America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

A week before Thanksgiving, at the Highlands Center in Hollywood.

Disney Studios held a grand premiere for "The Martian."

The ambiance of a space exposition was created with models of Mars rovers, spacecraft, and launch rockets.

SpaceX, the film's sponsor, even set up a special area with their own rocket models and equipment, and Elon Musk himself took the stage to promote the space business, drawing countless media attention.

When Martin, dressed in a black suit, walked onto the red carpet, Musk suddenly shouted, "Ladies, take him home! Take Martin Davis home!"

Both sides of the red carpet surged with emotion as female fans screamed uncontrollably.

"Martin, come home with me!"

"Come home with me!"

"Take you home for some fun!"

Security staff quickly came over to remind everyone, and Martin sped up his walk across the red carpet, even skimming through the routine Cola Cult ritual.

There was no choice, as the female fans all too eagerly wanted to take Martin home.

Ridley Scott, Jessica Chastain, and others followed suit and walked onto the red carpet.

Martin entered the media area where Leonardo was waiting for him along with Thomas.

The former came over and asked, "Have you memorized everything?"

Martin whispered, "I've memorized the speech you wrote as you wanted, and I even went over it again in the car just now."

Leonardo, the self-proclaimed commander-in-chief of the Martin Davis pity-selling campaign, encouraged Martin, "Follow my plan, and there will be no problem. Thomas has already communicated with the host."

"No problem," Martin stepped into the camera's view.

The host cooperated well and after a bit of small talk, turned to ask, "Martin, I heard you took this film and role because of a dream?"

"You could say that, I had a dream about space when I was young. I saw it on TV and dreamed that one day I could travel to space, visit the space station, land on the moon."

Like any actor, Martin adjusted his dreams to suit the roles he played, "I thought about buying a space shuttle model, but had no money, so I made one myself. Later on, my family faced some troubles, and I lost the model, which made me sad for a while."

The host then asked about the family troubles Martin mentioned.

Without the need to fabricate anything, Martin simply told the true story.

After the sob story concluded, Martin exited the media area.

Leonardo commended him, "Well done, if you could have shed a few tears, it would have been perfect."

Martin felt like giving him the finger but held back in public, reminding him, "I'm not a woman."

Leonardo nodded, proceeding to enter the theater to meet up with Nicholson and head to the VIP room. Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire

Martin went to the sponsors' backdrop to take group photos with other members of the crew who arrived in succession.

......

In Atlanta, the nominal headquarters of the Cola Cult.

The High Priest Robert neatly combed his hair back, revealing his shiny forehead, as he placed a 2003 Coca-Cola on an antique wooden table, chanting under his breath.

After completing the ritual, Robert heard knocking at the door, went to open the grand altar door and asked, "What is it?"

An assistant in red handed him a large envelope, "This was sent over from Ms. Kelly Gray."

Robert opened it, finding a stack of movie tickets inside.

He handed them back to the assistant and instructed, "Distribute these, two tickets for each person at the headquarters."

The assistant glanced at them, the tickets were for "The Martian."

The new work of the Sect Hierarch.

Without another word, the assistant went to pass out the movie tickets.

Robert returned to his office, checked next weekend's screening percentages, and in the movie theaters of the Atlanta area, over seventy percent of the screens would be showing "The Martian" this weekend.

If the movie performs well at the box office, such a high percentage of screens could be maintained through to next week's Thanksgiving and the following weekends.

Robert opened a can of the newly released commemorative Coca-Cola, took a big gulp, wiped his mouth, and looking towards the distant Los Angeles, he loudly said, "Sect Hierarch, I hope for a blockbuster hit!"

......

On the second floor of a coffee shop in the Highlands Center, Megan Ellison sat behind the glass curtain wall watching the exceptionally lively theater opposite.

On the other side, her brother David Ellison sat with her.

David shifted his gaze, took a sip of his coffee, and said, "You actually made a wrong decision. There was no need to snatch the 'Lone Ranger' project; you could have participated in the investment, working with Martin Davis."

"That's your style, not mine," Megan, whose desire for control was far stronger than her brother's, responded, "I need full control of the project, do you think I could work with Martin Davis?"

David Ellison, who entered Hollywood earlier than his sister, said, "I recently heard a rumor coming from within Warner Bros."

Megan didn't ask; she just looked at him.

"Inside Warner Bros., there is a saying that 'Pharaoh and the Gods,' along with the recent box office bomb, 'Dark Places,' were initially projects favored by Martin Davis. Warner Bros. went behind the scenes to screw over Martin Davis and managed to get their hands on these projects," David said.

"As for the outcome," he laughed, "you already know."

Megan sneered, "What are you trying to say? That Martin Davis set a trap that I jumped into? That my projects would fail like those two idiotic Warner Bros. films?"

"You know that's not what I mean," David spread his hands.

Megan retorted, "You have no idea how I came by these projects." She briefly mentioned the theft, "Could he have foreseen the future and deliberately left two scripts in the company safe to lure me into his trap? At that time, I had never had any contact with Martin Davis."

David also felt that it was unlikely Martin Davis had deliberately set a trap for Megan to fall into and said, "Based on what you're saying, it doesn't seem like it."

Megan possessed immense confidence, "Even the idiotic projects that Warner failed with, I could make a success in my hands."

David really didn't know what else to say.

Megan turned her head to look out of the window again as the sky darkened and lights on the opposite side were ablaze with clarity.

"We will see whether Martin's film is a success or a failure," she said, "If he can succeed, so can my projects."

David felt that Megan had inherited 100% of her father's supreme confidence.

......

"Unfortunately, we cannot bring back Kodak's film division," Christopher Nolan said in the theater's VIP room, addressing several producers and directors passionately, "Film should not vanish from the movie industry. It gives films a genuine texture. If Kodak's film stock runs out, film movies will say goodbye to Hollywood."

"Kodak Company is on the verge of bankruptcy, and the demise of film is irreversible," Susan Downey added.

Graham King sighed and said, "The Kodak Theatre will soon be renamed Hollywood Heights Center. We don't know who will be the next company to have the naming rights."

Many directors and producers disagreed with Nolan and took the opportunity to change the subject. Nicholson, who was always well-informed, said, "I heard that Dolby Laboratories is discussing the naming rights."

Warren Beatty joined in, "There is a disagreement over the naming fees. They won't come to an agreement soon, so by the time of the Oscar ceremony, it may still be called the Hollywood Heights Center."

Martin came in from the outside and greeted everyone one by one.

Nicholson pulled him aside and asked, "Have you started executing Leo's pity play?"

"I just did a round in the media area," Martin replied.

Leonardo joined in, "Martin did a fantastic job selling it, Oscar-worthy acting. If he doesn't win Best Actor, there must be a conspiracy."

Martin and Nicholson exchanged glances, sharing the same thought—if he didn't win Best Actor, it would be because Leonardo's plan was too lousy!

At this moment, Nolan approached, and Leonardo and Nicholson went elsewhere.

"Soon, we'll be clients of the same agency," Nolan said, making a final confirmation, "Is the environment at WMA freer than at CAA?"

Martin wouldn't misguide anyone and responded, "Chris, I haven't been with other agencies and don't know about them, but I've had a very pleasant collaboration with my agent, Thomas."

While talking, he scanned the VIP room and, through the reflection of light, prepared to find Thomas. He smiled at him.

Thomas rubbed his completely bald forehead and nodded back at Martin.

Seeing Martin, he always felt exceptionally powerful.

Nolan then said, "If all goes well, my space movie will start filming after the release of 'The Dark Knight Rises' next year, so be sure to keep your schedule open."

"I've prepared my schedule," Martin said. Next year he had plans for two films, one invited Graham King to produce "The Prince of Thieves," and the other was the third installment of "John Wick."

Chad, Chen Hu, and Marcus were working on action design, with the latter likely not starting until the second half of the next year.

As time approached, the guests began entering one after another, including the main creators of the film crew led by Ridley Scott, with Martin among them entering last.

Amid thunderous applause, the group took their seats in the front row.

The premiere screening then commenced.

The science fiction flavor of the film was not particularly strong; instead, it was more like a Robinson Crusoe on Mars, using science as a backdrop and adding a spirit of optimism and perseverance.

Ridley Scott always excelled when dealing with sci-fi backdrop themes.

Strictly speaking, he changed the science fiction style and told a lighthearted and entertaining story. Although the style was drastically different, the lead character's optimism and the comedic elements were popular with the audience.

This made the film feel more real and down-to-earth, not a mysterious unknown world with profound theories and speculation.

It was a story that gradually deepened, very accessible, and easy for audiences to understand.

Part of the pre-release marketing focused on Martin's character growing potatoes on Mars.

Martin, with the demeanor of a professional farmer, coupled with self-deprecation, optimism, and a roller-coaster plot, won the audience's applause.

As the lead actor, Martin naturally had a halo about him, but even more so for portraying "how humanity can survive in extreme conditions."

So, the entire film was not about hard-to-understand hardcore sci-fi; it was more like a drama with sci-fi elements.