The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 412

After lunch, Akiva Goldsman drove back to Warner Studios, mulling over Francis Lawrence’s words. Both Matthew Horner and Will Smith had their strengths. However, he had worked with Matthew before and knew him well, whereas he’d had very few dealings with Will Smith.

As a precaution, he needed to inquire about Will Smith's salary.

For I, Robot, Smith hadn't received a percentage of the box office gross, but he had been paid a staggering twenty-eight million dollars.

Even without speaking to Smith’s agent, Goldsman knew the actor’s fee wouldn’t be a penny less than twenty million dollars.

After several rounds of negotiations with Helen, his own mental ceiling for the lead role’s salary had risen from fifteen to twenty million dollars. Any higher, and Warner would definitely have something to say about it.

If Matthew and Helen refused to budge, and Will Smith was only asking for twenty million, he might have to seriously consider Francis’s suggestion to replace Matthew with Will Smith for the lead role.

During his previous meeting with Kevin Huvane, Goldsman had tried to probe whether Will Smith’s bottom line was indeed twenty million dollars.

****

“You know my father was one of the founders of CAA. Although he lost the power struggle and left, and most of his supporters went with him, a few people with whom he maintained quiet ties remained. If I ask, they’ll give me a bit of information.”

Matthew had heard Helen recount her family history before.As the two of them walked onto the Warner lot, Helen added, “For Will Smith and Kevin Huvane, the bottom line is twenty million dollars. They would never voluntarily price themselves out of the twenty-million-dollar club for a major commercial production.”

She turned to Matthew. “Like I’ve told you, if you voluntarily lower your asking price, you give the studio justification to lowball you on the next role.”

Matthew understood this all too well. “It's easy to fall out of the twenty-million-dollar club,” he said, “but it’s damn hard to get back in.”

For many Hollywood stars, membership in the twenty-million-dollar club was more coveted than a Best Actor Oscar, and no one who made it in ever wanted to leave.

Helen and Matthew continued their conversation as they headed for the production offices for I Am Legend. The original plan was for Matthew to meet with Goldsman first, while Helen would speak with the other two producers on the team.

After all, he had a history with Goldsman, and their last film together had been a box office smash.

“I hear Kevin Huvane is influential,” Matthew remarked.

CAA’s reputation was immense, magnified by relentless media coverage.

“Don't worry,” Helen said, seeming to read his mind. “Kevin Huvane is just one of many junior partners at CAA.”

She suddenly smiled. “Early on, CAA’s own PR machine built up such a powerful myth around the agency that some of its partners actually started to believe it—that CAA was an unstoppable force they controlled. They forgot that CAA stopped being an agency for agents a long time ago.”

Matthew was puzzled. “What do you mean? Isn’t CAA a partnership of agents?”

Helen shook her head. “How much of CAA’s stock do all the agents own combined? And how much is actually owned by DPT Investments, the firm that holds a controlling interest?”

This was beyond Matthew’s understanding of the business, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Helen had a complicated history with CAA, so her assessment wasn’t necessarily objective.

Soon, they arrived at the production offices for I Am Legend.

A member of the production team led Matthew to Akiva Goldsman’s temporary office. Another man was already there, middle-aged with short, dark hair.

Helen had her own preparatory meeting for the negotiations, so she headed down the hall.

“Hello, Matthew.”

Goldsman extended a hand and greeted him warmly. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

He spoke as if the negotiations were a mere formality and there were no points of contention between them.

“It has been a while.” Matthew returned the firm handshake with a warm smile. “I miss the great rapport we had working on Mr. & Mrs. Smith together.”

Goldsman smiled, then gestured to the other man. “Matthew, this is David Heyman, one of the producers from Warner Brothers.”

He then turned to Heyman. “David, this is Matthew Horner, a phenomenal actor.”

Matthew greeted him with a handshake. “Mr. Heyman, it’s an honor. You’re a brilliant producer. Without you, the world wouldn’t have the Harry Potter films.”

The compliment clearly pleased Heyman, who smiled warmly. “I was just lucky enough to meet Joanna Rowling.”

Matthew didn't need to be told; he could already surmise that Heyman was on the production team to represent the interests of the primary investor, Warner Brothers.

In truth, Matthew had recognized Heyman immediately. His name and photograph had been regulars in the entertainment sections of newspapers and magazines for the past few years, always in connection with the Harry Potter films.

While Michael Barnathan had been the first producer Warner Brothers officially hired for the Harry Potter franchise, anyone who followed its development knew it was David Heyman who had recommended it to the studio.

According to the media reports Matthew had read, back in 1997, while Heyman was searching for a children's film script, an assistant had recommended a book by Joanna Rowling titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which at the time was sitting quietly on a forgotten shelf in a bookstore.

Heyman had held several lunch meetings with Joanna Rowling to discuss the adaptation before recommending it to Warner Brothers. The studio saw the series’ commercial potential and mobilized immense financial and material resources to promote it globally. The Harry Potter film series went from an instant hit to a worldwide phenomenon.

Some in the media even argued that the Harry Potter film series would have been impossible without the full might of Warner Brothers behind it.

When Matthew was first starting out, he'd read a few of the published Harry Potter books and had also seen Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

“I’m currently shooting 300 with Warner Brothers.”

Matthew was clearly the focus of this pre-negotiation chat. He said to Heyman, “I’d love to continue working with Warner, and I’m confident we can come to an agreement.”

“Of course!” Heyman replied with a smile. “Every production company in Hollywood wants to work with Matthew Horner right now.”

Matthew put on a look of feigned surprise. “I had no idea I was in such high demand.”

He joked, “When we start shooting I Am Legend, you’ll have to make a big official announcement, just to make all those rumor-mongers who claim our talks fell through eat their words.”

Goldsman nodded. “Not a problem.”

After chatting for over half an hour, Matthew excused himself, mentioning he had to get back to the set of 300*.