America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 778 - 771: Conquering You On The Spot

"Oh, David, have you studied him in detail?" Martin clapped his hands, "That’s great."

David Fincher summed it up briefly, "Before I directed ’Fight Club’, I had deeply researched Billy’s case history and his medical records, and some of the character settings were inspired by it. In fact, it’s not just me, many Hollywood films about multiple personality disorders refer to Billy’s case to some extent."

Martin said, "Billy’s case is naturally intriguing, and I’m thinking of adapting ’24 Bills’ into a movie."

He spoke with some exaggeration, "No one in the world is better suited to direct this film than you are, David. Shall we collaborate again?"

David Fincher, who had already carefully read both biographies, directly asked, "How do you plan to adapt it, any preliminary ideas and thoughts?"

"I have two ideas and concepts at the moment," Martin said. "You know, I’m not very good at creating, so as soon as I returned to Los Angeles, I called you to seek your opinion."

David Fincher was very interested in Billy’s case, his life of dark struggle so similar to his own film style, and he immediately gestured for Martin to continue.

Martin said, "One approach is to focus on Billy himself, revolving around his robbing, kidnapping, and assaulting three girls, mainly depicting his behavior and struggles."

He paused slightly, then added, "The other approach is to take a higher perspective, centered on the Billy case itself, which is a judicial precedent with significant impact."

"The second option doesn’t really suit me," said David Fincher, who could imagine that going with the second option would make the film a standard Oscar season issue movie, with various restrictions limiting the film.

Although it would be advantageous for the Oscars, it would not be conducive to his personal expression.

At least so far, David Fincher hadn’t changed his mind, ’Escape from Tehran’ was his last attempt for an Oscar.

Whether he won the Oscar statuette or not, he was done playing games with those old guys at the academy.

Martin asked, "What about the first approach?"

David Fincher replied, "I think the first approach is more appropriate, with the plot entirely focused on Billy himself. However, this kind of multiple personality disorder demands a lot from an actor’s skills."

Martin laughed, "David, have a little faith in me, will you? Don’t forget, I’ve played similar roles before."

David Fincher envisioned a terrifying figure with a white face and red lips, "Joker."

Martin had his thoughts on the Joker, but his relationship with Warner Bros. was currently sensitive. Even though Warner Bros. had Daniel as its new president, trust was still lacking between the two sides.

Of course, he wouldn’t tell these thoughts to David Fincher.

Martin asked directly, "So, do we have a deal for this project?"

David Fincher had worked with Martin several times, enjoyed the process, and was pleased with the outcomes, so of course, he wouldn’t refuse.

But he needed to set expectations, "I have already signed a contract with Netflix, and after the Oscars next year, I will start working with Netflix, serving as director and producer for the ’House of Cards’ project. From preparation to filming production, it will take at least a year, so your project will have to wait until ’House of Cards’ is completed."

Martin responded, "No problem, I’m not in a rush on my end."

David Fincher asked, "Alright, let’s start by finding someone to adapt the screenplay. Once we have a final draft, we can discuss the rest."

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With that, the deal was set, and Martin immediately sought out Louise to discuss the project in detail.

Louise would quickly set up the relevant studio at the fastest speed, inject startup funds with Davis Studio, and discuss suitable screenplay writers with Martin and David Fincher to start the screenplay adaptation as soon as possible.

David Fincher himself wasn’t particularly skilled at writing screenplays, so he suggested Andrew Walker, the screenwriter from ’Seven’, but Louise and Martin rejected the idea.

After ’Seven’, Andrew Walker’s decline had been very apparent, and he hadn’t produced any notable works since, with his most recent movie ’The Werewolf’ being an absolute disaster.

Billy’s story was unique, and David Fincher also had the ability to make this dark, struggling tale into a good movie, and Martin’s acting was also up to par. Now, a solid screenplay was all that was missing.

This model of creating a screenplay from an idea and a project was also the most common way of writing in Hollywood.

......

The next morning, when Martin went to practice piano and dance with the ’City of Love’ crew, he ran into Mene.

"I passed the audition and will be playing your friend in the film," Mene specifically came over to Martin, "that pop band’s star, Keith."

Martin asked, "You can sing? I haven’t really heard you sing."

Mene was full of confidence, "Of course, I can sing!" He pointed at his not-so-dark face, "Boss, you seem to have forgotten, I’m black. We’re naturally born with great musical sense. I’m above average in both singing and dancing."

Bruce was skeptical, "You?"

Mene took off his coat, tossed it to Bruce, and declared, "I’ll win you over on the spot."

Martin sat by the piano and said, "Shall we give it a try?"

Mene responded, "Boss, play me a tune."

Martin warmed up his fingers and wrists and played a piece composed by Sebastian.

Mene cleared his throat and began to sing the lyrics that Mia had written, accompanied by the music.

The song wasn’t some kind of rap, and Mene did a decent job singing it.

Martin stopped playing the accompaniment.

Bruce clapped his hands a few times and said, "I didn’t expect this, really didn’t expect this."

Mene looked up and puffed out his chest, reminding, "Old Cloth, you seem to have forgotten what I’m best at!"

Bruce suddenly realized, "You bastard, you’re best at oral skills!"

Exceptionally agile with the tongue, and that’s an advantage for singing?

Bruce threw the jacket back to Mene, saying, "In that regard, it’s verified by Celine Dion, Emma Thomas, and Isabel Huppert themselves."

He curiously asked, "Have you cut ties with the others?"

Mene scratched his head, awkwardly admitting, "A couple of days ago, Emma asked me out again. I didn’t go at first, but then she showed up at my door herself, and I... well, I just couldn’t refuse."

Martin and Bruce both gave Mene the middle finger, "Scumbag!"

Mene laughed heartily, pulled up a stool, and started shooting the breeze with Martin and Bruce.

Since Emma Thomas came up in the conversation, he continued to gossip about this topic, "I heard something from Emma about the Nolan Brothers—they’ve been having a disagreement."

Martin was very curious, "What’s the specific situation?"

Mene explained, "Since Nolan’s arrival in Hollywood, Jonathan Nolan has been his exclusive screenwriter. ’Memento,’ ’Insomnia,’ ’The Prestige,’ ’Inception,’ and the ’Batman’ series, all scripted by Jonathan. Now that Director Nolan has made his name, Jonathan has also become a golden screenwriter."

Martin understood, "Jonathan isn’t satisfied just being a golden screenwriter, or maybe Christopher Nolan’s screenwriter brother?"

Mene answered, "Exactly, that’s the gist. According to Emma, ’Interstellar’ will be the last collaboration between the Nolan Brothers, at least for the short term."

At that moment, Martin remembered ’Memento’ and asked, "Did they fall out?"

"No, they haven’t fallen out, just some disagreements, nothing to the extent of a fallout," Mene considered his words, "From what Emma said, if the Nolan Brothers continued to work together, a fallout would be inevitable. Their relationship might actually be better if they stop collaborating for now."

Martin could relate; it was rare for brothers in business together not to fall apart in the end.

The most typical example in Hollywood was the Weinstein brothers—it wouldn’t have been so quick and so dire for Harvey without Bob’s backstabbing.

Sebastian knocked and came in, ready to give Martin his piano lesson.

Mene took this as the right moment to leave.

Martin set aside the whirlpool of thoughts in his head and concentrated on practicing the piano.

After the hour-long piano lesson, he moved to the dance studio on the other side to take targeted dance training from Mandy Moore.

In the current shooting schedule, the male lead that Martin played would have a solo dance as well as a duet with the female lead.

Mandy Moore’s choreography was already complete.

Martin had a certain foundation in dance and, coupled with long-term combat training, his flexibility was decent, so coping with the filming wasn’t an issue.

After all, the shooting could be done through multiple camera takes, so he didn’t need to dance continuously.

After a brief rest at noon, Martin attended a preparatory meeting with Louise and Director Damien Chazelle.

The story was entirely set in Los Angeles, and the crew would be shooting throughout Los Angeles. The interior scenes had been arranged at Disney Studio, and location scouting for the exterior had begun.

When the meeting ended, Martin and Louise left the small conference room together.

As they walked, Martin said, "About that project with multiple personalities, I have a choice for screenwriter—Jonathan Nolan."

Louise of course knew who Jonathan was, "Even though the script for ’Interstellar’ was already done, Jonathan Nolan has only worked with Christopher Nolan in these recent years."

Martin said, "Definite news—the collaboration between the Nolan brothers is on hold for now. Jonathan wants to go out on his own, and I think he’s a great fit for adapting this subject."

He gave an example, "The initial idea for ’Memento’ came from Jonathan. A strong and unstable psychological element has always been a feature of Jonathan’s screenwriting, and it’s clearly reflected in the main characters of several Nolan films."

Louise understood certain people’s thoughts within the industry, "Jonathan, leaving the Nolan team to be independent, surely isn’t satisfied with merely being a screenwriter. He likely has ambitions to direct as well."

Martin didn’t recall Jonathan Nolan directing any remarkable films beyond his screenwriting, "Contact Jonathan for me. If he’s willing to be the screenwriter, we’ll make him a very good offer. If he insists on directing as well, there’s no need to continue the discussion."

"Sure," Louise felt Jonathan was a very fitting choice for the screenwriter, "I’ll have a talk with Jonathan myself."

Martin followed Louise into her office. Suddenly his phone rang—it was Musk calling, inviting him out for drinks that evening.