American fame and fortune.

Chapter 636 Martin alone leads Oscar to the wrong side

For Oscar promotion, New Yorker Natalie Portman did not hesitate to hold her engagement ceremony in Los Angeles.

The engagement ceremony seemed very low-key and not many guests were invited, but the news had been quietly released. Dozens of entertainment reporters gathered around a villa in Malibu, trying to capture first-hand news.

Martin entered the villa and was greeted by Ali Emmanuel.

"This idea you came up with is great!" He accompanied Martin to the lawn in the back garden and whispered as he walked: "Although the ballots will not start to be mailed until the end of the month, Nat's momentum has surpassed all competitors."

Martin reminded: "This method can only be used once in a period, and it will not be so easy to use next time."

Ali also understood this and said: "If she can win the Best Actress this time, Nat's next development will be more commercial. After Julia Roberts, Hollywood has never produced a recognized first lady. Maybe Nat can argue.”

He made the key point: "Nat is still one of our own."

Ali and Natalie Portman are both Jewish.

Martin asked: "Are you going to make Nat the company's chief female client?"

Ali nodded: "I have this idea. If you want to become a Hollywood star, business is the key. I have also made initial contacts for her post-Oscar works, and it is related to you."

Martin thought carefully about the several works related to him, whether he was confirmed to star in "The Martian" and "Escape from Tehran" or invested in "Napoleon Beauty", it seemed that he had never contacted Natalie.

Ali roughly said: "The highlight of Warner Pictures is the adaptation project of Gillian Flynn's new work "Into Darkness". You have seen the original work, and the work with the heroine as the core, "Gone Girl" is a big seller. This A novel gets a lot of attention.”

Martin said a word about the current situation: "Gillian is now a hot writer and screenwriter in Hollywood."

Ali asked: "The North American box office of Gone Girl has exceeded 1.8 million US dollars, right?"

Martin replied: "$1.85 million as of yesterday."

Ali praised: "This will be another popular film with a US$2 million in North America and close to 5 million US dollars globally. The most rare thing is that it is an R-rated film that is not a comedy, not a horror, and a non-action type. Martin, your vision is And the appeal is amazing.”

Martin also didn't expect that Warner Pictures would actually cooperate with Natalie, but there was no way to say that. No one dared to say that "Dark Place" would definitely fail.

Turning to the lawn, Martin saw Natalie and Benjamin.

He went over to send blessings and gifts, and sat down with Thomas, who had come over a long time ago.

Thomas said: "I met with Ridley Scott at Warner Studios this morning. The post-production of "Pharaohs and Gods" is in the final stages. He does not have the final edit rights. It is estimated that it will be completed before February. , Ridley said that after taking about ten days of rest, he can devote himself to the preparation of "The Martian."

This is a magical epic, but Ridley still does not have the final editing rights like "Kingdom of Heaven". Martin can already foresee the future of this film.

He didn't mind other people's affairs and asked, "Did NASA give you a reply?"

Through his relationship with Washington and the White House, after Martin completed Andy Weir's novel, he specially sent a batch of sample books published by Random House to NASA.

The filming of this film was indispensable without the support of NASA.

Thomas added: "Louise went to Washington to prepare to sign a cooperation agreement with NASA."

Martin said: "I'll call Louise later."

Ali came over at this time, sat on the other side of Martin, and said: "In order to direct your movie "The Martian," Ridley pushed back Fox's new "Alien". This movie is more science fiction and can OK?"

Martin must give people confidence at this time: "I am 80% sure that I can succeed. Ridley is good at science fiction..."

"No, what Ridley is best at is epic films." Ali reminded Martin specifically: "You must remember this, especially when you face Ridley, say a few good words about him and epic films, than anything else. It all works.”

Martin understood and was straightforward: "Ridley's epics are my favorite."

Thinking about Lao Lei's epic films, except for one "Gladiator", don't mention the rest.

The engagement ceremony began, and the three Martins stopped talking and watched quietly.

Arranged photojournalists and videographers have been taking photos and videos, which will then be sent to the media, triggering another wave of heat at this critical moment when Oscar votes are about to be released.

The engagement ceremony was successfully completed, and the host then arranged a reception.

Natalie, who was pregnant with her baby bump, found Martin alone and thanked him specifically: "Your creativity puts me far ahead of other competitors."

Everything she did has paid off, and she is very happy: "Starting from the Gotham Independent Awards, I have won the Best Actress in fourteen Sentinel Awards."

"You're welcome, Nat." Martin smiled: "I watched "Black Swan" and your role was great."

Natalie is not modest at all: "I prepared a lot for this role and put in a lot of effort. I practiced ballet alone for half a year. I completed 90% of all the ballet scenes myself."

Martin nodded casually.

This kind of publicity is normal at the Oscars. If many of the dance scenes were done by stuntmen, it would be difficult for Natalie to even get a nomination. As long as she wins this Academy Award for Best Actress, Natalie will be the first actress born in the 1980s to win this award.

The significance of this aspect, in some ways, symbolizes that she can become the first Hollywood actress born after the 1980s.

She wanted this award so much: "The voting will start soon. Martin, do you have any other ways to get more votes?"

Martin thought this was enough: "I can't think of it at the moment."

"You are a genius, in terms of script selection, performance, and promotion." Natalie looked around, no one was paying attention, and said in a low voice: "Tonight, I drove Benjamin away, and Benjamin and I How about I thank you properly in your bedroom?"

She held her bulging belly with her hands: "Maybe I am not as beautiful and sexy as Elizabeth Olsen, but you must have never experienced such a special time, right?"

Although Martin is often rude, he always has a moral bottom line and remains unmoved by Natalie's suggestions.

Moreover, he had no grudges against Benjamin Millepied, and he immediately said: "Nat, we are friends. There is no need for this. If you do what you are doing, you will have a high chance of winning."

Natalie sighed secretly, not without regret: "It would be great if I could have known you a few years earlier."

He has money, looks, status, fame, and he also knows how to promote and market.

Martin is self-aware and thinks to himself: How many years earlier could you have taken a liking to me?

If we talk alone again, the topic will definitely go sideways again. He casually found an excuse and came to where Ali and Thomas were.

Ali asked: "What's wrong? Are you frightened?"

Martin shook his head, not knowing what to say.

Ali thought of Martin coming from Natalie's side, and roughly understood it, and said: "Don't worry, Nat is sometimes bolder and plays wilder. Her high IQ, high education, and indifference to fame and fortune are all specially created characters."

"Understood." Martin would not despise him because he was the same. Both Ali and Thomas knew the basics. He laughed at himself: "I am still a sunny man and an American hero."

After the reception, Thomas got into Martin's car.

Bruce drove to Burbank.

Thomas saw the huge poster of Leonardo DiCaprio outside the window and said: "The public relations for this Oscar is a bit strange."

He picked up the newspaper next to him, which had Leonardo's water gun photo on it: "The best actress does not promote her acting skills or roles. She dangles her belly in front of the media cameras every day. Leo is even more interesting. He actually looks ugly. I This is the first time I’ve seen Oscar public relations and actors openly showing off their ugliness.”

"Harvey has fallen, and now it's a time of chaos," Martin said.

Thomas shook his head: "But the direction of Oscar's public relations promotion is too biased."

Bruce couldn't help laughing and said, "Martin single-handedly misled the entire Oscar public relations!"

Thomas couldn't agree more: "That's true."

Leonardo is selling his ugliness, Natalie is selling her belly, James Franco claims to have broken his arm to sell his disability, and Nicole Kidman is selling the love of her life, Cruise...

The first Oscar in the post-Harvey Weinstein era seems to have been led astray in the promotional direction by Martin alone.

Martin feels that it is better to sell someone miserable and sell their belly than to sell someone like LGBTQ.

Back in the studio, Martin called Louise. She had already started discussing cooperation with NASA.

In Los Angeles, Bradt and Andy Weir are jointly adapting the script. According to these two people, the script has fifty pages that will involve NASA's technical and operational details.

NASA, like the FBI and CIA, has a dedicated Hollywood office that is responsible for handling collaborative shooting matters with Hollywood crews.

They have worked with many Hollywood crews in the past and wouldn't mind working together again.

Louise reported back that the novel "The Martian" is highly recognized within NASA. Several executives said that they have never seen science fiction that can tell such a wonderful story and maintain a high degree of technical accuracy. novel.

This can be regarded as hard science fiction among soft science fiction.

Relatively few films that are more science fiction-oriented have been commercially successful in the past.

Therefore, the project has not yet officially started preparations. Martin is already thinking about publicity and promotion. He asked Louise to discuss with NASA to see if they can bring a batch of special paper and posters the next time there is a space launch plan. After going to space and recycling it, whether it is making promotional brochures or printing commemorative posters, it is a good gimmick.

At the same time, the studio was raising funds for the filming.

The production budget of "The Martian" is as high as 1 million US dollars. This is the first time since the establishment of Davis Studio that it has launched a film project with an investment of more than million US dollars.

Then, Christmas came, and after the Christmas holidays, Davis Studio had to move.

(End of this chapter)