America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 541 Hope is Born

As the sun began to set in the west, Ben Affleck emerged from the apartment building and carefully helped Toni down the steps, showing even more care than he had when Jennifer Garner was about to give birth.

He supported the person, saying, "Slow down, slow down, don't rush."

Tony supported Ben with one hand and touched her stomach with the other: "I think I'm having contractions, my stomach hurts a little."

"Hang in there, we'll be at the hospital in ten minutes at most." Da Ben helped the person into the back seat, got into the driver's seat, and drove towards the nearby maternity hospital.

While waiting at a traffic light, he called Casey Affleck and asked her to quickly deliver the delivery bag to the hospital.

More than half an hour later, the person was taken to the hospital. After completing all the formalities, Da Ben breathed a sigh of relief.

Cassie ran in from outside.

Da Ben took the maternity bag from his hand and put it into the ward, but was quickly chased out by the nurse.

Toni is going into labor.

Cassie sat on the bench by the door and asked, "What should we do next?"

Big Ben knew he wasn't enough on his own, so he said, "I contacted Pete and Harvey. Harvey is in London arguing with Tolkien's copyright agency, but he'll be back in a few days."

Cassie, thinking about how miserable she was, was getting impatient: "We still have to wait a while longer."

Ben's phone rang. Seeing it was Harvey calling, he walked to the end of the deserted corridor and answered the phone: "Harvey, I brought the woman who's pregnant with Martin's child to the hospital. She might give birth today."

In London, Harvey Weinstein, who had just returned to his hotel after a round of wrangling with Tolkien's copyright agency, finally heard some good news: "Ben, you did a great job. Make sure that child is born safely and that the child is discharged from the hospital safely."

Ben assured him, "Harvey, don't worry, I'll stay at the hospital the whole time."

Harvey thought of the already released film "Inglourious Basterds" and felt a surge of anger.

This film, one of his few big-budget investments in recent years, did not receive any major awards at the Cannes Film Festival, nor did it have the commercial appeal of A-list stars. Its box office performance in North America was mediocre, with only a little over $2000 million in its opening week.

Ultimately, we'll have to go back to the old ways: recoup costs through offline markets like DVDs and television rights, and then generate profits over time.

Harvey didn't necessarily have to take this path. He increased the investment in "Inglourious Basterds," even setting a record for the highest investment in a single film by The Weinstein Company, and actively invited a top-tier star with market appeal like Martin Scorsese to play the male lead. Wasn't he just trying to make a splash in theaters?

Doesn't he want to recoup his costs just through box office revenue?

Harvey felt a pang of heartache; the unexpected setbacks in this project had cost him tens of millions of dollars.

Ultimately, it's all Martin Davis's fault.

Harvey calculated things very clearly. Martin may have messed with Pitt, causing the first setback for the project. Then Martin rejected his invitation, causing the second setback. Then at the Cannes Film Festival, he snatched the Best Actor award, causing the film to lose a major attraction for movie fans.

Needless to say, the poaching of Wes Craven deprived Dimension Films of its biggest asset in the horror genre.

Harvey quickly made a decision, saying into the phone, "Ben, once that woman and child are discharged from the hospital, find a suitable opportunity, in a public place, with as many media outlets as possible, to let them meet Martin Davis and reunite as family on the spot."

"Great idea!" Ben laughed heartily. "It'll be a real show then. Whether Martin admits it or not, we'll ruin his reputation!"

Harvey thought further: "No, an illegitimate child will only affect reputation, not deal a fatal blow to Martin. Based on my knowledge of that bastard Martin, and the example set by Nicholson, the leader of the trio, Martin won't acknowledge this child."

He asked, "Does that woman have videos or audio recordings of the encounter?"

Da Ben said with some regret, "I tried to probe her several times, but she was only focused on enjoying herself and didn't think about it at all."

Harvey shook his head. "What a pity." He only expressed slight regret before saying, "Martin would definitely refuse something like this. You and that woman have a good relationship, right? You understand?"

This was exactly what Ooben was thinking: "I know what to do."

Harvey hung up the phone quickly.

Just as I was about to go downstairs for dinner, my wife, Georgina Chapman, called me on video.

The video call connected, and his wife, who was removing her makeup, appeared on the screen.

Harvey waved: "Hey, honey, are you still in New York?"

Georgina tied her long hair up and said, "I'm heading back to Los Angeles today. A few of my friends in the fashion industry are coming with me. I'm planning to throw another fashion party."

Harvey understood: "Just sign the bill and I'll settle the account with the person in Los Angeles later."

Georgina was overjoyed: "Thank you, darling, you are the best husband in the world."

Spending her husband's money and preparing to have an affair with another man—that's incredibly exciting!

Georgina couldn't wait to go back to Los Angeles.

Harvey said, "Okay, that's enough for now. I'll be going back to Los Angeles in a few days."

The video call ended, and someone walked over.

The assistant, holding the phone, said, "Boss, Warner Bros. just called to discuss the copyright issues of The Hobbit. They offered us $500 million to relinquish the copyright."

"$500 million? Warner Bros. is dreaming!" Harvey knew very well the market value of this series; if managed well, it could generate billions of dollars in revenue.

He adopted his usual tough stance: "Go call Warner back and tell them, copyright is non-negotiable!"

The assistant quickly went to return the call.

Harvey felt annoyed again. He and his brother had been working hard for thirty years, but their film company was not even as big as the Big Six, let alone the half-dead DreamWorks. In terms of revenue, it was even less than the subsidiaries of the Big Six.

Fortunately, he always has a way with the Oscars, which is why he has such a huge influence today.

Harvey sat on the sofa, thinking about more things, especially Martin.

Going after Martin wasn't just about venting anger; it was also about real benefits.

Harvey remembers clearly that Martin's Davis Film Studio bought the adaptation rights to several literary works, some of which had already entered the adaptation stage. Judging from Martin's vision over the past few years, these adaptations have extremely high potential value.

If we can get rid of Martin and secure these projects...

Even with Harvey's state of mind, a smile as bright as a chrysanthemum bloomed on his chubby face.

…………

Under the Los Angeles night sky, many people were busy. Jody obtained a series of juicy copies, checked the information of the relevant people one by one, and after contacting one of them by phone, he took a red-eye flight overnight to the city where the other person was located.

As a veteran entertainment reporter who has covered the Brad Pitt nanny scandal and the Ben Affleck teaching scandal, Jody knows exactly how to handle this.

You probably can't find many journalists in the whole of America who are more experienced than her.

Jody knew very well that if she couldn't get rid of Harvey Weinstein, she would be in serious trouble.

A car crashed into the Burbank hospital. Brad Pitt, wearing a boonie hat, got out and hurriedly ran towards the ward building. Before he even reached the entrance, he saw Casey Affleck smoking outside.

He quickened his pace and asked, "What happened?"

Cassie said, "They're in the process of giving birth. Ben was guarding the door and told me to wait for you here."

Pete licked his dry lips and said, "Hope is finally about to be born!"

Cassie led the way: "This way."

The two went upstairs together and turned into a corridor, where they saw Ben pacing back and forth anxiously, even more so than when his wife was giving birth.

Pete, who has no children and has never experienced anything like this, said, "Stay calm."

Ben nodded, looked around to make sure no one else was there, and said, "I just contacted Harvey. He'll be in Los Angeles soon, and he wants us to give Martin a push and find public places where he's been, especially where there are a lot of media reporters..."

Upon hearing this, Pitt said, "I still have some connections in the industry. You should also keep an eye on the relevant media; Martin Davis's 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' is going to be released soon..."

Speaking of this movie, Pitt felt inexplicably sad, as if he couldn't breathe. He was originally cast as the lead in this film.

He paused briefly, then continued, "He'll definitely be attending some promotional events; we'll take him down then!"

Big Ben then said that he wouldn't acknowledge the child's actions.

Pete nodded: "He should experience what happened to us too." He deduced from his own experience that Martin was also a bastard: "If one thing happens, there will be a second and a third. Once the first one comes out, the next one will follow."

Having experienced it firsthand, Ben Affleck agreed: "That's right, I absolutely refuse to believe there won't be another Martin!"

Suddenly, the door next to them opened, and a nurse came out, saying, "Who is Toni Fairman's family member?"

The three of them immediately went over.

The nurse said, "It's a boy, and both mother and child are safe!"

Pitt made the sign of the cross: "God bless!"

…………

Davis Estate was unusually quiet at night.

In the villa's living room, after Martin finished his video call with Elizabeth Olsen, Bruce walked over and said, "Jordy left overnight."

Martin said, "She's very experienced in this area and is our best choice."

Bruce scratched his head: "He's just too skinny, he doesn't have much meat on him."

Martin asked in surprise, "How do you know so much about this?"

Bruce, not wanting to continue the conversation, handed Martin an invitation and couldn't help but say, "This is fucking weird. We were planning to go after Harvey Weinstein, and now his wife has teamed up with your bunch of supermodel mistresses..."

Martin corrected, "Not really, it's just mutual stamp collecting."

Bruce didn't dwell on it, saying, "Georgina Chapman invited you to a fashion party in Malibu."

Martin took the invitation and found that in addition to Georgina, Angela Lindwo and Karlie Kloss were also listed in the signature section.

Not only Old Bu, but even he felt that things were developing in such a strange way.

So he contacted Angela and Georgina, and arranged for the party setup and venue to be handled by him.

(End of this chapter)