America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 206 Upgrade
After the meeting, Martin chatted with Mayor Villaraigosa and LAPD boss Bratton for a while. Seeing that they had important matters to discuss, he said goodbye at the right time.

McLean walks Martin out of City Hall.

Not only did he exchange personal contact information with Martin, he also gave Martin an "exemption card" on behalf of the LAPD.

Of course, it is not an exemption from breaking the law, but rather it allows one to obtain certain preferential treatment within the scope of LAPD’s law enforcement.

Martin thought of McLean's position and said, "I'm working in Hollywood and investing in film projects. I set up a studio last year, which is mainly affiliated with Warner Bros. and Pacific Pictures. In the future, I might cause trouble for the LAPD when I'm shooting a movie."

LAPD can be said to be one of the largest partners of Hollywood producers. McLean is in charge of this area. He said: "Call me directly if you need anything."

Martin shook his hand and said goodbye: "I won't be polite."

When we arrived at the side door of the City Hall, Thomas was waiting there and said, "There are a lot of reporters outside."

Martin's expression changed instantly. He lowered his head and closed his mouth with a heavy expression.

When he went out, flashing lights kept coming on and reporters clamored to interview him.

Several PDs stopped the reporters, and Thomas escorted Martin out, saying, "Sorry, everyone, Martin is not feeling well right now..."

Bruce opened the car door and Martin got into the back seat.

After Thomas got in the car, Bruce started the car and left.

Thomas leaned back in his chair. He had been working so hard these past few days that he was too tired to move.

Martin took out a can of Coke and handed it to Thomas: "Refill some energy."

Thomas opened it and took a sip, then asked, "What position do I hold in the Coke Cult?"

Martin was generous in assigning positions: "Do you want to be the deputy leader, or the leader's advisor?"

Thomas wondered: “What is the most important position?”

Bruce, who was driving, interrupted, "Of course it's the Saint! There must be at least ten Saints in the Coke Cult, right?"

Thomas understood that the saint mentioned here was definitely not someone like Joan of Arc.

"Ten? Old Bull, do you look down on me?" Martin rarely spoke from his heart: "At least a hundred!"

Bruce reminded, "It was agreed that the deputy leader has one of mine."

Thomas didn't want to be away from Martin's small circle, so he said, "I want to be the deputy leader too."

Martin thought to himself, before the Holy Lady even showed any sign of her, a bunch of deputy leaders arrived first, all of them wolves.

Bruce drove to Century City, dropped Thomas off, and returned to their North Hollywood apartment together.

As soon as I entered the apartment, I saw the landlord Antonio sitting in the hallway holding the Gun of Friendship, like a door god.

The paparazzi who were following from a distance turned back automatically when they saw the gun on the fat man's shoulder.

Antonio pointed outside and said, "Martin, there are more and more paparazzi following you. My tenants here are dissatisfied."

Martin said directly: "I'm going to Atlanta soon. I don't have time to find a house now. I will find a house when I come back."

"Someone offered 5 dollars." It was not easy for Antonio. Is it possible for an ordinary person to refuse such a big temptation? Only he is an old millionaire: "I can hold on for a few more months."

Martin patted Antonio on the shoulder and said, "People who use the Gun of Friendship must value friendship very much."

Antonio pulled Martin to his side and said, "Come, let's take another photo. The hero in Los Angeles is my tenant. There's a new screenwriter on the first floor. When the photos are developed, I'll ask him to write an advertisement describing our deep friendship in detail."

Martin stood behind Antonio and asked Bruce to take a photo.

When Old Bull and Martin went upstairs, Antonio muttered, "If we enlarge the photo and put it up, we can raise the rent again."

Martin looked down and said, "You have to give me a commission!"

Antonio looked up: "You are a big star now, and you have a golden key, how can you be short of money?"

Martin said no more and went upstairs.

Jessica was standing at the door with a box at her feet, obviously waiting for them.

Martin asked, "Where did the express come from?"

Jessica said: "It was mailed from Queensland, Australia."

Bruce kicked the box forward, opened Martin's apartment door, and kicked the box inside.

Martin asked casually, "Where's Emily?"

Jessica followed Martin into the apartment and said, "The fans have been quite excited these past two days. She went to see Rachel."

Martin was curious: "What's going on?"

Jessica looked at Martin and whispered, "After the video about the Coke Cult went viral online, many people clamored to join the Coke Cult..."

Martin scratched his head and said, "Come and join in the fun."

"There will be ordinary followers soon." Bruce rarely saw a business opportunity. Of course, a bad guy could only think of bad tricks: "The opportunity to cash in is here. Want to join the Coke God Cult? Pay the membership fee!"

He looked down and saw the big box of goods: "This can be used as a church badge. 50 dollars a piece is not expensive, right?"

Martin gave Bruce a middle finger and said, "Student scum, don't show off your pitiful knowledge."

He had not thought about the Coca Cola Cult's money-making for the time being. He said this at the time, on the one hand to distract the gunman's attention, and on the other hand to attract some people's attention through Helen's video. These two goals have been fully achieved.

Martin said to Jessica, "Tell the members of the fan club that if they join the fan club, they will automatically join the Coke Cult. We are just a loose interest organization and have no plans to officially register for the time being. When we actually register, we will notify them as soon as possible."

Jessica responded, "Okay."

Bruce then opened the box, took out the crocodile tooth pendant and bison horn, and put them into a large box on the side of the living room.

Jessica went over to help.

Martin dragged out another box, took out a mahogany gift box filled with jade jewelry, and put the golden key away.

I'm going back to Atlanta soon, so I need to prepare some gifts.

Although Martin rejected Bush's bad idea of ​​cashing in on the Coca-Cola cult, in America's highly developed commercial society, personal fame and influence can truly be converted into commercial value.

In the week since the Burbank High School incident, sales of House of Wax discs, which used to sell less than 3000 copies per week in North America, have skyrocketed, exceeding 7 copies in the latest week.

"The Hills Have Eyes", which had already been withdrawn from the North American theaters, was pushed back into the screening channels by Warner Bros. and several theaters, and it actually earned nearly 500 million US dollars at the box office that week.

This also made the film's North American box office exceed 1.1 million US dollars.

The related news also spread overseas, especially to English-speaking countries and regions. The overseas box office of "A Clear Sky" made waves again, and it suddenly raised its head. The overseas box office took in another 415 million US dollars that week, and the global box office accumulated 1.8 million US dollars.

The film's recently released DVD was a hot seller, grossing $1954 million in its first week.

Although it is far from the DVD sales of Spider-Man 1, which was worth or million US dollars in the first week, it is just a low-budget horror film.

Even "Zombie Gigolo", which had long been relegated to the back corners, was dug out by many movie fans. In the past week, the rental, DV and videotape sales generated more than 100 million US dollars in revenue.

But the film has no direct commercial benefit to Martin.

When Martin was filming Zombie Gigolo, he had not yet joined the Screen Actors Guild, so naturally he would not enjoy the subsequent income sharing agreed upon by the union and the Producers Guild.

For the two films, House of Wax and The Hills Have Eyes, the higher the DVD and other post-production revenues, the more share Martin can enjoy.

Many veteran stars who lived a life of debauchery during their active years have been living on the profits from the post-production of the many films they starred in after retiring from the film industry.

As long as they don't spend money extravagantly like Marlon Brando, most people live a very comfortable life.

…………

At Warner Bros. Studios, the "Wanted" studio, crew members are packing their luggage and preparing to move to Atlanta.

The project will soon enter the shooting phase.

Director Leterrier went to Atlanta in advance with the film crew and stunt team.

Jessica and Emily were going to stay in Los Angeles. Just as Martin finished explaining the work to them, Mene ran in from outside.

"Boss!" Mene pointed at the entrance of the studio and said, "There's a very tall girl looking for you. She looks like the heroine from the Jeans crew."

Martin knew who it was; Blake had called him yesterday.

He came to Bruce, who handed him a small handbag and said, "It's an upgrade."

"We were poor before, there was nothing we could do." Martin walked out of the studio carrying his handbag and saw Blake wearing low-waist jeans and a belly-baring sweater.

He pointed to the front and said, "A truck will be here soon. Let's go to the coffee shop in front. The cold drinks there are good."

Blake wanted to put her arm around Martin's arm, but was afraid that her idol would disagree, so she raised her hand halfway and then retracted it, pretending to organize her small backpack and followed Martin forward.

"I've been worried about you during this period. I called you several times but couldn't get through." She saw a news report saying that Martin was seeing a psychiatrist: "Are you okay?"

Martin won’t tell anyone about his true situation: “I’m a little autistic. I turned off my phone and didn’t want to contact anyone. I’m much better now.”

Blake finally reached out and grabbed Martin's arm: "If you have something in your heart and no one to talk to, you can tell me."

Martin saw the coffee shop and said to the brown-haired girl behind the counter: "Mia, give me a cup of black tea and a portion of fat-free ice cream."

He and Blake sat by the window, and Mia quickly brought them drinks.

Martin placed the bag in front of Blake: "This is for you, a kind of amulet. Wearing it with you can ward off bad luck."

Blake was surprised, but more excited. He quickly took out the gift box and opened it. Seeing the emerald jade plaque, he asked, "Emerald?"

"Emerald," Martin said. "An investor I found is from Asia, where this gem is abundant. I bought a few pieces."

Blake picked it up and hung it around his neck: "Is it beautiful?"

Martin nodded: "It suits you very well."

Blake was a little annoyed: "I didn't prepare a gift for you."

Martin smiled: "You being here to talk to me is the best gift."

Blake was delighted: "Yesterday you said you were going to Atlanta to film a movie?"

"I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow," Martin said simply, "An action-packed shooter. I'll be back when the jeans premiere."

Blake calculated the time and found that it was a critical time for her to apply to college, so it would be difficult for her to go to Atlanta to visit the set.

After careful consideration, I decided to wait until after August.

(End of this chapter)