Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 257 Despicable means
James Lemon is an assistant editor.

He is 1.85 meters tall and weighs 210 kilograms. Sitting on the chair, he looks like a mountain.

However, because he insisted on exercising, the mountain seemed steeper rather than fatter.

When he carried his briefcase and used his key to open the editing room, it was empty.

Normally everyone starts work at 10 o'clock, but he came to the company at 6:30 today. Not only did the editors not come to work, but even the HR girls who were usually the first to appear in the company did not come to work.

This gave him plenty of time.

James slowly put his briefcase on the chair, then looked around. When he found the camera above his head, he did not rush. He took out a set of screwdrivers from his bag and started to disassemble the film box on the console.

Because at this time he had already made preparations for the worst. He had no wife, no children, and his parents were not in America.

As long as he successfully destroys the film, he can get three million dollars, leave America and return to his hometown of Canada.

If he chooses to continue working here, he may have to wait for more than ten years before he can earn the three million.

Now, all it takes is a screwdriver and a little time.

He didn't feel any guilt about this. After all, he was not an editor, just an assistant. Why should he uphold the so-called professional ethics for the company?
He removed the film box quickly, opened it, and immediately saw the black film inside.

Although I can't see the content clearly, I can't be sure whether it is "Lucy".

But they had been editing all this time, and he didn't think anyone would have the time to replace the film of Lucy.

So when faced with the film, James directly took out a bottle of diluted sulfuric acid water and poured it into the box.

"Ziz." The film gave off an unpleasant smell, causing James to wrinkle his nose involuntarily.

"It should have been ruined." James didn't think the film that had been splashed with sulfuric acid could still be used, so he didn't look at it carefully. He just threw the bottle into his briefcase and left the editing room with it.

As soon as he got out of the door, James picked up his phone and called an unfamiliar number.

"How about it?"

"It went smoothly. It's done."

"Okay, go directly to the airport."

James imitated the agents in the movies, threw his phone into a trash can on the side of the road, got in his car, and drove straight to the airport.

Meanwhile, Tracy, who learned that the film had been destroyed, was waiting for the next news.

Because he wanted to confirm that the film of "Lucy" was really impossible to edit.

The news came quickly. Just two hours later, he learned about the panic of Norton's Eye and Tang De's angry questioning.

Tracy kindly called a police car for Norton Eye, and then went to a public telephone booth to tell Victor that the news could be announced in the afternoon.

"Everything is ready." Tracy came to the office and said to Ronald Tuttle, "Victor is ready to reveal the news, but I never thought that Avril, Jessica Alba and Anne Hathaway were all Tang De's favorites."

"In Hollywood, how could a big director like Donald not have a lover?" Ronald Tuttle was not surprised.

"That's right, but thinking about how these women who appear to be pure saints on the screen would look like under Tang De's crotch, it really makes people envious."

"Hahahaha, when our acquisition is successful, we'll be considered a big shot in Hollywood. Then we can put a red sofa in our office."

"Yes."

Although the two of them are considered big names in the investment field, the people they have unspoken rules with are all interns or secretaries in the company.

It’s different from the circle of celebrities.

Of course, it is not difficult for them to find a female star as a girlfriend, but it is difficult to use female stars as clothes like other directors do.

After talking about adult topics, Tracy continued to ask: "Is the funding ready?"

"I'm already prepared. Once the news breaks out, I'll start buying a large amount of Norton Eye's shares."

"Well, that should be okay, right?" Tracy felt that everything was going very smoothly, as if the Eye of Norton was completely unaware of what they were doing.

"Of course it went smoothly. Although Tang De has reached the top in the film industry, he is still just a child in the business war." Ronald Tuttle smiled happily.

Tracy laughed too.

Just as the two of them laughed, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"What's wrong?" Tracy called someone in and found that it was her personal secretary, who was holding a newspaper with a frown on her face.

"Boss, it's news about Tang." The secretary handed him the newspaper.

"Strange, I just called Victor, isn't he too fast?" Tracy felt something was wrong. When she opened it, she found that the headline of The Hollywood Reporter was about Tang De.

It's just different from what they want to expose.

The content of the newspaper is as follows: "Shocking! Many well-known female stars admitted to dating Tang De, including Anne Hathaway, Avril Lavigne, Scarlett Johansson, Kayden Kross, and Cindy Shea."

"And according to the investigation, the reporter found that Tang De currently has a daughter with Jessica Alba!"

"What!" Tracy couldn't control her inner excitement and clenched the newspaper tightly.

"What's wrong?" Ronald Tuttle was a little confused, not understanding why his investment partner was so out of control.

But when he saw the newspaper, he exclaimed: "How could it be such a coincidence!"

Yes, how come just when they were about to release unfavorable news about Tang De, such a report came out?
Once this report came out, their subsequent revelations became a joke.

It's not just because they missed the first opportunity, but also because this report was acknowledged by several ex-women. Once the whole thing was reported by the media, it was equivalent to being finalized.

Anne Hathaway and Scarlett Johansson personally admitted that they were Tang De's ex-girlfriends.

Then the claim that Tang De was having multiple affairs, keeping mistresses, and having affairs with many Hollywood actresses, suddenly became untenable.

Even if the news is leaked, everyone will regard it as a malicious interpretation by unscrupulous media.

This undoubtedly made their preparations go to waste.

But what made Ronald Tuttle even more horrified was why it was such a coincidence.

If it was a few days earlier or later, he might not have thought much about it, but Tang De actually released the news just a few hours before they were about to release it. What does this mean?
The actions of the representatives themselves had been right under his nose! The representatives also indicated that Tang De had discovered the connection between Victor, the chess piece, and them.

Otherwise it wouldn't be such a coincidence!

And this news must have been released with Tang De's own consent. After all, if a reporter really investigated these things, there would be no need to wait for several female stars to admit it together. It should have been announced long ago, and there would be no need to wait until now.

So this can only prove that Tang De has grasped their movements and is deliberately warning them.

"SHXT!"

"Snapped!"

Ronald Tuttle slammed his hand on the table in anger.

"What should I do now?" Tracy was also a little confused. He subconsciously looked out the window, feeling that someone was watching him.

"Wow!" He pulled up the curtains, plunging the office into darkness.

"It doesn't matter." Ronald Tuttle took a few deep breaths. "We can just reveal that the film of Lucy was destroyed. He can't possibly know about this."

"Then I'll arrange it now!" Originally, Tracy wanted to disclose the news later, but now they only want to win back a point in the contest with Tang De, so they don't have the patience to wait.

"Go!" Ronald Tuttle urged Tracy to quickly spread the news.

In the afternoon, there were temporary reports from the media.

"This morning, we received news that the film of 'Lucy', which was in the post-production process of Norton Eye, was irreversibly damaged. But when we tried to interview, several police officers on the scene prevented us from filming. The worst case scenario is that the entire movie may have to be reshot, which also means that 'Lucy', which is said to have invested $2 million, cannot be released as scheduled."

When this news came out, there was an uproar.

Countless calls and media outlets flocked to NortonEye, trying to understand the progress of "Lucy".

Norton Eye soon held a press conference for this purpose, at which many media outlets, including reporters from traditional media such as the New York Times and BBC, were present.

"Click, click!" When Tang De walked into the press conference with a serious face, all the reporters were taking pictures of him.

"Please be quiet!" Youfei was organizing the order at the scene.

After Tang De sat down, You Fei said, "We will explain the situation of Lucy in detail later, please don't worry."

When the reporters heard that Tang De was going to get straight to the point, they stopped talking in an orderly manner and took out their notebooks to record Tang De's words.

Tang De nodded and said, "First of all, I want to say that the movie Lucy did encounter some unforeseen obstacles."

The reporters were shocked. Could it be that the report in the afternoon was true? Was the film really damaged?
Doesn’t that mean that “Lucy” will be remade?

This is not an ordinary movie. With an investment of 2 million US dollars, if it is really wasted due to film problems, then the investors will definitely question Tang De, and the stock price of Norton Eye will definitely fall rapidly because of this incident.

The reason why the stock market has not fallen now is because things happened too quickly and everyone does not know the real situation yet.

But if Tang De admits it himself, then tomorrow, the Eye of Norton will definitely suffer a heavy blow.

However, while they were guessing, Tang De said, "But I want to state that the film of Lucy is not damaged. In fact, it is well preserved. The report about this incident this afternoon is completely groundless."

"Ah!" The reporters were shocked. The situation actually turned out to be reversed.

"Then what obstacles are you talking about, Mr. Norton?" a reporter couldn't help but blurt out.

"Please be quiet." Yufei organized discipline again.

Tang De waited until everyone was quiet before saying, "The actual situation is this: The post-production assistant for Lucy came to the company at 6:30 this morning, used a tool to pry open the film box, poured a bottle of sulfuric acid into it, and destroyed the film inside."

So this is no different from the previous report? There is indeed film damage.

The reporters were a little confused, and then they suddenly realized, could it be that this film was not from "Lucy"?

"But the film he destroyed didn't belong to Lucy. It was just an experimental film we used to practice 3D movies." What Tang De said was the same as what they thought.

But in fact, during this period, they would keep the film of "Lucy" and replace it with another film every night to prevent someone from deliberately destroying the film.

After Tang De keenly realized from the clues provided by the detective that the mastermind behind the Clooney Group was targeting him, he immediately ordered the strict protection of the film.

Even every night he was there.

No one except him, Yuffie and the main post-production editor knew where the film was.

All preparations are for this moment.

"So that's how it is!" The reporters exclaimed, thinking that Tang De was really lucky that such a premeditated action would fail.

They couldn't help but think of the title of "Lucky Don" in Hollywood, and what happened in recent years seemed to prove this point.

However, the next moment, Tang De spoke again, drawing everyone's attention. "The reason the police showed up this morning was because we caught the escaped post-production assistant, James Raymond. He is now being interrogated at the New York Police Department, and I just came back from the police station. The reason we have to hold this press conference in the evening is because some news shocked me."

Tang De said seriously: "I didn't expect that some companies could resort to such despicable means to achieve their goals."

The reporters concentrated their attention and felt that the key point was coming.

"The Clooney Investment Group and Ronald Tuttle, a wealthy man in Los Angeles, contacted James Roman privately and bribed him to destroy the film for three million dollars!"

The whole place was in an uproar!

This is absolutely explosive news!

Although it is not uncommon for Hollywood companies to resort to tactics in hostility towards each other, very few of these cases are directly disclosed.

I didn't expect Tang De to say it directly at the press conference. This is a rare big news.

The reporters were like vultures smelling rotten meat, with excited expressions on their faces.

Tang De did not disappoint them and dropped another bombshell: "And after the police investigation, Victor, the incompetent screenwriter I fired before, was also secretly connected to this group. His wife received a large amount of transfers from unknown sources within three months."

"But money transfers cannot be used as evidence," a reporter reminded.

"Yes." Tang De crossed his arms in front of his chest: "But I have a recording of Tracy and Victor, the head of the Clooney Group."

Suddenly, the reporters were excited again, and the flame in their hearts was completely ignited.

My goodness, he is planning to kill his opponent directly!
(End of this chapter)