American fame and fortune.

Chapter 895: Using Money to Irrigate
The Thanksgiving holiday is coming soon, and "Beauty and the Beast", co-invested by Disney Pictures and Davis Studio, will be released in North America a week before Thanksgiving.

This live-action fairy tale film cost $1.5 million to produce.

The film's premiere was held at Disneyland in California.

Once such films are successful, box office and DVD revenues are secondary, and the bulk of profits come from various peripheral merchandise.

The profits from Elsa's dress can make countless top productions with an investment of $2 million cry until they have no more tears.

Martin and Allen Horn attended the film premiere together.

However, neither of them walked the red carpet.

Standing at the entrance of the Disney Theater, Alan Horn said: "Pirates of the Caribbean premiered in this place."

Martin smiled and said, "Judging from the pre-sales, Beauty and the Beast is much more commercially successful than Pirates."

"Disney had millions of Belle dresses ready to go," Allen-Horn said.

The film and its peripheral products are selling well, and both sides can make profits. Martin said: "Based on the feedback data from all aspects, this film will be a strong contender for the global box office champion this year."

The market response to "Beauty and the Beast" was just as Martin and Alan Horn said, it was a huge hit upon its release.

On the first day of its release in North America, it set a single-day box office record in November - 11 million US dollars!
The corresponding North American film history's November weekend opening record was also set by "Beauty and the Beast", with a box office figure of up to 11 million US dollars!
The film also received very good reviews from audiences.

"After being poisoned by dark fairy tale movies for more than a decade, I finally saw a real live-action fairy tale movie. Beauty and the Beast is what a fairy tale movie should be like."

“This is the fairy tale I remember!”

"Beauty and the Beast" became the most successful live-action fairy tale movie in Hollywood. By Christmas, its North American box office had exceeded $4.5 million and its global box office was close to $10 billion.

According to the forecast of authoritative market organizations, the film's North American box office will be more than 5 million US dollars, and the global box office may be as high as 13 billion US dollars.

Even more astonishing than the box office is the fact that the film’s peripheral merchandise is selling like hotcakes in the global market.

In just one month, Belle's skirts sold more than 500 million, generating sales of $1.8 million.

As for other peripheral products, the sales are also amazing.

That's the power of Disney.

The huge success of "Beauty and the Beast" also strengthened Disney Studios' determination.

Anya Taylor-Joy, who was recommended by Martin, got the role of Cinderella after just one audition.

At the same time, the real animal version of "The Lion King" and the live-action version of "The Jungle Book", in which Davis Studio participated in the investment, have also been pushed into preparation by Disney Pictures.

Saoirse Ronan became famous and firmly stepped into the Hollywood front line.

…………

The Christmas holiday is over and Martin returns to Los Angeles from Atlanta, but Hollywood is still in turmoil.

On Wisconsin-Madison Street in Beverly Hills, near the main entrance of the college's office building, hundreds of black and LGBTQ people held sit-in protests for several consecutive days, urging the college to implement its promised diversity reforms as soon as possible.

This wave is bound to affect the voting for this year's Oscars.

In the office of the chairman of the executive committee, Tom Sherack stood in front of the window, looking at the protest signs on the road. He felt a little headache and said to the person next to him: "They are really noisy, just like the most badass students in the school. They will make a big fuss if they are not satisfied with something."

Kathleen Kennedy's eyes were on the reporters who were filming around her. She said, "This isn't entirely a bad thing. The mainstream media in North America have been reporting on it in recent days. The awards season has returned to its former liveliness. This year's Oscars will definitely attract much attention."

Tom Sherak could certainly imagine the impact of this: "What's going on with the Koreans?"

Kathleen Kennedy simply said: "The three crews have invested tens of millions of dollars and are promoting the film all over Los Angeles, holding events one after another to lobby the judges."

Tom Sherak nodded slightly: "It seems that internationalization and diversity are the answers to restore the glory of the Oscars."

"For now, yes." As the CEO of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy sees some things more clearly: "Internationalization is easy to say, but who knows how long diversification can last. It may backfire in a few years."

She smiled and said, "The mainstream society actually rejects these things."

Tom Sherak couldn't care that long: "It works for now, so let's use it first."

If the Oscars don't provide a boost, the ratings will be terrible.

Against this backdrop, "Moonlight" became the darling of Hollywood, receiving widespread praise from the media, with people in the industry saying it captured the soul of the film.

The popularity of "Spotlight" was gradually overshadowed by this special film.

In today's social environment, the mess that church priests do cannot compare to what LGBTQ people can do.

"Split" also had a great influence.

Martin has spent tens of millions of dollars on publicity, marketing and public relations, and has a large professional public relations team that is not only lobbying North American judges, but also overseas actor judges.

Having money may not necessarily win you an Oscar, but it can overcome most of the obstacles in the way.

In addition, among all the films competing for major awards, "Split" has the largest audience.

Martin's new film has been released in North America for two and a half months, with a cumulative North American box office of 2.37 million US dollars, and overseas box office has also exceeded 2 million US dollars.

The film is still opening overseas and the global box office is expected to hit $5 million.

Over this period of time, the reputation of "Split" has declined, and the most obvious change is that the IMDB score has dropped to 8.3 points.

However, Martin's role has been increasingly well received, from the Hollywood industry, to the North American media, to ordinary audiences, all voices of praise.

All prediction agencies believe that Martin is the top favorite for this year's Best Actor Oscar.

Even the Las Vegas bookmakers suspended betting on Martin's winning bet.

Although the new year of 2016 has arrived and the situation of the award season has become increasingly clear, the only candidates who can really compete with Martin in the Best Actor category are Tom Hanks in "Bridge of Spies", Eddie Redmayne in "The Danish Girl", and Michael Fassbender in "Steve Jobs".

The leading actor of "Moonlight" did not even apply for this award.

Martin's philosophy has always been simple and direct: if he wants to win an award at the award ceremony, he must do all the work in advance.

If you can’t even apply for an award and aren’t eligible for nominations, what can you use to compete?

After Martin got the Oscar ballot, because Leonardo was still filming in Canada, there was no fair and impartial voting. Except for his own and Aniston's films, most of the other eligible voting awards chose familiar people or movie names.

There was no other way. He had not seen most of the candidate films, so he could only use this simple and convenient method.

This is also the ultimate goal of Oscar publicity, because statistics over the years have shown that more than 60% of Oscar judges will not even watch the candidate films.

In this case, when they choose to vote, familiarity is important.

The goal of spending millions of dollars on publicity is just to make oneself familiar to most judges.

As the award season progressed, Martin almost swept all the leading awards for Best Actor. Independent awards such as the Film Critics Association Awards, People's Choice Awards, etc., led by Los Angeles and New York, all awarded Martin the Best Actor.

At the Golden Globe Awards for Television Movies held in mid-January, Martin successfully won the Best Actor in a Drama Series.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards, a true bellwether of the Oscar-winning acting awards, also announced the winners shortly afterwards, with Martin once again winning the Best Performance Award.

All these indicate that Martin is getting closer to winning his second Oscar for Best Actor.

The prerequisite is to get the admission ticket, which is an Oscar nomination.

In Davis Studio, people gathered in the large conference room.

Martin's agent Thomas, manager Bruce, two studio directors Jessica and Emily, and producer Louise were all staring at the TV.

The screen has already turned to ABC TV, where Academy President Tom Sherak and Emily Blunt announced the list of nominees for this year.

The list quickly reached Best Actor.

"Bridge of Spies, Tom Hanks; Steve Jobs, Michael Fassbender; Split, Martin Davis..."

There was applause and cheers in the conference room.

Thomas and Martin fist-bumped.

Louise hugged Martin and asked, "A party tonight?"

Martin immediately vetoed: "The party will be held when we get the award."

Bruce whispered, "Martin doesn't like champagne at halftime."

"That could easily go wrong," Martin said casually. "Before you get the Best Actor statuette, anything could happen."

Louise nodded slightly: "When you win the Best Actor award, I will hold a big celebration party for you."

The list of Oscar nominations was announced, and the people in the conference room congratulated Martin and then dispersed.

Louise followed Martin into his office, came to the reception area and sat on the sofa chair, saying: "This year's Oscars are much more lively than last year. Black people are making trouble, LGBTQ groups are demanding reforms from the Academy, and Koreans are spending money like crazy in Los Angeles to win awards. I feel like there is a hand behind the scenes pushing it."

Martin said: "Your feeling is correct. The hand behind this push comes from the college executive committee."

Louise said: "I wonder what Oscar will become in the end."

The intercom on the desk rang, Martin went over to answer it, and the assistant's voice rang: "Miss Saoirse Ronan is here."

Martin said, "Let her in."

Louise glanced at her watch and said, "I'm leaving now. Remember to come to Sherman Oakes to see me in the next two days."

Martin waved his hand: "Got it."

Louise went out and turned into the corridor, just in time to meet Saoirse Ronan.

With "Beauty and the Beast" becoming the annual box office champion in North America and around the world, Saoirse is currently extremely popular.

But when she saw Louise coming over, she immediately smiled and took the initiative to greet her: "Good afternoon, Ms. Mel."

"Long time no see, Saoirse." Louise stopped, looked at Saoirse briefly, and said directly: "I have a project here, about lesbianism, and I need two actresses, one middle-aged and one young. Kate Winslet has agreed to play one of the leading roles..."

Saoirse quickly said, "Ma'am, please inform my agent directly about the role script and the specific audition process."

Although she knew that she was able to enter Louise's sight because of her current popularity, she would not be stupid enough to reject such a top female producer in the circle: "I can audition for the crew anytime."

Louise nodded with satisfaction: "You have been doing well recently, keep it up, and I wish you good luck."

"Thank you." Saoirse watched Louise turn into the elevator, then she gently pressed her chest, calmed herself down a little, and went to Martin's office.

Martin asked, "How come you have time to come here today?"

Saoirse smiled and said, "Congratulations on your nomination for the Best Actor Oscar."

Martin said casually: "It's not the first time I've been nominated, there's nothing to congratulate."

"I'm going to Sacramento to film Lady Bird tomorrow." Saoirse looked at Martin and said, "I won't be able to see you for a long time."

Before Martin invested in "Lady Bird", he discussed the filming of the film with Greta Gerwig several times and said, "Your director friend is very thoughtful. Long-term cooperation with her will be of great help to your career."

Saoirse replied: "I have always been good friends with her."

She paused for a moment and then said, "Greta told me that after Lady Bird is finished, she wants to reshoot Little Women."

This novel has been adapted into numerous movies and TV series, so Martin had some impression of it. He asked, "Are there any copyright issues involved?"

Saoirse knew: "Little Women has long been in the public domain. Greta plans to shoot a new version. How should I put it? Basically, she wants to show women's independence."

"How about this, after the filming of Lady Bird is finished, you ask Greta to come to me to discuss new projects." Martin felt that if the investment of this film was well controlled, the probability of profitability was relatively high: "Your director friend has a lot of ideas."

Saoirse smiled and said, "I know. Without you, teacher, my relationship with her wouldn't be as good as it is now."

When it was time to get off work, Martin and Saoirse left the studio together and went straight to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Before arriving at the hotel, Anya Taylor-Joy called again and wanted to have a good talk with Martin.

Saoirse was very considerate of the teacher and whispered, "Your little lover?"

Martin covered the microphone: "Anya."

Saoirse knew who it was: "If she doesn't mind, you can let her come over. I don't mind."

Martin said a few words on the phone and Anya agreed immediately.

When the two arrived at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Anya was already waiting inside.

The three of them entered the top-floor suite together.

Before the Oscars, all the top contenders are still engaged in public relations promotion.

This time, the academy seems to have relaxed its standards because of the black population and diversity.

Film is an art, but the film industry is an industry.

Without market acceptance, the flower of art will wither.

How can the flower of art bloom more brilliantly?
In fact, there is a recognized answer in the film industry: use money to irrigate.

(End of this chapter)