America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, the global premiere scene of "Inception".

In front of the theatre, the red carpet was completely occupied by two major groups.

One part was dressed in black, holding up various posters and slogans in support of Nolan.

These were Nolan's die-hard fans, created by "The Dark Knight".

In their hearts, he had become a god with a single movie.

The other part were dressed in red cultural shirts, covered in symbols of the Cola Cult, they were believers of the Cola Cult.

When Martin walked onto the red carpet, both the black and red crowds let out enthusiastic shouts.

"Sect Hierarch, I love you!"

"Eternal Cola War God!"

"Joker, forever a god!"

"You are the agent of chaos!"

Martin, while walking and waving hands, sparked more shouts. He approached the area where Cola Cult members gathered, took a pen from a believer, and signed a few autographs.

"Cola! Cola..."

Everyone around was shouting.

Martin, as if performing magic, pulled out a long can of cola with a backhand and, after opening it, toasted with the believers.

"Eternal Cola Cult, eternal Cola War God!"

Among the cheers of the fans, Martin raised the cola again, "A toast to you lovely people!"

On the other side, in the area where black clothes gathered, the shouting became even louder, "Martin, this way, this way!"

Martin put down the cola, crossed the red carpet, and went to the other side to sign autographs on Joker and Cobb posters.

A person with Joker makeup asked, "Will you be playing in the new Batman?"

Martin smiled, "Sorry, that involves trade secrets, I can't answer."

A young man in a suit next to him asked, "Martin, can you establish a Chaos Sect?"

At that question, Martin simply pretended not to hear, signed for the crowd of movie fans, and left there smiling and waving.

Coming to the media area in front of the Kodak Theatre, he accepted routine interviews from reporters, vigorously promoting the film.

The word of mouth from "Inception's" screening was excellent, worthy of praise.

Afterwards, Martin came to the gathering area of the film crew's main creative staff, waiting for the director to join.

Mene approached and whispered, "Boss, I gave Celine Dion the pendant you gave me, and she was very pleased, happily singing just for me."

Martin said, "Celine is happy, not because of the gift, but because the person giving the gift is you."

Mene chuckled, "Boss, it's the uniqueness of the gift you chose."

Ellen Page, seeing these two whispering to each other, asked curiously, "What are you talking about?"

Martin pointed at Mene, "I'm asking him for advice on how to pick up girls."

Ellen Page didn't believe it, "At that party in Paris, I saw you easily leave with a woman."

She shook her head and sighed, "I worked for half the night and couldn't even pick up anyone, plus I was almost unable to get away from being entangled by several men."

Mene said, "You should have called me then."

Ellen Page shrugged, "You were with that woman who looked a lot like Sophie Marceau, I didn't want to disturb you."

At this time, the red carpet erupted with ear-shattering cheers, as Nolan stepped onto the red carpet.

Among the crowd of fans in black, he had incomparable appeal.

Even today, these people are still fighting to the death on IMDB against the fans of "The Godfather" and "The Shawshank Redemption".

Nolan quickly arrived at the waiting area, joining the lineup of Martin and the other creators, standing in front of the sponsors' backdrop for a photo.

Soon after, a line of people entered the theatre.

The guests and the main creatives of the film crew had to enter last, including Martin and Nolan, all waiting in the theatre lounge.

Nolan was clearly under less pressure than at the premiere of "The Dark Knight", saying to Martin, "The blockbuster reactions this summer have all been good, so I hope we can continue this good fortune."

Martin said, "There shouldn't be a problem."

The first movie of this summer season was "Iron Man 2", which, although not as well-received as the first installment, was a box office smash.

Following that, films like "Toy Story 3", "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", "Despicable Me", and "Kung Fu Dream" all enjoyed box office success.

"Inception" picked what was almost the best release period of the entire summer season, Independence Day, competing with another big production.

Produced by Paramount Pictures and directed by Knight Shyamalan, "The Last Airbender".

This director from India was a big shot who had not only made the classic "The Sixth Sense" but also fairly and squarely scammed all six major Hollywood studios.

After chatting with Nolan for a few minutes, Martin saw Daniel and the president of Warner Bros., Jon Berg, both accompanying Kevin Tsujihara.

The latter came straight over, shook Martin's hand, and said, "I've always admired you. Starting from the very bottom, struggling all the way to become one of Hollywood's leading stars today. The roles and works you are involved in are both entertaining and artistic, which is quite rare."

```

Martin understood his intention and replied without humility or arrogance, "If possible, I'd also like to continue working with Warner Bros."

Kevin Shiyuan said, "Make a concession." He still wanted to keep this cash cow, so he casually wrote a check that couldn't be cashed, "Warner will give you a superstar and an Oscar for Best Actor."

Hearing that the other party didn't even mention a share of the concessions, Martin laughed and said, "Let me think about it."

Kevin Shiyuan naturally spoke from a position of authority, "Once the opportunity is missed, it won't come again."

Without waiting for Martin to say more, he strode toward Ridley Scott, alongside was Ray's agent, Ari Emanuel.

Daniel came over, patted Martin on the shoulder, and followed them.

On the other hand, Jon Berg stayed back and said to Martin, "Pharaoh and the Gods, which is adapted from Exodus, is about to start filming soon, are you interested in playing the Egyptian pharaoh Rameses?"

Martin shook his head, "I can't rearrange my schedule. After the 'Inception' promotion ends, I'm going straight to shoot 'John Wick: Chapter 2'."

Jon Berg didn't say more and directly left.

Martin sighed inwardly, you can't dig a hole only to jump in it yourself.

At this moment, Ridley Scott's gaze turned towards him.

Martin reacted quickly, nodding in his direction.

Ray also nodded in acknowledgment and said something in a low voice to Ari Emanuel by his side.

Ari approached Martin and said, "Ridley asked me to ask you, did you reject his invitation because you thought 'Robin Hood' would fail at the box office?"

The movie was released in May, with a North American opening weekend box office of 36.06 million US Dollars. Compared to the investment of nearly 200 million US Dollars, it could only be described as extremely disappointing both in terms of box office and critical reception.

Martin spread his hands, "It was simply a scheduling issue. You know how full my calendar is."

Ari asked, "You don't think Ridley Scott has lost his touch, do you?"

"Of course not!" Martin told the truth, "I still want to invite him to direct a film project, but unfortunately..."

Ari was aware of some of the inside information, "The project was snatched away by Warner, wasn't it?"

Martin dodged the question, "Exodus is written in the Bible, you can't say Warner snatched it." He started to lay the groundwork for the future, "Tonight isn't a good time, please convey to director Ridley Scott for me that I am a fan of 'Alien', 'Blade Runner', 'Matchstick Men', 'Gladiator' and 'Black Hawk Down', and have always wanted to work with him."

Ari knew Martin well enough to know he wasn't joking.

Martin added, "If possible, could you reserve Ridley's schedule after 'Pharaoh and the Gods' for me?"

Ari said, "I will relay your message to Ridley accurately."

Two people arrived late, only then entering the VIP room.

Martin excused himself from Ari and greeted them, "You two bastards are late."

Nicholson said, "Leo picked up a call halfway through, parked, and waited for a while. This bastard drives slower than his hundred-meter sprint."

"Shut up!" Leonardo glanced around the VIP room before beckoning Martin and Nicholson out, lowering his voice, "You know where that call came from? Russia!"

Martin was flabbergasted, "You... became a spy! Leo, I swear I'm going to report you."

Nicholson immediately followed up, "Is there a reward for reporting a spy?"

Leonardo, with his hands on his hips and pacing back and forth, said indignantly, "Have you guys forgotten? I'm planning a big gathering with Russian and Ukrainian models!"

Martin's loyalty flipped instantly, scolding Nicholson, "You better go catch that spy fast, the reward money would be perfect for the party expenses."

He asked Leonardo, "It's confirmed?"

Leonardo raised his head and with his chin pointed at Martin, "Aren't you heading to Paris for the European premiere in a few days? I've scheduled it for then, all young models."

Nicholson didn't bother refuting Martin and said instead, "You didn't tell me on the way here, bastard, do you still think you're the boss? Fine, this time I'm only responsible for bringing the gun!"

Martin volunteered readily, "The party is organized by Leo, and I'll cover the costs."

Leonardo wrapped an arm around Martin's shoulder, "That's how a true brother should act."

Martin was curious, "Who did you invite this time?"

"Don't get your hopes too high," Leonardo cautioned, "It's mostly second-tier models and actresses from Russia and Ukraine. The supermodels are just a few, you know them."

Most Russian supermodels had walked for Victoria's Secret, and Martin not only knew them but also had quite a deep rapport with them.

Bruce emerged from the lounge entrance, telling the three, "It's time to enter."

The three bastards wrapped up their chat and went back to the lounge.

The guests attending the premiere entered first.

Following them, Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas, along with Martin and the rest of the creative team, also entered the theater.

Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire

After the routine question-and-answer session with the media and fans, the production team took their seats in the first row.

Martin sat next to Nolan, with Emma Thomas on Nolan's other side, followed by Mene and Tom Hardy.@@novelbin@@

The latter kept glancing at Martin.

As Brad Pitt testified, Harvey Weinstein added a new criminal charge out of control, and the so-called truth of the set shooting incident also emerged.

Most of Tom Hardy's resentment fell upon Martin, feeling that he had unfairly been made the scapegoat for Martin.

But he understood the vast difference in their status and positions; despite his resentment, he could only endure it,

```