"Hey, guys, welco to my party,"
At the brightly lit entrance of the banquet hall, ryl Streep saw the Trio of Scoundrels arriving together and went forward to hug each of them.
She looked at the three notorious scoundrels of Hollywood and said deliberately, "Actually, it took a lot of effort and determination to invite you guys over, you know?"
Martin played along, asking, "Why?"
ryl said, "I was worried you'd lift off the roof of the banquet hall and turn the party into a battlefield."
Leonardo pushed Nicholson to the front: "Don't worry, for Jack's sake, we won't ss up your party."
Now that there were no outsiders to target, Martin imdiately turned his attention to Nicholson: "Jack, you should be standing by ryl's side, greeting the guests with her."
ryl Streep, who was divorced, had always had designs on Nicholson: "I think that's a good idea, especially since we're missing a host tonight."
Nicholson, however, said, "Don't joke about it, can just anyone stand in that spot?"
ryl's eyes were fixed on Nicholson, but her hand opened the clutch on her arm, which seed to contain a square box.
Martin wore a face eager for a good show.
Without another word, Nicholson quickly walked into the banquet hall.
"Don't go," Leonardo pretended to pull him back, but conveniently failed to catch him.
ryl took out a compact mirror, touched up her makeup, and huffed, "What a coward."
Martin and Leonardo also entered the banquet hall.
Nick materialized from one side, peered towards the entrance, and asked, "She didn't say anything, did she?"
"Nothing," Martin asked, "What, are you worried that ryl might propose to you in public?"
Nicholson said, "What if she goes crazy? If I refuse, we can't even be running buddies anymore."
The three scoundrels laughed and chattered as they entered the banquet hall to mingle with so familiar faces.
Suddenly, a blonde girl approached: "Hi, Martin, Leo."
She greeted Martin and Leonardo, but ignored Nicholson.
Martin's gaze swept quickly over her, noticing the girl's tall figure, blonde hair, and features sowhat resembling ryl Streep, but her face was more refined and she was prettier than ryl.
"We've t before," the girl frowned, "don't you rember?"
Martin recalled, "You're ryl's younger daughter, Louisa."
Louisa Jacobson said, "We t in New York a few years ago..."
Blonde, long-legged, and stunningly beautiful, Leonardo nodded: "Back then you were just a little girl, I had no idea you'd grown up so much."
Louisa smiled at him, but turned to Martin and said, "I'm planning to throw a party next week, can you co?"
Nicholson drifted past, ghost-like, in front of Martin.
Understanding what the scoundrel ant, Martin replied, "I've got a lot on my plate lately, I'm afraid I won't have the ti."
Just as Leonardo was about to say he was available, Nicholson yanked him away.
"We'll talk more when we have the ti," said Martin as he walked away.
Louisa watched Nicholson's retreating back, her eyes filled with obvious resentnt.
Once they were alone, Leonardo expressed his discontent, "Jack, what are you trying to do?"
Martin tilted his head slightly and asked, "She's not your daughter, is she?"
"Don't fra !" Nicholson hastily defended, "She's ryl's and Don Gumr's daughter."
Martin and Leonardo gave him skeptical looks.
Knowing the two scoundrels well, Nicholson knew the more he explained, the worse it would get, and chose to stay silent.
Leonardo spotted a new target, "I'm going to chat with soone for a bit."
Martin noticed an acquaintance, "I'll go talk to soone too."
Nicholson was left on his own, took a look around, and went to find ryl Streep.
Spielberg had just finished chatting with soone when he turned and saw Martin.
The old man adjusted his signature round glasses and said to Martin approaching, "I heard that a few days ago, you almost made gan Ellison explode on the spot?"
"That's not true," Martin put it from his perspective, "Her new production 'The Seventh Son' isn't that great, it's a risk even offering 30 million US dollars for it."
He jumped straight to the point, "Nolan ca to see a few days ago, we discussed so things about 'Interstellar'."
Spielberg spoke, "For big productions and big projects, I believe the absolute lead should be a superstar, whether it's you or Tommy, both are suited for the role."
It was a very Spielbergian thing to say, yet it left no room for objections.
Martin followed up on his statent, "The key to the matter still lies with Jon Berg of Warner Bros."
Spielberg smiled and reminded, "He's on his way over."
Martin turned his head and saw Jon Berg of Warner Bros. walking this way.
"You guys talk." Spielberg stood up and left the spot.
Jon Berg ca over, pulled out a chair, and sat opposite Martin, "Let's have a chat."
Martin smiled slightly, "Sure."
Jon Berg said, "Years ago, when I was still at New Line Cinema, people often talked about you. You were a new actor then and had just started to work with Warner Bros."
With his career history out in the open, Martin didn't deny it, "The films I worked on with Warner Bros. opened up my career in Hollywood."
Jon Berg stared at Martin intently, "Without Warner Bros., there would be no you today!"
He had married Kevin Tsujihara's wife, a Japanese woman, who herself was heavily influenced by Japanese culture, "You show no respect or gratitude towards Warner Bros., and now you're leading a lawsuit against them?"
Martin said, "Business is business, let's not play that ga of moral blackmail. It was Warner Bros. that disrespected the business contract, breaching it first."
Jon Berg sneered, "Warner Bros. offered you a settlent, and you refused the hand of friendship they extended."
"So, breaching a contract is just a minor issue to you?" Martin said, "By June, you will have been in breach of contract for over half a year. Do the contractual penalties and late fees not exist in your eyes?"
Jon Berg said, "Next month, the profits due to you and the corresponding bank interests will be fully paid by Warner Bros."
Martin didn't want to continue this conversation, "Please have your legal departnt talk to my lawyer."
Leaning forward, with one hand pressing on the table, Jon Berg said, "You better think this through, you are facing Warner Bros., the Warner brothers!"
He said coldly, "Warner Bros. has been around for nearly a hundred years and has seen countless stars rise and fall, each one inevitably declining after their brief peak."
Martin could naturally sense the threat in his words, and he said, "I rember Jack often worked with Warner and is now living a carefree life."
Jon Berg said, "Do you really want to face the wrath of a century-old Warner?"
Martin shook his head and said, "Indeed, a century-old Warner, but I have a question. How many presidents has Warner Bros. changed? Let think... The president before Ellen Horn, he lasted less than a year and a half before being fired by the group company for poor performance. In the nineties, there were also two presidents who did not last two and a half years; they botched big production movies and were forced to resign..."
Jon Berg's face turned from white to black in an instant.
Martin stood up to leave, and before he left, he said, "Jon, I wish your new movie 'Jack the Giant Slayer' a huge box office success, and hope you get a promotion and a pay raise."
Jon Berg's mind flashed with the main poster of the movie, and he suddenly recalled sothing. For Warner Bros., distributing both "Transcendental Hacker" and "Lone Ranger" for Anna Purna Pictures had been disastrous failures.
As a result, Warner Bros. had terminated the distribution contract for "The Seventh Son," which had held a screening to sell its rights a few days earlier, and no one was interested even for 40 million US dollars.
It was said that all three projects were snatched from Martin Davis's hands by gan Ellison.
Warner Bros. had also snatched projects from Martin Davis, "Gods of Egypt" and "Dark Places."
Both of these movies had also failed.
Jon Berg felt numb in his hands and feet, a cold feeling creeping up his back.
Where did the project "Jack the Giant Slayer" originate?
Jon Berg rembered clearly that when he followed Danny to Davis Studio, before it had moved, he saw two fairy tale books on Martin Davis's desk— "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Jack the Giant Slayer."
Those two books had curled edges and the traces of being flipped through were particularly evident, with screenplays of the sa na nearby.
So, he had embarked on this fairy tale epic project.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible," Jon Berg shook his head, "Nobody thought I would go there that day; I also stumbled upon these two books unintentionally, and then this project started."
He would never admit that he had been deceived, "The lowly tricks of Martin Davis could never escape my eyes."
Putting aside everything else, on the "Jack the Giant Slayer" project alone, Warner Bros. had already invested over 200 million US dollars, with the distribution company contributing 100 million dollars—the sunk cost was frighteningly high.
Jon Berg refused to consider that direction.
Because he couldn't bear the terrible consequences.
Jon Berg glanced once more at Martin's retreating figure. With "Jack the Giant Slayer" about to release, he didn't have the energy to deal with this scoundrel for the ti being—after the film beca a big hit...
On the other side, Nicholson looked at Jon Berg leaving on his own and asked, "Did he just threaten you?"
Martin shrugged, "He warned to my face that a mountain nad Warner was about to crush into a pulp."
Nicholson first laughed, then said, "You should still be cautious."
Martin nodded and added, "I've already anticipated this might happen. After all, the new managent team at Warner is extraordinary, which is why I chose to partner deeply with Disney."
At that mont, Leonardo interjected, "Playing defense isn't our style. We need to find a way to hit back at them!"
Martin looked at Leonardo and said, "You've been working with Warner recently; when the ti is right, help step forward and say a word."
"No problem," Leonardo agreed.
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