America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

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To set a trap, one must have the right tools.

Daniel suddenly called, and Martin, on a whim, didn't have much time and could only come up with a somewhat reliable method.

As Bruce said, it didn't matter if the other party didn't step into the trap.

Martin carefully recalled that the only thing he could think of in a short time was still movies.

Last time, Daniel took advantage of him using the so-called remake of the old film library.

Of course, Martin wasn't any better; he had casually given Daniel three projects that could potentially yield a very high return.

This time Daniel had come again, bringing along the new president of Warner Bros. Pictures, which meant they were fated to work together.

Martin asked, "Old Cloth, which Hollywood films do you think have such high production costs that they make people's scalps tingle?"

"Soft sci-fi that requires visual effects, superhero movies, and explosive action blockbusters," thought Bruce, remembering the new trilogy Warner Bros. wanted to plan recently, and he said, "And epic films, especially fantasy epics."

That last statement reminded Martin of the three old films he had given to Daniel, one of which was a fantasy epic, and Warner Bros. Pictures had already initiated the project.

The production budget was 150 million US Dollars, starring Christian Bale and directed by Ridley Scott.

The other two were also fairy tale adaptations related to fantasy.

Unfortunately, neither of the latter two had yet green-lit by the Warner audit committee.

Martin searched his memory, recalling when he used to browse on his phone, he had seemingly read news about Hollywood's big-budget flops on the UC Shock Department.

For example, "Green Lantern" and Ray's epic films had left a deep impression on him.

There was also "Princess of Mars," which Disney had already begun producing.

Martin remembered another one, also a classic fairy tale. It was better to keep adding fuel to the fairy tale fire.

"Old Cloth, go find a bookstore as soon as possible," said Martin, who searched Google for related titles and then added, "Buy two fairy tale books, 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and 'Jack the Giant Slayer'."

"I'm on it," said Bruce.

Martin specifically instructed, "Don't get books that are too new or too worn, they should look like they've been browsed through."

Understanding, Bruce replied, "Leave it to me."

He left the studio and deliberately stayed away from the area, visiting five bookstores until he found two appropriate books.

Back in Martin's office, Bruce placed the two books on the table.

Martin took them; they were new, but at first glance, one could see the traces of being leafed through.

At this moment, Jessica came in from outside, handed Martin a planning book, and said, "There's not enough time, it's all blank inside."

"A cover will do," said Martin.

He passed the planning book to Bruce, "Read it carefully, leaf through it several times."

Bruce took it, opened the cover to all white pages, pulled over a chair, and began flipping it over and over.

Martin also started reading the two fairy tale books, familiarizing himself with the details he had long forgotten.

They ate lunch, rested for a moment, and as the time of the appointment with Daniel approached, the two briefly discussed and arranged the office desk. Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

Martin had just returned from Missouri, and there was a lot of work in the studio that needed to be dealt with, so he was very busy, resulting in a slightly messy desk.

A few documents waiting for his signature were placed to the front left, along with a pen holder and other items, randomly standing on one side.

The other books and documents also appeared a bit scattered.

Among them were the two books, 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and 'Jack the Giant Slayer.'

Underneath the books, a planning book tilted to reveal a small part, enough to show project names and words like Jack.

On a whim, Martin could only hastily dig a trap and then wait for Daniel and Jon Berg to arrive.

Just short of two-thirty in the afternoon, Daniel and Jon arrived together at the entrance of Davis Studio.

"I'm here to talk about distribution, why do you have to tag along?" the former asked with some discontent.

Jon said with a smile, "You wanted to introduce me to Martin, I want to discover more interesting film projects from him in the future, how can we not know each other?"

"You should still be careful," Daniel reminded, "Martin is not someone to be taken lightly."

Jon put away his smile and said, "I know he's tough, but you also need to understand that we're the executives of Warner Bros., the investors and distributors, the ones who feed them."

Without another word, Daniel entered the studio door, and Jon hurriedly followed.

The receptionist came to greet them, led them up to the third floor, and knocked on an office door; Martin immediately came out to welcome them.

"Please, come in," Martin said as he shook hands with Daniel and Jon, "I only just got back from Missouri to Los Angeles last night, and I've been swamped today, everything's a bit chaotic, don't mind the mess."

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Jon noticed, the office wasn't large, and Martin's desk was rather messy, perhaps because he was in the middle of work when they arrived.

His gaze swept quickly over Martin's desk, and when he saw those two fairy tale books, he couldn't help but pause.

Jon prided himself on his meticulous observation, the recent flipping through the books evident from the slightly curled corners and the prominently creased covers.

People Martin's age usually aren't interested in fairy tales.

It wasn't difficult for Jon to make such a judgment, followed by an almost unsurprising feeling, a bound printout carelessly placed under one book revealed a corner of its cover, displaying words like Jack and project.

Is this a new project?@@novelbin@@

Jon was inconspicuous, his eyes glancing over it as if he had seen nothing.

Daniel went out of his way to introduce Jon Berg to Martin.

Martin exchanged a few polite words with Jon, inviting the two to the reception area for a discussion.

Daniel went straight to the point and said, "Martin, I've heard some news, are you talking about distribution with Disney Studios?"

Martin replied, "Ellen Horn has been our old friend; he approached me a while ago to discuss a partnership, and it wasn't easy to refuse."

He was equally direct, "Disney Studios' offer for distribution in North America alone is three percentage points lower than Warner Bros.. If you include overseas and offline distribution royalties, based on the income from the first 'John Wick' movie, the producers would have over ten million US dollars more in revenue."

Daniel reminded, "You're overlooking one thing. 'John Wick's' high revenue is due to Warner Bros.' vast global distribution network, without which the total income of the film would be less."

Martin then said, " 'John Wick: Chapter 2' is a sequel to a blockbuster movie, would it not be inappropriate to apply a rigid distribution strategy so bluntly?"

"The situation is very complicated because it involves multiple films from multiple companies," Daniel was clear that Kevin Tsujihara's position couldn't change, it had to be the other collaborators: "Warner Bros.' distribution network can effectively increase a movie's total revenue, and the higher the total revenue, the more share you get."

The diverging points were a deadlock, and ironically it was brought about by the current captain of Warner Bros., Martin sighed lightly, "Disney's distribution network may not necessarily be inferior to Warner Bros'."

Daniel stressed, "But over the past years, the best online and offline channels in Hollywood have been Warner Bros'."

"I've worked with Warner Bros for many years, and I have been old friends with you; if Warner and Disney's terms are not too different, I would certainly prioritize working with Warner," Martin said, at least half of which was true.

He looked at Daniel, "You know it, although my studio is the film's producer, it involves multiple investors, whose interests and opinions I must take into account."

At this point, there wasn't much left to say.

They simply couldn't come to an agreement.

Jon had prepared many things to say, but after seeing those two books, he kept his thoughts mostly to himself, only occasionally interjecting.

In the end, Daniel didn't reach an agreement with Martin and left Davis Studio with Jon.

After sending the two off, Martin asked, "How did it go?"

Bruce had been silently observing from a corner of the office, "The man from Warner Bros. looked over the desk."

But looking doesn't necessarily mean stepping in; Martin didn't ask further and went to find Louise at Pacific Pictures.

Meanwhile, after parting with Daniel, Jon immediately returned to his office and had someone bring in the books "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Jack the Giant Slayer," which he quickly skimmed through.

He had read the books before and roughly remembered the main content.

Such classic fairy tales have been adapted many times around the world by various film and television companies through animation or live-action.

Suddenly, Jon remembered that among the three projects Daniel had provided, two were related to fairy tales: "Peter Pan" and "The Wizard of Oz."

These were projects that Martin-Davis was keen on, but Daniel outmaneuvered Martin so that he didn't get the rights.

Was Martin turning to other fairy tale movies?

Could a new era of fairy tale movies be approaching?

Jon didn't jump to conclusions. He pressed the intercom and called his assistant McDonald, instructing, "Collect some information for me. I want to know if any other companies in Hollywood have plans or projects to adapt classic fairy tales, mainly medium to large investments."

"Right away," McDonald immediately complied.

Before Jon had finished with "Jack and the Beanstalk," McDonald returned.

He handed over the thoroughly compiled data to his superior and said, "Several companies have started classic fairy tale movie remake projects, with Relativity Media investing heavily and bringing in Julia Roberts for a project called 'Mirror Mirror'."

Jon was also looking at the data.

McDonald continued, "Universal Pictures plans to invest around 150 million US dollars to produce 'Snow White and the Huntsman,' with Kristen-Stuart and Charlize Theron confirmed to join. On Disney's front, they plan to merge stories like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel from Grimm's fairy tales into a live-action musical film…"

Jon nodded slightly; it didn't take long for him to understand why Martin was interested in fairy tales, as many companies in Hollywood had similar plans.

If other companies were involved, so should Warner.

Jon's eyes fell on the two fairy tale books, realizing that simply adapting the plots into films wasn't enough, perhaps combining them was a good idea?

Seeing the efforts of many large industry peers made Jon even more confident in the feasibility of the plan.

He even had more ideas; Warner's most popular fairy tale series, "Harry Potter," was inevitably concluding, and if a new fairy tale movie project could be successfully operated...