America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 545 - 538 The Opportunity Has Arisen

```

California, San Diego City, near the Mexican border in Chula Vista.

The commercial event at the shopping mall had just ended, and Anna-Frank emerged from backstage, her backpack heavy, dragging her weary body out.

As she stepped outside, her agent was waiting for her, questioning, "Such events are meaningless; you’re wasting your time."

Anna stopped and replied, "I need money. Without it, how can I pay off my car loan? How can I pay rent? What can your agency offer me?"

The agent said, "We pushed you into the ’Inglourious Basterds’ crew, and you met the real big shot Harvey Weinstein!"

Anna thought of that nightmare and suddenly laughed, "You sent me to discuss the script and the role, and I went. And the result? I was subjected to a shameful insult."

The agent was displeased with her last remark, "I told you, this is the norm in the industry. Every actress climbs up like this. Apart from your bodies, what other capital do you have to impress the big shots?"

"Fine! I’ll accept everything he did to me," Anna said through gritted teeth. "He promised me opportunities and roles. Now I want to know, where are the opportunities and the roles?"

The agent could only respond, "Wait, just wait a bit longer."

"You told me there would be rewards for my sacrifices, you stopped me from going to the police. And now?" Anna said with a cold laugh, "Wait longer and I’ll be bankrupt, forced to resort to selling myself."

The agent had more to say.

But Anna cut in, "If there’s work that pays, just take it for me. I understand now, not everyone can dream of being a big star. Earning money is what’s most important."

Ignorning the agent, she walked alone to the parking lot and approached her Hyundai, noticing someone opposite her car waving.

Anna was sure she didn’t know him.

The man quickly approached her, "Hello, Miss Anna-Frank." Pulling out a card he had gotten from Jody, he said, "I’m a reporter from TMZ."

Anna was aware of the website; it had been very popular for the last two years, "What do you want?"

Ivan had arrived in San Diego two days earlier but didn’t rush to make contact with Anna. He wanted to understand her situation and make a targeted plan.

He said, "I’m here to purchase something. TMZ is always generous in buying news, and we’re well-regarded in both the media industry and entertainment circles."

Suspecting what he wanted and desperate for money, frustrated by her unrewarded efforts, Anna said, "Let’s talk somewhere else."

Ivan took her to a café in the mall. Once seated, he got straight to the point, "We’ve got a tip-off about your entanglement with Harvey Weinstein..."

Anna tested the waters, "You dare to go after someone like him, a big shot in the industry?"

Ivan couldn’t bring up Martin and Old Cloth, so he relied on TMZ’s reputation, "How many big shots has TMZ exposed? As long as you have a story, money and follow-up issues are never a problem."

Anna asked, "Really?"

Ivan directly asked, "Seeing as you have videos, photos, recordings, or any kind of evidence."

New novel chapters are published on freewёbn૦νeɭ.com.

"I have it." Anna had given up on being a star after coming back from Los Angeles, her mindset shifted to making money, "How much will you pay me for a video of Harvey Weinstein forcing himself on me?"

Ivan stated, "One hundred thousand US dollars."

Anna sneered at the offer, "That’s too little. That’s Harvey Weinstein!" After considering, she declared, "Five hundred thousand US dollars, not a cent less!"

Before coming, Ivan had discussed with Bruce; securing the video was paramount, money was not an issue.

He agreed, "Five hundred thousand US dollars is doable, but when necessary, you’ll need to come forward personally to identify Harvey."

Anna hesitated, knowing he was a big shot too dangerous to offend, "Come forward personally?"

Seizing her weakness, Ivan argued, "Have you forgotten the victims of Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck? On top of the five hundred thousand, you can also seek legal protection of your rights and demand a fair financial settlement."

Anna had seen the reports, "I remember many direct victims received millions?"

Ivan replied, "You’ll have a chance only if you act. And you must cooperate with us."

The power of money is tremendous, capable of making even the United Nations unlawful with enough bills thrown at it.

Testing a person in such a way! Anna conceded immediately, "Give me two hundred thousand US dollars as a deposit, and I’ll give you a piece of the video!"

```

Ivan pulled out a check and slid it across to Anna, saying, "No problem, I’ve seen the video, let’s continue the transaction."

Anna quickly verified the amount on the check and immediately tucked it away, "Follow me."

The two left Chula Vista and hurried to Anna’s apartment in San Diego.

...

At Los Angeles International Airport, Martin and Bruce disembarked from the plane, rushing towards the exit with their luggage, pulling out their phones to power them on.

Thomas was waiting at the terminal exit and stepped forward to take Martin’s luggage; together, they got into the business car that had come to pick them up.

Martin got straight to the point, "I asked you to find out about the progress of ’The Hobbit’ film project, how is it going?"

"The copyright issue is very complicated, similar to the situation before the production of ’The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy," Thomas had spent the past few days getting to grips with the project, "Peter Jackson’s original plan was to prepare ’The Hobbit’ movie last year, but due to copyright issues, he had to postpone it and instead directed ’The Lovely Bones.’"

He added, "The lead actress is your student, Silsa Ronan."

"Is the copyright not entirely in Warner’s hands?" asked Martin.

"The entire ’The Lord of the Rings’ series originally belonged to MGM, then it landed in the hands of Sony Columbia; it changed hands several times over the years, causing many adaptation rights to be dispersed. Some parts of the copyright for ’The Hobbit’ and ’The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy fell into the hands of Harvey Weinstein," explained Thomas.

Martin nodded; he had some understanding of the issue over the years, "Harvey was the original planner for ’The Lord of the Rings,’ but he only allocated a budget for one film to Peter Jackson, and it was pitifully small. Peter Jackson got New Line Cinema under Warner into the mix, which led to the later trilogy.

It’s because of the revenue sharing from these three films that Harvey and Warner had a complete falling out."

"The copyright situation with ’The Hobbit’ is equally complex. Warner and New Line believe they have the priority right to adapt, but Harvey produced a complete copyright authorization. Both sides then approached Tolkien’s copyright management agency, which Warner dealt with, claiming Harvey’s authorization had expired and Warner had adaptation rights..." Thomas elaborated.

Taking advantage of his water break, Bruce, who was driving, chimed in, "This series involves too much interest, nobody wants to give it up."

"’The Lord of the Rings’ series has had huge commercial influence, and if ’The Hobbit’ is made into a trilogy, just the box office might surpass 2.5 billion US dollars!" said Martin.

"That’s a big sum, enough to take each other down," responded Bruce.

"The conflict between Harvey and Warner has been incredibly sharp over the years, resulting in more than one dispute, and Harvey’s entanglement over the various interests of the ’The Lord of the Rings’ series has made Warner extremely annoyed," continued Thomas, providing details, "It’s said that Peter Jackson has planned a new trilogy, the revenue from which is within reach, and Warner would never work with Harvey again.

They’ve teamed up with Tolkien’s copyright agency to prepare to kick Harvey out."

He was certain of one thing, "Warner is ready to resort to legal action, hoping to give Harvey a small sum of copyright compensation through Tolkien’s copyright agency and then completely take back the adaptation rights, but Harvey has rejected this, he wants half the revenue from the film adaptation!"

After some thought, Martin said, "I remember that in top Hollywood blockbusters, box office revenue often accounts for only a third of a film’s total income."

Thomas added, "For the ’The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, box office revenue was only 26% of the total income."

Bruce added, "Billions of US dollars, my God Jesus, with that kind of money, you could hire an army in Africa and become a head of state."

Thomas now understood what Martin was planning; their interests were tied together, and he had some concerns, "Are you sure about this?"

"It’s not that I want to do this, but that I have to," said Martin roughly, "Harvey is a domineering person. Ever since I took ’The Hills Have Eyes’ from Craven, we’ve been at odds, and that’s not to mention the numerous times we haven’t brought up the issue, like at this year’s Cannes Film Festival."

Just as Bruce had said, with so many incidents happening, Martin sometimes couldn’t help but be concerned, "Nolan thinks that the shooting incident with the crew in Los Angeles is related to the kidnapping in Morocco, yet I suspect it might be connected to Harvey’s Foot Clan, although there’s no evidence that they’re targeting me."

"My worry is that if we don’t take him down, the fire will spread to us," Thomas’s concerns weren’t unfounded. Your journey continues with novelbuddy

"That’s why I’ve been waiting, looking for the right opportunity. Now I’ve found it. Warner, due to ’The Hobbit,’ has a huge conflict of interests with Harvey. Harvey is clinging to the copyrights, and Warner might want him gone more than ever," Martin explained.

Thinking carefully, Thomas said, "Given the current situation, this is indeed an opportunity, and you can see the profits of at least several billion dollars."

Martin nodded slightly and then asked Thomas for more details, seriously contemplating the situation.

As they arrived back at their place in Beverly Hills, just as they entered the villa, Bruce received a call from Ivan, talking for a while before coming over to see Martin.

"Ivan bought the complete video for 500,000 US dollars," Bruce said succinctly, "He took a brief look, and it contains exactly what we want. Additionally, the person involved, Anna-Frank, agrees to come forward to testify in exchange for financial compensation."

Martin’s billions hadn’t been spent in vain, "Lea Seydoux’s information was reliable," he instructed, "You go see Ivan personally, copy the material and bring it back. Let Ivan proceed as planned."

Bruce picked up the car keys, "I’m on it."

On the way, Martin recalled, "You mentioned before that World News Report had a team of reporters who had followed Harvey for a while, go check if they are still investigating and if we could contact them. Ivan could try to make contact."

Bruce had paid close attention to that three-person team, "It shouldn’t be hard to find them."