The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 659

Two days later, Helen made initial contact with Suzanne Collins. As Matthew had anticipated, the exchange did not go well and proved far more complicated than he had imagined.

As a veteran television screenwriter, Suzanne Collins also had an agent in Hollywood. With an agent involved, it was unlikely she would sell the film rights to The Hunger Games for a low price. Furthermore, she was in a much better position than Stephenie Meyer; as an Emmy-nominated and financially secure writer, she wasn't desperate for cash.

In Helen's message to Matthew, she relayed that Suzanne Collins's agent had made an offer of up to $15 million for the rights, which also included a percentage of the profits after production.

A simple low-cost purchase was, of course, impossible. Matthew instructed Helen to continue negotiations with Suzanne Collins. A $15 million royalty wasn't out of the question, but it couldn't include a backend share. He also wanted to add the sequel rights to the initial purchase and other conditions.

This kind of negotiation was a classic dance of haggling. The other side starting with such a high asking price certainly didn't reflect their bottom line.

While Helen’s team was still locked in negotiations with Collins, Matthew continued filming G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra at the studio located in the Hughes Aircraft plant.

As time went on, the crew began shooting more and more scenes.

On set, several actors, including Matthew, were positioned inside a massive model of an aircraft. However, only the front half of the vehicle existed; the rear was missing entirely. During filming, the camera would remain fixed on the front half, focused on the hatch.

The aircraft's bulkhead was only built on one side. For reasons of economy and filming convenience, the other side was left unconstructed, creating a completely semi-open structure.

Matthew leaned back against his seat. The desert camouflage uniform on his left arm was stained red, but he looked resolute, as if completely ignoring the wound."Who are you people?" he demanded, his gaze fixed on Karolina.

Karolina approached with a medical kit and knelt before him. She first took a pair of medical scissors from the kit, cut open Matthew's sleeve, and then said, "This wound needs to be treated."

Matthew watched her dress his wound, his brow furrowed. Just then, the unusually burly Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje approached and, with the gruffness of a soldier, inserted the needle of an IV into Matthew’s left arm.

Of course, for a prop IV, the needle wasn't actually inserted into the actor's vein.

The black actor, clad in a skin-tight combat suit, raised a hand and clapped Matthew on the shoulder. "That was incredible," he said.

Matthew's expression darkened with regret. "I failed," he said. "All my brothers died because of me."

"It's not your fault," Karolina, her hair dyed a vibrant red, assured him. "You were ambushed, and they weren't just terrorists."

Matthew glanced around. "What unit are you guys with?"

He looked at Karolina again. "Judging by your accent, it's not a regular unit."

Karolina’s face remained impassive.

"Cut!" Director Stephen Sommers stopped the take. "Karolina, you need more expression!"

In truth, he had wanted to cut the scene much earlier because of Karolina’s expression, but given the complexity of the sequence, he had let it run until now.

Stephen added, "We'll do a retake in five minutes."

Hearing this, Matthew stretched and waved a hand toward his assistant, who immediately ran over with a bottle of water. Matthew took the bottle, bit down on the straw, and took two long sips, feeling slightly better.

Despite it being October, the weather in Los Angeles was still quite hot. The studio, converted from an old hangar, lacked air conditioning or any other cooling equipment. The enormous metal roof absorbed the heat, turning the entire space into a sweltering oven.

Karolina saw Matthew drinking water and opened her mouth to speak, but then swallowed the words she was about to say.

It was her first day on set, and compared to rehearsals, it was inevitable that she felt a little nervous.

For a model, especially one on the verge of becoming a supermodel, to have a stiff, runway-like expression while filming was an almost unavoidable issue.

In contrast, the Victoria's Secret Angels were in a better situation, which had much to do with the flexible and dynamic stage style of the Victoria's Secret shows.

Otherwise, Matthew wouldn't have brought Karolina on board, even if she had been willing to pay a steep price for it.

Due to issues with Karolina and another actor of Arab descent, the shot was retaken three more times before they finally got it on the fifth attempt.

For a film like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Stephen Sommers wasn't overly strict when it came to acting.

Even with Karolina's performance, as long as it wasn't excessively bad, the director would declare it a pass.

The set was rearranged; the original wall was moved back and the props were repositioned so that when the camera shot from the other side, the scene looked more like a hangar on a secret military base.

The scene was completely dominated by Matthew. All the other characters, except for General Hawk, played by Dennis Quaid, served as a backdrop for the hero.

"All your men were killed in action, and you're the only one who escaped."

Standing in front of the vehicle's hatch, Stephen Sommers explained the core of the next scene to Matthew. "You will have your revenge! It's a blood debt owed by those terrorists. Your performance has to reflect that."

Matthew nodded.

Soon, he silently climbed into the vehicle, waited for an assistant to close the hatch, and stood behind Karolina, awaiting the start of filming.

The assistant director’s voice rang out, "Scene twelve, take three!"

After the clapperboard snapped shut, filming began. Dennis Quaid approached with a group of aides, the hatch opened, and Matthew followed Karolina down the ramp.

"General!" Karolina carried a huge box and gave Dennis a military salute. "We're back."

Dennis returned the salute.

He looked at everyone emerging from the aircraft. "Well done, commandos!"

Then, Matthew stepped out of the vehicle and looked at the general in surprise, struck by a sense of familiarity.

"Welcome to the base," Dennis smiled. "I've heard a lot about you."

"You're... General Hawk?" Matthew recognized the man.

"This way." Dennis led him toward an elevator, speaking as they walked. "We worked together in Afghanistan, just once, but you made an impression on me. You're an excellent soldier, and I've wanted to recruit you for years."

Matthew entered the elevator, looked around, and asked, "What is this organization?"

Dennis answered directly, "A unit called G.I. JOE. Comprised of the best from various elite forces. It's the best unit in the world today."

Right in front of Matthew, Dennis, and the other actors, a massive blue screen began to unroll, allowing for composite scenes to be added in post-production, such as the elevator's movement and views of special forces training outside.

"Are you tracking that group of terrorists?" Matthew asked. "If you are, I'm in!"

At that moment, the blue screen stopped, and the director's voice called out.

Stephen Sommers: "Cut!"

Then he shouted, "Take a half-hour break and move to set twelve for the next shot!"

The set instantly went from quiet to bustling. Matthew started walking alone toward the break area, but he hadn't gone far before Karolina followed him.

"Hey, Matthew!" She smiled and lowered her voice. "Do you have time today for—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Bella walked up and said to Matthew,

"There was just a call, something's come up."

Matthew waved a hand at Karolina behind him and walked with Bella to a secluded corner of the set. Bella was addressing him about work matters that had nothing to do with Karolina.

"What is it?" Matthew asked directly.

"Miss Charlize Theron called. She's coming this afternoon."

"Charlie?" Matthew was surprised. "She's back from South Africa?"

For the past two years, besides her work, Charlize Theron had been tirelessly waving the flag for the World Cup in South Africa.

"I'm not entirely sure." Bella offered an apologetic smile. "Miss Theron only said two sentences on the phone and then hung up."

Matthew nodded slightly. "I see."

After a moment's thought, he added, "Don't forget to let the crew know."

For situations like this, it was standard practice to inform the crew in advance to avoid disrupting filming.

Soon, the crew moved to set twelve to continue shooting. The morning's work consisted of dialogue-heavy scenes, and they completed six of them with intermittent breaks. Overall, things went quite smoothly.

After lunch, Charlize came to visit the set, and Matthew also wanted to ask her for a favor.