America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

North America opening at 42.75 million US dollars, at first glance it doesn't seem bad, but compared to a 200 million US dollar production budget and over 100 million in marketing expenses, it's far from ideal.

What's more terrifying is that "Green Lantern" directly collapsed in terms of public reputation.

The audience reputation most represented by cinemascore's live audience ratings is only a B-, Rotten Tomatoes freshness is 22%, and the IMDB score is 5.4.

With such audience reputation, the film's second weekend box office plummeted by 70%, accumulating only 61.78 million US dollars in ten days in North America.

Even the most optimistic statistical agencies believe that it's very difficult for "Green Lantern" to break one hundred million in North American box office in the end.

The huge investment made by the production company on the film would need at least a decade or two, or even longer, to recoup the costs.

The failure of a single film is not scary. A project of this scale will not only have investment from one company, and for a company with the size of Warner Bros., a 200 million dollar project failure is far from the end of the world.

But for the ambitious new management of Warner, they were hit hard. The DC superhero universe was facing bankruptcy before it even started.

In the large conference room of the Warner Building headquarters.

Executives were seated one after another along the long conference table, including Hamada and Jon Berg. Their expressions solemn, they kept their mouths tightly shut.

"Where is the problem? In the past month and more, our film business has suffered two terrible defeats," Kevin Tsujihara stated from the head of the conference table. "The one film that shouldn't have failed, 'Green Lantern', has failed."

He looked at Hamada, "The entire DC Extended Universe plan has to be interrupted because of this!"

Hamada stood up and bowed a standard ninety degrees, "I'm sorry! I apologize for this failure!"

All eyes turned to him, waiting for Hamada to resign on his own initiative.

Hamada straightened up, and bowed ninety degrees again, "I'm sorry!"

The apology was sincere, but he completely avoided mentioning anything about taking responsibility or resigning.

Kevin Tsujihara glanced at Hamada but did not force him to resign, as he was indeed his protégé.

However, he could not possibly give up on the DC superhero film universe project either, as it was one of the main business initiatives he promoted since taking the helm at Warner Bros.

Kevin Tsujihara said to Hamada, "Abandon the plan that begins with 'Green Lantern', and quickly formulate a new universe plan. This time we must ensure success, as we don't have much time left to catch up with Marvel Studios."

Hamada promised resolutely, "I will formulate a completely new plan as quickly as possible to ensure that we can catch up to Marvel."

The failure of "Green Lantern" seemed to become a thing of the past, as both Kevin Tsujihara and Hamada emphasized the importance of speed. Read latest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

After pondering for a bit, Kevin Tsujihara continued, "If anyone has any thoughts on the DC Extended Universe, feel free to suggest."

Many remained silent. What would happen if the suggestion they offered ended up being accepted but the movie failed like "Green Lantern" did?

From the commercial disasters of "Gods of Egypt" and "Green Lantern," it was not hard for them to see that Kevin Tsujihara protected his trusted subordinates. If they were to make reckless suggestions, they could end up like Christian Bale, carrying the blame for failure and being driven out by Warner.

Compared to the others, Daniel, who was left over from the old Warner management, seemed more reliable.

After some thought, he finally said, "The success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films one after another has a direct correlation with Disney appointing Kevin Feige to unite and coordinate production. I believe the DC Universe should also hire a director or producer who has had successful experience making superhero films to unify the coordination of our superhero film universe."

Hamada did not look pleased, as this was tantamount to questioning his ability. He was indeed responsible for the failure of "Green Lantern," but he had already apologized with a bow.

Kevin Tsujihara didn't consider so much, but instead felt that it made sense and asked, "Who do you think is suitable?"

"The Nolans!" Daniel recommended a heavyweight option. "Of our current collaborators, no one is more suitable than them. They understand DC superheroes, directed two extremely successful Batman films, and the third is currently being filmed..."

With such a suggestion, even Hamada found it difficult to object.

Daniel added, "If we let The Nolans take charge of the DC Extended Universe's production, could it be as successful as 'The Dark Knight'?"

In some respects, Jon Berg shared an unspoken understanding with Daniel, chiming in, "This is a very good suggestion. Nolan has taken superhero films to a level that has never been attained before."

Kevin Tsujihara nodded slowly, "Nolan is indeed suitable. Hamada, you personally talk to Nolan and see what he thinks."

The displeasure in Hamada's heart vanished. His superior made it very clear by entrusting him with the task of contacting Nolan; even if Nolan were to join the DC Extended Universe project, he would work under Hamada's leadership.

With that, the meeting came to an end. Afterwards, Kevin Tsujihara gathered his confidants for a smaller meeting in a smaller conference room.

Nolan, who had worked with Warner Bros. for many years, naturally had people who informed him about what had transpired in the meeting.

......

Beverly Hills, Century City.

The Escalade driven by Bruce pulled up in front of a coffee shop.

Martin stepped out of the vehicle, and before both feet hit the ground, flashlights began to light up around him.

Several paparazzi were incessantly taking pictures of him.

Martin had grown accustomed to this and acted as if he didn't see them, heading straight into the coffee shop. After briefly scanning the interior, he spotted Nolan and walked directly over to him.

Waiting for him to sit down, Nolan asked, "How does it feel to film a space movie?"

Martin spoke honestly, "I feel like a farmer, dealing with nothing but digging, fertilizing, watering, and planting potatoes."

"Gaining more experience in planting is a good thing," Nolan said seriously, not joking, "Don't forget, the protagonist of my next movie is also a farmer."

Martin nodded, "One who plants corn, rest assured, I've done that before."

In his past life, when he planted corn, it wasn't mechanized; he had to dig holes with a hoe between the wheat ridges and manually plant the corn seeds.

Harvesting was also done by hand, stripping the cobs and packing them into cement or fertilizer bags, and hauling them to the edge of the field.

It was nothing like later on when combine harvesters would sweep through and finish the job.

Nolan, knowing that Martin was an actor with remarkable professional quality, inquired, "Did you go out to experience life in the fields?"

Half-truthfully, half-fictitiously, Martin replied, "This movie required planting potatoes, and yours requires planting corn, so I figured I'd tackle both at once."

Nolan's creativity surged, and an idea for a promotional snippet automatically formed in his mind: To portray the role of a corn-planting farmer authentically, Martin Davis returned to Atlanta and worked on a farm for two months, participating in planting potatoes and corn...

Seeing Nolan suddenly daydream, Martin called out, "Chris?"

Nolan came back to reality, gave an embarrassed smile, and swiftly changed the subject, "I just received some news I would like to hear your opinion on."

This was his real reason for meeting Martin today: "Both you and I have worked with Warner Bros. and have been through two different Warner managements."

Martin asked, "What news?"

Nolan roughly explained, "After the failure of 'Green Lantern,' Warner Bros. scrapped the DC superhero movie universe plan and wanted to invite me to become a producer, to set up a new related plan for them."

Martin understood, "Similar to the role Kevin Feige has at Marvel Studios?"

"Probably not as powerful as Kevin Feige," Nolan laughed and shook his head, "The person discussing this with me isn't Kevin Tsujihara but DC Films' Hamada, which means I'd be managed by Hamada."

Martin always had a good relationship with Nolan, a top director he had managed to connect with. Of course, he didn't want Nolan to get involved with any DC projects; it would not be advantageous for him either.

Nolan was a commercial director who wasn't averse to superhero movies and was somewhat tempted by Warner's offer.

After pondering for a moment, Martin asked, "Chris, I don't know if you've watched 'Green Lantern,' but what do you think of that film?"

Nolan didn't need to beat around the bush with Martin and said directly, "Calling that film a piece of shit, I believe is an insult to shit."

Martin commented, "Hamada was the producer of 'Green Lantern,' and he led the post-production efforts. The quality of that film reflects his level and competence. If he has more authority than you and wants to interfere with your project... "

This was the primary reason for Nolan's hesitation.

"I got another piece of news, Warner Bros., the second-largest shareholder involved in the investment and filming of 'Green Lantern,' let six producers edit their own versions of the film..." Martin detailed what Louise had told him about the micro-managing maestro Jon Berg.

Even someone as worldly as Nolan was astounded.

The head of Warner Bros. had truly blazed a trail in the industry and was bound to be recorded in the annals of Hollywood history.

Nolan remarked, "Which director or producer could endure such torture?"

Martin added, "The director of that film, Bryan Singer, had a heart attack and was hospitalized."

Nolan could imagine that if he accepted Warner Bros.' invitation, even if they made promises or signed contracts, the endless chaos that would ensue would drive him mad from the internal strife alone.

This was terrifying!

Nolan didn't want to end up in the hospital; he wanted to live a few more years, "No wonder you've distanced yourself from Warner Bros."

Martin shrugged, "I didn't want to, but with these people, I just don't know what else to say."

Nolan had made up his mind, "I will turn down Warner Bros.' invitation. DC superhero movies... will end with 'The Dark Knight Rises' as far as I'm concerned!"

As the two men conversed, Blake Lively emerged from her agent's small office in the nearby WMA building, joining her waiting assistant to head upstairs.

The assistant opened the smartphone and handed it to Blake, "You asked me to keep tabs on Martin's whereabouts, he's currently in a coffee shop nearby; this is a live news post by the paparazzi from twenty minutes ago."

Upon seeing the photo, Blake confirmed it was indeed Martin, took out her own phone, and tentatively sent a message: "Got a minute to chat?"

The reply came quickly: "Sure."