The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 564

The last Monday of May is Memorial Day in the United States, a national holiday since 1971. Since the concept of the summer movie season was born in Hollywood, the Memorial Day weekend has become one of the best times to open a film, and every year, the movies scheduled for wide release during this period are among the year's top earners.

However, not everyone gets to enjoy this holiday.

The Wachowski brothers arrived at Plan B early on Monday morning, and the signing, scheduled for nine o'clock, was delayed by an hour because Brad Pitt had to briefly attend to the last remnants of his separation from Jennifer Aniston.

In the lavishly decorated conference room, lawyers and notaries were finalizing the contracts. With nothing else to do, Andy Wachowski picked up a copy of the day's paper from a nearby rack, brought it back to his seat, and began to read.

He quickly flipped through the Los Angeles Times to the entertainment section.

"Lana," Andy asked suddenly, "don't you think that when someone's lucky, they just succeed at everything they do?"

"Hmm?" Lana didn't quite catch his meaning. "What's up?" she asked.

Andy tapped the newspaper in his hand. "Another Matthew Horner movie is doing great at the box office."

Lana asked immediately, "Pirates of the Caribbean 3? Is that last weekend's box office?"

"Yes," Andy sighed. "It grossed $137.9 million in three days."Shaking his head, he added, "Another blockbuster to add to Matthew's filmography."

"That's good." The corners of Lana's mouth turned up. "We can keep building the hype."

Andy nodded. "Right."

A project that even Warner Bros. had doubts about in the beginning,

"Cloud Atlas" became one of the most talked-about projects in the business after they used Matthew to generate buzz, and many investors came forward, including Brad Pitt and his company, Plan B.

Since Matthew wielded so much influence, it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.

Lana ran her fingers through a strand of her long red hair and said smugly, "Compared to us, he's just a pawn to be used."

For this project, no one was indispensable except for them; Matthew certainly wasn't. They had taken the initiative and approached him because they recognized his value. Now, they could exploit that value without paying a dime, and in doing so, they'd attracted an investor like Brad Pitt, who had promised to put up $100 million. It was a win-win-win situation.

At that moment, the conference room door opened. The Wachowskis, thinking Brad Pitt had arrived, immediately looked up, only to see Natalie Portman walk in.

"Hi, Lana. Hi, Andy." Natalie greeted them with a smile, pulled out a chair, and sat down beside them. "Hasn't it started yet?" she asked.

"No," Andy shook his head. "Pitt had something to take care of. It'll be a little while."

Natalie looked a little worried. "Nothing's going to go wrong, is it...?"

Brad Pitt had promised her a huge payday for this project. If he backed out now, all her efforts would have been for nothing.

"Don't worry about it," Lana said, sounding confident.

Just as those words were spoken, the conference room door opened again, and Brad Pitt appeared with his people.

Upon seeing the Wachowskis and Natalie Portman, Pitt immediately went over and greeted them warmly. In his mind, the Wachowski brothers were his ticket back to the A-list.

Then, in the presence of their lawyers and notaries, both sides signed a series of official contracts, launching their collaboration on

"Cloud Atlas".

After signing the contract, Brad Pitt, the Wachowski brothers, and Natalie Portman held a joint press conference to officially announce the news to the public.

***

In Helen's office at the Angel Agency, Matthew watched the news broadcast on television before picking up the remote and turning it off.

He turned to Helen and let out a sigh of relief.

"They finally signed."

"Yes, finally," Helen said, her tone deliberately placid. "Just make sure you don't end up regretting this when 'Cloud Atlas' becomes a box office hit and puts Brad Pitt back on the A-list."

Matthew spread his hands. "It's an investment. Who can ever guarantee a hundred percent success?"

Helen took off her glasses and polished them carefully. "Let's just hope everything goes according to your expectations."

Of the three people who had orchestrated the affair between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, she and Ilana—aside from Matthew, the mastermind—were also very invested in seeing Brad Pitt's career take a nosedive.

Matthew nodded but didn't say anything else. The news report had just announced that Pitt had officially signed a contract with the Wachowski brothers on behalf of Plan B, investing $100 million in the filming and production of "Cloud Atlas," and that Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman would star as the male and female leads.

"It's a shame..." Matthew said with a hint of regret. "The film is still a bit underfunded."

"That's quite a lot," Helen countered. "You probably don't know this, but last week Jennifer Aniston completed her withdrawal as a shareholder from Plan B, transferring all of her shares to Pitt. He now effectively owns Plan B as his own private company."

Matthew considered this for a moment. "I thought Plan B had three founders?" he asked.

"Yes, there were three founders. Besides Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, there was also the current CEO of Paramount Pictures, Brad Grey."

Helen put her glasses on and said coolly, "Back when 'Troy' failed to meet box office expectations, Brad Grey gradually began to pull out of Plan B. Later, when the Viacom Group hired him as CEO of Paramount, he transferred all of his shares to Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston to avoid any negative press about conflicts of interest."

Matthew nodded. "Plan B isn't a publicly-traded company, is it?"

"No," Helen replied, her voice even. "My understanding is that with the shares he got from Jennifer Aniston, Pitt now holds over ninety percent of Plan B. The rest is spread out among some of the executives."

She added, "That's quite normal. Many stars have production companies where the shares are mostly held by one person."

"The production budget for 'Cloud Atlas' is a hundred million dollars," Matthew said, frowning slightly. "How is Plan B going to finance that? Jennifer Aniston just pulled out, and the company can't have that kind of cash on hand, can it?"

Helen shook her head slowly. "We don't know yet. My guess is that Brad Pitt will put in some of his own money and get outside financing for the rest. The exact percentages are being kept under wraps for now, and it's not our place to pry."

Matthew slowly tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. A project of this scale still wasn't quite enough, but he couldn't find any other suitable candidates.

"By the way," Helen said, changing the subject, "I received an offer this morning."

Before Matthew could respond, she continued, "It's another joint offer from Harvey Weinstein and Quentin Tarantino. They want you to star in a major project for The Weinstein Company."

"Turn it down," Matthew said, not even bothering to ask what the project was. "I have no interest in working with The Weinstein Company."

Helen didn't press the issue. "I'll call and turn them down."

How much could be invested in a so-called major project from The Weinstein Company anyway? Sixty, maybe seventy million dollars at best, which was far below Matthew's current pay grade.

Matthew didn't give it a second thought. As far as he was concerned, everything Harvey Weinstein managed or produced was either an independent drama geared for awards season or one of Quentin Tarantino's cult films. Needless to say, he had zero interest in Oscar-bait arthouse pictures.

As for Quentin Tarantino's movies, the style was all wrong for him. Matthew was walking a mainstream commercial path and had no desire to participate in a cult film that would bring him no tangible benefits.

And that wasn't even considering whether The Weinstein Company could afford his massive fee. Was he supposed to take a pay cut for the sake of Harvey Weinstein's fat ass?

He was in a different league now than he had been a few years ago.

Helen then asked, "Did Akiva Goldsman call you?"

Matthew nodded. "He did. The movie 'Hancock' starts filming soon, I remember."

The project was being produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. Akiva Goldsman was the producer, and a young director named Peter Berg was set to direct. He and Charlize Theron were slated to be the male and female leads, respectively.

The film was also scheduled for a North American release over the Independence Day weekend the following summer.

"Charlize Theron's agent called me," Helen said calmly.

"He was asking if you'd be willing to rekindle your old relationship with Charlize."

"Does Charlize know?" Matthew asked at once.

"I don't think so," Helen replied.

"Then forget it," Matthew said flatly.

Just then, his phone rang. The number was somewhat unfamiliar, but when he answered, it was Andrew Stanton on the line.

"The first draft of the script for 'A Princess of Mars' is done," he said over the phone. "I just emailed it to you."