America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 752 Strong Cooperation

After leaving the conference room, Jon Berg returned to the building, followed by his assistant McDonald.

He glanced at his boss's expression and knew the meeting hadn't gone well.

Jon Berg said as he walked, "Has the legal department been in contact with Nolan and Martin Davis's lawyers again?"

"Yes," McDonald said truthfully. "They are demanding that the breach of contract be enforced, otherwise they will not withdraw the lawsuit."

Jon Berg said, "Then let's just drag it out." After walking a few steps, he stopped: "Try to get in touch with Emma Thomas. As long as Nolan gives up on casting Martin Davis as the male lead, I'll give him the green light for this project."

"Yes." McDonald took out his phone, ready to contact someone.

Jon Berg continued walking toward the Warner Bros. building. He had been unhappy about Martin Davis's intention to abandon Warner Bros., his current partner, and join his ex-partner, Alan Horn.

It is well known that exes are always a particularly sensitive topic for current partners.

Jon Berg returned to the Warner building and immediately sought out Daniel to personally oversee the promotion and distribution of "Jack the Giant Slayer".

There are only two weeks left until the film's North American release.

After increasing the production budget to $2.5 million, Jon Berg assembled a strong team of professional reviewers who spent two months professionally reviewing six different edited versions.

Each person selects the most essential shots and clips, and then the best are used based on the number of selections.

Finally, Jon Berg personally directed an editing team to create an unprecedented blockbuster, using the main storyline of McDonagh's editing as a foundation and incorporating the best shots and clips!

This is unprecedented in Hollywood.

Jon Berg even skipped the test screenings because his large group of viewers had already seen the basic version countless times.

Just like James Cameron's vision for Avatar, Jon Berg firmly believed that his version would break Hollywood records!

This doesn't refer to box office performance, but rather that a film's success will completely change Hollywood's post-production model.

Perhaps Hollywood will one day name this the "Jon Berg editing method".

Jon Berg returned to his office, where an assistant brought him an invitation.

"President, this was sent by Meryl Streep," the assistant said. "She's hosting a party at her Malibu mansion this weekend, and she's invited many people from the industry."

Jon Berg opened the invitation and saw Meryl Streep's name at the end of the invitation.

This actress has a long-standing working relationship with Warner Bros., and Jon Berger, showing her respect, told his assistant, "I will attend."

Meryl Streep's assistant will give her a definite answer.

…………

Century City, WMA Headquarters.

In a lounge, Nolan was giving Martin a long rant about the previous project coordination meeting.

Originally, Spielberg convened the meeting to coordinate and resolve issues, but as the coordination progressed, not only did it fail to resolve the issues, but Spielberg himself also developed differing opinions.

Nolan was furious: "I swear, I'll never direct a script whose copyright I don't own again!"

The screenplay was ultimately credited to Nolan and Jonathan Nolan as writers, but the core idea came from Linda Obst of DreamWorks. Back when DreamWorks was on the verge of bankruptcy, Spielberg signed a co-production contract with Paramount and Warner Bros. for this project.

As a result, there are endless disputes and unresolved problems. While others are manageable, Jon Berger of Warner Bros. is practically a problem-making machine.

Martin said, "It sounds like Jon Berger has a prejudice against me and is just opposing me for the sake of opposing."

Nolan completely agreed: "That's right, his reasons for objecting sound high-sounding, but in reality, they're all based on personal grudges."

He took a sip of water and said, "Jon Berg's assistant, McDonald, contacted Emma privately, saying that Warner Bros. would give the project the green light if I stopped recommending you for the lead role."

Martin didn't spout nonsense about giving up; he simply waited patiently.

When Nolan faced the crisis of the kidnapping case in Morocco, he stood by Nolan's side without hesitation.

Nolan didn't keep Martin waiting and said directly, "I had Emma give me a clear answer: if you don't play the male lead in this project, I will absolutely not take on the role of director."

This wasn't just because of Martin; it also meant that his authority on set was significantly diminished.

Martin said, "Chris, thank you."

Nolan, the Englishman, chose to bump fists with Martin in an American way: "We're a powerful team."

"That's right, Christopher Nolan plus Martin Davis equals a double explosion in box office and critical acclaim!" Martin praised the two first, then added, "Jon Berg is clearly targeting us, and the more he does that, the more we'll fucking refuse to give up."

Nolan nodded: "That's what I think too."

Martin asked, "Is Warner Bros. only targeting Jon Berg and his group?"

"Of course." Nolan was certain of this: "Jon Berg is the head of Warner Bros. If he wants to push a project forward, he needs the approval of the censorship committee, but if he wants to block a project, it's too easy for him."

Martin pondered for a moment, then asked, "Chris, do you think Jon Berger's 'Jack the Giant Slayer,' made with his genius creativity, will be a success?"

Nolan thought about it seriously for a moment and said, "I don't understand what Jon Berger was thinking when he created this peculiar final editing style, but in my personal opinion, can films produced using this style really avoid stylistic confusion?"

Only Martin was there, and he added, "I think the chances of this film being successful are less than 10 percent."

Martin said, "I agree with you, but I think the chances of success are at most five percent."

Nolan had worked with Martin several times and grasped his thinking: "I heard from people at Warner Bros. that the production budget for this film was $2.5 million, the marketing and distribution costs were $2 million, and even though the North American market mostly uses Warner Bros.' media, the actual investment would still be $1 million. If this film fails, it will cause losses like Green Lantern."

"In my judgment, if this film fails, it will be even more disastrous than *Green Lantern*, which had a fan base." Martin, through Louise, learned a great deal about Warner Bros.' internal situation: "*Owls and Gods*, *Dark Lands*, and this hugely invested *Jack the Giant Slayer*, were all spearheaded by Jon Berger. The first two have already failed, causing serious losses..."

He asked Nolan, "If this movie flops again, will Jon Berger be held accountable by the Warner Bros. board?"

Nolan was also aware of the situation: "Jon Berger invested heavily in this project in order to turn around the negative situation caused by previous failures with a commercial victory."

Martin said, "Chris, let's wait a bit longer. Maybe things will be different when 'Jack the Giant Slayer' is released."

Compared to Martin Scorsese, Nolan, who has been struggling with the Interstellar project recently, is more unhappy with Jon Berg: "If Warner Bros. had just replaced him, this project wouldn't have had any problems."

Under normal circumstances, it is almost impossible to force a film company to change its leader.

But Jon Berg, a member of the Warner Bros. dream team, really pulled some crazy moves.

So outrageously sexy!

Martin raised his fist: "We truly are the best team."

Nolan nudged his fist and said, "Since he doesn't like us, and we don't like him either, let's find a way to take him down!"

Martin completely agreed.

This approval is certainly not about humane annihilation, but rather about finding a way to replace a member of the legendary Warner Bros. boy band.

I just don't know if this kind of crazy behavior is contagious.

Emma Thomas returned from meeting Ali Emmanuel, chatted briefly with Martin, and then left with Nolan.

Then Thomas came over and said, "Emma Thomas is pressuring Ali to give the WMA full support to director Nolan on the Interstellar project."

Martin said, "Go back and find Ali, and tell him I want to play the male lead in Interstellar."

Nolan is now WMA's number one director client, and Martin is WMA's number one actor client.

The brokerage firm had no choice but to support them.

Thomas said, "I have already spoken with Ali, and WMA will fully support you."

"Nothing else, I'm leaving." Martin was preparing to go see a dance performance that evening.

Saoirse Ronan texted him directly, saying she had learned a new dance.

High art, in particular, easily cultivates noble sentiments in people.

Thomas said, "Several close colleagues at the company, and my clients..."

Martin waved his hand: "You can handle these small matters. Contact Jessica if anything comes up; she's in charge of the studio's day-to-day operations."

Thomas said no more.

Martin left WMA and got into the car Bruce had driven.

Bruce handed the phone back to him: "Harris just called. Depp has secured the penthouse in Columbia Tower for $900 million."

Martin smiled and said, "Sure."

"Depp currently has enough money to cover the next tax payment and fines, as well as the salaries of his staff and lawyers," Bruce continued. "Harris has inquired and found that Depp's other fixed assets will be sold off gradually."

Martin nodded: "No rush, wait for the next cycle."

This amount of money seems like a lot, but with back taxes, team salaries, dealing with Amber Heard's lawsuit, legal fees for suing the Mandel Brothers, and Depp's daily expenses, it won't last very long.

It is said that Depp's minimum monthly expenses are $200 million, and the maximum is unknown.

These are not problems unless a financial crisis occurs.

Martin received a call from Nicholson when he was almost at the dance villa.

"Meryl's throwing a party in Malibu this weekend, and she invited the three of us," Nicholson asked Martin. "Do you have time?"

Given Nicholson's decades-long on-and-off relationship with Meryl Streep, Martin readily agreed, out of respect for his boss: "Okay, we'll go together."

(End of this chapter)