America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 477 Recovery and Discharge

Riding the wave of public attention sparked by the dock incident, Martin almost swept the Best Supporting Actor awards at every major and minor awards season.

From the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle Awards to the People's Choice Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, all the Best Supporting Actor trophies have fallen into Martin Scorsese's pocket.

Although Martin Scorsese did not attend the Golden Globe Awards held in mid-January, Thomas, who accepted the award on his behalf, still took home the Best Supporting Actor award in a Motion Picture category.

Martin recorded a video specifically to express his gratitude. In the video, he was doing rehabilitation exercises for his arms and legs. In addition to thanking his award recipients, he also reassured his supporters that he would be discharged from the hospital soon.

The Dark Knight is the most likely film to win an Oscar, and Martin Scorsese is also the one for Best Supporting Actor.

Riding on the craze sparked by Martin, The Dark Knight DVDs continued to sell well, with sales in North America alone exceeding $3 million.

In addition, the film is still showing in overseas markets, where it has grossed over $5.5 million.

The Dark Knight has grossed $11.62 billion worldwide, surpassing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's Ark's $11.47 billion to become the second highest-grossing film of all time, second only to Titanic.

"Great news!" Thomas said as he entered the room to deliver the Ballon d'Or trophy to Martin.

Martin, who was riding a stationary bike, got off, took the towel Bruce threw to him, and said, "Did Warner Bros. pay me my share of the North American box office for The Dark Knight in advance?"

Thomas said, "We'll have to wait a few more months for the box office revenue sharing."

He placed the Golden Globe trophy on the table: "The endorsement fees for Nokia and Coca-Cola have all been deposited into the company account and will be transferred to you in the next few days."

Martin's endorsement fee with Coca-Cola was only $1000 million a year, but he received a share of the sales of commemorative Coca-Cola bottles that used his image.

Based on the normal sales performance of the commemorative Coca-Cola, his annual commission would not be less than his endorsement fee.

Martin picked up the Globe of Champions trophy, examined it closely, and said, "This is my first major award."

Bruce asked, "Don't you have the Saturn Award?"

Martin said, "The Saturn Award still doesn't compare to the Golden Globe Award."

Thomas interjected, "Indeed, while the Golden Globes are a separate category and not a true indicator of the Oscars like the Confederation Awards, their media influence far surpasses that of the Saturn Awards."

Martin put down the trophy and said, "Looks like I'll have to build a special hall of honor."

"It's absolutely necessary," Thomas said. "The golden key to honorary citizenship of Los Angeles, and next, Los Angeles will most likely establish Martin Davis Day, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Saturn Award, the Golden Globe Awards, and the Oscars..."

Martin interrupted him: "The nominations haven't been announced yet, and we're definitely not going to pop champagne halfway through."

Thomas touched his bald head: "I misspoke."

He asked Martin, "When will you be discharged?"

Martin had a plan: "After the Oscar nomination luncheon, we'll try to generate another wave of buzz."

The following day, Bradt visited him again and brought good news: with the strong support of the LAPD, the Los Angeles City Council had approved a resolution to establish "Martin Day" and planned to hold a joint press conference on a later date after Martin recovered and was discharged from the hospital.

After discussing it, Martin and Thomas decided to hold the event at the end of January, when the Oscar voting was at its most crucial point.

This past weekend, the Oscar nominees luncheon was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where the nominations for this year's Oscars were announced, and Martin Scorsese's name unsurprisingly appeared on the list of nominees for Best Supporting Actor.

His competitors are Philip Hoffman, Josh Brolin, and Robert Downey Jr.

Faced with declining Oscar viewership every year, the Academy made significant adjustments this year, appointing Hugh Jackman as the host of the awards ceremony.

Three days after the Oscar nominations were announced, Martin was preparing to be discharged from the hospital.

Three brand-new Cadillacs were parked in front of the ward building. Bruce and Thomas had already packed their luggage, while Martin and Elizabeth, carrying a bag, came out of the ward and shook hands with his attending physician.

"Thank you," Martin said sincerely.

The doctor smiled and said, "This is my job."

Martin reached out and took the two boxes Elizabeth offered, handing them to the doctor: "A small gift."

The doctor discovered it was a hand-carved version of a Coca-Cola cult clown, extremely rare and expensive on the market, and immediately exclaimed, "It's too valuable!"

Martin pointed to Lily on the other side: "She carved it by hand; it only takes a little time."

The doctor accepted it.

Martin went to the nurses' station to thank the nurses who had served him, and presented them with the same gifts before going downstairs.

"He's such a nice person."

"He never acts like a big star. Even when we do something wrong, he doesn't say anything."

"So much better than other Hollywood stars!"

Downstairs, Martin got into the car and told Bruce to drive off.

As soon as the three Cadillacs left the hospital, they were blocked by a swarm of reporters and fans.

Martin also saw several live-streaming cameras set up on the other side.

The flashes from the reporters' cameras made it hard for Bruce, who was driving, to keep his eyes open.

Many fans, holding bouquets of flowers, shouted, "Martin! Martin!"

He hasn't appeared in public for so long that his fans are eager to know how he is doing.

Young people wearing red T-shirts completely blocked the road to the main entrance of the medical center.

Martin knew very well that not showing up was definitely not an option, but getting out of the car might cause even bigger problems.

Fortunately, we were prepared.

Martin patted the front seat, and Bruce opened the Cadillac's sunroof.

The shouts of the fans came in immediately, deafeningly loud.

Martin climbed out of the sunroof and waved in all directions.

Then he took out an electronic megaphone and shouted, "Hello everyone, I'm Martin, and I'm fully recovered."

At this point, he even flexed his arms to show off his muscles: "My arms and legs are perfectly fine. Thank you all for your concern. I'll be back at work soon!"

The fans chanted even more wildly, "Martin! Martin..."

Another group of people were shouting at the top of their lungs: "Martin, the eternal Coca-Cola God of War!"

"Thank you! Thank you all for your kindness!" Martin raised the megaphone again: "I haven't been home for a long time. Could you please let me go home and see my family? I'm worried that my relatives might be homeless. If any of my relatives are indeed homeless, I will let you know, and you must come and help me..."

A burst of laughter erupted at the hospital entrance, and led by some fans, the crowd began to part to both sides, gradually making way for the vehicles.

The reporters stuck in traffic were also slightly dispersed by hospital security.

A reporter asked loudly, "Martin, when will you be available for an interview?"

Martin shouted, "There will be a press conference very soon!"

LAPD personnel arrived just in time and maintained order at the scene. Bruce drove his Cadillac through the crowd at a snail's pace.

As I approached the outermost edge of the crowd, a dozen or so girls dressed in white wedding gowns suddenly jumped out, holding up signs that read "I love Martin."

Led by Toni and Elsa, the girls blocked the car's path again, swaying their hips and shouting, "I love Martin! I love Martin!"

Martin had no choice but to climb out of the sunroof again: "I love you all too!"

"yeah!"

Toni and the others blew kisses to Martin and then made way for him.

Martin got back into the car and had Bruce close the sunroof.

Elizabeth, standing nearby, remarked, "I'm only now realizing how tiring it is to be a celebrity!"

"It's alright," Martin said with a smile. "Compared to my original job, this is much easier."

No matter how tiring it is, it's nothing compared to when I was struggling at the bottom of society. Back then, it was tough, tiring, and I earned very little.

The three Cadillacs drove further and further away.

"Martin loves me!" Toni felt her heart flutter, and asked, "But why doesn't he call me? Last time in New York, I waited for him for a long time."

Elsa said, "They didn't even give me a call."

Toni asked the others, "Did any of you get a call from Martin? We promised each other we'd never betray our sisters!"

"No!"

"I don't have any either."

The other girls all said they had not received any calls from Martin.

"Waiting passively isn't the solution; we need to take the initiative." Toni looked at Elsa and asked, "Martin moved to the North Side of Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills. I remember your uncle works in that neighborhood; could you let us in?"

Elsa glanced at her group of sisters and quickly shook her head: "There's nothing we can do, there are just too many of us."

Once the other sisters had walked away, Elsa lowered her voice and said to Toni, "A lot of people make us a bigger target and easily attract attention."

Toni understood: "What if it's just the two of us?"

"It's still very difficult." Elsa had asked her uncle about the situation there: "The community is full of celebrities, socialites, and the wealthy. The management is very strict. If a stranger goes in, they will be discovered very quickly."

Toni scratched her blonde hair anxiously: "What should we do?"

Elsa shrugged: "I haven't thought of anything yet."

Toni, being the leader of this group, wasn't entirely stupid. She quickly came up with a plan and said, "What if we both became employees working in that community?"

Elsa paused for a moment, then said, "That's a great idea! I'll ask my uncle if they're hiring. He's in charge of some personnel work."

Toni said, "Go back and ask quickly, but don't tell anyone else."

Elsa nodded repeatedly: "I know."

The eldest and second eldest members of the sisterhood were the first to betray their own sisters.

On this day, the news of Martin's discharge from the hospital and return home once again dominated the entertainment sections of major media outlets, becoming a hot headline.

It immediately topped the Google trending search list that day.

TMZ's live broadcast van even followed Martin all the way to the entrance of the North Side of Sunset Boulevard.

The following morning, major media outlets received news that Los Angeles City Hall was going to hold a press conference with Martin to announce a major announcement.

Robert Downey Jr. and Philip Hoffman, both nominated for Best Supporting Actor, both swore at home.

It's not that we've never seen public relations and marketing before; after all, Harvey Weinstein has already brought Oscar public relations and marketing down to earth. But we've never seen cheating using such sophisticated methods.

(End of this chapter)