America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 188 Confirmed Director, Extraordinary Human Trafficker

Without waiting for Martin's response, Anne Hathaway's agent Maha announced that love was a thing of the past.

Agents are very smart and know what to say and what not to say. They only announced to the public that Martin and Anne had different personalities and decided to break up after a big fight.

Martin naturally didn't say much, nor did he need to say much.

Breaking up peacefully is the best option for celebrity lovers or couples. If things really get out of hand, both sides will have negative news.

The paparazzi started chasing them again, trying to find out the real reason behind their breakup.

Entertainment newspapers and gossip media launched another barrage of attacks.

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter whether the news is good or bad, what matters is the exposure.

Not to mention ordinary stars in Hollywood, even big stars need traffic.

After a new weekend, "The Hills Have Eyes" has accumulated a total North American box office of 7151 million US dollars.

At the same time, the film was released in many countries and regions including Latin America, Europe, East Asia and Australia. Thanks to the spillover effect of the huge box office success in North America, the film received good response in overseas markets, earning 2247 million US dollars in just one week.

As more and more viewers have watched "The Hills Have Eyes", Martin's number of fans has also increased.

With the promotion of Martin and Thomas, the West Coast Fan Club was officially established.

Rachel became the leader, and Jessica and Emily sneaked in and became deputy leaders.

The base of activity remains the fan section of Martin's blog.

Originally, Martin considered setting up his own official website, but making the website presentable and maintaining it would cost a lot of money.

Currently, most of his funds are invested in the "Wanted Order" project, and he will have to wait until the funds flow back before making any further decisions.

The director of the project has also been chosen.

Ari-Emmanuel personally recommended a candidate.

Martin went to WMA specifically and when he arrived at the door of Thomas' office, his assistant Natasha quickly stood up to greet him.

Bruce came to her desk: "You're welcome, a cup of coffee."

Natasha went to get the coffee.

Martin entered the office, pulled out a chair and sat down.

Thomas first told the good news: "The company recommended you to the crew of The Departed, and Ary Emmanuel personally met with Martin Scorsese about this matter."

In this respect, WMA values ​​Martin very much. He added: "The company has invested a certain amount of human resources in you."

Big agencies have their own advantages. Martin knows this very well. He asked, "How did the crew respond?"

Thomas said: "The crew hasn't selected the actors yet, but you have passed the initial screening and are directly entering the second round of auditions." He specifically reminded: "Scorsese is not an ordinary director. You can't avoid some procedures when you bring money into the crew. You must participate in the third round of auditions. If you don't get Scorsese's approval, it will be difficult to get a role."

Martin already knew this: "Don't worry, I'm fully prepared."

The negotiations between Pacific Pictures and Warner Bros. have entered the final stage, so there is no problem for him to bring in funds.

This is a Martin Scorsese project, so there are definitely competitors.

Thomas is not worried about Martin's competitiveness, but another point: "This is a high-end game, Scorsese takes it very seriously. According to Ali's conversation with him, he has no hope at this Oscars. He is ready to challenge the Oscar for Best Director again. Anyone who messes with this project will only become Martin Scorsese's enemy."

He warned: "It's not that you can't compete, but some low-level means may bring negative effects in such a high-end game. Scorsese has nearly 40 years of experience in the industry. What hasn't he seen?"

Martin nodded. "My competitors are much more famous than me. Even if I succeed in using dirty tricks, it will have a bad impact later. The benefits of the role may not be as good as the subsequent impact."

"That's right." As Thomas got along with Martin, he felt more and more that what happened during the audition and filming of the wax museum and the jeans crew was not accidental.

First, the biggest competitor was killed by Adrian, and then Adrian was finished in Australia. The incident with the jeans crew was even less likely to be a coincidence.

Who are the beneficiaries of these things?
Thomas glanced at the tightly closed office door and lowered his voice, warning: "When the wax museum and jeans incident happened to those people, the agency said they would give up, because they were not real stars. But when it happened to a star actor, the treatment is completely different. Stars are related to the interests of all parties, and the relevant stakeholders will never let it go easily."

Martin certainly understood this, saying, "You keep your heart in your chest. I never intended to go astray with this role."

Those lousy tactics must not be used indiscriminately. He asked, "Who are the competitors now?"

Thomas shook his head. "We have inquired from many sources, but there is no news yet. So far, the crew has only confirmed Leonardo as the actor. The selection process for the other roles has not yet started, so there is no way to find out. But one thing is certain, Scorsese's films are never short of heavyweight star actors."

This matter still needs to be dealt with from Warner Bros. Martin should ask about another project: "You called me and said that there is a director in the company who is willing to direct "Wanted"?"

Thomas said: "Ali and Jim jointly issued a notice, and several agents recommended their director clients." He handed Martin some information: "Pierre, a photographer, has no previous experience in directing alone. Michael Davis, a director who started out as a screenwriter, his most recent movie is "Devil's Truck."

Martin looked through the films carefully and found that these two directors were very unfamiliar to him. He had been in Hollywood for such a long time but had never heard of them.

Thomas added: "There is another one, French director Louis Leterrier, whose previous film, Danny the Wolfdog, was released in Europe in early February and received a mediocre response."

Martin had heard of the director's name before, and when he looked through his past materials, he saw a series of movies - "Transporter"!
Director of the first two films.

Martin recalled the two movies carefully. It seemed that apart from Audi, only Jason Statham left an impression on him, and he could not remember the rest.

The series consists of three films, which established Statham's status as an action movie star. It seems that he is famous for his action and coolness, which is more in line with "Wanted".

Martin thought intently again. He had the impression that this guy had made other films before, but when he watched movies before, he never paid much attention to the director, unless it was a top Hollywood director.

There is no doubt that this is a director who is good at shooting action movies.

Martin glanced at the Europa Company marked at the back of The Extraordinary Trafficker and asked, "Is Leterrier currently in Los Angeles?"

Thomas simply said: "After completing Danny the Wolfdog, his development focus shifted to Hollywood. Before filming the movie Danny, he had already signed an agency contract with the company."

Martin looked through Leterrier's files, took the phone from Thomas's desk, and dialed Ajia's number.

Ajia came to North America from France to develop his career after filming The Mountain Is Still There, so he should know something about it.

After the call was connected, Martin gave a brief account of the situation.

Aja said directly: "You saw it when we were filming The Hills Have Eyes. I am not very good at action scenes, but Leterrier is just the opposite. His narrative ability is relatively poor, but he is very good at controlling and designing large scenes. He pays attention to visual enjoyment and cool pictures. He is recognized by the French film industry as a director who can hold action scenes and cool style."

When the call was over, Thomas said, "I think he's a good fit."

Martin needed a director with successful experience in this area, and Leterrier happened to be that director.

He said, "You contact Leterrier's agent. If he is interested, ask him to come to the Wanted studio as soon as possible. Louise, the screenwriter and the action director will all meet with him."

Thomas dragged the phone back and dialed the number of a senior agent directly. He talked in detail for a while, then covered the microphone and asked Martin: "What time is suitable?"

Martin said, "This afternoon or tomorrow morning will do."

Thomas said into the phone, "This afternoon."

The reply came from the other side: “Okay, Louis and I will go to the studio together at 2pm.”

Thomas hung up the phone: "Done, two o'clock this afternoon."

Martin glanced at his watch and took the initiative to invite: "You can go with me then."

Although the law stipulates that agents cannot participate in the preparation, shooting and production of movies, there are many benefits for agents to observe and understand the entire process. Top entertainment agents often leave the agency industry and become executives in the Big Six companies.

Agents can only be considered a downstream service industry in Hollywood.

Martin originally wanted to visit Ari Emmanuel, but the other party was on a business trip, and it was a bit scumbag to visit another agent in front of Thomas, so he called Ari specifically to express his gratitude.

Wait for Ali to come back and then visit him secretly.

With the right director chosen, Martin was in a good mood. When he walked out of the office, he found Bruce chatting enthusiastically with Thomas' assistant Natasha.

He observed her specifically and found that Natasha was not very pretty, just average.

The two went downstairs and Martin asked, "Are you interested in Natasha?"

Bruce shook his head: "She's too peaceful, not my type." Someone came over, and he waited for them to leave before explaining: "Natasha is Thomas' assistant. She has a lot of information about Thomas. I tried to probe her and found that this woman is very ambitious. If we build a good relationship with her, Thomas will have multiple channels of information if he really wants to do something special."

"Old Bu, you are worthy of it!" Martin admired this bad guy: "You are really a professional."

Bruce snorted coldly: "I said I would guard your back, and I will guard your back."

In the afternoon, Martin called Louise, joined screenwriter Bradt and action director Chad Stahelski, and met with French director Leterrier.

The two sides exchanged their understanding and ideas of action and cool scenes. Leterrier also read the first version of the script of "Wanted" and had a full exchange on the filming of the movie.

It is impossible to say that the ideas and concepts are completely consistent, but the differences are not very big, so it is not difficult to seek common ground while reserving differences.

Both sides had the idea of ​​cooperation, and the experienced Louise made the decision on the spot to hire Leterrier as the director of the film.

(End of this chapter)