America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 462 No Wonder You’re Famous
"Hi, Martin, congratulations, The Dark Knight has grossed over $5 million in North America!"

In the studio, Chad came over and bumped fists with Martin: "If John Wick: Chapter 5 can gross more than $ million worldwide, I will run naked on Sunset Boulevard from the east end to the west end."

Mene came over from behind to join in the fun: "You underestimate the appeal of Boss Martin."

Martin was clear-headed: "After all, it's just a medium-sized R-rated movie."

Chad said: "By cutting it to PG-13, the film loses the most charming and essential part of him."

Mene nodded, "Indeed."

The three of them went to the dubbing studio together, and some of Jonathan and Winston's dialogues needed slight adjustments.

Martin and Mene familiarized themselves with their lines again, put on their headsets and entered the recording studio.

There was a special table in the recording studio, with Martin and Mene sitting on each side.

When the recording engineer notified him to start, all the sternness on Mene's face disappeared, and he said in a deep voice acquired through years of hard practice: "Jonathan, if you really want to retire, leave New York."

Martin had also adjusted himself, and said weakly, "I want to stay where I can see Helen."

Mene added: "You left the blood oath badge. They will come looking for you one day."

"I'm not afraid of them." Martin was like a loving husband at the moment: "That's the house where Helen and I got married. I won't leave there."

Mene's voice became heavier as he spoke the last line: "Jonathan..."

After the recording was finished, Chad and the sound engineer listened to the recording carefully again and asked Martin and Mene to record it again to select the best one.

In less than half an hour, the work was completed.

Martin came out of the recording studio and prepared to go to the editing room with Chad.

Mene came up to him and whispered, "Boss, I'm leaving first."

Martin asked casually, "A date?"

Mene said, "There's a new dessert shop on Nanbowei Street. Emma asked me to go there for dessert at noon, and I couldn't refuse."

Martin waved his hand: "Go ahead."

Just as Mene was about to leave, he remembered something and said, "I may play a major supporting role in Director Nolan's new project."

"That's a good thing." Martin felt that Mene had the ability to do this, and having a black person in the main role would also attract black audiences. He said, "Have a good chat with Emma. She has a lot of say in Nolan's crew."

Mene chuckled and walked away.

Martin went to the editing room and said almost nothing, just watching Chad direct the editing.

"I don't need fast-switching short shots, nor do I need to artificially create a sense of shaky shots." Before the work began, Chad once again reminded the editor: "Martin's action shots are complete enough. Cutting the shots into pieces will be detrimental to the presentation of the action scenes. Stable long action shots are our style."

The editing room edited it exactly to Chuck's specifications.

Martin looked at it for a while and thought it would be better to wait until the rough cut was completed before looking at it again. He happened to have an appointment with Nolan today, so he said hello to Chad and left the editing room.

Arriving at the studio lobby, Taylor and his agent came in from outside.

The former was also holding an incubator in his hand.

As soon as Taylor saw Martin, he immediately took his arm and said, "You must try the cookies I made myself."

Martin responded, "I haven't tasted your cooking yet."

Taylor put the incubator on the table beside him, opened it and winked at Martin: "I've tasted yours."

Martin ignored the seductive fox eyes and looked at the incubator, which contained many small boxes of cookies. Their shapes were not so regular and they were obviously handmade.

Taylor took a small box and gave it to Martin: "Try it."

Martin ate a piece. It was crispy and sweet, not quite to his taste, but he still gave it a thumbs up: "The taste is excellent, but the appearance needs improvement."

Taylor put her red lips close to Martin's ear and said, "I made it irregular on purpose. If it was too round, how could others tell if it was handmade by me?"

Martin really gave Taylor a thumbs up this time: "Dear, no wonder you are so popular."

"I'm going to deliver cookies to the crew." Taylor kept his voice low: "I'll treat you to dinner later?"

Martin said, "I'll treat you. There's a restaurant that's sure to suit your taste." He glanced at his watch and said, "I'm going to meet a director. I'll call you when I get out."

Taylor nodded: "Okay."

Martin left the studio and went to a small building nearby.

Over at the studio, Taylor carried an insulated box and personally delivered a small box of handmade cookies to each office, starting with the front desk.

Rural areas are very good at dealing with people in their initial stages.

Because of the huge success of The Dark Knight, Nolan's new project easily got the green light from Warner Bros., the crew was officially established, and the studio was still located in Warner Studios.

When Martin went there, the office building was being tidied up and was a bit messy inside.

Nolan simply asked him to sit under a parasol on the roadside to talk. This was the shooting area of ​​Warner Studios and ordinary people could not enter.

"It was a bit chaotic at the beginning." Nolan pointed to the back and said, "Every time we start a new project, we have to set up a separate studio, and it always takes a while."

Martin said, "The financial accounting is done separately." Nolan reached for the briefcase at hand and said, "I have good news for you. The script is finished."

He pulled out the script and handed it to Martin.

On the cover of the script, there is only one English word: "Inception".

Martin frowned slightly. What was the English title of Inception? He vaguely remembered it was a word, but he couldn't remember the details.

Nolan gestured for permission.

Martin opened the script and read it carefully.

“At dusk, the waves rolled.

The waves pushed the bearded man onto the beach, where he lay motionless. A gun barrel turned the bearded man over, and the security guard with the gun called his companions!

Behind them is a cliff with a castle on top..."

When Martin saw the beginning, he thought of the movie he had seen several times. The beginning was almost exactly the same as what was written in the script.

Yes, this is Inception.

What follows is the castle plot of Act I.

Martin read the script very carefully. The script was more difficult to read than the movie. He would stop occasionally to verify the plot in his mind, so he read very slowly.

In Nolan's eyes, Martin read the script very carefully and did not become complacent just because The Dark Knight was a huge hit and The Joker was very popular. He still maintained a professional attitude.

Since Nolan began to conceive this new project during the filming of The Dark Knight, Martin has been the only male lead in his mind.

Compared to Bale, who had a lot of mess on the set, Martin is truly a model of ability and dedication.

Martin closed the script after reading less than a fifth of it and said, "Can I take the script home and read it slowly?"

Nolan took out the script and gave it to Martin: "Don't worry, it may be a little complicated, you should study it carefully."

Martin nodded and said, "I feel that the actor's mental state is not very stable."

Nolan admitted: "In reality, people's mental state is unstable, and so are my protagonists."

Martin recalled that the protagonist of Memento was an amnesiac, the protagonist of Day and Night was a detective suffering from insomnia, not to mention Batman and the Joker, both of whom had mental problems.

"I'll study the script and the role carefully when I get back." Martin asked, "When is the shooting scheduled to start?"

Nolan said: "The specific time has not been determined yet, but it should be around next summer, so please save your time."

Martin calculated: "My schedule should be fine."

Nolan held Martin's shoulders and said, "We must show the state of the Joker!" Now he is full of confidence: "Let's work together and shock the world once again!"

"Of course I will." Martin had just finished speaking when he caught a glimpse of an electric car passing by with a familiar fat man sitting in it.

Harvey Weinstein also saw him and Nolan, asked the driver to stop the car, jumped out and took the initiative to say hello: "Hi, Martin."

He turned to Nolan again: "Is this Director Nolan?"

Nolan walked up to Harvey, shook hands politely, and exchanged a few words.

As Martin shook his hand, he asked, "Harvey, how come you have time to come here?"

Everyone in Hollywood knows that the Weinstein brothers and the Warner brothers are in a big fight.

Harvey laughed, "Warner Bros. and Peter Jackson want to start The Hobbit, a prequel to The Lord of the Rings. I have some of the copyrights, so they can only invite me to come and discuss it with Peter."

Martin complimented casually: "Harvey, you have a good eye and control a treasury."

Harvey laughed even more happily, and said, "Are you interested in joining us? I'll introduce Peter Jackson to you."

Martin knew that if he could get one point of benefit from this fat man, he would have to pay ten times the price, so he said, "I will devote all my energy to Director Nolan's new project."

Nolan was a little unhappy that Harvey poached his talent in front of him, but Martin's refusal without hesitation made him feel proud.

Harvey looked at Nolan, in his usual style and manner: "New project? Director Nolan, we can definitely work together. You have made a breakthrough in business now, and in terms of awards..."

Nolan may not be obsessed with the Oscars now, and he said very politely: "Sorry, Harvey, the investment in my project is too high, and the independent studios can't afford it."

Harvey was so thick-skinned that he remained calm: "If you have any ideas about Oscar, just come and find me."

Nolan just smiled and said nothing more.

Harvey turned his eyes back to Martin.

Martin blocked his way before he could say anything: "Harvey, I have at least three or four projects on hand, not to mention the agency. My schedule will be fully booked for the next few years."

Harvey didn't say much, waved his hand and got on the electric car. When he was about to drive away, he turned around and looked at Martin and Nolan, thinking: "You are very popular and have great appeal. You look down on me, an independent producer. When you are no longer popular..."

Martin put away the script, said goodbye to Nolan, called Taylor, and went to the Smoke House restaurant outside for dinner.

After dinner, of course he wanted Taylor to sing.

(End of this chapter)