The Biggest Rival

Chapter 94 The Biggest Rival (Please Subscribe)

Before the New Year, Warner Bros. held a press conference to officially announce that it had partnered with several companies to invest in a remake of "House of Wax," with a production budget of $4000 million.

Anyone who has read the script knows that this number is quite exaggerated.

Outsiders have no way of knowing how much was actually invested or how much of the pooled funds were laundered.

Robert Zemeckis and Joe Silver were listed as producers, but Susan Levine was in charge of the actual work.

Warner Bros. has a mature pre-production and filming process, with key behind-the-scenes personnel, from the director to the cinematographer to the casting director, signing contracts on the same day.

Before returning to Morocco, Louise made a special appointment to go out for drinks with Susan Levine.

Martin drove her there.

"The lead actress has been cast, Eliza Cuthbert. She's a former child star and was invited by Hillary Clinton to interview at the White House." Louise, sitting in the passenger seat, shared her latest information: "She's set a high bar, is on a rapid rise, and has good audience appeal."

Martin said, "The role I was vying for was her twin brother."

Louise, being one of the investors, naturally had access to the information: "Your biggest competitor is Paris Hilton's current boyfriend, Jason Shawn, who is a model and actor."

She cautioned, "Don't underestimate others. At least five of the people who audition for roles have investors backing them."

Martin gripped the steering wheel with one hand and patted his head with the other: "Just thinking about it gives me a headache. The competition is too fierce; even if you rack your brains, you can't get in."

If Louise hadn't participated in the project, he wouldn't have even had a chance to audition.

Louise's words hit the nail on the head: "If you have the appeal of a superstar, the only questions are whether the type of role is suitable and whether the conditions offered by the production company are appropriate."

Upon arriving at the agreed-upon nightclub, Martin accompanied Louise into the reserved private room.

Susan had already arrived. Upon seeing Martin, her gaze lingered on his handsome, sunny face for a few seconds before she asked Louise, "And this is?"

"Martin Davis, my driver and actor," Louise said. "You're drunk, and you just make a random phone call, and Downey Jr. comes running. I had no choice but to bring Martin, my driver, along so he could meet the producer."

Susan understood, and lightly shook hands with Martin, not giving him a chance to speak: "Handsome, could you please give the lady some privacy?"

"Call me if you need anything." Martin said nothing more and left.

Louise snapped her fingers at the bartender in the private room: "Two expansion screws."

Susan said, "A masterpiece by master bartender Louise."

The drinks arrived quickly, and Louise remarked, "He's quite handsome, isn't he?"

Having worked in Hollywood for many years, Susan was blunt: "Seeing him, I understand why you personally came to find me. You're a pervert."

"Do you like ugly people? Men and women, who doesn't like good-looking people?" Louise took a sip of her drink. "Martin Davis is a treasure. I personally dug him out of the mire of Atlanta. What's valuable is that he has ambition and is willing to climb out of the mire."

Susan became interested: "Tell me about it."

Louise recounted, "He went astray in his early teens, hanging out with a group of smugglers who smuggled goods from Mexico to Georgia. Martin worked as a lowly mule driver and then as a street sweeper. As he grew older and his horizons broadened, he realized that continuing down that path would lead to certain death, so he secretly ran away to become an extra. In just two or three years, he learned a lot..."

She boasted about Martin's skills for a while, and then said, "He had hope for life, but his original gang caught him and forced him to sign a loan at a high interest rate. He worked at a male escort club to pay off the debt. Later, he was lucky enough to run into me. I saw his heart was pounding and I helped him up."

Susan took a sip of her drink, waited for the bubbles to burst in her mouth, and said, "It's not easy for a prodigal son to turn over a new leaf."

Louise shrugged: "He's experienced all the hardships of life, yet he's as optimistic as Peter Pan."

Susan suddenly thought of Donnie: "A toast to our precious boy."

Louise shared a drink with her and pulled a DVD from her purse: "It's 'Zombie Dancer' starring Martin Scorsese. You can check it out if you're interested; it's very interesting."

"I will watch his audition carefully." Susan took the disc and put it away. "Tell him that the key is the character's masculinity and his willingness to risk his life to protect his sister."

Louise raised her glass: "I'd like to toast you."

Susan clinked glasses with her.

Nearly an hour later, Martin entered the private room and helped Louise leave.

Once in the car, he glanced at the drunken woman and said, "If you keep drinking like this, your body won't be able to take it."

Louise waved her hand: "It's okay, it's okay, I'm still young and in good health. Besides, I was drunk because you deliberately seduced me with alcohol."

Martin patted her leg: "Sit still, stop fooling around."

The car left Sunset Boulevard and returned to Louise's villa.

The following morning, Martin saw Louise off at the airport, drove to Century City, and entered the WMA's office lobby.

Thomas sat in the cubicle, constantly making phone calls. He had been working overtime a lot lately, and the stress and worry had made him develop dark circles under his eyes.

Martin, sitting in another chair, said, "Dude, give it your all. The production team has already posted the casting call; it's a crucial moment."

Thomas took out a medicine bottle, popped some vitamins into his mouth, chewed them, and swallowed. "How are things on your end?"

Martin said, "Everything's been done. Susan even mentioned the keywords for the audition." He then asked, "How about yours?"

Thomas said, "The casting director was Mary Gale, who hated men with long hair and preferred young men with light brown hair."

Martin touched his hair: "I'll cut it shorter and dye it later."

Thomas glanced around and lowered his voice: "There are other people within the company competing for this role. Don't talk to anyone about what we know, understand?"

Martin said menacingly, "Anyone who dares to ask me, I'll beat them to a pulp."

Thomas cautioned, "Be careful with Adrian, the male lead in the show you're filming."

Martin lowered his voice: "Louise said that her biggest rival is Paris Hilton's current boyfriend, Jason Shawn."

Thomas stroked his chin: "He is indeed a great threat."

Martin joked, "I'll give you a gun, you go and kill him?"

Thomas was taken aback.

Martin slapped the table: "You're so tense, relax a bit."

…………

After finishing filming "Entourage", Adrian came out of his agent John's glass-enclosed office, called over his short, ugly sidekick Tony, and they walked outside together.

Tony asked, "What are the chances?"

Adrian was confident: "The production team is considering using some newer faces due to cost considerations. My experience and acting skills are obviously better, so John contacted Robert Downey Jr. and is preparing to use his connections."

Tony knows a lot about industry gossip: "I remember Donnie proposed to Susan Levine last month."

Adrian laughed. "So, my chances are pretty good." He said in a low voice, "At worst, I'll go have a drink with Donnie."

Tony said, "I'll get the goods if needed."

"We'll talk about it when we need to." Adrian's smile faded. "Two other people in the company are interested in this role. John is at a higher level and has found out about it. Martin Davis from last time is one of them."

The two went downstairs, Tony went to get the car, and Adrian waited for him to come over.

Before the car arrived, Adrian saw Martin coming down from upstairs.

A thought struck him, and he smiled and waved over there: "Hi, Martin, long time no see."

Upon seeing the enthusiastic Adrian, Martin returned an even more enthusiastic smile: "Dude, when does the show air? You're about to become a big star."

Adrian said, "Don't even mention it. I've been working my butt off for so many years and I still haven't made it." He then turned the conversation to Martin: "Everyone in the company is saying that you're on a fast track to success and that you're competing for the lead role in that Warner Bros. horror movie."

"It's not exactly the male lead; it's a supporting role for the female lead." Martin's mind was racing as he spoke: "I mainly want to see how movie auditions go. I'm pretty sure I'm just a runner-up and have no chance of getting the role."

Adrian felt that Martin possessed information he didn't know: "Why do you say that? You're a very good actor."

Martin said helplessly, "The Hilton family's playboy, the one who released the videotape, she brought her own investment to the production and was confirmed to play a supporting role."

Adrian said, "I've heard about it."

"Her boyfriend, Jason Sean, is a model and actor, and she recommended him to the production team." Martin shrugged. "Given the situation, how could anyone else possibly win?"

He waved his hand: "I'm not going to say anything more, I have to go, I have to go to class."

Seeing Martin's completely uninterested expression, Adrian felt a great threat and took out his phone to call his agent, John.

Tony drove over, and Adrian got in. Not long after they drove off, the agent called: "I've asked a few people, and I can confirm the news is true. He will be your main competitor. Be prepared. I'll go and find out more."

"Damn nepotism!" Adrian couldn't help but curse.

Tony asked, "What's going on?"

Adrian repeated himself carefully: "Luckily, I managed to get the information out of that idiot Martin Davis."

Tony didn't take Martin seriously at all, after all, Martin Davis was just a minor supporting character with very little screen time on the set of "Entourage" a while ago.

He then asked, "How much will our chances of winning decrease?"

Adrian considered carefully and said, "At least half." He tapped the chair lightly. "The audition will start soon, and we don't have much time. We need to think of a way."

"That Jason Sean doesn't care about the videotapes?" Tony couldn't stand it. "He actually did that with a slut like Paris Hilton?"

"He's got money!" Adrian raised his hand, signaling Tony to be quiet and to think it over carefully.

In 2004, just after the New Year holiday, the production team of the film, officially named "House of Wax," announced the audition schedule and sent audition notices and short character scripts to the actors who passed the selection process.

The male lead's name is Nick Jones, and he is the female lead's twin brother.

Including Martin, after the initial screening, there were still more than 20 actors competing for the role.

Those who pass the first round generally don't have problems with acting skills, ability, or appearance.

(End of this chapter)