The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 658

On the second day of shooting, Matthew only had a morning scene. After filming wrapped, on the way to the Angel Agency in Burbank, he had Brown pull over at a bookstore they were passing. He then asked his bodyguard to go inside and see if they had "The Hunger Games" in stock.

The recommendation he had seen the previous evening was from the latest New York Times reading list, compiled by Bella. Her team of assistants had been monitoring these publications ever since he acquired the rights to the "Twilight" series last year.

Matthew couldn't tell Bella which specific novels to focus on, so he simply instructed her to promptly forward him the novel recommendations and bestseller list supplements from each new issue.

Finally, he had been waiting for "The Hunger Games" to appear.

"Boss."

The bodyguard opened the car door and handed Matthew a moderately thick novel. "Is this the one?"

Matthew took the book and glanced at the cover. It featured a burning golden ring, and within the ring was a bird pierced by an arrow. Below it was the title, "The Hunger Games," and the author's name, Suzanne Collins.

"This has to be it." Matthew waved a hand at his bodyguard, waited for him to get back in the car, and then told Brown, who was behind the wheel,

"Let's go."

The car started up and merged onto the freeway heading toward Burbank.The drive to Burbank would take some time, and since he had nothing else to do in the car, Matthew opened the novel and began to flip through it quickly.

To his surprise, the novel was written in the first person, from the heroine's point of view.

Although it felt a little awkward to read, he pressed on. After all, this wasn't for pleasure—it was a matter of future investment returns.

Matthew had skimmed no more than twenty pages before he was completely certain this was the right book. Though he had forced himself to watch the first movie, the "Battle Royale"-like setting had still left a strong impression on him.

He turned the pages rapidly, managing to get through the entire book before the car arrived in Burbank.

It was, to use the popular industry term, a quintessential young adult dystopian novel.

In a futuristic North America, the nation of Panem has been built upon a wasteland.

Every year, the twelve districts are forced to send one boy and one girl, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, to the Capitol as "tributes" to participate in "The Hunger Games." It is a brutal and terrifying life-or-death competition in which all tributes must fight to the death, with the last one standing declared the winner.

The arenas are artificial forests and wilderness areas, and the competition itself—involving hunting, tracking, camouflage, deception, and other life-and-death scenarios—is televised across the entire nation. Everyone is required to watch, and it's even celebrated as a holiday. For some, it is an annual event, a game; for the other twelve districts, it is a humiliation and a torture.

Survival is an instinct for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who poaches and gathers wild fruits beyond the fence of District Twelve to feed her mother, sister, and herself. When Katniss volunteers for the Hunger Games in place of her sister, who was chosen in the "life-or-death lottery," she realizes it means certain death for her. If she wants to survive, she must choose between humanity and survival, between death and love.

Much like other young adult properties, "The Hunger Games" felt like a romance novel dressed up in dystopian clothing.

And this novel bore a strong resemblance to "Battle Royale," which he had read last year while searching for "The Hunger Games."

In the future, when the novel became widely popular or was adapted into a film, it would undoubtedly be accused of plagiarizing the Battle Royale series.

Matthew, however, paid it no mind. Hollywood could be remarkably shameless at times.

Hollywood companies were strict about enforcing copyrights among themselves, and even with other companies in North America or the Western world. But outside of that framework, their style was a bit more... aggressive.

Take the country where Battle Royale originated, for example. Countless Hollywood films had been criticized for copying their anime or other literary works, yet people there rarely filed copyright lawsuits. And even if someone did, winning was nearly impossible.

It was safe to say that countries and regions outside the circle drawn by Hollywood were simply not considered part of the game by Hollywood's rules.

This circle, which placed immense importance on copyrights and contracts within its borders while ignoring those of other countries and regions, was nothing new in Hollywood.

Besides, the novel was saturated with elements of thriller and science fiction.

All of this could serve as an attractive selling point for a film adaptation.

After Matthew finished the novel and confirmed it was the original "The Hunger Games," he naturally started thinking about a film adaptation.

Moreover, on the back cover of the novel, he saw that the publication date for "The Hunger Games" was September 14, 2008.

In other words, the novel had been officially released just over half a month ago, so it likely hadn't attracted much attention yet.

For a deal like purchasing the film rights to a novel, it was, of course, better to have fewer competitors.

***

"The film rights to this novel?"

In the office of the Angel Agency, Helen looked at the cover of the book in her hand and asked, "'The Hunger Games'? The author is Suzanne Collins? I've never heard that name before."

Matthew didn't think much of it. He pulled out a chair and sat down across from her, explaining, "I just read this novel. Like 'Twilight,' it's a typical young adult story. I think there's potential in adapting it."

Hearing this, Helen didn't respond immediately. Instead, she opened the book, flipped through a few pages, and after some thought, said, "The market for young adult novels has been gradually expanding these past two years, but as for a film adaptation, there isn't a relevant movie out yet, so no one can guarantee the outcome. I suggest we wait until 'Twilight' is released before making a decision."

This was undoubtedly a sound strategy. If the adaptation of "Twilight"—a quintessential young adult novel disguised in other genres—was successful, it would prove that a market for this genre truly existed. Otherwise, there would be no need to waste financial resources and time on "The Hunger Games" series.

But Matthew thought differently. "The Hunger Games" had only just hit the market, and very few people had noticed it. If they delayed, who knew if other suitors would appear?

"I think that once 'Twilight' becomes a huge hit, a lot of uncontrollable factors could emerge." Matthew laid out his reasoning. Seeing Helen fall into thought, he added, "I called Bella on my way here. Suzanne Collins is a new author, and 'The Hunger Games' is her first published work. The fees can't be too high, and I can afford to lose a few million dollars."

Helen finished her deliberation and said, "Since you've made up your mind, let's do it right."

Frankly, it didn't matter if she agreed to have his production company buy the rights to the novel. Matthew had brought it up partly because he needed her to handle the outreach and partly out of respect for her as his agent.

Besides, a few million dollars was a trivial amount to Matthew.

Matthew continued, "You need to contact the author and publisher of this novel and try to secure the rights this month. This book is clearly not the end. If it's a series, try to get the serialization rights or at least the right of first refusal on them as well."

Helen nodded slightly. "I'll have someone do some preliminary research."

Matthew added, "The sooner, the better."

***

Helen's efficiency had always been remarkable. Just as filming wrapped on the first fight scene for "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," she had already delivered the preliminary information she had gathered to Matthew.

Things weren't as simple as Matthew had thought.

Suzanne Collins was, indeed, a debut novelist, but she wasn't some housewife like Stephenie Meyer who knew next to nothing about the film and television industry before she started writing. Collins was a veteran of children's television showrunning. Her work on the children's shows "Clarissa Explains It All" and "The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo," the latter of which was nominated for an Emmy, spoke volumes.

In other words, she was a Hollywood insider.

It wouldn't be easy to acquire the film rights to a novel from such a veteran screenwriter at a low price.

Furthermore, the celebrated author Stephen King had already written a review of the novel: "Among stories of reverse utopia, 'The Hunger Games' is the best. The plot moves quickly and is always full of suspense. The author is a master of the written word, no nonsense and with a delightfully cool sense of humor. Reading 'The Hunger Games' is as addictive as playing a video game: you know the world isn't real, but you can't help but drop a coin in again and again."

All of this was leverage that Suzanne Collins would undoubtedly use when negotiating the film rights.

Of course, none of this changed Matthew's decision to acquire the series. The initial strategy remained the same, and he had Helen continue to approach Collins and the publishing house with an offer to purchase the film rights as soon as possible.