America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 541 Hope is Born

As the sun turned to the west, Ben Affleck came out of the apartment door and carefully helped Toni down the stairs, caring more about her than he did Jennifer Garner who was about to give birth.

He held the man with his hands and said, "Slow down, slow down, don't be in a hurry."

Toni held Ben with one hand and touched her belly with the other: "Maybe I have labor pains. My stomach hurts a little."

"Hold on, we'll be at the hospital in ten minutes at most." Da Ben helped the person into the back seat, got into the driving seat, and drove towards the nearby obstetrics and gynecology hospital.

While waiting for the traffic light, he called Casey Affleck and asked her to quickly send the birth bag to the hospital.

More than half an hour later, he was sent to the hospital. Daben completed all the procedures and breathed a little sigh of relief.

Cassie ran in from outside.

Da Ben took the delivery bag from him, carried it into the ward, and was quickly driven out by the nurse.

Toni is about to give birth.

Cassie sat on the bench by the door and asked, "What should we do next?"

Ben knew that he was not strong enough on his own, so he said, "I contacted Pete and Harvey. Harvey is currently arguing with Tolkien's copyright agency in London. He will be back in a few days."

Cassie thought about how miserable she was and couldn't wait any longer: "We have to wait a little longer."

Ben's cell phone rang. Seeing that it was Harvey calling, he walked to the end of the empty corridor and answered the call: "Harvey, I sent the woman who is pregnant with Martin's child to the hospital. She may give birth today."

In London, Harvey Weinstein, who had just returned to the hotel after a round of wrangling with Tolkien's copyright agency, finally heard some good news: "Ben, you did a great job. You must ensure that the child is born and that the child is discharged safely from the hospital."

Big Ben assured: "Don't worry, Harvey, I will stay in the hospital forever."

Harvey thought of the movie "Inglourious Basterds" which had already been released, and became furious.

This film, one of his rare large investments in recent years, did not receive any major awards at the Cannes Film Festival, nor did it have the commercial effect of first-line stars. Its box office performance was mediocre after its release in North America, with just over 2000 million U.S. dollars in the first week.

In the end, we still have to go back to the old ways, recovering costs through offline markets such as DVD and TV copyrights, and then relying on time to generate profits.

Harvey didn't have to go this way. "Inglourious Basterds" increased its investment, even setting a record for Weinstein Company's investment in a single film, and took the initiative to invite a first-line star with market appeal like Martin to play the leading role. Isn't it just that he wanted to make a difference in theaters?

Doesn't he want to make back his investment just through box office sales?
Harvey felt heartbroken. The unexpected twists and turns of this project caused him to lose tens of millions of dollars.

Ultimately, this is all Martin Davis' fault.

Harvey had calculated the accounts very clearly. Maybe Martin had an affair with Pitt, which caused the first setback for the project. Then Martin rejected his invitation, which caused the second setback. Then at the Cannes Film Festival, he snatched the Best Actor award, causing the film to lose a major attraction for movie fans.

Needless to say, poaching Wes Craven caused his Dimension Films to lose its biggest support in the horror genre.

Harvey made a quick decision and said to the phone, "Ben, wait until the woman and the child are discharged from the hospital. Find a suitable opportunity, in a public place, with the more media the better, to have them meet Martin Davis and recognize their parents on the spot."

"Good idea!" Big Ben laughed, "It will be a good show then. Whether Martin admits it or not, he will be discredited!"

Harvey thought more: "No, an illegitimate child will only affect Martin's reputation and will not cause a fatal blow to Martin. Based on my understanding of that bastard Martin and the example set by the trio's boss Nicholson, Martin will not recognize this child."

He asked: "Does the woman have any video or audio recording of the intercourse?"

Da Ben said with some regret: "I tried to test her several times, but she was just enjoying herself and didn't think about it at all."

Harvey shook his head: "What a pity." He just felt a little regretful and said: "Martin will definitely refuse this kind of thing. You have a good relationship with that woman, don't you understand?"

This is what Da Ben thought: "I know how to do this."

Harvey quickly hung up the phone.

Just as he was about to go downstairs for dinner, his wife Georgina Chapman called him via video.

The video was connected and the wife, who was removing her makeup, appeared on the screen.

Harvey waved: "Hi, honey, are you still in New York?"

Georgina tied up her long hair and said, "I am going back to Los Angeles today. Some of my friends in the fashion circle want to go with me. I am going to hold another fashion party."

Harvey understood: "Just sign the bill for how much it costs, and I'll settle the bill with the guy in Los Angeles later."

Georgina was particularly happy: "Thank you, dear, you are the best husband in the world."

It's so exciting to spend my husband's money and have an affair with another man.

Georgina can't wait to get back to Los Angeles.

Harvey said, "Okay, let's stop here. I'll be back to Los Angeles in a few days."

The video call ended and someone came over.

The assistant held up the phone and said, "Boss, Warner Bros. just called and wanted to discuss the copyright of The Hobbit. They offered a condition that they want us to give up the copyright for $500 million."

"Five million dollars? Those people at Warner are dreaming!" Harvey is well aware of the market value of this series, and if it is managed well, it will generate billions of dollars in revenue.

He adopted his usual tough attitude: "Go call Warner back and tell them that the copyright is not negotiable!" The assistant quickly returned the call.

Harvey felt upset again. He and his brothers had been busy for thirty years, but the scale of their film company was not as big as the Big Six, not even as good as the half-dead DreamWorks. In terms of revenue, it was not even as good as the subsidiaries of the Big Six.

Fortunately, he always has a way at the Oscars, which is why he has such a huge influence today.

Harvey sat on the couch, thinking about more things, especially Martin.

Dealing with Martin is not just about venting anger, it also involves actual benefits.

Harvey remembered clearly that Martin's Davis Film and Television Studio had bought the adaptation rights to several literary works, some of which had already entered the adaptation stage. Judging from Martin's vision in recent years, the potential value of these adaptations was extremely high.

If we can get rid of Martin and take over these projects...

Even with Harvey's state of mind, a chrysanthemum-like smile bloomed on his fat face.

…………

Under the night sky of Los Angeles, many people were busy. Jody got a series of copies of explosive material, checked the information of relevant personnel one by one, called one of them, and took a red-eye flight to the other party's city overnight.

As a veteran entertainment reporter who has reported on Brad Pitt's nanny scandal and Ben Affleck's teaching scandal, Jodi knows exactly how to handle this matter.

There are probably few more experienced journalists in the United States.

Jody knew very well that if she couldn't get rid of Harvey Weinstein, she would be in big trouble.

A car rushed into the Burbank hospital. Brad Pitt, wearing a boonie hat, got out of the car and ran hurriedly towards the ward building. Before he reached the door of the building, he saw Casey Affleck smoking outside.

He quickened his pace and asked, "What's going on?"

Cassie said, "She's in labor, Ben's standing guard at the door, let me come here and wait for you."

Pete licked his dry lips and said, "Hope is finally born!"

Cassie led the way: "This way."

The two went upstairs together and turned into a corridor, and saw Daben walking back and forth anxiously, even more uneasy than when his wife gave birth.

Peter, who has no children and has never experienced this, said, "Just keep calm."

Ben nodded, looked around, and seeing that there was no one else around, he said, "I just contacted Harvey. Harvey will be coming to Los Angeles soon. He asked us to push ahead and find public places where Martin appears, especially places where there are many media reporters..."

Hearing this, Pitt said: "I have some connections in the circle. You should also pay attention to the relevant media. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button starring Martin Davis will be released soon..."

Talking about this movie, Pitt felt inexplicably uncomfortable, as if he could hardly breathe. He was originally chosen to play the leading role in this movie.

He paused for a moment and continued, "He will definitely attend some promotional events, then we can get him together!"

Da Ben also talked about what to do if you don’t recognize the child.

Pete nodded: "He should also have a taste of what happened to us." He inferred from Martin, who was also a bastard: "If there is one such thing, there will be a second and a third. As long as the first one comes out, the rest will also jump out."

Big Ben, who has experienced this, agrees: "That's right, I absolutely don't believe there won't be a second Martin!"

Suddenly, the door next to her opened and a nurse came out and said, "Who is Toni Fellman's family member?"

Daben and the other two went over immediately.

The nurse said, "Boy, mother and child are safe!"

Peter crossed himself: "God bless you!"

…………

Davis Manor was unusually quiet at night.

In the living room of the villa, after Martin finished his video call with Elizabeth Olsen, Bruce walked over and said, "Jody left overnight."

Martin said: "She has a lot of experience in this area and is our best choice."

Bruce scratched his head: "He's just too skinny, there's not much meat on his body."

Martin was surprised: "How do you know so much?"

Bruce didn't want to continue this topic, so he handed Martin an invitation letter and said, "This is so fucking weird. We were planning to deal with Harvey Weinstein, but his wife teamed up with your many supermodel mistresses..."

Martin corrected him: "Not really, just mutual stamp collecting."

Bruce didn't dwell on it and said, "Georgina Chapman invites you to a fashion party in Malibu."

Martin took the invitation and found that in addition to Georgina, there were also Angela Lindwall and Big KK in the signature column.

Not only Old Bu, but he also felt that why things turned out so strangely?
Therefore, he contacted Angela, Georgina and others, and he was in charge of the party layout and venue.

(End of this chapter)