NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52: Chapter 52
Chapter 52
The movie "The Horse Whisperer" has a total runtime of one hundred and seventy minutes. As Martin said, this is an award-winning film, with no expectation of recovering costs from the box office. Generally, the video tapes of such award-winning movies sell well, and many people will buy them for collection even if they don't watch them.
It's like when an author goes to a bookstore and sees famous books or books praised by the media; they can't help but buy a copy, only to let it gather dust in a corner at home.
Therefore, it's generally not a problem for these kinds of award-winning films to recover their costs, often making a small profit. Occasionally, with some luck, they can make a lot of money—such as "The Shawshank Redemption," the record holder for North American video tape sales.
The author has seen this movie but perhaps isn't sophisticated enough to appreciate it fully. By now, I've almost forgotten the specific plot. I only remember the line: "You know, some birds are not meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright."
However, many people around me brag about this movie endlessly. Some have watched it twice, others three times, albeit most of them as pirated versions.
In the theater, it was dark. Only the big screen glowed. Martin and Scarlett were sitting in the second row, enjoying the movie with their legs crossed. Suddenly, a small white hand reached out, held Martin's hand, and playfully scratched his palm with its fingers.
Martin smiled proudly to himself and held Scarlett's warm little hand in return. It was a little damp, but soft and comfortable to hold. Compared to the skinny beauties in the entertainment industry, he still preferred such plump beauties.
Scarlett had just mustered up the courage to reach out to Martin, and her forehead was sweating. After receiving Martin's response, she felt reassured and turned to give Martin a smile. Martin pointed to the big screen, suggesting they continue watching the movie.
But Scarlett's mind was no longer on the movie. Thinking of her mother's words, she felt scared and nervous. Her relaxed mood was heightened again, and she sweated even more.
Martin squeezed Scarlett's little hand for a while and then felt something was wrong. Why did it feel so slippery and greasy? So he pinched it hard a few times.
Scarlett was so embarrassed and angry that she wanted to find a hole to crawl into. What was wrong with her? Why was she sweating so much? Even she could smell the sour mix of sweat and perfume from her body. Would Martin feel sick?
Scarlett cursed herself in her heart for not being up to par; she wanted to pull her hand back, but unexpectedly, Martin held it tightly and even pulled her closer, allowing Scarlett to lean against him.
"Martin, I don't know what's happening. Do you hate me?" Scarlett nervously whispered in Martin's ear.
Martin smiled slightly, raised Scarlett's little hand in his, and gave it a gentle peck, tasting the sweat. He then whispered in her ear, "I don't care; just stay close to me so others won't smell it."
Suddenly, Scarlett's heart felt extremely sweet, and her eyes seemed to melt when she looked at Martin. Martin really didn't care and even found the natural smell of the human body somewhat pleasant.
Jokingly, being from the land of gods and demons, Martin has experienced all sorts of scents. For instance, Martin once favored the women of the goblin race. In the goblin race, most males are ugly and weird, but the females are all petite and beautiful. However, because goblins have lived in dark and damp underground caves for a long time, the smell on their bodies is really hard to describe.
Yet, Martin, who has been close to them, has not only gone ahead but conquered countless goblin girls, leaving behind countless mixed-race descendants. This is the true spirit of a conqueror!
In the continent of gods and demons, the descendants of Succubi and Dragons are the most numerous. These two races seem to have no reproductive isolation from other races—they'll breed with anyone. Fortunately, the demons at least have aesthetics and seek out beauty, while the dragons are indiscriminate!
Martin once saw a dragon with a crocodile, and at that time, he almost wanted to gouge out his eyes and stomp on them for witnessing such an eyesore!
So for Martin, the little bit of sweat on Scarlett's body was no different from a "fresh fragrance." You know, this is something that even a certain NBA superstar in the future will desire but cannot obtain!
[TL/N: Kevin Durant]
Scarlett had no idea what was happening in the movie after that. She only knew her mouth had been grinning upwards involuntarily. When the movie ended, Scarlett was so dazed that as everyone stood up and applauded, she almost didn't hear the director calling her to come on stage. Thanks to Martin's reminder, she reacted in time.
After the premiere, Martin invited Scarlett and her mother to dinner together, and then said goodbye to them. He would be flying back to Los Angeles the next day. On the way home, Melanie Sloan asked her daughter in the car about her day with Martin. The conversation went like this:
Melanie Sloan: "Scarlett, what did you talk about with Martin today?"
Scarlett Johansson: "Hee hee!"
Melanie Sloan: "Did you meet anyone while with him?"
Scarlett Johansson: "Hee hee!"
Melanie Sloan: "Is your relationship with Martin progressing?"
Scarlett Johansson: "Hee hee!"
Melanie Sloan finally understood that her daughter was smitten. It seemed she and Martin got along well today, which put Melanie in a better mood.
Upon returning to Los Angeles, Martin went to watch the film editing process. As soon as he entered the editing room, he heard Shyamalan arguing with the editor. As the director of a blockbuster movie, Shyamalan did not have the final editing rights, but because of the family behind him, Harvey still gave him the right to make suggestions.
Of course, the Shyamalan family was not involved in this movie, which is different from the original timeline. Naturally, Martin wouldn't miss the opportunity to make money. In the movie, Martin's father, Grant, invested $10 million each with company funds and his own money, securing a 40% investment share. The total investment in the movie was $40 million, and Miramax invested the remaining $20 million, including resource investment, accounting for 60% of the total investment.
In the original timeline, the investment share of this film was:
- Shyamalan family funds invested $10 million.
- Miramax invested $15 million.
- Bruce Willis did not take a salary but included his $14 million salary into the investment share and eventually received an extremely generous return. Bruce Willis received a total income of $100 million from this movie, becoming one of the highest-paid actors in the film industry, tied with Tom Cruise.