America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

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The sunny Los Angeles found Barry Meyer, CEO and President of Warner Bros., arriving at his office on time. The secretary had prepared his coffee on the desk, the temperature was just right, and the documents that needed to be dealt with or reviewed were also placed in a prominent position.

Barry Meyer first took a sip of coffee before browsing the documents, one of which held his attention for an extended period.

Warner Bros.' new release from the last weekend, "Limitless," was a box office hit, with its North American opening weekend earnings surpassing the production costs.

The film also debuted in the UK, France, Mexico, and Australia, with overseas box office earnings reaching a staggering 27.56 million US dollars.

In three days, the global box office had surpassed 60 million US dollars.

Martin Davis had a strong draw.

Barry Meyer turned on his computer and checked. Since "The Hills Have Eyes," aside from "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" where Martin played a supporting role, all other films starring Martin had exceeded one hundred million in North American box office sales.

This was an incredible achievement.

Warner Bros., as the distributor, was the one who profited the most from this.

Movie stars are one of the best tools for a film company to earn profit, and those who bring in the most money should naturally be given the most prominent positions.

Immediately, Barry Meyer picked up the phone and dialed Ari Emanuel at WMA, "Ari, it's me. When are you free to play a round at the Country Club?"

"Did you run into something happy?" came the reply from the other end.

Barry Meyer said, "I'd like to talk with you about deepening the cooperation between our two companies."

Ari, knowing this was brought on by Martin, said, "You bring Ellen, I'll bring Thomas, and the four of us can have a match."

Barry remembered that Thomas was Martin's agent and replied, "No problem."

He was like Will Smith's agent, also a distinguished guest of his.

When Barry Meyer went to find Ellen Horn at the film company, he thought of Will Smith.

Since 1996, Smith's films had been more hit than miss, and after entering the 2000s, virtually every film he made was a blockbuster, making him unrivaled in Hollywood for a time.

In recent years, speaking purely of commercial appeal, even Tom Cruise and Leonardo had to stand aside in front of Will Smith.

It seemed Martin Davis might be gaining momentum similar to that of Will Smith around the year 2000.

If he could succeed in a few more, in terms of commercial appeal...

Barry Meyer felt that if Martin could maintain a streak of success like Will Smith, his commercial appeal might be even stronger than Smith's.

After all, the latter was black.

Barry Meyer met up with Ellen Horn, who brought up something new, "I plan to push for a new Terminator movie."

The other was the CEO of the film company and had the power to make that decision. Barry Meyer asked, "Do you have a plan?"

Ellen Horn nodded, "After releasing the third part a few years ago and spending a hefty sum to acquire the series rights, the third part has already turned a profit offline. It's time to put the fourth part on the agenda."

Barry Meyer didn't say much more, Warner Bros. had its own internal review committee and projects had to get the green light to move forward.

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This week, the heavy snowfall in the Northeastern United States and Southeastern Canada finally ceased. After a brief cooldown, the clouds dispersed, and the bright sun hung in the sky as the weather gradually warmed.

Martin and all the main creators of the crew left New York to continue their promotional tour for the film.

The crew arrived in Washington.

After participating in a program, Martin left the TV station to meet up with Kelly Gray, who had arrived the previous week, and headed to a club for an event.

Once in Kelly's car, Kelly introduced the event to Martin, "It's a high-end political gathering with many artists and celebrities from the liberal side attending."

Martin was well aware of his actions in Atlanta and said with a smile, "I suppose I, too, have made a contribution to liberty and democracy."

The car soon arrived at a suburban mansion, parking outside an ornately decorated clubhouse. Martin followed Kelly inside and after a short wait, met Julia, the president of the Freedom Association from Atlanta, and Congresswoman Erica with her signature pink water bottle shouting for liberty.

Different from the days when he couldn't speak in front of them, upon seeing Martin, Julia and Erica shook hands with him in succession, exchanging pleasantries.

The four entered the banquet hall together, and the first person Martin saw was Heiguan Hai.

This senator was mingling with his wife.

Beyond him, Martin also spotted Meryl Streep and George Clooney, Hollywood's most famous left-wing celebrities.

They were well-known political activists in Hollywood.

The four went over to say hello, and Heiguan Hai shook hands with each, offering warm and friendly pleasantries.

When shaking hands with Martin, he said, "Did you bring any of that smart drug with you? If I had that, my journey would have been much easier."

Martin replied with deadpan seriousness, "It's in urgent development; I'm waiting for the congress to allocate funds. Senator, you must help out."

"No problem," Heiguan Hai joked, before adding, "'Limitless' is a great movie; it captured many dreams I had as a young man."

Martin said, "If your words got out, it could increase the movie's box office by 20 million US dollars."

Heiguan Hai chuckled and then changed the subject, "I've heard about the things you did in Atlanta, quite remarkable."

"It's what I should do," Martin responded seriously, "I did it to let the flower of liberty bloom in a city staunchly conservative."

After conversing briefly, Martin politely excused himself from the group to follow Kelly Gray and meet other personalities.

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Kelly said simply, "Next month, Heiguan Hai will officially announce his candidacy for next year's presidential election."

Martin glanced over and whispered, "A black president."

Kelly responded, "That's his disadvantage, but if handled well, it could also become his unique advantage."

After making a donation, Martin found Meryl.

The latter was not surprised to see him: "I didn't expect us to share the same political stance."

Here, Martin of course would not deny it and said, "I've seen many of your speeches about politics and social issues, you're very impressive."

But Meryl said, "I'm still behind Julia and Aniston."

Martin praised, "Those two are indeed very outstanding independent women."

"Leading freedom and justice, ha ha," Meryl laughed.

Martin was also laughing. Although the MeToo movement had launched, the overall social environment was different, the forces behind it were different, and aside from Pitt getting into trouble, it hadn't yet escalated.

But who could tell what the future held?

Meryl's voice suddenly lowered: "Many women in Hollywood should be thankful to Julia and Aniston. For some time in the future, they might face slightly better circumstances."

Martin added, "It's not easy for male actors either."

Meryl looked towards Kelly Gray and thought of Louise Mel, saying, "You're much luckier than most, the person willing to help you rise to the top is at least a woman."

In that respect, Martin was indeed lucky.

He never used the proctologist's business card that the plump landlord Antonio had given him.

On the contrary, many of Antonio's male actor tenants did use it, but they still didn't make it big.

Seeing Kelly Gray approaching, Martin said, "When we get back to Los Angeles, I'll ask you and Nicholson to come out and play."

"No problem." Meryl answered first, then asked, "Can't I join the three of you in your activities?"

Martin's voice was very low: "It's not suitable for ladies."

Before Kelly Gray arrived, Meryl went somewhere else.

Martin continued socializing in the hall with Kelly, mingling with political figures who could potentially become useful contacts at any time.

The crew stayed in Washington for two days before moving on to Chicago, where one promotional event followed another.

To attract more audiences to theaters, the creative team of the production did their utmost to draw attention.

Martin repeatedly shared stories similar to the movie's protagonist, from a loser to a successful figure.

Aniston tirelessly revealed Pitt's past dealings, discussing her experiences of falling out and then reconciling with Julia.

Even Robert De Niro disclosed decades of love and rivalry with Al Pacino.

As for the various behind-the-scenes anecdotes meticulously crafted by the screenwriter, each city would get a taste of something, ensuring a variety of stories.

For instance, the team disclosed that they had once invited Kate Winslet and Julia Roberts for the female lead role but ended up choosing Aniston as the most suitable choice.

In movie promotions, many messages were made up, and the team for "Limitless" had a group specifically responsible for writing interesting tidbits.

During this traditional movie off-season, the film maintained a stable box office trend.

As the weather improved in the Northeastern United States and Southeastern Canada, the hitherto suppressed enthusiasm of the audience was suddenly unleashed. Find your next read on empire

On a new weekend, with new releases like "Poltergeist" and "The Mist," alongside older movies, more viewers chose "Limitless," now in its second week of showing.

The film maintained an exceptionally stable box office trajectory; with its competitors being of moderate strength, the box office in its second weekend dropped just over 30%, taking in 26.82 million US dollars.

With the four weekdays earnings added, "Limitless" had accumulated a total of 81.05 million US dollars in North America after ten days of screening.

Breaking 100 million at the North American box office was only a matter of time.

That weekend, the film also opened in Latin American markets such as Brazil and Argentina as well as in the markets of East Asia and Southeast Asia, accumulating an overseas box office total of 51.14 million US dollars.

Meanwhile, another movie starring Martin, "Infernal Affairs," was entering its final phases of showing in North America with a current total of 187 million US dollars in North America and over 300 million US dollars globally.

According to the normal screening schedule, this movie should have been phased out of theaters in North America to enter the DVD and VHS market to capitalize on its popularity one last time.

However, the production preferred to give up 80 percent of subsequent box office revenue to theaters in order to maintain a certain scale of screening, all for the sake of contention at the Oscars.

Before the Oscar ceremony, "Infernal Affairs" would not be taken down from theaters, nor would DVDs or VHS tapes be released.

If they could win major awards at the Oscars, DVD and VHS sales of the film would skyrocket.

During this era, not 10 years later, the quality of the Best Picture was somewhat guaranteed, and the Oscars still had a significant impact on market momentum.

In another seven or eight years, not only the market impact of the Oscars, but even the viewership of the awards ceremony itself would become a major problem.

After winning multiple Hollywood guild awards, Martin Scorsese and the film had become the top contenders for this year's Oscars.

As for "Tower of Babel," which won the Golden Globe Awards for Best Drama and Best Director, no one expected it to beat the odds.

In early February, a crucial stage of the 2007 Oscar selection, the nominees' luncheon, was officially held at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel.