America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Chapter 165: Chapter 165 Retribution is Coming

On Saturday morning, the Burbank Hotel hung a massive poster at its entrance early on.

On the poster, Martin was covered in blood, clutching a baby in one arm, and holding a baseball bat smeared with bits of flesh and bone in the other, accompanied by a scarred German Shepherd by his side.

A large number of entertainment reporters continually took photos of the poster.

A short red carpet was laid out at the entrance where fans and media representatives gradually entered upon presenting their invitations.

Semi-paparazzi like Jody didn't manage to get a ticket.

More and more fans arrived, many of whom didn't want to go straight in, preferring to wait on either side of the red carpet, holding posters of Martin Davis.

Having struggled in Los Angeles for two years, Jody had seen many instances like this, where a movie's success completely changed the fate of its lead actor.

Suddenly, a strange girl approached from the side.

She was quite tall, her skin so pale it reflected light.

She asked, "Are you Jody?"

Jody put down his camera, "I am."

Jessica took out an invitation, "Old Cloth asked me to give this to you, don't forget your arrangement with him."

Jody took it, saw it was an admission invite for today's event, and immediately nodded, "Tell him, I've always remembered."

Jessica turned and mixed into the crowd of fans, assisted the team staff in urging fans to enter the venue.

At 10:30, the car carrying Martin arrived on time in front of the hotel. After he got out, he turned and led Annie-Hathaway out of the car.

She was dressed in a black gown and looked stunningly beautiful in her fancy attire.

When Annie took Martin's arm, all the cameras of reporters and paparazzi burst into flashes of light.

Martin, with Annie, posed for photos in front of the movie poster and then quickly entered the hotel banquet hall.

Upon entering, the banquet hall erupted in extremely warm applause.

Hundreds of fans started taking photos with their phones.

The shouts for Martin were incessant.

As representatives of the fans, Rachel and Phoebe came forward to present Martin with gifts.

Martin let go of Annie and embraced each of them, saying their names, "Good morning, Rachel, and Phoebe."

The latter was ecstatic, so excited her hands trembled, "Martin, you remember me! You remember me..."

Martin said with a smile, "Of course, I signed my autograph for you at the Horror Wax Museum."

Phoebe hurriedly urged, "Rachel, quick, give our token of affection to Martin."

Rachel took a thick autograph book from another fan and handed it to Martin.

Martin took it, asking, "What is this?"

Rachel opened it for him, thinking of how they had signed and written messages for Martin at their first meeting and felt this would surely surprise him, "It's all wishes and encouragements from us, your die-hard supporters, urging you to make even better works."

With Martin's acting skills, his smile could only be more brilliant.

Then, he carefully read the messages.

"Among the millions of stars in Hollywood, you are the one I love the most!" signed Silsa.

The next one was penned by Phoebe, "I hope you'll become hugely popular soon, and I'll always be there for you if you want."

Phoebe exclaimed, "Martin, I wrote this, I wrote this!"

Someone else pointed at the autograph book, shouting, "I'm John, mine is on the second page."

"I'm Ronan, on the last page, Martin, I will always support you!"

Martin quickly flipped through it, unable to count, but there definitely were hundreds of messages.

Seeing his die-hard supporters so excited and thrilled, the autograph book in Martin's hand felt too heavy to lift.

This wasn't just an autograph book, it was clearly a huge pitfall!

And he had dug it himself, jumped into it, and was now shoveling the dirt over himself.

Martin's face had excitement, emotion, and passion, his voice nearly choked up, "Thank you, thank you all for your support! I will definitely produce the best work in return for your support!"

He was crying inside, how could he remember all this?

At that moment, Rachel added, "Initially, we thought of pooling money to buy you a memento, but then we all felt this would be more meaningful. Being able to grow with you is truly our fortune."

"It's my honor," Martin turned around, bowed slightly to the surrounding fans, and said loudly, "Having your company is the greatest luck of my life."

Martin thought to himself, such a gift was fine just this once, next time a simple memento would do. He was, after all, a layman.

Suddenly, Annie said, "Martin, I'm so jealous of you, your supporters are so good to you."

Martin didn't want to respond; was this the retribution for gifting Annie artwork?

The atmosphere in the banquet hall reached climax right from the start.

Daniel, the deputy director of Warner Bros. Public Relations Department, was watching all this, pondering how much Martin could contribute to marketing and promotions.

At that moment, Craven spoke, "Martin could totally serve as a primary promotional point—he's very popular, and most importantly, he's smart and knows how to cater to the market and audience."

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Daniel nodded slowly, "The usual promotion method, using Martin as the starting point and main focus."

Over the past six months or so, Craven had thrown multiple parties with Martin and frequented various nightclubs, truly enjoying life together.

One was a director, and the other the leading man, without conflicts of interest, Craven was also willing to say a few good words for Martin, "You've seen the preview, Martin's leading man, whether it's acting or action, is all above standard. I can guarantee this film will outperform Horror Wax Museum."

As long as there was profit to be made, the distribution companies didn't care who they were promoting. Seeing the potential for "The Hills Have Eyes" to be a great success, Daniel didn't hesitate to say, "Once the New Year is over, I'll mobilize media resources."

The fans were still reveling, Martin was taking photos and signing autographs with them, chatting for a bit before excusing himself temporarily.

With so many people, it wasn't possible to play like during "Zombie Stripper" days.

Martin, holding onto Annie, came over to the main crew members' area and formally introduced Annie to Daniel, Aga, Zomi, Craven, and others.

Annie was very happy to expand her network and step out of Disney's circle. While talking with these people, she clung tightly to Martin's arm, looking every bit like Martin's official girlfriend.

Daniel inquired about Martin's new film, "I heard you rented a studio at the production lot and have started preparing."

Martin told the truth, "I've just registered a studio and hired Bradt, the screenwriter from 'Fast & Furious 2' and 'Little Devil Thieves', to start adapting the script. Louise said preparations won't start until next year."

Because of the veteran Louise, Daniel took it very seriously, "Louise has already invited Warner Bros., the production studio will participate in the joint venture, distribution..."

Martin mentioned, "Louise has discussed with me, we'll continue to cooperate with Warner Bros. for distribution."

"That's fine," Daniel actually wasn't in a rush, specifics would wait until after "The Hills Have Eyes" was released. If that film was successful, they would continue to cooperate; if not, Warner Bros. had plenty of other options.

Craven asked, "You need a $40 million budget?"

Martin told the whole truth, "It might not be enough; the actual amount will depend on the joint venture situation."

Annie stood aside, listening to Martin discuss multimillion-dollar investments with Warner Bros. executives and Hollywood godfather figures, feeling anxious within.

"What about confessing? Hurry up and confess!" She continuously muttered in her heart, "I'll agree with just a little bit of dignity."

Annie thought Martin would choose this special occasion today to publicly confess to her.

However, there was no confession. The event officially began, and a 1-minute-15-second trailer for "The Hills Have Eyes" played on the screen at the center hall of the banquet room.

Unlike a formal movie trailer, this segment was almost entirely Martin's solo show.

Walking alone in the desert, his wife and in-laws are harmed, his child taken away, a man with a stick and a dog going to rescue the baby, completing his revenge.

Compared to Wes Craven's past horror movies, it contained more action elements.

Accompanied by the sound of bone-shattering as Martin's leading man smashed a deformed man's head with a baseball bat, cheers rang out in the banquet hall.

After all, it was an advertisement segment, quickly coming to an end.

A fan shouted, "Can we watch it one more time?"

In response to their request, the crew played it again.

After that, media reporters interviewed Martin, Aga, Craven, and representatives of the fans.

Martin interacted with fans and media reporters once more.

Compared to most stars, Martin was more down-to-earth, more approachable, and understood that language is an art, controlling the pace of the entire event firmly.

Stars needed style, but for the current Martin, talking about style was premature; once he reached the superstar level, it wouldn't be too late to discuss style.

The event ended with a luncheon, free food and drinks—who wouldn't like that?

Nearing the end, Martin and Annie gave an interview together.

A reporter asked, "Martin, are you and Annie together now?"

"We're best friends, Martin often comes to visit the set, and he always brings surprises for me," Annie hinted with a sense of urgency in her words, "We will get to know each other and move forward together."

Martin was an honest and responsible person, speaking truthfully, "Annie is my most important friend, and my princess. To me, she is the bright moonlight in the darkness of the night."

Originally, Annie wanted to wait until "The Hills Have Eyes" was released to see how things would go, but what she had seen and heard recently made her unwilling to wait that long.

Seeing that Martin had no plans to confess, she felt a little annoyed.

But she reminded herself to maintain her dignity—the first one to speak couldn't be her.

After the luncheon, the event officially ended, and the crew gave a gift to every fan and media reporter who attended.

Martin chatted with Craven and others for a bit, then left with Annie.

Just as they got into the car at the side entrance of the hotel, he received a call from Vincent in Atlanta.

Vincent was talking about the initial investment, "Sophia and I are ready to put in an initial $6 million."

Martin deliberately said, "The first investment of $6 million? Vincent, that's a wise decision."

"Let me finish." Vincent roughly outlined the new plan he had discussed with Sophia, "This is the first sum; the amount of the following investments will depend on the profit outcome of 'The Hills Have Eyes.' I can guarantee one thing, the capital for subsequent investments will not be less than what Sophia and I earn from 'The Hills Have Eyes.'"

Martin needed to have confidence, "You prepare an investment of over $30 million."

Annie couldn't hear the content of the phone call, but she could tell from Martin's words and asked, "An investor is putting in $30 million?"

Martin nodded, feigning gravity, "They trust me; I'm under a lot of pressure."

Annie didn't say much more, but fell into contemplation.

The content was nothing but prospects and money.

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