The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 363

The last weekend of May had just passed—Memorial Day weekend in the good old USA—and two more blockbusters had made their debut: Madagascar from DreamWorks Animation, targeting an extremely wide audience, and The Longest Yard, an American football film that was sure to be a hit in this part of North America.

Hearing Bella’s words, Matthew didn't look up and said immediately, "Email me a copy."

Just thirty seconds later, a letter with statistics from Universal Pictures arrived in his personal inbox. He clicked it open and scanned the contents.

Under the influence of two new releases, Madagascar and The Longest Yard, the number of theaters showing Mr. & Mrs. Smith hadn't decreased, but attendance had dropped significantly. The average daily rate over the past weekend had fallen to just fifteen percent.

This was unavoidable. Audiences were always drawn to the new, and it was only natural for the latest releases to dominate the schedule.

Despite the dip in attendance, the film remained stable, fueled by the ongoing buzz from Matthew and Charlize's engagement. In its third weekend, the film grossed another $21.8 million in North America, adding to the $16.5 million earned over the previous four days of the week. This brought the total domestic box office for Mr. & Mrs. Smith to over $200 million, with a grand total of $211.4 million.

Overseas, Mr. & Mrs. Smith had earned another $66.8 million, bringing the film's global box office to $378.2 million.

Universal Pictures also revised its North American box office forecast for Mr. & Mrs. Smith to $250 million and raised its global estimate to $500 million.

Compared to Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Danny the Dog, which was released at the same time, had already dropped out of the top ten at the North American box office after only three weeks. Kingdom of Heaven was also in pretty bad shape; after earning another $2.3 million this week, its domestic total was just over $30 million. It would be lucky to eventually cross the $40 million mark.

First place at the North American box office for the weekend went to The Longest Yard with $58.6 million, as American football movies always performed exceptionally well in North America. Revenge of the Sith couldn't reclaim the top spot, landing in second with $55.2 million. The new release Madagascar took third with $47.22 million, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, with its $21.8 million weekend, ranked fourth.The following weekend would see the release of Cinderella Man, starring Russell Crowe and Renée Zellweger, and the week after that, Warner Brothers' Batman reboot. In short, there was no shortage of strong films being released each weekend.

Matthew understood perfectly that at this stage of its run, mass promotion for Mr. & Mrs. Smith had practically ceased. All Universal Pictures and Summit Entertainment wanted was to maintain the film's subsequent performance without any sharp declines.

However, on her end, Bella shut down her computer, packed her briefcase, stood up, and told Matthew, "I'm going to Helen's office to discuss the fan organization with her."

Matthew just waved his hand.

After Bella left, Matthew was alone in the large office. He was flipping through some papers for a while when his phone rang. It was the British actor, Bill Nighy, calling to say thank you.

Matthew exchanged a few pleasantries and hung up. Before he could even put the phone away, there was a sudden knock on his office door.

"Come in," Matthew said casually.

The door was pushed open from the outside, and a black woman with long, wavy hair walked in. She turned to close the door behind her, then smiled at Matthew and said, "Hello."

The woman wore a form-fitting white halter dress that accentuated her toned figure.

Matthew confirmed that he didn't know her. He was only renting an office on the top floor of the building, and there were other companies on the same floor. He subconsciously assumed the woman was in the wrong place.

"Who are you looking for?" Matthew asked directly.

The unfamiliar woman smiled. "Hello, Mr. Horner."

Hearing that, Matthew immediately understood that the woman had intentionally come to see him.

She then introduced herself, "My name is Naomie Harris. I'm an actress from England."

"An actress?" Matthew nodded and asked, "What do you want?"

Naomie pointed to a chair not far from Matthew's desk. "May I sit down?"

Matthew frowned slightly but replied, "Be my guest."

Walking over to the chair, Naomie sat down and swept her long, wavy hair behind her, simultaneously pushing her impressive chest forward.

To Matthew's eyes, however, there was nothing special to see.

"Miss," Matthew repeated, "what is it you want?"

Naomie glanced at Matthew, suppressing a flicker of annoyance that rose in her heart. After all, she was the one making a request. "Can I call you Matthew?"

Matthew was indifferent and said casually, "Sure."

Naomie flashed a smile, revealing pearly white teeth. "Then you can call me Naomie."

Matthew was beginning to understand. Without moving, he continued to press, "So, Naomie, what brings you to me?"

"I'm an actress, an actress who isn't famous yet." Naomie saw the faint impatience in Matthew's expression and quickly continued, "A while ago, I auditioned for Pirates of the Caribbean, and I'm now in the final round of auditions."

She looked at Matthew with pleading eyes.

But he replied plainly, "You've come to the wrong person. I'm just an actor and have no say in the selection of new cast members."

He adopted a boilerplate tone. "I'm terribly sorry, but I can't help you."

"That's not quite true, is it?" Looking at the man, Naomie added with a smile, "I auditioned for the role of the witch Tia Dalma, and if I understand correctly, you recommended Eva Green to the director, Gore Verbinski. Now Eva is almost certain to win the part."

"What are you talking about?" Matthew was unperturbed. "I just had a chat with Gore. I never made any recommendations."

The lie came naturally to Matthew; he could say whatever he wanted. "There was no interference in the audition process. Perhaps Gore felt that Eva Green was a better fit for the role, nothing more."

Naomie stared at Matthew and was silent for a moment, feeling that the big star across from her, with his honest face, was a much better liar than she was.

"As far as I know, you and Eva aren't friends." Naomie fluffed her hair and suddenly asked, "Matthew, what did she give you for the role?"

Without waiting for Matthew's reply, she stood up. "Whatever Eva can give you... I can give you the same."

Hearing this, Matthew realized the woman had clearly gotten the wrong idea. He didn't bother to explain, saying directly, "Sorry, I have work to do."

As if she hadn't understood his words, Naomie stepped forward and whispered, "Matthew, I can give you more than Green can."

She knew perfectly well that empty words were unconvincing. She had come here this time to sleep with Matthew Horner, and she believed that with her skills and her superior assets, front and back, she could definitely bed him and get him to help her secure the role of the witch Tia Dalma.

So, as she slipped the left halter strap of her dress down, baring half of her breast, she looked at Matthew eagerly, waiting for his reaction.

But he only glanced at her chest, then looked away and muttered under his breath, "That won't work. I'm not some hormonal teenager."

Naomie froze, then, assuming Matthew was playing hard to get, she reached up and pulled the other strap down, completely exposing her breasts.

Matthew didn't wait for her to do anything else. Frowning, he said, "If you keep this up, I'll have to call security."

"But..." This time, Naomie was truly at a loss. He really didn't seem to want her.

She couldn't understand it at all. The few times she had used her body since coming to Hollywood, it had always worked. Was this guy gay?

Matthew said bluntly, "Get out."

Naomie slowly pulled the straps of her dress back up, uncertain for a moment of what to do next.

Just leave like this? It was too much of a failure. How could the tactic that had secured her roles before not have worked?

Her agent, Ronald, had analyzed it for her: a project like Pirates of the Caribbean, with an investment of over $200 million, was almost a guaranteed success and incredibly rare in Hollywood. The benefits of even a supporting role in it were immeasurable.

In the past, whenever she had undressed, she had always managed to get the role without any trouble. Lustful directors and producers always acted like bulls in heat at the sight of her body.

This time, Naomie had never encountered a situation like this and could only rack her brain, trying to find a suitable solution.