America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 181 Actors and Investors All Arrive

On Monday morning, in what appeared to be an ordinary studio, Ellen DeGeneres was preparing for the new episode of her show.

Bored while getting her hair done, she picked up the Hollywood Reporter next to her and started flipping through it.

As a newspaper dedicated to reporting on Hollywood news, the North American box office charts are indispensable and published in a prominent position every Monday.

Allen spotted it immediately; the top-ranked film was "The Hills Have Eyes," accompanied by the movie's main poster—Martin Davis!

"Dog shit." She immediately lost interest in reading the newspaper and threw it on the ground.

As his assistant came to pick them up, Allen roared, "Take all the entertainment newspapers away and throw them in the trash!"

Like most actors, she is also known for her two-faced nature.

The others were very careful, afraid of accidentally displeasing the big boss.

Allen's face remained gloomy.

The thought of that uncooperative brat taking the top spot at the North American box office made her feel suffocated.

The guest who participated in the recording of the show today had bad luck and was made difficult by Allen in every way.

After returning home, he complained to other media outlets, saying that Ellen DeGeneres was vicious and mean.

…………

In the villa's recreation room, Angelina Jolie sat on the floor, playing with building blocks with her son.

Whenever she built a house, the child would pick up a large building block and throw it at her, causing her house to collapse.

Julie built more, the kids smashed more, and the two of them had a great time.

The nanny knocked gently on the door, announcing, "Mr. Guyer is here."

This is her agent. Angelina Jolie doesn't have a manager right now because she fired her manager last month due to poor film selections in the past.

The nanny came to replace Julie and played with the children.

Julie went to the living room, and Chong Gaye nodded: "I was just with my son."

Guy opened his bag, took out a document, and handed it to Julie: "The second adoption paperwork is complete. You can bring the person back anytime."

Julie glanced at it briefly, put it aside, and asked, "I was so busy spending time with my son that I didn't have time to check the latest updates on 'The Hills Have Eyes.' How's the box office in its opening week?"

"A huge success!" Gaye said simply. "It topped the box office charts last week, grossed over $10,000 per theater, and has a total box office of $3415 million."

He added a special note: "The film has received very good reviews in the horror genre, with an average audience score of A- on Cinema Score and a 7.5 rating from IMDb users."

Jolie specifically looked at some public data. The Hills Have Eyes had a production cost of $1600 million, and even the marketing and distribution cost about the same. Based on the box office and word-of-mouth in the past two days, it is estimated that the North American box office will be enough to recoup the cost.

"What about Martin?" Julie asked, getting to the point.

Guyer brought clippings prepared by his assistant: "Most media outlets are praising his acting, partly due to the efforts of the WMA and Warner Bros., but he did a really good job in the film, and the critics are very positive about it."

Julie took the film and quickly flipped through it, saying as she read, "The box office is really booming. Including 'Zombie Dancer,' Martin Scorsese's films as the male lead have now been successful three times in a row."

"I specifically had someone check the online feedback," Gaye said. "Not only was it a box office success, but Martin also gained a large number of supporters, including his personal supporters."

Hollywood is obsessed with success, and Jolie is no exception. After a moment's thought, she asked, "Have you read the first draft of the script for 'Wanted'? What do you think of it?"

Knowing that Julie was very opinionated, Guyer spoke frankly about his feelings: "The plot is just so-so, the quality is slightly above average, but for this kind of movie, the action choreography is the most important thing."

"I've talked to Martin about action design, and it sounds really cool," Julie said, recalling the first Tomb Raider film. "Martin has succeeded again, and I think he's reliable in choosing projects. He also knows how to market and generate buzz, so I'm ready to work with him."

Guyer agreed: "Although 'Alexander the Great' was a failure, Louise Mayer has done very well investing in medium-sized projects. You and Louise are good friends, and she's willing to..."

There are some things he's too embarrassed to say directly.

Julie chimed in, "It's rare that Louise was willing to help me during a difficult time, I understand."

Guyer is well aware of Julie's current situation; without any strong works to salvage the situation, she is heading straight for the third tier and falling into obscurity.

She might even be relegated to playing supporting roles or villains from then on.

Jolie added, "I can accept a $500 million salary, but the production team has to pay the nanny, and they have to leave me time to spend with my son. The rest... that's fine."

When filming her previous movie, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," Jolie received a salary of $1000 million.

The two films subsequently failed at the box office, and the actor's salary was immediately halved.

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

Julie got up to go be with her son: "Let me know when everything is settled so I can come and sign the contract."

…………

Pacific Pictures, the company's small number of employees are all busy.

After Louise took over the compilation and preparation of "Wanted," nearly half of the company's staff devoted themselves to this new project.

Martin arrived at Pacific Pictures early this morning because Wu Maoting wanted to discuss investment.

Wu Maoting entered the reception room, greeted Louise first, then immediately shook hands with Martin, smiling and saying, "Congratulations on the film's box office success, becoming the top-grossing film!"

Martin said with a smile, "The work of the past year has finally paid off."

Wu Maoting chuckled, "I heard this is your second box office champion title, that's amazing!"

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

Wu Maoting waved to the back, and when someone brought over a photo album, he handed it to Martin: "It's all my stock. There aren't any high-end items. High-end items have been rare these past few years. Just tick off whichever ones you like, and I'll give them to you at cost price and ship them directly to Los Angeles."

Martin accepted the photo album: "I won't stand on ceremony."

He wouldn't choose high-end items, since they were being shipped back to Atlanta as gifts, mainly for Lily to practice on.

Wu Maoting then turned to Louise and said, "Ms. Mel, let's talk about investment. Over this period of time, I have seen Hollywood's world-leading production model, witnessed the vast market prospects of Hollywood films, and seen how you operate a film."

He thought of Hong Kong: "I have to say, Hong Kong's film industry is lagging behind in every aspect and has no chance to catch up. I've decided to participate in your joint investment."

Louise pushed up her black-rimmed glasses: "Pacific Films and Warner Bros. are long-term partners, and they've basically finalized the details of their collaboration... Oh, right, Scorsese and Leonardo's adaptation project, titled 'The Departed'."

She asked directly, "I wonder how much Mr. Wu plans to invest?"

Wu Maoting said, "The $1500 million will arrive in installments over the next two months."

Louise stood up and shook hands with Wu Maoting, who had also stood up: "It's been a pleasure working with you."

Once the two parties reach an agreement, professionals will naturally take over the specific negotiations.

After discussing the investment, Wu Maoting brought up another matter: "I have a small request. My daughter, Dani, her newly chosen English name, will be residing in Los Angeles. I would appreciate it if Ms. Mel could look after her. She's preparing for college preparatory school and wants to attend the USC School of Cinematic Arts..."

Louise stated directly, "I will personally write a letter of recommendation for Dani."

Wu Maoting said, "Thank you."

He waved to the people behind him, and someone brought over two gift boxes: "You must accept this from a friend."

With such enthusiasm from the other party, how could Martin and Louise possibly refuse?

Louise presented the company with commemorative posters of all the movies in which it had invested as a return gift.

Martin also prepared a return gift and called Old Bu in to hand it over to Wu Maoting's men.

Of course, it's the crocodile tooth pendant he hunted himself and the clown sculpture in the shape of Martin.

It's not expensive, but it's full of sincerity.

When friends exchange gifts, isn't it always a small gift that carries great meaning?

After Wu Maoting and his daughter took their leave, Martin opened the gift box and took a look. Inside was a jade pendant that was full of green color, and the quality of the jade was obviously better than the last one.

Louise's was a pendant.

Martin casually handed it to Bruce and asked Louise, "1500 million dollars, is that enough for me to get the role?"

"I also secured some investment in Cambodia." Louise didn't specify the amount, but told Martin, "I will raise $2000 million to participate in Martin Scorsese's project portfolio."

This is a classic case of using someone else's resources to generate profits. Pacific Pictures itself doesn't need to invest, yet it can profit from management fees and a share of the profits.

Louise is not a philanthropist, nor would she go to such lengths simply to help Martin.

Martin was in a great mood. He followed Louise into her office, took out some wine and glasses from the wine cabinet, and poured a glass for each of them.

First, "The Hills Have Eyes" was a box office hit, taking the top spot at the box office. Even if things weren't looking good, a box office of $8000 million in North America was still very promising.

Now that Wu Maoting's investment has been secured, and they can bring $2000 million to negotiate a collaboration with the "Infernal Affairs" production team, what more could they ask for?

Martin clinked glasses with Louise: "I'm still counting on you to secure the production team's negotiation agreement."

Thomas's words didn't carry enough weight; Louise still needed to give him a push, after all, the $2000 million was an investment from Pacific Pictures.

Louise took off her glasses, downed her drink in one gulp, and reminded her, "You're in debt again."

It's only right to pay back debts, Martin understood, and said, "Tonight I'll go to Sherman Oaks to pay back my debt."

Louise was pleased with Martin's proactive attitude in paying off his debts: "Remember to come before dinner."

As a cattle farmer, she was equally mindful that she had to feed the cattle well so that they would have the strength to thrive.

Nikki then knocked and came in, saying, "Angelina Jolie's agent is here; they want to discuss a collaboration."

Louise went to the reception room to see Guye briefly, and returned shortly afterward.

The specific negotiations will be handled by the assistant producer dispatched to the "Wanted" studio.

Martin knew that there was no longer any problem with Angelina Jolie joining the cast of "Wanted".

A successful movie can change many people's choices.

Only successful people have the resources to make better choices.

Louise said, "$500 million is Jolie's bottom line." When she gets ruthless, she doesn't care about friendship at all: "I'll wait two months. If Jolie and Pitt still don't go public, I'll have someone expose them."

Martin thought of that past love triangle: "It must have been very interesting."

Louise, however, had a mischievous glint in her eye: "Why don't you join in? Julie actually has feelings for you, so it'll be a love quadrangle... no, you'll be seducing both Julie and Aniston at the same time, wow, that would be amazing!"

Martin's phone rang, and he went to the window to answer it.

The call was from Thomas, and his agent was clearly excited: "Dude, we've got the box office number one again!"

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

Thomas said, "I'll treat you to lunch. Come to the company first, and hurry up."

"I'm coming right now." Martin hung up the phone, said to Louise, and left Pacific Film Studios to head to WMA.

(End of this chapter)