America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 714 Hollywood Billionaires

"Don't we need to clarify anything that's in the newspapers?"

Elizabeth Olsen and Martin enjoyed their dinner together at a window seat in a luxurious restaurant, while also keeping Martin's most important task at the moment in mind.

Martin shook his head: "No need. I'm prepared to bring all the competitors down to the same level and then use my extensive experience to defeat them."

Elizabeth asked, puzzled, "Why don't I quite understand what you mean?"

Martin explained simply, "I'm best at high-level games."

Elizabeth laughed: "Hey! Hey! Darling, you mean lower it."

Martin laughed: "High-level games often present themselves as the most primitive and mediocre battles."

Seeing that he wasn't troubled, Elizabeth put the matter aside, picked up her glass, and said, "My dear, I wish you victory in this lousy battle."

Martin clinked glasses with her: "Thank you for your kind words."

After enjoying dinner, the two left the restaurant.

It's possible that a news informant tipped them off, as a large group of entertainment reporters and paparazzi gathered outside. When they saw Martin and Elizabeth come out, they swarmed forward and bombarded them with questions.

"Martin, what do you think of the former NASA astronaut's criticism that 'The Martian' is inaccurate?"

"Can potatoes really grow in toxic Martian soil?"

"With so many flaws in the film, are you only focused on commercial success and neglecting art...?"

Martin and Elizabeth didn't respond at all, and under the escort of several security personnel, they got into the Cadillac that Bruce had driven.

"The next month is likely to be quite chaotic," Martin said, adding that he needs to maintain a certain level of public exposure while preparing for the Olympics. "Be careful with your daily travels."

Elizabeth smiled sweetly and said, "Don't worry about me. Focus all your energy on winning an Oscar for Best Actor."

The paparazzi followed the Cadillac all the way to the North Side of Sunset Boulevard, where they were stopped at the community entrance before dispersing.

…………

The following morning, as soon as Matt Damon's car drove out of his house, it was surrounded by dozens of reporters and paparazzi.

One of them pushed open the car window and shouted, "Renowned critic Kenneth Turan criticized your character in 'Moneyball' today in his Los Angeles Times column, saying he only has skin and no flesh and blood or soul. What do you think?"

Matt Damon remained unfazed and gestured for the driver to continue.

The car left the circle of reporters and headed towards Century City, where CAA is located.

Matt Damon called his agent to inquire about the Los Angeles Times column.

The agent said, "Today, there has been a lot of criticism of 'Moneyball' in the entertainment media, and even some social media, and some of the comments are quite sharp."

Matt Damon said, "I've looked at some, I'll wait until I get to the company."

Half an hour later, Matt Damon met his agent in the office.

The assistant brought over a large stack of newspapers.

Almost every influential newspaper in Hollywood published articles criticizing Matt Damon and "Moneyball".

"In 'Moneyball,' Matt Damon's expression was blank, and his acting was utterly nonexistent!"

"Whenever there's a bit too much dialogue in a long take, Matt Damon's eyes start to wander, making it very easy for him to lose focus. He also likes to lick his lips to cover it up."

Although critics are paid to write columns, their columns still contain some substance, and these are indeed Matt Damon's long-standing shortcomings.

Even the agent couldn't say anything.

Matt Damon glanced at the columnists' posts and said, "Weren't they on our side just a couple of days ago, attacking Martin Davis and other competitors? Why are they attacking us now?"

The agent said, "Those who do media commentary are a bunch of bastards who take money to do things; they have no principles whatsoever."

Matt Damon, hands on hips: "We've beaten the East, now we're beating the West, we want to eat the money from every side!"

Matt Damon didn't read the smear campaign against "Moneyball" in the newspapers in detail; doing so would only annoy him. He just skimmed through all the newspapers and noticed something amiss.

"These newspapers were bashing Martin Davis and *The Martian* a few days ago, and yesterday they were attacking all the other competitors except us. We're the only ones getting praised," Matt Damon said, slapping the newspaper. "I initially thought they were on our side because they were getting paid by us, but today they've all changed their tune and are only attacking us!"

He looked at his agent: "What exactly is going on?"

The agent, who was quite experienced, said, "It's obvious that someone wants to muddy the waters, to create chaos, so they can profit from it."

Matt Damon also thought of this, and Martin's name even flashed through his mind.

Of course, others are also possible, after all, the potential competitors for this year's Oscars don't seem very strong.

Films like "Moneyball," "The Tree of Life," "The Martian," "Midnight in Paris," and "War Horse" are just so-so when it comes to the Oscars.

Matt Damon made the same choice as Martin: "Any competitor could be involved, whoever they are, let's drag them all down with us! Since they've messed with us, we'll get back at them and make them just as disgraced!"

At first, it was "Moneyball" beating "The Martian". Then all the other competitors were beaten, and "Moneyball" stood out. Now everyone is beating "Moneyball". What else can be done?

Of course, we should fight back.

Without hesitation, the agent contacted the team, Warner Bros., the media, and critics, launching a new offensive.

It's just a smear campaign, isn't it? They've worked with Harvey Weinstein many times; they're very experienced!

In the days leading up to the release of Oscar votes, the entire American entertainment media landscape, from traditional print and television media to new media such as the internet and social media, was in a chaotic state of public relations, attacks, and smear campaigns against various films.

Many Oscar contenders were attacked without exception.

As soon as one media outlet praises a film, three more immediately jump out to smear it.

Even within the same media outlet, there have been instances where one review column sings high praises of a film, while another vehemently denounces it as trash and a terrible movie.

Hollywood's awards season has been thrown into complete chaos by the loss of Harvey Weinstein, a key figure, and it seems that it has not yet found a new direction.

If you can't find the enemy, then the enemy is everywhere.

All the Oscar contenders, except themselves, had their competitors all undermined.

Amidst this turmoil, the Academy mailed out Oscar nomination ballots, which gradually reached Academy members residing in North America.

According to the college's procedures, once you receive the ballot, you can fill it out and mail it immediately, or you can mail it a few days later. The college's deadline is January 14th.

Leonardo and Nicholson arrived at Martin's office early in the morning.

Both of them brought their respective Oscar ballots.

Leonardo DiCaprio listed Martin's name first in the male lead credits, saying, "Now, we need to step up our sob story propaganda; it's time to start the second phase."

Nicholson also filled in Martin as the first choice, and asked Leonardo, "Can you tell me about your second phase plan now? Martin and I are following your orders and cooperating with your sob story plan, and the public opinion is about to get out of control."

He shook his head and sighed, "Leo, you're still that 20-second guy, you haven't changed!"

"I went from 11 seconds to 24 seconds! That's not the same? I got stronger!" Leonardo first proved his innocence, then continued, "The next phase of the sob story plan, with Martin..."

A sudden knock on the door interrupted Leonardo's words. Jessica pushed the door open and said, "Boss, there's something new in the media."

As she spoke, she brought over the latest issues of Variety and People magazines.

On the cover of the latest issue of Variety, a tall, strong man appears sunny, handsome, and dashing, dressed head to toe in designer brands.

He stood in front of a Cadillac flagship car, wearing a handcrafted Brioni suit, a Cartier men's watch worth millions of dollars on his wrist, a latest Samsung flagship smartphone in his left hand, and a Coca-Cola cult leader's scepter inlaid with precious gems in his right hand.

This man is Martin!

Martin is incredibly wealthy!

Martin is utterly inhuman!

When Leonardo saw the cover, he had a bad feeling, like he had finally trained to 24 seconds, but was forcibly interrupted after only ten seconds.

Because the cover features a tagline: Martin Davis, Hollywood billionaire!

Martin opened the cover and quickly found the cover story column.

The above is a simple list of Martin's income and most of his assets.

Commercial endorsements: Nearly $6000 million annually.

Salary plus box office revenue: $8000 million or more per year.

The revenue share of the Coca-Cola Cult Commemorative Edition will not be less than $6000 million annually.

The five properties—Sherman Oaks, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Manhattan's Upper East Side, and Miami Resort—are valued at $1.2 million.

Davis Studios was acquired by Warner Bros. for $2 million, but the offer was rejected.

Investments: The company has purchased large quantities of shares in Apple, Netflix, and Tesla. While the exact amount is unclear, reliable sources suggest that these shares are worth at least $3 million.

Conservative estimates suggest that Martin Davis's personal wealth could reach between $8 million and $10 billion.

After reviewing it, Martin thought to himself that the estimate wasn't very accurate, but not by a huge margin.

Nicholson was also looking at the cover story column. After seeing these numbers, a new idea suddenly popped into his head: he should abandon Martin and team up with Leonardo to persuade Martin to marry Lorraine. Maybe that bastard Martin had lost his mind for a moment?

The main reason is that after a while, there won't be any outsiders to mess with, so of course we'll mess with our own people to have fun.

Martin picked up another People magazine, the cover of which was full of women, including women with whom he had had multiple affairs.

Standing in the center position is, naturally, Elizabeth Olsen, his official girlfriend.

On either side of her are Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston, and behind her are Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, Eliza Cuthbert, Blake Lively, Alexandra Daddario, and other so-called ex-girlfriends.

The cover message is concise: Martin Davis's girlfriends!

(End of this chapter)