American fame and fortune

Chapter 868 The Queen’s Chess Game

Sunset Boulevard, Smoke House Bar.

 In a booth, Leonardo opened a wine bottle, poured a glass of wine for himself and Nicholson opposite him, and said: "Martin, this bastard, let us go."

Nicholson picked up the glass and took a sip: "He said Harder Hastings was the founder of Netflix?"

ˆ Leonardo knows this better: “The founder and current chairman of Netflix.”

Nicholson glanced at Leonardo and suddenly lost interest in him, and asked: "I remember that **** Martin invested in Netflix. How many assets does he have now?"

“Not only did we invest in Netflix, we also invested in Apple and Tesla.” Leonardo picked up his wine glass and clinked it with Nicholson: “I don’t know exactly how much, but I can calculate it.”

Nicholson was thinking of Lorraine.

Leonardo estimated: "Martin has a lot of Apple stocks, which are scattered stocks bought from the stock market. He bought them very early, starting in 2006, and the current value is at least US$2 billion. ”

Nicholson gritted his teeth.

"Tesla's best estimate is that we have to deal with that fat guy Musk. The Tesla stock in Martin's hands is only a lot more than US$1 billion." Leonardo is relatively conservative: "Then there is Nye. Fei, I don’t know how much Martin has, but it’s at least $1.5 billion.”

 Martin pushed the **** aside, pulled up the high chair and sat down.

 Martin and Leonardo were silent.

Because of Polanski's relationship with Sharon Tate, he left behind some memories, otherwise he would have forgotten them all after so many years: "It seems to be about a female orphan who grew up to be a top chess player in the 1950s and 1960s. Master, the title of the book...should be called The Queen's Game."

"We talked about a project." Martin nodded, remembering the TV series Ponyo in his previous life, and asked: "You have been in Hollywood for decades and have experienced a lot. Have you ever heard of any scripts, novels or documentaries about chess? Literature or something?”

 Leonardo poured him a glass of wine and asked, "Have you finished talking about Netflix's work?"

 Martin looked it up on the Internet, but couldn’t find it. Because it’s an unpopular novel about an unpopular sport?

Nicholson confirmed: "Yes, it's called "The Queen's Game."

“This is the most conservative estimate.” Leonardo recalled: “I remember that in Forbes last year, Harder Hastings only had US$3 billion in assets, which was less than half that of Martin.”

Leonardo shook his head: "This subject is too unpopular. There seem to be very few similar works. I have never noticed it before, and I have never heard anyone mention it."

Even though Nicholson is a layman, he still knows the basics: “He raised too much money.”

Nicholson looked at Leonardo opposite him. He was fat and ugly, not a good match for Lorraine.

Martin came from behind, hugged Leonardo's neck, and put his hard knuckles on his temples: "Say ten words that you are the biggest idiot and trash in America, or I will blow your head off!"

Nicholson decided to give up on Leonardo: "Forget it between you and Lorraine. I don't like forcing people, and I won't force you..."

Nicholson said: "Okay, you guys are fine." He saw the direction Leonardo was facing away from, and Martin walked closer and closer, deliberately guiding: "Let's set a new goal..."

Nicholson thought carefully for a while, took another sip of wine, and then said: "In the 1970s, probably a few years after Sharon Tate died, I saw it at Roman Polanski's Once again, that guy Polanski likes chess, so that novel is about chess.”

Leonardo became excited: "Yes! We want Martin to marry Lorraine without signing a prenuptial agreement. We will divide Martin's property. Remember to give me half!"

“Chess?” Nicholson frowned and recalled, “I think I’ve seen it before, it’s been too long, please let me think about it.”

Leonardo said: "Martin's Davis Film and Television Studio owns the rights to many popular movies. Although the studio is not listed, it is still worth US$500 million. There are also brands that Martin cooperates with Coca-Cola, and the real estate he owns and other fixed assets, nearly 100 million U.S. dollars in commercial endorsement income every year, high remuneration and offline sharing..."

  Nicholson ran his fingers across the table and calculated silently for a while: "At least 6.5 billion US dollars in assets."

 Leonardo had a drink with him and poured another drink: "Martin, this bastard, has a good eye for choosing movies and an equally good eye for investment. Now this **** is the richest among the three of us."

"Wait!" Leonardo interrupted: "Lorraine and I are fine, okay!"

 Leonardo pointed at Nicholson opposite: "Jack is the biggest fool and waste in America!"

 Martin believed this old bastard, took out his cell phone and sent text messages to Thomas and Jessica respectively, asking them to find the novel and see if there were any related scripts in the circle.

Leonardo got the topic right and asked Martin: "Aren't you going to a mental therapy center to experience life? When will you go? Are you going to New York?"

“I won’t go to New York.” Martin said: “My psychiatrist Laura helped contact a physical therapy center in California that treats many patients with mental illness. I will go there to have a look.”

 Leonardo had a similar experience and said to Nicholson: "Jack, we need to visit Martin frequently and ask Martin to come out to parties together, lest this pervert really turns into a psychopath."

Nicholson picked up the wine glass, touched it with Martin, and said, "I hope you go crazy soon."

"Thank you!" Martin drank a glass of wine: "If I go crazy, the first thing I will do is to blow up the homes of you two **** and make you go crazy together."

Leonardo responded: "Then we march to Washington together?"

 Martin raised his glass high: "I wish you will go crazy soon."

In the next few days, in addition to participating in the post-production of "Shark Beach", Martin went to the psychotherapy center to conduct on-site inspections of the conditions of some patients with schizophrenia based on the cases given by Dr. Laura to prepare for subsequent performances.

This morning, Thomas rushed to Disney Studios with a pile of information.

 He entered Martin's director's office on the set of "Shark Tank", put a crew and a novel on the desk, and said: "Finally found it."

 Martin took it over and took a look. The name of the script and the novel were the same, both were called "The Queen's Gambit". The author of the novel was Walter Tevis, and the screenwriter of the script was Alan Scott.

Thomas said: "The script, the novel, and the author are basically unknown. We tried our best not to alert our colleagues. Fortunately, we got the title of the novel and contacted the author through the publisher."

The script Martin read first was different from what he remembered. It was a movie script, but the content was about a female chess player who was born as an orphan and defeated the world champion of the former Soviet Union and became a top chess master.

 The main plot is the same as the episode in his memory.

 He read the original novel again to make sure there was no mistake, and asked: "Where is the copyright? Who holds it now?"

"There may be a little trouble with the copyright." Thomas said directly: "A few years ago, Heath Ledger bought the film and television adaptation rights from screenwriter Alan Scott."

 Martin was quite surprised: "The copyright is actually in the hands of Heath Ledger?"

Thomas generally said: "In 1992, screenwriter Alan Scott bought the film and television adaptation rights and began to write the script, hoping to adapt it into a movie. However, he spent many years and failed to find investors. In the past few years, When he met Heath Ledger, the two were drug addicts of special drugs. As they were talking about this, he sold it to Heath Ledger.”

Martin understood. The script had been floating in Hollywood for more than 20 years. Not only had it not been made into a movie or TV series, it had not even attracted attention. Thomas continued: "I asked Ivan to contact Alan Scott. According to him, Heath Ledger's career as an actor has basically been finished in recent years. No film crew in Hollywood that has invested more than one million is willing to start him." After playing important roles, he gradually disappeared, but he was unwilling to return to Australia to be a small actor and wanted to find another way to become a director. "

Bruce was fully involved in the conflict between Martin and Heath Ledger and the series of events that took place during the fight for the Joker: "The reason why he chose this script was because he felt that the heroine of the novel, Beth Harmon, had a close relationship with him. The problem of stubbornly fighting drug addiction is very similar to his own, and he believes that he can achieve the desired results. "

Martin thought about the bad things he had with Heath Ledger many years ago. Perhaps it was because of these that Heath Ledger did not go to see God like he did in his previous life.

 The actor's career was of course not going well, and he was basically ignored.

 It is almost impossible to make a comeback through acting, so why do you want to make a career as a director?

 Thomas said: "We didn't contact Heath Ledger because we were worried that he wouldn't sell."

Those things that happened back then, Heath Ledger would probably not sell them, or he would ask for a very high price. Martin thought for a moment and asked, "Is Heath Ledger still taking drugs?"

Thomas specifically inquired about this: "It has never stopped, otherwise it would not be where it is now."

 Martin looked at Bruce: "Go and investigate the latest situation of Heath Ledger."

Thomas said: The initial copyright transfer, as well as the transfer agreement between Alan Scott and Heath Ledger, had no restrictive clauses. We could find a new face to contact Heath Ledger and get the copyright. "

Bruce said: "Let's look at the specific situation of Heath Ledger first."

 …

Los Angeles seaside town, Venice.

The afternoon sun shone on the sea level. Heath Ledger drove to the coastal road, parked the car in a secluded parking lot, and waited patiently.

Originally, he was able to steadily get goods from Michelle Bryan.

 Although it is a bit expensive, the goods are of good quality and safe.

 After Michelle Bryan committed suicide, he could only venture out and buy goods in person.

Ten minutes later, a Mercedes-Benz SUV drove over and stopped close to the driver's seat of Heath Ledger.

There was a knocking sound. Heath Ledger glanced at the Mexican over there through the two car windows, lowered the window, took out some cash, and handed it over.

The other side also lowered the window, took the cash, and gave Heath Ledger a paper bag.

 Two people inspect the goods separately.

 Heath Ledger took out a small plastic bag, opened it, put it in front of him and took a sniff. The product was very genuine.

 The man next door made sure that the money was fine and said, "Contact us anytime if you need it."

These poisonous insects are his favorite, they can continuously harvest wealth.

Heath-Ledger collected the goods, drove out of the parking lot, and returned to the single-family house he rented in Venice.

 He parked the car on the side of the road and hurried into the house.

 Far away, Ivan parked the car, dialed Bruce's special contact number, and the two started talking.

 Not long after, a red BMW drove up and parked behind Heath Ledger's car.

Gemma Ward glanced at her boyfriend's car and entered the house directly. As soon as she turned from the entrance to the living room, she saw Heath Ledger lying on his back on the sofa with his eyes blank, and his consciousness seemed not to be inside his body.

She came to the coffee table, opened the paper bag, took out a small plastic bag, opened it, sat next to Heath Ledger, and inhaled vigorously.

 The two people were apathetic at first, but soon turned into excitement.

As we all know, the poisonous insect became excited and wanted to let the dog fight, and the two quickly rolled into a ball.

Heath Ledger’s reputation in Hollywood has long been bad. Although his new girlfriend is a well-known Australian model, the key to hanging out with him lies in common interests and hobbies.

 After struggling for a long time, the sky gradually turned dark and the room finally became dark.

 Heath Ledger called to order takeout, and Gemma Ward simply tidied the house, mainly putting away the goods.

 “That much?” Gemma Ward asked.

Heath-Ledger said: “This is as much as all cash can buy.”

Gemma Ward received the goods into an iron box and asked again: "Did you spend all the money to buy the goods?"

Heath Ledger didn't think there was a problem: "We can use these for two, and it's not enough for a week."

Gemma Ward's addiction is much lighter than that of her boyfriend: "The money also includes the money we use to pay the rent. We have been delayed for a while. If we don't pay the landlord two months' rent, we will be evicted. ”

"Don't worry!" There is no bottom line for poisonous insects. Heath Ledger said: "If he dares to come here and chase us away, I am a homosexual and mentally cognizant of women. You are just the opposite. He is discriminating against minorities!"

  In the past year, Thomas Ledger has not been working seriously, but he has carefully studied the changes in Hollywood. This method works quite well in Los Angeles.

 LAPD will be cautious when encountering them.

Gemma Ward began receiving professional modeling training when she was in her early tenth year. She is far less smart than her boyfriend who has been in the entertainment industry for many years. She just said: "It's not just the rent, but also our daily life. You have no income from work, and I have no income." The money is still an advance payment for a clothing exhibition. If there is no money, where will I get the goods next week?”

 Heath Ledger didn't seem to hear, and slumped on the sofa without speaking.

Gemma Ward asked tentatively: "A few months ago, didn't you buy a script at a low price and want to make it into a movie? Have you secured investment?"

These words reminded Heath Ledger. He stood up and looked around, and finally found the script called "The Queen's Gambit".

 (End of this chapter)