America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 868 The Queen's Chess Game

Sunset Boulevard, Smoky House Bar.

In a booth, Leonardo opened a bottle of wine, poured a glass for himself and Nicholson across from him, and said, "That bastard Martin stood us up."

Nicholson picked up his glass and took a small sip. "He's talking about Hader Hastings, the founder of Netflix?"

Leonardo DiCaprio is quite familiar with this: "He is the founder and current chairman of Netflix."

Nicholson glanced at Leonardo, suddenly losing interest in him, and asked, "I remember that bastard Martin invested in Netflix. How much wealth does he have now?"

"We've invested in more than just Netflix; we've also invested in Apple and Tesla." Leonardo raised his glass and clinked it with Nicholson's. "I don't know the exact amount, but I can do the math."

Nicholson was thinking of Lorraine.

Leonard estimated, "Martin has a lot of Apple stock, all of which he bought in small lots on the stock market. He started buying them very early, back in 06, and they are currently worth at least $20 billion."

Nicholson grinned as he listened.

"Tesla is the easiest to estimate. We've dealt with that fat white guy Musk quite a bit. Martin's Tesla stock is worth at least $10 billion." Leonardo was relatively conservative: "Then there's Netflix. I don't know how much Martin has, but it's at least $15 billion."

Nicholson looked at Leonardo across from her; he was fat and ugly, not a good match for Lorraine.

Leonardo DiCaprio stated, "Martin's Davis Studios owns the rights to numerous blockbuster films. Although the studio isn't publicly listed, it's worth at least $500 million. There's also Martin's brand partnership with Coca-Cola, his real estate and other fixed assets, nearly $100 million in annual endorsement revenue, and high actor salaries and revenue sharing..."

Nicholson traced lines on the table with his fingers, silently calculating for a moment: "At least $65 billion in assets."

"That's the most conservative estimate," Leonard recalled. "I remember last year's Forbes list showed Hadd Hastings with only $30 billion in assets, less than half of Martin's."

Although Nicholson was a novice, he still knew the basics: "He raised too much money."

Leonardo drank a glass with him and poured him more wine: "That bastard Martin has a good eye for choosing movies and a good eye for investing. Now that bastard is the richest of the three of us."

Nicholson decided to give up on Leonardo: "Forget about you and Lorraine. I don't like forcing people, and I won't force you..."

"Wait!" Leonardo interrupted him. "Lorraine and I are perfectly fine, okay!"

Nicholson said, "Okay, you're all alright." He noticed Martin approaching from the direction Leonardo was turning away, deliberately leading the conversation: "Let's set a new goal..."

Leonardo perked up: "Yes! We're going to make Martin marry Lorraine, without a prenuptial agreement, and then we'll divide up Martin's fortune. Remember to give me half!"

Martin came up from behind, grabbed Leonardo by the neck, and pressed his hard knuckles against his temple: "Say ten times that you're the biggest idiot and piece of trash in America, or I'll blow your head off!"

Leonardo pointed at Nicholson across from him: "Jack is America's biggest idiot and piece of trash!"

Martin shoved the bastard aside and pulled over a high chair to sit down.

Leonard poured him a glass of wine and asked, "Have you finished discussing the Netflix deal?"

"We discussed a project." Martin nodded, recalling the TV series about the goldfish girl from his previous life, and asked, "You've been in Hollywood for decades and have a wide range of experience. Have you ever heard of any scripts, novels, or non-fiction works about chess?"

Leonardo shook his head: "This subject matter is too niche. There seem to be very few similar works. I've never paid attention to it before, and I've never heard anyone mention it."

"Chess?" Nicholson frowned in recollection. "I think I've seen it before, but it's been too long. Let me think about it."

Martin and Leonardo remained silent.

Nicholson thought for a while, took another sip of wine, and then said, "In the 1970s, a few years after Sharon Tate died, I read a novel by Roman Polanski. Polanski liked chess, and that novel was about chess."

Because of his relationship with Polanski and Sharon Tate, he retained some memories; otherwise, he would have forgotten them long ago: "It's about a female orphan in the 1950s or 60s who grew up to become a top chess master. The book's title... should be called The Queen's Chess Game."

Martin searched online but couldn't find it, because it was a novel about an obscure sport.

Nicholson confirmed: "That's right, it will be called 'The Queen's Chess Game'."

Martin trusted the old bastard, so he took out his phone and texted Thomas and Jessica, telling them to look for the novel and see if there were any related scripts in the industry.

Leonardo changed the subject, asking Martin, "Weren't you going to a mental health center to experience life there? When are you going? And to New York?"

“I’m not going to New York,” Martin said. “My therapist, Laura, has helped me get in touch with a physical therapy center in California that treats a lot of mental patients. I’ll go check it out.”

Leonardo had a similar experience and told Nicholson, "Jack, we need to visit Martin often and invite him out to parties, lest this pervert really turn into a lunatic."

Nicholson raised his glass, clinked it against Martin's, and said, "I hope you go crazy soon."

"Thank you!" Martin took a sip of his drink. "If I were crazy, the first thing I'd do is blow up your house, you two bastards, and drive you both crazy too."

Leonardo chimed in, "And then we march on Washington together?"

Martin raised his glass: "May you all go mad soon."

In the following days, in addition to participating in the post-production of "The Shallows", Martin spent his time visiting mental health centers, combining the cases given by Dr. Laura with on-site investigations of the conditions of some patients with dissociative identity disorder, in preparation for his subsequent performance.

That morning, Thomas arrived at the Disney studio with a pile of documents.

He went into Martin's director's office on the set of "The Shallows," placed a film crew and a novel on the desk, and said, "Finally found it."

Martin took a look. The script and the novel had the same title, "The Queen's Chess Game." The novel was written by Walter Tevez, and the script was written by Alan Scott.

Thomas said, "The script and the novel, as well as the author, were basically unknown. We tried not to alert our peers. Fortunately, we got the title of the novel and contacted the author through the publisher."

Martin read the script first, which was different from what he remembered. It was a movie script, but the content was about a female chess player who was born an orphan and defeated the former Soviet Union's world champion to become a top chess master.

The main storyline is the same as the series he remembers.

He looked at the original novel again to make sure there was no mistake, and asked, "What about the copyright? Who owns it now?"

"The copyright might be a bit of a problem," Thomas said directly. "A few years ago, Heath Ledger bought the film and television adaptation rights from screenwriter Alan Scott."

Martin was quite surprised: "The copyright is actually in Heath Ledger's hands?"

Thomas said in general: "In 1992, screenwriter Alan Scott bought the film and television adaptation rights and started writing the script, wanting to adapt it into a movie. However, he spent many years without finding an investor. A few years ago, he met Heath Ledger. The two were drug addicts and happened to talk about these things. So he sold the rights to Heath Ledger."

Martin understood. The script had been lingering in Hollywood for over twenty years, failing to be made into a movie or TV series, and even failing to attract any attention.

Thomas continued, "I had Ivan contact Alan Scott, and according to him, Heath Ledger's acting career has basically been over in recent years. No Hollywood production company with an investment of more than a million dollars is willing to cast him in an important role. He has gradually disappeared from the public eye, but he is unwilling to return to Australia to be a small actor and wants to find another way to become a director."

Bruce Willis was involved in the entire conflict between Martin Scorsese and Heath Ledger, as well as the series of events that occurred during the struggle for the Joker, and knew everything about it: "The reason he chose this script was that he felt that the novel's female protagonist, Beth Harmon, was struggling with drug addiction, which was very similar to his own experience, and he believed that he could bring the ideal effect to the screen."

Martin recalled the mess he had with Heath Ledger years ago, and perhaps it was because of these things that Heath Ledger didn't go to meet God like he did in his previous life.

His acting career was naturally very unsuccessful; he was basically ignored.

There's basically no chance of making a comeback through acting, so he wants to try his hand at directing.

Thomas said, "We haven't contacted Heath Ledger because we're worried he won't sell."

Given what happened back then, Heath Ledger might not sell, or he might demand an exorbitant price. Martin thought for a moment and asked, "Is Heath Ledger still on drugs?"

Thomas specifically inquired about this: "It has never stopped, otherwise it wouldn't have come to this point."

Martin looked at Bruce: "Go and find out the latest situation regarding Heath Ledger."

Thomas stated, "The initial copyright transfer, and the transfer agreement between Alan Scott and Heath Ledger, didn't have any restrictive clauses. We could find a newcomer to approach Heath Ledger and secure the copyright."

Bruce said, "Let's look at Heath Ledger's situation first."

…………

Venice, a seaside town near Los Angeles.

The afternoon sun shone on the sea. Heath Ledger drove to the seaside road, parked his car in a secluded parking lot, and waited patiently.

He used to be able to reliably get his stock from Michelle Bryan.

Although it's a bit expensive, the goods are of good quality and highly safe.

After Michelle Bryan's suicide, he had no choice but to risk going out to buy goods himself.

A dozen minutes later, a Mercedes SUV pulled up and stopped right next to Heath Ledger's driver's seat.

A series of knocking sounds rang out. Heath Ledger glanced at the Mexican man through the two car windows, rolled down the window, took out some cash, and handed it over.

The other driver also rolled down his window, took the cash, and handed Heath Ledger a paper bag.

The two inspected the goods separately.

Heath Ledger pulled out a small plastic bag, opened it, held it in front of him, and sniffed the air. The product was genuine.

The man next door confirmed that there was no problem with the money and said, "Contact us anytime if you need anything."

He loved these poisonous insects the most, as they allowed him to reap a continuous stream of wealth.

Heath Ledger packed up the goods, drove out of the parking lot, and returned to the detached house he had rented in Venice.

He parked his car on the side of the road and hurried inside his house.

In the distance, Ivan parked his car and dialed Bruce's private contact number. The two began to talk.

Not long after, a red BMW drove up and stopped behind Heath Ledger's car.

Gemma Ward glanced at her boyfriend's car, went straight into the house, and as soon as she turned from the entrance into the living room, she saw Heath Ledger lying on the sofa with his eyes vacant, as if his consciousness was not in his body.

She went to the coffee table, opened the paper bag, took out a small plastic bag, opened it, sat down next to Heath Ledger, and took a deep breath.

The two men, who had initially been listless, quickly became excited.

As everyone knows, when the poisonous insect gets excited, he can't wait to be shoved by the dog, and the two of them quickly rolled around in a ball.

Heath Ledger's reputation in Hollywood was already tarnished. Although his new girlfriend was a moderately famous Australian model, the key to their relationship was their shared interests.

After a long period of fussing, the sky gradually darkened, and the room finally became dark.

Heath Ledger called to order takeout, and Gemma Ward tidied up the house a bit, mainly putting away the goods.

"Just this little bit?" Gemma Ward asked.

Heath Ledger said, "That's the amount you can buy with all the cash."

Gemma Ward put the goods into a tin box and asked, "You used all the money to buy the goods?"

Heath Ledger didn't see a problem: "These aren't even enough for the two of us for a week."

Gemma Ward's addiction was much milder than her boyfriend's: "That money included the rent we used to pay. We've been behind on rent for a while, and if we don't pay the landlord two months' rent soon, we'll be evicted."

"Don't worry!" Heath Ledger said, "Drug addicts have no bottom line. If he dares to come and kick us out, I'm a lesbian and psychologically aware woman, and you're the opposite—he's discriminating against minorities!"

In the past year or so, Heath Ledger hasn't had a proper job, but he has carefully studied the changes in Hollywood, and this approach has proven quite effective in Los Angeles.

LAPD will also be very careful when encountering this.

Gemma Ward, who started receiving professional modeling training in her early teens, wasn't nearly as quick-witted as her boyfriend, who had been in the entertainment industry for years. She simply said, "It's not just about rent, but also our daily lives. You don't have any income, and that money I received was an advance payment for a fashion show. If we run out of money, where are we going to get merchandise next week?"

Heath Ledger seemed not to hear, slumped on the sofa without saying a word.

Gemma Ward tentatively asked, "Didn't you buy a script at a low price a few months ago, intending to turn it into a movie? Did you secure the investment?"

This reminded Heath Ledger, who stood up and looked around, finally finding the script for "The Queen's Game".

(End of this chapter)