America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Hollywood, Grauman's Theater.

The premiere of "Dark Places" was held here.

This film's budget ranked in the top five of all movies released by Warner Bros. this year.

Although the high echelons like Kevin Tsujihara weren't present, all the heads of the distribution and production companies had arrived at the theater.

Jon Berg arrived early in the VIP room to welcome the guests attending the premiere.

To promote this film, Warner Bros. had invited numerous stars and celebrities who often collaborated with them to boost the event.

For instance, the golden trio of Gryffindor in Los Angeles, as well as Robert Downey Jr. and his wife, who starred in Detective Furlmose, and so on.

On the surface, Jon Berg was all smiles and joviality, but inside he felt as if a stone weighed on his heart.

This year, Warner Bros. had several mid-to-high budget productions released, some of which were successful, such as "Harry Potter 9" and "The Hangover 2".

However, there were also catastrophic failures that resulted in heavy losses, such as "Gods of Egypt" and "Green Lantern".

The former were sequels to successful films from Ellen Horn's era.

The latter were projects he had promoted since his appointment.

If only the productions he had pushed for were mid-to-high budget, that would be one thing.

With the former as a contrast, Jon Berg felt humiliated.

At that moment, Daniel came over and said, "Natalie Portman has been well-received by the media, and recent news about her is beneficial for the film's promotion."

Jon Berg knew why this was, because to the mainstream media, this Jewish actress, who had studied in Israel, was one of their own.

He said, "Let's hope this Oscar-winning actress can support the film's box office."

Daniel replied, "Natalie has always maintained a good reputation among fans and the media."

Jon Berg was about to respond when he suddenly noticed Martin Davis entering from the door, his face immediately darkened, and he couldn't help saying, "Who invited him!"

"Not me," said Daniel.

The failure of "Gods of Egypt" made Jon Berg loathe to see or hear the name Martin Davis; naturally, Daniel wouldn't have invited him to the premiere of the new film.

Martin, just back from Istanbul, walked into the VIP room and immediately spotted Daniel and Jon Berg up ahead.

If the host wasn't warm, the guest couldn't ignore the host.

Martin, being conscious of this, took the initiative and went over to greet them: "Daniel, Jon, good afternoon."

Daniel came forward to shake hands with Martin: "Welcome."

Jon Berg, supressing his displeasure, went up to shake hands with Martin: "Long time no see."

Martin nodded: "Indeed, the last time we met was at the premiere of 'Gods of Egypt'."

The failure of that film was too painful, and even Jon Berg's hand couldn't help but tremble; he was loath to speak further with this failure.

Fortunately, Emma Watson came through the door. He let go of Martin's hand and greeted her: "Welcome, our magic princess."

Martin didn't mind and walked further into the VIP room to chat with Gillian Flynn for a bit.

Jon Berg exchanged pleasantries with Emma Watson's father, then looked back and suddenly remembered that Martin and Gillian were old neighbors.

This project was initially dug out from Martin's hands by McDonald.

For some reason, Jon Berg felt a sudden tremble in his heart, and a wave of uneasiness began to spread.

But after careful consideration, who could guarantee with a hundred percent certainty the success or failure of a movie before its release?

Martin saw his long-missed old friend, Susan Levin.

After marrying, she had taken her husband's surname and was now called Susan Downey.

Martin's first work in Hollywood, "House of Wax," was produced by Susan Downey.

"Hi, Susan," Martin greeted proactively.

Although Susan Downey hadn't contacted Martin much in recent years, their relationship had been quite good back then, so she came over and hugged Martin: "You've gotten even more handsome than before."

Martin said, "You've always been beautiful, perhaps due to the nourishment of love?"

Robert Downey Jr. came over from the other side: "Hey, hey, buddy, you can't court a wife right in front of her husband."

Martin could tell this was a joke: "Absolutely not, I wouldn't dare tangle with Iron Man."

Susan rolled her eyes at Donnie and said, "Dear, that joke isn't funny at all."

Donnie came over to shake hands with Martin: "I heard we almost became comrades-in-arms."

"Or enemies," Martin knew what he was referring to and said seriously, "I've read the Avenger comics, you guys have had a civil war."

Susan joined in, "Martin has too many options to consider, unlike you, Donnie, who doesn't have many paths left."

Donnie, fairly open-minded, said, "Remember when I invited the 'House of Wax' crew for dinner in Australia? Back then, you were just an average actor, and now?"

He had to look up to see Martin's face, "You've become someone I have to look up to."

Martin said with a smile, "You are the unique Iron Man."

Susan said, "Actually, it was a reluctant choice. If there had been a choice, I wouldn't have let Donnie take this path. Even if Marvel had a complete plan, how long could it last? Iron Man will eventually come to an end, and it would be too hard for Donnie to transition then."

Donnie was quite optimistic, "Honey, if Marvel won't offer me a salary of 20 million US Dollars for the next movie, I'm ignoring them."

He remembered something and looked at Martin, "When Kevin Feige came to you, you were already getting a salary of 20 million plus. The gap is huge..."

Martin casually mentioned, "After a few sequels, your salary will catch up with mine."

Donnie saw the situation quite clearly, "My path is much narrower than yours. If I leave Iron Man, I can't even get half the salary."

As his image as Iron Man became deeply ingrained, the response to his other movies began to decline. The market response to "Detective Furlmose 2" wasn't as good as the first one, and Warner Bros. had indefinitely postponed the planned third movie.

After chatting for a while, Martin saw Natalie Portman and Ari Emanuel and prepared to go greet them when he suddenly felt someone staring at him from the side.

He turned his head and saw Emma Watson gazing intensely not far away, her face clearly marked with displeasure.

As one of the leading actresses born in the '90s in Hollywood, Emma Watson held herself in high regard. When her eyes met Martin's, she couldn't help but lift her chin higher, her face more like a shoehorn now.
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Martin couldn't be bothered with these young girls and turned to walk towards Natalie Portman.

But Emma Watson knew that this man was none other than the mentor of her arch-enemy Silsa Ronan. Silsa Ronan kept opposing her precisely because she had Martin Davis supporting her from behind.

Her normally cool and proud demeanor now carried a hint of resentment.

The two sycophants, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, noticed and asked, "What's wrong, Emma?"

Emma Watson indicated with her eyes, "That man is Silsa Ronan's mentor. It's because of him that Silsa Ronan dares to oppose me."

Sycophant Rupert said, "To bully you is to make enemies with us three!"

Daniel was slightly more rational, "Don't be rash, the three of us together are no match for him."

"I remember Martin is an American?" Emma Watson asked.

Rupert replied, "A southerner from Atlanta."

Emma Watson mulled it over, "Silsa is an Irish pig who mostly stayed in England. How did these two become so close?"

Sycophant Rupert made the most reliable conjecture in the circle, "Because they're having an affair!"

Emma Watson thought the same, "I remember Silsa Ronan is under 18 years old, and the age of sexual consent here is 18. She's over a decade younger than Martin and not protected."

Daniel asked, "What do you want to do?"

Emma Watson looked at the two sycophants and said, "Find a way to buy a mini camera. I'll have someone keep an eye on Silsa Ronan and Martin Davis. If we could catch them... Wouldn't it be exciting if this teacher-student duo turned against each other?"

Rupert said, "Leave it to me, I'll go buy one."

Daniel reminded, "Don't do it yourself."

Emma Watson nodded, "Of course, I have reliable little assistants."

Rupert warned, "Someone is coming..."

The three of them quickly shut up, no longer discussing these topics.

On the other side, Martin spoke to Natalie Portman wishing her box office success and went to chat with Ari Emanuel.

Ari said, "This is Nat's first movie after receiving the Oscar for Best Actress, and she's the absolute lead. If it could be a box office hit, proving sole box office appeal, Nat might become a top-tier star and might even have the chance to compete for the Hollywood Queen."

Martin had no conflicting interests with Natalie Portman and said, "I wish her good luck."

"Hope that damn Best Actress Oscar curse won't appear," Ari naturally knew about it. "The last winner, Sandra Bullock, did well with her work after the award."

Martin also said a few nice words, but whether they were effective or not, he wasn't quite certain.

Because in his memory, there was no such movie as "Dark Places".

He didn't even know if "Gone Girl" author had other famous works.

After the audience in the premiere theater had entered, including Martin and other VIPs proceeded to enter the screening hall and took their seats in the front row.

The film's main creative team entered last.

The original novel of this movie, riding on the bestseller tailwind from "Gone Girl," lingered on the New York Times bestseller list for several weeks. Although it never entered the top three, the novel's sales were not bad.

Just like "Gone Girl," the film's script was personally adapted by Gillian Flynn.

However, the difference was that during the scriptwriting process for the previous film, Gillian Flynn took many of David Fincher's suggestions.

There's no doubt about the importance of a director to a movie.

Having seen "Gone Girl" and then watching "Dark Places," the difference was somewhat clear.

The former had a brisk pace and the plot twists were just right.

The latter, however, was slow-paced, dull and lengthy, with tame suspense and convoluted characters...

There was also a key point: Natalie Portman couldn't carry the weight of the film. It could be said that from WMA to the crew and onto Warner Bros., her market draw was severely overestimated.