The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 661

Compared to his previous films, Hancock was undoubtedly teetering on the edge of being a bad movie, but it didn't impact Matthew's reputation or his standing in the business. In fact, it did quite the opposite for his standing; as the lead, Matthew had proven to all of Hollywood that he possessed enough market appeal to carry even a poorly written film to blockbuster status.

Hollywood doesn't care if a film is good or bad—as long as it’s commercially viable, its star is considered a success.

Matthew, however, was keenly aware that the goodwill he'd built up with audiences had played a key role in Hancock's box office success.

But that kind of thing couldn't be repeated over and over.

If he made too many bad films, even a star on the cusp of superstardom like him wouldn't be able to hold on, let alone the A-listers below him.

Nicolas Cage was a cautionary tale.

Besides, the film's strong opening and subsequent drop-off had been enough of a warning for him.

Released in July, the movie ran for over three months before being pulled from North American theaters in late October, its box office potential exhausted. It ultimately grossed $312.03 million in the domestic market.

Overseas, its box office performance had also tapered off, with a final worldwide total of $766.8 million, failing to cross the $800 million mark.

Regardless, Hancock was a massive commercial success.The film's box office triumph also generated a wave of negative reviews, not just from professional critics but from many industry professionals as well.

"Nowadays, in movies about saving the world, there are fewer and fewer actual scenes. It’s even happening in my own films, and nobody knows why. Everything is wound as tight as a watch spring."

In a recent interview, renowned director David Fincher shared some of his thoughts on Hancock, specifically how studios were making films according to a certain formula, a set pattern where a movie consists only of explosions, romance, heroes, and so on. He saw nothing wrong with that approach, but for him, it wasn't the path he wanted to take.

"A lot of studios are still trying to put out good work, and I have many good friends who are producers, but if you want to make films using that studio formula, then you follow that path: romance, comedy, Oscar-bait tearjerkers, summer superhero blockbusters, and slightly lower-budget sequels."

Coming from someone like David Fincher, this was a fairly objective view.

Many other famous directors and independent film producers felt that Hollywood was currently experiencing a dark age.

In their opinion, 1999 was practically the last gasp of Hollywood's glory. Since the turn of the century, there had been fewer and fewer Hollywood films capable of earning a place in cinematic history.

Moreover, the structure of Hollywood had changed dramatically. The power of the studios had grown too immense, the space for independent films was shrinking, and the financial crisis had made investors more conservative. The relationship between the studios and Wall Street had become more entangled, with neither able to break away from the other. Money was increasingly tight, investors sought security above all, and funds were gradually being concentrated in large-scale commercial productions, because that's where the box office guarantee lay.

They believed this was leading directly to Hollywood's severe neglect of small-to-medium-sized productions and creative films. In the future, Hollywood's blockbuster-focused studios would devour themselves. When they only cared about money and stopped investing in quality content, that quality content would flow to new channels to attract audiences, and fewer and fewer people would go to the movies.

But what the majority of audiences actually liked to watch was something these critics failed to consider.

Matthew didn't know what the future would hold, but in a decade or so, what would audiences still crave? They would still want spectacle, and spectacle tied to relatively accessible plots that were both entertaining and visually impressive.

The average moviegoer just wanted to be wowed.

Furthermore, commercial return was the single most decisive factor driving investment from Hollywood studios. As long as that investment strategy didn't fundamentally change, the narrative of mainstream Hollywood films wouldn't undergo any significant shifts.

Matthew had been in Hollywood for years now, standing on a fairly high rung of the pyramid, and he often thought about the dominant narrative modes of Hollywood films and whether they could ever truly move beyond the three-act structure.

He had thought of two modes himself. The first could be summed up in a single sentence: a person wants to do something, faces endless obstacles, and then overcomes those obstacles to make it happen. That was one mode.

This model seemed best suited for commercial films.

The second model was a person who suddenly loses their sense of value in life, then begins to search for it, and in the end, either finds it or still doesn't.

This, one could say, was the fundamental theme of arthouse cinema: Who am I? What am I doing? Where am I going?

So, it was perfectly suited for independent films.

Of course, given that he didn't possess a deep enough understanding of cinematic art, nor was he a visionary figure like Spielberg or George Lucas, his personal insights were limited.

Perhaps this was a problem for the major Hollywood studios to ponder.

He was more focused on adapting to the changes in the film industry and society.

Just as the glory of traditional action films had faded, those who fell behind the times would eventually disappear. Even if they were brought back for nostalgia, they could never become mainstream again.

In the 1990s, superhero films were considered a minor genre in Hollywood, but now they were gradually becoming the commercial mainstream, and Matthew had successfully hopped on that money train.

***

In October, Kevin Feige requested a meeting with Matthew.

"I heard you sold all your Marvel Comics shares to Walt Disney," Kevin asked directly.

This had been announced and publicized for a while, so there was no need for Matthew to deny it. "Yes, Disney made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

Walt Disney's negotiations with Marvel Comics' management were still ongoing, but their attack on the minority shareholders had been swift, scooping up over twenty percent of Marvel's stock.

Kevin inquired, "Matthew, considering the success of Iron Man this year alone and the many superhero films on the horizon, Marvel Comics stock has enormous potential for growth. So why are you selling?"

Matthew frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and replied, "Kevin, don't you think Marvel's superhero films need a bigger platform to grow?"

Hearing this, Kevin's expression grew thoughtful.

"If we can leverage the power of a giant media conglomerate to create Marvel superhero films," Matthew added slowly.

"Marvel's superhero movies could definitely be more successful."

He asked uncertainly, "Has Walt Disney approached you as well?"

Kevin smiled and didn't deny it. "I've been asked, but I hold very few Marvel shares."

Due to the side agreement he had signed with Disney to invest in Marvel's superhero films, Matthew was happy to see Walt Disney acquire Marvel Comics. After all, that side deal could only be realized if Disney's acquisition was successful.

So he added, "I want to profit from my investment, but what about you, Kevin? Don't you want Marvel's superhero films to achieve unprecedented glory?"

Kevin didn't answer.

Matthew continued, "But you and I both know that relying on Marvel Comics alone is too difficult! And Paramount Pictures, as a pure distributor, won't invest too many resources in Marvel's superhero films."

At this, Kevin nodded slightly.

He fully admitted that if Paramount Pictures had handled the film's promotion more effectively, Iron Man truly had the potential to perform even better than it did.

The point had been made. Matthew said no more; Kevin was a smart man.

Even though he wasn't involved in the day-to-day operations of Marvel Comics, he knew that Kevin was in conflict with several bigwigs in Marvel's creative department, especially regarding film adaptations.

If he were in Kevin's shoes, the best way to combat internal pressure from Marvel would be to bring in outside help and use Walt Disney's power to shatter the existing order within Marvel Comics.

If Kevin could gain Disney's support, his voice within Marvel would undoubtedly grow stronger, as long as Walt Disney's acquisition of Marvel Comics was successful.

Matthew didn't say these words outright, only hinting at them in a few subsequent sentences. And from Kevin's expression, it seemed he had similar considerations.

After chatting about Disney for a while, Kevin decided to change the subject, asking Matthew, "Do you have any thoughts on our superhero films?"

"Me?" Matthew shook his head. "Kevin, I'm just an amateur."

Kevin, however, said seriously, "If you're an amateur, then I'm afraid the people in charge of the film business at every company in Hollywood are all idiots."

He looked at Matthew. "Every time you choose a film, it's always a success. There's no way you haven't thought about the future of Marvel's superhero movies."

Matthew couldn't tell the truth; that would be foolish.

"Kevin, you're the producer of the whole project; you've surely thought about it from every angle," Matthew replied. "I'll just say one thing."

"Go ahead." Kevin looked particularly serious.

He took Matthew's words seriously; the man had too many successes to his name.

What Matthew said was practically a foregone conclusion in his mind: "My only advice is this: don't worry about cosmological issues, worry about the film itself. We started out just wanting to make a good Iron Man movie, then a good Hulk movie, then a Thor movie—just wanting to make a good film. And at the same time, to do something no one had done before—connect these movies together and give the die-hard comic fans the thrill of seeing Spider-Man swing by the Fantastic Four's headquarters, or having the Hulk come crashing through the pages of an Iron Man comic."