America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 794 - 787 Super Swindle

"What suggestion?" Nicholson, although he had had limited dealings with Musk, had seen too many assholes in his life and recognized Musk's asshole nature instantly.

An asshole's suggestion must be fascinating, he said, "Good ideas should be discussed by everyone."

Leonardo also came over to join in the fun: "Coming up with ideas together will make your suggestion even more exciting."

Musk extended his finger and discreetly pointed towards Talulah Riley, who was talking with David Fincher in the distance: "The ex-wife wants to return to Hollywood and hopes Martin can help take care of her a bit."

Nicholson sized up Musk, making sure he wasn't joking, thinking to himself, does this guy have issues?

Leonardo patted Musk, asking, "Do you have something Martin is holding over you? Or do you owe him a huge favor? Why are you trying to curry favor with him?"

Martin said, "You two shut up. No one would take you for mute if you didn't speak."

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How could Nicholson pass up an opportunity to poke fun at Martin? He said to Musk, "Buddy, you're sending Little Red Riding Hood right into the mouth of the Big Bad Wolf."

Leonardo wanted to open his mouth again.

Martin slapped him on the shoulder, "Do you want to go back to running 100 meters in 11 seconds?"

Leonardo quickly shut his mouth.

Musk looked towards Martin again.

Martin said, "For the sake of our friendship, I'll help Talulah find a suitable role."

Musk, with a knack for selling better than anyone, said, "That's what I call a true brother!"

Leonardo thought to himself, I wish I had a brother like you!

Tobey Maguire arrived at that moment, and Leonardo and Nicholson left the place.

When Musk saw that there was no one around, he said, "I'll prepare the $50 million investment I promised you by the end of the year."

"No problem," Martin assured, "I'll find Talulah a significant role."

Even if the deal was only reached with sponsorship from "Interstellar Rescue," it was still legitimate.

After all, just having money wasn't enough to secure an investment opportunity with Tesla.

Martin then talked with Musk about Depp. Since Depp had chosen to appeal, his divorce case with Amber Heard was still not over.

The longer this lawsuit dragged on, the more it hurt Depp.

It seemed Depp understood this too. According to Musk, Depp planned to settle his debts with the IRS after the lawsuit and leave America, the land of trouble, for a new life in France.

It was about time, and people in the lounge gradually left for the screening hall.

David Fincher and Martin, along with the main creative team, took their seats in the first row.

The premiere screening began shortly afterward.

Accompanied by illustrations and archival footage, the film introduced the background of the story quickly and succinctly through narration.

Then, it rapidly moved to the traditional Hollywood-style individual heroism subplot.

This was also one of the biggest highlights of the film.

To orchestrate the rescue, the protagonist created a real fake film crew in Hollywood.

From the script to the studio and even the crew members, everything was real.

They even spent a fortune on newspaper ads.

All of this realism served the purpose of deception. Only by being sufficiently convincing in the beginning could they make others believe it all when they went abroad.

Martin had also considered similar schemes when he came to Hollywood.

For instance, using this model to initially invest a small amount of money, build a real crew, coax foreign investors to pour in significant funds, and then abscond with the money.

A more lowbrow scam would be to impersonate Spielberg or James Cameron, calling people to express appreciation for certain actors' talent and potential, inviting them to the crew, but requiring a small upfront fee.

Los Angeles is full of aspiring actors dreaming of success, eyes bloodshot as they watch each opportunity, ready to pounce as soon as one appears.

When people are controlled by greed and in a hurry, such low-level scams can have a high success rate.

"Escape from Tehran" was a standard American mainstream film, where even the frequently Hollywood-criticized Washington bureaucrats were portrayed positively, actively supporting the rescue.

Thus, the male lead became like every classic Hollywood hero, venturing alone into the unknown to complete an impossible mission. At the most critical moment, he even challenged existing systemic rules with his lofty personal values to become the true savior.

This CIA agent, unable to perform car stunts, lacking in combat skills, and with no knowledge of explosives, appeared to be an ordinary man. Yet such a character accentuated the rescue's thrill and improbability.

The film finally froze on an illustration of the fake movie "Argo" within the film, and "Escape from Tehran" came to an end.

The theater erupted in rapturous applause. Although the movie's climax and the successful rescue were expected, David Fincher's cinematic craftsmanship propelled the audience through a roller coaster of emotions without a moment of respite, reaching an ultimate high point.

Martin stood up, applauding David Fincher. Following his lead, the main creative team also began applauding Fincher.

Producer Graham King exclaimed loudly, "David, you've delivered an incredible work!"

He glanced at Martin and added, "You've shaped yet another classic character!"

Martin embraced Graham and David Fincher tightly.

The key creative personnel of the crew then took to the stage to take a bow.

Once again, the auditorium erupted with enthusiastic applause.

In many places, the film actually deviates from reality, but film adaptation is all about artistic reprocessing.

According to Tony Mendez himself, when he entered Tehran under the cover of a fake film producer scouting locations, he wasn't suspected by anyone, hardly met any obstacles and was able to lead people out quite easily.

Audiences definitely wouldn't like it if it were shot that way.

After the premiere dispersed, David Fincher and Martin waited in the Chandler Pavilion for a while.

It wasn't long before Ellen Horn came to see both of them in person and said, "Disney Studios' audience feedback statistics are complete, and the average rating from viewers is an A!"

David Fincher breathed a sigh of relief, "At least the box office of the film is guaranteed."

Martin said, "Such a mainstream movie, with assured quality, won't fare badly in professional scores."

Ellen Horn said, "I just had someone discuss with a few film critics, and they all said the film is quite good, far above the standard."

Martin glanced at the time and said, "Let's head back early, we can all get a good night's sleep tonight."

Ellen Horn couldn't help but laugh, "The film's word of mouth will be completely lifted tonight, and you'll see the good news tomorrow."

Several people left the Los Angeles Music Center one after another.

Martin was already accustomed to the pressure of movie releases, and given that there were two needy people at home, he went to bed after being drained completely.

The following morning, "Escape from Tehran" received full clearance from the critics.

Rotten Tomatoes gave it a freshness score of 92%, MTC rated it 82, and IMBD had not yet formed a score due to an insufficient number of raters.

Mainstream media was almost universally positive.

The "Washington Post" praised highly, "David Fincher has brought a stately, meticulous political thriller with darkly humorous realism, and the lead actor, Martin Davis's performance is flawless, playing out an astonishing scam within a scam without a hitch."

Per Martin's request, the crew sent a copy to the White House early.

During the regular White House press briefing, Guanhai mentioned "Escape from Tehran": "The film tells a true historical event with minimal embellishment and maximal impact, making it a great historical footnote and the best movie I have seen this year."

Guanhai's comments could also serve as a promotional point for the film.

The crew and Disney Studios took advantage of the last moments to hype the movie, garnering more attention.

While shooting the latest commercial for Coca-Cola, Martin engaged in a joint interview with media reporters and specifically mentioned this new film.

On Friday, "Escape from Tehran" opened across 3,850 theaters in North America.

Its R-rated classification restricted some teenage viewers from entering the cinemas, affecting attendance.

Even so, by the end of Friday, the film still garnered $14.51 million in North America on its opening day.

Most importantly, the audience word of mouth was excellent.

In the Cinemascore survey of theatergoers, "Escape from Tehran" averaged an A.

This meant that the film could maintain a healthy box office trend.

On Twitter, IMDB, and Instagram, one could see the positive reception from the general audience.

"This is indeed an incredible rescue, Martin has shown us what smart political deceit looks like!"

"The plot is riveting, a series of suspense is very engaging."

"Even though I knew the ending of the film, my heart was always in my throat during the viewing."

Good audience word of mouth often results in a word-of-mouth advertising effect, attracting new viewers to the theaters.

On Saturday, "Escape from Tehran" saw a surge in attendance compared to Friday, with a single-day income of $17.55 million.

Though the attendance of all movies inevitably declined on Sunday night because of the working day on Monday, "Escape from Tehran" had an impressive box office total of $45.21 million for its first weekend in North America.

With both box office and critical acclaim, the crew had enough confidence to aim for numerous awards, with the Oscars at the forefront, during the awards season.

The competition this awards season would be especially intense.

Martin specially checked the movie schedules up to the New Year and found many familiar titles.

Among them were Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," Spielberg's "Lincoln," Tom Hooper's "Les Misérables," and Ang Lee's "Life of Pi."

Martin remembered clearly that Ang Lee won his second Oscar for "Life of Pi."

It wouldn't be easy for David Fincher to make a breakthrough at the Oscars.

Of course, Fincher also had his advantages: "Escape from Tehran" was more politically correct, and he wasn't the kind of inexperienced young director like Ben used to be.

His successive Oscar nominations had accumulated a significant amount of prestige for him.