America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

The towering special actor's prop axe came slashing down, and Martin rolled away to dodge, while the German shepherd rushed in from one side, entangling the monstrously strong mutant.

Martin, quick of eye and hand, thrust backward with the prop knife, stabbing it into the blood bag strapped to the stunt actor's leg.

When he pulled it out, red liquid hissed and spurted out.

Martin rolled again, narrowly evading another swing of the prop axe.

Aga yelled "Cut!" and the shot was smoothly captured.

After a brief rest and resetting the scene, shooting continued and soon came to the final scene.

With the help of the German shepherd beauty, Martin took the old-fashioned shotgun thrown by the mutant girl and blew the giant mutant's head off.

In mainstream Hollywood, it's necessary to highlight the role of women appropriately.

It wasn't just the mutants; among the two German shepherds, the one that died stupid and wild was a male dog beast.

The beauty, on the other hand, had stayed with Martin until the very end.

Martin, covered in a mist of blood, approached the dummy and fired off a barrage of shots.

The blood bags on the dummy burst open.

Director Aga shouted, "Cut! That's a wrap!" He picked up the megaphone and yelled with all his might, "I declare the shooting of 'The Hills Have Eyes' is now officially complete!"

The set erupted into cheers.

Work ending meant not only a vacation but also the staggered payment of their fees was about to hit their accounts.

Buck and Lewis and others popped the handheld confetti cannons, and ribbons flew through the air.

The crew had completed all the shooting in just 24 days.

Post-production would proceed back in Los Angeles.

Champagne was also prepared on set, and all the cast and crew raised their glasses in a toast.

Martin emerged from makeup and costume change, and producer Craven was representing the crew in handing out small gifts, mainly inexpensive props.

The truly high-priced props in the accounts book were definitely going to be treated as trash and disposed of entirely.

Of course, there were also those miserly productions and production companies that would pinch every penny.

Craven came over with a blood-stained wooden bat and a prop knife, asking Martin, "Which one do you want?"

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Martin asked, "Can't I have both? I want to take them all."

Craven said seriously, "One item per person, it's an unwritten rule."

Martin had never heard of it, but since Craven was a rather traditional filmmaker, he respected the other's opinion and chose the wooden bat.

Aga came over with two glasses of champagne, handed one to each of them, and toasted, "This shoot felt great, Martin, Wes, you are the best partners I've had in my career."

Craven said, "I've carefully reviewed most of the shots, Aga you've done great work, and so has Martin, especially the latter part where he seeks vengeance."

As a writer, director, and producer for many years, unlike those focused on the art, catering directly to the market, he had a unique understanding, "This pattern of one man, one dog, one gun—as if against the whole world—feels particularly satisfying from the viewers' perspective, and should be well accepted by the market."

Martin said, "I think it could become a genre."

Lacking status and funding, he didn't elaborate further.

A production manager came over and said, "The actors' union reps are here."

Craven asked, "We didn't have any issues here, did we? What do they want?"

The production manager said, "They're looking for Martin to inquire about the situation with the actor next door who was bitten by a snake."

Having already learned the details, Craven told Martin, "Tell the truth about that day, it's not your problem, don't worry, you've paid your dues, and you're one of their employers."

"Understood," Martin said and stepped outside.

As the investor's representative, Craven and Aga followed him straight out.

Martin wasn't concerned at all, as Dallot had already withdrawn his men early; this was Mexico, not Los Angeles, and the actors' union would never find those people.

In the adjacent meeting room, a man and a woman were waiting.

The production manager introduced them, with the middle-aged man Wilson clearly taking charge.

Martin shook hands with them and said, "Let's be quick, the crew has activities planned."

Wilson was quite polite, "Mr. Davis, we hate to intrude, but we wanted to understand your interaction with Mike Vogel on the day he was injured."

"He had been drinking, and I had been drinking as well, what exactly did we talk about?

Just boasting to each other, he insisted on dragging me out into the wild to duel with poisonous snakes..." Martin related the events as they occurred in the banquet hall; without telling a lie, he could come off clean, "I found a rattlesnake and got scared, so I ran away, many people saw it, and on my way out, I heard he was bitten, that's what happened."

This matched the details Wilson had, who asked a few more questions and then took his leave voluntarily, "Sorry for the disturbance, Mr. Davis."

Martin replied politely, "No problem."

After they left, Martin asked Craven, "Wes, how did they handle it on their end?"

Craven, who often interacted with Brad, the producer next door, knew the situation, "They started the withdrawal process, Vogel has left the crew, he wants compensation from the crew and the insurance company, but the crew claims it was his personal conduct, there's going to be more back-and-forth."

Martin looked relieved, "Lucky for me, the wind sobered me up a bit. I'd rather be a chicken than get bitten by a snake."

Aga commented, "Vogel brought it on himself; can you imagine how much trouble we would have had if you were injured?"

Martin said cautiously, "Maybe it's because I'm with the same agency as him, and my priority exceeded his, blocking his way."

Since the start of filming, Craven had always had a good relationship with Martin. He specifically warned, "That person is up to no good, kid. The industry is full of such people, you need to be careful in the future."

After filming ended, most of the crew would return to Los Angeles, while Martin and Bruce would stay on, moving directly to the adjoining set.

In the evening, Martin hosted a dinner for the three stunt doubles, Buck, Lewis, and Frank.

Bruce delivered the gifts that Martin had prepared.

Lewis said, "You're too kind."

Martin smiled, "The hardest and most injury-prone parts were all on you guys. I was actually the most relaxed during the action scenes."

Buck, shaking his bald head, said, "The crew paid us."

Martin picked up a small tote bag, placing one in front of each person, "It's not anything expensive, mainly to commemorate our special experience."

Frank, opening his, said with a bit of surprise, "A handheld gaming console?"

Martin said, "I saw you guys playing games during breaks, so I specifically had someone buy this, a Nintendo GBA-SP."

The item wasn't expensive, each one costing only 150 US dollars.

Lewis said, "I've had my eye on Nintendo's new gaming console for a while now, but I never bought it. Martin, I won't stand on ceremony then."

Buck also took the tote bag, his mind racing, so he said appreciatively, "Martin, if you need a stunt double in the future, remember to call us."

Martin nodded, "If I do another action movie, I will definitely recommend you to the crew."

This collaboration, the three were quite reliable when it came to bearing weight.

The crew of "The Hills Have Eyes" withdrew from Mexico, and Martin went to report to the neighboring crew, not even needing to change his room, just switching to another crew's bill.

His role changed from an Avenger who killed all the deformed mutants to a sunny, handsome soccer coach.

On his first day at the new crew, Martin found Capisce on the training field, "Director, I'm here."

Capisce looked him over briefly, the same confident, sunny good-looking guy he usually saw, and asked, "Do you need a few days off to adjust?"

Martin said, "No need, I'm ready."

Capisce nodded, "You don't have to go all out, just be yourself."

Martin thought to himself, if he truly were to just be himself, he would completely ruin the role.

Looking at the shooting schedule, Capisce said, "You don't have any scenes today, do as you please."

"You're busy, director," Martin said, seeing Capisce absorbed in work and took the initiative to leave.

However, he stayed on set, eager to integrate into the crew that had already started filming.

The filming quickly commenced.

Martin went to the rest area and sat under a parasol, comparing his script with the roles he would interact with.

The role he had the most scenes with was naturally Blake Lively, followed by the female soccer players he coached.

At the back of Martin's script, there was an appendix full of professional training terminology.

Although he remembered some of the famous soccer player names, he wasn't even a pseudo fan, so he had no choice but to memorize these professional terms rigidly.

Suddenly, someone took a seat on the chair beside him; a woman with long dark brown hair greeted Martin first, "Hello, I'm Aibo."

Martin nodded, "Hello." He recognized her from a movie he saw recently, "Aren't you the girl from the opening scene of 'The Ring'?"

Aibo smiled and said, "Yes, I'm that girl who met with misfortune. I'm playing one of the four sisters here."

At that moment, Blake, wearing athletic shorts, approached from another direction, her eyes fixed on Aibo and full of assertiveness, "You're in my seat."

There was no sisterly affection in reality. Aibo looked like she wanted to say something but ultimately held back, and as she stood up, she said, "Good luck, Martin."

Martin waved, "Goodbye."

Blake pulled out the chair and sat down, her intimidating aura instantly vanished, her previously tense face now smiling brighter than the sunlight, "You're finally here."

She crossed one arm over her chest and propped up her chin with the other, staring at Martin's handsome profile, "Why do I find you more attractive the more I look?"

Martin tapped the table, "Let's be serious. We'll have scenes to shoot soon. Let's find time to rehearse."

Blake responded, "Actually, it's pretty simple. I fall in love with you at first sight and start to feel love."

Martin flipped through the script, "The training camp ends, and then we part ways?"

"Haven't you read the original book?" Seeing Martin shake his head, Blake said, "The initial script had us parting ways, but Brad disagreed with Uncle Capisce's adaptation. They've changed the script recently, so after I return home, we meet again, and a perfect love story unfolds."

Both were professionals. Blake finished her morning scenes, and since Martin didn't have to shoot that day, they discussed their respective roles.

Exchanging with fellow actors was crucial.

After the crew wrapped for the day, Martin and Blake went to the beach to run lines and rehearse.

Blake, working as hard as any other actor despite being a seeker of good looks, came from a performing arts family, which was not particularly prominent among Hollywood's second-generation stars.

In Martin's view, those top-tier second-generation stars in the actor's circle were there just for fun.