America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 688 - 681: Comedy Turns into Biography

Just three days after shooting wrapped up, Ridley Scott convened the post-production team and began post-production for "The Martian" at Disney Studio.

Even Martin, the investor, thought it was a bit much, saying, "You could rest for an extra week."

Ridley, as vigorous as ever despite his age, said, "I don’t have time to rest. Early next year, I’m due to collaborate with 20th Century Fox to begin filming a new Alien movie."

Martin had seen all the Alien movies and said, "I’ve been looking forward to your Alien movie for a long time."

Ridley said, "Unfortunately, the new Alien movie doesn’t have a prominent male lead, and the most attractive part of the movie isn’t the human characters, otherwise, I would definitely have invited you to star in it."

Working with Martin on a film was truly worry-free, without so many troublesome issues during shooting.

Martin offered a polite response, "There will certainly be opportunities for cooperation in the future."

He spoke without intention, but Ridley, seeing an opportunity, said, "After I finish this Alien movie, I’m planning to shoot another big-budget epic. How about we continue our cooperation then, Martin?"

Martin thought to himself that he was just being courteous, and Ridley shouldn’t be dragging him into a pit, especially one that’s on fire!

But he wasn’t foolish enough to blurt out something stupid like ’you’re not suited for epic films,’ especially since epics were Ridley’s true passion.

Martin asked, "Which historical period are you planning to shoot this time?"

Ridley had clearly given it some thought, "I plan to bring the tumultuous life of the French Emperor Napoleon to the big screen."

Martin found a reason and an excuse, "I might not be quite right for the part." He gestured to his own height, "I wouldn’t be convincing on the stature front."

Ridley looked at Martin, who was taller than him, and nodded, "We’ll talk about it later."

Martin didn’t want to continue the conversation with Ridley, for fear of being dragged into another pit, and said, "I’ll go check on the other departments."

Ridley, who had work to get started on, waved his hand and entered the editing room.

Martin made a hasty exit. Recently, he avoided meeting with Ridley unless necessary, waiting for Ridley’s schedule to fill up so he would have a legitimate excuse to refuse.

Leaving the studio, Martin then went to the "Napoleon’s Aphrodite" crew, also located in the Disney Studio.

This film, too, had wrapped shooting and was in post-production.

Marius and Alexandrovich were busy with the editing; Martin didn’t disturb them and chatted with Orlina for a while.

She took out the completed script for "Servant of the People" and handed it to Martin to review.

Martin carefully read the first third and said, "The script follows the concept we initially discussed, with a strong comedic atmosphere and significant satirical punch. Although I’m not very familiar with the social situation in Ukraine, the script makes me quite anticipatory of the finished film."

Orlina was not expecting such high praise from Martin and quickly said, "The main reason is that everything happening in Ukraine is so surreal, providing us with excellent creative material."

Martin, thinking of the satirical elements, asked, "Will there be any trouble airing it in Ukraine?"

"It shouldn’t be too big of a problem." Orlina was more than just a screenwriter; she had experience as a producer, "Alexandrovich and I can handle it."

She looked at Martin, "And we also have the support of you, the American hero."

Martin replied with a smile, "Your talent deserves support."

The door was knocked from the outside, Alexandrovich entered, and seeing the two discussing the script for the next project, he stepped forward, shook hands with Martin, and said, "As soon as we finish ’Napoleon’s Aphrodite,’ we’ll immediately start preparing to shoot this new television series project."

He clarified something ahead of time, "It’s a series set entirely in Ukraine and needs to be filmed there."

"That’s fine," Martin replied as always, managing the financial expenditures of the crew himself, while leaving actual filming and production to the trio of Alexandrovich.

Alexandrovich went on to say, "Our plan with Marius is to have the studio registered in Los Angeles, under the name of an American company, and then go to Kiev to film. That way, we’ll avoid a lot of trouble."

Martin understood his intent and responded, "I will have someone assist you."

Alexandrovich believed Martin was key to his future development, and took the initiative to say, "Boss, you mentioned last time that you wanted to invest in Ukraine. We can set up the studio as a diversified company, and I can help you gradually expand your business in Ukraine."

With such an enthusiastic invitation, Martin felt it rude to refuse, "That’s fine, I’ll send someone over to explore the investment."

Alexandrovich smiled warmly, sharing a lot of information about Ukraine with Martin, even giving the impression that if the opportunity arose in the future, selling the country to Martin wasn’t out of the question.

Martin discussed the details of "Servant of the People" with the two, finding amusement in the idea of turning a comedy into a biographical series, while also making some pocket money on the side.

It was thought-provoking whether Alexandrovich was the first actor in history to play a president, then actually become one, right?

Martin was looking forward to the day Alexandrovich would become the protagonist of the world.

Davis Studio had already signed a contract with the Alexandrovich trio, holding complete rights to the show. If the first season was successful, they would definitely shoot a second.

Back at the studio, Martin entered his office and Jessica brought him an invitation, which turned out to be an invite to NASA’s investor conference.

The conference was to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Martin saved the invitation, then called Disney Studios to inquire about the release schedule for "Napoleon’s Aphrodite."

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Although this movie would be finished before "The Martian," its release was set for after, with Disney Studios reserving a slot for late January or early February next year, depending on the scheduling situation.

By that time, the Alexandrovich trio would be well on their way to breaking into the North American entertainment market, full of enthusiasm.

"The success of "John Wick: Chapter 2" made for a great start to Martin’s collaboration with Disney Studios."

Martin opened up the company’s film library to check the latest screenplays and literary manuscripts that had been submitted.

Although the volume of submissions had increased recently, just like before, the majority were of concerning quality.

Every year, thousands of screenplays flow into Hollywood, and it’s not common for even one in a thousand to enter the review process; Martin was well aware that not encountering one was the norm.

As for the novels that were submitted, many were rejected by various publishers; only after seeing the success of "The Martian" did they choose to try their luck with Martin.

These individuals all dreamt of becoming the next Gillian Flynn or Andy Weir.

But Martin was not their patron.

After spending half the day looking at the beginnings of dozens of screenplays and novels, Martin didn’t have a single find; the quality was too poor, they couldn’t even be used to swindle someone.

Those scripts that could swindle someone were usually well-crafted, even exceptional, at the script stage.

At four in the afternoon, Martin had Bruce drive a business car and arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on time.

Before long, Elizabeth Olsen and Lily emerged from the terminal.

Seeing Martin come to pick them up, Elizabeth immediately ran over and, ignoring the gathering paparazzi and onlookers, shared a warm kiss with Martin.

Lily waited quite a while before the love-struck couple finally separated, then she whispered, "Save the rest for when we get home, and don’t give people a show."

Martin glared at Lily, stored their luggage, and took Elizabeth by the hand to get into the car.

Once in the car, Elizabeth cuddled right into Martin’s arms.

Lily took out her phone, adjusted the camera, and said, "Carry on."

Martin was not at all polite with her and asked directly, "Haven’t seen you in a while, you miss my fist?"

Elizabeth grabbed his hand, "We just got back, and you’re already threatening people."

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Lily said, "Old Cloth, I heard you guys had another gunfight?"

"Ask Martin!" Bruce raised the partition between the front and back, refusing to idle talk with the three of them.

Martin looked at Lily, "What’s with you today? Did you eat gunpowder?"

Lily just shrugged, "Met an idiot on the plane."

Martin surprised, "What happened?"

Lily didn’t say anything.

Elizabeth roughly explained, "On the plane, someone discussed politics with Lily, and for once, Lily was magically out-argued."

Martin looked at Lily, "A woman into politicking?"

"It was that woman who started it; she’s a Jewish designer," Lily elaborated. "Because of sculpture, I took a course in classical art history, and it so happened that she had too. We started talking, from ancient Rome, Canaan, King David, to the present Middle East, and we diverged."

Martin commented, "How boring."

Elizabeth laughed merrily.

Lily continued, "I was getting along quite well with her, but then she suddenly claimed the entire eastern Mediterranean coast was Israeli land. Of course, I objected and asked for a legal basis, and then she lifted up a Bible saying, ’This is the evidence.’"

Martin asked, "And then?"

Lily went on, "I mentioned the division made by the United Nations back in the day, and she told me the United Nations is an illegal institution."

Elizabeth laughed so hard she could barely keep her balance.

Lily, rather exasperated, "No matter what, she had an argument. I finally didn’t bother engaging with her anymore."

Martin said offhandedly, "These kinds of things, no one can convince anyone. Next time you encounter this, don’t argue."

Lily nodded, "Yeah, she always thought she was right, as if she knew the only truth."

Martin began to laugh too, "Isn’t that the case? The truth only exists within the range of cannons. Over there, Israel’s cannons have the furthest range and the most powerful explosions, so naturally, they hold the truth."

Upon returning to Davis Estate, Martin had just brought Elizabeth’s luggage inside when she pulled him upstairs in a hurry. Before they even reached the second floor, she was clinging to Martin.

Martin picked her up in his arms.

Elizabeth said, "I want to know what truth tastes like."

Martin carried her into the master bedroom.

Downstairs, Lily, dragging two heavy suitcases, neither saw Martin nor found Elizabeth. Guessing where the amorous couple had gone, she couldn’t help flipping the middle finger towards the second floor.

She also cursed under her breath at Elizabeth for lacking sisterhood, not calling her to join in the fun.