America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 361 Kicked Out of the List

Inside a Legendary Pictures meeting room, a group of film producers, including Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, are holding a meeting to discuss their next priorities.

Howard, a representative of the Firefighters Fund Insurance Company and an integral part of the Hollywood film industry, as well as every film crew, also attended the meeting.

This company acted as a completion guarantee for the film crew.

Hollywood's ability to attract investors from all over the world is largely due to its completion guarantee system. Insurance companies provide insurance to investors, guaranteeing that the film can be completed. In the event of an accident on set, the insurance company may even have the right to take over the crew and recruit people to complete the filming and production.

If the production fails, the insurance company will suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, during the early preparation stage of the production team, the guarantor will eliminate all unfavorable factors.

The tasks were discussed one by one, and Howard did not interrupt. His goal in ensuring the completion of the film was for the smooth operation of the crew, not to interfere with the work.

Charles Roven, who was chairing the meeting, quickly brought up a crucial aspect of the film: the audition for the Joker.

"The film is similar to the showdown between two heroes in Heat, and the Joker character is crucial," Charles Roven said, standing at the head of the conference table. "Several actors have passed our initial selection."

He introduced them one by one: "Martin Davis, one of the most popular young actors in recent years, with extremely strong commercial appeal; Robin Williams, an Oscar winner, who can handle a variety of roles; Adrien Brody, the Oscar winner for Best Actor a few years ago; Heath Ledger, a representative of acting talent among young actors, with ten years of experience in the industry..."

One by one, the actors who passed the initial selection appeared on the projection screen.

Charles Rowan said, "The production team will send audition invitations to these actors."

Nolan added, "We'll make a decision on the specific results after the on-screen audition with makeup."

Warner Bros. and DC Comics support Nolan.

Another producer questioned, "Heath Ledger isn't really suitable, he..."

"Heath Ledger is a good actor." Warner Bros.' Alan Horn interrupted him directly: "His melancholic temperament is very suitable for the role. Life and work in Hollywood have always been separate. As long as the role is good enough and the movie is well made, the little things in private life don't matter."

Louise didn't speak, but glanced at her watch. She had just received a text message with only a few words.

"nailed it."

She already knew that Martin, that bastard, planned to take out his most threatening opponent before going into the boxing ring for a duel.

In the lounge next to the conference room, Howard's assistant Phil received a call from someone claiming to be an employee of the Firefighters Foundation.

The other party told him on the phone to watch TMZ immediately, as it was crucial to the success or failure of the company's collaboration with Warner.

Phil opened his laptop, connected to the network cable, logged into the TMZ website, and saw the news and videos pinned to the top of the homepage.

After quickly reviewing the document and confirming its significant relevance to the company's projects, he hurried out of the lounge and gently knocked on the conference room door.

Company policy dictates that in similar situations, the relevant person in charge must be notified immediately.

The meeting room door opened, temporarily suspending the interrupted meeting.

Phil apologized, quickly went to Howard's side, and whispered, "Something's happened. It's about the casting for the film, with TMZ..."

He gave a quick and concise explanation.

Howard nodded, gesturing for him to find a place to sit. He straightened his tie, rested his arms on the conference table, and said, "There's been a slight issue. I suggest we temporarily suspend the meeting and take a look at the report on TMZ."

He hadn't seen the relevant reports and wouldn't easily comment, simply stating, "It's directly related to the crew's future work."

Charles Rowan said to an assistant, "Project it onto the screen."

The assistant immediately took the necessary steps, and TMZ's website homepage quickly appeared on the screen.

Everyone in the meeting room saw Heath Ledger's name.

Alan Horn frowned slightly, sensing something was wrong.

Nolan seemed lost in thought.

Emma Thomas immediately recalled the scumbag things Heath Ledger had done before.

The success or failure of this film is crucial to the couple's careers.

Once you fail, there may be no chance of recovery.

Charles Rowan said, "Open it."

The news opened, and three videos played one after another, all featuring only one person: Heath Ledger!

The most recent video was filmed today.

The conference room was filled with Hollywood professionals who were very familiar with certain things and understood what was happening at a glance.

Howard's job is to manage risk. He was considering the situation while watching the video, and after the video finished playing, he said directly: "Heath Ledger once endangered the lives of others on a set in Brooklyn, New York, due to his personal behavior. I didn't object before because I thought he had reformed, but now it seems that the situation is not optimistic."

He concluded: "From the perspective of crew safety, I have reason to suspect that Heath Ledger could endanger the safety of other actors. If the crew uses Heath Ledger, it will jeopardize the filming and completion of the movie."

Charles Rowan looked at Alan Horn, who worked at the same company, and hoped that Alan wouldn't do anything foolish.

Alan Horn didn't say anything more, as if it had nothing to do with him.

As an aside, at Bell's request, Alan Horn is fine with it, but he's absolutely unwilling to take on too much risk for it.

Charles Roven exchanged a glance with DC Comics editor-in-chief Orlin and quickly reached an agreement, saying, "Cancel Heath Ledger's audition invitation; he's not a good fit for this project."

Emma Thomas immediately chimed in, saying, "I agree."

Nolan remained silent. Bell had made assurances to him, but those assurances were clearly unreliable.

No one present objected, and Heath Ledger was removed from the audition list for the film.

At the end of the meeting, Howard spoke briefly with Charles Rowan alone.

"The production team didn't handle this matter properly," Charles Rowan stated, offering the appropriate response: "I guarantee that nothing like this will happen again."

Howard cautioned, "Charles, we've worked together many times, but this time the budget is too high—$1.8 million in production costs. If something goes wrong along the way, even just replacing the actors will result in losses of tens of millions of dollars. We'll both be finished then."

Charles said, "Don't worry, the production team will definitely choose the most suitable actors."

Howard truly felt the pressure this time: "I hope the actors chosen by the production team are not only excellent actors, but also, ideally, not too bad in terms of dedication and professional ethics."

Charles agreed.

Howard then left Legendary Pictures and, upon returning to the company, immediately communicated the matter with his superiors, proposing to temporarily blacklist Heath Ledger from the Firefighters Fund Insurance Company.

This insurance company provides completion guarantees for nearly 80% of Hollywood film projects!

…………

The news that Heath Ledger had not received an audition invitation for the film reached Martin immediately.

In his suite at the Four Seasons Hotel, Martin put down his phone, picked up a glass of wine, and poured it into his mouth in one gulp. The wine flowed down the corner of his mouth, bright red like blood.

A playing card fell from his hand.

Martin had poked several holes in the playing cards with his fingernails, and they lay on the carpet. The holes, reflected in the white playing cards, made the dark carpet stand out like the face of a devil.

The crimson liquid trickled down Martin's lips.

Tick-tock! Tick-tock—

It landed on the devil's face, staining it a gaping, blood-red mouth.

Bruce suddenly took a step back, thinking to himself, "This bastard's head isn't filled with dog shit, it's filled with human blood."

"Ha..." Martin casually wiped away the wine stains, parting his blood-red lips: "Old Brooks, we've achieved our first objective—we've cleanly and honorably eliminated our biggest threat!"

Bruce couldn't help but say, "We're so damn upright, it's like justice has been handed to us."

Martin laughed heartily and unrestrainedly, throwing away everything that had been weighing him down. He said, "We didn't do anything, just gave them a little push from behind."

Bruce said, "That's right. If Heath Ledger hadn't had serious problems, how could he have been kicked off the audition list?"

"But this result makes me especially happy." Martin stood up, gesturing excitedly: "This heartfelt joy is something I've never experienced before."

Hearing this, Bruce suddenly stopped smiling and tentatively asked, "You won't get too caught up in the role and actually become a psychopath, will you?"

Martin laughed heartily: "How could that be? I'm just enjoying it all. This feeling of truly letting go of all burdens, of complete relaxation, both mentally and physically, is absolutely wonderful."

Bruce's phone rang, and he answered it. It was Thomas calling.

The two chatted for a while, discussing the details of the film project.

Bruce hung up the phone and quickly said, "David Fincher personally called Thomas and said that the auditions for 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' won't be until the second half of the year. He hopes you can wait for the production team for a while and then go to the audition."

Martin replied, "No problem."

Having recently loosened up, some things just naturally came out: "Tell that production crew that I don't like Cate Blanchett."

Recent news indicates that the production team of "Benjamin Button" wants to invite Cate Blanchett to audition for the lead role.

Bruce made a note of it and would then inform Thomas. As for the wording, that was Thomas's responsibility.

He added, "Rory's first kiss has been renamed, officially titled 'The Dark Knight,' and you'll be auditioning for the Joker in three weeks. The production team has extended a formal invitation to you."

"Very good," Martin said. "Find a stylist and costume designer as I requested, the absolutely reliable kind."

Bruce replied, "Thomas is looking for him."

Martin said, "Time flies. It's time to move on to the next plan. Remember to remind that idiot Leo next week."

Bruce understood what was going on: "Did the entire crew see your hard work?"

(End of this chapter)