America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Film itself is a dream, but Nolan took the audience into a dream within a dream, and Martin was the pioneer of dream stealing.

The dream thief Dom Cobb he portrayed is most skilled at infiltrating other people's dreams, stealing valuable information and secrets from their subconscious, and if necessary, performing further memory transplants, altering their memories.

A concept and theme full of creativity, a simple story, yet Nolan once again employed a relatively complex narrative technique.

Even so, this film is not at all difficult to understand.

For decades, Hollywood has proven time and again that overly complex movies only drive the audience away, alienating themselves from the market.

And Nolan also used a large number of visual spectacles to attract passersby.

In dream sequences, there's no need to respect the physical laws of the real world, allowing for all kinds of spatial inversions, water rushing backward, cities collapsing, and so on, to fully unleash the imagination.

The only things that can limit a film are the budget and imagination.

When the credits on the big screen at the Kodak Theatre finished rolling and the ceiling lights came on, the audience broke into warm applause.

If "The Matrix" created a new realm for "cool movies," then "Inception" took it to new heights.

The whole audience was clapping, and Nolan took to the stage with the creative team for a curtain call.

Tom Hardy had been quietly observing Martin, watching him stand with Nolan, enjoying the most fervent worship from the entire audience.

Thinking about all he endured on behalf of Martin, it was inevitable he felt a sense of imbalance.

The greatest injustices and burdens fell on him, while the benefits, money, and glory went to others.

Despite joining the creators for the curtain call, Tom Hardy felt no excitement or thrill, only depression and sadness.

Barely making it to the end, he came out from backstage and met up with his agent.

The two walked out together.

Tom Hardy asked, "When 'Inception' just started shooting, Director Nolan told me he wanted me to play the big villain Bane in 'The Dark Knight Rises.' Why did someone else get the role?"

The agent replied, "The feedback from the crew was that you didn't have a big enough build."

"They're talking nonsense!" Tom Hardy refused to believe, "If that were the reason, Nolan would never have invited me in the first place."

The agent paused for a moment, then said, "Before the shooting incident, when I communicated with Emma Thomas, Nolan hadn't changed his mind, but not long after the shooting incident... yes, before the crew went to Paris, when I asked again, Nolan said inviting you was just a preliminary idea, and we'd see after the Bane audition."

Unable to help himself, Tom Hardy said, "The shooting again!"

Not wanting his client to think he was incompetent and with a ready-made excuse at hand, the agent decided to push the narrative: "That shooting incident had a huge impact on you, everyone thought you did it, no one was willing to defend you, and Nolan also overturned the idea of casting you as Bane." Find more adventures on My Virtual Library Empire

"I know," Tom Hardy admitted, "Originally, their target wasn't me."@@novelbin@@

The agent nodded, saying, "According to Brad Pitt's testimony, he was instructed by Harvey Weinstein and the targeted person was Martin Davis."

He consoled, "Harvey Weinstein will soon face harsh punishment!"

But Tom Hardy remained silent, feeling that Harvey wasn't the main culprit; it was Martin.

Harvey was far from him, but Martin was close.

However, all these feelings Tom Hardy kept to himself, knowing that Martin, that bastard, was not to be trifled with.

Meanwhile, Martin, Leonardo, and Nicholson, the three bastards, got into the same car, heading to the Night Color Club to freshen up.

Their conversation was still about the party Leonardo was preparing.

Leonardo, constantly checking his phone, announced the latest news, "Apart from models, there will also be a few Russian and Ukrainian actresses who want to break into Hollywood."

Martin suddenly remembered Empress Catherine the Great, a character he often saw in online short videos in his past life, but sadly he could only remember her portrayal and not her real name.

Nicholson remarked, "Russian and Ukrainian actresses in Hollywood, aside from the likes of Milla Jovovich, I only knew one Yelena Korikova. I talked to her when she was trying to make it in Hollywood. Unfortunately, she went back to Russia."

Martin asked, "Jack, when you say you talked, was it a proper conversation?"

Nicholson spread his hands, "A deeper conversation after the chat, isn't that very normal?"

Leonardo shrugged, saying to Nicholson, "You're going to be disappointed, Yelena is too old. The actresses coming are similar to the models, not very famous, after all, it's my first time organizing that sort of gathering, and I haven't fully figured it all out yet."

Martin suddenly thought of a concern, "Leo, the people you invited, none of them are swallows, right?"

Leonardo was aware, "KGB's swallows? Don't worry, there definitely won't be any. Swallows are not easy to train; each one is precious and wouldn't be used on us."

He said nonchalantly, "Even if there were, what of it? I'll hire the most professional security checks, and once they get in, they'll just become prey!"

Nicholson's interest was piqued, "I've heard so much about these swallows, yet I've never seen one, let alone had a hands-on experience."

Martin blatantly pointed out, "That's because you're not valuable enough!"

"Right, you are valuable," Nicholson hit back, "With all those Russian spies you've taken down, the swallows will surely cool you down thoroughly..."

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Leonardo deliberately asked, "How to stay calm?"

Nicholson grabbed into the air with one hand and mimed slashing with a knife in the other, "Just like this, of course!"

Martin knew very well that he hadn't killed a single Russian spy; it was all LAPD and FBI framing Damao.

Leonardo pressed on Martin's shoulder, "Hey, you're not getting soft on me, turning into a wimp, are you?"

Of course, Martin wouldn't admit it verbally, "What a joke, I've always been the toughest one!"

The three of them washed their faces, feeling refreshed, and went for a few drinks at the Avalon before heading home.

A new message appeared on Martin's phone from Thomas – Warner Bros. had conducted a questionnaire at the premiere, and the audience reaction was very positive.

The next day, the media embargo on "Inception" was lifted.

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times gave the film high praise, "The exploration of anti-physics in 'Inception', the thrilling action scenes, impactful emotions, as well as Martin Davis's consistently astonishing performance are all utterly engrossing."

Other media outlets were also awash with positive reviews.

"Martin Davis once again proved his excellent taste in selecting roles, partnering with Director Nolan on 'Inception', a captivating sci-fi journey through dreams."

The internet was filled with fans' celebrations.

"'A man of a thousand faces' describes Martin, a fine actor who, even in commercial movies, brings completely different qualities to his roles. In 'John Wick', he executed the action scenes to perfection, and in 'Inception', he showcased elegance, wit, and intelligence..."

With the film's critical response now live, all the statistics were compiled: a 94% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes, an average score of 9.2 on IMDB, a media score of 83 on MTC, and a composite audience score of A on CS.

"Inception" was a smash hit with critics.

Of course, there were negative reviews, with some groups targeting Martin specifically.

"Martin's films are always chaotically violent, filled with explosions, gunfights, and killings that have nothing to do with art. He is as far from an artist as New York is from Los Angeles."

Apart from money and gold, who can please everyone?

There are Martin fans, and naturally, there are Martin haters.

Martin was still doing okay; Nolan had generated a large number of haters due to the battle over "The Dark Knight" scores on IMDB.

Just after the premiere of "Inception", many one-star reviews started to appear in IMDB's relevant sections.

"This movie is pure trash, one of the worst of all time. I know my words will attract attacks from Nolan's brain dead fans because I see through the essence of 'Inception' – it's a load of nonsense!"

Comments like this were soon drowned out by overwhelming positive reviews.

But for this super production, with a budget of 160 million US Dollars and a promotional total cost of 80 million US Dollars, commercial success was the only real measure of success.

Of all commercial revenues, box office is the most fundamental.

Commercial screenings are like online advertisements; if customers completely pan the ads, it definitely affects offline sales.

By Thursday night, "Inception" premiered in 1800 theaters across North America.

Due to it being an original film, the midnight screenings only took in 4.12 million US Dollars.

"It's not going to flop, is it?"

Inside the mansion, Bruce, who had received the report from the previous night, frowned, "That number seems a bit low."

Martin was calm, reminding him, "The midnight box office for 'Avatar' was only 3.53 million US Dollars, a natural disadvantage for original films."

If it weren't for him and Nolan's fame, it would have been good to even make 2 million US Dollars for the midnight screenings.

Martin asked, "What about 'The Last Airbender' in the same period?"

Bruce replied, "2.75 million US Dollars, but that's an animated adaptation." His tone shifted abruptly, "However, the film has received poor reviews; it didn't pass 6 on IMDB, and the CS live audience score is only a B-."

Martin stated, "After today, we'll see the outcome."

With Independence Day falling on a weekend that year, Americans had a three-day holiday starting July 2nd. From that date, "Inception" was playing in 3988 theaters across North America.

The film didn't adopt a global simultaneous release strategy. Even in markets such as England, Mexico, and Brazil, the earliest it could premiere was the following weekend.

Even with Martin and Nolan headlining "Inception", the natural high risk of an original film still filled many with doubt.

Countless box office stars and famous directors had failed with original films in the past.

In one Friday, "Inception" grossed a whopping 26.54 million US Dollars and topped the box office charts.

"The Last Airbender", also released simultaneously, only collected 15.57 million US Dollars.

The former had excellent reviews from both media and audiences, indicating it would likely maintain a very stable box office trajectory.

The latter received abysmal reviews.

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