America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 501 Get rid of the competitors
On this day, the Lumiere Hall of the Palais des Festivals was bustling again. Among all the films participating in the competition unit, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", which had the largest investment, held a grand premiere ceremony.

In addition to David Fincher, Martin and other main creative staff, there were also many carpet stars who came to join in the fun.

There is no way around it. This is one of the profit-making projects of the film festival. For films premiering during the festival, red carpet tickets are only 1.5 euros.

Compared to those unknown art films from small countries, the premiere of "Benjamin" had a much greater influence.

The crew did not invite any guests except those from the jury and the organizing committee. However, more than 100 red carpet guests came to cheer for "Benjamin".

The film festival earned 200 million euros.

In terms of art, we have to try our best to raise the standard, but as for making money, it’s not shabby either.

The jury included Isabelle Huppert, James Gray, Shu Qi, Li Dongcang and Asia Argento.

John Travolta did not come out of consideration for Harvey and Quentin, but he sent someone to convey the message in advance.

Martin was not worried. Although he did not ask in detail, he could roughly guess that the Son of God Tom Cruise contacted Travolta through the leader Hubbard.

The Pope has a much greater influence on Travolta than Harvey.

After taking a group photo with the main creators of the crew and the jury members, they entered the Lumiere Hall together.

Asia Argento thought of some rumors she had heard in Hollywood and quietly found Martin.

"I was at the premiere of Inglourious Basterds yesterday and heard someone say that Harvey originally wanted you for the lead role instead of Josh Brolin?"

"Yes, I rejected him," Martin said. "In fact, I had a disagreement with him. It's no secret that there are many problems between the foot gang and the face gang in Hollywood."

Asia Agendo thought of that old pervert Quentin and laughed: "Foot gang? That's really a vivid image!"

Martin shrugged: "Me, Leonardo and Nicholson are the face gang."

Aisha Agendo nodded: "I've heard of it."

Martin then entered the theater and found Isabelle Huppert standing by the aisle of the third row, holding the back of the seat and chatting with Menet.

Although Huppert's English is not particularly fluent, we still had a pleasant chat.

Finally, he accepted Mene's invitation and planned to have a midnight snack together after the movie premiere.

Just like Leonardo to supermodels, Uncle Mene is unique in the eyes of aunt-level women.

Amid the warm applause from the audience, Martin sat in the front row along with the main creative staff of the crew.

David Fincher, who was next to him, asked, "Is it going well?"

"It's OK." Martin said roughly, "There are many judges who support us."

Because of his strategic abandonment of the Palme d'Or, David Fincher's enthusiasm for competing for awards has inevitably declined a bit. There are some things he doesn't like in the first place, so he simply stops participating.

As the film began, the Lumiere Hall quickly became quiet.

Following the plot of the film, the audience enters into the peculiar life of Benjamin Button.

This is a film full of fantasy and beauty. The plot obviously discusses themes such as time, love and life, and the background is the changes in American society throughout the 20th century.

This isn’t a typical Fincher film again.

It is more optimistic, magical, touching and positive than any other Fincher film, with almost no dark elements.

At the end, James Gray, a director from Hollywood, said to the other judges: "I can't believe that David Fincher actually put down his butcher knife!"

Li Dongcang agreed with this view and said in awkward English: "Finch, the always sinister genius, actually has some humanity!"

Shu Qi said: "Martin's eyes are full of drama."

Asia Argento agreed: "From old age to a baby, Martin is Benjamin, flawless, and really challenges the limits of an actor."

As the president of the jury, Isabelle Huppert would not easily express her opinion, but as an artistic and acting talent, she admired Martin's performance in this film.

Martin not only successfully interpreted the character's growth and vicissitudes, giving the character a vivid personality, but also further led people into a thought-provoking thinking space, allowing people to follow his performance and explore the incredible things of life, time and love.

The subtitles appeared and the audience burst into warm applause.

Compared to ordinary premieres, the applause at film festivals is louder and more lasting. Not to mention the already high-quality "Benjamin", even some films that barely pass the test often receive applause that lasts more than five minutes.

When a film uses seven or eight minutes of applause from the audience at a film festival to promote itself, don't take it too seriously.

Melanie walked out near the side door of the theater and picked up her phone to make a call: "Notify the media, it's started."

As the premiere of "Benjamin" ended, many media reporters and critics rushed to write and publish their reviews of the film and the leading actors.

Cahiers du Cinema, the oldest professional magazine in France, highly praised David Fincher's new film and mentioned Martin's performance: "The young Hollywood actor Martin Davis interprets the role of Benjamin Button with superb acting skills. Through delicate expressions and body language, he vividly displays Benjamin's complex inner and emotional state!"

The entertainment section of Le Figaro also praised Martin's performance: "Martin successfully showed the protagonist's anti-aging process. In the transformation from old to young, he performed with unique charm and depth, allowing everyone sitting in front of the screen to truly feel Benjamin's growth and change." The official program of the Cannes Film Festival gave "Benjamin" an eight-point professional score and published a comment from Isabelle Huppert: "Martin's seemingly plain performance is precisely a return to the original nature of his acting skills. He showed us the character's curiosity in childhood, exploration in middle age, and thinking in old age with a clear performance outline!"

The film festival has been open for several days, and at least a dozen films in the competition unit have been released. However, there are only two male actors that Huppert has publicly commented on - Christoph Waltz and Martin Davis!
The direction of the Best Actor award is gradually becoming clear.

In the conference room of Wuyang Hotel, the crew is holding their daily routine meeting.

David Fincher had dropped out of the meeting, and Bruce joined instead.

Melanie reported the latest situation: "It is now certain that Shu Qi, Li Dongcang and James Gray will support us among the judges, and our biggest competitor is Christoph Waltz from Inglourious Basterds."

Martin raised his pen: "John Travolta has expressed his support for me."

Kathleen Kennedy was quite curious about how Martin convinced Travolta, after all, he had a very good relationship with Quentin and Harvey.

Melanie said: "This way, at least four judges support it. The key to the next step is Isabelle Huppert."

Bruce took over: "Our people are trying to convince Huppert."

Menet came back very late last night and he said he talked with Huppert until very late.

Martin had been reading the newspapers, and now it was clear that he and Waltz were far ahead of the other actors.

To be honest, in terms of role and performance alone, Waltz is not bad at all.

In a race, when two people are far ahead and the others have little hope of catching up, how can they ensure victory?

Harvey is definitely a good teacher in this regard - get rid of competitors.

Melanie, a professional PR, also thought of this idea and looked at Martin: "I have already contacted the media, what about you?"

Bruce replied, "Ready."

Ivan was able to take several photos, and the first batch was delivered to him last night.

Martin said, "Melanie, you can keep up to date with the jury's dynamics. I suggest releasing it one or two days before the jury makes a decision, leaving the other party with no room for redemption."

Melanie thought about it carefully and said, "Okay."

After the brief meeting, Martin went out to meet David Fincher for the announcement.

After the premiere last night, the leading actress Cate Blanchett returned to London on the pretext of filming a new movie.

Melanie continued to mobilize the media to promote Martin.

…………

In a conference room at the Grand Hôtel de Provence, the crew of "Inglourious Basterds" was also having a meeting.

As always, Xavi was in control.

"There are two awards in front of us, the Grand Jury Prize and Best Actor," he said. "My first goal is Best Actor."

Quentin doesn't care. Without the Palme d'Or, he has no interest in the Jury Prize.

Christoph Waltz bowed slightly to Harvey to express his thanks and gratitude.

The deputy knew Harvey and continued, "The biggest competitor now is Martin."

Harvey said: "It's simple, the old way, just temporarily discredit him!"

He had already prepared for this and handed a large stack of information to the crew's public relations: "Contact the media and send it out as soon as possible."

The public relations officer took a quick look and left the meeting room to get busy.

That afternoon, a French entertainment website revealed that during the filming of "Benjamin", Martin bullied Cate Blanchett more than once, causing Cate Blanchett to be excluded from the crew, etc.

There are also young actors in the crew who shared their experiences through videos.

These cannot be said to be completely false rumors. The discord between Martin and Blanchett is no secret in the crew. The former is more popular in the crew, while the latter is inevitably isolated.

Subsequently, more media outlets joined in the revelations.

The website went to London to interview Cate Blanchett, who refused to comment on the matter.

This in itself expresses an attitude.

Screen magazine claimed that Martin's portrayal of the character of Benjamin was not based on his own acting skills, but was completed with a large amount of CGI. Special effects occupied a key part of the character, which was completely contrary to the actor spirit and performing arts advocated by the Cannes Film Festival.

Another media reported that the descendants of Fitzgerald, the original author, were very dissatisfied with the film's drastic adaptation, believing that the male protagonist created by Martin was not the character created by Fitzgerald at all.

Some media also reported that the production cost of "Benjamin" was as high as 1 million US dollars, making it an out-and-out commercial film.

(End of this chapter)