America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 516 Fishing? Feeding the fish!

"I'm completely finished, that's the conclusion I've reached after much consideration. I'm doomed!"

"These six days, which should have been the start of the most glorious six months of my life, turned into the prelude to a nightmare... My teammates probably all think I'm dead, which is of course not their fault. There might even be a state funeral soon, and my profile page will say: Mark Watney is the only person to date to have died on Mars."

Martin carefully read the first two chapters, and Matt Damon's憨厚 (honest and simple) face automatically popped into his mind. Combined with the title of the novel, it wasn't hard to confirm that this was the book about growing potatoes on Mars.

Then, he looked at Rachel across from him and thought to himself, "What the hell are these FBI agents doing?"

Martin searched for the novel but couldn't find it on the publishing market. As a result, several FBI agents who were looking to fish for him used it as bait.

Or is this FBI agent trying to show him goodwill?

First, they send beautiful women, then they send projects. What a damn good guy!

Although his mind was racing, Martin's acting was spot-on, and his face remained perfectly calm, as if the film was nothing special.

Rachel had been observing Martin and noticed that he was just calmly reading the manuscript, seemingly not very interested.

This wasn't an FBI operation; rather, it was her superior who hired a few hardened henchmen to teach this person who had blocked his promotion a lesson.

The resources that can be mobilized are limited.

Rachel's initial thought was that she could successfully seduce him, given his notorious reputation as a playboy.

Martin read two more chapters to make sure he wasn't mistaken, then closed the printed text and said, "It's a literary work that leans slightly towards hard science fiction. Its adaptation potential is so-so. Over the years, Hollywood movies that lean towards hard science fiction have always had large investments but low returns, and very few have truly succeeded."

Rachel, having done some preparation, said, "Don't you think this is like a Martian version of Robinson Crusoe? It's so well-written; when I read it, I felt a dramatic, rocket-like propulsion!"

Martin asked, "Has this work been published? Does it have a readership? Is the author famous?"

Faced with people in the industry, Rachel couldn't make things up, so she could only say, "It wasn't published; the author is a nobody."

"You see, these are the problems," Martin said, shrugging. "Even if I wanted to adapt it into a movie, there's still a long way to go."

Rachel thought to herself, "As long as you don't refuse outright, that's fine."

She doesn't care whether Martin adapts it or not in the end.

Rachel added, "We can agree on a plan to move it toward adaptation."

Martin quickly flipped through the printed manuscript and found that there was no ending at all. He asked, "Who is the author? There's not even an ending! Rachel, this is putting me in a very difficult position."

Rachel pulled her foot back, which she had just been about to extend.

Martin continued, "I need to meet with the author, talk to him in person, make sure he can finish the work, make sure he can write a decent ending, so that I can move forward with the adaptation."

He looked at Rachel: "You're a senior editor, you should understand how Hollywood works. For any film project, moving forward will cost at least several hundred thousand dollars."

After a moment's thought, Rachel said, "Our publishing house is also communicating with the original author about these matters. I can assure you that none of these are problems."

Seeing that the other party was using his area of ​​expertise as an excuse, Martin simply said, "How about this: for the initial recommendation, we can both contribute funds. Later, when the film project is in operation, I can introduce your publishing house as an investor shareholder."

This was completely unexpected for Rachel. Not only did she offer him a novel, but she also wanted to provide funding to help run the project?

Is this fishing or feeding fish?

But she had worked as a junior assistant in the FBI's Hollywood office and knew that this was a normal, sincere way of operating in Hollywood.

Rachel certainly couldn't afford to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars. Maybe her boss had some in his slush fund, but he definitely wouldn't part with the money.

Bruce glanced at Martin but didn't say anything, because the actions of the FBI agents were isolated incidents.

If this were an official FBI action, the two would have already found a way to settle the matter.

Things always take unexpected turns. Rachel was a little confused, but then she looked at Martin across from her, who was full of sincerity.

"Well..." She had no choice but to say, "I need to consult my superiors."

Martin said, "No rush." ​​He picked up the printed manuscript. "I'll take it back and take a closer look."

"It's impossible to stop them from taking it back," Rachel nodded and replied, "You can take it."

Martin put the manuscript into the file folder, then lightly bumped into Old Brooks's foot.

Bruce remained calm as his cell phone suddenly rang in his pocket.

He answered the phone and said a few words, then said to Martin, "It's a call from the White House. The president invites you to watch the fireworks show tonight."

Rachel's brow twitched, but she wasn't too worried, because her superiors weren't on the White House line.

Martin picked up the file folder and shook hands with Rachel, who had stood up. "If you are willing to invest, please let me know in time so that I can have someone make preparations."

Rachel smiled and said, "I'll report it to my superiors."

Martin and Bruce left.

After everyone left and disappeared, Kate plopped back into her chair and said, "You made things too complicated. It was something that could have been solved by simply taking off your pants."

Rachel was furious. She glared at Kate, but ultimately said nothing, picked up her briefcase, and left the coffee shop.

Martin and Bruce entered the hotel lobby and went to the rest area first.

Bruce carefully checked the file folder and, after confirming there were no problems, the two went upstairs.

"You're done talking so quickly?" Elizabeth hadn't even finished packing her luggage.

Martin nodded and said to Bruce, "Call Thomas over."

Elizabeth knew he had something important to do, and pointed to the second bedroom: "I'll go see if Lily has finished packing."

A few minutes later, Thomas came in from outside, and Martin called him to go into the study of the suite together.

Bruce handed the file to Thomas: "It contains the manuscript of a novel."

Thomas took it out and asked, "Buy the copyright?"

Martin nodded slightly: "This manuscript has not yet been published, so the copyright should still be held by the author, but I don't know who the author is."

He specifically asked, but Rachel beat around the bush and wouldn't say: "Find the author and talk to him about the film and television adaptation rights as quickly as possible."

"Okay." Thomas flipped through the manuscript.

Martin's mind flashed back to Matt Damon's honest face. Remembering that the other was a member of the Foot Clan, he sighed that it wasn't just fate, but even the FBI wanted him to stand on the opposite side of the Foot Clan.

Thomas read the manuscript for a while, then turned on the computer in his study, logged into Google, entered some of the manuscript's content, and used Google search to open a personal blog.

He looked at it carefully and said, "I've found the author."

Martin replied, "Who is it?"

Thomas said, "A man named Andy Weir, lacking publisher support, is serializing 'The Martian' through his personal blog, and he's currently only up to the last chapter of the manuscript."

There was an author bio above, and as he read it, he said, "This person graduated from the University of California and currently works at Blizzard Entertainment."

Martin asked, "Blizzard Entertainment, the company that makes Warcraft?"

"Yes," Thomas confirmed. "He's a game programmer at Blizzard."

Martin thought for a moment and said, "Go back to California right now, find this guy, get him on board, and buy the copyright."

Thomas put away the manuscript: "I'll go book the plane tickets right away."

Martin then remembered something else: "While I'm at it, let's confirm Ridley Scott's future work schedule."

Thomas nodded and left the room.

Martin thought back carefully and confirmed that he was not mistaken; Ridley Scott was the director.

Director Lei Jun is known in the industry for his inconsistent performances; his films are a mix of good and bad, resulting in a prestigious reputation but no final cut.

However, one thing is clear: Ridley Scott's failed films are mostly epic masterpieces, especially period dramas. It seems that only Gladiator achieved huge commercial success.

Conversely, Ridley Scott rarely makes a mistake in science fiction films.

Martin remembers that Ridley Scott was a very ambitious director who, after each success in a science fiction film, would jump headfirst into the epic genre.

Kingdom of Heaven, Robin Hood, Pharaoh and the Gods, The Last Duel...

All of them were box office flops with production costs exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars.

Martin took out the trio's special phone and dialed Neves's number again. After chatting for a while, he felt relieved.

Thomas returned to Los Angeles by plane that afternoon.

Martin and his entourage had dinner early and then returned to the White House to enjoy the Independence Day fireworks display with Obama and others.

Elizabeth also spoke with Michelle in person, and Maria will travel to Los Angeles in mid-July to join the cast of "Inception" for a summer internship.

Nolan, Martin, and several Warner Bros. executives all signed her record of activities.

It's easy to imagine that she will inevitably go on to attend an Ivy League university.

The following morning, Martin first saw Lily and Elizabeth off, then boarded a flight to leave North America and return to Morocco to continue filming "Inception".

He received a call from Neves while transiting in Rabat.

The fishermen, having lost out in the internal competition among fishermen, were sent to South Korea as liaison officers and would not return to North America for a long time.

Since the hook was gone, Martin naturally took the bait.

Thomas contacted Andy Weir, who was currently writing part-time and whose serialized novel seemed unlikely to be successful. The conversation went relatively smoothly.

(End of this chapter)