In his office, Thomas glanced at his notebook and said to Martin, "Svetlana has been taking accent lessons, and Natasha has recommended her to the crew, James Mangold, the company's directorial client, and there has been no response yet." ”

Martin knows the director, and Julie introduced the director of the film "Soul Shifter", which she won Best Supporting Actress that year.

Thomas added: "Marina passed an audition called "Game of Dogs" and got a supporting role with some lines and is preparing for filming. ”

Martin asked, "There are no other special circumstances?" ”

Marina could be a swallow, only the bastard trio knew, Thomas didn't know, he thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "Nothing special." ”

Martin nodded and said, "Let Natasha pay more attention to her." ”

"Okay." Thomas couldn't help but be curious and asked, "Is this Russian woman special?" ”

Martin mumbled: "It's more special." ”

Thomas thought back a little that the woman was just pretty at first glance, but she had a very special temperament.

Detective Nicholson returns to Los Angeles and keeps an eye on Marina, and Martin prepares to go to Nicholson.

At this time, Thomas said: "The company has received a number of new role offers, and it just so happens that you are here, and by the way, I will not send you another fax." ”

Martin was not in a hurry to go to Nicholson at this moment, and replied, "Yes." ”

Thomas pulled out the project materials he had prepared in advance, and put a few of his most promising projects and roles on it.

The top one, a big project with an investment of 150 million dollars, called "Gravity", is directed by Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón, and the heroine has been confirmed as Sandra Bullock, the last Oscar queen, looking for a male lead.

There is no script and synopsis.

Martin put it aside, he had seen this film, Sandra Bullock's one-man show, the actor should be called a supporting actor, and he had very little appearance.

Unless the heroine changes to the male lead.

But if the protagonist changes gender, the emotional resonance that the film can arouse will be greatly reduced.

Men are born with characteristics such as perseverance and toughness, which are far less shocking than a woman saving herself in space.

Thomas looked at it, he was more optimistic about the project, but Martin rejected it without saying a word.

But he didn't say much, and the project book was put away and waited for the company's next round of selection.

The projects sent to the WMA by Hollywood production companies are selected by Martin first, and when he finishes choosing, it will be the turn of others to choose.

Martin has already seen a second, and also a big project, from Sony Columbia Pictures, with a budget of $150 million, and the director is determined to be Roland Emmerich.

The director's big name, Martin is like thunder, destroying the world.

Representative works "Independence Day", "Godzilla", "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012".

Martin looks at the content of the project, the story of an American hero who single-handedly saves the White House and the president.

Roland Emmerich's films, Martin has seen them all, so this project is also put aside.

If the protagonist storms the White House with a group of beautiful women, he can also consider it.

Thomas lost his mind for a moment, falling into deep self-doubt: "My vision is really so bad, I can't choose the project?" ”

Martin saw a third project book, the lead actor, called Argo, the project of his old friend Graham King's GK Pictures.

Martin met Graham back in the casting of "The Departed", and it was Graham who later introduced Chuck Hogan, the author of "The Prince of Thieves", to him.

The project is not described in too much detail, but it is noted that it is adapted from the autobiography "Master of Disguise" by senior CIA employee Tony Mendez, which involves a secret CIA rescue operation that was declassified only a few years ago.

Martin asked Thomas, "Is there an original book?" ”

Thomas came back to his senses and quickly said, "There's a Wired Magazine below, and there's a story about Tony Mendez on it. ”

Martin saw the magazine and flipped to the page.

He had a guess and looked at it carefully.

This is a report about the CIA's rescue of American diplomats, during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, some radicals stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 52 old Americans as hostages, but in the chaos, six people escaped and hid in the Canadian ambassador's home.

The C.I.A. was tasked with rescuing the six men, and escape expert Tony Mendez devised a plan to contact a few Hollywood friends to set up a film project called "Argo", and traveled to Tehran on the grounds of location inspection, and brought the six people back to the United States disguised as crew members.

This can be regarded as an unbelievable operation, and the huge name of the Hollywood film industry has played a key role in it.

Martin has seen this film and has a vague impression that the Chinese translation is called "Escape from Tehran", which seems to be the best Oscar picture of a certain year.

It's hard to say elsewhere, but in the North American market, the box office has been a bumper harvest.

And this film is extremely politically correct as far as North America is concerned, and it also meets his current needs.

Martin remembers that the original male protagonist was Big Ben.

What a coincidence.

Martin took it out alone.

Thomas breathed a sigh of relief, and said that he still had some vision, although the first two projects picked out were rejected by Martin, but the third was affirmed by Martin.

Martin read other project books, except for "Escape from Tehran", and returned all of them to Thomas, saying: "Is the director of this project confirmed? ”

Thomas shook his head: "No." ”

Martin asked, "Did Graham say anything else?" ”

"Nope." Thomas recalls: "It seems like a couple of other big brokerage firms have been offered. ”

Martin pulled out his phone and dialed Graham directly.

It was quickly connected: "Martin? How do you have time to call me? ”

"The "Prince of Thieves" recommended to me, the script adaptation has been completed." Martin didn't ask "Escape from Tehran" first, but talked about the last friendly cooperation between the two sides: "Do you have a schedule for next year?" I'm going to invite you to be the producer of The Prince of Thieves. ”

Graham said: "You invite, I have to adjust if there is no suitable schedule." ”

"I'm relieved to have you in charge of the project," Martin said. “

The ability of this producer is undoubted, Martin Scorsese has been a partner for many years, and has served as the producer of films such as "Poison Network", "Boxing King Ali", "The Aviator", "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond".

"I saw one of your GK Pictures projects at the agency." Martin gets to the point: "'Argo', based on the case of the rescue of senior CIA employee Tony Mendez, is looking for a male lead? ”

Graham understood what Martin meant: "Are you interested in this role?" ”

Martin said directly: "It's really a little interested. ”

Graham thought for a moment and said, "I'm out of town now, and when I get back to Los Angeles, we'll have an interview?" ”

Martin replied, "Yes." ”

Graham has worked with Martin in "The Departed", and knows that Martin is the kind of good actor with outstanding acting skills, commercial appeal, and dedication enough, and said: "I'll call you when I go back." ”

Both sides hung up the phone, and Thomas had already informed the new assistant to buy Tony Mendez's rotation.

Martin put away the project book and magazine, and said to Thomas, "Take out this project separately, I want it." ”

Thomas immediately called and informed the data team to close the project.

As the company's first priority for actors, any project that Martin likes will be closed to others for the time being.

The new assistant soon delivered Tony Mendes' spin Master of Disguise.

Martin glanced at the time and said, "I'll go first." ”

Thomas sent him out.

Martin got into the car, put away the magazines and spins, and asked Bruce, "Old Bu, have you heard of Tony Mendes?" ”

"I've heard people mention that they have done a lot of secret things." Bruce started the car and hit the road: "When I was in the UK, it was like a zipper signing that declassified a lot of secret operations about the CIA, some of which involved Tony Mendes. ”

He also did not forget to insult the British every day: "Compared with the British boasting MI6, the CIA is much more powerful, and the Russians are also better than them." ”

"The Russians have swallows." Martin pulled out his cell phone, called Nicholson, and asked Bruce to drive to the San Fernando Valley.

In a small studio in Sacred Valley, a Hollywood crew has recently been stationed, and most of the scenes of the "Game of Dogs" crew will be filmed here.

There was a hotel near the studio, and Detective Nicholson had chartered a balcony in a suite facing the studio.

When Martin arrived, he and Leonardo were watching the studio crew from the balcony.

"What's going on?" Martin asked.

"I've been secretly watching Marina since I came back from New York, and I've spent a lot of money to get someone to listen to Marina's phone calls," Nicholson said. ”

Leonardo answered: "She sometimes talks on the phone with her uncle in Paris about her daily life in Los Angeles. ”

"It's normal to talk to a loved one on the phone to report that she's safe, but combined with our reasoning, she's even more suspicious," Nicholson said. ”

Martin nodded, picked up the binoculars on the side, looked at the studio crew, and asked, "What's going on with this crew?" ”

Nicholson did a detailed investigation: ""Game of Dogs", a very ordinary film crew, with an investment of about $3 million, I asked someone about the script, and the specific content of the crew is in the stage of secrecy, only knowing that it is a film with a literary style. ”

Leonardo added: "I've seen two people on this crew. ”

Martin asked, "Who?" ”

The answer, however, was Nicholson: "The mother and daughter we met in New York, Catherine Oxenberg and her daughter Intia." ”

Martin felt that something was wrong: "They're also on this crew?" ”

"Katherine Oxenberg is the producer, and India seems to be one of the many actors," Nicholson said. ”

He suddenly laughed, "Isn't it interesting." ”

(End of chapter)