America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 568 Only Look at Stance

Hollywood is full of strange things; Tom Cruise's cake is actually less famous than Martin Scorsese's statue.

Martin himself hadn't paid attention to it, and Elizabeth hadn't pointed it out either.

There were many guests today, so the premiere wasn't scheduled to take them directly to the screening room. Martin and Elizabeth went into the VIP room together.

Louise called Elizabeth to discuss a project Pacific Pictures had just taken on.

Martin found Daniel, and the two had worked together for several years and had a good relationship.

He asked directly, "I heard there are going to be personnel changes at Warner Bros.?"

"You're very well-informed," Daniel said roughly. "Around the New Year, a new CEO will take office, and not long after, Barry Mayer may step down as chairman, and the new CEO may hold both positions."

Martin, a long-time Warner Bros. employee, was very interested: "Who's going to take over?"

Daniel gestured with his eyes: "He's coming."

Martin noticed an unfamiliar face approaching from his left front.

The man appeared to be in his fifties, with a lot of gray hair mixed in with his black hair; he had a typical East Asian face.

After a quick assessment, Martin was fairly certain that the person was of Japanese descent, but he had never dealt with him before.

The person stopped more than two meters away from Martin.

Daniel then introduced, "This is Kevin Tsujihara from Time Warner. He used to be an executive at Warner Bros.

He then introduced Martin: "This is Martin Davis, our national hero."

Kevin Tsujihara didn't move, but simply smiled at Martin.

Martin stepped forward and shook hands with him, saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tsujihara."

Kevin Tsujihara said, "I often hear your name in New York, and you are even better in person than I've heard."

While Martin was outwardly exchanging pleasantries with Kevin Tsujihara, he was actually searching his memory. Gradually, he began to recall seeing Kevin Tsujihara's name in Warner Bros. news after 2010 in his previous life.

After chatting for a few minutes, Kevin Tsujihara said with a smile, "I wish I had met you a few years earlier, but it's not too late now. I'm very impressed with the films you've worked on with Warner Bros."

Martin remained polite: "I hope we'll have the opportunity to collaborate in the future."

Kevin Tsujihara nodded and made up an excuse to go somewhere else.

After everyone had gone, Daniel said, "I'll have my people send you the list of old films they've compiled as soon as possible. While Barry Mayer and Alan Horn are still around, if there are any you want to remake, get the process going quickly."

Martin sensed something was amiss: "Does the newly appointed one have a problem with me?"

"I can't tell yet," Daniel reminded him. "This personnel change involves extremely fierce personnel struggles within the entire Time Warner Group. You often deal with the political circle, so you should understand one thing: some struggles don't look at ability or performance, but only at stance."

This kind of thing is all too common; Martin has seen it countless times, both in his past life and now. He said, "I had a close working relationship with Warner Bros. in previous years, and a good personal relationship with Barry Mayer, so..."

Daniel said, "You are naturally on the opposite side of Kevin Tsujihara, who rose to power through fierce personnel struggles and must prove his abilities to the company's board of directors and shareholders by delivering outstanding results."

Martin frowned slightly. "These things are a headache."

Daniel said, "There's no way around it. Where there are people, there will be conflict. What we're dealing with is nothing compared to the internal power struggles within Disney a few years ago."

"I hope everything goes well." Martin will keep an eye on Kevin Tsujihara, but given the internal strife within Warner Bros., Daniel can't be trusted entirely.

It's best to observe from the sidelines for the time being when these things happen.

Martin then took a look at Kevin Tsujihara and, apart from being a little arrogant, didn't notice anything else.

"Director, come this way, he's over here!" A girl of about fifteen or sixteen stepped out from the crowd, calling out to the fat man behind her as she walked: "My teacher is up ahead."

Peter Jackson said, "No wonder you perform so well; you've found a great teacher."

Saoirse Ronan smiled, her eyes crinkling: "My teacher taught me a lot."

For example, how to scare away a pair of lovebirds, how to make someone wet their pants, and how to deal with an unfriendly villain.

Although she didn't receive direct instruction, Saoirse felt she learned a lot through media reports.

She approached Martin, stood down, and bowed slightly: "Teacher."

Martin said, "You're all grown up now. Don't take your childhood jokes seriously."

Saoirse insisted, "No, you will always be my teacher."

Martin didn't waste any words with her. He turned slightly to greet the approaching, overweight man, and shook his hand. "Hello, Peter," he said sincerely. "The Lord of the Rings trilogy is my favorite film series, bar none."

Peter Jackson seized the opportunity and said, "You should know that I'm preparing to film the Hobbit trilogy. How about you play a role?"

Martin asked deliberately, "You don't want me to play an orc, do you?"

"How could that be!" Peter Jackson said. "Apart from the characters who are the main characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you can pick any other character you like."

Martin smiled and said, "A cameo role is fine, but I'd rather not play a main role; my schedule is too tight to adjust."

Peter Jackson didn't press the matter; he chatted for a few minutes and then left.

Saoirse stayed, saying, "I want to settle down in Los Angeles."

Martin couldn't possibly make that decision for someone else, so he said directly, "You should ask your dad and mom. If they agree, everything will be okay, right?"

Saoirse was a clever girl: "But you are my teacher."

Martin couldn't help but laugh: "I didn't teach you anything."

"You taught me a lot." Saoirse blinked. "You taught me how to survive in this industry, and how to mess with people."

When Martin saw Elizabeth return, he said, "Let's talk another day, I have something to do."

When Saoirse was working on the set of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," she became acquainted with Elizabeth, who also played Daisy, and went over to hold Elizabeth's hand and chat.

Soon, producer Kathleen Kennedy invited everyone into the theater.

Martin and the crew waited until the end.

The theater, which can accommodate thousands of people, was packed. When David Fincher and Kathryn Kennedy led Martin and other key members of the creative team into the theater, thunderous applause erupted.

After some routine media events, the premiere screening is about to begin.

Martin and David Fincher sat right next to each other.

After they were seated, the latter said softly, "There are a few film analysis sessions coming up, don't forget to attend."

Martin Scorsese just won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor last year. Unless his role and the social climate explode this year, it will be difficult for him to win another acting award.

Martin said, "I'm also aiming for a nomination; I'll definitely go."

He knew he had no chance of winning Best Actor with this character, which heavily utilized CGI technology, so he simply did her a favor: "I discussed it with Catherine, and the production team's resources will mainly be used for your Best Director award."

David Fincher lacked confidence: "Winning an award will be difficult."

Martin put it nicely: "We'll do everything we can to try."

He also felt that David Fincher's chances of winning the award were slim, and that part of the problem lay with him.

In July of this year, The Hurt Locker was released in North America. The director is Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron's ex-wife.

If Martin is not mistaken, she was the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar in history.

The situation facing other directors now is even more severe than that of Martin's predecessor.

Because MeToo has become very popular this year.

The Harvey Weinstein scandal led to a surge in the women's movement, with one female celebrity and socialite after another becoming supporters of #MeToo.

#MeToo leaders like Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston are planning an event to encourage #MeToo supporters to wear the #MeToo fist logo at this year's Academy Awards!

It has received a lot of responses, such as from the Face Gang led by Martin, Leonardo, and Nicholson.

Given this context, with its high quality and political correctness, Kathryn Bigelow is undoubtedly the top choice for the lead role in "The Hurt Locker."

It's likely that David Fincher has also recognized the current situation.

As is well known, the Oscars, like the Nobel Prizes, are awarded not only based on achievements but also on personal gain.

The big screen lit up, and Martin and David Fincher stopped talking and watched the premiere.

This film was screened multiple times at the Cannes Film Festival, and Martin Scorsese won the Best Actor award for it. Its reputation had already been circulated in the first half of the year.

Currently, it has a high rating of 8.6 on IMDb, an 88% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 78% Metacritic score.

It has an excellent reputation.

David Fincher's previous film, "The Black Dahlia," performed poorly at the box office, and his current market appeal can only be described as average.

Fortunately, Martin is in a phase similar to Will Smith's a few years ago.

Although film genre has an impact on box office performance, its appeal also greatly enhances the market.

Benjamin's first day of release in North America grossed $1785 million, surpassing The Blind Side, which was released in North America the previous week, and taking the top spot on the North American box office chart for the day.

Thanks to positive word-of-mouth, the film's box office performance has been relatively stable, grossing $4668 million over the weekend.

Martin Scorsese's film has once again topped the North American box office.

But this only lasted a week, as too many blockbuster films were released during this holiday season.

James Cameron's Avatar has been released!

This epic blockbuster, being an original film, didn't have a particularly explosive opening weekend at the box office, only grossing $7702 million.

Even someone as strong as James Cameron couldn't break the curse that original non-sequel films can't gross over $100 million in North America at the weekend.

Hollywood, which emphasizes commercial profits, naturally doesn't favor original films.

While Avatar was powerful enough, Benjamin Butler's audience was different, and the latter maintained a healthy trajectory, grossing $2685 million in its second weekend in North America.

The film grossed $9425 million at the North American box office.

Meanwhile, the film also grossed nearly $6000 million in more than 50 countries and regions overseas.

The film easily grossed over $1.5 million worldwide.

(End of this chapter)