America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

North Hollywood Apartment, after getting ready, Martin made a special trip back, where upon entering, he took a Coke from a box, smeared it with olive oil, and placed it on the windowsill facing the premiere theater.

Removing the disposable gloves, Martin took out his cell phone and dialed Robert's number.

From Atlanta, Robert said, "Understood, I'm on it."

Martin went downstairs, got into the Mercedes parked at the entrance of the apartment, and said to Bruce, "Go pick up Annie from the hotel."

As Bruce drove, he asked, "Does this really work?"

"It has worked several times." What Martin was seeking was also a kind of psychological comfort.

Similar to rituals like worshipping the Wealth God in a previous life.

Arriving at the Hilton Hotel, Martin had just gotten out of the car when Laura came out with Annie, who was dressed to the nines.

Martin hurried over to open the car door, holding the roof to let Annie get in.

Observing her boyfriend's attentiveness in these little things, Annie smiled sweetly at Martin.

Once Martin got in, the Mercedes started up.

Laura followed behind in another car.

Concerned, Annie asked, "How much is Warner Bros. expecting for the opening weekend box office?"

Martin looked quite stressed, "25 million US dollars!"

Annie held Martin's hand, encouraging him, "I believe you can do it."

Martin nodded, "It all depends on the opening weekend box office."

The way movies are released now is essentially different from before 2000; marketing strategies are all about attracting moviegoers to the theaters as early as possible, with a substantial part of the box office for most commercial films in North America coming from the first two weekends.

"The Hills Have Eyes" premiere was held at the El Capitan Theatre, and Rachel had brought the core members of the fan club early in the morning to collect official light sticks, posters, and banners for cheering from Jessica and Emily.

For those supporting Annie-Hathaway, Jessica and Rachel proactively reached out, delivering light sticks and other materials.

In front of the red carpet, apart from some horror movie fans who came for the excitement, the fans were mainly divided into three groups.

Apart from Martin and Annie, there was a large group—supporters of Wes Craven.

Since "Nightmare on Elm Street" in 1983, over twenty years, Wes Craven's horror films were a resounding gold standard throughout North America.

Thus, including the trailers that had been released, and some posters, the most conspicuous font at the beginning read: A Wes Craven film.

Neither director Alexander Aga nor lead actor Martin had any objections, showing full support with arms raised.

When the cool old head Craven was the first to walk the red carpet, the entrance of the theater erupted with a thunderous cheer.

Angelina Jolie came to show her support.

As Mene walked the red carpet, a large group of people called for his autograph, and once Mene approached, he found that his supporters were mostly over forty.

The next to walk the red carpet nearly shocked media reporters and fans on the spot.

After a brief hiatus, Paris Hilton re-emerged in the public eye.

Having endured imprisonment and the betrayal of Kim Kardashian, Paris seemed to have cracked the code of popularity, not lingering too long on the red carpet, hurriedly catching up to Mene, insisting on taking a photo with him.

Mene was numb, "What do you want?"

Paris whispered, "Take a photo with me, and come to me for a check later."

Mene immediately changed his expression, "No problem, how would you like me to cooperate?"

As the two positioned themselves in the media area, the journalists nearly rioted.

Paris no longer acted as frantic as before, letting Mene wrap his arm around her waist as they both smiled for the cameras.

At the front end of the red carpet, an even more vehement chorus of shouts arose.

A black sedan stopped before the carpet, Martin stepped out with Annie, and arm in arm, they walked onto the red carpet.

Different from the premiere at the wax museum, this time Martin was the absolute protagonist.

On both sides of the red carpet, hundreds of fans were holding his posters and light sticks with his name, continuously calling out his name.

Martin, holding Annie's hand, went over to give autographs to the fans and even fulfilled their requests for photos.

Bruce was following right behind, his eyes constantly scanning the crowd for any potential danger.

With Annie's support, the fans were too enthusiastic, and it wasn't a good idea for Martin to extricate himself recklessly.

He and Bruce had discussed this in advance.

Bruce spoke into his collar mic, and immediately four security staff came over and, professing safety concerns, urged Martin to quickly get back onto the red carpet.

Martin was still enthusiastically signing autographs for the fans until the security personnel pushed him to leave.

Two security staff even had to grab Martin by the arms.

"Martin really cares about us!"

Witnessing all this, fans were moved to tears, and a female fan initiated, shouting, "Martin, go back, don't delay the main event."

Many other fans shouted their agreement.

What could they say or feel dissatisfied about when their supported movie star had gone to such lengths?

Mixed in with the crowd, Jessica suddenly shouted, "I'm going to buy tickets five times to support Martin! I want to support Martin!"

The other fans concurred loudly.

"Right! I'm going to watch it three times."

"As long as the film is good, I'll watch it five times too."

Hardly anyone noticed Jessica, who had shouted first, but similar sentiments spread rapidly through the crowd, with shouts rising and falling all around.

Among them, many just say it, if the economy allows, maybe the time does not allow.

But Emily, with her DV camera, recorded everything and planned to post it online later, which would surely stir people's emotions for watching the movie.

Do good movies naturally bring good box office results?

Many times, making a good movie is not as effective as good business operations.

As Martin walked down the red carpet and entered the media area, Jessica and Emily waved to Rachel and quickly left.

The two of them entered the theater through a side door, made their way to the second floor office that had been reserved, opened their laptops, and immediately uploaded the photos and some video they had taken at the scene to the internet, especially to that decoding website.

Their focus was entirely on Martin, unlike the Warner Bros. and production publicity team.

After Martin and Annie were interviewed in the media zone, they went to the theater's lounge to wait for the entrance.

There was a gathering of many guests.

Sophia and Vincent also arrived; the former's towering figure drew frequent sideways glances.

She approached, sized up Annie slightly, and asked Martin, "Is this your new girlfriend?"

"Annie-Hathaway," Martin introduced to Sophia, "my friend from Atlanta, Sophia."

Sophia's face broke into a wide smile as she shook hands with Annie.

Annie felt that this woman's hand was as hard and unyielding as a stone.

Martin, worried Sophia might speak out of turn, pointed behind himself without hesitation and threw Old Bruce under the bus, "Bruce is over there."

Sophia lost interest in everything else and walked briskly toward Bruce.

Martin believed that Bruce would not fall into her trap.

Annie leaned in and whispered, "Why do I get the feeling she's not a good person?"

Of course, Martin wouldn't tell the truth. "She's a fitness fanatic, all the fat's gone from her body, so she looks a bit scary, but she's actually really nice."

Scott could definitely vouch for that.

"Hey, Martin," Wu Maoting came over to greet him.

His daughter Wu Dan looked like a regular little girl, admiringly fixated on Martin, "You're radiant today."

But Martin skillfully shifted the attention to Annie, "Did you hear that? Miss Wu is praising you."

Annie fully endorsed Martin and cooperated very well, taking the initiative to shake hands with Wu Dan.

Wu Maoting said, "I've toured Pacific Pictures and Warner Bros., and I've had discussions with several Warner executives. The situation is even better than described; thank you for giving me this investment opportunity."

Martin was not in the least bit modest, "Mr. Wu, may I ask for a little token of appreciation?"

Wu Maoting thought to himself that these Westerners really didn't know modesty, but he said with a smile, "Go ahead, as long as it's within my power."

Martin said, "Could you sell me a batch of jade at a fair price?"

It was such a trivial matter! Wu Maoting's good impression of Martin returned, "I'll have someone send you a list. Feel free to choose."

After the two left, Annie asked in a low voice, "Jade? I think I've heard of it."

Martin explained briefly, "A type of precious gem from the East."

"Jewelry?" Annie's mind immediately perked up; was the jewelry finally coming?

If the jewelry was coming, could luxury cars and mansions be far behind?

At that moment, Wes Craven came over and introduced Martin to a few members of the media, mainly film critics such as Kenneth Turan, a columnist for the "Los Angeles Times", Todd McCarthy, chief film critic for the "Hollywood Reporter", and Courtney Howard from "Variety".

All of them were members of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Martin was quite polite as he greeted them and even had a warm chat for a while.

Stars need the media and critics to sing their praises.

As he left, Martin asked Craven, "Should I prepare some small gifts for them?"

Craven shook his head, "No need, the production has already made arrangements." He reminded Martin, "If you aim for awards in the future, prioritize critics in Los Angeles and New York. Nearly seventy percent of the academy members live in these two cities."

Martin inquired tentatively, "Them?"

Craven understood what Martin meant, "Most of the time they will stress fairness and impartiality. But everything surrounding Hollywood is a commercial activity."

It was then that Martin saw Mene, realizing Mene was being led around by Paris Hilton, mingling everywhere.

Not understanding what was happening, he took the opportunity to ask.

Mene said with a pained expression, "Boss Martin, she's giving too much!"

Martin knew he had been under financial strain lately, and encouraged him, "Hang in there and try to make more."

Making money is never shameful.

Inside the El Capitan Theatre, a large audience gradually filed in.

Ted and nine other lucky audience members entered together; their seats were right in the middle row.

The theater, which could accommodate nearly a thousand people, was filled with spectators except for the first few rows.

Even though it wasn't the peak summer or holiday season, "The Hills Have Eyes" still attracted a large crowd.

Afterward, guests and media friends entered the theater.

Amid applause, Wes Craven and Alexander Aga led the film's main creative team into the theater.

Among the actors in the film crew, Martin was the only one who could really be considered a star.

Following a brief media interview, "The Hills Have Eyes" formally began its premiere.