America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

On this day, the Lumiere Hall at the Festival Palace was once again bustling with activity as "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," the film with the highest investment in the competition section, held its grand premiere.

In addition to David Fincher and Martin and other main creative team members, many stars came to join the excitement.

There was no way around it; this was one of the film festival's profit projects. Tickets to a premiere during the festival only cost 15,000 euros.

Compared to obscure art films from small countries, the impact of the premiere of "Benjamin" was much more significant.

Besides the jury panel and the organizing committee, the team didn't invite any guests, yet over 100 red carpet guests came to cheer for "Benjamin."

The film festival made a tidy profit of 2 million euros.

In terms of art, they aimed to elevate the taste, but when it came to making money, it wasn't bad either.

The jury panel included Yuper, James Gray, Shu Qi, Li Dongcang, and Aisha Akido as judges.

John Travolta, considering Harvey and Quentin, did not come but had sent a message in advance.

Martin wasn't worried, for although he hadn't asked in detail, he could guess that it was Sect Hierarch Hubbard who had put Travolta in touch with Saint Tom Cruise.

The Sect Hierarch's influence on Travolta was much greater than Harvey's.

After taking a group photo with the jury members, the main creative team entered the Lumiere Hall together.

Aisha Akido, recalling some rumors she had heard in Hollywood, quietly approached Martin.

"I attended the premiere of 'Inglourious Basterds' yesterday and heard that Harvey initially wanted you as the lead actor instead of Josh Brolin?"

"That's right, I turned him down," Martin said. "Actually, I don't get along with him. The myriad of issues between Hollywood's Foot Clan and Face Gang is no secret."

Aisha Akido thought of Quentin, that old pervert, and laughed: "Foot Clan? That's really too vivid!"

Martin shrugged, "Me, Leonardo, and Nicholson are in the Face Gang."

Aisha Akido nodded, "I've heard of it."

Martin then entered the screening hall and saw Yuper standing by the aisle in the third row, leaning on the back of a chair, chatting with Mene.

Although Yuper's English was not particularly fluent, she still had a pleasant conversation.

In the end, she accepted Mene's invitation to go for a late-night snack after the film's premiere was over.

Just as supermodels are to Leonardo, Uncle Mene was one-of-a-kind in the eyes of auntie-aged women.

Among the audience's enthusiastic applause, Martin joined the main creative team and took their seats in the front row.

David Fincher, sitting next to him, asked, "Going smoothly?"

"Not bad," Martin roughly said. "There are many judges supporting us."

Since strategically giving up the Palme d'Or, David Fincher's enthusiasm for competing for awards inevitably decreased, and he naturally avoided certain things he disliked by not participating at all.

As the film screening began, the Lumiere Hall quickly quieted down.

The audience followed the plot into the extraordinary life of Benjamin Button.

This was a film filled with fantasy and beauty, and it clearly discussed themes like time, love, and life against the backdrop of the changing American society throughout the 20th century.

And this was not a typical Fincher film.

It was more optimistic, magical, moving, and positive than any of Fincher's films and almost completely devoid of noir elements.

At the conclusion, Hollywood director James Gray said to the other judges, "I can't imagine that David Fincher has truly laid down the butcher's knife!"

Li Dongcang agreed with this viewpoint, and in his awkward English said, "The always eerie genius Fincher has finally revealed his humanity!"

However, Shu Qi commented, "Martin's eyes, those eyes are full of drama."

Aisha Akido added, "Going from an old man gradually back to infancy, Martin is that Benjamin Button without any flaws, simply challenging the limits of an actor's skills."

As the chair of the jury, Yuper rarely commented easily, but as a figure from the artistic performing school, she greatly admired Martin's performance in this film.
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Martin not only succeeded in portraying the character's growth and vicissitudes vividly, but he also led the audience into a thought-provoking realm to explore the wonders of life, time, and love with his performance.

As the credits appeared, the whole room erupted into warm applause.

Compared to regular premieres, applause at film festivals tends to be more enthusiastic and longer-lasting, and even some barely passable films often receive applause lasting over five minutes.

It's undue to put too much stock in a film festival's promotional claim of seven or eight minutes of audience applause.

Near the side door of the screening hall, Melanie walked out, pulled out her phone, and made a call: "Notify the media, it's starting."

With the premiere of "Benjamin" ending, many journalists and critics immediately rushed to release their first set of critiques of the film and the lead actor.

France's most esteemed professional magazine "Cinema Manual" gave high praise to David Fincher's new work and also mentioned Martin's acting: "The young Hollywood actor Martin Davis interpreted the character of Benjamin Button with sublime acting skills. He fully showcased Benjamin's complex inner world and emotional states with delicate facial expressions and body language!"

The entertainment section of Le Figaro was full of praise for Martin's performance, "Martin successfully portrayed the male lead's reverse-aging process, from an old man to a young one. In this transformation, he exhibited a unique charm and depth, allowing everyone seated before the silver screen to truly feel Benjamin's growth and changes."

The official Cannes Film Festival gazette gave "Benjamin" a professional rating of eight out of ten and published a comment by Isabel Huppert, "Martin's seemingly plain performance is precisely a return to the essence of acting. He vividly portrays the character's curiosity in childhood, exploration in middle age, and contemplation in old age before all of us with a clear performance contour!"

Many days after the film festival opened, at least a dozen films in the competition category had been screened, and Yuper had publicly reviewed only two male actors—Christopher Waltz and Martin Davis!

The direction of the Best Actor award was becoming clear.

In the Wuyang Hotel's conference room, the crew was holding their daily routine meeting.

David Fincher had left the meeting, and Bruce had joined in.

Melanie updated the latest news, "We can now confirm that Shu Qi, Li Dongcang, and James Gray from the jury will support us. Our biggest competitor is Christopher Waltz from 'Inglourious Basterds'."

Martin raised the pen in his hand, "John Travolta has already declared he will support me."

Catherine Kennedy was quite curious about how Martin managed to convince Travolta, especially since the latter had very good relations with Quentin and Harvey.

Melanie said, "This way, we have the support of at least four jurors. The next key step is Yuper."

Bruce took over the conversation, "Our people are persuading Yuper."

Mene returned very late last night, and he said he talked with Yuper until late.

Martin had been reading the newspaper all along, and now the situation was very clear, he and Waltz were far ahead of the other male actors.

To be frank, in terms of character and performance, Waltz was not lacking at all.

In a running race where two people have a significant lead and others have almost no hope of catching up, how can you ensure victory?

In this regard, Harvey could definitely be considered a good teacher—take down the competitors.

Melanie, a professional publicist, also thought of this method, and looked at Martin, "I've already contacted the media. What about you?"

Bruce spoke up, "All set."

Ivan had taken several photos, and he had sent the first batch to his hands last night.

Martin said, "Melanie, you can keep up with the jury's movements in a timely manner. I suggest releasing these a day or two before the jury makes its decision, so there's no chance for the other side to recover."

Melanie thought it over and replied, "That's possible."

The brief meeting ended, and Martin left to meet with David Fincher for the press appearances.

Leading actress Cate Blanchett had returned to London after last night's premiere, citing she was currently filming a new movie.

Melanie continued to marshal the media to campaign for Martin.

......

In a conference room at the Provence Grand Hotel, the "Inglourious Basterds" crew was also holding a meeting.

As always, Harvey was in control of the situation.

"We're looking at two awards, the Jury Prize and Best Actor," he said. "My primary target is Best Actor."

Quentin was indifferent, with no interest in the Jury Prize if there was no Palme d'Or.

Christopher Waltz gave Harvey a slight bow as a gesture of thanks and gratitude.

Harvey's assistant, who knew him well, continued, "Our biggest competitor now is Martin."

Harvey said, "It's simple, the old way, trash him for the time being!"

He was prepared and handed a stack of documents to the film's publicist, "Contact the media and get it out as soon as possible."

The publicist quickly perused them and left the meeting room to get busy.

That very afternoon, a French entertainment website revealed that during the filming of "Benjamin," Martin had bullied Cate Blanchett more than once, leading to her being ostracized by the crew, among other allegations.

There was also a video confession by a minor actor from the crew.

These accusations weren't entirely fabricated; the discord between Martin and Blanchett on set was no secret, with the former being more popular with the crew and the latter becoming somewhat isolated.

Subsequently, more media outlets joined in the exposé.

A website went to London to interview Cate Blanchett, but Blanchett refused to comment on the matter.

The silence in itself represented a stance.

"Screen" magazine claimed that Martin's portrayal of Benjamin was not down to his own acting skills but relied heavily on CGI, the special effects took center stage in the character, which went completely against the spirit of performance and acting art promoted by the Cannes Film Festival.

Another media outlet reported that the descendants of the original author, Fitzgerald, were very dissatisfied with the film's substantial deviations from the source material, arguing that the male lead Martin portrayed was not at all the character penned by Fitzgerald.

Another media claimed that the production cost of "Benjamin" reached a staggering 100 million US dollars, branding it a thoroughbred commercial film.