America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 132 Rattlesnake (Please Subscribe)

Filming the tedious action scenes was very tiring, and the actors inevitably suffered minor bumps and bruises. Martin himself was fine, but several stunt doubles had multiple bruises.

This is common on film sets, and stunt performers are used to it.

After another action scene was filmed, Martin was fine, but the stuntmen were panting heavily from exhaustion.

Ah-Jia's voice was already hoarse from shouting. He told his assistant, "Let them rest for an hour."

Three stunt performers with similar builds to Martin, along with two stunt actors who had previously portrayed psychopaths, sat down in the rest area, none of them wanting to move anymore.

Martin personally fetched Gatorade, giving each person a bottle and saying, "Guys, replenish your energy."

"You've filmed just as many as we have, take a break." Stuntman Buck, who had developed a great physique but was already balding at twenty-five, said, "Martin, you have amazing stamina."

Martin sat in a chair, deliberately bending his arm and pointing to his bulging muscles, saying, "Forgot? I'm the best fighter on set."

When men get together to chat, how can they not brag: "Have you guys seen my machine gun dance? My stamina is the best too."

Character actor Lord said, "I watched the Saturn Awards live with my wife, and when she saw you dancing, she laughed at me, saying that compared to that man, you're a coward. At that moment, I thought, if I saw him, I'd beat his buddies to a pulp."

Martin looked terrified: "Dude, you can hit me in the face but not my brother, because you'll break your hand!"

Lewis, who was also Martin's stunt double, said, "Martin, I admit, you have the best stamina and the best fighting skills in the whole crew, but what you really have to be number one is your shamelessness."

The others burst into laughter.

Martin said very seriously, "Do you know what the most common saying in Atlanta is? Everyone envies Martin, everyone wants to be Martin."

He coughed and said, "I have some good news for you. This weekend, we're teaming up with the film crew next door for a beach party."

Lord became excited: "Really?"

Buck said, "The neighbors are all beautiful girls."

Martin suggested, "How about we form a girl-chasing group?"

"No, I want to stay away from you." Lewis had already come to terms with reality: "If we follow you, all the pretty girls will go to you, and we'll only be able to pick up the ugly ducklings left."

After a few people chatted and laughed for a while, Bruce came over and said that Sophia was looking for him.

Sofia took Scott on a trip, and Martin thought she would go straight back to Atlanta, but she came back instead.

Martin dragged Bruce along, saying, "Don't worry, with me here, she won't dare do anything to you."

Bruce clenched his buttocks, his legs trembling, but he remained defiant: "You're worried about how she'll treat you, aren't you!"

Two timid men met Sofia at the entrance of the photography studio.

The female bodybuilder, wearing a tank top and shorts, revealing her muscular physique, said, "I'm getting ready to go back to Atlanta."

Bruce unconsciously relaxed his tightly clenched legs.

"You two keep a close eye on things here on set, make sure there's no trouble." Sophia suddenly remembered the fat guy in Los Angeles who was grabbing investment: "If that guy, what's his name? That ugly fat guy, dares to cause trouble again, give me a call, I'll personally go to Los Angeles and deal with him!"

"No problem." Martin felt more confident. If Weinstein caused trouble, he could just summon Sophia.

Sophia's gaze swept across Bruce's face. Bruce grabbed Martin's arm, suddenly realizing that this piece of trash was unreliable and might just sell him out.

Martin said, "Goodbye."

"Let's go," Sophia called to Scott, and they walked out of the studio.

Scott followed behind with an arrogant, pigeon-toed gait.

Martin and Bruce walked back, passing the drinks area where two production assistants were packing up their things.

They spoke in somewhat loud voices: "Did you just see that? Martin from our crew is really good at action scenes. He's the best fighter on set."

"I have someone even more impressive over there." Another person from the neighboring film crew said, "His last movie was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You know what the director said? If he went to war, the Iraqi enemy would only have one option: to run away."

The previous production assistant made a pointed remark: "Anyone can brag."

The person next door said, "You don't know, before he became an actor, he was a professional boxer. When he first entered the industry, he was taking a shower in the studio's communal bathroom... He was a very handsome boy. He was covered in foam when a few bastards came in looking for some fun. He saw them in the mirror, and then... bang bang bang, those bastards all collapsed."

The production assistant asked, "Really?"

"Many people on my side know this."

Martin and Bruce kept walking, continuing to go further inside.

After they walked away, the two men turned around and looked back. The production assistant said, "He must have heard it, the final payment."

Rick from the next group pulled out a rolled-up small-denomination dollar bill and stuffed it into his hand: "Spread the word around on set."

The production assistant took the money: "It's nothing."

Arriving at the rest area, Martin found a secluded spot to sit down and close his eyes to rest.

Bruce sat down next to him and glanced at the drinks area.

Martin asked, "Who are they talking about? What do they want to do? Using such a stupid method?"

Bruce thought for a moment: "Provoke you into getting into a fight? You brag on set, making people misunderstand you as a righteous person who likes to confront others head-on?"

Martin objected: "Am I not upright enough? Not decent enough?"

Bruce presented facts and reasoning: "Please give an example of when and where you had a direct confrontation with someone."

Martin ignored the question and changed the subject: "He left enough information, hoping I'd go and fight him? That's a pathetic tactic, even worse than Adrian's."

He shook his head: "Even that idiot Lily is better than him."

Bruce said, "First, find out who it is."

Martin took out his phone, called Blake Lively, asked a few questions, then hung up, saying, "Mike Vogel, not surprising at all."

Bruce said, "That actor from WMA with a similar style to you? No wonder, you're in my way, what a shit industry."

Martin pointed to the side: "He's on the set next door. Is he trying to provoke me into going to fight him?" He recalled his few encounters with the other man: "He doesn't seem like someone that brainless."

Bruce suggested, "How about this, you keep bragging to the crew, and I'll spread the word and spend some money to get Dalot to help us out, and see what happens."

Martin laughed: "Bragging? That's my specialty."

After a short break and a quick touch-up, Martin and the stunt performers returned to the set.

Perhaps spurred by news of the weekend party, the stunt performers regained their energy.

…………

Los Angeles, Pacific Film Studios.

In the office, Louise, wearing black-rimmed glasses, was shrewd and capable, without a trace of frivolity.

Assistant Nikki knocked on the door and came in, placing the latest report on the desk.

Louise took it and sighed, "Even Jerry Bruckheimer couldn't create a comeback miracle."

The film "King Arthur," co-produced by Touchstone Pictures and Bruckheimer Pictures, was a complete flop.

With an investment of over $100 million, the film only grossed $15 million in its opening weekend in North America. Now, after three weekends, its North American box office has only reached a paltry $45 million, and the number of theaters showing the film has plummeted from over 3000 to less than 2000.

Huge losses were unavoidable.

"Troy" failed to meet expectations, "King Arthur" was a critical and commercial failure, and what about "Alexander the Great," a similar film?

Louise’s long career as a producer gave her a feeling that the market was tired of this type of film.

The success of Gladiator and Lord of the Rings series led people to believe that North America was about to enter an era of epic and fantasy.

The widely accepted assessment in the industry may have contained errors.

Louise picked up the bottle next to her, poured herself a glass of wine, drank it all in one gulp, picked up the phone and dialed Warner CEO Barry Mayer's number, suggesting that the release of "Alexander" be postponed.

Barry Meyer declined, explaining that the project involved funding from various sources and no one was willing to wait any longer.

Louise called Warner Bros. President Alan Horn again, who also did not think delaying the release was a good idea. He believed that the market would not change in the short term, and the co-production company's funds could not be tied up in the project for a long time. If the year-end release failed, a six-month delay would not change the outcome.

After hanging up the phone, Louise drank another glass, got up and went to the window, looking at Warner Bros. Studios not far away, feeling immense pressure.

She took off her glasses, pulled out the notepad Martin had given her from her bag, tore off a page, and called her assistant Nikki: "Call the Esquire and the Bartenders Association and tell them that Master Bartender Louise Mayer has created a brand new cocktail."

…………

At the film crew's residence, the crew is making final preparations for the official filming, and the actors are busy rehearsing their respective scenes.

Ten days later, Mike Vogel will join the B crew to travel to Greece for filming.

Production assistant Rick quietly approached Vogel and said, "I've been going there every day for the past few days, and I'm absolutely certain that Martin Davis is a braggart and extremely arrogant. Everyone on that set is swayed by him."

Vogel tidied his dark brown hair in front of the mirror: "Anything else?"

"He likes to drink, and he goes out for a drink with the cast and crew every day after work." Rick found out a lot from them: "The more he drinks, the more he brags. He claims to be the most talented person in Georgia. Once, when he was drunk, he even boasted about having a gunfight with gangsters and drug dealers, and that he shot a drug dealer in the ass. You can tell it's fake just by listening to that."

Vogel nodded, a typical example of someone who's drunk and doesn't know who they are.

Judging that Martin Davis was arrogant and liked to boast in front of others, he deliberately leaked the information to stimulate Martin's competitiveness, and then, combined with alcohol...

Vogel then asked, "Are you sure the crew is going to have a party?"

Rick replied, "This Saturday, all day."

Vogel stood in front of the mirror and thought for a few minutes: "Rick, you're Mexican, could you get a rattlesnake or some other venomous snake?"

"What are you planning to do? Put poisonous snakes in his room?" Rick, though from Tijuana, didn't want to cause a death in an American: "I don't do that kind of thing. The hotel is under surveillance everywhere; there's no way to hide! Dude, I advise you not to do anything reckless."

Vogel's father used to work on a snake farm, so he had some knowledge of venomous snakes: "How could I do something like this? Are you kidding me?"

Rick asked, "Are you sure you won't do anything reckless?"

"Get someone to get a snake, and empty most of the venom from its venom sacs," Vogel said in a low voice, emphasizing, "I'll pay extra."

Rick replied, "Okay, Mexico doesn't lack this stuff."

Two updates today.

(End of this chapter)