American fame and fortune

Morocco, Astra Cinema.

The crew of "Inception" rented six studios for setting up scenes. For Nolan, who is a real-life shooting fanatic, these are not enough. The crew also has three teams in Paris, Los Angeles and Canada to build other studios. The actual shooting scene.

With Martin and Mene arriving from France, all the main cast members were present.

In the morning, the crew just got to work. Michael Caine and Tom Hardy got out of the car and prepared to go to the office building for a meeting.

Two people got out of the Cadillac diagonally opposite.

Tom Hardy scratched his face and asked, "Is that Martin?"

Before Michael Caine could answer, Martin walked over and smiled at him: "Long time no see."

Seeing this familiar smile, Michael Caine's heart skipped a beat and nodded slightly: "Long time no see."

Martin hurried out of the parking lot.

Tom Hardy curiously asked: "Is it this person who gave Bale a mental disorder?"

Michael Caine suddenly became very serious: "You have been working hard in the UK, and some things are not clear. Tom, in this crew, it doesn't matter who you offend. Even if you make Nolan angry, at most you will be replaced. "

He solemnly warned: "But never provoke Martin Davis, remember!"

Tom Hardy didn't do much in Hollywood before: "Is it really so scary?"

Michael Caine said: "He is the real clown, or scarier than the clown."

Tom Hardy was puzzled.

Michael Caine didn't want this junior to become the next Bale, saying: "Joker, people will know he is a bad person when they see him. Martin, most people will think he is a good person, or a very good person."

Tom Hardy understood now and said: "Work normally and don't interfere with each other."

Michael Caine said: "Let's go."

On the other side, Martin went directly into Nolan's office.

Nolan opened his arms and hugged him warmly: "Congratulations on winning Cannes again."

Martin smiled: "I'm lucky this time."

Nolan invited him to sit down and said: "When we promote this film, in addition to the Oscar winner, we can also have the slogan of Cannes Best Actor, which will have greater influence in Europe."

“Hopefully we can have great success again,” Martin said.

"Success does not only depend on the movie itself." Nolan felt this more clearly after "The Dark Knight": "We need to think of more ways to promote and market it."

Martin couldn't agree more: "Chris, you always have inspiration in this area."

The two had a tacit understanding after filming "The Dark Knight" together. Nolan said with a smile: "You can be more active on the crew and do more things. This will inspire me."

He seemed particularly relaxed when writing the real-life footage of The Dark Knight, but he was relaxed because everything that happened on the set always gave him a burst of inspiration.

Without inspiration, it’s hard to write real stories.

Martin was not polite at all: "Don't worry, I have always been the most active person on the crew."

Nolan's confidence in Martin in this aspect was even stronger than his acting skills. He smiled and nodded, took out a small box from his desk drawer and handed it to Martin: "Get familiar with your key props as soon as possible."

Martin opened the box and found that it contained a metal top. He took it out and twisted it, and the top started spinning on the desk.

Nolan glanced at it: "I'm very familiar with the game. It seems I don't need to be familiar with it anymore."

"Chris, I have an idea about a top." The ending of the script Martin saw was a typical Hollywood happy ending. The top reminded him of the endings of previous movies.

The ending of this movie is to Nolan, just like Tom Cruise to Nicole Kidman. When he needs to do publicity, he is always dragged out to talk about it immediately.

Martin took the initiative and said: "I have an idea about the ending, which may be used in promotion and marketing."

Nolan has worked with Martin and knows that he has always been reliable: "Tell me about it."

Martin said: "At the end, is it possible to keep Cobb's top spinning?"

In addition to production and filming, Nolan is a typical marketing director, and he immediately grasped Martin's idea: "If our publicity and marketing work well, such an ending can arouse extensive discussion and interpretation by the media, and give the audience more imagination. Space and a chance to think?”

He slowed down his speech, his brain worked at high speed, and he held down the top: "Make the movie more profound and impactful!"

Martin is very clear about where the boundary between the actor and the director lies: "It's up to you to decide what to do."

Nolan grabbed Martin's arm: "Sure enough, choosing Martin Davis is never wrong."

Martin laughed and patted Nolan's hand: "Choosing Christopher Nolan is the eternal right choice!"

A few minutes later, the two joined Emma Thomas and entered the conference room.

The other main actors have already arrived.

Martin glanced at it. In addition to the first supporting actor Mei, there were also Nolan's usual Michael Caine and Cillian Murphy. Several other actors were also familiar faces.

The French actor Marion Cotillard who played the couple with him, Tom Hardy whom he just met, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe and others.

Martin pulled up his chair and sat first on the right side of the conference table.

Marion across from him smiled at him.

Martin nodded.

Next to her, Ellen Page reached out and said, "Martin, we meet again."

Martin remembered that the two talked at the Oscars and said: "Little Red Riding Hood in "Fruit Candy" and Phantom Cat in "X-Men" are both characters that I like very much."

He squeezed Allen's hand gently: "I didn't expect us to cooperate so quickly."

Allen is young, but he is an old Hollywood actor. He took the initiative to get closer to Martin: "I am your assistant Dream Builder."

Martin smiled: "You are a good assistant."

Opposite him, Tom Hardy curled his lips slightly, disdainful of Allen's behavior.

It is normal for the crew to form cliques. Three British actors, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy, sat together and formed a British gang.

Martin, Mene, and Ellen Page formed the American Gang.

Director Nolan was sitting at the head of the conference table and said: "We will work together in the next few months and hope everything goes well."

He took out the script and said, "Let's start reading the script now."

The script will not go smoothly. The plot of "Inception" is too abstract as presented in the script, and the literary talents of the stars are not promising.

In addition to Martin, there is also Mene, who specializes in playing small games with Emma Thomas, and others have constant problems.

The script meeting planned for the whole morning had to be postponed and lasted for a whole day.

Nolan was not afraid of actor spoilers and carefully answered various questions to reduce difficulties during filming.

In addition to these, members of Cobb's team, including Mene, also need to undergo necessary physical and firearms training. There will be many fierce confrontation scenes in the dream.

These action scenes are trivial to Martin, and they are far inferior to the filming of "John Wick".

Mene has been following Martin for a long time, and in terms of using guns and body movements, he is better than ordinary actors.

At the end of training that day, Martin took a shower and changed clothes. When he came to the office, he met Warner Pictures CEO Alan Horn.

He said hello and said, "You have time? Let's chat for a while."

Martin pointed to the entertainment lounge area and asked, "When did you come here?"

Alan Horn said: "I just arrived in Morocco in the morning, and the crew came immediately. This will be Warner Pictures' first major project next year."

Unlike "The Dark Knight", which was co-produced by Legendary Pictures and DC Comics, the first producer and investor of "Inception" is Warner Pictures.

Martin joked: "Are you worried that something will happen to us?"

"How could something go wrong if you and Nolan teamed up?" Alan Horn said of "The Dark Knight" which has ended its screening around the world: "Your last film had a global box office of US$1.225 billion."

He added: "Second only to James Cameron's "Titanic."

When he heard about James Cameron, Martin praised: "That is a miraculous director whose original movies can make the world's number one box office."

There is only one James Cameron in Hollywood.

Alan Horn added: "Your John Wick is also good. I remember the production cost was only 40 million US dollars, right? Now the North American box office is 200 million US dollars!"

Martin told the truth: "The market potential has been basically exhausted, and the North American box office is just over 200 million US dollars."

He did not belittle himself: "I guess there will be some gains overseas. If the global box office can exceed 400 million US dollars, I will definitely praise God."

Allen Horn asked: "Has the sequel begun?"

"It's being planned." Martin made a guess and said specifically: "Ellen, Daniel has already intervened in advance."

Allen Horn sighed: "This guy is really quick to do it."

Martin smiled and did not answer. Daniel had already collaborated with him and Louise many times on distribution, and there was no major conflict between the two parties. Of course, they would continue to cooperate.

Alan Horn asked at this time: "Have you paid attention to the North American summer season recently?"

"I attended the Cannes Film Festival first and stayed in Cannes for half a month. After the Cannes Film Festival ended, I flew directly to Morocco." Martin has always been very focused: "I didn't pay much attention to the North American summer schedule."

"The movie project that Warner Pictures has invested in was officially released last weekend." Alan Horn was talking about "Terminator 2018", which almost broke up with Martin.

At that time, he invited Martin to play the role of savior John Connor, but Martin politely declined, and later invited Christian Bale.

Martin knew what he was talking about as soon as he heard it and did not take the initiative to ask.

Alan Horn automatically said: ""Terminator 2018" failed. The reputation and box office were not very satisfactory, and it did not meet Warner Pictures' expectations."

Even the Rotten Tomatoes freshness score is only 33%, and the CinemaScore live audience score is average C+.

He was extremely sad: "The box office in North America during the opening weekend was only 42.25 million US dollars."