America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 365 Chaos Brings Fairness

At Warner Bros. Studios, Martin, wearing a long cloak, accompanied by Thomas, arrives at the Dark Knight Studios and enters a dressing room.

Thomas had already communicated with the production team.

An assistant from the production crew came over and said, "Please wait a moment, I will come and let you know before the audition begins."

Martin kept his head down and didn't speak.

Thomas replied, "Thank you."

Once the door was closed, Martin suddenly looked up and smiled at Thomas.

Thomas felt a chill and quickly turned around, sitting with his back to Martin.

These past few days, he's been having nightmares every night. There's a white-faced, red-mouthed monster that stuffs a huge bomb under his butt. When the bomb explodes, he's thrown into the sky and can't land no matter how hard he struggles until he wakes up in fright.

Bruce leaned against the wall, holding Martin's phone.

A text message notification suddenly sounded. He took it out, glanced at it, and said to Martin, "Robert's all set."

Martin chuckled: "My high priest has once again initiated the blessing ceremony."

Thomas didn't understand what he meant and looked at Bruce in surprise.

Bruce shook his head and said nothing more.

The fewer people who know about this tried-and-true method, the better.

Besides, Martin is already a bastard enough; he shouldn't become a cult leader or anything like that.

…………

In the audition room on the other side, many producers and director Nolan from the film crew gathered together.

Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody's audition with makeup just ended.

The acting was alright, but Nolan always seemed to be missing something; in short, the impression wasn't very good.

Emma Thomas said, "Thank you for your wonderful performance. We will let you know the audition results as soon as possible."

"Okay." Adrian said goodbye and left the audition room.

Nolan looked at Charles Rowan and Orlin, the latter of whom said, "I can't quite put my finger on it, but similar to Josh Brolin before, it feels like his performance is missing something."

Charles Rowan chimed in, "There's no such thing as a headlong rush, a reckless drive."

Emma Thomas stated directly, "They weren't well-prepared beforehand, so it's normal that their performance at the audition was mediocre."

Louise sat in the back row, offering no opinion, yet she knew that these people's minds had been somewhat affected.

Even a 10% psychological bias in the early stages can have several times the impact.

Emma Thomas said, "Bring Martin Davis over."

An assistant immediately went to inform them.

Not long after, the audition room door opened, and a person whose appearance and demeanor were somewhat unfamiliar walked in with an odd posture.

The moment Nolan turned to face the producer and director, his heart skipped a beat. He patted the cameraman, who had already turned on the camera.

Martin tilted his head forward, his snow-white face revealing a bright red scar on his lips that seemed to stretch all the way to his ears. He grinned, his expression unrestrained and arrogant.

He deliberately used his tongue to push up one corner of his mouth, making the scars on his face, created by makeup, protrude. Combined with his eerie smile, he appeared extremely crazy.

Nolan stared intently at the Joker in front of him, seeing no trace of Martin Davis, but feeling that this was the role he wanted.

Even though Martin Davis didn't say a single line.

Every glance, every subtle movement, every smile, every breath, and even the unseen yet perceptible aura he exudes is perfect, without the slightest excess.

Martin suddenly opened his suit jacket, pulled out a statue, and pressed his finger to the clown's mouth.

"Gentlemen, you are so wealthy," he said, pulling up his worn-out suit jacket. "Yet the people outside are extremely poor. It's so unfair!"

He walked in front of the camera, speaking with a forceful tone: "I've planted a bomb here, intending to cause a little disturbance. Do you see the statue in my hand? If I press it, this place will explode."

Martin laughed maniacally, a strange and unrestrained laugh: "Disrupting the existing order leads to chaos, and do you know the benefits of chaos? It brings fairness!"

He went on and on: "Now I'm counting to 10, and if anyone doesn't take their clothes off, there's no fair chance."

Nolan then said, "That's enough."

Martin was still counting: "One, two..."

His tone was strange, carrying a madman-like power. He stopped counting to eight, then smiled, a smile that was eerie and unsettling: "Sorry, I got too into character."

Nolan said, "Let's go outside and wait a while."

Martin didn't say anything more and staggered out of the audition room.

Orlin called out to Martin, "What's that in your hand?"

Martin casually tossed it to him, chuckling, and said, "This is the key to chaos. Press its mouth, and it'll explode."

Orlin was about to touch the mouth of the clown sculpture when he suddenly stopped.

For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether Martin was telling the truth or not.

He stared blankly at the statue, modeled after Martin's Joker, its lifelike form and exquisite craftsmanship resembling a fine work of art.

Martin continued walking, turning and twisting his way out of the audition room.

The door had barely closed when Nolan couldn't wait to give his opinion: "This is the Joker I wanted! Inconceivable, unrestrained, and utterly terrifying!"

Emma Thomas understood her husband's meaning and said directly, "I suggest casting Martin for the Joker. He auditioned better than the others and was more hardworking and dedicated."

Charles Rowan watched the audition video again and said, "My choice is Martin Davis."

Louise held up the magazine in her hand: "Martin Davis."

Orlin was still pondering the clown statue, wondering whether he should press it or not. His hand was beside him, the image of that evil, chaotic face flashing through his mind, and he hesitated to press it...

Louise prompted him, "Your choice?"

Orlin picked up the statue and pointed at it: "My choice is him."

Alan Horn, who had remained silent until now, nodded: "I agree."

With all the bigwigs in agreement, Charles Rowan bluntly announced, "I now announce the audition results: Martin Davis has passed the audition and won the role of the Joker."

He looked around: "Does anyone have any questions?"

"I have one." Orlin held up the clown statue in his hand: "Look at this thing, it looks a lot like the clown from before. Could we make it into merchandise?"

Nolan glanced at it, and as a filmmaking enthusiast, he had his own judgment: "The workmanship is quite good."

Charles Rowan glanced at it and said, "It seems like this thing has other uses besides being a decorative item."

Others may not know, but Louise knows all too well: "Many people in Hollywood who have worked with Martin have received similar souvenirs, such as the clown statue."

The casting director, who has almost no say in the matter, said, "I've seen this with many people in the industry."

Realizing the commercial value, Orlin immediately said, "Quickly negotiate with Martin to stop the giveaways for now. We'll add clauses to the actors' contracts to develop it as a movie merchandise item..."

This thing is different from the Joker in DC Comics, so there's no copyright infringement. He asked Lois, "Do you know who the sculptor is?"

Louise said, "Lily Carter, Martin Davis's neighbor's sister, is currently working as a temporary worker in the props department on set."

Orlin suggested, "Move her into the creative team and have her and her agent participate in the three-way negotiations."

Charles Rowan reached for the clown statue, but before his hand even touched the clown's head, Orlin turned around and offered the legs instead.

"Don't touch the statue's head." Orlin, still vividly remembering Martin's sinister expression, instinctively said, "If it explodes, we're all doomed."

Charles Rowan examined the clown statue, found a signature on the sole, and handed it to Louise: "We can come up with some targeted marketing strategies for this; maybe we can turn it into a blockbuster product."

Louise chimed in to Martin, "High-end handcrafted merchandise, like Darth Vader's high-end handcrafted merchandise?"

In Hollywood film history, the best-selling movie merchandise featuring a portrait figurine is undoubtedly the Black Lord.

Charles Roven said, "That depends on how influential the film and the character are."

The Nolans were very confident.

After a brief discussion, Charles Rowan said, "I'll go and inform Martin Davis and his agent."

After today's audition, Nolan's attitude completely changed: "No matter the conditions, I only want Martin Davis!"

Charles Roven considered this: "He already has four films that have grossed over $100 million in North America, so his salary can't be less than $13 million."

Orlin was stating a fact: "The initial investment in the film was too high, and the excessively high production budget further amplified the investment risk."

Nolan cautioned, "To achieve the desired results, the budget for filming and post-production cannot be cut."

Alan Horn casually suggested, "Let's add a portion of the upfront salary to a reasonable share of the profits later, to reduce the risk of upfront investment."

Charles Roven also felt that using such terms in sequels would cause investors to suffer losses in the later stages of the project.

But Martin Davis's box office appeal, in addition to his audition, is also something they want.

These investors' representatives practically want star actors to act for a minimum salary.

After a brief discussion, all the auditions for the day were completed. Charles Rowan was the first to leave the audition room and had someone call Martin and Thomas to inform them that Martin had won the role of the Joker.

In the dressing room, Martin, having removed his makeup, laughed heartily upon hearing Thomas's report of the audition results, saying, "See? As long as the audition was fair and just, we were the final winners!"

Bruce thought to himself, "This audition was so damn fair and just."

Thomas was in high spirits and said, "How wonderful it would be if every audition were this fair and just from now on."

"The audition results are in," Martin sneered. "Now it's your turn to fight for fair and just treatment for me."

Thomas said, "Leave it to me."

The three of them left the dressing room and arrived at the studio's front hall, where Louise was waiting for them.

After going to a nearby ice cream shop, Louise gave a general account of the clown sculpture.

Martin was not surprised, because using sculptures as props was something he had done intentionally.

As for the specifics of the collaboration, we'll discuss that with the production team and Warner Bros.

(End of this chapter)