America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

In the movie theater, there were hardly any viewers.

Bruce watched the film being projected, boredly grabbed some popcorn, and threw it into his mouth, chewing with a crackling crunch.

Martin took a sip of his cola.

On the screen, Alexander directed the Greek Allied Forces into the Macedonian phalanx to fight the mighty Persian army.

The most important aspect of epic films is the grandeur of war scenes.

What's the standard for a good movie? Everyone has different criteria.

But the standard for production studios is very consistent: whether it makes money or not.

Bruce saw a melodramatic and overly sentimental segment in the film and couldn't stand it anymore, "I'm going out for some air."

Martin was also not too interested, "Let's go."

They both got up and prepared to leave.

Martin noticed that besides them, several others in the theater were also making their exit.

More than a quarter of the theater's audience.

That's bad news for any film.

As for what exactly the film in his previous life was like, Martin had long since forgotten everything except for Angelina Jolie. It seemed that this movie left no other impression on him.

They left the cinema and headed towards the parking lot.

Bruce said, "I watched the DVD of 'King Arthur.' It was much more interesting than this one."

Martin pondered, "Perhaps because 'King Arthur,' terrible as it was, was very commercial, while this one is more artistic?"

Bruce shrugged, "Maybe. If I had known it was this boring, I would have found Kim rather than watch a crappy movie with you."

Martin asked, "Menthol oil?"

"Kim used just a little and started to scream in discomfort, washing it off for ages, almost went to the hospital." Bruce was about to lift his shirt again, " You rotten guy, you actually wanted me to apply it there."

Martin grabbed his shirt, "Don't mess around, the LAPD is around, careful you don't get your magazine emptied." He joked without any good intentions, "Kim uses menthol oil, and it becomes a global phenomenon."

Bruce flipped him the bird, "You're really twisted!"

They got in the car and drove back to the apartment together.

Martin was a bit anxious and made a call to Louise, "Drunkard, what are you up to?"

Louise whispered in reply, "I'm with family." She asked in return, "What are you doing?"

Martin had a lot on his mind, "Just got out of the cinema with Old Cloth."

Louise understood why Martin called, "I know the film isn't receiving good reactions, but it's okay."

"I won't bother you anymore." Martin hung up the phone himself.

Sitting in the passenger seat, he pondered deeply, focusing on the relationships between people.

Bruce sped up the car and asked, "Do you think this movie will fail?"

Martin replied simply, "When so many people leave halfway through in the same theater, it must indicate some problems."

"You're worried about Louise Mel? Dude, when did you grow a conscience?" Bruce said, "I thought you left your conscience back in Atlanta."

Martin retorted, "She's a multimillionaire, she doesn't need my concern."

"Dude, are you planning some shady stuff again?" Bruce had a bad feeling.

Martin was evasive, "The Hills Have Eyes attached stickers to this movie, I worry that the bad luck would continue over."

Bruce remembered something, "The cola Robert transferred over arrived a few days ago, I rented a warehouse to store it, also took some to the studio, you could go have a can."

He purposely said, "Expired cola, an acquired taste."

Martin shook his head, saying nothing.

......

In Brentwood, a famous wealthy neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Louise stood in front of the window inside a mansion atop the hill, put away her phone, and gazed down at the nightscape of Los Angeles far away.

The fate of "Alexander the Great" had been pretty much sealed even before the screening.

The only uncertainty was how disastrous the failure would be.

That Martin would call at this time to inquire about the situation made Louise sigh softly to herself, "At least he has some conscience."

Footsteps approached from behind, and a woman in her fifties came up behind her, "Dear, are you troubled?"

Louise turned around with a smile, "It's work-related. Don't worry, Mom, I can handle it."

Mrs. Mel nodded slightly, not probing any further, "Just remember one thing, no matter what happens, your father and I will always be your support."

"I know..." Louise wrapped her arm around her mother's, "Come on, let's have a drink."

Mrs. Mel warned, "You're drinking more and more unrestrainedly. Do I need to take you to a support group?"

Louise said, "It's not that serious, I just occasionally have a drink to relax."

The mother and daughter went to the home's small bar and opened a bottle of low-alcohol dessert wine.

Mrs. Mel asked, "Is this project not going well?"

Louise sipped her wine slowly, "Looks like I'll have to pour all the money I earned this year into it."

"Business is such that profit and loss are normal. Even Buffett can't guarantee that every deal will make money," Mrs. Mel, who had been in business circles as well, was accustomed to uncertainty, "Since you graduated from the University of Southern California, your career and life have been very smooth. Facing setbacks might not be a bad thing."

Louise's face almost collapsed, "Mom, are you eager for me to take a hard fall?"

Mrs. Mel hadn't touched her drink yet, "I don't understand the big philosophies, but it's when you fail that you can clearly see who around you is trustworthy, who can face the storm with you, and who will abandon you at any moment."

Louise put down her glass and began to think carefully.

Mrs. Mel picked up her drink and sipped it slowly.

After "Alexander the Great" was released across North America, Martin paid close attention to the market reaction of the film.

Some films received good reviews but did poorly at the box office. Through long-term management, they could eventually break even.

But this film's reputation exploded in place. From film critics to general audiences and industry media, it received a slew of bad reviews. Its IMDB score was a dismal 5.6, and Rotten Tomatoes rated it an appalling 16%.

As a natural consequence, "Alexander the Great" only managed to pull in $13.69 million at the North American box office during its opening weekend.

The film's disclosed production budget was $155 million.

Its flop was even more disastrous than "King Arthur" and "Van Helsing," easily making it the biggest box office bomb in Hollywood for the year 2004.

All the investors who participated in the syndicate would face massive losses.

The failure of an A-list blockbuster inevitably creates many impacts.

.....

In a villa on the hillside of Sherman Oaks.

Louise sat at the bar in the great hall, opened a bottle of whiskey, filled her glass to the brim, and downed it in one gulp.

Her personal phone rang at that moment.

It was Martin calling.

Louise asked, "What's up?"

Martin on the other end asked, "What are you doing?"

Louise replied, "I'm in a meeting. Don't disturb me for now."

Martin responded, "Keep busy. Send me a message when you're free."

Louise had just put down her phone when the ring of her office phone started up.

She answered, "This is Louise Mel."

"Hi, Louise, it's me, Fairman." The person on the other line spoke politely, "My Zero Degree Foundation participated in your fundraising. We invested in your Pacific Pictures in increments, joining the Hollywood film syndicate investments. The foundation is facing difficulties now. We can't manage the second and third round of investments, and about the first round of investment..."

Louise understood his meaning, "Don't worry, I'll return the first round of investment and the promised interest dividends within the contract period to you."

Fairman chuckled, "That would be best. I'll join your syndicate investment again when opportunity allows."

Louise threw the phone onto the bar, poured herself another drink, and kept drinking.

Although mentally prepared, the film's catastrophic failure was still beyond her expectations.

After only a few minutes, the office phone rang again. Another foundation was ready to pull out its investment.

Louise's Pacific Pictures was a little like Relativity Media established by Wall Street funds. It gathered investment from foundations and other investors, putting the money into Hollywood's movie syndicate projects to make a profit.

Unlike the others, Louise also invested personally.

As long as the film syndicate projects made a profit, even if they just broke even, investors would come in droves.

For a failure of such catastrophic proportions, it was only natural for investors to pull out and cancel partnerships.

Since the media formally disclosed the North American box office data from the weekend, in just a few hours, Louise received 7 calls, all from investors unilaterally ending their cooperation.

Even though she was prepared, she was still very irritated.

No one could feel good about something like this happening.

Louise drank one glass after another. The 40-proof whiskey bottle quickly emptied.

Her personal phone rang again. It was a call from Kelly Gray.

Louise's expression was dark as she pressed the speakerphone button, "Slut, you're not planning to work with me anymore?"

Kelly's crisp laughter came through, "Pervert, I did think about dumping you, but I prefer to see you fail a few more times."

"You've got a conscience," Louise decided to reward her, "Next time, not only will I make Martin put it on speaker, but I'll also live stream the video."

Kelly was itching with hate, "Aren't you and that jerk preparing a new film, planning to shoot in Atlanta? Wait till you get here. I've got a surprise prepared for you."

"I love surprises the most," Louise said.

Without much further conversation, they hung up. Louise got up and grabbed another bottle of whiskey, continuing to drink.

Worrisome matters could be dealt with tomorrow. Today, at least, she could enjoy getting thoroughly drunk.

Louise had just taken several more drinks when her housekeeper Mary suddenly came over and stopped her.

"You've drunk too much, don't drink anymore," Mary advised, "Your body won't be able to take it."

Louise looked eerily sober, "I haven't drunk much. This is nothing, I know my limits, it's fine."

Mary said, "Let me help you upstairs to rest."

"I'm really fine," Louise waved her hand and suddenly whispered something to Mary.

Mary hurried off toward the hall.

Louise poured herself more whiskey and continued to drink.

Mary picked up the phone in the hall and dialed Martin's number.

He picked up, "Louise?"

"It's me, Louise's housekeeper, Mary."

Martin found a quiet place and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Mr. Davis, if you have some time, please come over and persuade her a bit. Louise has been drinking since this morning," Mary spoke quickly, evidently very anxious, "More than a dozen companies and foundations called, ending their partnership with Pacific Pictures and demanding to fully withdraw their investments. Pacific Pictures might not survive this. It's a huge blow to Louise..."

She paused briefly, "And calls keep coming in. I'm afraid something might happen to her, and I can't stop her."

After saying this, Mary quietly waited for a response from the other side.