America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

"As expected, Megan Ellison's first movie was a flop," While driving a golf cart across the verdant green, Nicholson said to Martin in the same cart, "Your strategy against Depp worked flawlessly." Martin tipped his cap, "Actually, I didn't do much. Depp basically doomed himself." Leonardo tapped his head, "With over twenty years of drug use, his brain's a wreck." He sighed, "Back in the day, Depp and Keanu Reeves both witnessed River Phoenix's drug-induced death firsthand, yet Depp learned nothing from it." Martin commented casually, "Maybe Depp tried to quit, but he failed." Nicholson suddenly asked, "Do you think Depp will pull off a media and public favorite, the prodigal son's return?" Leonardo scoffed, "Do you think that's possible? The chances of Martin and me getting married are higher than Depp making a comeback." "If you want to get married, go ahead, just don't drag me into it," Martin, who got a headache just from hearing about marriage—wasn't a life of freedom much better? He quickly steered the conversation back on track, "I read a report this morning that claimed Depp's whole life is a battle with alcoholism and drugs, calling him a true fighter." Leonardo nearly spit out the water he just sipped, hurriedly swallowed it, and wiped the corner of his mouth, saying, "I drink, I do drugs, I'm late, I curse at fans—all these struggles make me a fighter?" Martin and Nicholson both burst into laughter. Nicholson steered the cart to a stop near a hole and asked, "Was Megan Ellison's film financed with raised funds?" Martin had looked into it, "Anna Purna Pictures was just starting out, and those three projects Megan Ellison snatched up were its first independent productions. Few investors were involved; most of the funding came from Ellison's own Anna Purna Pictures." Leonardo understood, "So you're saying the money lost on the failed films was mostly Megan Ellison's own." Martin said, "It's said she brought a few hundred million US dollars to Hollywood, but those three projects were such money pits, she didn't have enough on hand. She used her personal trust fund's income as collateral to take out a loan from the bank, funding the budget for 'Lone Ranger'." Nicholson parked the cart, "It's her own money lost on failed projects. Now that you mention it, I'm all the more fired up to create trouble." Leonardo hopped out of the cart, grabbed a club, and looked to Martin, "Outside of 'Captain', Depp really is a giant sinkhole." Martin approached the tee with his club in hand, and the caddie had already placed a white golf ball for him. He swung the club, striking the ball toward the distance. The ball ended up in a sand trap. Nicholson shook his head, watching, "Your skills haven't improved one bit." Martin found an excuse on the spot, "It's normal, I don't practice much." Among the three, only Nicholson played a somewhat decent game of golf. Both Martin and Leonardo were terrible players. Coming to the Los Angeles Country Club to play golf was mainly to keep Nicholson entertained. Martin couldn't very well drag the two to the Angel's Club for shooting practice or martial arts sparring—Leonardo might be up for it, but Nicholson was getting on in years and needed to be more careful. The old rascal was born in 1937; he'd be 75 soon. However, many people born in that era of Hollywood were still active at the forefront. Ridley Scott, also born in 1937, showed no signs of retiring. Dongda Mu, seven years their senior, was still directing films at a pace of one every two years. At noon, the three had lunch at the country club. During the meal, Nicholson grabbed a newspaper and after reading for a while, said to Martin, " 'Transcendence' made only $710,000 on its first working day." Leonardo, who owned his own production company, was well-versed in film production and distribution. After some quick calculations, he said, "From the current situation, after Warner Bros. deducts various distribution costs, Anna Purna Pictures will hardly see any return. There's no escaping a loss of over a hundred million dollars." Martin raised his glass, signaling a toast to his buddies, "To this good news, cheers." Nicholson and Leonardo, ever the ones for a laugh and not afraid to stir up big trouble, both raised their glasses to clink with Martin's. After lunch, Martin had to leave for 'La La Land' set to practice piano, so he left the country club on his own. ...... In the president's office at Anna Purna Pictures. Megan Ellison sat alone in the chair, staring blankly, untouched by work the entire morning. Her previous involvement in the successful 'The Hurt Locker' had made her feel that succeeding in film investment wasn't tough, and single-handedly pulling off a movie seemed quite easy. Even after the premiere, Megan still maintained that strong confidence. But reality dealt her a severe blow. The North American box office returns were so low she thought she was hallucinating. Facing a disastrous defeat on her first solo movie production, Megan Ellison was unavoidably shaken. The phone suddenly rang. Finally snapping out of her daze, Megan answered the call, and her father's voice came through, "A minor setback like this won't bring you down, will it?" "No, I can bear it," Megan tried to sound strong. Larry Ellison said, "A small failure is nothing, think about how many times your old man failed when starting a business? Learn from this lesson, and next time we'll earn back the money lost." Megan, thinking of her father's experiences, gradually regained her confidence. After talking for a while, Megan Ellison once again appeared spirited. She found back her confidence. Once her confidence returned, Megan's mind began to function normally again. After some reflection, she quickly pinpointed the reason for "Transcendental Hacker's" failure. The main reason was Johnny Depp! Megan remembered carefully; indeed, there were some minor issues with the film's production, but the mess Depp caused during the promotion posed an even bigger problem. As for problems with the project itself, Megan was the first to reject that idea because the way it was acquired clearly indicated no chance of it being possible. Megan made a call to her subordinate Drett. A few minutes later, Drett entered the CEO's office, glanced at Megan's expression discreetly, and seeing that it wasn't as grim as before, he breathed a sigh of relief, "President?" Megan asked, "I remember that we haven't paid Depp his final payment of 8 million US dollars for 'Lone Ranger', right?" Drett said, "Yes, the payment is to be made after the film's complete production." "Don't pay that sum to Depp. I recall there's a clause in the supplementary agreement that if there are issues on Depp's side, we have the right to delay the payment until after the North American release." Megan Ellison made a decision, "You will handle the communication with Depp's side and inform them if there are any excessive actions from Depp during the promotion of 'Lone Ranger', they can forget about getting that payment!" Drett responded, "I will arrange a meeting with Depp's agent Hui Gemu right away." Megan Ellison gestured, "Go ahead." She had completely regained her confidence and the demeanor of a domineering female CEO, picked up the phone and dialed Amber Heard's number, "It's me, how's the task I assigned you coming along?" From the other end, Amber Heard replied, "I have collected a lot of things that are unfavorable to Depp." Megan said, "Keep going, I want more! And, when I need it, you must stand by my side." Half a year into the marriage, Amber was nearly at her breaking point. Depp was a good man, but also a terrible one in daily life. Ordinary people couldn't stand him, let alone someone as abnormal as her. "Madam, I have always been on your side." she asked softly, "The promise you gave me?" Megan casually said, "You know those are but small matters to me, would I go back on my word?" Amber thought about it, indeed it was the case, "I will gather more." Megan hung up the phone. The failure of "Transcendental Hacker" was unavoidable, possibly resulting in a loss close to a hundred million, and the main reason for it lay with Depp. Regardless of the success or failure of "Lone Ranger", she would make Depp pay the price he deserved! Megan realized she had never hated someone so much. ...... Atop the Eastern Columbia Tower, in the penthouse. Amber put away her phone and walked along the corridor to the front of the study, glanced through the window, and saw Depp chatting with his investment manager Joel Mandel. It seemed the talk was lively, with laughter occasionally coming out. She didn't linger and headed to the walk-in closet, found some key pieces of evidence, and reviewed them one by one. Just exposing these would inevitably cause great trouble for Depp. After looking through everything and securing it, Amber mulled over Megan's new demands. For a woman wanting to accuse her husband within a marriage, domestic violence was undoubtedly the best reason and excuse. In the study, Joel Mandel took out an investment agreement and handed it to Depp, "This is the investment plan I was talking about, take a good look at it, I can't promise a hundred percent high return, but there's at least a ninety percent chance." The failure of "Transcendental Hacker" hadn't affected Depp at all. Half-drunk and half-awake, he said, "Good timing, I just received two payments, let Robert transfer it to you, and invest it directly." Robert Mandel was Depp's accountant and Joel's own brother. "Don't forget to call Robert." Joel was ensuring everything was legal, "Take a good look at the blueprint and the investment agreement." Depp took a pen, opened the blueprint without reading the specifics, and went straight to the pages requiring signature, inscribing his name. Then he opened the investment agreement and signed there as well. He handed them to Joel and casually asked, "How are those previous investments doing?" Joel secured the two agreements and replied, "The investments are going very well, with sizable returns." Depp laughed, "That's good to hear." He made an invitation, "Stay for tonight and join the revelry." Joel pointed at the two contracts, "I need to handle these first, to ensure the investment returns." Depp didn't insist, knowing that as long as there was money, he could live carefree.