America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Warner Bros. Studios leased a small soundstage at Davis Studio, dedicated for Chad Stahelski's project training ground.

Martin, Bruce, and Bradt stood on the edge of the training area, watching intently as several people rehearsed the choreographed moves on the floor.

Chad, holding a prop gun as the leading man, was surrounded by a group of assassins.

Leading them was Chen Hu, with his medium-length hair flowing, charging towards Chad from the front.

Following him were stunt actors like Lewis and Buck, who had been Martin's stand-ins several times.

Marcus, who had become Chad's assistant, was approaching.

As Chad was reloading his magazine, Chen Hu rushed up to him, and the two engaged in close combat, grappling with each other.

Buck and Lewis also charged forward.

The movements of several people, naturally, were all meticulously designed routines; Chad snapped Chen Hu's neck, elbowed Lewis in the chest, and kicked down Buck, all while completing the magazine change.

As he turned and pretended to fire his gun, Marcus, who seemed ready to shoot, collapsed to the ground as if he had really been hit by a bullet.

Chad's gun then pointed at the heads of the four men, firing a shot at each one.

Unlike past Hollywood action films, the choreography for this project absolutely did not allow any chance for the enemy to counterattack.

Those brain-dead scenarios where the hero dies from talking too much, being overly compassionate, or relaxing their guard and allowing the defeated enemy to counterattack were all discarded in the action design phase.

Bradt came up beside Martin and said, "Boss, we conducted a poll on the website, asking fans to vote for the most disliked movie scenarios, things like the two protagonists in Horror Wax Museum not finishing off their enemies ranked very high."

Martin nodded, "I'm about sick of those kinds of scenarios."

At that moment, Chad, Chen Hu, and Marcus came over.

Marcus said, "On the battlefield, you can't afford to show mercy to the enemy, otherwise, it's definitely you who will die."

Chad added, "The main character is set to be a killer, if such a scenario were to occur, the role would collapse instantly."

Martin took the prop gun handed over by Chad and posed as though firing several shots, saying, "This movie needs to have that kind of exhilarating satisfaction."

Chen Hu, who had followed Yuan Heping for some time, asked, "Like 'The Killer' and 'Hard Boiled'?"

Martin replied, "I've seen both of those movies, something like that."

Having recently watched many action films, Chad had a broader understanding and continued, "In terms of action design, we need to stay close to real combat without pursuing it too much for the sake of realism."

Martin agreed completely, "After all, this is a film. While maintaining a real-combat style, we must also be mindful of the viewer's experience; actions need to be fierce and sharp but still visually appealing."

Chen Hu, in charge of designing the close-combat choreography, affirmed, "I agree, we could take some inspiration from the gunfight action films of Harbor City in that aspect."

Martin joked, "Just don't design it like the Jackie Chan routines, after all, the protagonist is a killer, not a home furnishing store's god of war."

Chen Hu retorted, "Not a god of war from a furniture store."

The others didn't get the joke, but Martin and Chad, who had seen a lot of Harbor City movies, understood.

Afterward, the crew went to the viewing room to watch the recordings.

Over the past few months, Chad and his team had designed a large number of gunfight and action choreographies, most of which they had recorded through rehearsals.

Midway through watching, Chen Hu and Martin specifically went to the training area to perform some rehearsals themselves.

Action directors also need to understand what the actors are capable of.

Chen Hu had Martin perform several difficult moves according to his choreography and gained a better understanding of Martin's abilities.

After calling a halt, Chen Hu said to Martin, "Your basic skills are much better than Keanu's. During the filming of 'The Matrix,' I had to teach Keanu and the others, and what I taught was harder than what they practiced."

Martin, who had been a martial arts double for many years and started physical training in Atlanta, replied directly, "I've practiced many combat choreographies and have consistently worked out, so I have a solid foundation."

But Chen Hu countered, "Your foundation is very good."

At 26, Martin, who often sparred with Bruce, was not only adept at high-difficulty moves but even the execution of ordinary moves outperformed that of average action actors.

"Let's continue," Chen Hu went back to the training area, "I need to understand more about your body to design close-combat choreography that's better suited to you."

Martin continued rehearsing the choreographed moves according to Chen Hu's demonstration.

Chen Hu would occasionally stop and discuss ideas for action choreography with Martin.

Martin, who had also been into action scenes, would sometimes offer his own constructive suggestions.

Of course, action scenes hadn't evolved with time but had gotten worse. The real scene-stealers were always just a few.

Later on, actors became too precious: not only their agencies, but even the production crews were wary of letting them take risks.

After all, even a scraped finger could stir up a huge public outcry.

After noon, Martin met privately with Chad and Bradt to discuss the script.

Bradt had completed the first draft of the script. The main story was incredibly simple: just a few narrative scenes to string together the action scenes designed by Chad's team.

It also left room for a sequel, involving a high table controlling the world of assassins.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Martin asked Chad, "When exactly can we start shooting?"

"I plan to officially start preparations in October and begin shooting next year in March or April," Chad had already made a detailed plan, "The first part will cost no less than 30 million US Dollars, there are too many large action scenes."

Martin nodded in understanding. The visual impact of action movies has always been directly proportional to the amount of money burned.

Chad added another condition, "And there's a prerequisite, your remuneration will be composed of a basic salary and backend profit sharing, otherwise we'll need to add another 10 million US Dollars."

Martin replied directly, "I'll handle the financing, you focus on making a good movie."

Chad felt an inexplicable pressure, "Martin, this is my first time directing a movie, don't raise investments of hundreds of millions of US Dollars, I can't handle that."

"That won't happen." With Martin's influence, securing tens of millions of US Dollars in investments from Kelly, Louise and Sophia wouldn't be difficult.

He reassured Chad, "Don't worry, we'll use 30 million US Dollars as the investment baseline."

Chad breathed a sigh of relief; indeed, if he had to invest over 100 million US Dollars, he would surely suffer from long-term insomnia.

With Martin's current status and clout, he could withstand the blow even if he messed up a movie.

But for a rookie director like him, if his debut was a flop, so would be his future.

Martin then asked Bradt, "Do you have any problems on your side?"

Bradt replied, "Time, I need a bit more time to carefully polish the script."

"That's fine," Martin said, glancing at the electronic calendar on the wall, "the script's final draft should be ready by December."

How to make the dramatic scenes in the script more rational, at least logically sound, is a real test for an action movie screenwriter.

That is to make the characters' actions logically consistent with the storyline.

In the late afternoon, Martin left the photo studio and went to the Warner Building to see Louise, preparing to spend the weekend at her place.

Entering the lobby of the Warner Building, he unexpectedly ran into a familiar face.

Wu Maoting, an investor from Myanmar, came over to shake hands and greet Martin, "Long time no see."

Martin shook hands with him and asked, "When did you arrive in Los Angeles?"

Wu Maoting smiled and said, "I came over last month, took care of some school matters for my daughter, Danielle, and then came to Warner."

Although he no longer invested in Martin's projects, he didn't intend to completely cut ties. He specifically mentioned, "I profited a lot from investing in 'Infernal Affairs', and I am very grateful to you and Miss Mel for giving me the opportunity to invest in Hollywood and establish a partnership with Warner."

Martin smiled, "Don't mention it, it was a win-win investment, and Mr. Wu's financial support helped me gain a foothold in the crew as well."

The two hadn't collaborated again, yet they weren't enemies either.

Wu Maoting then said, "People from Warner Bros. went all the way to Harbor City to invite me to participate in the investment of the fourth 'Terminator' installment, an invitation I couldn't refuse."

Martin said, "Warner Bros. invited me too."

"The lead actor?" Wu Maoting, trusting Martin due to their past success, asked, "Are you taking on the lead role in that movie?"

Martin shook his head, "The schedule didn't work out, I declined Warner Bros."

Wu Maoting sighed softly, "That's too bad, we won't be able to collaborate."

"Perhaps there will be opportunities for cooperation in the future," Martin couldn't say much and changed the subject, "When does the project enter the shooting stage?"

Wu Maoting replied, "It looks like it'll have to wait a while, Bale is rumored to have been greatly emotionally impacted while filming his last movie, due to the immense pressure..."

As he said this, he suddenly remembered, "Was Bale in the same project as you?"

"The pressure and mental strain from the role are immense," Martin's expression turned solemn instantly, "I've already visited a psychologist several times, but still often wake up from nightmares at midnight."

He didn't need to exert himself, his lips suddenly curled into a smile, "It's like a new personality has been born inside my body."

Even for a warlord like Wu Maoting, seeing Martin's smile made him feel uneasy; he advised, "You should seek treatment promptly if there's an issue."

As Martin's smile grew increasingly sinister, Wu Maoting quickly ended the conversation, "It's about time, I should go upstairs and talk to Warner about the collaboration."

"Please do," Martin's voice didn't change, but the tone was quite eerie.

Wu Maoting turned and left, gesturing to his entourage; several subordinates quickly approached and covered his back.

Martin's phone rang, and it was Louise calling, he answered, "I'm here in the lobby. Shall we meet in the underground parking lot?"

They took the elevator to the underground parking lot.

On the way, Bruce asked, "You staying over at Louise's place tonight?"

Martin replied, "She won't let me leave."

Bruce said, "I've got the night to myself then. I'm planning to go to Venice to see Kim."

"Buddy, good luck," Martin cautioned kindly, "and don't get yourself broken."

Bruce inquired, "Didn't you buy a wearable camera that can be worn on the head?"

Martin replied, "It's in the safe, help yourself to it."

Upon reaching the underground parking garage, Bruce left in his Escalade on his own.

Martin met up with Louise and together they headed to Sherman Oaks.