America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 317 The Story of a Cow

Fans were stunned, and reporters frantically took photos.

At the front of the red carpet, Martin, Leonardo, and Nicholson led a docile old bull toward the theater.

Wearing sunglasses and grinning from ear to ear, Nicholson led the cow down the red carpet and presented it to his old director friend—a first for him, which he found incredibly amusing.

Leonardo glanced at Martin and thought to himself that only a bastard could come up with such an unconventional operation.

Martin walked at the front, leading the cow to the middle of the red carpet, waving to those around him.

The surrounding fans let out ear-piercing screams.

Reporters who were able to take photos on both sides of the red carpet seemed to have gone crazy, constantly pressing the camera shutter.

Leonardo said, "We're going to grab the headlines in the North American entertainment section."

"This is so interesting, we should do it a few more times." Nicholson stepped forward and snatched the reins from Martin's hand. "You've had your moment in the spotlight, it's my turn!"

Martin handed the reins to Nicholson and walked toward the gathering of the Coca-Cola cult members. He took a can of Coke from Bruce, who had followed him, opened it, and held it high in front of them.

Hundreds of people nearby raised their Coke cans and chanted in unison, "Cola Cult, Forever!"

Then someone else shouted, "The leader is mighty!"

Hundreds of people joined in chanting, "Our leader is mighty!"

Outside the Ryerson Theater, Warner Bros.' Daniel said to producer Graham, "See that? That's the leader of the Cola Cult."

Graham nodded slightly: "There are many supporters."

Daniel added, "For this film, we've done market research and forecasts, and Martin alone could add more than $500 million to the film's opening weekend box office."

Graham, who had read the relevant report, said: "In my personal opinion, among male stars born in the 80s, Martin has the strongest commercial appeal, or at least one of the strongest."

"Martin's value lies not only in his business appeal," Daniel reminded him. "Don't forget, he was the one who first proposed today's plan."

Graham, seeing the reporters who were behaving like mad bulls, said, "The breaking news has arrived."

Daniel laughed heartily.

Three scoundrels, leading a cow, swaggered through the streets, approaching the media area and the platform specially set up in front of the theater.

Al Pacino stroked his chin and said, "This isn't like Leonardo or Nicholson."

Robert De Niro said, "It's definitely Martin." He looked at Scorsese: "Get ready, your guys are bringing you cattle."

Scorsese straightened his tie and said, "Why not a cow?"

On the other side, Nicholson sped up slightly and led the bull to the opposite side of Scorsese.

A large number of reporters gathered around.

Nicholson said loudly, "A few days ago, you said you really enjoyed directing the cows, so the three of us went out overnight to buy the most obedient cow. Now, on behalf of the trio, I'm officially presenting you with a cow. You can now film with a cow from now on."

"I'll take it." Scorsese took the reins, hugged his old friend Nicholson, and then called to Martin and Leonardo: "Come over here, let's take a group photo."

Martin and Leonardo walked over, and the four of them stood together in front of the sponsor's backdrop, taking a photo with the old bull.

Scorsese later gave an interview, saying, "This gift is very precious. I will take it back to the United States, direct it, and show those three idiots what a good actor who follows the director's instructions really is."

After saying that, he laughed.

Martin and his two companions were also laughing happily around them.

Matt Damon, who had already entered the theater, saw this scene clearly through the glass window. He understood perfectly that from the beginning of filming in New York, he had been excluded from the core of the crew.

The so-called trio was also created by Martin Davis.

Matt Damon may not be part of that circle, but he has his own.

"Let's go," he said to the manager beside him. "Let's go into the theater and wait for the screening."

The manager followed and said, "I just spoke with Graham. The crew has some concerns about your absence from most of the promotional activities due to filming 'The Bourne Ultimatum,' but not a major one."

Matt Damon said, "I'm not the core." He then asked, "Have the production team and Warner Bros. decided to nominate Martin Davis for Best Supporting Actor?"

"Yes, it's confirmed." The manager said, sharing the information he had gathered: "It's said that to ensure his nomination, Leonardo gave up his bid for Best Actor for this film and chose a role in another film, 'Blood Diamond.'"

Matt Damon nodded. "I understand."

In the media area, reporters almost surrounded Martin and his two companions.

Martin also gave an interview, and the reporter specifically asked him about his collaboration with Scorsese.

"I experienced life in the Boston Police Department firsthand, which helped me a lot." He spoke entirely from a prepared script, without worrying about conflicting with other people's statements: "I really love this role. Before filming, director Scorsese told me, 'Just read the lines from the script, and feel free to improvise the rest.'"

Ten minutes later, with the assistance of the production team's publicity and public relations personnel, the main cast and crew broke through the encirclement of media reporters and headed towards the entrance of the Ryerson Theater.

"Moo—"

The sound of cows mooing came from behind.

Martin turned around, and the docile old bull still stood out in the crowd.

It stared longingly at the people walking away, mooing as if questioning why it had been abandoned.

Someone will come and take the cow away, and then it will be sent to the United States.

Scorsese has a ranch where raising a cow is easy.

The red carpet portion of the premiere was over, and many online media reporters immediately left the scene, found a temporary office nearby, and used their laptops and wireless network cards to go online and send out news and photos from the premiere as quickly as possible.

The news attracted widespread attention as soon as it went online.

Inside the theater lobby, the main cast and crew members came to the front row amidst applause; the theater, which can accommodate over a thousand people, was packed to capacity.

Guests, journalists, commentators, columnists, and overseas buyers gathered together, filling the first ten rows to capacity, occupying nearly half of the seats.

Ordinary movie fans made up the other half.

Before sitting down, Scorsese looked back. Years of directing had made it difficult for him to feel any excitement, but he still hoped that the film would have a good outcome.

Especially at the Oscars.

Scorsese is ambitious to abandon his award-winning biopics and return to his forte: gangster films.

Many people say they don't care about that Oscar statuette, but in this industry and in this environment, very few people truly don't care.

In Leonardo DiCaprio's words, once you have money, beautiful women, and a solid material foundation, you're bound to have other pursuits.

Martin sat between Nicholson and Leonardo, stretched his arms and legs a little, and took out his phone to check it.

There is an unread text message on my phone, sent by Robert.

"The ceremony has been completed, so you can rest assured."

Martin turned off the phone's sound and vibration and put it back in his pocket.

The ritual of seeking good fortune has been maintained for several years.

After each use, securing roles and film screenings always went smoothly, so Martin certainly wouldn't give up.

Leonardo suddenly whispered, "According to Warner Bros.' estimates, this film may become my highest-grossing film outside of Titanic."

Martin said, "I remember you're one of the investors. If you make enough profit, you should treat me to three days and three nights out."

Leonardo asked, "You also brought your own funding to the project, and it seems the funds are from Asia? Where's that investor today?"

Martin has learned that "Wu Maoting was able to enter the United States, but Canada refused him entry. Pacific Films and my studio are currently hosting him in Los Angeles."

Nicholson then looked at Martin and Leonardo, adopting the air of a boss: "The movie's about to start, so keep quiet. If this were my time, you guys would have just beaten your brother to death."

Martin didn't bother to reply and looked at the big screen.

This is a crude gangster film full of American street culture. Perhaps due to preconceived notions, even though he himself starred in it, Martin still thinks the Hong Kong version is better.

It's also possible that the Hong Kong version's clean and refreshing style gives people a sense of neatness, fashion, and even a philosophical, romantic, and poetic feeling full of Eastern connotations.

Scorsese's film is probably like the lives of ordinary Americans on the streets—vulgar, direct, and realistic.

From police officers to gangsters, everyone uses profanity daily.

The characters are unrestrained yet lazy.

The two films are completely different in terms of their presentation and genre.

The Hong Kong version is an elite police and gangster film.

This film, Infernal Affairs, is a street-style gangster movie.

The most prominent roles in the film are played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, but the true core character is Frank, played by Nicholson.

This guy is an absolute genius when it comes to acting.

It's just that people are old, have seen a lot, and have won enough Oscars, so they don't care anymore.

Otherwise, if the production team were to apply for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for him, Martin would definitely be sidelined based solely on his performance and the role.

Even so, Martin still outperformed Leonardo in their scenes together.

"I wouldn't say Martin completely outclasses Leo, but Leo pales in comparison," Robert De Niro said in a low voice to Al Pacino. "For so many years, Leo has still not solved his old problem."

El Pacino nodded: "Martin has good talent and his acting is smooth and skillful. Although he is not a super-talented actor like Nicholson, if he develops well in the future, he may not be worse than you or me."

Robert De Niro said, "This film is very interesting to make; it's the most entertaining film Scorsese has ever directed."

Al Pacino said, "It's very entertaining, and it might even help him set a personal box office record."

Like many art-house directors, Martin Scorsese's films generally don't gross at the box office, and he often has to rely on theatrical releases to make a profit.

As the film drew to a close, both main characters, as expected, met their demise.

The film ends when Dingonan shoots and kills Colin Sullivan.

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause.

(End of this chapter)