America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

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She pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Martin, who extended his hand and pointed at the camera, "Let me take a look."

"I didn't take any pictures of you, really." Silsa Ronan insisted, though she took off the camera and placed it in front of Martin.

Martin remembered clearly that this girl was quite mischievous; she had even caused a "wet pants scandal" at the Pine Forest Film Studio.

He browsed through the digital camera's photos and indeed there were none taken of the area. Handing it back to her, he asked, "Which crew are you with?"

Silsa pointed to the adjacent studio, "This one."

Martin realized then, "You're playing the young Daisy?"

Silsa nodded again and again, "Yes, I have several scenes with you."

Understanding why she was there, Martin carelessly reminded her, "Don't take random photos on set. This isn't England, American directors are fierce."

Silsa hurriedly explained, "I didn't bring the camera to take pictures of the set, but to photograph the Michoud Assembly Facility."

Martin knew they were at Michoud, but he hadn't heard of the assembly facility. He asked, "Why'd you want to take pictures of that?"

Silsa looked around, noticed Martin's trailer was big and tall, with a ladder that could be used to climb onto the roof, and pointed up, "Shall we go up there?"

Martin was also curious, "Sure."

Bruce was the first to get on top of the trailer, he looked around, then Silsa, camera in tow, climbed up after him.

Martin had to be mindful of his makeup, so he climbed up more slowly.

The production studio was situated atop a small hill. Standing on the trailer on this side, the view could overlook the not-so-tall boundary wall and the valley below was in plain sight.

Silsa pointed toward a cluster of buildings in the valley area and said, "That's the place I want to photograph."

Martin pointed at the camera swinging in front of her chest, "Hurry up and take the pictures, then scram, don't cause trouble here."

Silsa rolled her eyes, "I'm not a troublemaker." She did not pick up the camera, "It's not about filming the exterior; I want to go inside and take pictures."

Martin asked Bruce, "What is that place?"

To his surprise, Bruce had come prepared, "It seems to be called the Michoud Assembly Facility."

"Before I came to America, I did some research on New Orleans, and the most widespread rumors here are twofold." Silsa, ever curious and explorative, was always taking pictures with her camera around Pine Forest Film Studio, and once even had a big fallout with Emma Watson.

She raised one finger, "The first one is all kinds of witchcraft stories, I have already visited the Voodoo Queen Mary Laveau's graveyard."

Silsa raised a second finger, "I found online that the Michoud Equipment Factory is a secret NASA base, specifically used to create props and scenes for moon landings. Many whistleblowers have revealed that Americans have never landed on the moon, and all the footage was shot here."

Martin's expression was priceless as he asked, "You want to sneak in there and film it?"

Silsa, her face full of curiosity and prying desire, replied, "Yeah, even if it's just one picture."

Martin commented, "Have you considered one thing; if what you're saying is true, why hasn't any solid evidence leaked out? It's because people who trespassed have been turned into experiments, maybe even made into voodoo dolls."

Silsa was taken aback. Her entire focus had been on sneaking pictures, and she'd ignored the rest, admitting, "That seems to make sense."

Martin gave her a word of caution, "This isn't the British Isles, it's dangerous for a girl to be roaming around, not all Americans are as kind as I am."

Silsa lifted her camera, opened her lens bag she carried with her, attached a long lens, quickly adjusted the equipment, and aimed at the assembly facility, taking several photos.

By the time she was done, she found that there was only one person left on the roof.

Martin had sat back down under the parasol, leisurely enjoying the breeze.

Bruce had walked off to make a phone call.

Once Silsa climbed down from the trailer, she greeted Martin and left on her own.

Shortly after, Bruce finished his phone call, returning with a quite interesting expression.

Martin inquired, "What happened?"

"Kim just called me." Bruce didn't see any need to keep secrets from Martin, "The DVD sales are incredible, Kim wants to give me a cut—they're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Martin's focus wasn't on that, but he asked, "Sold a lot?"

Bruce nodded, "North American sales exceeded twenty million dollars, many TV networks are inviting Kim onto their shows. It seems like even Oprah Winfrey's talk show sent an invite, she might be hotter than you now."

Martin waved dismissively, "It's different, the allure of celebrity privacy naturally has a huge draw."

Bruce said, "True, if you were to make a sex tape, I bet your female fans would go crazy, maybe even the men."

Martin flipped him the bird, "If the earnings are legitimate, decide for yourself if you want them."

Bruce considered for a few seconds, "I'm not short on money, best not touch that kind of money."

In the afternoon, filming continued.

The leading actress Blanchett hadn't arrived from Los Angeles yet, and the set was calm.

David Fincher was extremely satisfied with Martin's performance; the portrayal of the youthful Benjamin was the most difficult, but Martin made it seem effortless.

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He felt that Martin had gained a lot from his real-life experience at the nursing home.

A talented and professional leading man could save the director a lot of worries.

David Fincher suddenly understood why Scorsese and Nolan had chosen to work with Martin; what director wouldn't like such an actor?

Moreover, they were not troublemakers; there was no need to coerce actors into doing crappy things.

The most important point was that Martin truly had commercial appeal.

The next morning, two big red trucks emblazoned with "Coca-Cola" drove into the Michoud production factory, delivering the specially ordered vintage Coke from the Atlanta headquarters for the crew.

For any other production crew, this would probably have been a big hassle, after all, sample making and plate making would need to be redone.

But for a production starring Martin, it was just a matter of adding an inconspicuous clause to the advertising sponsorship contract.

The drivers of the big trucks insisted on taking a photo with Martin after they got out.

They were all wearing Cola Cult t-shirts and were clearly followers of the Cola Cult.

Coca-Cola had sponsored several millions of US dollars, and upon hearing the news, David Fincher specially extended the crew's break time to allow Martin to go out and take photos with people.

The two drivers hung up a banner at the entrance that read "Cola Cult Forever."

The production crew specially sent a photographer to take the photos, and that was that once it was done.

Martin looked at the photographer, then at the screenwriter, and then at David Fincher; if this were on the set of "The Dark Knight," there would for sure be some real behind-the-scenes footage.

No wonder David Fincher was not as successful commercially as Nolan—their commercial attributes weren't even close.

David Fincher might not necessarily like real behind-the-scenes content, and Martin did not say much about it either but found the producer in charge of publicity, reminding them, "Is my look ready to be revealed now?"

The producer had already considered this: "In Los Angeles, they're building momentum for you. You've just won Best Actor from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Using your popularity and the influence of the Cola Cult, revealing some production photos will also attract more attention to the film."

Martin praised, "You've thought it through."

The production team developed the photos as quickly as possible, and by the time Coca-Cola finished unloading, the two drivers had already come over with the photos to get Martin's autograph.

After signing the photos, Martin adjusted his state of mind and put all his energy into shooting.

The lead actor remained unchanged, but the lead actress was replaced; Elle Fanning finished her not-so-extensive scenes and exited smoothly.

Silsa Ronan became Daisy on set.

The production crew was very good at picking people, especially when it came to child actors—they chose two who were full of spirit.

Silsa's acting was even more outstanding than Elle's.

During this period, Martin reigned supreme among the cast, and as long as he didn't stir anything up himself, no one else would bother him.

Shia LaBeouf, although he had joined the production early, spent more time performing bizarre acts of performance art.

One afternoon, he suddenly disguised himself as a hanged man, hanging from a crooked-neck tree behind the studio, scaring the first costume designer who found him into screaming and wetting her pants.

When the whole crew gathered around, the guy untied the specially made rope, kicked away the acrylic stool he had disguised, and calmly climbed down, saying, "It's a bit hot today. I just wanted to hang on the tree and enjoy the breeze to cool off."

Everyone in the crew was speechless, and David Fincher was so angry his hair almost stood on end.

But since the other party was DreamWorks' godson and one of the three major investors, he could only give him a severe reprimand.

Originally, David Fincher thought the biggest challenge during shooting would come from the personal conflict between Martin and Blanchett, but Shia LaBeouf stole the show.
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After a thorough scolding and stern warning, David Fincher told the crew to disperse and return to their posts.

If it weren't for David Fincher holding them back, many in the production crew would have liked to beat the crap out of Shia LaBeouf.

The infuriated costume designer glowered, as if she was ready to rush up and bite LaBeouf a few times.

Martin and Silsa came out at the same time and headed back to the set together.

Shia LaBeouf caught up from behind and asked, "Martin, do you think my ability to express art is okay?"

Martin was speechless and casually said, "Very imaginative."

Shia LaBeouf began to reverse-engineer, "You managed to gain Nicholson's approval and became his buddy; now that I have your approval, I guess I'll eventually gain Nicholson's approval too..."

Martin's headache was getting worse by the minute, and he hurriedly distanced himself from this guy.

Silsa glanced back and said, "Watching Transformers, I always felt this guy was a bit off." Pointing to her head, she asked, "Is there something wrong here?"

Martin wouldn't discuss Spielberg's illegitimate child with her and said, "Perhaps an artist's thoughts are too complex for ordinary people to understand."

Silsa asked, "Aren't you an artist?"

Martin spoke the plain truth, "I am a star, a multimillionaire, and perhaps I might become an artist in the future."

Silsa, recalling the ghastly sight of the feigned hanging, said, "It's better not to be that kind of artist."