The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 504

It was early Monday evening when Matthew returned to the Angel Agency, riding in a good mood from a promotional event for "300" in Burbank. The film was selling out not only in its first week in North America but also in the foreign markets where it had been released simultaneously.

Due to its R rating, "300" had not been released in over thirty overseas markets at the same time as North America; in those other territories, it wouldn't appear for another week.

The thirty countries where "300" did premiere were mostly in Europe and Latin America, traditional dumping grounds for Hollywood blockbusters. In just a few days, "300" had grossed over fifty million dollars.

In its first week of release, the film had already earned more than one hundred and fifty million dollars worldwide.

For a movie made on a budget of just eighty million dollars, it was a bona fide hit.

The movie's success had also swept away Armani's last doubts, and the initial negotiations with Helen that morning had gone better than expected. Armani had met with her before and laid out some preliminary terms, and their demands in that regard had not been overly steep.

There are clear benchmarks for negotiations of this kind, and as long as the difference in fees isn't too great, the rest of the talks tend to proceed much more smoothly.

According to Helen, they could sign an official agreement with Armani in a month at the latest.

The Mercedes limousine had just turned onto South Beaufort Street when his phone suddenly rang. Matthew pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and answered with a smile, "Hey, still at work?"

Ilana's voice on the other end was dead serious. "Matthew, do you know Spike Lee? The Hollywood Reporter just published an interview online where he's accusing '300' of alleged racism.""What did you say?" Matthew asked, taken aback.

"Spike Lee is accusing '300' of racism. And he’s pointing the finger right at you," she said, quickly summarizing the article. "He's also going after 'Flags of Our Fathers' and Clint Eastwood."

Matthew steadied his breathing. Spike Lee was accusing him of racism?

"Do you have a problem with Spike Lee?"

Matthew briefly recounted their clash at the premiere of "Flags of Our Fathers." "He was aggressive, and I couldn't resist a few sarcastic remarks."

He grimaced and asked, "Has the story already hit the internet?"

"It's already been picked up by several sites, and TMZ is about to run it too," Ilana replied quickly. "I'll handle the TMZ article as needed to spin the angle in your favor, but you'd better be careful. This is clearly deliberate. I've heard that quite a few media outlets are preparing to publish reviews attacking '300'."

"I see. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Better to be prepared."

Matthew hung up, then immediately called Helen. After that, he contacted Bella Anderson, David, and Zack Snyder.

This sort of thing wasn't a major crisis, but it wasn't insignificant either. It was, however, a manageable problem.

Soon, Matthew arrived at the Angel Agency.

"Spike Lee might be targeting me," Matthew told Helen, giving her a rough summary of what happened that day. "Should we issue a statement about such a baseless accusation?"

Helen frowned in thought. "I know of Spike Lee, more or less. He's a rabid dog who often weaponizes the issue of race to attack people."

Matthew pulled out a chair and sat down across from Helen. "If anyone should be protesting '300,' it ought to be the Iranians. Does he think he's Iranian?"

"Still, be careful. Let's see how this develops first. I have a feeling it's not that simple."

Matthew nodded. "I have the same feeling. Leonidas does kill a black Persian emissary at the beginning of the movie, but that was in the original graphic novel. It was a minor supporting character. It would be cinematic fascism if a black character couldn't even die in a film."

He mused aloud, "For him to accuse me just to get revenge over that one incident... that won't lead to anything but a war of words, will it?"

Helen agreed with Matthew's assessment. "He also attacked Clint Eastwood and 'Flags of Our Fathers'."

Matthew, whose knowledge of American history was extremely limited, asked, "There weren't any black soldiers in the battle for Iwo Jima, were there?"

Helen answered confidently, "No."

Matthew was instantly bewildered. What the hell!

He suddenly recalled searching for something online in his past life, vaguely remembering that a black actor from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" had attacked the series "Game of Thrones," claiming none of the main characters were black and that its creators were racist.

At the time, he had only stumbled upon the news by chance and had forgotten the exact details, but that was the gist of it.

'Spike Lee's mentality is somewhat similar to that guy's, I suppose.'

The thought flashed through his mind.

But Matthew still felt that things weren't that simple. Spike Lee had approached him directly; the man was clearly scheming. Otherwise, he wouldn't be trying to get back together with Sofia. Would he really attack someone randomly just for revenge?

In reality, lashing out like this wouldn't affect him much. After all, "300" scandalized the Persians, not black people.

Then, David, Zack Snyder, and an executive from Warner Bros. arrived at the Angel Agency one after another. After a brief meeting, they decided that Warner Bros. and Skydance Pictures would issue a public statement tomorrow, refuting and responding to Spike Lee's accusations.

During this time, Helen also contacted Clint Eastwood's agent. He was informed of the news, and it turned out the old cowboy, despite his age, hadn't lost any of his fiery temper. He planned to directly confront Spike Lee's accusations tomorrow.

That said, Matthew really couldn't figure out what Spike Lee was thinking. Clint Eastwood had made a film based on history. Even if he could find fault with it, by his standards, wouldn't ninety-nine percent of all Hollywood films be discriminatory against black people?

According to Matthew's speculation, Spike Lee's goal wasn't to get revenge on him. It was more likely a publicity stunt, using the popularity of "300" and its star to create a buzz. Attacking Clint Eastwood served the same purpose; the old cowboy was known for his short fuse and would surely fight back. The resulting dispute would be juicy enough to capture the public's attention.

He put his theory into words, and people like Helen and David agreed that it made sense.

The Warner Bros. executive was the first to leave, followed by Zack Snyder after saying his goodbyes, but David lingered.

He sat in the lounge of the Angel Agency and said to Matthew with a smile, "It seems you have a conflict with Lee."

Gossip travels extraordinarily fast in Hollywood, not to mention Matthew had done nothing to hide it. Several people had seen him and Sofia Coppola get into a car together that evening.

Matthew shrugged. "The so-called conflict is all in Spike Lee's head. If he hadn't been so aggressive, I wouldn't have even bothered with him at the premiere."

He had tried to walk away several times back then, but Spike Lee had cornered him. And since Matthew was no saint, he'd naturally had to fight back.

"Do you want to go find Sofia?" David suddenly proposed. "Get some serious dirt from her and let's go start a scandal with Spike Lee."

"Forget it." Matthew had no interest in that kind of mudslinging.

He had barely finished his sentence when his phone vibrated.

Matthew answered the call, and Bella's voice came through. "There are some videos online. You need to see them."