America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Before the New Year, Warner Bros. held a press conferce to officially announce that in cooperation with several companies, they would invest in a remake of "House of Wax" with a production budget of up to 40 million US dollars.

Those who had se the script knew that this figure was quite exaggerated.

How much was actually invested and how much was laundered through film financing, outsiders had no way of knowing.

The producer team was led by Robert Zemeckis and Joe Silver, with Susan Levin handling the specifics.

With Warner Bros.' established preparation and filming procedure, from the director to the director of photography to the casting director and other key behind-the-sces personnel, contracts were signed the same day.

Before Louise returned to Morocco, she made a point to invite Susan Levin out for a drink.

Martin drove her there in his car, accompanying her.

"The lead actress has be decided, Eliza Cuthbert. She started as a child actress and has ev be invited by Hillary for an exclusive interview at the White House," Louise said from the passger seat, sharing the latest information she'd learned: "She's got high standards, her momtum is surging, and she has a dect fan base."

Martin said, "The role I'm fighting for is her twin brother."

As one of the investors, Louise was well informed: "Your biggest competitor is Paris Hilton's currt boyfrid, Jason Shawn, he's a model and actor."

She warned him, "Don't underestimate the others, there are at least five people auditioning for the role backed by investors."

Martin held the steering wheel with one hand and patted his head with the other, "Thinking about it gives me a headache, the competition is too fierce, it's hard to ev get a foot in the door."

Without Louise being part of the investmt consortium, he wouldn't ev have had the chance to audition.

Louise's words wt straight to the core, "If you had the drawing power of a megastar, it would only be a matter of whether the role type fits and whether the terms the producers offer are suitable."

Arriving at the nightclub they had agreed on, Martin accompanied Louise into the reserved private room.

Susan was already there, and upon seeing Martin, her gaze lingered on his sunny, handsome face for a few seconds before asking Louise, "Who is this?"

"Martin Davis, my driver and also an actor," Louise explained. "You make a single phone call wh you're drunk, and little Robert Downey Jr. would obeditly come over. I can only bring Martin, my driver, and take this opportunity to let him meet the producer."

Susan understood and shook hands lightly with Martin, not giving him a chance to speak: "Handsome, could you give us ladies some private space?"

"Call me if you need anything," Martin said succinctly, voluntarily leaving the area.

Louise snapped her fingers at the lounge bartder, "Two bloated screws."

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Susan commted, "The masterpiece of the bartder extraordinaire, Louise."

The drinks arrived quickly, and Louise said, "He looks good, doesn't he?"

Having battled it out in Hollywood for many years, Susan wasn't shy to say, "Seeing him, I realize why you came out yourself to find me. You're a perv."

"Who doesn't like good-looking people, whether m or wom?" Louise took a light sip of her drink. "Martin Davis is still a hidd gem. I personally unearthed him from the mire of Atlanta. What's valuable is that he has the drive to pull himself out of the muck."

Susan became interested, "Tell me more."

Louise roughly said, "He wt astray in his tes, mingled with smugglers as one of their own; those guys smuggled goods from Mexico to Georgia, and Martin had be a low-level mule, also worked as a pathfinder for a while. As he grew older, his horizons broaded, and knowing that continuing down that path led to a dead d, he secretly ran off to be an extra.

In just two or three years, he learned a lot..."

She boasted about Martin's skills and wt on to say, "Originally, his life had hope, but he was captured by his former gang and forced to sign a high-interest loan, working in a male stripper club to pay off the debt. Later, he got lucky, met me, and I saw his eagerness to break free, so I gave him a helping hand."

Susan took a sip of her drink, waiting for the bubbles to burst in her mouth, "It's not easy for a prodigal son to return."

Louise shrugged, "He's tasted all the bitterness and sweetness of life, yet he remains as optimistic as Peter Pan."

Susan suddly thought of Downey, "To our hidd gem."

Louise drank with her, th pulled out a disc from her purse, "Martin starred in 'Zombie Stripper'. If you're interested, have a look, it's quite interesting."

"I'll seriously consider his audition," Susan took the disc and put it away. "Tell him to focus on the masculine ergy of the role and the protective attitude towards his sister, ev to the point of risking his life."

Louise raised her glass, "To you."

Susan clinked glasses with her.

About an hour later, Martin tered the private room and helped Louise leave.

Once in the car, he looked at the woman who had drunk too much, "You can't keep drinking like this; it's too hard on your body."

Louise waved her hand dismissively, "No worries, I'm still young, my body can handle it. Besides, I'm only drunk because you purposely lured me with alcohol."

Martin patted her leg, "Sit tight, stop fussing."

The car left Sunset Boulevard and returned to Louise's villa.

The next morning, Martin st Louise to the plane and th drove to Ctury City, tering the lobby of the WMA office.

Thomas sat behind a partition, making non-stop phone calls. Rectly he had be working overtime a lot, stressed with thought, bags forming under his eyes.

Martin sat in another chair and said, "Buddy, just a little more effort, the casting team has published a notice for actor recruitmt, it's crunch time now."

Thomas took out a bottle of vitamins, popped one into his mouth, chewed it and swallowed, "How about you?"

Martin replied, "Everything that needed to be done is done, and Susan ev provided me with the key points for the audition." He asked, "How about your side?"

Thomas said, "The casting director is Mary Gale, she hates m with long hair and likes young m with light brown hair."

Martin touched his hair, "I'll cut it shorter and dye it soon."

Thomas looked a and lowered his voice, "Someone inside the company is also competing for this role. Don't talk about what we know to anyone, understand?"

Martin said harshly, "If anyone dares to ask me, I'll beat the son of a bitch."

Thomas reminded, "Be careful of Adrian, the lead actor of that drama series you were in."

Martin's voice lowered, "Louise said the biggest competitor is Paris Hilton's currt boyfrid, Jason Shawn."

Thomas stroked his chin, "He is indeed a major threat."

Martin joked, "Should I get you a gun to take him out?"

Thomas was aghast.

Martin patted the table, "You're too tse, relax a bit."

...

Having finished "Star Partners," Adrian left his agt John's glass-partitioned office, called over his short, awkward, and ugly lackey Tony, and headed outside together.

Tony asked, "Are our chances good?"

Adrian was very confidt, "For budget reasons, the crew plans to use fresher faces. My experice and acting are clearly better. John has be in contact with Robert Downey Jr. to go through his connections."

Tony knew a lot about industry gossip, "I remember Downey proposed to Susan Levin last month."

Adrian laughed, "That's why I have great hope." He whispered, "Worse comes to worst, I'll just party with Downey."

Tony said, "I can get the good stuff if you need."

"Let's talk about it wh necessary," Adrian put away his smile, "There are two other people in the company eyeing this role. John is higher up and got wind of the situation. That Martin Davis was one of them last time."

The two reached the first floor, Tony wt to get the car, and Adrian waited for him to come over.

Before the car arrived, Adrian saw Martin coming down from the upstairs.

An idea struck him, and he smiled and waved at him, "Hey Martin, long time no see."

Greeted by the thusiastic Adrian, Martin responded with an ev warmer smile, "Buddy, wh is your series airing? You're about to become a big star."

Adrian said, "Don't ev bring it up, I've slaved away for years and still hav't made it big." He changed the subject to Martin, "Everyone inside is saying you're gaining momtum and competing for the male lead in Warner's horror film."

"Not a lead role, just a role supporting the female lead," while speaking, Martin's mind was spinning, "I mainly want to see what a movie audition is like. I'm certain to run the whole race, but there's no chance I'll get the role."

Adrian felt that Martin held information he did not, "Why do you say that? Your acting's good."

Martin appeared helpless, "The promiscuous Hilton heiress, the one who released a sex tape, she's brought funding to the project, securing the role of the female supporting lead."

Adrian said, "I've heard about it."

"Her boyfrid Jason Shawn is a model and actor, and she recommded him to the crew," Martin spread his hands, "With that situation, could anyone else win?"

He waved his hand, "That's ough; I've got to go, need to attd class."

Seeing Martin's lack of thusiasm, Adrian felt a huge threat and took out his phone to call his agt John.

Tony drove up, Adrian got into the car, and not long after they started driving, the agt called, "I've asked a, and I can confirm the news is true. He will be your main competition. Prepare thoroughly. I'll find out more."

"Damn nepotism!" Adrian couldn't help but curse.

Tony asked, "What's going on?"

Adrian explained meticulously, "Thank goodness I got the news from that idiot Martin Davis's mouth."

Tony didn't take Martin seriously at all; after all, not long ago in the "Star Partners" series, Martin Davis was just a supporting actor with very few sces.

He th asked, "How much will our chances of getting the role decrease?"

Adrian considered carefully and said, "At least by half." He gtly tapped the seat, "Auditions are starting soon; we don't have much time left. We need to think of a plan."

"Doesn't that Jason Shawn care about the sex tape?" Tony couldn't stand it, "He's serious with that slut Paris Hilton?"

"He's got money!" Adrian raised his hand to quiet Tony down and started thinking deeply.

Entering 004, after the New Year's holiday, the crew officially named "House of Wax" announced the audition dates and st out audition notices and short character scripts to the actors who had passed the initial selection.

The male lead's name was Nick Jones, the twin brother of the female lead.

Including Martin, over 0 actors were still competing for this role after the preliminary selection.

Those who made it through the first all had dect acting skills, capabilities, and appearance,