America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 198 Bullying
In April 2005, "The Hills Have Eyes" surpassed the $1 million mark in North America and reached $1 million worldwide.

Warner Bros. once again held a grand celebration for the film.

It is also to build momentum for the next DVD release.

When Martin walked alone on the hotel red carpet, countless cameras automatically turned to him.

"Martin, smile!"

"Look here!"

The reporters were as enthusiastic as the charming Latin girls on Tijuana's red-light district, and they couldn't wait to pounce on them and pull people over.

Martin entered the hotel banquet hall and someone immediately came up to him and gave him a hug. They put their arms around his shoulders and shouted, "Our North American box office has exceeded 100 million!"

Then he laughed again.

Martin was just as happy as director Ajia, saying, "We are now a member of the 100 million box office club!"

In terms of fame, the ones who benefited the most were Martin and director Ajia.

The atmosphere in the banquet hall was as heated as if a volcano was erupting.

Craven asked Martin and Ajia to wash their faces after the party.

"You haven't organized a party in a while." Craven is old but not old at heart: "The last party was so great that I'm no longer interested in other parties."

Ajia also tempted: "I'll pay, you come up with an idea."

Martin said, "This kind of party takes a while to organize and plan. I've been busy lately. I'm going to Atlanta soon to shoot a new film. How about waiting for me to come back from Atlanta?"

“Yes,” Craven said.

When the two of them went somewhere else, Daniel came over.

Martin had a drink with him and asked, "How many sales are expected for the DVD?"

Daniel roughly said: "US$3500 million to US$4500 million. Horror movie DVDs have always been good sellers, and the rental market will not perform badly either."

Martin asked these questions because they were related to his personal interests. Although he personally did not sign a profit-sharing agreement, the unified agreement between the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Guild stipulated that major actors could share in various post-production copyright income.

He has starred in many hit movies and can even earn millions of dollars every year.

The most typical example is Morgan Freeman, who has played major supporting roles in countless popular movies and has certain profit-sharing rights. Relying on the advantage of numbers, he later accumulated a fortune of over 100 million US dollars.

Daniel has one more thing: "Warner Bros. has the power to initiate a sequel, and the production company has proposed preparing a sequel. Are you interested?"

Martin declined: "The story of the hero has been told, and Aja, Craven and I didn't think about the sequel at the time."

He added: "My schedule doesn't fit either. By the time The Departed is finished, it will probably be almost the end of the year."

Daniel understood this and said, "What a shame."

After the party, Martin and the other two got rid of the paparazzi and went to wash their faces together.

Subsequently, Warner Bros. took advantage of the film's box office success of over 100 million yuan to push for the DVD release.

Similarly, the DVD opening credits feature an advertisement for Jeans Summer.

The Red Box chain's store in Burbank Plaza had not yet opened that day, but a large number of fans holding Martin's posters were queuing up at the door.

Jessica and Emily were among them.

Rachel was no exception. She said, "The door will open in ten minutes. Everyone, please stay calm and maintain order."

Phoebe in the back held up a glass of autograph books: "I brought another gift for Martin."

Jessica reacted quickly and asked, “What is it?”

If she wanted Martin to write down the greetings they had given her last time, she would have to find a way to leave an autograph book.

It was too difficult for Martin to list the signatures of hundreds of people.

Phoebe said: "A few friends and I wrote this message to Martin."

Jessica breathed a sigh of relief.

Because the notice was sent out on the blog and MSN group, many people from the fan club came one after another.

Of course they would not miss the first signed DVD of the movie star they support.

Inside the store, the DVD of "The Hills Have Eyes" was placed on the most conspicuous shelf, and a table was placed in an empty space nearby.

Someone shouted, "It's time to open the store!"

Martin sat behind the table, took the pen handed to him by Bruce, and waited patiently for the fans to enter.

As the shutter door rose, a male fan who was less than 20 years old rushed into the store first, picked up a commemorative DVD worth $39.9, and ran to Martin's table.

Martin took the initiative to raise his fist and said, "Congratulations, man, you won the jackpot."

"My name is William!" The man bumped fists with Martin and quickly handed over the disc.

Martin quickly signed his name on it and said, "I'll remember you."

William was extremely happy and went to pay happily.

There was already a line behind, and Phoebe was the second one to come over. In addition to the DVD, she also handed over an autograph book.

Martin signed the DVD and said, "You are Phoebe."

Phoebe was very happy and said, "Martin, I brought you a gift."

Martin has already seen it. It is another autograph book. He hasn’t memorized the previous one yet.

Forget it, he has completely given up on treatment.

"Thank you." Martin opened it and took a look. As expected, there were many people blessing him.

Phoebe wasted no time and picked up the DVD: "Goodbye, Martin, I will continue to support you." "Goodbye."

Martin took the third disc, signed it, and returned it while nodding and smiling at the man: "Thank you for your support."

As an actor with professional ethics, Martin doesn't care about anything else at this moment. He treats every fan he meets seriously. He greets everyone who comes over with a smile, making consumers feel like spring breeze.

These are our parents who provide us with food and clothing.

No matter how tired your wrists are, it won't be as tiring as screwing screws in a factory or working as a stunt double.

Even if your facial muscles become stiff after laughing for too long, it is no harder than facing directors, producers and investors and smiling and flattering them with toasts at every table.

One of the pens ran out of ink, so I replaced it with another one.

When Bruce saw Martin's smile and enthusiasm, he secretly admired him. It's true that Martin is a bad guy, but he is also a bad guy with professional qualities.

It was almost 11: in the morning and Martin's signing time was up. There were still many people queuing inside and outside the store.

Just in this store today, DVD sales are booming.

While Martin was stretching his wrist, he turned around and said to Bruce, "Go and negotiate to extend the signing time. I will treat all the employees in the store to pizza at noon."

Bruce went over to communicate with the person in charge, and the two quickly reached an agreement. He returned to Martin and called Jessica, asking her and Emily to go to a well-known store nearby to order pizza.

Martin continued to sign autographs. Bruce thought for a moment, then walked a little away from the crowd to a secluded place and called several paparazzi, including Jody.

How could such a big event as a popular movie star giving up his lunch and lunch break to sign autographs for fans not be reported?
The signing lasted until after 12 o'clock.

As soon as the large number of fans dispersed, a vehicle from a store delivered several pizzas.

Bruce didn't rush to eat. He found the photographer and said, "Give me a copy of the video."

He found the store manager again and pointed to the surveillance camera where Martin could be seen: "I want the video here, after 11 o'clock."

Business was booming today, and the manager had been told to cooperate with the signing party, so he immediately said, "Come with me."

Ten minutes later, Bruce walked out of the store, entered the mall, and went to the parking lot through another door.

I got into the Volkswagen and sent a text message. After waiting for a few minutes, Jody, wearing a baseball cap, opened the passenger door and got in.

Bruce handed her the USB drive: "Martin's latest news."

Jody put it away and prepared to get out of the car, but stopped again and asked, "Was Martin and Annie's USB drive left behind on purpose?"

Bruce is not stupid, of course he won't admit it: "You should ask Anne Hathaway's assistant about this kind of question."

Jody benefited a lot from the video and specifically said, "If you have such an opportunity again, feel free to use me."

She was serious: "I don't mind being used by you, really."

One video was sold for tens of thousands of dollars. Jodibba needs more opportunities like this.

Bruce didn't waste any words and said directly: "You can go now."

Jody got out of the car with the USB drive, quickly returned to the newly bought car, got in the car and hurried back.

Jodi attached great importance to the news about Martin. She gained a lot from it last time. From cameras to DVs to transportation, her equipment has been completely updated.

In the past few months, the news she gained from following several A-list celebrities was not as much as what Martin sold.

Those stars who have been famous for a long time are not as troublesome as Martin.

Bruce got out of the car and heard a quarrel.

I glanced back casually and saw some boys in school uniforms arguing, with Fake's words constantly ringing out.

These people are not very old, probably around 17 or 18 years old.

Seven or eight tall and strong guys were surrounding the three people.

The 1980s culture on American campuses, both public and private, has a very long history and can even be considered a tradition.

Bruce drove to the mall exit and soon met Martin and others.

The others got into a commercial vehicle, and Martin took a box of pizza and got into the car driven by Old Bu.

He opened the pizza box: "Eat something before you go."

Bruce moved out of the car, cleared the passage, picked up the pizza and started eating.

Martin took out another can of Coke and gave it to him.

Bruce swallowed the food in his mouth and asked, "Isn't it the expired batch?"

Martin put it on the armrest box: "That batch of expired Coke is so valuable that you can drink it at will?"

Bruce was worried about Martin, so he picked it up and looked at the production date.

"What about the trust between people? Old Bu, you have really betrayed my trust in you." Martin moved his wrist and discovered a conflict several dozen meters to the front.

Seven or eight boys in school uniforms were chasing and beating up the other three.

Bruce also saw it: "They were arguing just now, and now they are fighting."

The two groups alarmed the mall security, and a few security guards came out and shouted a few times, and the larger group left cursing.

The smaller group supported each other and walked in opposite directions.

After finishing half a pizza, Bruce started the car and drove Martin to the store where he would have a book signing in the afternoon.

On the other side, three white boys with bruised faces and noses staggered away.

This is not the first conflict; they have been frequently bullied in recent months.

Because they were immigrants from Russia, something bad happened in their family and no one stood up for them.

(End of this chapter)