The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 500

David Ellison knew one thing for certain: if he went into negotiations with Universal Pictures and dropped Matthew’s name, he would be completely screwed. Why would Universal ever let go of a franchise coveted by a man who could deliver six or seven consecutive blockbusters?

He stayed at Horner Manor until noon before returning to the Skydance Studios office in Century City. Once there, he immediately mobilized his team to look into Universal Pictures, Paul Walker, and Vin Diesel. He even assigned someone specifically to uncover what had truly transpired between Vin Diesel and Matthew on set all those years ago.

While he knew that backing Matthew's play was by far the less risky option, he wasn't about to make a snap decision on a project of this magnitude based on a brief conversation.

David needed to do his own due diligence before he could commit to anything further.

After David Ellison left the estate, Matthew called Helen to explain the situation. He asked her to leverage her connections at the Angel Agency to get some eyes and ears inside Universal Pictures.

Helen didn't completely understand his angle, but she agreed nonetheless.

Vin Diesel was only a minor factor in Matthew’s plan for the franchise. The main reason was much simpler: he knew it was an incredibly profitable venture.

He knew the franchise would spawn sequel after sequel, all focused on street racing.

Later, he got a call from Amanda, who had arranged for a courier to deliver a portable hard drive. It contained footage filmed by a crew hired by his foundation, documenting refugees receiving humanitarian aid in several war-torn regions of Africa, along with a series of interviews.

It also included interviews with UN officials, peacekeepers, and the UNHCR High Commissioner.Matthew reviewed the footage and locked the drive in his safe. It turned out both Amanda and Helen had sent him a copy.

Helen planned to consult with the 300 team and Warner Bros. to determine the optimal time to release the videos for maximum promotional impact.

Matthew wasn't overly concerned with the details. After stowing the hard drive, he went online to check the reviews for 300.

Online, the film’s average score on IMDb had dropped from 9.7 on opening day to 8.6. Matthew wasn’t surprised; the initial score was based on only a few hundred ratings, whereas now, tens of thousands of people had weighed in.

What did surprise him was the Rotten Tomatoes score. The film was officially “Rotten,” with a shockingly low Tomatometer of 52% after just one day. The average critic rating was a dismal 5.1 out of 10.

Clearly, the film hadn't resonated with critics.

He figured it would be just like his last few movies: the critics' opinions on 300 would be completely drowned out by its box office success.

Besides, 300 was never intended for awards season.

After starring in so many movies and enduring both praise and condemnation from countless people, he'd gradually learned not to care.

As long as his films made money and his commercial appeal remained intact, the critics could write as many scathing reviews as they pleased.

He glanced at the negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

The main criticisms were leveled at Zack Snyder's flamboyant special effects and the protagonist's constant flaunting of his physique—ironically, the very things that were the film's main selling points.

As for the complaints about a lack of humanistic depth, a disregard for history, and other such high-minded critiques, Matthew didn't even bother reading them. Weren't those standard features in most Hollywood blockbusters?

He browsed online for a bit longer and stumbled upon a blog post about 300 that had garnered a surprising number of views.

The post appeared to be written by an ordinary moviegoer.

“Yesterday, while idly flipping through various newspapers and magazines, I noticed a film that was getting terrible reviews from many critics. But online, I saw the complete opposite: regular audiences were raving about this movie, 300.”

“As someone who doesn't go to the movies very often, this strange discrepancy piqued my curiosity, so I went out and bought a ticket this morning.”

“So, I went in fully intending to see just how bad this movie was. For nearly two hours, I watched 300 perfectly sculpted male models fight the Persian army and its king. And it seems I wasn't the only one who was curious—the film ended up being the highest-grossing movie in North America on its opening day.”

“After watching it, I have to say... while it’s absolute nonsense, it’s actually not bad at all!”

“The film's aesthetic isn't vulgar at all; the visuals are powerful and majestic, with a color palette like an oil painting. It ushers in a new era for the aesthetics of war dramas. Every frame of the battle scenes is stunning in its power and physicality, and the sight of the Persian king draped in gold chains is truly epic.”

“No matter how much the Persians are demonized, no matter how much history is ignored by stripping the Spartans of their armor and having them fight in nothing but leather briefs, and no matter how much blood is spilled, the core themes—courage, loyalty, solidarity, defending one’s home—are timeless.”

“The sorrow of these brave, outnumbered heroes, dying after a hundred battles, brought tears to my eyes. Seeing them all perish together at the end was an incredibly powerful image. In my book, a movie that can do that is never a bad film.”

Matthew nodded as he finished reading. The blogger was right. Art was subjective. It wasn't as simple as a critic declaring a film "bad" or a portion of the audience declaring it "good."

Ultimately, watching a movie is a subjective experience.

There’s no better example than the acclaimed Quentin Tarantino. To fans of his style, his films are classics; to those who dislike it, they are brilliantly awful.

He himself had once thought the Marvel superhero movies were brilliant when they first came out. But after seeing so many formulaic entries in the genre, he’d not only lost interest but had actually grown to dislike them.

Even the Academy Awards didn't reflect the opinion of the general public.

A Hollywood movie, at its core, is no different from any other product: some people will love it, and some people will hate it.

Matthew couldn't stop people from voicing their opinions, which was why he never responded to negative reviews from critics.

Let the critics criticize all they wanted. He could just pretend not to see it.

Of course, criticism was one thing; personal attacks and insults were another.

****

Though Matthew was at home, Bella kept him updated. The news was good: 300 was performing well, and for the moment, it faced no real competition in the North American market.

At one-thirty in the afternoon, Helen called with exciting news: a marketing and advertising director from Armani wanted to meet with him.