America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 597 Leonardo DiCaprio's Prodigal Son Returns

The film's European premiere was held in the romantic city of Paris.

On the day of the premiere, not only were Martin and Nolan, the main cast and crew, present, but supporting actor Menez also invited Sophie Marceau and Isabelle Huppert to attend.

During the photo shoot, Mennet stood between two prominent French actresses, one arm around each of their waists, exuding an air of effortless elegance.

He stole the show all by himself.

French media even praised him as "the best supporting actor of African descent in Hollywood since Morgan Freeman!"

Of course, Martin is also quite popular.

On both sides of the premiere's red carpet, a huge crowd of hundreds of fans dressed in bright red Coca-Cola cult T-shirts raised their Coke cans in salute to Martin Scorsese.

They shouted, "Long live the leader!"

Some even shouted, "Cult Leader, lead us to overthrow the rubbish Paris City Hall and establish the Coca-Cola Cult Kingdom!"

The romantic citizens of Paris not only strike, but also dream of once again stirring up a wave of great song titles.

Martin opened a can of Coke and raised a glass to them.

The Cola Cult followers in Paris were ecstatic, clamoring for a strike to celebrate the arrival of their leader.

However, nobody took it seriously, mainly because nobody cared.

After all, they're either on strike or on their way to strike.

Compared to Martin and Menez, the British actors in the cast were met with a cold reception, receiving little attention from fans and the media.

The British actors seemed to be just going through the motions, passing by in a hurry.

The premiere went very well. When it was over, Martin and Ellen Page accepted Huppert's invitation to go to her place for drinks.

It was just a simple drinking session; Leonardo and Nicholson had already arrived in Paris.

Martin needs to conserve his energy to prepare for the upcoming war with the Russian women.

When the crew returned to their hotel, Tom Hardy encountered Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicholson, who were also returning from an outing, as he entered the room.

These two knew Nolan and chatted for a few minutes.

Tom Hardy followed Nolan and eavesdropped for a while. Leonardo mentioned having a party and invited Nolan, but Nolan politely declined.

After taking the elevator upstairs and returning to his room, Tom Hardy pondered Leonardo's words.

The Hollywood trio of scoundrels are infamous, and Martin Scorsese will definitely be attending Leonardo DiCaprio's party in Paris.

Tom Hardy has been in Hollywood for a while now, and I've heard a lot of rumors, such as that there's an organization of supermodels in the US who often hangs out with Martin, and they take turns appearing together each time.

It's said that the trio of scoundrels often organize shady parties, gathering a large group of people to fool around.

Tom Hardy thought for a few minutes, then called his henchman Rogers and said, "Go and find out quietly who Leonardo and Nicholson, who are staying at the same hotel, have been hanging out with lately. I heard they're planning a big party."

Rogers, not understanding what his boss was up to, said, "These two are very high-profile, often seen accompanying people in and out of places. It shouldn't be hard to find out."

Tom Hardy patted him on the shoulder: "Go ahead, ask more questions."

Rogers said with a smile, "Tip it a little, and the doorman and waiters in the lobby will say whatever they want."

Tom Hardy nodded: "Don't draw attention."

Rogers left the room, went downstairs, chatted with the doorman for a while, and quietly handed him a few euros. He quickly learned a lot of information from him.

Fearing the doorman might not be telling the truth, he asked two other lobby staff before returning upstairs.

"Boss, we've basically got the details." Rogers entered Tom Hardy's room, closed the door, and said, "Leonardo and Nicholson checked into the hotel a day earlier than the crew. They've had a few meetings with Natalia Vodinova, the recently divorced Russian supermodel, and they even chatted for a long time in the lobby lounge this afternoon."

Tom Hardy knew this supermodel; she had previously married into an old British aristocratic family, but later divorced.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Something's not right. Natalia is 27 years old; she's not within Leonardo's hunting grounds."

Rogers reminded him: "Didn't you say they were going to organize a big party? Natalia has a lot of influence in Russia and Ukraine, and throughout the former Soviet republics. Could Leonardo invite people through her? After all, the quality of young female models from Eastern Europe is exceptionally high."

Tom Hardy thinks it's very likely, as he has also attended some large parties in the entertainment industry, many of which were organized through a well-connected middleman.

For example, the famous Huppert makeup party in the Parisian entertainment industry was organized by Huppert herself, leveraging her fame.

Tom Hardy asked, "Do you know who's participating?"

"We didn't find out," Rogers said softly. "They only saw Leonardo and Natalia in contact; no one else."

Tom Hardy could deduce: "The trio of bastards is definitely going to throw a party, but nobody knows when or where."

Rogers chimed in, "They haven't even invited us. What a bunch of jerks!"

Tom Hardy scratched his head, thought for a while, and said, "Go down there again, give them a bigger tip, and tell the doormen to keep an eye out for Martin, Leonardo, and Nicholson and notify us immediately if they go out together."

Rogers retorted, "Boss, you're not planning something, are you?" He added, "I heard Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck were trying to mess with Martin, and now they're in the hospital."

Tom Hardy was annoyed: "When did you become such a coward?"

"Hollywood selectively forgets about these people, but I saw a report about Ben Affleck in the corner of the newspaper." It's no wonder Rogers is timid: "Ben Affleck went to the proctologist as part of a medical emergency after being released from prison!"

Upon hearing this, Tom Hardy's legs inexplicably tightened, but he remained somewhat confident, mainly because he didn't intend to do anything excessive. He said, "We won't take any risks. We'll just find out when and where they're meeting, and then make a call to the media."

Rogers breathed a sigh of relief.

Tom Hardy added, "Paparazzi are always crazy. I heard they're a bunch of people messing around. If anyone brave enough runs in and takes pictures, it'll be quite a spectacle."

"Boss, you're really something!" Rogers felt relieved and left the room to go downstairs.

Tom Hardy went to the window and looked out at the brightly lit Paris, finally feeling a little better.

He pondered it carefully, and the next morning he had Rogers rent a car and buy a new cell phone, which the latter could then discard after making a call.

The crew is still participating in various promotional activities in Paris. Martin, Nolan, and Menez are the busiest, with at least two appearances every day.

From interviews with Le Figaro to their appearances on France 1's flagship program, they can be seen everywhere.

Inception was already a huge hit in North America, and with its numerous French elements and the star power of Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan, the film grossed $889 million in its opening weekend in France.

In the UK market, just across the Channel, the film also had a strong opening, grossing $966 million in its first weekend.

"Inception," which opened primarily in Europe and Latin America, grossed $6220 million in its first week overseas.

In North America, the film's performance remained remarkably stable thanks to positive word-of-mouth, dropping only 39% in its second weekend to gross another $4592 million.

Including the gains from the previous four days, the North American box office has exceeded $1.5 million!

"Good word-of-mouth and high box office are things that not many people can achieve."

In the hotel room, Nicholson put down his newspaper and said to Martin, "You bastard, you have both."

Martin chuckled and said, "Do you know what vision is? This is vision!"

Leonardo scoffed, saying, "Since you have such good taste, let me ask you, when will I win Best Actor?"

Nicholson chimed in, "Let's wait another ten years!"

"Maybe there will be an opportunity this year." Martin had just given Natalie Portman a bad idea a few days ago, and when facing his old friend Leonardo, inspiration flowed like a spring.

He began with a serious analysis: "Look, we've taken Harvey Weinstein down. Although the trial hasn't started yet, he'll be in jail for at least ten years. Now, the awards season has freed up a huge amount of resources. If we act quickly, we might actually be able to snatch an Oscar."

Nicholson nodded slightly: "You have a point."

Martin racked his brains trying to recall who the Best Actor award winner was in the same year as Natalie Portman. He couldn't remember at all. It seemed that in his previous life, Harvey had a final burst of popularity in the first few years after 2010, which completely ruined the Oscars. His aggressive public relations also made him universally hated.

Now that Harvey is gone, the fate of all the movies and people he championed is now unknown.

Hearing his two best friends say this, Leonardo suddenly felt confident: "My performance in 'Shutter Island' was outstanding, the film received great reviews, and I've been vying for an Oscar for ten years. Shouldn't the Academy consider me?"

Nicholson said, "That's hard to say."

"In recent years, the Oscar race has become increasingly competitive; it's difficult to win solely based on a role and normal publicity and public relations." After a serious analysis, Martin started rambling: "Leo, you angered those old men back then; you have to show some attitude and prove that a prodigal son's return is priceless!"

Leonardo frowned: "Haven't I had enough of these past ten years?"

Martin said, "I have a way. If you do as I say, you have a 90% chance of winning Best Actor next year!"

Leonardo had a feeling Martin's idea was terrible, but after years of no success in his Oscar bids, and with that bastard Martin winning an acting award before him, he couldn't help but ask, "What good idea do you have?"

Martin said in a serious tone, "It's very easy to prove to all the Oscar judges that Leonardo has turned over a new leaf. Just get married at the beginning of awards season, and you can definitely change the judges' opinion of you and prove that Leonardo has matured and is no longer that unruly blond kid."

(End of this chapter)