America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 515 The Martian

The White House, banquet hall.

The girls, dressed in their finest attire, gathered together and chatted about topics that interested them. Elizabeth shared some interesting anecdotes from Hollywood film sets, which caught the attention of Obama's eldest daughter, Maria. The two quickly began a lively discussion on the topic.

Meanwhile, Chief of Staff Ram whispered a few words in Guan Hai's ear.

Guan Hai nodded slightly: "I'll go talk to Martin for a while."

Although he just took office at the beginning of the year, Obama's team is already preparing for his next term.

The Coca-Cola Cult, with its broad popular base, is a force that cannot be ignored.

Obama spoke with several of Coca-Cola's major shareholders and executives, and they all acknowledged that even the Coca-Cola Group's influence over the Coca-Cola Cult is far less than that of its leader, Martin.

Coca-Cola's decision to hire Martin as its lifetime spokesperson reflects its own urgent need for such a brand.

When Martin saw Obama approaching, he turned around and greeted him, "Mr. President."

Guan Hai smiled and said, "We're old friends, just call me Barack."

People around automatically parted a little, including Spielberg, who had been talking to Martin about movies earlier.

Guan Hai and Martin were chatting.

Those around him were not without envy; the influence of this Hollywood star far exceeded that of the movies themselves.

Nineteen-year-old Sasha Spielberg arrived at her father's side, somewhat resentful: "Martin Davis has only been famous for a few years, why is he receiving such a warm welcome!"

Spielberg, ever the clear-headed man, pointed to the large insignia on Martin's body: "First, he earned it with his life; second, he has a cult of tens of millions of members behind him, and he is the cult leader. Although the organizational structure is very loose, his influence cannot be ignored."

Sasha still couldn't quite understand.

Spielberg turned to look at Elizabeth Olsen, who was chatting with Maria. She was only a year older than Sasha, but she was much more mature.

Sasha was too well protected by the couple.

Spielberg believes that Martin would have a much stronger foundation if he were to enter politics, compared to George Clooney, who has been actively seeking a political career.

The luncheon didn't last too long; before 1:30 p.m., the guests said their goodbyes and left.

As Martin left, Benjamin escorted him to the parking lot and whispered, "Master, the brothers who didn't get a photo with you yesterday were all very happy to receive your autographed picture and asked me to express their gratitude to you."

Elizabeth thought to herself, "Martin's followers have even spread to the White House."

Martin nodded: "The Church of Cola is holding a few events in Washington soon, and I'll have someone send you invitations."

Benjamin was delighted: "Okay."

The work of the special operations team is actually quite tedious, but the Coca-Cola cult can bring a lot of fun.

Martin got into the car and told Old Brooks to drive back to the hotel.

Once the car had left the White House, Elizabeth said, "I spoke with Malia, and she's very interested in joining a major Hollywood production for a summer internship."

Martin thought for a moment and said, "Nolan's crew will be moving to Los Angeles and Canada to film in a while. I've spoken to Nolan and Warner Bros. and asked her to join the crew for practical experience."

Elizabeth said, "That's fine. I'll bring a few people of similar age to the set to have some fun."

Martin sincerely praised, "Liz, you did a fantastic job!"

Elizabeth hugged his arm: "Actually, I learned it all from my sisters. They are much better than me. I'd be lucky if I could learn even half of what they have."

Martin kissed her on the cheek.

Lily, sitting in the passenger seat, couldn't take it anymore and said, "I ate a lot at noon. If you keep feeding me dog food, I'm going to throw up."

Martin asked, "Should I let you out of the car?"

"You've taken a lot of photos?" Elizabeth changed the subject, leaning on the passenger seat and asking Lily, "Let's take a look together when we get back, and choose materials for your creative work."

Lily just laughed happily.

In the White House lounge, Michelle listened to what Malia had said, considered it carefully for a while, and then found her husband.

While her husband was resting, she quietly went over and brought up this family matter.

"Martin Davis's girlfriend, Elizabeth?" Obama asked after hearing his wife's description. "Christopher Nolan's film crew?"

Michelle said, "It's a Warner Bros. project; Nolan is the director who made The Dark Knight."

Obama knew a few days ago that his eldest daughter wanted to participate in a summer internship on a film set. He casually mentioned it to his chief of staff, Ram, since his brother Ali is one of Hollywood's top entertainment agents.

A top Hollywood production team, A-list directors, and A-list stars—it's definitely a good fit.

Guan Hai called Ram, and after hanging up, said, "If Maria is interested, let her go."

Michelle said, "She'll be so happy to know you agreed."

Obama was in a good mood today and said, "Martin Davis, that guy, is quite sensible, he's interesting."

Michelle nodded, left to find her daughter, and took the opportunity to call Elizabeth Olsen to discuss her daughter joining the film crew after arriving in Los Angeles.

…………

In her hotel room, Elizabeth put down the phone and said, "It's all taken care of."

Martin contacted Nolan again after he returned, gently tapping her cheek: "You've worked hard."

Elizabeth asked, "Are you going back to Africa next?"

Martin replied, "Let's go back to filming. Nolan said he can't do without me, that the crew would be lifeless and lack fun and excitement without me."

Elizabeth went to change into her everyday clothes and said, "That sounds strange."

"Maybe it's because I wasn't on set, and no one was stirring things up, so Nolan wasn't used to it." Martin could vaguely guess some of Nolan's thoughts: "Without stirring things up, there are no publicity stunts, and the director is under a lot of pressure."

Elizabeth almost burst out laughing: "What a strange director."

Martin added, "Hollywood has never seen a director like Nolan before; he's a completely new type."

Elizabeth didn't quite understand: "He's not even as good as the four top directors, is he?"

"That's not what I meant," Martin said, referring to another aspect: "He has die-hard fans, like any other celebrity, the kind who say 'it's either him or me,' and his fans can't tolerate anyone saying anything bad about him."

Elizabeth thought of the three-way battle on IMDb: "Like what Dark Knight fans did on IMDb against The Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption?"

Martin nodded. "More or less." He carefully put away the Grand Medal and the Star, and handed them to Elizabeth. "I won't be staying in Morocco for long. The crew will be heading back to Los Angeles soon. You and Lily shouldn't go. Those places in Africa aren't very safe."

Elizabeth packed the Grand Medal and Stars into her suitcase: "Okay, I'm going back to Los Angeles to prepare to receive Maria."

Bruce knocked on the door and said, "You have a phone call."

Martin opened the door and asked, "Who called?"

Bruce glanced at Elizabeth, and seeing that Martin didn't respond, he said directly, "That editor, the one I mentioned a few days ago about literary adaptations, didn't she claim to have a suitable novel she'd like you to read?"

Martin asked Elizabeth, "Would you be interested in coming with me to see a project?"

Elizabeth smiled and shook her head: "I need to pack my bags. You and Old Brooks go ahead."

Martin picked up his coat and left the room with Bruce.

Midway through, Martin switched to the trio's personal cell phone, which Nicholson had given him after the Santa Monica Pier incident, and called Neves.

"Hey buddy, the fishermen are back again," he said.

Neves had already heard the details from Martin: "If the bait is right, you can take the bait and throw away the hook."

He emphasized, "Never bring a fishhook to a private place. You've seen what the FBI does."

Martin was actually involved twice, and both times Russia suffered the consequences.

Neves added, "The leader of that group is one level below me. As long as you don't get hooked, everything else is fine. I'll retaliate soon and send him overseas as a liaison officer."

Martin felt reassured and went downstairs with Old Brooks to the coffee shop next door, where he saw Kate and Rachel again.

Upon seeing the two enter, Rachel whispered, "As expected, he didn't bring his girlfriend. He still has those kinds of feelings for us."

Kate asked, "Are you ready on your end?"

After their last meeting, Rachel and her boss analyzed the situation carefully and decided that they couldn't rush things; one or two meetings might not be enough to dispel Martin Davis's wariness.

Once both sides became more familiar with each other, some things naturally happened...

After Martin came over, he shook hands with Kate and Rachel, pulled out a chair and sat down opposite them.

Today, the two women changed their style, wearing long dresses, light makeup, and sweet smiles, somewhat resembling Elizabeth Olsen's everyday style.

Martin suspects that next time, the two of them might adopt the style and temperament of Julie and Aniston.

Kate smiled sweetly and said, "Congratulations on receiving the Distinguished Presidential Medal of Freedom."

Rachel said something similar.

"Thank you." Martin asked Bruce to get some coffee, then got down to business, asking Rachel, "You said on the phone that you brought a literary project suitable for a film adaptation?"

Rachel nodded and said, "Yes, we've discussed it internally and feel it has great potential for adaptation."

This was a work that her team found overnight. To ensure its authenticity, they even forged the name of the publisher and contacted the author.

They certainly wouldn't dare use works by famous authors; it would be extremely troublesome if something went wrong.

Therefore, I specifically chose a science fiction novel that had some online reputation, had not yet attracted the attention of publishers, and was only updated on a personal website.

The FBI has a dedicated Hollywood liaison office where Rachel once worked as an assistant. She roughly estimated that adapting this novel into a movie would require an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Such a project is definitely not something that can be settled in a short time, so she was able to work with Martin on multiple fronts to improve their relationship.

Martin asked directly, "Did you bring the artwork?"

Rachel opened her briefcase, took out a file folder, and handed it over.

Martin then noticed that the room was full of printed documents and looked at the other side with a puzzled expression.

Rachel explained, "It hasn't been published yet; it's being serialized online."

Martin nodded, took out the bound printed manuscript, and saw the name on the cover—The Martian!

(End of this chapter)