The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 328

Disney informed Matthew and the Angel Agency, by phone and email respectively, that filming for the next two sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean would begin at the end of May at Disney Studios. The shoot was scheduled to last five to six months, and the principal actors, such as Matthew and Johnny Depp, would need to resume their preparatory work, including sword training, by April at the latest.

Matthew had signed his acting contract with Disney Studios long ago, so his confirmation was, of course, a simple formality.

After receiving the notice, he made a special trip to Disney Studios to meet with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, hoping to get the latest updates on the cast and production.

From the two of them, he gained a fundamental understanding of the project's progress, which was useful for his own preparation, allowing him to get back into the mindset of Will Turner before filming began.

The team had officially titled the two upcoming sequels Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The first was slated for a North American premiere on July 7, 2006, while the second was tentatively scheduled for May 2007, though this was not yet confirmed.

The core cast of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which included Matthew, Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, and Geoffrey Rush, would all be returning for the two sequels.

As was typical for films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the scripts for the two Pirates of the Caribbean sequels had just been completed, and the various sets were nearly ready for filming.

Disney had allocated a substantial budget for these endeavors.

The success of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl had not only revitalized the pirate genre but also spawned a wave of pirate-themed culture, including books, themed parties, and merchandise.

Thus, a sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean was inevitable, and for Hollywood producers, a single sequel was simply not enough.Of course, that wasn't all the news Matthew learned. He had also heard through the grapevine that Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski hadn't been on the best of terms for the past few months. Jerry had even considered firing and replacing Gore, but Disney had been adamant, refusing to approve the change.

The greatest point of conflict between them stemmed from a power struggle within the cast and crew. Buoyed by the success of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Gore Verbinski not only demanded a doubling of his authority but also wanted to fight for the rights to the post-production edit.

This was a direct move to seize power from Jerry Bruckheimer, and their clash was unavoidable.

Robert Iger, the co-chairman of Disney Pictures, was said to have mediated between the two men, smoothing over the conflict for the time being.

As with all Hollywood productions, there was always an undercurrent of internal struggle for fame and power.

While Matthew was getting up to speed on the progress of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, the Angel Agency received an offer from Germany for a leading male role. It came from none other than Uwe Boll, the director he had met at the German Football Association dinner.

In this proposal, Boll described the prospects for a film adaptation of the game Dungeon Siege in such glowing detail that, let alone Matthew, even Helen was intrigued enough to have a friend in Germany look into Boll's background.

Matthew then sought out director Boll's horror films and, with his admittedly unrefined taste, found them hopelessly awful.

He had Helen reject Boll's offer, but Boll, in his tenacious German spirit, sent Matthew another proposal. He somehow managed to get the Angel Agency's phone number and called Helen personally to try and persuade her.

Unfortunately for him, neither Matthew nor Helen had any interest in a video game adaptation project.

In early February, Mr. & Mrs. Smith released its first promotional spot during the Super Bowl. The thirty-second trailer was entirely focused on the domestic rivalry between Matthew and Charlize's characters.

Subsequently, reports began to surface in the media and online that Matthew and Charlize were becoming an item.

Matthew was once again surrounded by paparazzi and entertainment reporters who followed him around the clock, but just like last time, he offered no reaction whatsoever.

The publicity for Mr. & Mrs. Smith was slowly building momentum, and Stuart, Charlize's now largely forgotten boyfriend, was once again dragged out as a thorn in the side for her countless fans, with the media campaign squeezing every last drop of drama from him.

While the paparazzi and reporters pestered him, Matthew's own work continued without interruption. He resumed his sword-fighting training at Nibora's gym and adjusted his workouts accordingly.

Meanwhile, he rented a large office in Burbank, not far from the Angel Agency, which served as a day-to-day office for him and his new personal assistant, Bella Anderson.

After a two-week trial period, Matthew was largely convinced of Bella's abilities. Although the redhead sometimes seemed inexperienced due to her young age and having only recently left school, she was calm and organized—a rare quality for someone in her age group.

Matthew decided to keep Bella on as his personal assistant for the foreseeable future.

The main task he had recently assigned Bella was to help him manage his personal blog and establish initial contact with some of his prominent, particularly organized, fan groups.

Of course, checking his email was also part of the job.

The team behind National Treasure also sent regular weekly updates, the main content of which was the film's word-of-mouth and box office performance.

As for word-of-mouth, after a nearly three-month run, the professional ratings for National Treasure continued to decline. The Rotten Tomatoes score had not only failed to rise but had continued to fall, with the film's freshness rating dropping to fifty percent.

On top of that, critics had maintained an almost non-stop barrage of bad reviews for Matthew, the film's lead actor.

But contrary to the professional reviews, the box office for National Treasure remained stable. After nearly three months in theaters, it finally crossed the $200 million mark in the North American box office, having grossed a total of $210.2 million.

Overseas, thanks to its genre appeal and broader audience, the film had also grossed over $200 million.

Currently, National Treasure was still playing in theaters both in North America and abroad, with a worldwide box office total of $425.6 million.

This was yet another piece of evidence that Matthew could carry a commercial film on his own.

Whispers were even circulating among the top brass at Disney to get a sequel to National Treasure on the agenda as soon as possible, but with the current turmoil and open conflict among the company's leadership at the Walt Disney Group, the project might not be realized anytime soon.

The internal power struggle at the Walt Disney Company was extremely fierce these days. Michael Eisner's dominant and dictatorial management style—after having taken Disney from a simple studio and transforming it into the media giant it is today—seemed to have offended just about everyone in the company.

At the last Walt Disney Group shareholder meeting, a majority of shareholders, with a margin of over two-thirds, expressed a vote of no confidence in Michael.

Normally, in such a situation, a professional executive has only one option: resign.

But Michael Eisner's refusal to hand over the reins of Walt Disney to someone else directly led to an even more bitter struggle within Disney.

Matthew had worried for a time that the chaos within Disney would affect the filming of the two Pirates of the Caribbean sequels. There had been many instances in Hollywood of projects collapsing due to turmoil at the production company, but fortunately, the film crew was largely under Jerry Bruckheimer's control, and this fear did not come to pass.

...

In late February, Matthew received the script for a commercial from Mercedes-Benz.

The script was only five pages long, the shoot was planned for three days, and it was scheduled for early April. The director of the commercial was Michael Bay, a man the North American press joked was born from a comet striking the Earth.

Mercedes-Benz must have paid a hefty price to lure Michael Bay back into the world of advertising, which was very good for Matthew, as it demonstrated the importance Mercedes-Benz placed on their partnership.

Michael Bay was a director heavily criticized by the press and critics, but his style of shooting and producing commercials had its own solid reputation.

It wasn't as if Michael Bay hadn't filmed commercials in recent years. After receiving the information from Mercedes-Benz, Matthew watched some of Michael Bay's recent spots, and the most immediate impression he got was that Michael's commercials were just like his films—all incredibly explosive.

Dazzling motion shots, a smooth editing style, and explosive compositions with computer-generated effects made the commercials highly appealing.

Furthermore, his use of slow motion and wide-angle shots captured attention in advertising. Even with Matthew's limited experience, he could see that Michael Bay's use of slow motion to showcase intense action sequences in a short commercial was a brilliant idea.

Who better than a director like him to shoot a commercial for a rugged SUV?

Michael Bay was definitely underrated. The press and critics constantly dragged him through the mud, but cinema, especially in theaters, is an audiovisual art beyond just storytelling. In Hollywood today, the number of commercial directors who could compete with Michael Bay could be counted on one hand.

In any case, the fact that Michael Bay was directing this commercial was good news for Matthew.

In short, February was filled with almost all good news for Matthew, but there was some bad news as well.