America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Chapter 410 Witch's Healing Method

Just like the previous few films, the new project's studio was still located at Warner Bros. Studios, with Louise acting as the producer, overseeing the crew's affairs, especially negotiating publicity and distribution with Warner Bros.

Martin and Chad, outside their regular duties, also took on the role of production managers.

Chen Hu and Marcus respectively served as the action directors for hand-to-hand combat and gunfighting.

Buck and Lewis, who had both been Martin's stunt doubles on several occasions, joined the action and stunt team as well.

During the filming and production, computer-generated effects were used very sparingly, as almost all of the action scenes were accomplished through live shooting.

Emily would bring a team from Davis Studio to join the crew, specifically responsible for generating online buzz, especially for truly hot topics—"Your life for mine."

As for the main actors, two had already been confirmed, Martin and Mene.

There's no need to say much about Martin, he was naturally the male lead.

The salary was divided into three parts: a base salary of 5 million US dollars, a tiered box office bonus that was still being negotiated, and a DVD royalty.

Mene, who was over thirty and slightly corpulent with a touch of world-weariness, a veritable middle-aged woman's heartthrob, was cast as the owner of the Continental Hotel New York.

It was essential to have a major lead character who was Black; it was very politically correct.

Other main roles were selected through auditions, with priority given to actors represented by WMA.

In terms of the crew behind the scenes, many of the heads were from the "Wanted Order" crew. Martin's studio and Chad had kept in contact with them all along, and those who were free immediately joined the crew.

The location scouting team would soon head to New York to pick the right streets for filming.

Louise, after the crew's kickoff meeting, flew to New York with her assistant to negotiate a series of matters concerning shooting.

Such as car chases, street fights, and gun battles.

Martin, aside from participating in occasional media events to help the PR team, devoted the rest of his energy to training.

This included physical fitness, fighting, firearm handling, and driving, all of which he aimed to excel in.

He even practiced how to stab people with a pencil and how to make a makeshift bow and arrow from a hardware store.

"Theoretically, killing with a sharpened pencil is entirely possible."

At the training ground of the studio, Chen Hu gesticulated and said to Martin, "But it's not easy to do, especially when assassins target other assassins."

Martin, holding a soft resin prop pencil in a reverse grip, pointed to several of his own vital points: "First choices are the neck and eyes?"

Chen Hu said, "We can try to see which is easier to hit."

"Be careful, here I come." Martin lunged forward, the prop pencil thrusting straight towards Chen Hu's eyes.

He knew Chen Hu's capabilities, so he didn't hold back.

Chen Hu tilted his head slightly, and the pencil grazed past his temple.

He only dodged and did not counterattack.

Martin pressed down with his hand, using his height to overpower Chen Hu, aiming the pencil at him once more. Chen Hu dodged, but the neck was a much larger target than the eyes, and the pencil hit just below his ear.

Chen Hu stepped back to get away from Martin and said, "Even if caught off guard, it's very difficult to hit someone's eyes."

Martin nodded, "The neck then, the throat or near the carotid artery."

Chen Hu added, "The final style we're settling on should not only look good in action but also maintain a certain level of realism. In close combat, even if you are skilled, it is not easy to kill a trained adult male with your bare hands. Therefore, all the unarmed combat does not aim to kill directly but to gain control, incapacitating them briefly."

He demonstrated groin kicks, throat locks, heart gouging, and eye stabbing: "This could buy you even a single second to pull out a weapon and finish him off, be it with a gun or any other weapon you can find."

Martin grasped the key point he was making: "Use a weapon whenever you can."

Marcus, who was standing nearby, spoke up, "The first choice is always a gun."

Afterward, Martin practiced combat routines with Chen Hu and worked on enhancing shooting movements with Marcus, especially shooting when encountering an enemy around a corner.

Marcus, with his SEAL background and real urban combat experience, had a wealth of expertise that far surpassed the average Hollywood gunfight designer.

After training for a while, the trio left the set and drove to Angel Shooting Club to train with real firearms.

Martin became so engrossed in the training for killing that he appeared in public less and less, and the photos of him in the media were gradually only sneak shots of him entering and leaving a psychological clinic.

More and more entertainment media speculated that Martin's psychological problems were getting worse.

Meanwhile, The Dark Knight Crew began to ramp up their publicity.

In mid-January, a video of Bale being interviewed made its way from England.

The English actor, after several months, finally made a public appearance at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, where he discussed The Dark Knight and Batman, citing the extreme difficulty of the character as the cause of his own psychological problems, having been trapped in darkness for the past few months and only recently coming out of it.

Some journalists also asked about Martin.

Bale accepted the crew's plan, "His problems might be more severe than mine because on set he was even more evil than the most villainous Joker in the comics!"

Regardless of how the media journalists pressed, Bale said no more.

This was a carefully planned publicity stunt by The Dark Knight Crew, specially chosen for the media-packed occasion of the British Academy Film Awards.

The Dark Knight was set to be released during the summer season of 2008, and the promotion had begun six months in advance.

Nolan personally called Martin, "Are you ready on your end? Do you need me to send a professional photographer?"

"No need," Martin declined. "I have someone here."

He hung up the phone and said to Bruce, "Let Ivan take action."

Bruce asked, "Where?"

Martin replied, "Just at the community park square."

Bruce went to call Ivan.

The task still required candid photos, and frankly, the film crew's photographers weren't as professional as Ivan.

Martin headed out alone, following the community road to the park square. He sat on a bench, motionless like a statue, gazing at the western sky painted with the hues of dusk.

Before long, his phone in his pocket vibrated a few times.

Martin knew Ivan had arrived.

He slowly turned his head, his face, which was previously just slightly gloomy, now twisted into a sinister smile.

Ivan, having taken candid shots of Martin multiple times, pressed the shutter at just the right moment, capturing a series of photos in succession.

That same evening, the photos appeared on the homepage of TMZ.

Jody was very professional, using the genuine photos as a base and pairing them with a somewhat exaggerated headline.

"Our city's hero is having his soul eroded by the devil!"

There sat Martin, alone, his handsome face carrying a gloomy expression and a creepy smile.

Jody deliberately placed the video of Bale's interview right below the image of Martin.

By that night, the news had already garnered over ten thousand comments.

"Why do I feel it's even scarier than Jack Nicholson's laugh in 'The Shining'?"

"Because you know 'The Shining' was just acting, but this is really happening to Martin!"

"I'm really curious, what kind of Batman movie is this that's driving both lead actors to the brink of a complete psychological breakdown?"

"Bale took months to recover enough to show his face, Martin needs to see a psychologist every week, what kind of roles, what kind of plot?"

Interest and discussion about The Dark Knight surged rapidly.

After the news fermented for a few days and more media picked it up, Thomas made a public statement on behalf of Martin, apologizing to the Golden Globe Committee and claiming that due to health reasons, he could not accept the invitation to this year's Golden Globe Awards ceremony.

This only made the previous news more marketable.

Afterwards, Thomas gave an interview, stating that Martin realized the problem and was working hard to overcome it and that he would soon return to his normal work.

The Dark Knight crew officially released the main promotional poster for the film.

It wasn't just Batman alone but both protagonists!

Batman stood tall amidst the city of Gotham, shrouded entirely by dark clouds overhead.

The Joker stood in the sunlight; although his real face was covered by white paint, the blood-red mouth bore a faint smile. Just standing there, exuding a brazen evil that sent chills down your spine even without any context.

Without needing a video, seasoned movie fans could deduce the style of the film from the poster alone: dark, suffocating, and mad!

After the initial wave of publicity heated up, the crew simply steered online public opinion and lay low for a while.

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Nolan, a master of film production and marketing, then visited Martin under the pretext of checking in on him, and the two discussed the current situation and next steps in detail for a long time.

Two experts in creating buzz had a passionate encounter.

After seeing Nolan out, Elisabeth, who had just returned from shooting a commercial out of town, came to see him immediately.

"Are you really okay?" Elisabeth hugged Martin forcefully, pressing his head into her embrace, enveloping him in the warmth of her bosom.

Martin was vague: "I don't have too big of a problem for now."

Elisabeth rubbed Martin's cheek. "You're even skipping the Golden Globes, and you say there's no problem!"

Martin wasn't a statue; he could not only feel the generous softness of Elisabeth's chest but also her genuine concern.

"I don't want to go to the Golden Globes; mainly, I had an idea." He still had some conscience, knowing that Elisabeth was on her way to stardom, so he pushed her firmly, "I was waiting for you to come back. I want to take you to walk the Oscar red carpet, have everyone recognize you!"

Elisabeth's thoughts were completely off sync with Martin's. She was so touched that her chest felt like it was thumping with two rabbits, and she held Martin even more tightly: "Let everyone know I'm your girlfriend?"

Martin felt something pressed against his mouth and struggled to speak.

Elisabeth continued, "Martin, I understand your feelings, and I promise you, I agree to everything!"

Martin extricated himself from her embrace, seeing her tear-streaked, doe-eyed face, thinking it was just to walk you down the Oscars red carpet...

He wiped away the tears rolling down Elisabeth's eyes, saying, "Your makeup's ruined, like a witch."

Elisabeth wiped her tears then suddenly pushed Martin down onto the sofa, declaring, "Old boy, you're tired, the witch will heal you."

Martin lay on the sofa, sprawled out like the character for 'big' (?).

Elisabeth, using her hands, feet, and mouth, soon changed him into the character for 'very' (?).

Not long after, the small dot at the bottom of 'very' disappeared.