The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 344

As expected, the news of Matthew's proposal to Charlize dominated the entertainment media headlines the next day, garnering over two million views on Yahoo Entertainment in a single day. The exclusive video, posted in TMZ's breaking news section, became a sensation, racking up three million views in twenty-four hours.

Most people wished Matthew and Charlize the best for their life together.

Some media outlets immediately reported that it was a well-planned publicity stunt for the upcoming Disney film, but unfortunately for them, they were ignored.

After all, thanks to a series of previous promotions and the cultivation of their image as a perfect couple, the public was delighted to see the two get together.

Very often, the general public only wants to believe what it wants to believe.

There's a reason this kind of promotional tactic is tried and true in Hollywood movie promotions.

The day after the proposal, Matthew was spotted hand in hand with Charlize at Tiffany's on Rodeo Drive, buying a pair of rings amidst a relentless swarm of paparazzi and camera lenses, which once again sparked speculation in the press that the two had already set a wedding date.

By May 4th, with the media's attention fixed on the upcoming summer movie season, Matthew announced on his personal blog that he would hold an official engagement ceremony with Charlize after the whirlwind premiere of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith."

Instantly, he managed to seize the headlines once again.

Over the next two days, Matthew and Charlize consistently released new updates whenever the news about them started to die down, maintaining a high level of hype.Hollywood, after all, is a world where being the topic of conversation is the only way to survive and climb to the next level.

The more talk, the more hype, and the greater the influence of the stars and their leading roles.

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith," starring Matthew and Charlize, was constantly being discussed and mentioned, generating significantly more buzz than "Kingdom of Heaven," which was about to kick off its summer release.

Capitalizing on this hype, Dior and Mercedes-Benz released new commercials in early May featuring Charlize and Matthew, catapulting the already famous duo to the top of the media headlines.

During this period in early May, the two were squarely in the spotlight, their fame comparable to that of superstars.

It would be no exaggeration to say that Matthew and Charlize together achieved an effect where one plus one equals more than two, or even more than three.

Seeing that the buzz for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" was at its peak, North American theaters also opened advance ticket booking services for the film, allowing audiences to reserve tickets for the premiere weekend by phone and online.

The Kodak Theatre in Hollywood also began selling tickets for the film's North American premiere ten days in advance.

Although a significant portion of the tickets for the North American premiere went to sponsors, as well as the film's cast and crew, several hundred tickets were sold to the public.

With the advance ticket sales underway, a strange sight unfolded in front of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood: long lines formed at both box office windows, but the queue for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," which opened the following weekend, was several times longer than the one for "Kingdom of Heaven," which was opening that weekend.

These two major commercial films, released on the first two weekends of the summer season, stood in stark contrast in terms of advertising and promotion.

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" was a sensation, the focus of media attention and a topic of widespread discussion, while the promotion for "Kingdom of Heaven" was largely unimpressive, with its public visibility remaining quite low.

Even with the imminent release of "Kingdom of Heaven," it was Matthew and Charlize who dominated the media headlines most of the time.

...

On the eve of the release of "Kingdom of Heaven," TMZ broke the news that Matthew and his real estate agent had purchased a mansion in Beverly Hills for $25 million after several rounds of bidding, intended as their love nest.

Matthew and Charlize later confirmed this in an interview at a promotional event in New York and subsequently revealed that the engagement ceremony would be held at their new home, with a select number of guests invited.

The Beverly Hills mansion, which Matthew had already toured, was fully furnished—it even came with toothbrushes—so all they had to do was pack their bags and move in.

Upon returning to Los Angeles from New York, Matthew brought in his lawyer and other specialists, signed a series of official contracts with the real estate company, and became the owner of the mansion in the shortest time legally possible. He then removed the original plaque and renamed it "Horner Manor."

He then contacted Lister from Red Penguin Services and entrusted the planning of the engagement ceremony to him and his team personally. In any case, the cost of the ceremony was covered by the teams from "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," Dior, and Mercedes-Benz, respectively, so he didn't have to worry about the expense.

It had also been previously decided that the video recording of the engagement would be sold to TMZ after the ceremony, with a third of the proceeds going to Matthew.

The "Engagement" drama, with him and Charlize as the male and female leads, was rewarding them both equally.

Red Penguin Services had extensive experience in this area, and Lister had handled similar events before. In just one day, he prepared several proposals, from which Matthew and Charlize ultimately chose a relatively simple one.

During this time, Matthew received calls from James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, who, of course, wouldn't miss his "engagement." James even asked to speak at the ceremony as the groom's representative.

Matthew didn't have any family on his side anyway, so he agreed.

But there was another guy who, after learning the details, also approached Matthew with a request to be his representative.

...

When Orlando Bloom called, Matthew was having Lister bring someone over to clean the estate. As it happened, Orlando was in Century City in Beverly Hills, and since he was curious about Matthew's new home, Matthew asked him to come straight over.

"What a huge house," Orlando remarked, standing before the glass wall in the living room. He felt as if all of Los Angeles was at his fingertips. "It's in a great location."

Matthew said, smiling to himself, "The mortgage is spectacular, too."

Orlando turned his head to look at Matthew and retorted, "You could pay it off after two movies, tops."

Then he changed the subject. "So, what do you think about my offer?"

"I'm really sorry, Orlando," Matthew said, his tone sincere this time. "James McAvoy already asked to be my representative two days ago. You know him, we filmed together."

Orlando immediately remembered the British actor from "Black Hawk Down." He recalled that he had been one of Matthew's closest friends back then.

"Doesn't matter." He deliberately narrowed his eyes at Matthew. "I can wait for the next time."

Matthew chuckled. "There won't be a next time."

Orlando completely misinterpreted that, laughing and shaking his head, clearly not believing that Matthew and Charlize's marriage would last long.

Then Orlando invited, "Don't forget to come to the 'Kingdom of Heaven' premiere."

"I'll definitely be there." Matthew had already received an invitation from Ridley Scott, and for Helen's and Ridley's sake, he would attend. "How could I miss your premiere?"

Orlando, however, suddenly sighed. "Actually, I have a bad feeling about it."

"What's wrong?" Matthew asked curiously.

"Have you seen the advance ticket sales for 'Kingdom of Heaven'?" Orlando asked.

Matthew shook his head. "No, I've been busy setting up my new house since I got back."

"The numbers are bad." Orlando didn't look particularly happy. "The advance sales for 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' opened a week later than 'Kingdom of Heaven,' and your presales volume was three times higher than ours."

After a pause, he continued, "The test screenings weren't well-received either. I saw the previews, and they were completely different from the version Ridley Scott put together in the editing room."

Matthew thought for a moment and said, "I remember Ridley had a final cut that he praised."

Orlando looked annoyed. "20th Century Fox thought Ridley's version was too long and too slow-paced, so they forced him to cut about forty minutes from it. The test version I saw was not at all the movie I'd seen before."

Matthew sighed. "There's no way around it. Hollywood is a producer-driven system; it's almost impossible for a director to control the final cut."

"Ridley declared that 20th Century Fox's re-edit would ruin the film." Orlando was deeply disappointed. "It would ruin me, and Ridley too."

Matthew couldn't do anything to intervene in such matters, not to mention he had no partnership with 20th Century Fox. And even if he did, the studio wouldn't just let an actor interfere with their major projects.

Orlando clearly blamed 20th Century Fox for the poor presale results and opened his mouth to curse, "Damn that studio!"

A top-tier Hollywood director like Ridley Scott was prone to creating a lot of problems when his creative process was subjected to widespread and large-scale interference.

Matthew also wondered what the bosses at 20th Century Fox were thinking.

Orlando chatted with Matthew for a long time, confirming that Matthew would attend the "Kingdom of Heaven" premiere and that he, in turn, would be at Matthew and Charlize's engagement ceremony. After that, he said his goodbyes and left.

Matthew and Charlize had barely moved into their new home when "Kingdom of Heaven" was released in North America.