The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 476

A black Mercedes-Benz turned onto Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, gliding past a long line of prestigious storefronts toward the office building at 417, the headquarters of Marvel Entertainment.

“I’ve spoken with Kevin Feige twice this week.”

Gazing out the car window at the luxury brands receding down the street, Helen Hermann turned to Matthew, who sat beside her. “Marvel Entertainment has rejected your 20+20 offer, quite decisively. To be more precise, most of their executives couldn’t even stomach the twenty-million-dollar salary.”

She pulled her gaze from the window and met Matthew’s. “Marvel is having money trouble. If we don’t significantly lower your fee, the role...”

Helen didn’t need to finish the sentence. Matthew understood her implication perfectly. “Then forget it,” he said immediately.

He hadn't been overly interested in the first place. Without an attractive enough payday, dropping the role was a natural decision.

Helen added, “I suspect that after Kevin reached out to you, Marvel already backed away from the idea of casting you as Iron Man. What's more, just two days ago, they broke their agreement with Rachel McAdams and decided to cast Gwyneth Paltrow as the female lead instead.”

“Anything to do with me?” Matthew ventured.

“More or less,” Helen clarified. “It’s mostly due to Marvel’s funding issues. The deal Rachel had secured was for a two-and-a-half-million-dollar salary.”

She held up one hand, spreading her fingers. “Gwyneth Paltrow only wanted five hundred thousand. So, Marvel Entertainment triggered the exit clause in their simple agreement, paid Rachel a two-hundred-fifty-thousand-dollar kill fee, and when a reporter asked about it, they claimed she had voluntarily withdrawn from the role.”Realizing Marvel’s financial situation was even more dire than he’d thought, Matthew asked, “Are they really that short on funds?”

“Marvel Entertainment itself doesn’t have a liquidity problem. The Spider-Man series and the X-Men trilogy have been extremely well-received over the past few years. Their comic book business is stable, and their licensing revenue is quite substantial.”

Helen had clearly done her homework on Marvel’s recent situation. “However, that’s just enough to maintain their own liquidity and stay out of trouble. If they squeeze out one hundred forty million dollars to finance the filming and production of Iron Man, Marvel will immediately run into problems. And if the film fails, they’ll likely find themselves in the same predicament they faced in the mid-to-late nineties.”

The comic book industry had entered an ice age in the mid-1990s and has been gradually declining ever since. Matthew had heard bits and pieces about this over the last couple of years. Both Marvel and DC were seeing their comic book businesses shrink, a far cry from their glory days in the 1970s and 80s.

It wasn’t just the comic book industry; Hollywood itself had been stagnating for years. The overall North American box office might seem to be growing, but that was merely a result of rising ticket prices. The actual number of moviegoers each year was on the decline.

In Matthew's view, there were simply too many forms of entertainment available these days; the dilution of the consumer base was inevitable.

This was precisely why Marvel Entertainment was so eager to get directly involved in the film industry, as well as other sectors like video games.

These thoughts flashed through Matthew's mind as he asked Helen, “Hasn’t Marvel figured out a way to raise the money?”

“Yes,” Helen said, continuing to share what she’d learned. “Marvel has set a budget of one hundred forty million for Iron Man, but that’s just a number on paper. They’ve raised some funds through various channels, but they’re still short of their target.”

She smiled faintly. “Marvel is trying to raise money using the model of Hollywood’s Big Six, but they aren’t one of the Big Six. Yes, there are two successful superhero film series based on their properties, but those were produced by Sony Columbia and Twentieth Century Fox. Marvel had some involvement, but very little. Iron Man is their first independent venture into the film industry, and the vast majority of people are deeply skeptical.”

Matthew could imagine. It was one thing for another company to make a successful film based on a Marvel comic; it was another matter entirely for a comic book company to produce the film itself.

If he didn’t have his memories to guide him, he would never invest in such a company, not even if Marvel begged him.

Helen herself had said earlier that investing directly in Marvel was too risky, and by Hollywood standards, she was absolutely right.

Helen added, “Furthermore, Marvel Entertainment finalized a distribution deal for Iron Man with Paramount Pictures. When they couldn't raise enough capital, they tried to get an investment from Paramount, but the distributor refused. Kevin Feige is still lobbying Paramount’s executives, but even if they do invest, the amount won’t be huge.”

Matthew said nothing, simply letting Helen continue.

“Marvel also considered taking out a loan from a bank or a fund.” Helen cleared her throat softly before continuing, “But the risk assessments were not favorable. The banks and funds refused to lend directly, demanding instead that Marvel Entertainment put up the rights to their most famous superheroes as collateral.”

“And Marvel refused?” Matthew asked.

Helen nodded. “From Kevin to Stan Lee and Avi Arad, they were all unanimously against it. Marvel is united on this front. They don’t want a repeat of the Spider-Man and X-Men tragedy.”

Matthew vaguely recalled that the deals for Spider-Man and X-Men had indeed become huge scars for Marvel later on.

“So that’s what happened,” he said, the pieces clicking into place. “Marvel turned down my salary proposal and dropped me from consideration for the lead, but they still wanted to meet with me to discuss an investment?”

“Everyone knows you’re rich, and they’re short on cash flow,” Helen answered bluntly.

Matthew nodded without another word. How had Marvel Entertainment managed to raise the money to produce Iron Man? He thought about it for a moment but couldn’t recall any specifics. He mentally guessed that, aside from the usual Hollywood fundraising methods, Marvel must have indeed sold off the rights to some characters to banks or other institutions to secure the loan.

It was a desperate choice. No one wants to sell off their own children.

“Marvel still can’t raise the tens of millions of dollars they need to cover their shortfall.” Helen glanced at Matthew. “They are... how should I put this...”

She paused briefly, her tone shifting to one of persuasion. “Matthew, are you sure you want to invest in Marvel Entertainment’s first film? They have no experience.”

Seeing Matthew’s silence, Helen pressed on. “You know better than anyone that for a commercial film, the producer can be more important than the director. And it’s not just that Marvel has no experience; Kevin Feige worked on the Spider-Man and X-Men series, yes, but he was just an ordinary member of the production team.”

Although Matthew had already done his research, understood the plan, and had been in contact with Marvel, Helen couldn’t fathom why he was making such a risky investment.

After all, she had worked with Matthew for many years and had gradually become more than just a business partner; she was a friend. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be trying to persuade him at all.

“Thank you, Helen.” Matthew knew she meant well but couldn’t explain his real reasons. He could only fudge the truth. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Rachel told me she overheard something when Kevin Feige and Avi Arad were talking. Iron Man is just the first step for Marvel Entertainment. A whole series of screen adaptations will follow. Have you heard of the Avengers?”

When Helen nodded, he continued, “Marvel wants to build an Avengers series. Think about Spider-Man and X-Men. What if Marvel succeeds? How profitable would that be? I don’t just want to invest in this one project; I want to seize this opportunity to secure an investment deal that covers a larger slate of their films.”

Helen would be handling the subsequent negotiations, so it was better to tell her this sooner rather than later.

Matthew’s expression was serious. “I also sounded Kevin out, and what Rachel said was true. Once Iron Man succeeds, Marvel’s situation will change completely. This is my only chance to get a piece of the pie.”

Helen sighed. “So you’re buying a ticket to an unknown future for tens of millions of dollars?”

Matthew smiled. “You know I can afford it.”

Helen didn’t press the issue. She knew Matthew well enough to know that he could, indeed, afford it.

“Let’s meet with Marvel’s top people first.” Helen set aside her reservations. “Depending on the actual situation, I’ll adjust my strategy and then conduct targeted negotiations with them. But...”

She added one last thing, “Don’t bet your entire fortune on this.”

“Of course,” Matthew replied. “I have to hedge against the possibility of failure.”

Despite his memories of the future, he wasn’t foolish enough to bet all his money on the Iron Man project alone, even if he knew how the investment would turn out.

The Mercedes pulled up to the curb on Fifth Avenue. Matthew and Helen got out and rode the elevator up to the seventh floor of the 417 building. As they stepped out, they saw the Marvel logo on the wall behind the reception desk.

After explaining the purpose of their visit to the receptionist, they received visitor passes and waited to be escorted inside.