America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Burbank, Davis Film Studio.

"We have reached out to all the members of the Academy actors in North America,"

Rita, the head of the PR team, was presenting the Oscar campaign progress to Martin, "Only their votes count for the acting categories, and I am one hundred percent certain that you will get an Oscar nomination."

Martin nodded slightly.

Thomas directly asked, "What about the chances of winning?"

Rita did not mislead her clients and spoke the truth, "No more than sixty percent at most. Martin's performance and character have been widely recognized, but we cannot ignore the inherent shortcomings of the film's subject matter."

Martin said, "Keep lobbying and publicity going. After the Academy ballots are mailed out, use a substantial amount of money to buy space in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, and Hollywood Reporter for continued advertising and soft articles."

"I have already made contact," Rita's team was always closely connected with the media.

Martin added, "Let's keep in touch."

Rita left the office.

At this time, Thomas said, "Cartier has sent word that in a few days, near Santa Monica Old Pier, they will be shooting an outdoor scene for an advertisement."

He opened his bag and took out a script, "It's simple."

Martin took it and looked it over; it was indeed nothing special. In total, there were just over a dozen scenes which could be completed in a day if all went well.

At most, it wouldn't take more than two days.

Thomas added, "For the promotion, Cartier has already started spreading information about the shooting, starting with a wave of advertisements."

This kind of thing was very common in commercial endorsements, and Martin had no objections, saying, "Tell them I'll be there on time."

Thomas responded, "I'll send them a reply right away."

Glancing at the time, Martin called Bruce, "Let's go to the Century City Plaza. Warner Bros. has a DVD promotion event for 'The Dark Knight' today."

Before heading out, Martin grabbed several newspapers and skimmed through them quickly in the car. On the business and entertainment pages, he saw the messages released by Cartier.

The content was similar, mostly mentioning that he was going to shoot the latest Cartier men's watch advertisement near Santa Monica Old Pier.

Martin understood this was a pre-emptive notification to the media in Los Angeles so they would hurry over to film and report on the event.

With Cartier men's watches providing an endorsement fee of 10 million US dollars annually, it was natural to utilize it to the fullest extent.

Arriving at the Century City Shopping Plaza, Martin joined Nolan and continued to champion 'The Dark Knight' DVD sales.

In offline DVD sales, both Bale and Martin enjoyed a 2% gross profit share.

North American box office revenue was a one-off deal, ceasing after the movie finished its theatrical run, while the DVD share, although low in percentage, provided a long-term income.

As long as the DVD kept selling, Martin would continue to receive an uninterrupted income stream.

Even in the years when streaming rose and DVD declined, many movies' DVDs could still achieve North American sales of sixty to seventy million US dollars.

Of course, that couldn't compare to the present.

Around 2010, Hollywood was in the era of DVDs, with blockbuster movies like 'Spider-Man 3' and 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' sometimes earning DVD sales comparable to the North American box office.

Warner Bros. released three versions of 'The Dark Knight' DVD: the regular version at 19.9 US dollars, the Blu-ray high-definition at 29.9 US dollars, and the Blu-ray collector's edition at 64.99 US dollars.

Besides the making-of documentary disc, purchasers of the latter could choose one model among the Joker, Batman, and the Batmobile.

When the first week's sales were calculated, the Joker model accounted for nearly seventy percent of all sales.

After 'The Dark Knight' set a series of North American box office records, it created new records in the North American film market with the release and sales of the DVD.

On the first day the disc was released, the two Blu-ray versions sold over 800,000 copies, and including the regular DVD sets, 'The Dark Knight' broke the record set by 'Pirates of the Caribbean 2,' with first-day DVD sales of 66.45 million US dollars!

That was not even accounting for rentals!

In the first week of release, 'The Dark Knight' DVD sold 155 million US dollars in North America alone, setting another record.

It was an era when DVDs created sales myths.

In his past life, Martin experienced a time when 'Avatar' Blu-ray sales in four days exceeded the cumulative sales of 'The Dark Knight' in a year and a half.

The once 'Avatar' DVD, on its North American release day, sold more than 3.2 million copies across all versions!

Martin certainly remembered James Cameron's super production; 'The Dark Knight' crew had not publicly recruited actors when Thomas made contact with them, but James Cameron directly rejected Martin.

James Cameron hadn't even considered using A-list stars; he wanted to invest all funds possible into special effects production.

There was no chance for contributing funds for a role, with major film production companies vying to get a share of the investment in 'Avatar.' Where could a star's studio get a turn?

Without sufficient strength, even with money, one couldn't grab the right to invest in a James Cameron project.

The next day, Martin postponed another public event for 'The Dark Knight' and went to Paramount Pictures, where 'Benjamin's' crew needed to record some scenes and perform motion capture shooting again.

After a busy half-day, the work was successfully completed, and Martin found David Fincher.

Together, they went to the studio's break area.

Martin handed over a part of the manuscript for "Gone Girl" to David Fincher, "This is the novel about love and marriage I mentioned to you last time. I was going to bring it to you before, but Gillian informed me that another part was about to be completed, so I waited for her a while longer."

"Let me take a look, feel free to do as you please," David Fincher said as he flipped through the manuscript, no longer paying attention to Martin, and started to read carefully.

Within minutes, he became engrossed in the plot of the novel.

The suspenseful and edgy storyline, with its very dark themes, was right up David Fincher's alley.

Among Hollywood's top directors, David Fincher's style was undoubtedly the darkest.

Martin ordered a cup of tea and patiently waited.

After quite some time, when he saw the female protagonist enter the story, David Fincher couldn't help but laugh out loud, reacting just like Martin did when he first read that part.

After laughing for a while, David Fincher said, "This novel is so interesting, dark suspense mixed with black humor."

Martin put down his teacup and asked, "You've reached the part where the female protagonist officially appears?"

David Fincher nodded slightly, "Yes, the female protagonist has made her entrance; this novel is a masterpiece."

He knew why Martin had brought it over and said directly, "Can you wait for me a while? Wait until I've finished all the post-production for 'Benjamin,' then I can focus and properly consider how to adapt it and whether it's suitable for me to direct."

Without any hesitation, Martin replied, "No problem, David, I can wait for you for a year."

The novel would take at least a year to complete and be published, so he had plenty of time to wait for David Fincher.

David Fincher, being particular, returned the manuscript to Martin, saying, "I'll give you a call when I find the time."

Martin nodded, "That's fine."

......

At Santa Monica Commercial Plaza, on the temporary stage set up by The Dark Knight Crew, Bale and Nolan were answering questions from fans.

A big crowd of fans had gathered around, and Boris, having shaved his beard, didn't stand out at all.

He sat on a bench, having waited the entire afternoon without seeing the target appear.

Victor came over from the sidewalk and sat next to him, saying, "Boss, I don't think he's going to come."

Boris inquired, "What happened?"

Speaking softly, Victor said, "Just now I had the bearded guy dress up as Joker and ask an entertainment reporter. Turns out Martin Davis canceled his appearance last minute."

Boris stood up and instructed, "Notify everyone to pull back."

After so much planning, even the escape route was ready, but the person didn't show up…

Back in the car, the bearded man was quite annoyed, venting, "These Hollywood stars have no professional ethics at all; they're always slacking off, a bunch of shiny on the surface scumbags!"

When Boris's gaze swept over, the bearded man quickly shut his mouth.

Victor drove them back to a detached house he rented in Santa Monica.

Soon after, two other cars stopped near the back door of the house, and bodyguards, along with five other individuals, sneaked into the house soundlessly.

The bags they carried on their backs held long guns, which Boris instructed them to stow away properly.

The muscular blond man commented, "Boss, these American guns aren't easy to handle; it'd be best to get some AKs."

Boris retorted, "This is America, not Russia. You use whatever guns you can get your hands on!"

Victor added, "The AR series is also quite easy to get used to, you all can familiarize yourselves with them later."

The Russian underworld in Los Angeles had been under heavy LAPD crackdown since the incident at Burbank Middle School. Boris and his crew, unable to find their own people, had to rely on intermediaries to buy weapons from the black market, but the arms dealers were only willing to sell them the high-priced AR series.

Playing in an away game, many things called for adaptation.

For example, even though over a dozen people were supposed to come over, six were stopped at customs due to bad records and had to return by the same way they came.

"We can't keep waiting," Boris said, feeling more urgent as they got closer to the target. "We need to take care of it as soon as possible. I don't want to stay in this damned country a day longer than necessary."

Victor continued to browse the newspapers when he spoke up, "Boss, in two days, Martin Davis will be shooting a men's watch advert for Cartier at Santa Monica Pier."

"Are you sure?" Boris asked, "It won't be like today, will it?"

"It's news released by Cartier, confirmed by Martin Davis's agent. It can't be wrong," Victor assured.

The bearded man brought over a map and spread it out on the table, pointing to the waterfront, "The old pier is here."

Boris glanced at it and asked Victor, "Can we retreat by sea to the safe house there?"

"I'll go take a look later, get the speedboat and car ready in advance. It shouldn't be too difficult," answered Victor.

Boris grabbed a glass bottle of Coke, cracked it open and took a big gulp, saying, "We'll prioritize capturing him alive. He can be hurt, but not to death. I want to use these glass bottles to smash his head in one at a time!"