America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Chapter 365 Chaos Brings Fairness

Warner Bros. Studios, Martin, wearing a long cloak, arrives at The Dark Knight Studio with Thomas, entering a makeup room.

Thomas had already communicated with the crew well in advance.

An assistant from the crew came over and said, "Please wait a moment, I'll come to notify you before the tryouts begin."

Martin lowered his head, without saying a word.

Thomas replied, "Thank you."

As soon as the door closed, Martin suddenly lifted his head and flashed Thomas a smile.

Thomas's heart tightened, and he hurriedly turned around to sit with his back to Martin.

Lately, he'd been having nightmares every night about a monster with a white face and red lips stuffing a huge bomb under his butt, exploding and sending him flying into the sky, unable to land no matter how he struggled until he awoke in terror.

Bruce, holding Martin's cell phone, leaned against the wall.

A text message alert suddenly sounded, and looking at it, he said to Martin, "Robert is ready."

Martin chuckled, "My great sacrificial ceremony has launched another blessing ritual."

Thomas didn't understand what he meant and looked towards Bruce in surprise.

Bruce shook his head and said nothing more.

After all, the less people knew about such foolproof schemes, the better.

Besides, Martin was already a bastard; it wouldn't be good for him to become something like a cult leader.

...

In another audition room, many producers from the crew and Director Nolan had gathered.

The makeup tryout of Oscar Best Actor Adrian Brody had just concluded.

His acting was alright, but Nolan always felt something was missing, some ineffable impression was not quite right.

Emma Thomas said, "Thank you for your brilliant performance, we'll inform you of the audition result as soon as possible."

"Okay," Adrian bid farewell and left the audition room.

Nolan turned to Charles Roven and Aulin, the latter spoke, "I can't quite say why, but like Josh Brolin before him, it feels like something is missing from his performance."

Charles Roven added, "It lacks that kind of relentless, desperate energy."

Emma Thomas bluntly stated, "They weren't sufficiently prepared in the early stages, so it's normal for their audition performances to be mediocre."

Louise sat in the back row and did not express an opinion, but she knew the psychology of these people, they were somewhat influenced.

Ten percent of psychological deviation in the early stages could cause several times more impact.

Emma Thomas said, "Bring in Martin Davis."

An assistant immediately went to notify him.

Not long after, the audition room door opened, and a person, unfamiliar in both shape and aura, walked in with an odd posture.

The moment the person turned to face the producers and the director, Nolan's heart thudded, he patted the cameraman, who had already turned on the camera.

Martin, head and neck leaning forward, his snow-white face with bright red scars extending to his ear roots, grinned with wild abandon.

He intentionally used his tongue to push up one corner of his mouth, the scarred makeup on his face bulging, paired with the eerie smile, made the whole person seem extremely insane.

Nolan couldn't take his eyes off the Joker before him, seeing no trace of Martin Davis, only sensing the role he was looking for.

Even if Martin Davis had not opened his mouth to utter a single line of dialogue.

His every glance, every subtle movement, each smile, every breath, even the imperceptible but palpable aura, was deemed perfect, without any hint of excess.

Suddenly, Martin opened his suit coat and pulled out a statue, pressing his finger against the Joker's mouth.

"Gentlemen, you are so wealthy," he said, pulling up his tattered suit jacket, "yet the people outside are extremely poor, this is so unfair!"

He walked towards the camera, compelling reason, "I've planted a bomb here, ready to create a little disruption. Do you see the statue in my hand? Just a press, and boom, this place blows up."

Martin laughed crazily, his laughter eerie and uninhibited, "Disrupting the current order, everything becomes chaotic, do you know the benefit of chaos? It brings equality!"

He rambled on, "Now, I'm going to count to 10, and if someone doesn't get naked, they won't have a fair chance."

At this point, Nolan said, "That's enough."

Martin was still counting, "One, two..."

With a bizarre tone, filled with a manic power, he stopped at eight, flashed a smile, his expression creepy and penetrating, "Sorry, I got too deep into character."

Nolan said, "Go out and wait for a while."

Martin didn't say anything further and started to sway towards the exit of the audition room.

But Aulin stopped Martin, "What's that in your hand?"

Martin tossed it to him nonchalantly, chuckling, "This is the key to chaos; press its mouth, and boom, it explodes."

Aulin was about to touch the Joker's carved mouth but suddenly stopped.

For a moment, Martin couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

He stared blankly at the statue, the Joker that Martin had portrayed was the blueprint, and it looked lifelike with its exquisite craftsmanship, like a fine piece of handcrafted art.

Martin kept walking, twisting and turning until he was out of the audition room.

As soon as the door closed, Nolan couldn't wait to express his opinion, "This is the Joker I want! Unbelievably unpredictable and extremely terrifying!"

Emma Thomas understood her husband's idea and spoke up directly, "I suggest selecting Martin for the Joker role, his audition was better than the others and he's more diligent and professional."

Charles Roven watched the audition tape again and said, "My choice is Martin Davis."

Louise raised the magazine in her hand, "Martin Davis."

Aulin was still pondering whether to press the Joker statue or not. He rested his hand on the side, the face embodying evil chaos flashed continuously in his mind, worried about what could happen if he pressed it…

Louise reminded him, "Your choice?"

Aulin picked up the statue and pointed, "My choice is him."

Ellen Horn, who had not yet spoken, nodded, "I agree."

With all the decision-makers in agreement, Charles Roven declared simply, "I announce the audition result now, Martin Davis has passed the audition and has been awarded the role of the Joker."

He looked around, "Does anyone have any objections?"

"I do." Aulin held up the Joker statue in his hands, "Look at this, it's very similar to the Joker's aesthetics just now. Could we turn it into merchandise?"

Nolan glanced at it, and as a fanatic for authentic shots, he had his own judgment, "The craftsmanship is quite impressive."

Charles Roven also glanced at it and said, "I feel this thing has uses other than just being decorative."

Others might not be aware, but Louise knew very well, "Martin's Joker statues, many people in Hollywood who have worked with Martin, have received similar mementos."

The casting director, who almost had no say, spoke up, "I've seen them in the possession of quite a few people in the industry."

Aulin realized the commercial value and immediately said, "Let's negotiate with Martin quickly, have him stop giving them away for now, and include relevant clauses in the actor's contract to develop the statue as movie merchandise…"

This was different from DC Comics' Joker image, so there was no issue of infringement. He asked Louise, "Do you know who the carver is?"

Louise said, "Lily Carter, Martin Davis's neighbor's sister, currently working as a temp in the props team of the crew."

Aulin suggested, "Let's move her to the creative team and involve her and her agent in a three-way negotiation."

Charles Roven reached out to take the Joker statue, but before his hand could touch the Joker's head, Aulin shifted direction and passed over the statue's leg instead.

"Don't touch the statue's head." Aulin said instinctively, remembering Martin's evil demeanor, "If it explodes, we are all done for."

Charles Roven took the statue and examined it, finding a signature on the bottom and handing it to Louise, "Regarding this thing, we could think of some targeted marketing strategies, it could become a best-selling product."

Louise casually lent Martin a hand, "High-end custom-made merchandise, like Davey Vida's upscale handcrafted products?"

In the history of Hollywood cinema, the most explosively sold figure-like movie merchandise was undoubtedly the Black Lord.

Charles Roven said, "That will depend on the movie's and the character's influence."

The Nolans were very confident.

After some more discussion, Charles Roven said, "I'll go inform Martin Davis and his agent."

After today's audition, Nolan had completely changed his attitude, "No matter the conditions, I only want Martin Davis!"

Charles Roven had his considerations, "He has had four films with over a hundred million at the North American box office, the fee can't be less than 13 million US dollars."

Aulin was discussing the reality, "The film's upfront investment is too high, an excessive production budget will further increase investment risks."

Nolan reminded, "To achieve the desired effect, the budget for shooting and post-production can't be reduced."

Ellen Horn made a casual suggestion, "Then how about a part of the upfront fee plus a suitable percentage of the backend to reduce initial investment risks?"

Charles Roven again felt that using such clauses for a sequel movie would cause investors to lose profits in the later stages.

But Martin Davis's box office appeal beyond the auditions was also what they wanted.

These representatives of the financiers wished the stars would act for a basic salary.

After a brief discussion ended, and today's auditions were all complete, Charles Roven was the first to leave the audition room, telling someone to call Martin and Thomas that Martin had landed the role of the Joker.

In the makeup room, Martin had already removed his makeup. Hearing the audition result relayed by Thomas, he laughed and said, "See, as long as the audition is fair and just, we are the final winners!"

Bruce thought to himself, this audition was damn fair and just.

Thomas, in an excellent mood, said, "Wouldn't it be great if every audition was as fair and just as this one."

"The audition result is out," Martin sneered, "Now it's your turn to fight for a fair and just treatment for me."

Thomas said, "Leave it to me."

The three of them left the makeup room together, and when they reached the studio's front hall, Louise was there waiting for them.

They went to a nearby soda shop where Louise broadly explained the matter about the Joker carvings.

Martin wasn't surprised, as using carvings as props was his intention from the start.

The specifics of how to cooperate with the crew and Warner would be discussed.