America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Chapter 258: Chapter 255 Winner Takes All (Requesting Monthly Pass)

Friday, as soon as the workday ended, Ted haphazardly tidied his desk, slung his bag over his shoulder, and dashed out.

A colleague who liked to mooch his Coke caught up, "In such a rush?"

Ted replied, "Worked overtime last night and didn't make it to the premiere. If I don't watch 'Wanted Order' today, I'm going to explode right here."

The colleague pulled out a bottle of Coca-Cola with Martin's image on it and handed it to Ted, "Let's go together."

The elevator was packed with people. Ted glanced at the time and said, "It's only six floors; let's take the stairs."

The pair turned into the emergency stairwell, and since they didn't have to travel far after descending, located in the Manhattan Business District, there was a cinema just a few hundred meters away.

As Ted entered the lobby, he noticed an unusually large crowd, with dozens of people lined up at the ticket counter.

His colleague hurriedly dragged him to join the queue.

In another long line beside them, a group of girls arrived, and one with brown-black hair asked, "What are we watching?"

The blonde girl declared, "Hot guys!" pointing at the poster for 'Wanted Order,' "Hot guys and beautiful women, that's the one we're choosing!"

The shortest girl chimed in, "'Wanted Order'? I remember reading reviews, all praising it. The internet and newspapers all say it's a great film."

Some guys nearby joined the conversation, "Right! This film is super awesome, with a really good reputation."

The girls didn't engage with them but decided to buy tickets for that film.

Besides, there was a promotional event.

For every movie ticket, a small bottle of Coca-Cola was gifted.

This influenced some people's choices.

A large poster in the cinema declared, "Watch 'Wanted Order'—Martin Davis invites you to drink Coca-Cola!"

After purchasing his ticket and receiving his complimentary Coke, Ted raised his bottle towards the poster of Martin.

The colleague by his side quipped, "May the world have Coca-Cola."

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, near the Northville Community, Elena, Lily, and Hol entered an AMC Theater together.

Because they had to wait for Hol to finish his homework, they arrived a bit late.

With the theater nearly full, they could only choose seats toward the back.

Hol popped open his Coke, downed a swig, and then eyed his sisters' drinks greedily.

Elena tossed him another bottle, "Don't turn into a fatty; drink less."

Lily didn't speak but instead focused intently on counting heads.

Hearing her murmurings, Hol asked, "What are you doing?"

"You idiot, don't interrupt me!" Lily almost lost count and threatened Hol with a raised fist, upholding the Carter family's fine tradition, and continued counting.

After tallying a few more heads, just as the movie was about to start, dozens of people rumblingly entered the theater.

These people were clad in uniform red T-shirts, clearly members of the Cola Cult.

Lily's rhythm was disrupted, so she stopped counting, pursed her lips, and thought to herself that she ought to become a saint!

Hol gleefully teased her, "Can't keep track, can you?"

Lily raised her fist and, just like her sister did to her, thumped it down on Hol's head, "Idiot, shut your mouth!"

With a face full of sorrow, Hol, who had been oppressed since childhood, could do nothing but obediently close his mouth.

Elena then said, "No need to count anymore; given the theater's occupancy, the box office can't be bad."

"A huge hit!" Lily clasped her hands together, "It has to be a huge hit!"

Elena took the Coke from Lily, took a sip, and compared to Lily, she was much more composed; she was certain the film would be a huge success.

Friday, as crowds of moviegoers flocked to theaters, 'Wanted Order' reached the required number of ratings on IMDB, and the film's score was officially unveiled, boasting an impressive average user rating of 8.2 points.

As to how much of that was due to marketing efforts, not even the outsourced click-farming companies could say for sure.

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At CS Cinema, face-to-face with the prime market, audience ratings for 'Wanted Order' garnered a composite grade of A!

This indicated the film possessed a healthy commercial index.

......

Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks.

As the sun began its ascent on Saturday, Blake, donning shorts and a t-shirt, shuffled in flip-flops to the mailbox to retrieve a pile of newspapers, then headed back inside.

She flipped through the papers as she walked, found the 'Hollywood Reporter' statistics page, saw the reported North American box office figures, and with a burst of excitement, she strode briskly towards the villa alongside the pool.

Upon entering, before even seeing Martin, Blake couldn't contain her excitement and began shouting, "'Wanted Order' is a hit! Darling, 'Wanted Order' is a hit!"

Martin, carrying a porcelain plate, came from the kitchen into the dining room, with Bruce following behind him.

Old Cloth finished frying eggs, turned around, and inquired, "Did the opening day box office surpass twenty million?"

Martin looked expectantly toward Blake.

She nodded vigorously, grinning so that she seemed truly eighteen, "21.67 million US dollars! The top of yesterday's box office chart!"

"That's wonderful news!" Martin set down the plate and headed towards the liquor cabinet, "We must drink to that, celebrate!"

Blake had been itching for a drink, "We must toast to celebrate!"

Martin poured three glasses of champagne, and as Bruce came over after taking off his apron, he said, "Guys, to our success, cheers!"

Blake moved in to kiss Martin first, and then clinked glasses with him, "Darling, congratulations!"

She then clinked glasses with Old Cloth, and the three of them drank together.

After the drink, Blake felt a bit excited, put down her glass and the newspaper, and jumped onto Martin, initiating a kiss.

Bruce was not pleased, "Hey, hey, hey, show some civility and principle, don't feed people dog food during breakfast."

Martin carried Blake to a seat and said, "Let's eat, and after we'll go out and have fun together."

This weekend, his publicity task was to wander around densely populated areas in Los Angeles with Blake.

Blake's new movie had also officially been green-lit and required a lot of exposure.

After breakfast, the two of them got into the Escalade Bruce drove and headed straight for Rodeo Avenue to go shopping.

There was no need for Bruce to make a special call—the paparazzi automatically followed behind.

Martin was already used to it and didn't care at all.

Blake seemed born to live under the limelight; the more paparazzi there were, the more excited she became, frequently showing off the affection usually seen between female fans and male idols.

Around the corner of the street, the female paparazzo Jody couldn't help but spit after snapping a photo of Blake feeding Martin ice cream mouth to mouth.

"Shameless dogs, bright as day they will meet their end after the honeymoon phase!" She had been fed so much she felt like vomiting today, "Stars who hype up their love and marriage, which one of them ever ends without incident?"

Another nearby paparazzo couldn't stand it and chimed in, "The sweeter they are now, the more they will despise each other when they break up. I wish them a transition from lovers to enemies!"

Several other paparazzi echoed in agreement: "I wish the same!"

"Let's wish them together!"

On the other side of the street, Martin seemed to sense something, turned his head towards the paparazzi waving cheerfully and friendly, and then turned to kiss Blake, resulting in another passionate entanglement.

With "Wanted Order" selling big, and him holding a young beauty, how could he not show off for the paparazzi and entertainment reporters' sake?

This was a game of fame and fortune where the winner took all!

The paparazzi silently cursed the couple but faithfully lifted their cameras to capture the beautiful couple.

Martin's phone rang at that moment, and on the other end was Sophia.

The tough woman was very straightforward, "Did we make it big again?"

Martin said, "It can't be less than 50 million US Dollars for the first week in North America!"

Sophia laughed heartily, "Setting a new record! With that, I need to celebrate."

Martin asked, "How do you plan to celebrate?"

Sophia said, "Nicholson, that old man, isn't bad. Do me a favor, get him out, I'll treat him to a drink."

Martin could guess what she was planning and, considering human life safety, reminded her, "The old man is almost seventy, someone could die!"

He didn't give Sophia the chance to make any more requests, "I have something to deal with momentarily, we'll talk another day."

In the hotel, Sophia wasn't angry when she heard the busy tone on the phone.

She was in a good mood today because her investment in "Wanted Order" was hugely successful!

After so many years of hard work, Sophia saw very clearly that nothing was more substantial than money.

Scott came over with one leg crossed over the other and asked, "Isn't the old man coming?"

"For the sake of Martin, I'll let him off." Sophia no longer thought about these matters, dialing the number in Atlanta, "Vincent, it's me. Have you seen the latest box office stats? Martin's film has made it big once again, what do you think?"

Without hesitation, Vincent directly said, "Of course we'll continue to invest, does he have any new film projects?"

Sophia said, "He should have one, I asked him the day before yesterday, it seems to be a thriller, mystery, and action type, similar to 'Wanted Order' I guess."

Vincent added, "The fact proves that Martin is trustworthy and worth the investment, you make the call on that."

"Alright then, let's continue to invest in Martin's new film project." Sophia ended the call with her mood getting even better, especially feeling like exercising.

She walked towards the suite's fitness room, looked back at Scott and said, "Come here."

Scott obediently followed, accustomed to what was about to happen next.

Apart from having to endure it, Sophia took care of everything for him; he even got no less than a five-figure allowance each month. At his age and lack of skills, where else would he find such a job?

More than a year ago, Scott had chosen to 'lie flat' and lie comfortably at that, occasionally able to buy gifts for his children.

Compared to his wife Emma, who had run off with someone and disappeared, Scott considered himself a fairly decent father.

Soon, a man's pleasured shouts came from the fitness room, devoid of pain yet filled with joy.

On Friday, the R-rated "Wanted Order" couldn't repel the enthusiasm of the North American audience. The film took in 21.67 million US Dollars, topping Sam Mendes' "Pot Lid Head," and won the North American box office championship for the day.

Come Saturday, a day off, the attendance rate for the movie slightly increased, earning another 24.21 million US Dollars in North America!

The concurrently released "Pot Lid Head" and "Chick Total Mobilization" were all crushed under "Wanted Order," unable to turn the tables.

Although all films' box office typically declines on Sunday, "Wanted Order" continued to lead, ending with a box office gross of 68.55 million US Dollars, securing the championship for the first November weekend box office in North America!

This also set a new career record for Martin and Jolie.