American fame and fortune

Southern California, San Diego.

The black Chevrolet parked in front of a restaurant. Nicholson, who had put on makeup, got out of the car and walked towards the restaurant.

He wore a wig, colored lenses, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses stuck on the bridge of his nose. He almost changed into a different person, like an elegant and shrewd accountant.

It's the work of an old friend of Nicholson's who is a retired makeup artist.

In that era without CG, actors could only rely on the hands of makeup artists for many of their special effects.

In a commercial vehicle behind him, Martin watched Nicholson enter the restaurant and said, "Old Bu, is it open?"

Bruce turned on the receiver and said, "That's it."

Both Martin and Leonardo put on headsets.

Bruce picked up the walkie-talkie and said to the people in the car behind him: "Get your weapons ready to attack at any time."

This is just in case.

Martin took out his pistol and checked the magazine.

Leonardo was very helpless about Martin and Bruce's persecution paranoia and said: "It's okay. Jack will go there in person only when he is sure. He is not crazy enough yet and will not take risks."

Martin tugged on his body armor under his shirt, stuffed his pistol into his holster, and was ready to get out of the car.

But the sound coming from the headset was normal, and Nicholson's changed voice made people talk and laugh.

Soon, the topic got down to business.

"Two hundred thousand dollars, six people." Nicholson said: "I hate them and don't want to see them again."

Another voice said: "It seems that they are very annoying. I will warn them and keep them as far away from you as possible, but you have to tell me which city they are in."

"Tijuana, it couldn't be more specific," Nicholson said.

Another voice said: "It will take some time, let's find someone first."

"Okay," Nicholson said.

The voices stopped at this moment, and footsteps were heard.

Martin took off his headphones and looked towards the door of the restaurant. Nicholson quickly walked out, got into the Chevrolet in front, started it and walked towards the front.

Bruce followed in his car.

Leaving downtown Tijuana and entering a lane, Nicholson, who had taken off his wig, parked the car and got into the commercial vehicle while Bruce went to deal with the Chevrolet.

Martin drove toward Los Angeles.

"Done," Nicholson said.

Martin said the same thing: "You don't have to go there in person."

Nicholson shook his head: "You and Leo are still young and don't understand the thoughts of an old man like me. After decades of life, there is not much fun to be found. If you can't find fun, life is worse than death." ”

He raised two fingers: "Now I only have two major beliefs as my pillars, the Los Angeles Lakers and having fun."

Leonardo asked: "It won't be traced to you, right?"

"Let's not talk about my makeup. If those six bastards died in Tijuana, how many people would care?" Nicholson was not worried at all: "If dozens of people die every day in Tijuana, would it still be called Tijuana?"

He pointed to the guide again: "The bastard I'm dealing with has been a middleman for decades. Not only is he reliable and has a good reputation, he has never had a car flipped over. Do you know what the trick is?"

Martin's habitual thought: "Is there someone behind this?"

"Yes or no." Nicholson said the correct answer: "Subcontracting at all levels is the key!"

…………

In San Diego, a middle-aged Latino man came out of a FedEx branch, turned around, got into his Cherokee, found his Nokia 1100, and dialed a number: "I mailed you a piece of information. The six people on it are in Tijuana." , find them, I don’t want to see them again, get them for one hundred thousand dollars, as soon as possible.”

The man was a little excited: "One hundred thousand dollars? It's a big deal. Don't worry, it will be done soon."

That afternoon, he received the express and immediately contacted his downline: "Old man, here comes the deal. The reward is $60,000. Find and kill six bastards hiding in Tijuana."

When the person heard the amount of money, he promised: "Don't worry, we will definitely get it done!"

The next morning, Tijuana, a city on the border between Mexico and the United States, is the famous crime capital.

In a very ordinary bungalow, several sturdy Latin men were smoking and playing cards.

The door opened from the outside, and Marcelo with an afro came in holding an envelope and said loudly: "Guys, there's a big deal!"

Paqueta, whose arms were covered with black tattoos, asked: "Boss, is there $10,000 for the big deal?"

Marcelo opened the envelope, took out a stack of photos taken against each other, handed them to several brothers, and said, "Big deal for thirty thousand dollars!"

Upon hearing this number, other people threw away the cards in their hands and took the photos to pass around.

Marcelo said: "These six bastards have committed big crimes in the United States. They are said to have received a huge sum of money and are currently hiding in Tijuana. Their details are on the back of the photo. Our task is simple, find them and send them to them." Not only will they be rewarded with $30,000 for going to hell, but the money in their hands will also belong to us."

The rest of the people look at the photo and write down the relevant content behind it, which is really a big deal.

Marcelo and his gang have a certain level of professionalism. They were once Mexican anti-drug police officers, but there is a characteristic of this line of work. All the work is to prepare for becoming traffickers in the future.

For some reason, they were not accepted by the traffickers and became mercenaries active on the US-Mexico border.

Marcelo shouted: "Okay, guys, take action and find someone quickly. This kind of person who suddenly gets a large amount of money will definitely spend a lot of money. It's not difficult to find."

Including him, five people left the bungalow and went to some well-informed bars or custom streets to look for clues.

These local snakes in Tijuana are quite efficient at what they do.

…………

Los Angeles, Annapurna Pictures.

In the president's office, Megan Ellison, who has short hair and a manly face, closed the script and placed it next to another script.

The two scripts are "Seventh Son" and "Transcendental Hacker".

Pressing the intercom, she said to her assistant: "Have Derrett and Wilson come over."

Soon, two middle-aged men walked into Meghan’s office one after another.

Meghan picked up the script, shook it, and asked, "What's going on now?"

Derrett replied: "On the day of the police report, two executives from Davis Studio urgently contacted the screenwriters and copyright owners of the two scripts and wanted to buy the scripts as soon as possible. As far as I know, they were more urgent. Screenwriters and copyright holders have seized on this and are asking for millions of dollars in price, and the two sides are in a tug of war."

He added: "Our contact with them has also raised their psychological expectations."

Megan smiled, more like a man: "Martin Davis attaches great importance to these two scripts."

Derrett can definitely confirm this: "We take it very seriously."

"Go and start formal negotiations with them and win the rights to these two scripts." Meghan acted like her father, and said directly: "Money is not an issue."

"Yes." Derrett responded and was about to leave.

Wilson quickly said: "Wait!"

Meghan asked, "Any questions?"

Unlike Drette, who joined the industry just a few years ago, Wilson has a standard Hollywood producer background and has more considerations: "President, I have learned about the relevant information. Martin has already called the police, and the LAPD and the Detective Bureau are still investigating. , if we get the rights to these two scripts, Martin Davis is likely to suspect us of having something to do with it."

He didn't know it before, but when Megan told him, Drette had already obtained a copy of the script from the creator: "Martin Davis is a very difficult person."

Megan suddenly laughed: "The script is here, and anyone can bid." What she said was like a princess of the Oracle Group: "Even if Martin Davis knows about it, what can he do?"

Wilson opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Megan asked: "He has more money than me? Or do you dare to come over with a gun and kill me?"

Wilson didn't know how to answer the question. Megan Ellison was an outsider in Hollywood and didn't follow the Hollywood rules at all.

She has money in her hands and power behind her, and she doesn't care at all about the traditional power of Hollywood.

Meghan had participated in the investment in "The Hurt Locker" and achieved initial success in Hollywood. It was when her confidence was bursting that she said to Derrett: "Go ahead, agree to their offer, buy the rights to the two scripts, and let Hollywood All creators know that Annapurna Pictures will pay the price that established companies and studios won’t pay!”

Derrett understood what Megan meant: "I will buy the rights to these two scripts in a very high-profile manner."

Meghan's eyes were firm and confident: "Go now."

She looked at Wilson again, with a smile on her face: "In terms of production, we still need to rely on you. It is definitely not an accident that Martin Davis has been successful so many times. You go to the front-line actors and directors, and there is no upper limit on the budget." .”

Wilson said: "The script that Martin Davis is optimistic about is indeed worth investing in. Leave the production to me and I won't let you down."

Megan handed the two scripts to Wilson and said: "You know many people in Hollywood. Pay attention to Martin Davis. If you get news that he is optimistic about a certain project or script..."

"I understand." Wilson returned to the office with the script and read it carefully again. "Seventh Son" is a typical magical epic, and "Transcendental Hacker" is a science fiction genre. To achieve the desired effect, a single film It’s hard to do without $100 million.

This is different from the company's first investment, which was more literary and artistic.

But Wilson, like Megan, thinks it's worth it.

In late January, Hollywood broke the shocking news that Megan Ellison, the daughter of madman Larry Ellison, bought out the rights to two scripts at an astonishingly high price.

Annapurna Pictures bought "Seventh Son" and "Transcendence" for $2.8 million and $3.2 million respectively.

At the subsequent press conference, Megan Ellison personally announced to the media that the crew of "Transcendence" had invited captain Johnny Depp to play the leading role with a salary of US$30 million.

The announced production budgets for these two projects have both reached $150 million!

With the addition of "The Hunt for Bin Laden," which has just begun preparations, Megan Ellison and Annapurna Pictures have become famous.

As the Oscar nominees luncheon was about to begin, the news caused a stir in the industry.