America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 263 A complete and utter defeat

With director Danny Boyle in place, the project officially entered the preparation stage. Warner Bros., after going through the usual procedures, also gave the green light to continue investing and acting as the film's distributor.

The studio for "Limitless" was quickly established, with investment primarily coming from Sofia and Vincent's Beast House Entertainment, Gray Pictures, Pacific Pictures, and Davis Studios.

The disclosed cost was $3600 million.

Then, on the third weekend of November, "Wanted" lost its top spot at the North American box office, which was taken by the new Harry Potter film.

Martin also attended the film's premiere and took a photo with J.K. Rowling, who had not yet been expelled from Kazakhstan.

As for the three infamous ingrates, they're still just little kids.

This weekend, The Wanted earned another $1455 million in North America, bringing its total North American box office to $1.41 million.

It has also appeared in more countries and regions overseas, and its global box office has exceeded $2.5 million.

With this powerful commercial influence, Thomas, representing Martin, held multiple rounds of negotiations with the Neverending production team and finalized Martin's salary.

Martin's salary was divided into two parts, with the production team paying him $500 million upfront.

Celebrities maintain a high quality of life, which involves considerable expenses.

Furthermore, Martin also needs a certain amount of funds to continue buying Apple's scattered shares on the market.

He plans to hold shares in this company long-term.

The remaining $300 million, plus Martin's initial investment in "Limitless," totaling $600 million in investment by Davis Studios, is included in the production costs of "Limitless" and entitles them to the actual return on their investment.

In Davis's studio office, Martin carefully reviewed the draft contract, including even the insurance terms and additional clauses.

The latter mainly refers to the various services provided to Martin by the crew during filming. For example, Bruce had to serve as the crew's prop master. When filming outside of California, he needed five-star luxury suites and business class tickets, as well as the type and class of the vehicles provided.

This time, an additional clause was added: the production crew would have to cover the cost of the two bodyguards.

After reviewing the contract, Martin asked Thomas, "I thought my salary would be $1000 million."

Thomas knew Martin would have this question and was prepared, explaining, "If 'Wanted' were a movie like 'The Hills Have Eyes,' where the male lead carries the entire film, I could get you a $1000 million salary this time, but it's not."

Martin asked, "Because Julie and I carried this film?"

Thomas nodded: "Yes, Wanted is your and Julie's movie. The leading lady's appeal is also key. The two of you carried the film and shared the profits, unlike The Hills Have Eyes, which belonged entirely to you."

He gave an example: "When Will Smith filmed Independence Day, he was paid $500 million. Even though the film was a huge success, he was still paid $500 million for Men in Black. This is because the biggest selling point of Independence Day was the special effects, and it was an ensemble film with a lot of screen time."

Martin nodded; this was normal.

Thomas added, "Men in Black was also a huge success, but Smith's salary for his next film only increased by $200 million because Tommy Lee Jones was also a key actor in Men in Black."

Martin, who knew Will Smith somewhat, asked, "So, 'Enemy of the State' was the key to Smith's skyrocketing salary?"

"His previous films were also important, allowing Will Smith to build his initial career," Thomas said. "Enemy of the State really propelled Will Smith's salary to over ten million. Although the film's box office was far lower than Independence Day and Men in Black, it was a film that Smith carried single-handedly. Others, such as Johnny Walter and Gene Hackman, were completely supporting Smith."

Martin understood that monoclonal antibodies and dual protagonists were completely different things.

No one can ignore the crucial role Angelina Jolie played in the success of "Wanted".

Thomas added, "If 'Limitless' grosses over $100 million in North America again, I can offer you a minimum of $12 million or even more for your next commercial film, including post-production revenue sharing."

This involves more complex calculation methods, such as agreements between the lead actors and the production company regarding the film's net profit sharing, and profit sharing after the film breaks even.

The latter is a contractual agreement between the two parties, such as the lead actor having the right to a share of the box office or profits generated after a film reaches $2 million at the North American box office.

There are just so many ways to play with it.

Fortunately, given Martin's development model, he will definitely be involved in the film projects he stars in as one of the producers in the future.

The script for "Limitless" is still being adapted, but the main characters have been largely finalized. Martin Scorsese's Eddie is the undisputed protagonist, while the second most important character is the female lead.

In addition, a veteran actor will be needed to play a Wall Street tycoon.

Martin called Nicholson. Compared to Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, who were considered the four great actors of their time, the old bastard was more selective in his film choices. He didn't want to ruin the reputation of an actor that he had built up over decades for a few million dollars, since he didn't lack money.

For ordinary roles, just post an announcement to recruit actors; Los Angeles has no shortage of actors.

As for the leading actresses, including Louise and Boyle, they tend to choose established actresses.

The biggest advantage is that female celebrities can easily generate buzz and promote their products/services.

Newcomers can't compare in this respect.

The male lead, played by Martin, is older than his actual age.

For the female lead, someone in their thirties would be most suitable.

The character settings have been basically finalized, and the relevant recruitment notices for the production team have been posted on the internal platforms of the Screen Actors Guild and WMA.

…………

Century City, the newly completed Death Star Building.

Aniston's agent, Steve, was busy in his private office when he suddenly received a call from a friend at WMA who wanted to switch to CAA.

"Dude, didn't you tell me to keep an eye on Martin Davis and his new project?" the person on the other end said quickly. "The company's internal platform just posted an announcement that Martin's new project, 'Limitless,' is casting actors, including the female lead, who must be an established actress."

Steve made a mental note of it and said, "Thanks for the call. I'll treat you to coffee sometime."

After hanging up the phone, he considered for a moment, then dialed Aniston's number and explained the situation in detail.

In a small villa in the Coty neighborhood, Aniston said into the phone, "I understand, I'll think about it."

After hanging up the phone, Aniston glanced at the coffee table in front of her, where a newspaper sat—"American Rumors," a typical gossip magazine.

Normally, Aniston wouldn't care about the reports above.

But today is different.

Right on the front page, her image stood opposite Jolie's, and the headline featured both of them.

"Angelina Jolie has once again triumphed over Jennifer Aniston!"

The article begins by comparing the two actresses in two films, "Wanted" and "Breakthrough".

The stark contrast in figures is striking: $1.41 million and $2181 million.

The former belongs to Julie, the latter to her.

Comparisons beyond box office figures are even more egregious.

"In May, Aniston lost her marriage battle to Jolie. Now, in the box office battle between their two films, Aniston is still losing miserably!"

"Can we conclude from this that Aniston is far inferior to Jolie in terms of personal charm, acting skills, and star power?"

Aniston has plenty of resources and doesn't usually care much about short-term gains or losses, but being frequently compared to Jolie makes her extremely annoyed.

It's one thing for Jolie to steal the spotlight, but to steal her husband and then flaunt it is something Aniston can't tolerate any longer.

What methods should we use to retaliate?

Aniston had considered this beforehand, so making a decision wasn't difficult. She simply sat silently for a few minutes before calling her agent back: "Steve, submit my information to the 'Limitless' production team and tell them I'm interested in playing the lead role."

Steve gave a heads-up beforehand: "Your salary might not be high, considering your last movie didn't do very well at the box office."

Aniston certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to work for free: "At least $500 million is acceptable."

Steve said, "I'm going to Warner Bros. Studios right now, to see Louise Mayer at Pacific Films."

Aniston said directly, "Get this role done as soon as possible."

Steve hung up the phone, immediately left CAA, rushed to Burbank, submitted Aniston's information to the Never Ending crew, and met with producer Louise Mayer.

…………

The Weinstein Company's Los Angeles office.

Brad Pitt, a new member of the Foot Clan, was specially invited by Harvey Weinstein for a meeting.

"I'm preparing to launch a project." Harvey actually takes good care of actors who lean towards him, so he has a large number of supporters in the industry: "The film is a biographical drama, and the male lead is very suitable for you."

Upon hearing this, Brad Pitt immediately thought of the Oscars, and he has been arguably the biggest Oscar promoter of the last decade.

He hasn't given up on the Oscars yet, asking, "Whose biography specifically?"

Harvey handed Pete a large children's book: "Have you read it? It's about it."

Pete noticed the book in his hand was titled "Peter Rabbit" and asked, "A biopic about Miss Potter? She was a woman."

When Harvey got the project, he had some ideas, especially considering the pre-release publicity and hype surrounding Martin and Jolie for The Wanted, which led to a bold idea.

"I told you, you're playing the male lead," Harvey said.

Pete immediately asked, "Who are you planning to cast as the female lead?"

Harvey said an unsurprising name: "How about Jennifer Aniston? She'll play Miss Potter, and you'll play the male lead. You'll co-star in the same movie."

If that happens, the public outcry will absolutely explode!

Pete thought for a moment: "I have no objection. Can you get Jane?"

Harvey thought the plan had potential: "We should give it a try." He looked at Pete: "You can help persuade them too."

After being dumped by Jolie, Pitt realized how good Aniston was and nodded in agreement, "I'll give it a try."

(End of this chapter)