America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

When it comes to shoddy maneuvers, no Hollywood company is lacking, but after 2010, Warner Bros. definitely had the most.

As unavoidable as it is for people to only consider outcomes, some of Warner's later exposed operations shocked everyone to the core. How could so many industry elites conjure up such idiotic decisions?

The failure of "Gods of Egypt" had put enormous pressure on Jon Berg, and the fiasco that led to his predecessor Ellen Horn's departure was botching "Terminator 2018".

Daniel wasn't doing much better either. No matter how he tried to pass the buck, "Gods of Egypt" was a project he had pilfered from Martin and forcefully recommended to the company.

As Jon's mind slightly steadied, he thought of another film project that had already started production, the one he saw in Martin Davis's office — Jack the Giant Slayer!

This magical epic, adapted from a classic fairy tale, had a massive production budget of 200 million US dollars, and failure was not an option.

If it were to flop, even being Kevin Tsujihara's brother-in-law would mean nothing; he'd have to pack up and leave.

Jon asked Daniel, "What do you think about the Jack the Giant Slayer project?"

The project had nothing to do with Daniel, and not wanting to get involved, he replied, "I've got some urgent matters on my side, let's talk another day." Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire

After Daniel left, Jon pondered for a while, his concern for the Jack the Giant Slayer project growing; he decided to call in his trusted assistant McDonald.

He said, "I'm assigning you a very important task. 'Jack the Giant Slayer' has started shooting, and I don't feel entirely confident about the project. I want you to represent me on the set to supervise the crew's work."

McDonald responded, "Yes, President."

Since Jon personally pushed the project, which already had huge capital invested, it was impossible to stop; the sunk costs were too high. He instructed, "Make sure the crew completes the filming with quality and on schedule."

Feeling the importance his superior placed on the task, McDonald said, "I will closely monitor the filming and production of the crew until the project is completely finished."

Jon waved his hand, "Go there today."

McDonald hurried back to pack his bags and head for the set in Atlanta.

Jon's mind was somewhat eased.

McDonald's arrival at the set quickly spread to the other investors of the project.

Other companies involved in the investment, such as Castle Rock Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, and Relativity Media, followed suit.

Each company communicated with Warner Bros., requesting to send a new production manager to the set as well.

Jon Berg saw this as a good thing. With so many talents gathered together, they could keep the director in check and come up with collective strategies when faced with difficulties; he agreed to the requests immediately.

By Tuesday, four more production managers had flown to Atlanta.

Bryan Singer, the director of "Jack the Giant Slayer," could be considered a veteran in Hollywood. He was also serving as a producer on set, with the power to make key decisions from planning to shooting.

But his good days came to an abrupt end with suddenly five 'big shots' overseeing him, and each with their own differing opinions.

The first day all five bigwigs were on set, a fierce argument erupted.

Confronted by the big bosses of the financiers, Bryan Singer, though frustrated, had no choice but to appropriately adopt their suggestions once they had reached a compromise.

What was once a calm set for "Jack the Giant Slayer" had now become as bustling as when David Fincher was starting out with his set for "Alien 3".

During 20th Century Fox's production of "Alien 3," they chose music video and commercial hotshot, and film industry newcomer David Fincher as the director. Fox and the various investors, not entirely trusting the director, sent over a dozen people with titles like producer and production manager to guide Fincher through the filmmaking process.

The chaos that ensued is easy to imagine. Fincher was tortured to the point of losing his humanity, his psyche severely battered. After finishing, he swore off movies and returned to music videos and commercials for three years, until he mentally recovered and picked up the director's baton to make the renowned "Seven".

As everyone knows, in any situation, when facing anyone, David Fincher adamantly denies "Alien 3" as his work.

......

"Gods of Egypt" received a horrid response in North America, and news of its box office failure spread across the globe with wings.

Although the film had not yet been released overseas, the negative impact was already evident, with a steep decline in anticipated screenings in major movie markets.

This was partly due to the collapse of the film's own box office and reputation, and also related to the second weekend of May when a new film premiered in over 40 countries and regions worldwide.

The much-anticipated sequel to the blockbuster "John Wick" held its grand premiere in North America.

The man who famously said, "You come after my dog, I come after your life" was back!

In Los Angeles, Hollywood, at the Chief Stone Theater.

Martin, dressed in a sharp black suit, walked the red carpet with Elizabeth, had his routine can of cola, posed for photos in the media zone, and then entered the theater.

Louise came over and asked, "The person you invited didn't show up."

Martin replied, "Jon Berg is so impolite. I attended his premiere, yet he didn't accept my invitation."

Uncle Mene chimed in, "Wait until our film is publicly released, and the first-week box office numbers are out. I'll get the lads to bring a megaphone near Warner Bros. Studios and play the box office digits every day!"

Elizabeth was also infected, "Lily has a high-power one, should I have her send it over to you?"

Mene replied, "I'll contact Lily to pick it up myself."

Chad, Marcus, and Chen Hu came over one after another.

Marcus seemed to have gained quite a bit of weight, his belly trembling as he walked, he said to Martin, "Disney Studios has scheduled 'Lone Survivor' for this October."

Martin replied, "The schedule is fine, I saw the first cut of the test screening, and it's really good."

"I have an idea," Marcus added, "to invite some war veterans, as well as the Afghans we found who rescued me, to attend the premiere of the film together."

Martin nodded slightly, "That's a good idea, you handle it." He turned to Jessica and said, "Coordinate with Disney Studios."

At this moment, Elizabeth reminded, "Ellen and Robert Iger are here."

Martin nodded to Marcus and the others, then turned and walked toward Ellen Horn and Robert Iger, shaking hands with them warmly.

Robert Iger commented, "I saw the test screening, it's fantastic!"

Ellen Horn continued, "The test screening has received rave reviews, even better than the first one."

Martin returned the compliment, "Disney has done a good job promoting it."

Although "John Wick: Chapter 2" was premiering today, there had already been three consecutive test screenings for media, audiences, critics, and theater managers, and the word of mouth was out.

This showcased the film studio's strong confidence in the movie.

On Rotten Tomatoes, it held a 95% fresh rating; MTC had an average score of 78, and IMDB user ratings were temporarily at 8.5.

Most importantly, as of the day of the premiere, "John Wick: Chapter 2" had presold over 30 million US Dollars in North America!

As the group made their way to the theater hall, Chad lagged behind, walking and talking with Martin, "I've discussed the plot for the third installment with Bradt several times, and it's pretty much set."

Martin replied, "I read the script outline that Bradt sent over, just follow your ideas."

Chad added, "After the promotion for this one ends, Tiger, Marcus, and I will start working on the action scenes for the third part, which might include more close combat scenes."

Martin was very confident in their stunt design abilities, "Don't worry about my side, I've been maintaining basic training."

Chad thought to himself that it was having actors like Martin around that allowed them to showcase the action designs so perfectly on screen.

When the film's key creative personnel entered the cinema together, the audience erupted into warm applause.

The success of the first installment had created a large following of fans.

Over the past two years, "John Wick" DVD sales had been astonishing, consistently ranking in the top ten of North American DVD sales and rentals charts.

The production team didn't engage in any special events, just as neat and straightforward as Jonathan, the male lead in the film, sitting down in the front row after the applause settled.

The premiere screening began.

From the first shot, the film engaged the audience's emotions, no nonsense or rambling, and Martin's portrayal of the male lead didn't utter a word unless necessary, opting to solve problems with a gun whenever possible rather than waste words.

The entirety of the story was a simple dialogue used to connect one intense, explosive action scene to another, diving straight into the fray when necessary like the scenes in Sacred Valley.

The action scenes were incredibly cool.

The film effortlessly stirred up the audience's emotions, accompanying the protagonist on his adventure.

After over an hour of blood splattering, the protagonist fired the last shot of the film, continuing the first installment's excellent tradition of not letting the antagonist finish talking.

As the villain smugly prattled on, Jonathan shot him in the head, quick and clean!

The audience's emotions were fully unleashed, with the exhilarating feeling stimulating their adrenals and dopamine!

The entire movie was cold and sharp in its visuals, avoiding preaching any profound life lessons, still revolving around the legendary hitman carving out a bloody path for revenge, effortless to watch and especially satisfying.

At the end of the premiere, the venue once again burst into enthusiastic applause.

Robert Iger stood up clapping and asked Ellen Horn beside him, "How do you think it compares to the first one?"

"It's even more thrilling than the first one!" Ellen was certain of this, "The sequel completely surpasses the original, and the box office will definitely be higher than the first."

Robert Iger sighed, "It's just a pity he won't agree to star in a Marvel superhero movie."

Ellen Horn chuckled, "For a star of Martin's caliber, Marvel could invite him to make a cameo in one of their movies at a high price, but he wouldn't be tied down to a recurring role. Whatever Marvel could offer him, other films could too, and without the side effects of being tied to Marvel."

Robert Iger had seen a statistic; it wasn't difficult for Martin to earn 40 million US Dollars during a film's production and release in its opening year. As his star power increased, so would his earnings, and this didn't even include the investment returns from Davis Studio.