America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

On Monday morning, inside a seemingly ordinary studio, Ellen DeGeneres was preparing for a new episode of her show.

Bored while getting her hair done, she picked up a copy of "Hollywood Reporter" lying nearby and began flipping through it.

As a newspaper that specializes in covering Hollywood news, the North American box office chart every Monday was indispensable, prominently published.

Ellen's eyes immediately caught the first place on the list: it was "The Hills Have Eyes," with the main movie poster featuring Martin Davis!

"Shit," her desire to read the newspaper disappeared instantly, and she threw it on the ground.

The assistant came over to pick it up, but Ellen snapped, "Take all the entertainment newspapers away and throw them in the trash!"

Like most actors, she too was known for being two-faced.

Others were careful, fearing that a careless slip could upset the hotshot.

Ellen's face was overcast with clouds.

Just thinking about that little jerk who wouldn't cooperate with her and yet had managed to top the North American box office made her feel suffocated.

The guests participating in the recording today were unlucky, as Ellen made things difficult for them in every way.

After returning, they bitterly complained to other media about how venomous and mean Ellen DeGeneres was.

......

Inside the entertainment room of the villa, Angelina Jolie sat on the floor, playing with building blocks with her son.

Every time she built a house, the child would pick up a large block and throw it to knock down her construction.

Jolie would build again, the child would smash again, and both were having a great time.

The nanny knocked softly on the door and reminded, "Mr. Gaye is here."

This was her agent; Jolie currently didn't have a manager, as she had fired her manager last month due to poor choices in film selection.

The nanny came over to replace Jolie, continuing to play with the child.

Jolie went to the living room and nodded at Gaye, "I was just playing with my son."

Gaye opened his bag, took out a document, and handed it to Jolie, "The second adoption procedure is done; you can bring the person back at any time."

Jolie glanced over it briefly and set it aside, asking, "I was too busy with my son to check the latest on 'The Hills Have Eyes.' How was the opening week box office?"

"It's a big hit!" Gaye said simply: "Champion of last week's box office chart, over ten thousand per theater, with a total box office of 34.15 million US dollars."

He added specifically, "The film has a good reputation in the horror genre. Cinema Score's live audience gave it an average grade of A-, and IMDB users rated it 7.5."

Jolie, who had been paying attention to some public data, knew that "The Hills Have Eyes" had a production cost of 16 million US dollars, and the publicity and distribution costs were roughly the same. Considering the box office and reputation over the past few days, she estimated that the North American box office alone could recoup the cost.

"What about Martin?" Jolie asked about the key point.

Gaye brought clippings prepared by his assistant, "Most media are praising his acting. There's a contribution from WMA and Warner Bros., but his performance in the movie is indeed good, and the critics are positive."

Jolie took them and quickly browsed through them, saying as she read, "The box office really exploded. Including 'Zombie Stripper,' Martin's films as a male lead have now succeeded three times in a row."

"I specifically had someone check the feedback on the internet," Gaye stated. "Not only was the box office successful, but Martin also gained a large group of supporters, his own personal fans."

As the whole of Hollywood chased success, Jolie was no exception. She pondered for a moment and asked, "Have you read the first draft of 'Wanted Order'? What do you think about it?"

Gaye knew that Jolie had strong opinions and directly shared his genuine thoughts, "The plot is just soso, slightly above the standard line. These kinds of movies mainly rely on the action design."

"I've talked about action design with Martin, and it sounded cool," Jolie recalled the first "Tomb Raider" movie and said, "Martin has found success again. I believe he's reliable in selecting films and also understands marketing and hype. I'm planning to collaborate with him."

Gaye agreed, "Although 'Alexander the Great' failed, Louise Mel's investments in mid-scale projects have been very successful. You have a good relationship with Louise, and she is willing to... "

Some things he was embarrassed to say outright.

Jolie continued, "Louise is willing to help me out during tough times. It's rare, and I appreciate it."

Gaye was well aware of Jolie's current situation without successful works to turn things around; she was facing a steady decline to the third tier.

Or even getting relegated to playing supporting roles or villains forever.

Jolie added, "I can accept a salary of 5 million US dollars, but the crew has to provide a salary for the nanny and leave me time to spend with my son. The rest... let's leave it at that."

During the shoot of her last film, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," Jolie's salary was as high as 10 million US dollars.

But after two consecutive box office failures, her salary was immediately halved.

"I'm going to Pacific Pictures today," Gaye said.

Jolie stood up, ready to return to her son, "Let me know when the negotiations are settled and I'll come to sign the contract."

......

At Pacific Pictures, the few employees the company had were all busy.

Ever since Louise took over the preparation for "Wanted Order," nearly half the company's staff had been assigned to the new project.

Early in the morning, Martin had arrived at Pacific Pictures because Wu Maoting was coming to discuss investment matters.

Wu Maoting entered the reception room, greeted Louise, and immediately went over to shake hands with Martin, smiling and saying, "Congratulations, the film has a great box office, becoming the number one at the box office!"

Martin smiled and responded, "All the work of the past year has finally yielded fruit."

Wu Maoting laughed as well, "I heard this is your second box office number one. Impressive!"

Now was not the time for modesty, Martin directly said, "I believe there will be a third and fourth box office number one in the future."

Wu Maoting waved to someone in the back to bring over a photo album and handed it to Martin, "These are all the items I have in stock, nothing too high-end, as there hasn't been much of that in recent years. Whatever catches your eye, just mark it, and I will sell it to you at cost and ship it directly to Los Angeles."

Martin took the album: "I won't stand on ceremony, then."

He wouldn't choose anything high-end after all since he planned to bring them back to Atlanta as gifts, mainly for Lily to practice on.

Wu Maoting then turned to Louise and said, "Miss Mel, let's talk about the investment. Over this period, I have seen Hollywood's leading production models and have witnessed the broad market prospects of Hollywood movies, as well as how you operate a film."

Thinking of Harbor City, he continued, "I must say, the movie industry in Harbor City is lagging in every respect and no longer has the chance to catch up. I've decided to participate in your investment pool."

Louise pushed up her dark-rimmed glasses and said, "Pacific Pictures and Warner Bros. are long-term partners, and we have basically agreed on the terms of our cooperation... Oh, right, the adaptation project with Scorsese and Leonardo, named 'Infernal Affairs.'

She directly asked, "May I know how much Mr. Wu intends to invest?"

Wu Maoting replied, "15 million US dollars, arriving in increments over the next two months."

Louise stood up and, with Wu Maoting also standing, shook his hand: "Pleasure doing business with you."

Both parties only needed to reach a general agreement; professionals would naturally take over the detailed negotiations.

After discussing the investment, Wu Maoting mentioned another matter: "I have a small request. My daughter Danielle, that's her new English name, will be staying in Los Angeles. I would appreciate it if Miss Mel could look out for her. She's preparing for a college preparatory course and wishes to attend the USC School of Cinematic Arts..."

Louise said directly, "I will personally write Danielle a letter of recommendation."

Wu Maoting said, "Thank you."

He gestured to someone behind him again, and they brought over two gift boxes: "A token from a friend; you must accept it."

With such enthusiasm from the other party, Martin and Louise couldn't very well decline.

Louise gifted back posters from all the movies her company had participated in investing in.

Martin had also prepared a return gift and called Old Cloth in to hand it to Wu Maoting's subordinates.

Of course, it was an alligator tooth pendant and a Joker sculpture that he crafted by hand.

Not valuable, but full of sincerity.

Aren't gifts between friends all about the thought rather than the value?

After Wu Maoting and his daughter said their goodbyes and left, Martin opened the gift box to take a look. Inside was a jade tablet, greener in color and of obviously better quality than what he had received last time.

Louise's was a string of pendants.

Martin casually handed his gift to Bruce and asked Louise, "Is 15 million US dollars enough to get me a role?"

"I also secured some investment in Cambodia," said Louise without specifying an amount, simply telling Martin, "I will pull together 20 million US dollars to join Martin Scorsese's project pool."

It was a clear case of using one's resources to generate more; Pacific Pictures itself didn't need the investment but could profit from management fees and profit sharing.

Louise was not a philanthropist and was not going through all this trouble just to help Martin out of the goodness of her heart.

Martin was in a great mood at the moment, following Louise into her office, where they went to the liquor cabinet to pull out a bottle and glasses and poured themselves a drink each.

First, "The Hills Have Eyes" had been a box office hit, taking the top spot on the charts, and even with conservative estimates, a North American box office of 80 million US dollars was highly likely.

Now that he'd secured Wu Maoting's investment, being able to bring 20 million US dollars to negotiate with the "Infernal Affairs" crew, what was there to be dissatisfied about?

Martin clinked glasses with Louise: "I'll still rely on you for the crew negotiations."

Thomas's words didn't carry enough weight; they still needed Louise's push, seeing as the 20 million US dollars was an investment from Pacific Pictures.

Louise took off her glasses, drained her glass, and reminded him, "You're in debt again."

There's nothing wrong with repaying a debt. Martin caught her meaning and said, "Tonight, I'm off to Sherman Oaks to settle my debts."

Louise was pleased with Martin's proactive attitude toward debt repayment, "Remember to come by before dinner."

She, as a cattle farmer, was equally conscientious about feeding her cattle first as a well-fed cow would have the strength to work.

Nicky came in at that moment and said, "Angelina Jolie's agent is here wanting to discuss a collaboration."

Louise went to the reception room to meet Mr. Gaye briefly, quickly returning.

The detailed negotiations would be handled by the deputy producer sent to the "Wanted Order" studio.

Martin knew that Angelina Jolie's participation in the "Wanted Order" cast was no longer an issue.

Success in a movie can change many people's choices.

Only the successful have the luxury of better choices.

Louise said, "5 million US dollars as a fee, that's Jolie's bottom line." There was no room for sentiment when she got tough, "I'll give her two months. If Jolie and Pitt don't go public by then, I'll have someone blow the whistle."

Martin remembered that love triangle from the past: "That's sure to be exciting."

But Louise had a wicked sense of humor: "Why don't you get involved? Jolie actually has a thing for you. Imagine a love square... no, if you seduce both Jolie and Aniston at the same time, wow, that would be incredible!"

Martin's phone rang at that moment, and he walked over to the window to answer it.

It was a call from Thomas, and the agent was clearly excited, "Buddy, we've taken the top box office spot again!"

Martin asked, "Aren't you going to celebrate?"

Thomas replied, "Lunch is on me. Come to the office first, hurry over."

"I'm on my way." Martin hung up, said a word to Louise, and left Pacific Pictures for WMA.