The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 660

"This is a pretty big set."

Charlize, sitting in the lounge area of the studio, glanced at the distant activity on set before turning to Matthew. "You've made so many different kinds of movies, and now you're back to the military action genre."

Matthew corrected her, "A science-fiction action film."

Charlize nodded and then asked, "So, you're planning to work with Christopher Nolan?"

"Yes." Matthew looked at her. "Are you interested too?"

"No." Charlize sighed. "I'm about to take a vacation."

Matthew asked curiously, "Finished shooting?"

A bitter smile touched Charlize's lips. "Filming is done, but now we're having problems with post-production funding. Independent films from these small companies are just too unreliable."

"A film like that doesn't need a huge post-production budget. It'll be fine soon," Matthew reassured her, then changed the subject. "I remember your co-star was a young actress, Jennifer Lawrence. The one we met the other day."

"Has she caught your eye?" Charlize asked, raising an eyebrow.Matthew quickly waved his hand. "Not like that."

He explained, "I might have a film in mind that needs a talented young actress."

"Jennifer Lawrence..." Charlize mused for a moment. "She's a talented actress, but she has a habit of playing the fool, acting like a silly big sister."

Charlize thought a little more and added, "But overall, she's not bad."

Matthew nodded gently and, after a few more brief questions, switched topics.

Jennifer Lawrence could be one of the potential candidates for the future.

Of course, Lawrence wasn't irreplaceable. If "Twilight" could succeed with a different lead actress, then he'd have the confidence to recast this role in the future too.

However, all of this hinged on him securing the film rights to "The Hunger Games" from Suzanne Collins.

Helen and Suzanne Collins had already gone through five rounds of negotiations, and the disagreements between them were gradually narrowing. Before the sixth round, Matthew met with Suzanne Collins for a talk, promising to invest at least $50 million if he acquired the film rights and produced the movie.

Most authors dream of seeing their works on the big screen, and Suzanne Collins was no exception. Besides, the other terms offered by Matthew's side were quite favorable.

In the sixth round of negotiations, the two parties reached an agreement and subsequently signed an official licensing contract.

The core of this agreement was undoubtedly the author's fee: Studio 13 would pay Suzanne Collins a one-time payment of $6 million, and she would also receive five percent of the film's future North American box office profits as her share.

Not to mention the profit sharing from the North American box office, the $6 million royalty alone was three times Matthew's earliest estimate.

By paying such a high price, Studio 13 also successfully obtained the right of first refusal for the next two sequels to "The Hunger Games."

As Matthew had guessed, "The Hunger Games" was not a standalone novel. According to Suzanne Collins's plan, it would be a trilogy.

Suzanne Collins had even decided on the titles for the next two books.

"Here's to a successful partnership!"

In the lounge of the Angel Acting Agency, Matthew exchanged contracts with Suzanne Collins and shook her hand.

By this point, the sharp-edged tension of the negotiations had long since vanished, replaced by a warm and cordial atmosphere.

Suzanne was a mature woman in her middle years and spoke delicately.

"Matthew, it's an honor that this book has caught your attention."

Matthew replied politely, "I've read the novel, and I'm very taken with both the setting and the direction of the plot."

For some reason, he thought of "Battle Royale" and asked, "Ms. Collins, may I be so bold as to ask about the source of your inspiration for this work?"

The future film would undoubtedly face questions, and if Suzanne Collins didn't have a ready answer, they would need to prepare one in advance. Both sides needed to be on the same page about this.

As for imitation, plagiarism, and the like, that was absolutely out of the question.

"The story is drawn from the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur. I read it when I was eight, and it has stayed with me ever since."

Perhaps not expecting Matthew to ask this question, Suzanne thought for a moment before replying, "In that story, there's a place called Crete, and every year, they send seven boys and seven girls to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. In my novel, I didn't want to write the same kind of mythological story, so I moved the setting into the future, to a post-apocalyptic America, and created 'The Hunger Games' with a modern perspective and values. In the plot, the heroine is Theseus, and the Minotaur represents the government and the invisible system of pressure. As for the plot itself, it's a modern take on the simplest story of gladiators from Ancient Rome."

Matthew nodded and said naturally, "Ms. Collins, our collaboration on the film begins now. The creative origins of a novel are always a great promotional angle. You're a television veteran, so you certainly understand the importance of that part of the story."

"Don't worry, Matthew." Suzanne assured him, "I will cooperate with your publicity."

As the original author, she naturally hoped that the adaptation of her work would have a wide release—the wider, the better.

It was still too early for the film adaptation, so Matthew and Suzanne chatted a bit more about ideas for the future movie before he saw Suzanne Collins and her team out of the Angel Acting Agency.

***

Returning to Helen's office, he let out a long sigh of relief. Although there had been quite a few twists and turns, he had finally secured the rights to "The Hunger Games" series.

In the past two years, the cost of novel adaptation rights had been steadily climbing. A few million dollars for the rights was now considered merely average. For example, Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels & Demons" had sold their adaptation rights for tens of millions of dollars.

It probably wouldn't be long before Hollywood companies would be shelling out hundreds of millions for the adaptation rights to a popular novel or other work.

In an era of filmmaking where original screenplays were in decline and adaptations and sequels were becoming increasingly popular, this was not an impossibility.

When Helen returned to her office, Matthew discussed the future adaptation of "The Hunger Games" with her.

The earliest that planning for the adaptation of "The Hunger Games" could begin was the following year, with a release targeted for 2010 or 2011, or perhaps even later.

One of the main reasons for this was Studio 13's financial situation.

As a shell studio, Studio 13 didn't have sufficient funds, and Matthew couldn't afford to invest in a large number of medium-to-large-scale film projects simultaneously.

His investment in "Iron Man" had already started to pay off, and the expected profits were quite high. However, those profits, along with the previous $40 million investment, had to be poured into "Iron Man 2."

This new film was in the early planning stages and was expected to move into pre-production by the end of the year. It would once again feature director Jon Favreau, lead actors Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as Scarlett Johansson.

Since the film was a sequel to a blockbuster, the salaries for these actors would certainly not be as low as they were for the first movie.

That was why the production budget for "Iron Man 2" was set at $200 million.

Matthew invested forty percent of that, which amounted to $80 million.

This didn't necessarily mean he had to put in the full $80 million—that was the investment cap. But Matthew remembered the central role of Iron Man in the entire Avengers League and was keenly aware of the frenzy he had once generated. His investment would definitely be at the maximum level.

Thus, all the money earned from "Iron Man" was being funneled back into the investment cap for Marvel's superhero films.

Furthermore, "Captain America" was on Marvel Studios' agenda, and it was also a project Matthew planned to invest in.

When he spoke with Kevin Feige on the phone, he heard an interesting idea from him: Marvel Studios was planning for Wolverine and Magneto from the "X-Men" to make cameo appearances (after all, the film is set during World War II, and Wolverine was a soldier in WWII, while Magneto was a prisoner of war). However, the film and television rights for Wolverine and Magneto were in the hands of 20th Century Fox, and they would need to negotiate an agreement with them.

Matthew knew this would not be easy to achieve. In its struggle for survival, Marvel Comics had sold off the rights to many popular series, like "Spider-Man" and "X-Men," in exchange for cash to stay afloat. Getting the rights back was a much more difficult task.

Perhaps when Sony Columbia Pictures could no longer manage the "Spider-Man" franchise, and 20th Century Fox had thoroughly ruined "X-Men" and "Fantastic Four," they would remember Marvel Studios.

Investing in the aforementioned Marvel superhero films would tie up a significant amount of Matthew's liquid assets. "The Hunger Games" would have to be postponed for now. Of course, it wouldn't be postponed indefinitely. The contract between the two parties had a clear condition: if Studio 13 did not adapt the film within ten years, the corresponding rights would automatically revert to Suzanne Collins.

This was the same situation as Marvel Comics' licenses for "Spider-Man," "X-Men," and the "Fantastic Four."

To keep the rights in their hands, Sony Columbia and 20th Century Fox would rush out a related film before the rights expired, even if they had no solid plans, and even if it ended up being a terrible movie.