American fame and fortune

Time flies into 2015. After the New Year holiday, Martin returned to the crew of "Shark Beach" and was busy with the final editing.

Under the auspices of Louise and Joel Negron, the film was carefully edited, and what was presented to Martin was a 91-minute version without subtitles.

Martin watched the film several times and felt that certain scenes still needed to be simplified.

A few days later, the final edited version of "Shark Tank" was released, and then added front and rear subtitles. The total length of the film was only 88 minutes.

"The time is a bit short, isn't it?" Louise adjusted her black-rimmed glasses. She was always serious when working: "The main feature of the movie is only over 80 minutes, which is rare now."

Martin turned off the projector, turned on the light and said: "Short film has the advantage of being short. At least it can arrange more films."

Louise nodded: "I will have someone edit the final trailer. It will be released in less than a month. Please stop running around and cooperate with the crew in promoting it."

Martin responded: "No problem."

This is his directorial debut. He has found so many industry experts to serve as assistants and created it with great financial ability. If he really screws up, it will definitely become a joke in the industry.

The film's investment scale is limited, and the focus of publicity is on him and Blake Lively.

In addition, given the current social situation, the female protagonist fighting evil sharks is also an excellent publicity hot spot.

In the following days, Martin followed the crew to make promotional announcements, and also traveled from the West Coast to the East Coast to participate in various media activities.

The crew released the final trailer.

Various publicity and promotion efforts are also being made.

The final production cost of the film was US$25 million, and an additional US$25 million was invested in publicity and distribution.

News, recommendations and hard and soft publicity about "Shark Beach" can be seen everywhere in large and medium-sized cities in North America.

"Martin's directorial debut "Shark Tank" will be released soon!"

"Blake Lively fights the white shark wisely!"

"Directed by Martin Davis, starring Blake Lively, "Shark Tank" is coming soon!"

"Queen S rips up the Great White Shark with her hands!"

In addition to regular publicity in the media, Blake Lively's social media has been the most important publicity position since the filming period of the film. The Lace Master's new film has attracted the attention of a large number of fans.

The same is true for Martin. He also has many fans on social media, but top Hollywood stars operate differently from Internet celebrities and do not rely on social media themselves.

Even so, as numerous promotional materials were released on social media, the comment section of the two was almost filled to the brim.

"I've finally waited for Martin's directorial debut. I don't know what the film will be like."

"Watching the trailer feels pretty good. Just Blake Lively in a bikini is worth the price of admission."

"The films starring Martin are indeed very good-looking, but can the films he makes as a director be as exciting as the films he stars in?"

Many people have little confidence in Martin's directorial debut. After all, actors and directors are completely different. Although there is no shortage of success stories in Hollywood directed by first-line actors, there are more failures.

Since "Shark Beach" has not yet held a trial screening, the media has received mixed reviews.

"Hollywood Reporter" full-time film critic Todd McCarthy was not optimistic and wrote in a column: "As far as I know, Martin spends his spare time doing bad things with Leonardo and Nicholson, or chasing women. He didn’t learn much about directing, so he chose a project with an investment of more than 10 million U.S. dollars for his first film, so it’s probably difficult for him to grasp it.”

There are also people who support Martin. For example, "Variety" published an exclusive interview about "Shark Tank" and mentioned that the composition of the crew behind the scenes is all experienced players in the Hollywood industry.

"Maybe Martin is a newbie, but the person who controls the entire film is the gold medal producer Louise Lane, and all his assistants are the best in the industry! Another point that cannot be ignored is that the billionaire Martin Day Weiss is not only a Hollywood superstar, but also the boss of a production company. The resources he can mobilize are far beyond those of ordinary new directors. "

Variety magazine, which just interviewed Martin about "Split," undoubtedly saw the most critical aspect of Martin's filming of "Shark Tank."

That is money ability.

Most things in this world, especially those related to movies, can basically be solved with money ability.

…………

Burbank, Warner Building.

After the regular group meeting, Kevin Tsujihara left DC co-chairman Hamada behind and chatted for a few words alone.

DC’s Justice League plan has extraordinary significance for Warner Bros.

The two discussed some matters about "Batman v Superman", and the topic couldn't help but turn to the only DC superhero movie in the Justice League universe.

Kevin Tsujihara asked: "How far is the preparation for "Joker"?"

Hamada didn't pay much attention, but he also had a basic understanding: "Martin has found a screenwriter and is writing a script according to his ideas. He originally planned to invite Nolan and David Fincher to serve as directors of the project, but both of them declined."

Kevin Tsujihara tapped the armrest of the sofa lightly, thinking of the recent reports about "Shark Tank", and asked: "He doesn't want to direct this project himself, does he?"

These words reminded Hamada, who didn't pay enough attention: "I think it's possible."

"It's too confident." Kevin Tsujihara had his own judgment: "It is true that Martin is a good actor and a Hollywood superstar with huge market appeal, but these have nothing to do with the director's level. He will completely destroy the Joker. "

Hamada continued: "I watched the trailer of "Shark Beach". It is not difficult to see from several trailers that this is a movie with extremely simple scenes, characters and stories. Martin is just shooting in an opportunistic way. ”

He paused and then asked: "Although the project is authorized by Warner Pictures, we still have the ability to interfere. Do you want to remind them that Martin cannot write, direct and star by himself?"

Kevin Tsujihara was also not optimistic about Martin's ability as a director. He thought about it for a while and started from reality: "Wait a minute, "Shark Beach" will be released soon. Let's take a look at the box office and word-of-mouth. Whether a movie succeeds or fails, the market is the criterion.”

Hamada said: "I will continue to pay attention to "Shark Beach"."

There was one thing he didn't say in his heart: he hoped Martin Davis could fall hard this time.

…………

In the North District of Sunset Boulevard, in the garden of a mansion.

The Oscar ballots mailed by the Academy before the New Year were scattered on a wooden table, with only a few of the blanks filled in. For example, for the Best Actor nomination, the first person filled in was Martin Davis.

Nicholson ran back and forth from the storage room several times, brought a bunch of targets made of metal sheets, and said to Lorraine: "You mess them up and let the servants hang them on some iron racks on the west side. "

Lorraine looked at her old father, then at his two idiot brothers, and asked, "What are you going to do again?"

Martin carried a box out of the storage room and said, "Guarantee Oscar's fairness and justice."

Lorraine didn't believe a word of these words: "You guys?"

Leonardo carried a homemade iron pipe with a handle: "You will watch it later and you will be amazed at the fairness and impartiality of our selection of Oscars, regardless of public relations, art, or film quality..."

Lorraine turned over the disc-sized target, which had the name of the movie written on it, as well as the names of the director, screenwriter, and actors.

She handed it over to the veteran driver at home, who carried the ladder to hang the target.

There were supports like bare trees, with a hook on each branch.

The driver hung numerous signs on the hooks.

Martin opened the box, took out the special ammunition ordered by Nicholson, and asked, "Jack, should we still use it the old way?"

Nicholson walked over, picked up a round firework bomb, and said, "It's different. This one won't explode when fired. If it hits the target, it will leave a colored mark on it."

Martin picked up a few, stuffed them into his pocket, and asked, "Who will hit first?"

Leonardo took the helmet, put it on his brain, patted the homemade launcher, and said, "Of course I'll do it first!"

The other side quickly hung up the target and shouted to this side.

Leonardo moved his hands and feet, came to the circular launch area designated by Nicholson, picked up the homemade launcher, and aimed it at one of the iron stands.

The trio of bastards are experienced in launching this type of fireworks. They even sent a huge fireworks gift to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard for their wedding.

Leonardo got ready and shouted: "Martin, be my loader."

Martin turned on the windproof lighter, lit the fireworks in his hand, stuffed them into the barrel, slapped Leonardo on the helmet he was wearing, and shouted: "Fire!"

Leonardo adjusted his aim slightly, waited for a few seconds, and with a muffled bang, the fireworks flew out.

Although the fireworks flew out in a parabola, the three of them were already proficient in playing this thing and hit the target with the first shot.

As the bang sounded, a cloud of colored smoke exploded from the iron shelf.

Nicholson picked up a telescope and took a closer look. There was an obvious red impact point on a certain metal target.

He saw the name clearly and said, "Nominated for Best Picture, "The Theory of Everything"!"

Martin, now the loader, said to Lorraine: "Quickly, put the name of this film in the Best Picture nomination column on our Oscar ballot."

Lorraine had just understood what these three bastards were doing. Now she was the only one free and quickly picked up a pen to write the name of the movie.

She had just finished writing when she heard another muffled sound.

But this time, Leonardo missed.

Martin continued to reload, shouting, "Don't stop, keep going!"

After the third shot, there was another banging sound.

Observer Nicholson raised his binoculars and said: "Best Actress Nomination, Reese Witherspoon!"

Lorraine filled in Reese Witherspoon's name in the first line of her Best Actress nomination.

Seeing that Martin was about to reload, she couldn't help but murmur to herself: This selection of nominations is really fair and just.

No matter who the actor is, no matter what the role is, no matter what the movie is, no matter which company they come from, the main characters are treated equally.

After selecting seven nominees, the shooter was replaced by Martin, and Leonardo became the loader.

The muffled sound of explosions was endless.

Martin's shooting accuracy is much higher than Leonardo's.

The latter probably takes two or three shots to pick out an Oscar nomination.

Martin's shooting percentage is as high as 90%.

Lorraine thought that if she filmed the way the three bastards chose the Oscar nominations and sold them as breaking news, she would definitely make a lot of money.

But she just thought about this idea.

You know, her father Nicholson is now a benchmark for Hollywood acting, a model set by the Academy, and the mascot of the Oscars.

Martin and Leonardo are also active members of the Oscars.

Now that these are announced, the authority of the Oscars will definitely drop sharply.

After Martin finished his game, Nicholson took over.

The old bastard's hit rate was much worse. It took until the sun went down for the three of them to get the Oscar nomination ballot.

In order to ensure fairness and justice, Martin asked Lorraine to seal the ballot directly and mail it out tonight.

Nicholson stretched and said, "The annual carnival is over again."

Leonardo said, "Let's try a more interesting way next year."

Martin asked, "Do you have a better idea?"

Leonardo, the old pervert, quickly came up with a bad idea: "Each of us hires a team of female models, hides the Morse code representing the candidates in their clothes, and then we randomly choose one, take off the pants..."

Nicholson waved his hand: "I'm old, I can't play these games anymore."

He moved a chair, sat down and said, "I'm also going to let go of Jennifer Lawrence."

Martin understood what he meant: "No way, you can't do it now?"

"A real man can't say no!" Leonardo added insult to injury and patted Nicholson on the shoulder: "So... You are the weakest among us!" Nicholson said frankly: "I am 77 years old, and I can still come once a week at least." He looked at Leonardo with contempt: "You are a weak chicken with only 30 seconds, and you will not be able to do it when you are 60 years old." Martin shook his head: "Jack, you are wrong." Leonardo put his arm around Martin's shoulders: "You finally told the truth for once." The blow followed, and Martin said: "It's good that Leo can hold on until he is 50 years old." Leonardo let go of his hand and pushed Martin away: "You are a complete bastard!" The three mocked each other. Martin saw that it was getting dark and said: "Let's go, have dinner, and then wash your face after dinner. I will treat you today." Nicholson and Leonardo decided to have an expensive meal to empty Martin's wallet. After getting the Oscar votes, Martin's energy was basically focused on the promotion of "The Shallows", and he continued to run notices with the crew. Before mid-January, Disney Studios held three special screenings for The Shallows: media previews, fan previews, and theater manager previews, and received fairly good feedback.

Of course, it is not as good as the previous films starring Martin, but it is not a bad movie either.

Disney Studios then lifted the ban on the film's reputation.

The Rotten Tomatoes freshness is over 80%, and IMDB also has an initial score of 8.2.

These at least indicate that the film will not suffer a box office disaster.