Chapter 90

The scenes in Woodland have finally been filmed.

Although there was a little accident last night, it did not affect everyone's good mood.

Elizabeth was picked up by her mother and prepared to return to Los Angeles.

Martin and the others will go to New York City to film scenes there.

On the way, Jeff reported to Martin on some of the results he had achieved so far this year.

"The mini album Martin 1 has reached quintuple platinum sales, with a total of more than 5.5 million copies sold, second only to Britney Spears' Stripped album during the same period."

"The single Unstoppable has also sold over one million copies and has been at the top of the North American Music Billboard for two weeks. It also topped the US Singles Chart and the UK Music Chart this week."

"Kung Fu Panda has sold 4.4 million copies worldwide since its release, Ready Player One has sold 3.9 million copies, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has been selling well around the world since its release in 1998, with 2.7 million copies sold so far, ranking first on this year's bestseller list."

"Kung Fu Panda and Ready Player One are also still on the list, ranking 11th and 5th on the bestseller list respectively."

"By the way, Mr. Motula called and asked when you'll release your next album?"

"Let's wait until the movie is finished," Martin said.

It didn't take much time to get from Woodland to New York City.

The crew stayed at the Hilton Hotel in Queens.

Martin used Paris Hilton's connections to contact 707 with the hotel. The hotel's dance floor will be used to shoot the dance scene.

After checking into the hotel, the director announced that the crew had a day off, and Martin decided to go out for a walk. Martin took out his mobile phone and prepared to call Scarlett.

This girl returned to New York again, not to move back, but for a play audition.

Scarlett happened to be free.

The two made an appointment to meet at a dessert shop in Central Park.

"Yes, I auditioned for a play, American Rhapsody," Scarlett stirred the milkshake in front of her with a glass rod in frustration. "I thought I had no chance. After the audition, the casting director's assistant secretly told me that the lady (casting director) thought my breasts were too big, not like a little girl."

At this point, Scarlett's eyes were red, and she was about to cry.

Martin frowned. There was something wrong with the casting director's assistant. As the founder of PUA, he could smell the same kind of vibe.

"What else did he say?" asked Martin.

"He also said that if I want to get this role, I have to work harder than ordinary people. He also gave me his phone number and said that if I need role guidance, I can contact him at any time. As long as he is satisfied, he will put in a good word for me."

"Ugh!"

Martin was sure that the assistant had no good intentions. He didn't even spare little girls—he was a beast, a pervert!

What? You say Martin is like this himself? Hey, he's not even human in the first place!

Martin picked up the phone angrily, then put it down again, looking at Scarlett with a half-smile.

Damn, he was almost fooled by this "little girl." His acting skills are getting better!

"Scarlett, stop acting, you're not sad at all. Tell me, what's really going on?"

"Hey, hey, you saw it. You're worthy of being Martin. You wanted to grab the phone just now. Who were you going to call? Ready to vent your anger on me?"

"Okay, okay, let me be honest. The casting director did say that I grew up a little too fast, and that there was a girl named Anne Hathaway who had an advantage over me! The assistant really wanted to trick me into going to the hotel, but I won't be fooled."

"Damn, that woman named Anne Hathaway, who is two years older than me, came to compete with me for the role of a little girl, and I was the one who was eliminated. That's what makes me angry."

"But I don't hate that casting director as much, even though his assistant is a bad person, hehe."

"Martin, did you know that the casting director was actually very optimistic about me and said she could introduce me to another movie? It was said to be adapted from a comic book. What was it called? Oh, Ghost World."

"Oh, by the way, that casting director is a woman. You don't have to pay too much attention to it. I know all the bad things in the industry and won't be fooled."

"I still remember our agreement. If I run out of scenes, you'll tailor a script for me, right?"

Martin nodded in agreement.

Relieved, he took a sip of juice and found that although the girl tried her best to appear happy, there was still a look of loss in her eyes.

"Which company produced the movie you were cast in?"

"Which one? Oh, you mean American Rhapsody? It's Paramount."

Paramount?

Martin nodded and talked about something else.

In the evening, after Martin sent Scarlett back to the hotel, he made a phone call in the car.

"Hello? Hello Tommy, this is Martin Meyers."

"Haha, hello Martin, why did you remember to call me?" Tom Cruise's hearty laughter sounded on the other end of the phone.

"I need your help with something. I heard that you have a good relationship with Paramount?"

"Yes, I have a good relationship with Shirley Lansing, the president of Paramount. What can I do for you if you have any questions?"

There's a rumor in Hollywood that Tom Cruise is Shirley Lansing's puppet, and that the two are very close.

In 2007, when Tom Cruise presented the award to Shirley Lansing at the Oscars (the "Joan Hersholt" Humanitarian Spirit Award), the two were also very close.

During the period when Shirley Lansing was in charge of Paramount, Paramount and Tom Cruise had the closest relationship. During that time, they collaborated on as many as 14 films.

It was also during that period that Tom Cruise was able to reach an agreement with Paramount that was unique in Hollywood at the time.

Tom Cruise could not only get 22% of the global box office and TV profits from the films, but what's even more shocking to insiders is that at a time when DVDs were not yet popular, in addition to including ordinary video tape royalties (accounting for about 20% of the entire video tape profits) in the agreement, ordinary directors and investors could only divide this part, Cruise also secured a 22% dividend of the entire video tape royalty income.

Before the filming of Mission: Impossible 2, DVDs had appeared, and Tom Cruise renegotiated with Paramount to receive this portion of global revenue. His personal dividend was increased to 30%, and then the DVD dividend was calculated based on his 40% share of global revenue, which amounted to 12% of DVD sales profits.

This "king-level contract" shocked everyone and fundamentally broke the ceiling for actors, laying the fuse for the break between Tom Cruise and Paramount.

This contract allowed Tom Cruise to earn more money from Mission: Impossible 2 and Mission: Impossible 3 than Paramount itself, which was incredible.

After Shirley Lansing left Paramount, the company proposed a more reasonable contract to Tom Cruise. Naturally, Cruise didn't agree, and eventually, the two sides parted ways.

The angry Paramount boss finally terminated the contract with Tom Cruise in August 2006.

Of course, Shirley Lansing is still at the helm, and the two parties are still in the honeymoon period.

"Well, my friend auditioned for a movie..."

After Martin finished speaking, Cruise on the other end of the phone laughed. "It's very simple, I'll call."

"Okay, Tommy."

After Martin hung up the phone, it took about five minutes.

Tom Cruise called back.

"Done, let your friend sign the contract."

"Haha, thank you, I owe you a favor."

"Haha, don't worry, I'll make sure you pay it back."

The two started joking.

[•———•——•———•]

𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟲𝟬+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.