American fame and fortune.

Chapter 892: Trembling due to Fear
Hollywood and Highland Center, Dolby Theatre.

The crew of "Split" also chose this landmark theater as the venue for its world premiere.

Eight huge posters are hung on both sides of the main entrance of the Dolby Theater, and each poster shows a personality of the male protagonist.

Movie fans can easily distinguish the distinctive features just from their appearance and demeanor.

Among them, there are men in cross-dressing, naive children, grumpy guys, fashion gurus, muscular villains, and so on.

Each one is three-dimensional.

Amid screams from both sides of the red carpet, Martin, who was the last to appear, came to the media area in front of the theater, met up with David Fincher, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jonathan Nolan and other main creative staff, and took a group photo in front of the backdrop.

This October, apart from "Split", there were no heavyweight commercial films released in the North American film market.

At today's premiere, Martin invited many colleagues in the industry to attend.

The crew also sent invitations to more than fifty professional media.

"Split" not only wants to make money at the box office, but also wants to win during the awards season.

Martin's Oscar public relations officially began at the premiere.

The group entered the Dolby Theatre, and Bruce came over from the side door.

Martin stopped and waited until Bruce came closer, then asked, "Has the stuff been delivered?"

Bruce said, "Lily personally escorted him and handed him over to Robert."

Martin felt relieved instantly: "Okay, I believe Robert will get it done."

Although Bruce didn't say anything on the surface, he was wondering in his heart, if he sent the Best Actor Oscar to Atlanta and let Robert use it to hold a ceremony, would he really be able to win a second Best Actor Oscar?
…………

Peachtree Street, Atlanta.

A Cadillac CT6 stopped in front of the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Cult. Two female bodyguards got out first. One of them opened the back door. Lily got out of the car carrying a password box and walked quickly into the headquarters.

Robert and Elena were waiting in the front hall.

Lily said something to her sister first, then came to Robert, opened the password box in her hand, took out Martin's Oscar statuette, handed it to Robert personally, and said, "Martin has told you what to do. You decide what to do."

Robert took the Oscar statuette with both hands: "I have already thought of the ceremony. It is simple and effective."

Lily didn't know how to comment on Martin's habit, so she could only say, "I'll leave it all to you."

Robert nodded and went upstairs holding the little golden man.

Lily wanted to follow, but a figure blocked her way.

Elena stood in front of Lily and asked, "Idiot, are you willing to go back to Atlanta?"

"I missed you, so I came back." Lily held her sister's hand, her face full of flattery: "Don't be so stern, we haven't seen each other for a long time."

Elena took Lily to her office here: "Come with me, we two sisters haven't talked alone for a long time."

Lily's feet were moving and her head unconsciously retracted, fearing that the iron fist of love would fall on her head.

Elena looked back at her and said, "Are you scared now? Why weren't you scared when you did it?"

"No, I wasn't afraid at the time." Lily felt that she couldn't hold her head down for the rest of her life, so she said, "You can't blame me for this. The main reason is still on you. You and Martin, that bastard, don't pay attention at all. You just mess around at home whenever you want. Have you ever considered my feelings?"

"Haha, are you blaming me?" Elena pulled Lily into the office and slammed the door shut.

Lily didn't want to be oppressed for the rest of her life, so she sat on the sofa, crossed her arms, and said, "Don't you have any responsibility? I..."

Before she could finish her words, a fist as big as a sandbag fell from the sky and landed on Lily's head with a thud.

This is love from my sister!

Absolute suppression from blood and genes!
The punch on the head was not heavy at all and did not hurt at all, but Lily immediately became obedient and did not dare to talk back.

Elena said: "You are grown up, I can't control you, this is your choice."

Lily lowered her head, remaining mute, not saying a word.

While the two sisters were quietly communicating, at the altar on the second floor, Robert changed into Coca-Cola red clothes and, according to past procedures, placed a 2003 glass bottle of Coke coated with olive oil on the wooden table.

Then, he solemnly picked up the Oscar statuette and placed it next to the Coca-Cola.

The high priest of the Coca Cola Cult kept muttering: "It will be a big hit at the box office! I'll win another Best Actor Oscar!"

As he prayed and worshipped, Robert felt inexplicably at peace. Perhaps he had really formed a belief over the years and felt that he had found support on a spiritual level.

…………

Hollywood, Dolby Theater.

In the VIP lounge, Martin greeted the many guests who came to attend the premiere one by one, many of whom were members of the Academy and the Screen Actors Guild.

The acting awards are voted on by actors who are members of the Academy, which number approximately 1200 people.

Martin has already done his work to win the award, and conducted a detailed investigation into the Best Actor Oscars over the past five years.

If only one-third of these 1200 people vote for him, his chances of winning the Best Actor award will be as high as percent.

Among them, there are about 60 judges who can have a wide-ranging influence.

Membership in the academy is a lifelong one, which inevitably leads to the fact that the older people are, the wider their connections and influence will be.

Jack Nicholson, the leader of the trio of bastards, is now the mascot of the Oscars. At almost every Oscars, the old bastard is pulled out and hung in a prominent place.

Its influence is self-evident.

Others like Warren Beatty, Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, etc., all have their own circles.

Martin was on good terms with many of them, so public relations was relatively easy.

Nicholson said to Martin, "I have invited everyone who can be invited. For those who don't have time for the moment, please wait for the film screenings in November and December."

Martin said, "I'm sorry to bother you again."

"You bastard, you bring me a lot of fun." Nicholson said: "I have had a relaxed and comfortable life in the past ten years knowing you. It's more interesting than when Malone was alive."

Martin deliberately joked: "Save the butter you bought for Malone, it might be useful in the future." Nicholson said: "Sometimes I really want to shove your head up my ass."

Martin went to talk to Warren Beatty again.

Although this former Hollywood playboy has withdrawn from the Academy's executive committee, his influence remains.

Tom Hanks came over and said to Martin with a smile, "Have you heard that three Korean crews have applied for this year's Oscars?"

Martin nodded. "I heard from Catherine that they are planning to focus on the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Documentary?"

Tom Hanks said: "I watched two of them. The films made by Koreans are quite interesting. Moreover, they are wealthy and willing to invest."

Martin roughly understood that perhaps this year's Oscars would give Koreans a few unimportant awards, further stimulating their enthusiasm for competing for an Oscar.

Only with money can the Oscars become lively.

Tom Hanks added: "I watched the internal preview, you have a good role this year, keep it up."

This statement seemed to be a hint of encouragement for him to strive for an award. Martin said: "I also hope to win another Oscar. It would be a huge honor."

The two chatted for a while, and then Tom Hanks left and came to Kathleen Kennedy.

The latter asked softly: "What is Martin's plan?"

As the vice president of the Academy, Tom Hanks, like Kathleen Kennedy, attaches great importance to the Oscars. He said: "From what he said, he should invest a lot of money in the award."

Kathleen Kennedy was a little more relaxed: "Only when someone is willing to invest money in the awards season will it become more lively, and the influence of the Oscars can be demonstrated."

She then asked: "How is the situation with the Koreans?"

Tom Hanks said: "Three crews have submitted their materials. This session will be lively."

"I have to say that Martin always comes up with some good ideas," said Kathleen Kennedy. "Although we may notice the international market's demand for the Olympics in two years, Martin at least saved us a few years of detours."

Tom Hanks lowered his voice: "Most of the members of the Academy Executive Committee have a good impression of Martin."

Kathleen Kennedy suddenly thought of this year's Oscar for Best Actor.

She couldn't help but sigh that Martin's preparations actually started from the last session.

It's not shameful to use all available conditions to impact the Oscars.

Kathleen Kennedy was thinking of her former boss and supervisor, the famous Spielberg. If he had not taken advantage of his Jewish ancestry, there was no way he would have won his first Oscar for Best Director.

The premiere screening is about to begin and guests are entering the venue one after another.

Martin gathered the main creative staff of the crew, and under the leadership of David Fincher, they finally entered the theater through the side door.

After the routine media activities, the group took their seats in the front row.

Hundreds of media reporters were invited to this premiere, as well as hundreds of guests from the Hollywood industry and media critics. The entire guest area of ​​the Dolby Theatre was packed.

The film begins with a brutal kidnapping of a young girl.

The story is not complicated. A usually kind fashion designer develops multiple personalities due to mental problems. While he is actively receiving treatment, his hidden criminal personality carefully plans a kidnapping and kidnaps three high school girls.

The girls wanted to actively save themselves, and the different personalities of the male protagonist were fighting with each other, and finally a terrible personality was born.

The male protagonist not only killed the psychiatrist who wanted to help him with treatment, but also tortured and killed the three kidnapped girls.

In this section, David Fincher used a dark style similar to a religious ceremony. The male protagonist invited the female protagonist to enjoy the last supper together in the form of soul cooking.

Martin sat in front of the soul cooking, seemingly calm and composed, but the audience could read cruelty, evil and madness on his face.

The ordinary audience in the fan area were trembling with fear while watching the movie, the horror level was already MAX!

It was a tremor caused by fear!

When the film entered its final stage, Tom Hanks could not help but say to Kathleen Kennedy next to him: "It's amazing! The biggest highlight of this film is Martin's leading role. He plays eight roles. Even though I saw it for the second time, I still want to say that this is too crazy. Martin's acting skills in this role are jaw-dropping!"

Kathleen Kennedy couldn't agree more: "From the eyes to the body language to the personality traits, Martin is truly a genius!"

Annette Bening on the other side heard it and automatically answered: "Indeed, each of the protagonist's personalities spans a very large range, but there is an inner thread connecting them. Martin's performance is flexible, integrating these different roles into a single and extremely dangerous character."

She asked her husband, Warren Beatty: "I haven't seen a better character in nearly ten years."

Kathleen Kennedy continued: "It's probably one of the highest levels of acting that Hollywood actors have been able to demonstrate in the past decade."

Warren Beatty shrugged: "Whether it is or not, I am not sure, but I know one thing, even at my peak, I could not do this."

He pointed to the close-up of the male lead on the screen and said: "Did you notice that, apart from the styling, Martin didn't have any exaggerated performance, but achieved his goal through the changes in his eyes, facial muscles and the curvature of his mouth. It was so natural and neat!"

William Dafoe in the same row was also amazed.

It is really not easy to achieve all these and make them so natural and clear.

In the front row, each of the film critics was deep in thought.

Kenneth Turan from the Los Angeles Times, also the chairman of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, said to his friend Todd McCarthy next to him: "This is the best role Martin has played since he entered Hollywood, right?"

Todd McCarthy nodded slowly: "Yes, it's not only Martin's best, I think it's also the best role in Hollywood since 2010. It's obviously better than Lincoln played by Daniel Day-Lewis and the AIDS character played by Matthew McConaughey."

He paused for a moment and came to a conclusion: "This role is definitely worthy of an Oscar for Best Actor."

Kenneth Turan was already writing down his personal feelings quickly in the notebook in his hand. Now was the time when he felt the strongest.

The pen rustled in his hand, and a short column review that could be sent out at any time was already completed.

"Martin's performance in Split completely overwhelms the film's story and internal logic, bringing a shock that becomes the film's most outstanding feature!"

“There is a particularly wonderful segment in the film. In just half a minute, Martin needs to express seven completely different states, none of which rely on prosthetics or external makeup. He switches entirely through body language and facial changes. What’s amazing is that he has made a unique and accurate portrayal of each personality, and the completion is not artificial and very convincing, which is amazing.”

As Kenneth Turan put pen to paper, the subtitles of the film started to appear and warm applause broke out in the theater.

Everyone around stood up and applauded.

Kenneth Turan and Todd McCarthy also stood up and applauded. This film, especially Martin's performance, deserves the warmest applause.

(End of this chapter)