America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 572: Coke Cult Refuses to Watch Marvel
The Burbank Hotel, Ballroom One.

At Warner Bros.' New Year's party, the most eye-catching event was the official appearance of new CEO Kevin Tsujihara.

All of this sends a signal that a new era is about to begin for Warner Bros.

Martin walked around the banquet hall, greeted many people and talked to them for a while, then found Louise and asked, "Is there any new news?"

Louise said: "Barry Meyer's position as chairman won't last long. According to Warner's usual way, it won't be long before Kevin Tsujihara will take on the role of chairman concurrently."

Martin asked, "What is his attitude toward partner companies like Pacific Pictures?"

Louise said, "It's unknown for now." She changed the subject and said, "But one thing is basically certain, he plans to follow the example of Marvel Studios and focus on creating the DC superhero series."

Marvel's already released "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk", have already revealed the grandeur of the movie universe.

As a DC superhero that keeps pace with Marvel, it certainly doesn't want to fall behind.

Martin was not surprised and said, "The Justice League series?"

"That's right." Louise said softly, "That can be confirmed. I don't know how to push it forward, but DC has fallen behind by a long way. It is said that Kevin Tsujihara is a little anxious and wants to catch up. He has just taken office and he must want to make some achievements."

Martin saw Louise reaching for the wine and held her hand: "Drink less."

Louise withdrew her hand and said, "I heard that Marvel Studios wants to find you to play Captain America."

Martin was a little surprised: "The news spread so quickly?"

Louise said: "There was a rumor circulating in the industry after Christmas."

Martin pondered and said, "It seems that they are not sincere."

Louise was curious: "Why?"

"They haven't contacted my agent or agency, nor have they contacted me. They may want to use me." Martin just guessed: "Maybe we will know in the next few days."

Just after the New Year, a piece of entertainment news attracted widespread attention.

At a promotional event for "Iron Man 2" held by Walt Disney and Marvel Pictures, Kevin Feige publicly invited Martin.

"Martin Davis is a real-life national hero, an actor and artist who represents the spirit of the American nation."

Facing numerous media cameras, Kevin Feige, who has studied Christopher Nolan in depth, tried his best to promote Marvel's next film "Captain America": "Steve Rogers is a national hero in comics. He has inspired our fighting spirit time and time again in World War II. He is a symbol of the American spirit!"

He shouted: "Looking around the world, there is no actor more suitable than Martin to play Captain America! We will strongly invite Martin Davis to play Steve Rogers."

The reporters at the scene were excited and they all believed that no one was more suitable for this role than Martin.

The news conference will end, and from the Internet to TV stations, the entertainment section will be flooded with coverage.

Many media outlets simply made a final conclusion.

"Martin Davis is about to play Captain America!"

"Martin Davis is the best actor for Captain America!"

As for the fact that Martin had played the DC Joker, it was automatically ignored. After all, it was not a big deal.

Captain America, whose comic book popularity is barely second-tier, became an instant hit thanks to the topic of heroes competing with each other.

At Marvel Studios' Los Angeles office, Jon Favreau approached Kevin Feige and said, "We have only raised $1 million so far. Even if we can convince Disney to raise more money, it will be hard to exceed $1.4 million."

Kevin Feige understood why he came: "Are you worried that Martin's salary is too high?"

Jon Favreau did a lot of the work in the early stages of the film, and he was indeed worried: "As far as I know, because of the compensation clause signed, after the North American box office of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button reached 1.5 million US dollars, the producer compensated Martin Davis for his salary. His actual salary for this film will reach 2000 million US dollars."

He further said: "If you want to invite first-line stars to shoot superhero movies, you must pay more. $2000 million may not be enough. Martin Davis will also ask for online and offline share."

Kevin Feige smiled and said, "That's why I invited him. Martin Davis won't act and we can't afford to pay him that much. But Martin is too suitable for the role of Captain America. He is very popular and has great news value. I just used the most appropriate way to let Captain America take advantage of Martin's popularity."

Someone nearby asked, "What if Martin says yes?"

"Is there any better result than this? We only paid a few million dollars to invite Martin Davis to play Captain America. Even God wouldn't dare to think so." Kevin Feige knew this was unrealistic: "I am already very satisfied that Marvel can take advantage of Martin's popularity."

Martin naturally saw the news that was being hyped up. Just like he had tried to ride on other people's popularity in the past, now that he was famous and had great appeal, it was someone else's turn to ride on his popularity.

But he was not interested in being a tool for others, so he called Thomas immediately.

Thomas first contacted Kevin Feige to inquire about the relevant matters, and the latter "generously" offered a salary of $800 million plus a lot of empty promises.

The actual box office and post-production share are not discussed.

"He just wants to use your fame for publicity." Thomas quickly called Martin back.

Martin said, "Go and clarify."

Thomas then contacted the media and released a recording of his phone call with Kevin Feige.

The media and fans were all shocked. "Such a salary offer is simply an insult to Martin!"

"Is this Marvel's sincerity? This company is truly impressive."

"Obviously, Marvel is riding on Martin's popularity."

Kevin Feige was very stubborn and quickly said publicly: "We are just trying to invite Martin. Cooperation is a two-way process."

He didn't want to give up the opportunity to ride on the popularity, so he started to use it hard: "Martin and Captain America both represent the strength, freedom and struggle of the American spirit, and they cannot be measured only by commercial value."

Faced with such shamelessness, Martin only responded on his newly registered Twitter account: "Captain America is a superhero movie with an investment of over $1 million!"

This is a commercial society with developed Gundams. Martin and Captain America are very compatible, but this kind of commercial film project lacks even commercial sincerity. What else can we say?

Kevin Feige wanted to continue to take advantage of the situation, but some members of the Coca-Cola Cult suddenly jumped out.

A large number of fans wearing red Coke T-shirts gathered in front of Marvel Studios' office building in Burbank under the organization of the Los Angeles branch church.

These people held up banners and posters.

“Refuse to watch Captain America!”

"Coke Cult rejects Marvel superhero movies!"

Media reporters and paparazzi heard the news and soon gathered in dozens of people.

TMZ even opened a live broadcast window on its website.

Many followers of the Coca Cola Cult responded online. Someone used the banner in front of the Marvel Studios building to create a picture similar to the avatar and posted it on Twitter and Facebook.

Followers of the Coke Cult who used these two social softwares forwarded the message, creating a small wave online.

The incident soon alarmed Walt Disney's CEO Robert Iger, who met with Kevin Feige, whom he admired very much.

"The Coca Cola Church has tens of millions of followers in North America, and it has a certain influence in the business and political circles." Iger is a wise company helmsman, and he said directly: "You should apologize publicly, settle this matter quickly, and stop entangled with Martin Davis."

Kevin Feige wondered: "It's just riding on his popularity, isn't it?"

Iger knew Martin well and said, "It's really not like Martin's style. If he wants to deal with you, he won't do it in such a high-profile way. It may be spontaneous from the fans. Matters involving faith are always troublesome."

Kevin Feige thought of the rising tide of rejection of Marvel on the Internet and said, "I will publicly apologize to Martin."

Iger said, "Do it as soon as possible. Go back and contact the media now. Your superhero universe plan has just begun, and you can't afford to make any mistakes."

After Kevin Feige returned to Marvel Studios, he recorded a video to apologize to Martin and sent it to major media outlets. He said that some of his previous remarks were ill-considered and he solemnly apologized if he had offended Martin.

…………

Davis Estate, Beverly Hills.

Elizabeth met Thomas at the door, greeted him, and said, "Martin is in the study."

Thomas walked towards the study under her guidance, and asked as he walked, "Did Martin see the news about Kevin Feige's apology?"

Elizabeth nodded slightly: "Old Bu just reminded Martin to look at it."

Thomas went into the study.

Martin asked: "Have you ever found out who mobilized those people to protest at Marvel?"

"It's not someone from my side." Thomas asked in detail and was sure of this: "Is it from the fan club?"

Bruce shook his head: "No, it has nothing to do with them."

Martin said: "Who wants to stir up a conflict between me and Disney? Disney just spent a lot of money to acquire Marvel and is preparing to invest heavily in the Marvel series."

Elizabeth asked, "Was it spontaneous?"

Bruce said, "No, several organizers received an email saying that they were going to organize this event. I asked someone to look at it and found that the person who sent the email was a technical expert and could not be traced online."

As a person with deep paranoia, Martin's first reaction was that someone was trying to mess with him, so he said, "Pay attention recently, and inform the branch church and the fan club, and ask them to contact by phone when organizing activities, and not to use online software."

He looked at Elizabeth and warned her, "You must bring a bodyguard with you when you go out."

Elizabeth had experienced the Burbank High School incident, so she had a strong psychological quality and knew what to do. She said, "I will."

Thomas said: "I will pay more attention to the developments in the circle."

Martin thought of Harvey again: "Is there any situation with Weinstein?"

"No," Bruce said, "He is still restricted from traveling and has been staying at home. He has denied all charges and has not mentioned the situation of other people."

(End of this chapter)