The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 398

Three days later, Brown Williams gave Matthew a clear answer: he was willing to serve as his personal bodyguard. This would allow him to stay in Los Angeles long-term, rather than being sent all over the world by a security company as he had been before.

Of course, the doubling of his salary was a very significant factor.

After signing the bodyguard agreement with Brown, Matthew met with Amanda, who had traveled all the way from New York. He, Helen, and Amanda talked for a full day before finally reaching a collaborative agreement.

Although Amanda's family wasn't among the wealthiest in New York, her father owned a charitable foundation—primarily for tax avoidance and the like—where Amanda had worked for a long time after graduation, giving her a certain amount of experience.

With Amanda on board, the process of setting up his two charitable foundations would also accelerate.

Amanda was even planning to use a large-scale charity auction as the opening ceremony for the two foundations, aiming for an instant success.

The funding for these foundations wouldn't, of course, come entirely from Matthew's own pocket. Instead, they would be raised primarily through fundraising, with a significant portion of the money used to hire professionals.

The laws governing the oversight of non-profit organizations were relatively lax. Charities were required to report their sources of income, yearly expenses, and activities to the tax service annually, but this was mainly to verify their tax-exempt status.

However, there were no strict rules on how charities had to spend the donations they collected; much of it was left to self-regulation.

And no law established a hard and fast rule regarding the percentage of expenses.Amanda gave Matthew an example. In 1992, a major American charity was rocked by a scandal. Seventy percent of the funds collected by this private organization were used to pay employee salaries and various expenses. Less than four percent went to actual charitable work, and the rest was unaccounted for.

However, with no relevant laws in place for sanctions, the charity merely lost its credibility and reputation.

Naturally, Matthew had no intention of doing such a thing. The vast majority of the future foundations' money would be used for charity, aside from their own operational expenses.

"Amanda has returned to New York."

In the Angel Agency office, Helen was discussing the latest business matters with Matthew. "She'll be handling the fundraising for the charitable foundations."

Matthew nodded. "That way, you can focus your energy on your work."

This would indeed be to his benefit.

Helen didn't dwell on the subject and changed topics. "There's half a month left until the new year, and the statistics for last year are basically finalized in all areas."

She placed a document in front of Matthew.

Matthew leaned back in his chair with a lazy expression. "Just give me the results."

"Alright." Helen paused for a moment to recall the details, then replied, "The Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUVs have shown a 6.5% increase in global sales since your ad campaign officially launched last June."

"Sounds pretty good," Matthew said.

"It's impossible to determine exactly how much of a role your endorsement played," Helen continued, "but it's good for us that sales are rising."

"Overall," Helen concluded, "Mercedes-Benz is pleased with you as their brand ambassador."

She paused for a moment. "In contrast, Rolex's numbers haven't grown significantly. Their market share is already enormous, and it would be very difficult to increase it any faster. So, for the short term, you'll only be the face of Rolex in print ads. It'll be hard to move on to commercials."

"That's fine." Matthew shrugged. "At least I get free Rolex watches."

Helen glanced at him and went on, "I'm currently trying to negotiate a clothing endorsement for you, which might take a bit more time. Also, after the release of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, several manufacturers approached us. I'll select premium products that are a good fit for you."

Matthew had no objections.

"Next is the film side of things." Helen had clearly studied this area in detail. "The base payments for the two Pirates of the Caribbean sequels have already been paid. According to your fee agreement with Disney Pictures, the preliminary base payments total nineteen million dollars."

"That's a lot of money," Matthew remarked. He thought for a moment, then said, "Helen, in addition to your commission, cover the setup costs for the charitable foundations from that."

The remaining money was enough to pay off the mortgage on Horner Manor, for which he had initially only made the down payment.

Helen continued on the topic of films. "This year, you only had one movie released, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which is currently holding the number three spot in the 2005 North American box office. However, Disney Pictures' The Chronicles of Narnia is still in theaters and will, unsurprisingly, surpass it. Mr. & Mrs. Smith will end up taking fourth place in last year's overall box office chart."

At this, a rare smile appeared on her face. "Since 2003, you've had a film in the top ten of the North American box office every single year. That means you are a genuine A-list star."

Matthew thought for a moment and said, "I think next year will be no exception. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest opens next year, and if filming and production on 300 go well, we can probably make next year's schedule too."

Helen picked up on his point. "Warner has tentatively scheduled the release for early December of next year, but that's not fully confirmed yet. Not until Jack and Zack Snyder provide a more detailed production schedule."

Hearing this, Matthew couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose. "Zack and Kurt Johnstad haven't even finished the script yet..."

"Kurt is a very serious and exacting person." Helen sounded like she had a bit of a headache herself. "Right now, he and Zack have some disagreements about the script. Zack thinks it's best to stick to the graphic novel for the main plot, but Kurt insists there needs to be some adaptation. This difference of opinion is why the script is struggling to get finalized."

Matthew frowned slightly. "If it's really not working out, just fire him."

Helen shook her head. "That's a last resort. It's normal to have disagreements during the screenwriting process."

Matthew spread his hands. "So we just have to wait?"

Helen adjusted her glasses. "As far as I know, the script isn't finished, but it will be soon."

She added, "The first draft is done. David Ellison and Jack will get it into your hands first thing."

****

Matthew didn't have to wait long. Before the end of January, Jack and Zack Snyder called to inform him that the first draft of the 300 script was complete. Matthew simply asked the two of them to deliver it to Helen, who was busy with Amanda—who had hurried back to Los Angeles—working on matters for the charitable foundations.

The next day, upon his return to Los Angeles, Matthew found a copy of the script in the Angel Agency's archives.

Matthew read through the script. The main plot was largely the same as in the film he had once seen, with the same exaggerated descriptions of the Spartans and the Battle of Thermopylae.

Both the script and Frank Miller's graphic novel were, of course, vastly different from what was recorded in historical documents.

In his spare time while filming Pirates of the Caribbean last year, Matthew had studied actual historical sources, which helped him understand just how exaggerated the graphic novels were.

The Battle of Thermopylae involved 300 Spartan warriors plus 6,400 Greek allies.

The pass at Thermopylae was easy to defend and unfavorable for a large attacking force. The Persians, whose tactics relied on lightly armed missile infantry, had no choice but to use attrition tactics against the heavily armed Spartan hoplites.

Historically, the Spartans weren't half-naked as depicted in the graphic novels, nor were they completely nude as Frank Miller claimed, but were in fact heavily armed and armored.

Zack Snyder had told Matthew that the graphic novel was simply Frank Miller's attempt to draw hot, wild muscles after looking at ancient Greek frescoes, so of course, neither the tone nor the content of the comic was ever going to be very realistic.

In any case, the film they were making was definitely not a historical epic, but a standard commercial entertainment film, certainly not based on real history.

Not to mention that Xerxes in Frank Miller's comics was a bald man who disliked wearing clothes and was draped in gold chains.

Matthew recalled once seeing someone rant online that being constantly bareheaded on the Iranian plateau without any head covering would lead to severe sunburn.

Of course, a movie is a movie, and history is something else entirely.

Matthew had no major opinions on the script. Screenwriting was a highly professional craft, and he didn't want to interfere too much with his own views.