America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

"Cut! That's a wrap for this scene!"

Inside the studio, Nolan rose from behind the director's monitor and walked toward the set, saying to the leading actress, "Maggie, thank you for your performance, you're incredibly important to us."

Everyone in the crew, including Martin, gave Maggie JillEnhall a round of applause.

Because the leading actress had finished all her scenes, today she was officially wrapping up.

Seemingly moved by the recent good atmosphere in the crew, Maggie JillEnhall held her face in her hands, gently wiping her tear-filled eyes, and kept saying to everyone around, "Thank you, thank you, everyone..."

Emma Thomas approached with a box in hand, hugged Maggie, then placed it in her hands, "You've given the crew a perfect performance."

Maggie opened the box, inside was the prop necklace Rachel left for Batman, she took it out and put it on, "This is the most important moment in my acting career!"

Nolan came over to shake her hand, said a few polite words, then quietly retreated to the periphery.

The screenwriter, with a particularly keen nose, had already come over without waiting to be summoned by the director.

Just as Nolan was about to speak, he noticed Maggie JillEnhall walking over to Martin and immediately raised his hand to ask the screenwriter to wait a moment.

Maggie approached the actors' resting area, found Martin, and said, "I wanted to ask for a souvenir from the crew, but they didn't have one, and they said you might have it."

Martin was surprised, "What kind of souvenir?"

Gesture with her hands, Maggie explained, "The Joker's handcrafted statue, the one you gave to Hiby that day. It looked really nice, and the crew didn't prepare one."

"Sure thing," Martin gestured for Bruce to come over.

Bruce opened the bag he had with him, took out a long, slender gift box, and handed it over to Martin.

Martin then handed it to Maggie, "The hand-carved version."

Maggie received it and specifically opened it to take a look. The unique design was indeed exceptional. She smiled and said, "Thank you, Martin."

Martin smiled back, "Don't mention it."

Soon, Maggie JillEnhall left the studio, thoroughly satisfied.

It was then that Nolan said to the screenwriter, "Maggie JillEnhall, who played Rachel, once had a crush on Martin during the shooting, but her feelings weren't reciprocated. Before leaving the crew, she specially asked Martin for a custom-made Joker carving as a memento..."

A piece of gossip, neither too big nor too small, was born under the pen of the screenwriter, and it even got an official seal of approval.

Morgan Freeman had always been standing on the sidelines as an observer, and now Nolan had added a new type of director to Hollywood: the publicity hype director.

This British director had as many ideas in marketing promotion as he did in movie conception.

On the other side, Martin was pondering why the handcrafted version of the Joker statue was always popular among the ladies?

He had a feeling that if the movie was a box office hit, this piece of merchandise could explode in sales.

The crew said goodbye to Maggie JillEnhall and sent Morgan Freeman off a few days later.

Martin got along well with the old man and specially gave Freeman a memento.

Freeman waved it off, "I'm a man, I don't need that kind of thing."

Martin was surprised, "It's not about gender."

After thinking it over, Freeman said, "Alright, I'll take it."

They might work together again.

Freeman also gave Martin a return gift, a nutcracker he had made by hand.

Martin accepted it graciously and planned to set up a glass display cabinet to store and exhibit similar mementos.

Before leaving the studio, Freeman took a special look at Director Nolan, noticing that Nolan was again whispering with that screenwriter.

The writing was bound to concern him, but as long as it didn't damage his reputation, Morgan Freeman couldn't be bothered to interfere.

He was just very curious about what gossip related to him Nolan had concocted.

…

As summer arrived, the weather grew increasingly hot.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Under the bright sunshine, the large crew left Atlanta and arrived at Concord City in the south.

In a location away from populated areas, an abandoned large-scale candy factory was transformed by the crew's construction team into a superficial hospital.

The fleet parked in a safe area around the factory.

Martin got out of the car and entered the makeup trailer to get ready.

Nolan directed the setting of the scene, while several experienced pyrotechnicians from the fireworks team entered various key areas of the hospital to set up special explosives, preparing to shoot off a huge display of fireworks.

Ambulances modified from old vehicles were towed into the hospital parking lot nearby.

In addition, several real ambulances and fire trucks were brought to the perimeter, with professionals standing by just in case.

In the makeup trailer, Martin finished applying the makeup, put on a white nurse uniform, and topped it with a nurse's cap.

Once the stylist left, Bruce, sitting to the side, said, "Just wear a pair of stockings and put on some fake breasts, and you can hit the streets to tempt perverts."

Martin asked, "Do you want to go? I can sponsor you to find the best stylist."

He went further, "How about this, I charter a business jet and send you straight to Thailand; you'll solve all your troubles in one go, and you won't be bothered by Kim and Khloe's issues anymore."

"I've made my decision," Bruce said with an unstoppable determination, "For Cohler, I'm going to shoot the video tape with Kim."

Martin nodded, "Old Cloth, good luck."

Bruce smiled, "Maybe it's a special fate that has brought me to them."

At that moment, someone knocked on the trailer door from outside. Bruce went to open it, revealing an assistant director who said, "Martin, get ready to head to the set."

Martin rose from his seat in the makeup trailer and followed the assistant director to where the camera was set up.

Nolan was waiting for him there.

Without stopping, Bruce continued into the hospital set to check it over in advance.

Nolan took off his headphones, hanging them around his neck, and pointed to the large building that had once been brick red but was now transformed into hospital white, "There's only one shot at the explosion for this scene. You need to get into character quickly."

Martin adjusted the nurse's cap on his head and said, "I'll head over to familiarize myself with the movements first."

Nolan beckoned him, "Come on, let's go over together." Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire

Together, they headed to the entrance of the hospital building, walking on the paved path towards where the IMAX camera was set up by the crew.

As they walked, Nolan explained, "You come from the entrance, all the way here. Remember this paved line on the ground; it's the safety line set by the pyrotechnic team. Once you cross this line, then press the detonator."

Martin asked, "I'm controlling the explosion?"

Nolan shook his head, "Of course not. Such an important detonation is handled by professionals! They'll see you press the detonator and will then initiate the explosion. The explosion will happen in two stages with a brief pause in between – it's in the script, the remote control will malfunction…"

Martin understood, "To create a dramatic effect."

Nolan smiled, "Exactly."

The Hollywood film industry's processes are very precise, especially for such large-scale productions involving dangerous scenes like explosions. If a detonation doesn't go as planned, the shoot is immediately stopped to implement safety measures.

The first draft of the script Martin received simply involved the Joker blowing up the hospital where Harvey-Dent was injured and admitted.

But in the latest version, there's an additional scene with the Joker between the two explosions.

Nolan returned to where the IMAX camera was located.

Martin repeatedly familiarized himself with his movements back and forth.

Half an hour later, after the pyrotechnic team had completed their final check of all the equipment and informed Director Nolan through their headsets, Nolan gave the command, and the filming officially began.

Dressed as a nurse, Martin swaggered over from the hospital entrance, took off the white nurse's cap midway, and casually tossed it to the side of the road. Then he pulled out a remote control from the pocket of his nurse uniform.

According to the marks, he quickly crossed the safety line and then pressed the remote control.

With a massive boom, the building behind Martin blew apart at one corner.

He turned his head to look back, then glanced at the remote in his hand and couldn't help but smack it a few times forcefully.

This time, the explosion continued without interruption, and the enormous building collapsed with a rumble.

Martin picked up his pace and ran ahead. Seeing Nolan's hand gestures from afar, he quickly ducked behind a safety wall.

The hospital building completely collapsed into a pile of rubble, with smoke and dust drifting everywhere.

Several cameras were still recording, faithfully capturing the entire process of the building being demolished.

It took a long time for the set to truly quiet down.

Through the loudspeaker, Nolan announced that the shot was successfully completed.

Martin approached the director's area, hands on hips, looking at the ruins and shaking his head slightly.

Nolan said, "It was already an abandoned building, don't feel too much pressure."

"No, I'm not under pressure," Martin said calmly, "If the explosion happened at night, it would have been such a splendid firework."

Nolan looked at Martin, inspired, and summoned the screenwriter to write a piece of rumor-based content in Martin's presence.

"This is rumor-based," Nolan advised first, then continued, "During the hospital scene, Martin pressed the detonator, and the explosion seemed to stop right after it started, as if something went wrong."

Martin, however, knew that everything in the scene was set up.

It turned out that many past rumors might have been deliberately spread by the crew.

Nolan went on, "Martin knew that a pyrotechnic scene like that couldn't be reshot easily, so he improvised, smacking the remote control hard. Perhaps a bad connection was fixed by his smacks, and the explosion resumed normally! Martin's improvisation saved this heavily invested scene."

The screenwriter scribbled urgently, sneaking glances at Martin and thinking, Is it okay to fabricate this in front of the main subject?

At this point, Martin said, "Director, it was a spectacular scene, incredibly satisfying to act in."

The more Nolan watched Martin, the more he liked him; he was cooperative with the crew and understood his vision, saving Nolan much more stress than dealing with Bale.

This was the type of actor he enjoyed working with.

"These are all rumor-based extra content," Nolan cautioned in advance, "During future film promotions, if any reporters ask about it, you can either keep silent or give a vague answer."

"I understand," Martin replied.

After the successful completion of the scene, the crew immediately packed up and returned to Atlanta.

Before reaching the city, Martin received a message that Nicholson and Leonardo were coming to visit the set.