The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 122

A black Mercedes cruised down the tree-lined road, pulling to a smooth stop before a detached house with a courtyard. Helen glanced at the house number, confirming she was at the right place, then pushed her car door open. She approached the iron gate and pressed the bell. Moments later, the front door swung open, and Matthew was standing there.

"That was fast," Matthew said, stepping aside to let her in. "I thought it would be a while before you got here."

Helen followed Matthew through the courtyard and into the house, ignoring his comment as she took in her surroundings. Once they were in the living room, she finally spoke. "Nice house. A great deal for a thousand dollars."

"Make yourself at home." Gesturing for Helen to take a seat on the sofa, Matthew went and got two glasses of water. He handed one to her, adding casually, "There was a murder here. That's why the rent is so cheap."

Helen felt a chill run down her spine. She set her glass down, shooting Matthew an incredulous look. What was wrong with this guy?

Thinking she was frightened, Matthew tried to reassure her. "Don't worry, the murder took place out in the courtyard."

"Let's get back to business." Helen clearly had no interest in dwelling on the topic and cut straight to the chase. "I heard from Universal Pictures. Sean Daniels and Stephen Sommers are planning a new film in The Mummy franchise."

Matthew wasn't surprised. The Mummy Returns had exploded at the box office in its first week, and with the final numbers projected to be huge, it would have been bizarre for Universal not to plan a sequel.

But he vaguely recalled that the third installment of the main series didn't come out for many years.

"This new project involves you." Since making Matthew her priority client, Helen was rarely anything but direct with him. "Sean and Stephen are planning to make a movie starring the Scorpion King.""Really?" Matthew felt like he'd just won the lottery. "You mean I could be the lead?"

A leading role in a major Hollywood film—it was everything he'd been dreaming of!

But Helen was quick to pour cold water on his excitement. "Don't get your hopes up. The project is still just Sean and Stephen's proposal. Universal hasn't officially approved it yet. In fact, there's significant opposition within the studio."

"Why?"

If whoever was opposing it had been in the room, Matthew felt like he might have strangled them. "But Sean and Stephen have already delivered two blockbusters for The Mummy franchise, haven't they?"

"They have," Helen confirmed, taking a sip of water. "But there are executives at Universal who want to stick to the main Mummy series. They're strongly against Sean and Stephen's new project, viewing it as too much of a risk."

"The Scorpion King I played is dead," Matthew said, cutting to the core of the issue. "A direct sequel would almost certainly have nothing to do with me. The little bit of fame and buzz my character generated will fade fast, and who knows when I'd get another chance at a lead role."

Helen nodded. "Exactly."

She added, "After making another Mummy sequel, Sean and Stephen would be unlikely to have the bandwidth for another project. Plus, Universal's cash flow isn't great at the moment."

Matthew understood the implication. "So what can we do?" he asked.

"I'll meet with Sean and Stephen to stay in close contact and encourage them to keep pitching the Scorpion King project," Helen told Matthew. "On your end, if you and your character—the Scorpion King—can generate enough genuine popularity and buzz, this project could absolutely gain enough momentum to push the Mummy sequel aside."

She adjusted her black-framed glasses and looked at him intently. "You're about to participate in a series of promotional and marketing events for The Mummy Returns. I need you to give it everything you've got."

"I understand," Matthew said, his posture straightening as he sat across from her. "Is there anything else I need to be aware of?"

Helen paused, considering her next words carefully. "We're certainly not the only ones who have gotten wind of this. Matthew, if this Scorpion King project moves forward, it's going to affect the interests of a lot of people, especially your castmates from the film. You..." Her eyes grew serious. "...need to be careful around them."

Matthew's mind immediately flashed to something he'd heard. "Rachel mentioned that if The Mummy Returns is a big enough hit, Brendan plans on asking Universal for a twenty-million-dollar salary for the sequel."

"You need to watch both of them," Helen warned. Her phone buzzed, and she answered it, exchanging a few brief words before hanging up. "Universal's marketing research department has contacted several firms to conduct surveys on this very issue."

Matthew asked, "What's our move?"

Helen glanced at her watch. "I have a meeting with Ilana in a few minutes. We'll discuss the details after I've spoken with her."

He and Helen spoke in the living room for another hour and a half. By the time the sun had set, Helen was ready to leave.

"What if the movie gets made, I get the lead role... and it bombs at the box office?" The question suddenly occurred to Matthew. "What would happen then?"

Helen's reply was chillingly blunt. "For at least five years, you wouldn't be able to land another leading role, or even a significant supporting one."

...

Matthew saw her out and stood in front of the house, watching the black Mercedes disappear down the street. He could guess what she had left unsaid: if he took this chance and failed, he would likely no longer be a priority client at the Angel Acting Agency.

Promoting a supporting actor to a lead was a significant gamble, so it was no surprise that Universal was being cautious. Matthew understood perfectly well that opportunity came with great risk. But what chance in life ever came with a guaranteed upside and no downside?

You couldn't even stand in line at the grocery store without the risk of someone stepping on your foot.

A leading man...

Matthew stared into the distance as the sun dipped below the horizon. Starting tomorrow... no, starting right now, he was going to do everything in his power to seize this chance. The chance to become a leading man!

Even if it meant upsetting some of his castmates from The Mummy Returns, he absolutely would not let this opportunity pass him by.

Rachel wouldn't be a problem; she'd already said she wanted to move on from action-adventure movies and pursue roles with Oscar potential. The other actors had limited parts, so it hardly mattered to them.

The person to watch out for was Brendan Fraser. With The Mummy Returns poised to be a huge hit, he was surely aiming to break the $20 million salary mark for the next sequel. His career would be directly impacted if the main franchise was put on hold.

"I wonder if Brendan has gotten wind of this yet," Matthew mused as he turned and went back inside, closing the door behind him. "We have to attend several promotional events together soon. I'm sure that won't be awkward at all."

...

Universal Pictures moved with surprising speed. That very afternoon, their market research department contracted several survey and consulting firms. By evening, professional researchers had descended upon theaters showing The Mummy Returns in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston.

In New York, a screening of The Mummy Returns had just let out at an Empire Entertainment theater on Twelfth Avenue in Manhattan.

A young surveyor named Kristensen was already posted by the exit. The moment he saw the crowd emerging, he called out, "Exit poll survey! We've got prizes! It'll only take two minutes!"

A few people stopped, their interest piqued.

Kristensen had cleared the survey with the theater management ahead of time—exit polls like this were fairly common—and many moviegoers were happy to participate.

Within moments, more than a dozen people had gathered around him.

Kristensen handed out the questionnaires and some small freebies. The survey was simple, asking just one question: Who was your favorite character in The Mummy Returns? There were five options: O'Connell, Evelyn, Imhotep, Alex, and the Scorpion King.

Two minutes later, Kristensen collected the surveys and hurried over to another auditorium. Since the screening inside was still ongoing, he took a moment to leaf through the twelve completed forms. The results were: three votes for O'Connell, three for Evelyn, two for Imhotep, one for Alex, and three for the Scorpion King.

He set the stack of papers aside and got ready for the next wave of moviegoers.

In Los Angeles, at an AMC theater in the Santa Monica Business Plaza, a group of five young men and women made their way up the aisle and out into the lobby, excitedly discussing the movie they had just seen.

"O'Connell is starting to feel a little old, don't you think?" one of the guys with dark hair remarked. "His fight scenes were kind of lame. All of them combined weren't as good as that opening scene with the Scorpion King."

A girl walking behind him beamed. "The Scorpion King was so powerful! That was so cool!"

"Totally," another guy agreed. "The movie was kind of a letdown, honestly, but the Scorpion King made it a little better. And that guy's physique was insane. I wish I had a body like that."

As they exited the theater, a surveyor near the entrance called out to them. "They're conducting a survey, care to join?"

The first guy took a questionnaire and a novelty pen. He was told he could keep the pen after turning in the completed form.

"What's the question?" one of his friends asked.

The guy holding the questionnaire read it aloud: "'Which character from The Mummy Returns is your favorite?'"

"Is that even a question?" the girl from their group declared. "The Scorpion King, obviously!"