America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

```

In a pitch-black theater in Burbank, only the screen glowed, showing the "perfect couple" as they stood in front of a crowd of media reporters, discussing the secrets to a happy marriage and their deep love for one another.

That bizarre taste of a "match made in heaven" leaped off the screen and clearly transmitted itself into the minds of every audience member attending the "Gone Girl" screening.

It seemed that this was marriage: having deeply loved one another, but more so trying to control each other, which led to mutual hatred, mutual harm, and finally a mess.

Perhaps this was marriage: hating each other, yet being unable to live without one another.

In the front row, Martin's phone vibrated, he pulled it out and saw it was from Marina, choosing to reject the call.

Next to Martin, Elizabeth Olsen's brow was furrowed, occasionally glancing at Martin, wondering if this bastard had brought her to the screening with some ulterior motive.

Because the marriage portrayed in this film he starred in was just too horrifying, causing an unconscious fear.

Was marriage really this absurd?

Elizabeth remained silent.

As the screening came to an end, and the lights in the theater came up, the hundreds of audience members erupted into enthusiastic applause after a brief silence.

The story was melodramatic, but also captivating, with an absurdity that was laced with a lingering black humor.

Listening to the rousing applause, Gillian Flynn, the original author, stood up and looked back at the passionate faces behind her.

Producer Daniel said, "This is another masterpiece; I'm sure the film will be a huge success!"

Gillian could hardly hide her excitement: "It will be a success, for sure."

The President of Warner Bros., Jon Berg, had a smile on his face the whole time. If this film was a success, Gillian Flynn's next work "Dark Places" would attract widespread attention, and Warner Bros.'s adaptation would succeed as well.

This was one of his key projects.

Jon Berg believed he would outperform his predecessor, Ellen Horn, and have his name etched into Warner's history.

But this wasn't just talk; it required solid results.

So, from the start of his tenure, Jon Berg secured support from group CEO Kevin Tsujihara and had been pushing several medium to large production projects for over half a year, such as the ongoing "Gods of Egypt," the upcoming "Jack the Giant Slayer," and "Dark Places," which was in the process of adaptation, among others.

He was also involved in the investment for the DC Extended Universe's inaugural project, "Green Lantern."

Among these, if even half were blockbusters, not only could Jon Berg prove himself and secure his position, but he could also make people forget about his predecessor, Ellen Horn.

Martin and David Fincher bumped fists, with Martin saying, "Incredible, I want to watch it again."

On the other side, Charlize Theron joked, "Were you overwhelmed by your own acting?"

Elizabeth said, "Sally, you were amazing."

Charlize, very confident, replied, "This is my best role aside from 'Young Adult.'"

David Fincher praised, "Martin and Sally's performances were fantastic, perfectly realizing what I envisioned."

The film was highly polished, and the reaction was warm, creating a good mood among the creators.

Subsequently, Martin, Charlize, and David Fincher briefly met with the media.

There was nothing much to say—it was just the three of them singing each other's praises.

After the interviews, Martin's phone rang again, he looked at the caller ID and found a quiet place to answer.

Marina's voice came through from the other end, "Hey, Martin, I'm inviting you out to dinner tonight. You brought me to Los Angeles, and you've been helping me find roles and projects. I've prepared a little something special to thank you properly."

Martin replied, "No need to be polite, you've already paid in advance, this is the reward you deserve." He snubbed Marina's invitation, showcasing his scumbag charm: "I'm pretty busy over here, that will be all."

With that, he hung up the phone.

On the other end, Marina, listening to the dial tone, sagged her head in defeat.

Any hope she had from Martin's side was now thoroughly dashed; she didn't know what to do.

Susie Flavio and Catherine Oxenberg came over from not far away, with Catherine extending an invitation: "There's a party this weekend; would you like to come along?"

As an actor, upon hearing the producer's invitation, Marina instinctively accepted: "Sure."

Susie smiled, "It's a date then, I'll call you this weekend."

The arrangements were made.

Catherine immediately made a call to the host.

```

Raniere took the phone, preparing his people; Nike Sam had a mature response mechanism—it wasn't enough to brainwash with words alone, they also needed to demonstrate the power of Nike Sam.

At the same time, someone from the "Game of Dogs" crew sent out a text message.

Soon, that message was forwarded to Nicholson's hands.

"I had someone look into it secretly, in recent years the means by which Nike Sam attracts its main targets are simple and effective." After reading the message, Nicholson took a sip of his drink and said to Leonardo, "On one hand, Raniere himself is highly eloquent and has developed a very impressive set of theories; on the other hand, they showcase their own power when targets first join, creating a psychological suggestion that there are many bigwigs in Nike Sam, and joining brings endless benefits."

Leonardo poured himself a glass of wine and said, "The latter, Martin's Cola Cult also uses."

Nicholson replied, "Don't you think it's the most straightforward and effective method?"

Leonardo nodded, "Indeed it is."

Nicholson raised his glass and gestured to him, "Let's hope our swallow will take an interest in this."

Leonardo said, "Having spent so much time and effort to penetrate Hollywood, she shouldn't just fly back to Russia."

Nicholson nodded, "Sunk costs."

......

Burbank Theatre.

Gillian Flynn found Martin, wanting to explain the situation with "Dark Places."

"I'm really sorry, I had said that I'd let you see it once it's finished." She didn't spout empty words, her apology came out sincerely, "At that time Warner Bros. approached me with an offer that was too high, I simply couldn't refuse."

Martin said with a smile, "It's alright, Gillian, we're old neighbors, old friends, you shouldn't worry about it."

He had no grievances toward Gillian because she had given him priority to "Dark Places": "Honestly, even if you had brought me the finished novel, I couldn't have offered the kind of price Warner did, business is business, but we will always be friends."

Gillian, feeling relieved, opened her briefcase, took out a book, and handed it to Martin, "This is a proof copy of 'Dark Places,' it will be published in North America after 'Gone Girl' premieres."

This was the safest course of action and what Martin had expected; he accepted it saying, "I was just thinking of asking you for a manuscript to read the ending."

Elizabeth Olsen quickly walked over, and Gillian timely took her leave.

"The data compiled on-site by Warner has come out." Elizabeth had specifically inquired, "The cinema managers rated it on average an A, thinking the film has good selling points, and media journalists and critics gave it a score of 82, with extremely positive reviews from the test screening."

She started smiling, "My dear, you've succeeded once again."

Martin was relatively cautious, "Good test screening reviews don't always translate to strong box office results. Come on, let's go find David and Daniel, we need to invest more in marketing and distribution."

Just as there are movies with poor test screening reception but explosive box office success; the most exemplary being "Star Wars." George Lucas's new film was slaughtered by critics at the test screening, with many even calling it outright garbage, but as we all know, Star Wars became a part of American national culture.

By the end of the test screening, Martin received the latest news—Warner Bros. had secured around 3,600 opening theaters for "Gone Girl."

This number was lower than that of his previous films; on one hand, the movie was R-rated, naturally not matching up to PG-13 in terms of scheduling, and on the other hand, the resources put in by Warner could only be said to be appropriate.

On the ride back, Elizabeth asked, "Is marriage really that scary?"

Martin had never been married, but the examples among his acquaintances had greatly influenced him, like Nicholson and Leonardo, the latter a staunch bachelor, the former's multiple marriages, not to mention his own parents, were nothing but chaos.

If Nick Dunne and the amazing Amy were a basin of scandal, Nicholson's parents were ten basins worth.

After his mother and sister died, Nicholson only learned from another sister that the person he had called mother all these years was actually his grandmother, and his so-called sister was his real mother, while the sister who informed him was actually his aunt...

Any normal person would have gone mad.

Martin didn't want to give Elizabeth the wrong impression and said directly, "The marriages I've seen are all quite terrifying. Lily's parents—Scott Carter is a talented bastard, Emma-Carter was once seduced by my father to elope, and as for my father... haha, he is even more of a character, though my memory of him is almost gone."

Elizabeth had heard Martin talk about his father before and asked, "Has there really been no news from him?"

Martin said, "The last news of him was that he swindled all the money from Lily's mother Emma and then abandoned her in Hawaii; after that, his whereabouts are unknown."

After a pause, he added, "Given Jack Davis's character, if he knew my situation now, he would definitely come to find me. Even the Pacific and Atlantic combined wouldn't stop him, yet he never showed up."

Elizabeth tried to comfort him, "Maybe he's changed from before."

Martin said quietly, "I hope he became a good person and met God."

Hearing this, Elizabeth didn't know what to say.

"Enough about him," Martin checked his wristwatch, "There's a new restaurant that opened in Century City, the food's really good, let's go try it out."

Although Elizabeth was somewhat dissatisfied with how the topic of marriage was deflected, she didn't dwell on it and said, "Sure, it's been a while since we last dined out together."

In a few days, she would be traveling with her sisters again, promoting the brand they had invested in.