America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 787 Super Scam

"What suggestion?" Although Nicholson had only dealt with Musk a limited number of times, he had seen too many scoundrels in his life and could see through Musk's scoundrel nature at a glance.

"That bastard's suggestion must be brilliant," he said. "Good ideas should be discussed together."

Leonardo DiCaprio also joined in the fun: "By brainstorming ideas together, your suggestions will be even more brilliant."

Musk pointed discreetly at Tanlura Riley, who was talking to David Fincher in the distance: "My ex-wife wants to go back to Hollywood and wants Martin to help her out."

Nicholson looked Musk up and down, making sure he wasn't joking, and thought to himself, "Is this guy out of his mind?"

Leonard patted Musk on the shoulder and asked, "Does Martin have something on you? Or do you owe him a huge favor? Why are you trying to please him?"

Martin said, "You two shut up. No one will think you're mute if you don't talk."

Having finally found an opportunity to mess with Martin, Nicholson was not about to let it slip by. He said to Musk, "Dude, you're handing Little Red Riding Hood to the Big Bad Wolf."

Leonardo was about to speak again.

Martin slapped him on the shoulder: "Do you want to go back to 11 seconds in the 100 meters?"

Leonardo quickly shut his mouth.

Musk then looked at Martin.

Martin said, "For the sake of our friendship, I'll help Tanlura find a suitable role."

Musk is a master of rhetoric: "That's what a true brother is!"

Leonardo thought to himself, "I also wish I had a brother like you!"

Tobey Maguire arrived at this point, while Leonardo and Nicholson left.

Seeing that no one was around, Musk said, "I promised you a $5000 million investment, and it should be ready by the end of the year."

"No problem," Martin assured him. "I'll find Tanlura a heavyweight role."

Even if this deal was made with the sponsorship of Star Trek, there's nothing wrong with it.

After all, simply having money isn't enough to secure an investment opportunity in Tesla.

Martin then spoke briefly with Musk about Depp, whose divorce case with Amber Heard is still ongoing as Depp has chosen to appeal.

The longer this lawsuit drags on, the more damage it will do to Depp.

Depp seems to understand this as well. According to Musk, Depp plans to leave the troublesome United States and settle in France after the lawsuit is over and the debt to the IRS is paid off.

As the time drew to a close, the people in the lounge gradually left and entered the screening room.

David Fincher and Martin led the main cast and crew to sit in the front row.

The premiere screening began soon.

Accompanied by illustrations and video footage, the film uses narration to quickly and concisely introduce the background of the story.

Then, it quickly evolved into the traditional Hollywood-style individual heroism plot.

This is also the biggest highlight of the film.

In order to rescue the crew, the male protagonist created a real fake film crew in Hollywood.

From the script to the studio to the crew, everything is real.

They even spent a fortune buying GG in many newspapers.

All the realism serves the purpose of fraud. Only when the initial preparations are convincing enough, and the person goes to a foreign country, can they believe it's all true.

In fact, Martin had considered similar options when he came to Hollywood.

For example, this model can be used to invest a small amount of money upfront, create a real film crew, lure overseas investors to invest huge sums of money, and then run away with the money.

An even more sophisticated approach involves impersonating Steven Spielberg or James Cameron, calling people to express optimism about certain actors' talent and future prospects, and inviting them to join the cast, but requiring an upfront fee.

Los Angeles is full of aspiring actors who dream of success, their eyes burning with desire as they watch every opportunity, rushing to seize it the moment it even begins to appear.

When people are driven by greed and are in a hurry, even low-level scams have a high success rate.

Argo is a typical American patriotic film. Even the Washington authorities, who are often criticized by Hollywood, are portrayed positively in the film, actively supporting the rescue.

Thus, the protagonist, like every classic Hollywood hero, ventures alone into the unknown world to complete impossible missions, and even at the most crucial moment, challenges the existing system and rules with lofty personal values ​​to become the true savior.

This CIA agent can't drive a car, doesn't have any special skills, and doesn't know anything about explosives. He looks like an ordinary person, but such a character makes the rescue all the more thrilling and unbelievable.

The scene finally freezes on an illustration from the fake film "Argo" in the movie, thus bringing "Argo" to a close.

The theater erupted in enthusiastic applause. Although the ending of the film was predictable and the successful rescue was something they already knew, David Fincher's cinematic techniques created a rollercoaster of emotions and tension that kept the audience on the edge of their seats, culminating in a thrilling climax.

Martin stood up and clapped as he watched David Fincher, and at his urging, the rest of the cast and crew joined in clapping as well.

Producer Graham King exclaimed, "David, you've delivered a fantastic piece!"

He glanced at Martin and added, "You've created yet another classic character!"

Martin hugged Graham and David Fincher tightly.

The main cast and crew then went on stage to take their bows.

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause once again.

This film is actually detached from reality in many ways, but film adaptations are, after all, artistic reprocessing.

According to Tony Mendes himself, he entered Tehran under the guise of a fake film crew producer, and no one suspected him. He encountered virtually no obstacles and easily brought people out.

If we film it like that, the audience definitely won't like it.

After the premiere, David Fincher and Martin waited for a while in Chandler Hall.

Not long after, Alan Horn came to see the two of them in person and said, "Disney's audience feedback statistics are complete, and the average audience rating is A!"

David Fincher breathed a sigh of relief: "At least the film's box office is guaranteed."

Martin said, "A mainstream film like this, with guaranteed quality, will surely get good professional ratings."

Alan Horn said, "I just had someone speak with a few film critics, and they all said the film was very well made and far above average in quality."

Martin glanced at the time and said, "Let's go back early so we can all get a good night's sleep."

Alan Horn couldn't help but laugh: "The film's reviews will be fully released tonight, and you'll see good news tomorrow."

Several people left the Los Angeles Music Center one after another.

Martin was already used to the pressure of a movie release. He had two people at home who were still hungry, and after being drained of his energy, he went straight to sleep.

The next morning, reviews for Argo were fully released.

It has a 92% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 82 score on Metacritic. However, it has not yet been rated on IMDb due to insufficient number of ratings.

Mainstream media outlets have overwhelmingly given it positive reviews.

The Washington Post praised it, saying, "David Fincher delivers a stately, meticulously crafted political thriller with dark humor and realism. Martin Davis's performance is flawless; he portrays this elaborate deception within a deception flawlessly."

As Martin requested, the production team sent a copy to the White House well in advance.

At a regular White House press briefing, Obama also mentioned Argo: "This film tells a true story with minimal embellishment and maximum impact. It is a great historical footnote and the best movie I've seen this year."

Obama's comments can also be used as a selling point for this film.

The production team and Disney Studios are making the most of their remaining time to promote the film and attract more attention.

While filming the latest God of Gamblers movie for Coca-Cola, Martin Scorsese gave a joint interview to the media, specifically mentioning the new film.

On Friday, Argo opened in 3850 theaters across North America.

The film's R rating restricted access to theaters for some teenage viewers and also affected attendance.

Even so, after Friday, the film still grossed $1451 million on its opening day in North America.

Most importantly, it received very positive reviews from the audience.

According to Cinemascore's statistics on audience reviews, Argo received an average score of A.

This means the film can maintain a healthy box office trend.

Positive reviews from ordinary viewers can be found everywhere on Twitter, IMDb, and Instagram.

"This was truly an incredible rescue; Martin showed us what brilliant political deception really is!"

"The plot is gripping, and the series of suspenseful twists is very engaging."

"Even though I knew the ending of the movie, my heart was on edge the whole time I watched it."

Positive word-of-mouth from audiences often leads to a positive publicity effect, attracting new viewers to buy tickets and enter the cinema.

On Saturday, Argo had a mini-boom, with attendance improving compared to Friday, and the film grossed $1755 million for the day.

Although Monday being a workday inevitably leads to a decline in attendance for all movies on Sunday night, the film's box office performance over its opening weekend in North America was still quite impressive, accumulating a total of $4521 million.

The film's box office and critical success have given the production team enough confidence to compete for numerous awards, including the Oscars, during awards season.

This awards season will be exceptionally competitive.

Martin checked the movie schedule all the way up to the New Year and found many familiar films.

Among them are Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained", Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln", Tom Hooper's "Les Misérables", and Ang Lee's "Life of Pi".

Martin remembers clearly that Ang Lee won his second Academy Award for Best Director for "Life of Pi".

David Fincher's goal of achieving his first Oscar seems unlikely to be easy.

Of course, Fincher also has his advantages. Argo is more politically correct, and he is not the kind of young, impulsive director like Ben Affleck in his previous life.

His multiple Oscar nominations have also helped him accumulate considerable experience.

(End of this chapter)