"Martin, give it to me straight—what's your honest take on Kingdom of Heaven?"
The moment he dragged Martin into a corner, Tom Cruise cut straight to the chase.
"Does it still matter at this point, Tom? Didn't you already finish shooting?" Martin looked at him, a little confused.
Tom Cruise said, "That's not the point—I just… really want to hear what you think."
Martin paused, then said, "Same as before. The script for Kingdom of Heaven is terrible. This film won't make much at the box office."
Tom Cruise frowned. "But I had several script doctors go over it. They all said it was decent."
"Script doctors?" Martin chuckled. "Those people wouldn't dare offend William Monahan—he's the vice president of the Writers Guild, for god's sake."
Fuck!
Tom cursed inwardly. Why hadn't he thought of that?
Still unwilling to give up, he added, "But even Ridley Scott, a top-tier director, thought the script was good. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken it on."
Martin shook his head. "Tom, you should know—there are two types of films: director-driven films and audience-driven films. One emphasizes the director's artistic vision; the other, the viewing experience of the audience."
"And the script for Kingdom of Heaven is clearly the former. So many plot threads, so many crisscrossing storylines, such an overwhelming historical backdrop—it's tailor-made for a director to indulge himself."
"No disrespect to Ridley Scott, but he relies heavily on the script. Give him a strong commercial script, and he'll make a blockbuster. Give him an art-house script, and he can make an award-winner. But give him a chaotic, messy script that lets him do whatever he wants…"
"What kind of film do you think that'll end up being?"
Martin's words left Tom Cruise speechless.
He had come hoping to find flaws in Martin's critique—something to boost his own confidence.
But now, he was almost… convinced.
And truth be told—
He had seen the final cut. It really was… dragging. And a lot of the scenes felt choppy and poorly connected.
Word was that Ridley Scott's cut ran over 190 minutes, which was then forcibly trimmed down to two hours, leaving it disjointed and awkward.
Tom Cruise left, full of regret.
Why had he jumped into it on impulse?
He suddenly found himself missing Peckinsley—at least she dared to challenge him when he was being rash. Not like that idiot Brian Kyle, who had no spine or opinions of his own.
Brian Kyle: "…"
Even so, Tom Cruise still held onto a sliver of hope.
What if audiences actually liked it? It's not impossible!
Hollywood had a history of films that were panned by professionals but went on to crush the box office—Star Wars, Independence Day, for instance.
But he was forgetting—those were solid commercial blockbusters. Star Wars even kicked off the era of film as big business. Kingdom of Heaven couldn't even compare!
With tangled thoughts, Tom Cruise followed the crowd into the screening hall.
The film was about to begin.
Drew was still whispering to Martin. "Martin, seems like you've got high hopes for this film?"
"Of course. Director Nolan is taking commercial films to an entirely new place. This isn't your typical popcorn flick. I'd say Nolan's production philosophy is at least five years ahead of the average Hollywood blockbuster." Martin responded in a low voice.
Drew drew in a sharp breath. "You rate Christopher Nolan that highly?"
She didn't say more, but mentally, she was already plotting how to convince Christopher Nolan to shoot a few films for Meyers Pictures.
Martin fell silent as well, eyes on the big screen.
The murmur of voices in the theater gradually faded as the audience and media settled into their seats. The lights began to dim, one by one. The invited celebrities also turned their focus to the upcoming film.
When the theater went completely dark, a dazzling beam of light shot from the projector high above the audience.
The opening animation was the ever-familiar Warner Bros. logo—old-school studio buildings below, a classic shield-shaped "WB" emblem above, accompanied by the iconic piano music.
The theater became deathly quiet. Hundreds of people fixed their gaze on the massive screen ahead.
A few seconds later, the animation disappeared. The screen went black. Then—BOOM BOOM—two enormous, metallic DC letters crashed onto the screen.
Next came two stark lines of text, heavy with gravity and darkness.
Above:"A Film by Christopher Nolan"
Below:"Written by Martin Meyers"
Same size. Same font. Same weight. Equal billing.
Martin blinked. He hadn't seen that in the test screening.
Clearly, Warner Bros. was trying to use him as a major part of the marketing push—but wasn't that kind of disrespectful to Director Nolan?
He glanced over at Nolan, who sat one seat away, separated by Drew.
The director seemed to sense his gaze and looked back.
"Chris, I didn't know about this," Martin whispered.
Nolan smiled slightly. "Don't mind it, Martin. I asked for it. I think it helps with the marketing."
Martin let out a soft "Ah" and nodded, saying no more.
He had nearly forgotten—on the original timeline, Nolan was a master of marketing—
Every film he shot came with some kind of gimmick for promotion.
Like in The Dark Knight, when Joker presses the detonator, nothing happens at first. When he presses it again, boom! The startled reaction from Heath Ledger wasn't acting—it was real. (Actually, that was in the script.)
[GodOfReader: Yup, it's actually in the script or to be precise, they rehearse it 12 times and the late detonation was planned.]
Or when Heath Ledger died of an overdose, it was Nolan who spun the tale that he was so immersed in the Joker role he couldn't escape it, needing heavy drugs just to sleep, which ultimately led to his death.
Or the top that never stops spinning at the end of Inception. The first cut didn't even have that scene—it was Nolan's idea to add it later as a promotional hook.
This guy wasn't just a successful director. He was a successful producer—a marketing genius of the highest order!
Batman Begins was Christopher Nolan's first mainstream blockbuster. He couldn't afford to fail.
By putting Martin's name alongside his own as equals, he was creating buzz, drawing in fans…
Hiss~
The more Martin thought about it, the more he realized—it was genius. And he should be thanking Nolan!
A master, truly a master!!!