America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 813 - 806: Horse Riding and Marksmanship

March rolled in, and Martin hurried to New York to meet up with the crew of "John Wick: Chapter 3" at the Bruce Colin Studio, where they were rehearsing action scenes.

The crew had already arrived in New York last year.

Martin was one of the later arrivals, people like Mene and Blake Lively had started practicing action scenes since joining the crew last year.

At the shooting range specially set up on the set, Martin cradled a shotgun, standing in front of the target position, skillfully stuffing red-shelled cartridges into the chamber.

Marcus commented from the side, "Chad designed a gunfight where you'll be using a shotgun. You're required to load at an extremely fast speed, then shoot quickly while also executing tactical moves."

"It sounds challenging," Martin said, as he placed the loaded gun on the table and picked up the belt of red-shelled cartridges to strap around his waist. "But that doesn't include me!"

He raised the gun, aimed at the humanoid target in front, and bang, bang, bang, he fired continuously.

Red shells fell to the ground, and one after another, humanoid targets fell at the sound of gunfire.

Martin advanced quickly, holding the gun in one hand and grabbing red shells from the belt at his back with the other, reloading swiftly without even a glance, all within a few breaths.

More humanoid targets were set up. Martin turned the gun and fired again.

His sense of touch was excellent, and every shot hit its mark, with target after target falling down.

Blake Lively, dressed in leather boots and jeans, came over from not far away and stood beside Marcus, commenting, "His shooting is impressive."

Marcus, swinging his increasingly plump belly, said, "There aren't many who possess inherent talent for firearms and shooting like Martin. Sometimes, innate talent is much more useful than rigorous training."

Blake Lively heartily agreed, "Indeed, innate talent is very useful."

The gunfire then ceased, and Martin walked back from the target range carrying the shotgun.

A voice loudly announced the score: "30 shots, all hit!"

Martin put down the gun and unloaded the empty cartridge belt.

Blake approached and said, "You truly have a special talent. Not only are you good with guns and accurate, but your speed and stamina are impressive too."

Martin pointed at the still smoking barrel, "The best, you say, is the gun."

Blake's eyes wandered, "Of course, it's the gun. You have a great talent for it, Marcus was just praising you."

She suddenly remembered the purpose of her visit, "The horses have been transported here. Chad wanted to call you, but since I was coming over, I thought I'd bring the message."

"Let's go check them out first." Martin quickly grabbed his things, handed over the firearms to the armorer, and called Marcus to go to the stables.

For the shooting needs, the crew had temporarily constructed a stable at the Brooklyn Studio.

Additionally, they built a street for Martin to ride and fight on as a part of the set and props.

Both the stable and the street, compared to renting locations outside, were roughly the same in cost, but the filming time was totally at the crew's discretion.

Martin entered the stable, where three robust black horses had already been brought down from the truck by the horse trainer and temporarily housed inside.

Chad and Chen Hu were both present.

The former introduced the horse trainer and two riders to Martin, the latter of whom would also act as Martin's stunt doubles.

Except for a few action scenes, Martin could easily handle the rest of the horse scenes himself; in his previous life, he had been a professional at this, having been a stunt double including in circus acts for a long time.

However, crews genuinely filming circus scenes had become rare later.

On one hand, actors were too delicate, and nobody could bear the responsibility if anything went wrong; on another, horses were also delicate, and the rental prices were steep.

Approaching a sleek black horse, Martin asked the horse trainer to help him get acquainted with the horse.

Even though these were well-trained horses, there still needed to be a process.

Chad came over to ask Martin, "No problems with the horse scenes?"

Martin replied, "Riding and shooting are my strongest skills."

Blake Lively, standing by his side, shrugged, feeling that there was nothing wrong with that statement since she had experienced it firsthand.

Chen Hu asked Martin, "Have you shot horse scenes before?"

Martin thought about it and said, "I did in Atlanta."

Mene came over, "The late-night scenes, I remember those were shot with a blonde actress on horseback, quite spectacular."

Chad, Chen Hu, Marcus, and Blake were a bit surprised.

Martin didn't care; after all, even though that movie had poor distribution initially, after he became famous, the sales of the videotapes and DVDs had skyrocketed.

He continued getting familiar with the horse, and after a while, he took a stroll on it.

Mene whispered to Chad and the others, "You can check it out on YouTube. There's a short video compilation of Martin's major scenes since his debut."

Blake recalled, "Aside from shooting 'The Reader' with Kate Winslet, other Hollywood films he did weren't that explicit."

Chad, who had collaborated with Martin early on, agreed, "The other explicit ones are all action scenes."

Mene further said, "That film should be called 'City Folk', ostensibly Martin's debut." He glanced toward the horses and lowered his voice a bit, "But I heard from Old Cloth that before that, Martin had shot an explicit film where he and Grand Priest of the Cola Cult, Robert, lay on the ground playing dead while the lead actors played poker right in front of them..."

Marcus scratched his head, "What kind of Sacred Valley plot is this!"

Yet, Blake's eyes lit up, determined to find and carefully watch these films.

As the group continued their discussion, Martin, having familiarized himself with the horses, slowly and gently mounted one, took control of the reins, and led the horse outside.

Exiting the stable was a road constructed by the crew specifically for shooting.

Martin rode the horse leisurely for a short stretch, then gradually picked up speed, letting the horse trot evenly.

Having filmed horseback scenes in previous lives and in Atlanta, having gained considerable riding experience over the years, Martin rode to the end of the road and turned back, accelerating once again as he approached.

Chad, seeing Martin's skilled riding, felt relieved.

Such skills in the male lead would reduce many difficulties during shooting.

Martin rode back and forth three times and upon returning in front of the stables, he dismounted and said, "This is a gentle horse."

The jockey suggested, "You should spend some time each day with this horse, riding a few laps every day. It will be beneficial for your mutual coordination and helpful for the shooting."

Martin took the advice well, "No problem, I'll set aside time daily to come here."

Others also tried riding, and after half an hour, they left one by one.

On the way to the studio, Blake Lively said, "I also learned horse riding while filming 'Gossip Girl', but I'm not very practiced, could only ride at a walking pace."

Martin was a bit concerned about her, "Don't come riding alone secretly."

Blake spoke softly, "I could practice riding at night, the daytime is boring."

Martin also intended to practice riding, even considering types like Golden horses.

Chad and the rest caught up from behind.

Martin then turned to Chad, "When are we shooting the horse circus?"

Chad explained, "We're shooting the horse scenes first. These horses are costly to rent, and we don't have a huge budget to spend on them."

A few of them entered the filming studio together. Inside the large studio, the crew used large amounts of tempered and special glass to construct a building.

The lights were then turned on, and the glass building sparkled in various colors.

Martin wanted to go up and take a look but was stopped by Chad.

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The director said, "It's not finished yet. This will be the location for the last action scene of the film, which cost us 3.5 million US Dollars."

Martin, hands on hips, looked at the glass building, "It's worth the money, with all this glass, it reminds me of a film I saw from Harbor City."

Chad asked, "Police Story?" Seeing Martin nod, he confessed, "Actually, when Tiger and I were designing this segment, we were inspired by that Harbor City film."

The action scenes in the third installment are more intensive than in the previous two, which have already built a strong audience. This installment's production budget is a massive 90 million US Dollars.

The investments come from Davis Studio, Pacific Studio, and Gray Media Company.

Additionally, Sophia's House of Beast Entertainment also participated in the funding.

Martin's actor contract with the crew has a base salary of 20 million US Dollars, with back-end box office splits starting from 100 million US Dollars in North America, still tiered but reaching up to 20 percent of the North American box office!

That's what's usually called the "20 plus 20" superstar salary.

However, to achieve this, the film's North American box office needs to exceed 270 million US Dollars.

Then there are the various profit-sharing agreements including DVDs, television broadcasts, and online streaming, which take up 20 percent of the profits.

The first two installments of "John Wick" were hugely profitable, turning not just Martin, the investor and lead actor, but also Chad, the director, into bona fide millionaires.

Today ended there, and as Martin returned to the hotel, Blake Lively also hopped into his car.

The two talked about this film's shooting.

As Escalade drove out of the studio, Martin asked, "Have you practiced swimming and surfing during this period?"

"I can swim already, quite well," Blake spoke softly, "Haven't had time yet for surfing. That requires extensive professional practice, and I've been always busy."

She hurriedly explained, "I went through an audition via the crew, spent four months fitness training, gun training, and learning martial arts, even picked up basic dog training to communicate with dogs during filming, and I have to manage my social media to draw fan attention..."

"Wait until we finish shooting this film," Martin said.

Blake, curious, asked, "Are you planning a film involving swimming and surfing?"

Martin simply stated, "The character should be an expert surfer who loves going to remote wild beaches to challenge limits. There was an accident during one trip."

Blake nodded, "I see, after we finish filming, I'll seriously go for the training."

She tentatively asked, "When will there be a script?"

Martin replied, "I've talked to Bradt, and he's already started writing it."

Returning to the hotel where the crew was staying, the two first went to have dinner to replenish their energy, then returned to Martin's suite to practice riding together.