressed the power button, opened the database, and started looking up the most recent scripts and project documents.

He first looked at the scripts, glanced at the names, then checked the story summaries.

Many Hollywood movie scripts might change names several times before production starts, and some titles from his previous life weren't even direct English translations.

Even at a small company like Pacific Pictures, there was an overwhelming amount to sift through.

If the name didn't sound familiar or the story summary didn't ring a bell, Martin would PASS it.

After a long search, there was no familiar feeling.

Martin considered, if it came down to it, waiting for the market response of 'The Hills Have Eyes' with one man, one gun, and one dog, and continuing in that style.

But without the mighty push of social media, the outcome was hard to predict.

His current fame and appeal fell way short of the once acclaimed Keanu.