America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 188 Director Confirmed, Extraordinary Human Trafficker

Before Martin could react, Anne Hathaway's agent, Maha, announced that the love was over.

Agents are smart; they know what to say and what not to say. To the public, they only publicly stated that Martin and Anne had personality clashes, had a big fight, and decided to break up.

Martin naturally didn't say anything more, nor did he need to.

A peaceful breakup is the best option for celebrity couples or spouses. If things really escalate, both sides will have negative press.

The paparazzi launched another manhunt, trying to find out the real reason for the couple's breakup.

Entertainment newspapers and gossip media launched another barrage of attacks.

Sometimes, whether the news is good or bad is not important; what matters is the exposure.

In Hollywood, even big stars, let alone ordinary ones, need to generate buzz.

After another weekend, The Hills Have Eyes has grossed $7151 million at the North American box office.

Meanwhile, the film was released in several countries and regions in Latin America, Europe, East Asia and Australia. Benefiting from the ripple effect of its box office success in North America, it received a good response in overseas markets, grossing $2247 million in just one week.

As more viewers watch "The Hills Have Eyes," Martin's fan base is also growing.

With the help of Martin and Thomas, the West Coast fan club was officially established.

Rachel became the captain, while Jessica and Emily infiltrated and became vice captains.

The activity base remains the fan section of Martin's blog.

Martin originally considered creating his own official website, but once the website was even slightly decent, the subsequent maintenance would require a considerable amount of money.

Currently, most of his funds are invested in the "Wanted" project, and he will wait for the funds to return before making any further moves.

The project director is also in the works.

Ali Emmanuel personally recommended a candidate.

Martin made a special trip to WMA. When he arrived at Thomas's office, his assistant Natasha quickly got up to greet him.

Bruce walked over to her desk: "You're welcome, just a cup of coffee."

Natasha went to get the coffee.

Martin entered the office, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Thomas started with the good news: "The company recommended you to the 'The Departed' production team, and Ali Emmanuel personally spoke with Martin Scorsese about it."

In this respect, WMA values ​​Martin highly, adding, "The company has invested a certain amount of personal connections in you."

Big talent agencies have their advantages, and Martin knew this well. He asked, "What was the production team's response?"

Thomas said, "The production team hasn't even started casting yet, but you've already passed the initial screening and gone straight to the second round of auditions." He specifically reminded him, "Scholes isn't your average director. Since you brought your own funding to the project, there are some procedures you can't avoid. You'll have to participate in the third round of auditions. If you don't get Scorsese's approval, it will be very difficult to get the role."

Martin already knew all this: "Don't worry, I've made ample preparations."

The negotiations between Pacific Pictures and Warner Bros. are nearing completion, and he can join the production with his own investment.

This is Martin Scorsese's project, so there are definitely competitors.

Thomas isn't worried about Martin's competitiveness, but rather about something else: "This is a high-stakes game that Scorsese takes very seriously. According to Ali's conversations with him, he has no hope of winning this year's Oscars. He's preparing to challenge for the Best Director Oscar again. Anyone who messes with this project will only become Martin Scorsese's enemy."

He cautioned, "It's not that competition is off-limits, but some low-level tactics can have negative consequences in such a high-level game. Scorsese has nearly forty years of experience in the industry; what hasn't he seen?"

Martin nodded: "My competitors are much more powerful than me. Even if I succeed temporarily by using underhanded tactics to sabotage someone, it will have a very bad impact later on. The benefits of the role may not outweigh the consequences."

"That's right." As Thomas spent more time with Martin, he became increasingly convinced that what happened at the wax museum and during the auditions and filming of the movie "The Jeans" was not a coincidence.

First, Adrian eliminated their biggest competitor, then Adrian went bankrupt in Australia, and the incident with the jeans crew couldn't possibly be a coincidence.

Who benefits from these things?

Thomas glanced at the closed office door, deliberately lowered his voice, and warned, "The wax museum and jeans incidents happened to those people, and the agencies could just give up on them without much trouble. After all, they weren't real stars. But when it happens to star actors, it's a completely different story. Stars involve interests from all sides, and those stakeholders will never let them off easily."

Martin, of course, understood all of this, and said, "Keep your heart in your chest; I never intended to go astray in this role."

Those underhanded tactics can't be used indiscriminately, he asked, "Who are the competitors now?"

Thomas shook his head: "We've inquired from various sources, but there's no news yet. So far, the production team has only confirmed Leonardo DiCaprio as an actor. The casting process for the other roles hasn't even started, so we have no way of finding out. But one thing is certain: Scorsese's films are never short of heavyweight star actors."

This matter needs to be addressed with Warner Bros. Martin should ask about another project: "You called me and said the company has a director willing to direct 'Wanted'?"

Thomas said, "Ali and Jim jointly released the statement, and several agents recommended their director clients."

He handed Martin several documents: "Pierre, a cinematographer with no prior experience directing. Michael Davis, a screenwriter-turned-director whose most recent film is 'Devil Truck'."

Martin looked through the documents carefully. He found the two directors to be completely unfamiliar; he had never heard of them in all the time he had been in Hollywood.

Thomas added, "There's another one, French director Louis Leterrier, whose previous film, Danny the Dog, was released in Europe in early February and received a rather lukewarm reception."

Martin had heard of this director's name before. After looking through his past work, he came across a film series called "The Transporter"!

The director of the first two films.

Martin carefully recalled the two movies, and it seemed that apart from Audi, only Jason Statham left an impression, and he couldn't remember the others.

The series consisted of three films, which solidified Statham's status as an action star. He seems to excel in action and coolness, which is a good fit for "Wanted".

Martin pondered again. He remembered that this guy had made other films, but he had never paid much attention to the directors when watching movies, unless they were top-tier Hollywood directors.

Without a doubt, this is a director who excels at shooting action movies.

Martin glanced at the EuropaCorp nameplate after "The Transporter" and asked, "Is Leterrier currently in Los Angeles?"

Thomas simply stated, "After completing 'Danny the Dog,' his focus shifted to Hollywood. He had already signed an agency contract with the company before filming 'Danny.'"

Martin glanced through Leterrier's file, picked up the phone from Thomas's desk, and dialed Aja's number.

A-Jia, who recently came to North America from France to work, should have some understanding of the situation.

Once the call connected, Martin briefly explained the situation.

Aja said directly: "You saw it when we were filming The Hills Have Eyes. I'm not very good at action scenes, but Leterrier is the opposite. He is relatively weak in storytelling, but he is very good at controlling and designing large-scale scenes. He focuses on visual enjoyment and cool visuals. He is recognized in the French film industry as a director who can handle action scenes and play with a cool style."

After finishing the call, Thomas said, "I think he's more suitable."

Martin needs a director with successful experience in this area, and Leterrier happens to be that.

He said, "Contact Leterrier's agent. If he's interested, have him come to the Wanted studio as soon as possible. Louise, the screenwriter, the action director, and I all need to meet with him."

Thomas pulled the phone back, dialed a senior broker's number, spoke in detail for a while, then covered the receiver and asked Martin, "When would be a good time?"

Martin said, "This afternoon or tomorrow morning is fine."

Thomas said into the phone, "This afternoon."

The reply came back: "Okay, I'll go to the studio with Louis at 2 PM."

Thomas hung up the phone: "It's all set, by 2 PM today."

Martin glanced at his watch and offered, "You can come with me then."

Although the law stipulates that agents cannot participate in the preparation, shooting and production of films, observing and understanding the entire process is very beneficial for agents. The top entertainment agents often leave the agency industry and become executives in the Big Six companies.

In Hollywood, agents are considered a downstream service industry.

Martin originally wanted to visit Ali Emmanuel, but the latter was out of town on business, and visiting another agent in front of Thomas would be a bit disrespectful, so he specifically called Ali to express his gratitude.

I'll visit Ali discreetly when he returns.

With a suitable director in mind, Martin was in high spirits. As he stepped out of his office, he found Bruce chatting animatedly with Thomas's assistant, Natasha.

He observed her closely and found that Natasha's figure wasn't particularly perky, just average.

The two went downstairs, and Martin asked, "Are you interested in Natasha?"

Bruce shook his head: "She's too peaceful, not my type." After someone came over, he waited for them to leave before explaining: "Natasha is Thomas's assistant and has a lot of information about him. I tested her out, and this woman is very ambitious. If we get on good terms with her, we'll have more information channels if Thomas wants to do anything special."

"Old Brooks, you're truly a professional!" Martin admired the scoundrel. "You're a real pro."

Bruce scoffed, "I said I'd protect your back, and I will."

In the afternoon, Martin called Louise, along with screenwriter Bradette and action director Chad Stahelski, to meet with French director Leterrier.

Both sides exchanged their understanding and ideas about action and cool scenes. Leterrier also read the first draft of the "Wanted" script and had a thorough discussion about the film's production.

It's impossible for the ideas and concepts to be completely identical, but the differences aren't significant, and finding common ground while reserving differences isn't difficult.

Both sides had the idea of ​​collaborating, and the experienced Louise immediately made the decision to appoint Leterrier as the film's director.

(End of this chapter)