America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 144 Hated by Gods and Ghosts

At the Fox Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles, a red carpet was laid out on the sidewalk, and movie fans who arrived gradually gathered on both sides of the barriers.

Emily and Jessica had Martin's complimentary tickets, and they came over in the middle of the afternoon.

They were thoughtful; they even brought Martin's character poster.

The number of fans at the scene was unexpectedly large, and most of them had Paris Hilton's character posters in their hands.

The poster of that wax figure corpse.

It is very popular and sells very well.

They also brought various insulting and anti-Paris signs.

The red carpet was almost entirely taken over by Parishitch's fans.

Fans of the lead actress, Eliza Cuthbert, could only huddle in a corner near the media area.

Jessica, who is tall, pointed to the other side of the media area: "There are some people over there holding up posters of Martin."

Emily pulled her along, saying, "Let's go take a look."

To the left of the media area, a group of more than 20 young men and women were gathered, led by a young woman wearing glasses who was distributing posters to the group.

Seeing the two girls holding Martin posters, Rachel waved and said, "Come over here, we're all here!"

Emily, curious, stepped into the crowd and asked, "Are you all Martin supporters?"

A freckled young man chimed in, "Yeah, a zombie dancer, that's so cool. I've always wanted to learn the machine gun dance."

Jessica has met many people who want to learn this dance: "Most people can't achieve that effect."

Several people around him chimed in, "It's too difficult."

Rachel then asked, "You signed up through a blog?"

Emily shook her head: "We came here on our own."

Rachel quickly said, "We arranged this through Martin's blog. If you like Martin, you can follow his blog. There's a special fan section there, and he'll notify everyone in advance about any events."

Jessica was quite surprised: "I didn't expect Martin to have so many supporters."

Rachel still remembers her first meeting with Martin: "Martin is a fantastic actor and a really nice guy."

Phoebe, who was standing nearby, reminded them, "Look, a car is coming."

The people on both sides of the red carpet were very excited. When Eliza Cuthbert stepped out of the car, the girl-next-door actress attracted a lot of attention this summer.

Screams rang out.

Bruce drove up from a distance in a black Cadillac.

In the back seat, Martin flipped through his notebook.

Bruce said, "If you had worked this hard in high school, you would have gotten into an Ivy League school long ago."

"A natural academic failure, I won't pass the exams." Martin was also a genuine academic failure in his previous life: "I know my limitations, I'm not cut out for studying."

Bruce understood: "His talent lies entirely in messing things up."

Martin ignored him and focused on memorizing the words in his notebook.

These are some messages of blessing written by fans at his first fan meeting.

I had a lot of fun with the reverse signatures back then, and easily controlled the pace of the entire meet-and-greet, but it was a bit difficult to remember the well wishes.

Rachel, whom I met on the Saturn Awards red carpet, called on her supporters in the comments section of her blog to come and cheer him on at the premiere.

Martin took it to heart; if the others came too, he wanted to show them that he hadn't forgotten them.

After carefully reviewing it once, he closed the notebook and vowed never to do it like that again.

The Cadillac stopped in front of the red carpet, and Martin got out of the car. The moment the flash went off, he was already smiling and waving.

Unlike before, the publicity campaign for "House of Wax" was extensive, and reporters were able to recognize Martin as the film's lead actor.

Martin paused briefly in front of the red carpet, waiting for the reporters to finish taking photos, before walking towards the theater entrance, where he was greeted by wax figure posters of the characters played by Paris Hilton.

Judging from the premiere, the publicity effect was very good.

Martin waved to both sides repeatedly and soon spotted his fan group, which he then strode over to.

When Rachel saw Martin, she immediately shouted at the top of her lungs, "Martin! Martin..."

Everyone around started shouting, even Emily and Jessica were yelling at the top of their lungs. The voices of more than 30 people temporarily drowned out the hundreds of people present.

Martin approached the fence where they were standing: "Hi, Rachel."

Then he nodded to Emily and Jessica, and greeted everyone: "Good afternoon, everyone, thank you for coming to support me."

Rachel handed him a pen and took the poster.

Martin had just finished reviewing his notes, picked up his pen, and quickly wrote: "You are the lightning in the rainy day, illuminating the entire night sky."

Rachel covered her mouth happily, tears welling up in her eyes, unsure of what to say.

Martin gave her a gentle hug: "Keep going, Rachel."

Then he signed autographs for other fans.

Phoebe was seeing Martin in person for the first time and kept muttering to herself, "He's so handsome, so stylish, he's my idol."

Emily and Jessica are neighbors with Martin and see him often.

Unlike Martin's easygoing personality in real life, he shines when he puts on a suit, exuding an aura that is both approachable and sophisticated.

He managed to perfectly blend these two different qualities together.

The noise grew louder again at the front of the red carpet, and more people came over.

Martin turned his head and saw an old acquaintance—Kate Winslet.

Louise must have invited them.

After Martin finished signing, Kate walked over and stopped to wait for him before they went into the media area together.

Reporters immediately approached for an interview: "Kate, are you and Martin very familiar with each other?"

Kate smiled at Martin, then turned and said, "I met Martin when I was filming in Atlanta. Didn't you guys notice Martin appeared in my movies?"

Most of the reporters had seen "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," but had no recollection of Martin.

Martin had already seen it. In that film, only four of his close-up shots were cut, he only had one line of dialogue left, and his total screen time was only about 20 seconds.

The reporter then asked Martin about Kate.

Martin praised Kate: "Without a doubt, I am a lifelong fan of Kate. Ruth is my eternal goddess, and so is Kate."

The two stood in front of the GG backdrop and posed for photos with reporters.

Afterwards, they went into the theater together.

Louise then came out of the lounge, greeted the two of them, and came to Kate's side: "You even came all the way back from out of town."

"I didn't come back specifically; things are settled at the Toronto Film Festival," Kate said with a smile. "You're an investor and producer, so if I don't curry favor with you, I won't get any roles in the future."

Martin followed the two men toward the theater.

Kate said, "Awards season has already started, and I'm preparing to throw a party. I'll send you all invitations then."

Martin chimed in, "You'd better introduce me to some British directors and producers."

“No problem.” Kate winked at Louise and said to Martin, “I can also introduce you to a few British actresses.”

Louise turned to look at Martin: "The English Rose."

Martin simply smiled and asked, "Does awards season officially begin?"

Kate simply stated, "In a narrow sense, it starts in December, but in a broader sense, it starts with the Toronto International Film Festival in September."

The three of them went into the theater together, and Martin went to sit in the front row.

Director Jaume Coleman has arrived.

The two chatted for a while, and then Menez entered the theater and sat next to Martin, saying excitedly, "Boss, you don't know, when I walked onto the red carpet, the fans on both sides shouted my name together. It felt so good."

Martin said, "You're a celebrity now, you need to have class."

Menez said with a smug grin, "I never expected that just one time with Paris... would result in so much. I'm a celebrity now!"

Eliza, wearing a red dress, came over and greeted the crew members one by one.

He smiled and nodded at Martin.

Martin smiled and nodded in return, but neither of them spoke.

Guests, audience members, and media reporters arrived one after another. Susan and Jummy led the main cast and crew onto a small stage in front of the curtain. After a brief group photo and speeches, the film began to be shown.

This is a traditional American horror film, but the method of torture and killing has changed from knives, axes, and chainsaws to wax.

The production team also made some innovations, such as the gimmick of twins fighting twins.

The wax sculptor and his conjoined twin brother in the film are twins, as are the female lead and male supporting actor who kill them.

Perhaps Jaume Coleman did it intentionally, or perhaps Paris Hilton was born with it; her character in the film was already acting like a bitch from the moment she appeared.

The first climax for the average viewer occurs during the close interaction between the two characters played by Paris and Menez.

Even sitting in the front row, Martin could hear a constant stream of curses.

Paris's reputation was already bad after the videotape incident, and after this period of intense publicity and hype, her reputation as a socialite hit rock bottom even faster than Martin's previous life.

Since Eliza is the main character, Martin's role can only be described as mediocre.

But Jaume Coleman, Susan Boyle, and the editors know how to appeal to female audiences outside the horror genre.

Whenever Martin appears on camera, he always looks tall, cool, and handsome.

In the audience, Phoebe, who had come with Rachel, exclaimed with a swooning expression, "That's my crush!"

Rachel nodded repeatedly: "He's good-looking, a great actor, and has a great personality. Our Martin will be a huge star very soon!"

Jessica replied, "I think the real person is prettier."

Everyone around agreed.

Emily added, "Martin also stars in a horror movie; he's the absolute male lead, and it might be released next year."

Cheers suddenly erupted in the theater.

Everyone fell silent and went to watch the movie in peace.

It turns out that Paris Hilton encountered a serial killer.

The part that many people have been waiting for has finally arrived.

Paris is being relentlessly pursued by a serial killer.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Kill her! Kill her..."

There were scattered responses.

It takes a remarkable talent for someone to be able to make themselves so despised by gods and ghosts.

Take Paris Hilton, for example. Being born into the Hilton family is a privilege that most people don't have.

Perhaps "House of Wax" can set a new record for audience anticipation in the history of horror films.

Never before has an audience watched with such fervor as a character was brutally murdered by a serial killer.

Therefore, the theater experienced the real climax of the night.

When Paris's ankle ligaments were severed by the cannibal and she was taken to the wax museum to be made into a statue, the entire audience erupted in enthusiastic applause.

The audience, bombarded by the news media and frustrated by the Paris scandal, released their pent-up frustration with a cathartic release.

(End of this chapter)