America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

To support her Oscar campaign, New Yorker Natalie Portman held her engagement ceremony in Los Angeles.

The engagement ceremony seemed quite low-key, not many guests were invited, but word had already been quietly released, and dozens of entertainment reporters were gathered near a villa in Malibu, hoping to capture some exclusive news.

When Martin entered the villa, Ari Emanuel came over to greet him.

"Your idea is absolutely fantastic!" he said quietly, accompanying Martin to the lawn in the backyard. "Although the ballots won't start being mailed until the end of the month, Nat's momentum has already surpassed all the competitors."

Martin reminded him, "This kind of strategy can only be used once in a while; it won't be as effective next time."

Ari was aware of this and said, "If we can secure the Best Actress award this time, Nat's next step in her career will lean more towards commercial success. After Julia Roberts, Hollywood hasn't had another undisputed queen. Maybe Nat can compete for that spot."

He made a key point, "Nat is also one of our own."

Ari and Natalie Portman were both Jewish.

Martin asked, "Do you plan on making Nat the company's top female client?"

Ari nodded, "That's the idea. To become the top actress in Hollywood, it's all about the commercial aspect. She already has some initial contacts for projects post-Oscars, and it happens to involve you."

Thinking it over, Martin considered his related works—whether it was "The Martian" or "Escape from Tehran" which he had committed to star in, or "Napoleon's Aphrodite" which he had invested in—it seemed none had been in contact with Natalie.

Ari broadly mentioned, "Warner Bros.' big project, the adaptation of Gillian Flynn's new work 'Dark Places'—you've seen the original novel. It's a work centered around the female lead. 'Gone Girl' was a huge success, and this novel is receiving a lot of attention."

Martin commented on the current situation, "Gillan is now one of Hollywood's hottest authors and screenwriters."

Ari inquired, "Hasn't 'Gone Girl' grossed over 180 million US Dollars in North America?"

Martin replied, "As of yesterday, 185 million US Dollars."

Ari expressed admiration, "This will be another North American blockbuster surpassing 200 million US Dollars, nearly 500 million US Dollars globally. What's most remarkable is that it's an R-rated film, neither comedy nor horror nor action. Martin, your vision and influence are astounding."

Martin hadn't expected Warner Bros. to work with Natalie, but that's not something that can be said aloud. No one dares claim that "Dark Places" is definitely doomed to fail.

Moving onto the lawn, Martin saw Natalie and husband Benjamin.

He went over to offer his blessings and gift, then sat down beside Thomas, who had arrived earlier.

Thomas said, "I met with Ridley Scott at Warner Bros. Studios this morning. The post-production for 'Pharaoh and the Gods' is nearing its end. He doesn't have final cut privileges and estimates it'll be done by February. Ridley said he'll take about ten days of rest before starting prep for 'The Martian'."

Although the genre was magical epic, Ridley was still like with "Kingdom of Heaven," lacking final cut authority. Martin could already foresee the film's future.

He didn't meddle in other people's affairs and asked, "Has there been a reply from NASA?"

Using his connections in Washington and the White House, once Andy Weir's novel was complete, Martin had a batch of proofs from Random House sent directly to NASA.

The filming of this movie would need NASA's support.

Thomas added, "Louise has gone to Washington to finalize a cooperation agreement with NASA."

Martin said, "I'll give Louise a call later."

At this moment, Ari joined them and took a seat on the other side of Martin, saying, "Ridley postponed Fox's new 'Alien' to direct your 'The Martian.' It's a hardcore sci-fi film—are you confident it will work?"

Martin was definitely supposed to instill confidence, "I'm 80% sure it will be successful. Ridley excels in sci-fi…"

"No, Ridley's best at epics," Ari specifically reminded Martin. "Remember this, especially when you're talking to Ridley. Complimenting him and his work on epic films is more effective than anything else."

Martin got the message and said straightforwardly, "Ridley's epics are my absolute favorites."

Considering Ridley's epics, besides "Gladiator," it's perhaps best not to mention the others.

As the engagement ceremony started, Martin and the others stopped talking and observed quietly.

The photographers and videographers arranged beforehand were continuously taking pictures and recording, which would later be sent to the media. At this critical moment when the Oscar ballots were about to be sent out, it would spark another wave of interest.

The engagement ceremony was successfully concluded, and the hosts then arranged a reception.

Natalie, with her pregnant belly, found Martin and thanked him personally, "Your creative idea has put me far ahead of the other competitors."

Seeing the effects of her efforts, she was very happy, "Starting with the Gotham Independent Film Awards, I have already secured fourteen best actress awards from the precursors."

"No need to be polite, Nat," Martin smiled, "I saw 'Black Swan'; your performance was outstanding."

Natalie was far from modest, "I prepared a lot for that role and put in much effort. I practiced ballet for half a year, and I personally completed ninety percent of all the ballet scenes in the movie."

Martin casually nodded.

This kind of publicity is very normal for the Oscars, if it became known that many of the dance sequences were completed by a body double, Natalie might have difficulty even getting a nomination.

As long as she clinches the Oscar for Best Actress this year, Natalie will be the first female actress born in the '80s to win this award.
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In some respects, it symbolizes that she could become the foremost Hollywood actress born in the '80s.

She really wanted this award, "Voting will start soon, Martin, do you have any other ways to get more votes?"

Martin felt these measures were enough, "I can't think of any at the moment."

"You're a genius, in selecting scripts, in your acting, and in publicity," Natalie looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, and whispered, "Tonight, I'll send Benjamin away, and right in the bedroom I share with Benjamin, how about I properly thank you?"

She placed her hand on her protruding belly, "I might not be as pretty and sexy as Elizabeth Olsen, but you probably haven't experienced this special circumstance, have you?"

Though Martin often acted inhumanely, he still had a moral bottom line and was completely unmoved by Natalie's proposition.

Moreover, he had no grudges with Benjamin Millepied, and immediately said, "Nat, we are friends, there's no need for this, if you just focus on what's in front of you, you have a great chance of winning."

Natalie sighed in disappointment, "If only I had met you a few years earlier."

Having money, looks, status, and fame, as well as an ability in marketing and publicity.

Martin knew himself well and thought, would you have even spared me a glance a few years ago?

If they continued to talk alone, the conversation was bound to veer off topic again, so he made up an excuse and joined Ali and Thomas.

Ali asked, "What's wrong? Did you get a scare?"

Martin shook his head, unsure of what to say.

Ali, guessing that Martin had come from Natalie, understood and said, "Don't mind it, Nat can be a bit bold sometimes, playing wild. Her high intelligence, high education, and disinterest in fame are just a persona she's cultivated."

"Understood," Martin replied, not one to look down on her for that, as he was much the same. Ali and Thomas knew him inside out, and he self-deprecatingly said, "I'm still a 'sunshine boy' and an American hero, after all."

After the reception party ended, Thomas got into Martin's car.

Bruce drove towards Burbank.

Seeing the giant billboard of Leonardo outside the window, Thomas remarked, "This year's Oscar PR campaign is a bit strange."

Picking up the newspaper next to him with Leonardo playing with a water gun, he added, "The Best Actress isn't publicizing acting or character, prancing in front of media cameras with a big belly. Leo's even more interesting, resorting to selling ugliness—I've never seen Oscar PR where an actor willingly sells ugliness."

Martin said, "Harvey fell from power, and now it's an era of chaos."

Thomas shook his head, "But this direction of Oscar PR and marketing is just too skewed."

Bruce couldn't help but laugh, saying, "Martin, with your own efforts, you've led the entire Oscar PR astray!"

Thomas agreed completely, "Truly so."

Leonardo selling ugliness, Natalie flaunting her belly, James Franco claiming a broken arm to sell a disability, Nicole Kidman selling the love story with Cruise...

The first post-Harvey Weinstein era Oscars seemed to have had its promotional direction skewed by Martin alone.

Martin felt, selling misery and pregnancy was somewhat better than selling LGBTQ topics.

Back at the studio, Martin called Louise, as her side had already started negotiations with NASA.

In Los Angeles, Bradt and Andy Weir were jointly adapting the screenplay; according to the two, fifty pages of the script would involve NASA's technical details and operations.

Like the FBI and CIA, NASA has a special Hollywood office responsible for coordinating film shoots with Hollywood crews.

They had cooperated with several Hollywood crews in the past and did not mind collaborating once again.

Louise's feedback was that the internal approval of "The Martian" novel at NASA was very high, with several executives remarking that they had never seen a science fiction novel tell a story so compellingly and maintain such high technical accuracy.

It was considered hard science fiction within the realm of soft science fiction.

Films leaning towards hard science fiction that had major commercial success were relatively rare in the past.

So, even before the project had officially started preparations, Martin was already considering the promotional campaign. He instructed Louise to negotiate with NASA to see if they could take a batch of special paper and posters into space during their next launch.

If these items were brought back from space, whether used for promotional booklets or printed as commemorative posters, it would make for an interesting gimmick.

Meanwhile, the studio was also raising funds for production.

"The Martian" had a production budget of 100 million US dollars, marking the first time Davis Studio embarked on a film project involving an investment of over a hundred million.

Soon after, Christmas arrived, and after the holiday season, Davis Studio was also set to move.