America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 587 Dark Land
Gillian Flynn arrived just in time, as Martin had just finished his meal.

He put down his knife and fork, picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth, and said, "A new work so soon?"

After completing the script for "Gone Girl", Gillian Flynn has been busy. Although she followed the crew to Cape Girardeau for filming, she rarely appears on the set.

"I'm used to being busy and can't sit still." She smiled and said sincerely, "I'll release new works while Gone Girl is still popular. I'm still a poor writer now."

The sparsely populated cafeteria was rather messy, and the people around might have heard what Gillian Flynn said and cast concerned glances.

Martin invited, "Shall we talk somewhere else?"

Gillian nodded: "Okay."

The two left the restaurant and went to the cafe on the same floor and found a quiet booth.

Gillian took out a printed manuscript and handed it to Martin: "The new work is called "Dark Places", and the overall style is similar to the previous one."

"You can tell from the title." Martin took it, opened it and started reading.

This is a female-led novel.

When the heroine was a child, her mother and sister were brutally murdered by a perverted killer, and she identified her brother as the murderer, but when she grew up she discovered that there was something fishy going on.

Because of Gone Girl, Martin watched it very carefully, searching his memory as he watched, but he had no impression of it at all.

Later he simply stopped reminiscing and concentrated on his novel.

Martin saw the back and asked, "Are you trying to touch on the guiding questions when questioning young children about evidence, which has been the subject of social reflection in recent years?"

Gillian responded: “Yes, there is an element of that.”

Martin nodded slightly and continued reading, finishing the not-so-thick manuscript quickly.

Maybe it's because "Gone Girl" was too amazing, or maybe it's because the novel has not been completed yet, Martin doesn't feel that "Dark Places" is particularly outstanding.

Gillian saw Martin close the manuscript and asked impatiently, "How is it?"

Martin didn't want to mislead people, and said: "Personally, I prefer Gone Girl."

"When I was writing, I didn't have the same sense of enjoyment as in the last film." Gillian roughly understood her strengths and weaknesses: "In the last film, I had a classic case in reality to draw on. Agatha Christie's experience in dealing with her cheating husband gave me enough inspiration."

Martin returned the manuscript to Gillian: "You finish it first."

Gillian smiled and said, "Okay."

Martin left the cafe first, went upstairs to his room, and was about to take a shower when someone knocked on the door from outside.

He looked through the peephole and opened the door.

Léa Seydoux didn't wait for Martin to move aside, and she squeezed into the room with Martin herself.

In order to play the role of Margot, she cut her long hair into medium-short hair. Except for the different hair color, everything else was quite similar to Martin's memory of her appearance in "Blue Is the Warmest Color".

Of course, the romance and charm that are unique to French women are even more than that, like a flame.

For Martin, it was nothing like the feeling he had with Charlize.

…………

In the cafe downstairs, Gillian put away the manuscript and waited for a while.

The agent came in from outside, sat opposite her, and asked, "How was the chat? What did Martin say?"

Gillian told the truth: "Martin wants to wait until the novel is finished."

The agent frowned slightly and asked, "What about when you were discussing Gone Girl?"

"Martin showed great interest after reading only the beginning." Gillian recalled the first time she talked to Martin about the previous book: "He knew something about Agatha Christie's special experience, so Amy used a similar method to retaliate against Nick, and he became interested as soon as he heard it."

She thought for a moment and then continued, "I remember very clearly that Martin only read the first half of the novel and decided to buy the rights for film and television adaptation and asked someone to come and discuss cooperation."

The agent said, "Finish the novel first, and leave the publishing and adaptation rights to me."

He specifically encouraged Gillian: "Gone Girl has entered the top three of the New York Times bestseller list. Your next book is highly valued by publishers. The movie of the same name adapted by Martin and David Fincher has a very high chance of success. You don't have to worry about the adaptation rights at all."

Gillian thought the same: "I will try to finish the novel before the movie is released, and publish it when the movie is released. If it can be on the bestseller list again, the copyright can be sold at a good price."

"Gone Girl" is a new work by a newcomer. Although Gillian signed a compensation agreement with Davis Studio and received a share of the adaptation copyright from the Writers Guild, she could not get as much as she did after she became famous.

The agent persuaded me, "It's true that Martin helped you a lot in your success, but business matters are business matters, and we are not limited to working with Martin alone. There are many production companies in Hollywood, and many of them have called me to seek opportunities to work with you."

Gillian thought for a moment and said, "You keep in touch with them, and we will wait patiently for Gone Girl to be released."

The agent agreed: "As long as Martin can make the film a commercial success, your value and that of your next book will easily go up."

"However, if Martin's offer is right, we will still give priority to working with Martin." Jillian used to be an entertainment reporter and knew that Hollywood was full of scams. Martin was relatively reliable. She said, "Martin used to live across from my house in the Cody community. I watched him succeed step by step, from a third-rate little star to today's first-tier superstar."

This seemingly quiet weekend was not peaceful at all for the crew.

Gillian Flynn's discussion with Martin about her work was heard by someone with a purpose.

Like breaking news, a lot of news in Hollywood can be exchanged for money.

Inside the buffet restaurant, without even bothering to enjoy the free food, stage assistant Foster hurried out, found a quiet place, took out his cell phone and dialed a number in Los Angeles.

When the call was connected, he said, "Mills, it's me. I need you to do something right away."

Mills on the other side lazily said, "I'm enjoying the wine and the beauties. It's not important. I'll talk about it tomorrow."

Foster looked around and made sure no one was around before raising his voice and saying, "Great news for making money. If we can do it well, we can each earn tens of thousands of dollars!"

"Wait a minute." After a while, all the chaotic voices disappeared, leaving only Mills' voice: "What big money-making news?"

Foster didn't say it directly, but reminded: "Before I came to Missouri, didn't you tell me that someone should pay attention to Martin Davis's movements, especially the new film project."

"Yes, that's it!" Mills emphasized, "As long as your information is confirmed, I can sell it at a high price!"

He knew how to impress people: "Old man, no matter how much it can be sold for, we will split it in half!"

Foster stopped talking nonsense: "Tonight, Martin Davis is talking to someone about a new film project. Gillian Flynn, the author of "Gone Girl," has written a new work, and Martin is talking to her about the adaptation."

Mills was overjoyed, but he still asked, "Are you sure?"

"I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, and there is no doubt about it," Foster said.

Mills hung up the phone and immediately contacted a man named McDonald, who was a member of the assistant team of Jon Berg, the new president of Warner Pictures.

The two soon met at a Starbucks in Burbank.

McDonald was dressed in a formal suit, with an uncontrollable look of smugness on his face. He followed the right boss and his status within Warner Bros. was rising.

When he saw Mills, he asked directly, "Any news about the task assigned to you?"

This didn't sound very pleasant. It was clearly a deal where you paid me to do the work, but how did it become an arrangement between superiors and subordinates? Mills was slightly dissatisfied and reminded, "I have some results here, but where is the reward you promised?"

McDonald frowned: "Let's talk about the results first."

Mills revealed a little: "I have received accurate information that Martin Davis has not been idle during the filming and is still looking for and planning new projects."

MacDonald asked directly: "Original or adapted?"

Mills didn't say anything, just looked at him and smiled.

McDonald was able to apply for some operating funds, so he immediately took out his personal checkbook, signed two checks in a row, and passed them over.

Mills took a look and said, "This news is worth $500,000! For the sake of our friendship, you should at least give me $100,000!"

"Are you kidding me?" McDonald was so angry that he almost exploded: "It's just a piece of news!"

Mills said, "This is indeed just a piece of news, but it is related to the project that Martin Davis is planning!" He bent his fingers and tapped the table repeatedly, emphasizing, "The person who is interested in that project is Martin Davis!"

MacDonald picked up the coffee and took a sip.

Mills added, "You work for Warner and know Martin Davis better than I do. He has been working with Warner for many years. Has there ever been a movie that failed at the box office? Which one did not make the producer and distributor earn more than tens of millions of dollars in profit?"

He sneered, "Compared to the potential tens of millions of dollars in profit, such crucial information is not even worth a hundred thousand dollars?"

McDonald put down his coffee cup: "I can only give you $10,000!"

Mills shook his head: "You are insulting the name of Martin Davis and the legendary success he represents!"

"Wait for me a moment." McDonald stood up and left the cafe, looking for a place to make a phone call.

Mills waited patiently. If McDonald refused to pay, he could always look for other companies.

There is definitely a company in Hollywood willing to pay for the news of Martin Davis's promising project!

After waiting for a while, McDonald came in from outside and asked, "Are you sure Martin Davis hasn't bought the project he's optimistic about?"

Mills said: "He's not moving that fast, but if you hesitate, it's hard to say."

McDonald nodded: "One hundred thousand dollars is too much. I can only give you fifty thousand dollars."

Mills stood up and high-fived him: "Deal!"

Soon someone came to pay, and McDonald also got the key information and reported it to Jon Berg immediately. The latter asked him to take a red-eye flight to Missouri tonight.

(End of this chapter)