America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 845 The Crooked-Mouthed War God Emma

"Every few years, musicals always experience a revival."

In the Beauty and the Beast studio at Disney Studios, Alan Horn, accompanied by director Bill Condon, looked at the latest costumes and said, "Martin has given us a successful example; now it's up to you."

Bill Condon, having just read the reports about "La La Land," felt somewhat pressured and suddenly had an idea: "President, could we get Martin to play the Beast?"

Alan Horn was utterly speechless, retorting directly, "Do you think that's possible? To hire a top Hollywood star to play a beast whose true form is barely even shown?"

Bill Condon knew it was a pipe dream, but he figured he had to try anyway—what if it worked? He said, "Why don't we ask?"

Alan Horn raised his hand to interrupt him: "No need, do you think I didn't ask?"

Upon hearing this, Bill Condon gave up hope.

Martin Scorsese has proven with La La Land that musicals, if made well, will definitely have a market and an audience, and the market potential is huge.

Alan Horn's phone rang. He answered it and said with a laugh, "Martin, congratulations! La La Land is a box office hit... Haha, as the distributor, Disney will definitely follow up with the subsequent publicity and promotion. This is bound to be a film with a North American box office of over $2 million. We'll strive to get it to over $2.5 million in North America."

Bill Condon couldn't help but feel envious as he listened to Alan Horn's words.

He remembered clearly that the director of La La Land was born in the 80s, and strictly speaking, this was only the young director's second official film.

The other party was lucky to seize this opportunity from Martin; the box office of this one film may equal the total box office of all the films he has directed.

Who wouldn't want to make a lot of money?

Bill Condon was envious.

Alan Horn left quickly.

The studio continues to work on preparations for the film.

Bill Condon had just returned to his office when someone came to visit him: Jason Weinberg, an agent from CAA.

The latter shook hands with Bill and said, "Did Amber call you?"

Amber is Bill Condon's agent and is also represented by CAA.

Bill smiled and said, "Of course, I've temporarily put aside my work to entertain you."

Jason came over with a purpose, and without beating around the bush, he said directly, "The third audition for the female lead is about to begin for this film. Emma Watson really likes the role, so I'd appreciate your help during the audition."

Bill thought for a moment and said directly, "Personally, I also think Emma is a good fit for the role of Belle. I feel she is more suitable than Saoirse Ronan, who was recommended by Disney. But Jason, you know, I am just the director of the crew. I have the right to make suggestions on casting, but not the right to decide."

Emma Watson was Jason Weinberg's number one client, but after the Harry Potter series ended, Emma Watson's career stagnated. Not only did her career not develop smoothly, but she also got into the "poop incident," which seriously damaged her personal reputation.

Hollywood and movie fans are forgetful, and new stars are constantly emerging. If Emma Watson wants to continue to thrive in this industry, she must reverse the decline.

Jason asked, "Besides Martin Davis, who else has the final say on the main roles?"

Bill pointed in the direction of the Disney building: "Alan Horn, President and Co-Chairman of Disney Studios."

He added, "In the film business, Alan Horn highly respects Martin Davis's advice, and I believe you can understand that."

Jason nodded: "I understand, follow the successful ones..."

Bill said, "You can rest assured about my side. I will recommend Emma. But if you want to get this lead role, you have to get Martin on your side. And Martin... I heard that one of the competitors for this role, Saoirse Ronan, is Martin's student and has a very bad relationship with Emma Watson."

"What students? They all use the paths below to pave their way up." To some extent, Jason wasn't wrong; he had confidence in his client: "What Saoirse Ronan can do, Emma can do even better! And Emma is much prettier than her."

Bill could only do so much for now, saying, "Good luck."

Jason left Bill's office and immediately called to inquire about Martin. CAA quickly gave him an answer: Martin had gone with the La La Land crew for promotional appearances and was not in Los Angeles for the time being.

He went to see Emma Watson, intending to wait until Martin returned to Los Angeles before making any further plans.

During the film's promotional period, the main cast and crew were extremely busy. Martin was traveling all over the world, and he only returned to Atlanta during the Thanksgiving holiday to spend a few days with Elena.

On Thanksgiving Day, La La Land had an astonishingly high attendance rate, grossing nearly $2000 million in a single day.

This musical, featuring a rather controversial female lead, became one of the most popular movies during Thanksgiving.

However, with the release of new films, La La Land was dethroned from the top of the box office charts.

Warner Bros. and DC Films' new Justice League cinematic universe project has been launched once again, with "Man of Steel," carrying countless hopes of the Warner Bros. team, being released during the Thanksgiving season.

Riding on Superman's decades-long reputation and explosive action sequences, Man of Steel grossed $1.15 million in its opening weekend in North America.

Superman is Superman after all.

However, the film's reception, like Zack Snyder's other works, has been polarized.

And it's more serious than ever before.

The praise was mostly focused on the action scenes, while the criticism was mainly directed at the storyline.

Zack Snyder once again demonstrated his biggest weakness: trying to cram too much into the film, making it impossible to tell a story within a normal runtime.

This highly stylized director, given a two-hour runtime, needs three hours to tell the story clearly.

But a three-hour story requires a four-hour runtime.

There's simply no solution.

Also during this Thanksgiving weekend, "La La Land," now in its second week of release, maintained a stable box office trend, taking in $3895 million in its second weekend.

Including the first four days' earnings, including the Thanksgiving holiday, the film's North American box office reached $1.45 million.

Moreover, the film has consistently maintained a strong reputation.

"La La Land is one of the best movies of the year."

"This film brought about a revival of musicals."

"The dance sequences performed by the male and female leads were breathtakingly beautiful, and the director's control over the film was truly astonishing!"

Both Davis Studios and Disney Studios will be pushing La La Land into awards season as one of their key contenders this year.

Martin is self-aware; his performance in the film was decent in terms of dancing, but his singing was only average. Therefore, he doesn't even plan to compete for a Best Actor nomination.

Saoirse Ronan, on the other hand, is planning to try her luck with a Best Actress nomination.

However, the film's primary award to contend for is Best Picture.

…………

The success of "Man of Steel" seemed to bring Warner Bros. and DC Films, who were shrouded in gloom due to the disastrous failure of "Green Lantern," a sense of relief as if the clouds had parted and the sun was shining brightly on their heads.

To boost morale and announce to the world that the Justice League cinematic universe had a successful start, Warner Bros. and DC Films immediately hosted a celebration party after Thanksgiving weekend, inviting numerous media outlets and industry peers to attend.

Martin, as the producer and lead actor of the DC film project, was also among those invited.

In the banquet hall of the Burbank Hotel, Kevin Tsujihara and Hamada were in high spirits, frequently clinking glasses with others.

Surrounded by numerous Warner Bros. executives, Zack Snyder appears to have replaced Nolan as Warner Bros.' most valued director.

Henry Cavill, the new Superman, is also attracting much attention.

The Justice League universe has shaken off the shadow of Green Lantern's failure and made a successful start, seemingly showing hope of catching up with the Marvel Avengers universe.

Nolan glanced over there and said to Martin, "They're being too optimistic."

Martin could understand: "Success is hard-won."

Nolan pondered for a moment, and seeing that no one else was around, said, "The reviews for 'Man of Steel' are mixed. If we don't proceed cautiously, the future development is not very optimistic."

Just as Martin was about to speak, he noticed Gal Gadot smiling at him from a short distance away. He immediately nodded in response and then said to Nolan, "You understand the mindset of Warner and DC executives."

He had barely finished speaking when he saw Emma Watson, with her long, narrow face, walk past Gal Gadot.

It seems this person hasn't actually fought with J.K. Rowling yet.

Martin thought to himself that he would talk to Nicholson another day and see how to turn the Harry Potter crew against each other. The old rascal who loved a good show would definitely be interested.

Meanwhile, Kevin Tsujihara summoned all those directly involved in the production of the DC film, including Martin and Nolan.

"The huge success of 'Man of Steel' is largely thanks to director Zack Snyder!" Kevin Tsujihara raised his glass, clearly elevating Zack Snyder's status and importance, and said, "Let's all raise a glass to Director Snyder."

In this situation, everyone gave him face and raised their glasses to congratulate Zack Snyder.

Kevin Tsujihara, as the leader of Warner Bros.' film team, has been criticized by many people in recent years, but now he can finally hold his head high.

At this moment, facing a group of key figures belonging to the DC films, Kevin Tsujihara decided to say a few words to boost morale: "We have had a good start now, and we need to keep it up. Although our old rival Marvel's Avengers are temporarily ahead, I believe that DC can catch up."

He smiled broadly and exuded confidence: "Moreover, compared to Marvel's superhero movies, DC has its own advantages, and we will further strengthen these advantages!"

Former Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons, who has already landed the role of Alfred, asked curiously, "What are your specific advantages? I paid a lot of attention to that when I was filming."

Hamada chimed in, "Compared to the action scenes in 'Man of Steel,' don't you guys think Marvel's action choreography looks like elementary school kids fighting?"

These words prompted reflection and recollection among those present.

Soon, everyone nodded in agreement, because Hamada's statement was correct.

The action scene design in "Man of Steel" is truly worthy of the title of superhero.

Even if it doesn't destroy the world, it's still on the level of destroying a city.

Martin and Nolan exchanged a glance and both laughed.

Because if we're really going to compare them like that, the action design in The Dark Knight isn't even worthy of being called a kindergarten fight.

Kevin Tsujihara then looked at Zack Snyder and urged him publicly, "We've successfully taken the first step. The second step is crucial. You need to speed up preparations. 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' must be released no later than the 2014 holiday season!"

These words put Zack Snyder under immense pressure. A film of this scale normally requires a year to prepare and a year to film and produce, with a holiday release in 2014, making the timeframe quite tight.

Kevin Tsujihara didn't give Zack Snyder a chance to back down: "We're already far behind Marvel. If we don't catch up, DC will be forgotten."

Despite his high position, he is not lacking in decisiveness: "Another point is that I plan to add a subtitle to the film, officially naming it 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,' to fully promote the Justice League movie."

Zach Snyder nodded: "I agree."

That concluded the matter here, and Martin and Nolan went elsewhere.

Although Nolan recommended Zack Snyder to Warner Bros., the Noves had completely withdrawn from the Justice League project after Man of Steel, and their only connection with DC's film business was Martin Scorsese's Joker.

Zach Snyder approached Nolan, wanting to speak with him alone for a while.

Martin simply moved to another location.

Gal Gadot, whose long legs were showing under her gown, was about to approach Martin, but stopped when she saw Emma Watson standing opposite him.

Wearing a pale yellow evening gown, Emma Watson pulled out a chair and sat opposite Martin, flashing a smile that revealed her dimples: "Good evening, Martin."

"Good evening, Ms. Watson." Martin probably doesn't appreciate this type. Seeing Emma Watson's single dimple when she smiles, he always feels that she looks like a crooked-mouthed war goddess.

Emma Watson was straightforward: "Alone tonight? I didn't see your date."

Martin said, "I came with director Nolan, without any female companions."

Her agent, Jason, gave her clear instructions: if she could win over Martin, she could land the lead role in "Beauty and the Beast." Emma Watson was confident that she still had charm, after all, she changed boyfriends at an astonishingly fast pace.

She maintained her signature crooked, warrior-like smile: "Since I don't have a male companion either, why don't we pair up?"

This is not an implication, but an explicit statement.

Martin understood, of course, but the thought of Emma Watson covered in yellow stains on her backside and trousers at the Disney studio completely dampened his enthusiasm.

Even though you know it's fake, the mud falling into your crotch can easily make you think it's real.

I can't bring myself to do it.

Moreover, Emma Watson is Saoirse Ronan's arch-rival.

Martin politely declined, saying, "Sorry, my girlfriend is picking me up in a bit."

Emma Watson, slightly embarrassed by her attempt to flirt, said, "We can have a wonderful evening together."

Martin glanced at his watch: "I should go."

He got up and left without a second thought.

Emma Watson bit her lip in frustration, but there was nothing she could do.

Martin greeted the organizers' representatives Kevin Tsujihara and Hamada before taking his leave.

As for the crooked-mouthed war god, Martin automatically forgot about him.

(End of this chapter)