America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 766 Robbery Prevention Drill

After finishing his drinks, Martin exchanged personal contact information with Scarlett Janssen and then returned to his hotel.

Just as agreed upon during the initial contact, Blake Lively moved directly into Martin's suite.

Jeremy Renner, who lived on the same floor, saw the double doors closed and muttered "what a bunch of scumbags!" before returning to his room alone. He thought Martin's advice on picking up girls made a lot of sense, and decided to talk to that Canadian model again later; maybe that would end his single life.

Martin got involved with another actress from the film crew, which wouldn't even be considered news on the set of "The Town".

Although the crew members gossip in private, everyone has a sense of entitlement.

Over the next few days, the crew filmed scenes involving the female supporting character, including several explicit scenes between Martin and Blake Lively.

After a relaxing weekend, Villeneuve put the final gunfight scene on the filming schedule.

This climax scene is undoubtedly the most important part of the entire film, and Villeneuve made a series of preparations before the official start of filming.

First and foremost, there are guns.

Like most Hollywood film crews, all firearms used during filming were real guns. In light of previous incidents, the crew established a four-layer security check system.

The prop master, the safety officer, Bruce, and the actor himself.

Then watch and analyze classic gunfight movie clips selected by Villeneuve, and finally learn about the background of this robbery.

The former mainly consisted of the actors, prop masters, and production crew, who watched a scene from "Heat" depicting a bank robbery.

Especially the gunfight scenes.

Villeneuve told Martin and Jeremy Reyner, "You'll watch this and '44 Minutes' before you take action."

Jeremy Renner asked, "44 Minutes?"

Martin replied, "A documentary about the North Hollywood bank robbery."

Jeremy Reyner understood.

The inclusion of footage from other films raised copyright concerns, prompting Martin to ask Villeneuve, "Did you get the license?"

Villeneuve stated, "We have obtained the licenses for both films."

In this heist scene, the heist team led by the protagonist McCree will engage in a fierce firefight with the FBI and Boston police. Both sides will use automatic weapons, and the gunfight style will be realistic.

After watching the classic film clip, Villeneuve made a phone call to confirm that everyone had arrived, and then got down to business: "Last week, you all received the updated script for this scene. Based on the latest situation of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park, we've made some adjustments to the scene to make it more realistic."

Martin confirmed, "The deal's been reached with Fenway Park?"

"Starting tomorrow and continuing until the next business day, film crews are free to shoot within the Fenway Stadium area," Villeneuve stated. "The entire Fenway Stadium area will be open to film crews free of charge."

Martin nodded slightly. Graham had already reached an agreement with John Henry before filming began.

The logos of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park will be shown in close-up in the final cut.

In addition to sponsoring the filming, Fenway Sports Group will also open its sports field to the filming crew free of charge.

The conference room door was then opened from the outside, and Graham King walked in with a woman wearing a red dress and black high heels.

The woman was around thirty years old, tall and slender, with exquisite and beautiful makeup. She had long, flowing brown waves, diamond earrings, a Cartier women's watch, and a wedding ring on her ring finger that perfectly embodied the meaning of a "pigeon egg" diamond.

Her gaze swept past everyone else and landed directly on Martin. She strode over quickly and said, "Hello Martin, I'm Linda Henry."

Graham explained, "Linda is the head of public relations for Fenway Sports and is also John Henry's wife."

The production team was working with Fenway Sports Group, and Martin certainly knew who John Henry was—the owner of Fenway Sports Group, the company that owns the Boston Red Sox.

The exquisite and beautiful woman in red in front of me is the boss's wife of Fenwei Group.

Martin shook hands with Linda Henry: "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Linda, who is in charge of the company's publicity business, knew Martin before and was aware that her husband's assets might not be as much as Martin's. She said with a smile, "I hope that through this movie, we can establish a good channel for cooperation and work together in the future."

Martin politely replied, "Thank you to Fenway Group for their support of the production team."

After exchanging pleasantries, he got to the point: "I didn't expect Mrs. Henry to come in person to explain the situation."

Linda's smile was as radiant as her red dress: "I'm now in charge of Fenway Group's advertising business; it's my job."

After exchanging a few words, Graham King introduced Linda Henry to director Villeneuve and supporting actor Jeremy Renner, among others.

After giving a formulaic response, Linda had her assistant connect the laptop she brought to the projector and personally explain the background of the scene.

In the final scene, the four-man team of the male protagonists doesn't rob a bank, but rather Fenway Sports Complex.

Linda pointed her laser pointer at Fenway Park on the projection screen and said, "Fenway Park has always been the home stadium with the highest average attendance in the entire league, maintaining a record of consecutive sold-out games since May 15, 2003."

Jeremy Reyner couldn't help but mutter to Martin, "Even the Boston Celtics don't have this kind of attendance."

Martin was not familiar with the four major American sports leagues, so he did not respond.

Linda continued, "On every Red Sox game day, Fenway Park welcomes 40,000 enthusiastic consumers who treat game day like Boxing Day, spending lavishly on tickets, food and beverage services, beer and snacks, team merchandise, souvenir shops, and more. Each game day brings in $3 million in revenue for Fenway Sports, much of it in cash."

Villeneuve added, "This robbery is about stealing the cash revenue from Fenway Stadium."

Martin deliberately asked, "Linda, aren't you worried that the movie's release will lead to copycat crimes?"

"We were worried about being robbed, so we chose to work with the film crew," Linda said with a smile. "After 9/11, the Washington authorities took the lead in inviting Hollywood directors, screenwriters, and producers to a meeting to brainstorm ideas for terrorist attacks on the United States in order to prevent them from happening in advance."

Martin had heard about this and nodded slightly: "It's said that some of the ideas later became the plot of a movie."

Linda added, "The scene you filmed was also a test of our security measures. John and I were quite shocked when we saw the robbery scene in the script where the perpetrators pretended to be police officers. If a real robber did that, the chances of success would be quite high."

The script was rewritten based on the actual operation of Fenway Park, and she said directly: "In addition to the weekly game days, the surrounding shops also have income. All the cash is collected in the vault every day, sorted by the vault staff, and then sent to the bank every Monday. In recent years, the weekly income has averaged more than $350 million."

Villeneuve added, "The amount of the robbery in the film is set at $350 million."

Martin knew that this figure didn't include season tickets, GG sponsorships, and television broadcasting rights: "The team's revenue is staggering."

Linda said with a smile, "It's a pity that there aren't enough people at the stadium on days other than game days."

Martin asked, "There should be tourists, right?"

"There are some tourists, but Fenway Park isn't popular enough." Linda looked at Martin. "Hopefully, we can work together more deeply in the future."

She made no secret of her purpose in collaborating: "John and I want Fenway Park to become a landmark that Hollywood movies are most eager to destroy, like the Golden Gate Bridge, the Hollywood Hills, the Washington Monument, and the Statue of Liberty."

It must be said that Fenway Group has some really good ideas about business operations.

If Hollywood movies could achieve this level of popularity, not to mention tourists from North America, overseas tourists alone would flock to the area.

The origin and destination of the robbed funds are clearly explained, which also facilitates the performance of the main characters' team.

The preparatory meeting ended quickly.

The following morning, the crew arrived at Fenway Park to film the final robbery scene.

From the robbery to the gunfight, all the scenes in this movie will be filmed on location at and around Fenway Stadium.

The film crew mobilized dozens of vehicles and gathered them in the parking area facing the street at the stadium.

Many of these were police cars temporarily provided by the BPD.

Off-duty police officers can come and act as extras if they are interested.

Fenway Sports Complex was originally built in the 1920s and 30s. It may have been relatively empty at that time, but now it has become a bustling commercial district.

The prop trailer was opened, and a large number of firearms were taken out. Several prop masters prepared blank rounds according to the crew's requirements.

Director Villeneuve was still worried, so he came over to check it out himself.

Two safety officers wore recorders throughout the entire process, providing supervision.

After the weapons were ready, Bruce came over to check them again and then distributed them to each actor.

Martin received a modified automatic rifle from Bruce.

Unlike the previous two times, this time they used AR series firearms.

Martin and Jeremy Renner donned bulletproof vests and full BPD uniforms as required for the shoot.

As the film crew cleared the set, Villeneuve gave the order, and a barrage of gunfire erupted.

Martin fired repeatedly through the window of the underground parking garage, the muzzle flashes from his gun being clearly captured by a nearby camera.

Villeneuve called for a stop after filming the scene for less than ten seconds.

Then, the four men gathered together and engaged in a shootout with the FBI team in the underground parking garage.

Two minor accomplices, the younger one of whom was quickly killed off at the director's request.

Villeneuve kept making adjustments, and the gunfight scenes were filmed intermittently. A ten-second shot might be used to shoot tens of minutes of footage.

The scenes here were filmed for four whole days, and were not completed until the day before the Boston Red Sox's next game.

Actors such as Jeremy Renner and Blake Lively have finished their scenes and left the production.

Martin, the absolute protagonist, will have to hold on for a while longer.

As the new week began, an old friend of producer Graham suddenly visited the set and showed great interest in Martin.

(End of this chapter)