America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Martin thought for a moment and said, "The largest audience for fairy tale movies are families, parents taking their children. If they are to enjoy it together, adapting it into a dark satire would just drive the biggest audience group away from the cinema."

He thought of Disney's shrewd moves and preemptively said, "We shouldn't add too much that's outside of the film itself, let's return to the classic fairy tale style."

David Baron nodded, "The classic look of fairy tales, with princes and princesses."

Cinderella wasn't really a Cinderella, according to European tradition, she should be a princess.

Cinderella's father was an earl, which is not a minor nobility.

A commoner wouldn't normally attend a king's ball.

In film, Ellen trusted Martin's judgment, "Once the script is ready, it definitely needs your approval. Without your agreement, Disney Studios wouldn't green-light it."

He then asked, "Disney has many classic animated movies, besides 'Cinderella'?"

Martin directly responded, "In 1976, you made an animated film called 'The Jungle Book,' a survival story in the jungle about a human boy, Mowgli. I think this one would be very suitable for adaptation, especially now that motion capture technology is very mature."

Ellen Horn quickly took note.

Martin continued, "There's also 'The Lion King,' the most successful animated movie in Disney's history with a very wide audience."

David Baron frowned slightly, "There are too many animals in it..."

Martin said, "This project can wait a few years, until CG technology is even more mature, and produced entirely with CG."

Ellen was intrigued, being a top industry producer, they had many discussions and some tacit understandings were reached; with the advancement of digital technology, live actors might not be a necessity for television or movies in the future.

Hollywood's six major studios compete yet collaborate, and their interests in this area align.

Subsequently, the three discussed the specifics of running the projects 'Cinderella,' 'The Jungle Book,' and 'The Lion King.'

The order of launching the projects would also follow Martin's plan, with 'The Lion King' placed last.

Including 'Beauty and the Beast,' these four live-action fairy tale movies from the start of production to release would take at least five years.

By then, Robert Iger's term would have ended, and the Disney head's salary would become astronomical, with Disney shareholders likely to replace the CEO.

Then the era of Disney's total chaos would begin.

Even Ellen Horn couldn't resist it and might leave Disney Studios.

Davis Studio and Disney Studios' distribution contract was signed until 2019.

After discussing these matters, Martin left the Disney building and went to the production area behind it.

Post-production of 'Shark Beach' had already started, primarily divided into two parts.

The editing team was doing the initial cut, aiming to tame over 2500 minutes of footage into roughly 200 minutes.

The special effects team was using computer CG technology to replace all the studio-filmed background shots with views of the bay.

Martin met with Louise and asked about the situation with the crew, the initial cut wouldn't be completed until August.

In the producer's office, Louise told Martin, "Don't worry, the progress is going very smoothly. Just focus on your own tasks."

Martin had a feeling and blurted it out, "It seems that post-production doesn't really need me."

Louise couldn't help but laugh, "Though I hate to say it, this is true. I know what kind of movie you want, and with a sufficiently good team of editors, producing a decent thriller isn't difficult for me."

Martin sighed, "You've been in this business for over twenty years, a renowned producer, I have to admit, post-production is the same with or without me."

Louise tactfully knocked Martin a bit to assert her importance but consoled him, "Okay, okay, the final cut rights are in your hands. We had agreed on this before. Eventually, the final shape of the movie is still up to you."

Martin nodded slightly, "After I finish the promotions for 'Speeding Chase 3' and 'Interstellar,' I'll come back to join post-production."

"Interstellar" premiered in July, and various promotions had already kicked off, with Martin participating in two promotional events.

However, the current focus remained on the post-release promotion of "Speeding Chase 3."

This action film's trend suggested that it was highly likely to break through 500 million US Dollars in North America and might also reach 500 million US Dollars in overseas box office.

Entering the first week of June, Martin joined the main creative team and began their overseas promotional journey.

The first stop was South Korea, the backyard of Hollywood.

In the Seoul promotional notices, Martin firmly occupied the central spot, while Clara was pushed into the leading female role.

The South Korean media, fueled by enthusiasm, praised the film spontaneously.

In their words, Clara had already become an international superstar!

The popularity of "Speeding Chase 3" in South Korea was incredibly high.

Although the South Korean media did not concoct that Martin Davis was Korean, they captured photos of Clara and Martin in close interaction and immediately positioned Clara as Martin's official girlfriend.

Some media even asserted with conviction that Martin and Clara were engaged and would soon be married.

Apart from promoting the movie, as an endorser for Samsung phones, Martin also attended several events organized by Samsung.

This was also the last year of Martin's endorsement contract with Samsung.

Samsung again pulled together a significant list of female stars for a party, which Martin and the crew attended, but it was nothing scandalous like the last time.

Of course, if anyone wanted to try their luck in Los Angeles, they were welcome to look him up.

After finishing their visit to South Korea, the crew headed straight south to Harbor City.

Due to the nature of the film and its R-rating, the "Speeding Chase" trilogy had never been shown in the second-largest global film market.

Naturally, the crew did not go there to do promotions.

Starting from Harbor City, Martin and the crew headed south and west, basically changing cities every two days.

"Speeding Chase 3" also made its comprehensive overseas debut on the first weekend of June.

The buildup from the previous two parts, the globally influential internet catchphrase "return my dog's life", along with Martin's strong market appeal, made the film equally popular overseas.

After its first week of overseas release, "Speeding Chase 3" garnered 145 million US Dollars in over fifty countries and regions.

Subsequently, the film would appear in even more overseas markets.

In recent years, Disney's film distribution capabilities had advanced significantly. Before the release of "Speeding Chase 3," they had signed distribution agreements with over a hundred countries and regions, covering six continents.

Meanwhile, "Speeding Chase 3" welcomed its second weekend in North America. Thanks to the film's good reputation, support, and various popular topics creating market effects, the North American box office trend was quite robust, adding another 73.81 million US Dollars in the second weekend.

It took just ten days for the film's North American box office to break 300 million US Dollars.

Although its smoking-hot momentum had slowed down, there wasn't a dramatic plunge. According to Disney Studios and Davis Studio's estimates, the final North American box office was bound to surpass 500 million US Dollars.

Disney, of course, would not miss out on this heat. Thanos and Jonathan's untellable story had its second version released, and they also placed a trailer advertisement for "Guardians of the Galaxy," set to release later that year, at the beginning of "Speeding Chase 3."

Marvel, unable to hire Martin nor wanting to pay astronomic fees, used their relationship with Disney to hitch a ride on Martin's popularity.

Not only that, Marvel Comics proactively approached Davis Studio aiming to acquire the comic book rights for the "Speeding Chase" series.

Dark Horse Comics soon joined the competition as well.

Several gaming companies also wanted the gaming rights for the series to develop serialized mobile and computer games.

These represented significant offline profits, and Martin naturally wouldn't refuse; letting Jessica handle the slow negotiations was the plan.