The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 724: A Sudden Attack

With "Fast & Furious 4" entering the final stages of its pre-release publicity tour, Matthew, as both an investor and one of the film's leads, was constantly in the public eye. His schedule was a relentless series of back-to-back interviews, and though he hadn't left Los Angeles, news about him spread effortlessly from the media capital of Burbank across the United States and even the entire world.

Matthew had been incredibly busy, making frequent appearances at television studios, magazine offices, and other media outlets.

Inevitably, he was trailed by a throng of reporters and paparazzi.

Typically, a crowd of ten to twenty reporters followed Matthew, knowing they could always capture the kind of gossip their readers and viewers craved.

Now that he had entered the film's promotional period, the number of reporters tailing him had grown even larger.

To promote the film, Disney's entertainment network, ABC Television, had even dispatched a small broadcast van to follow Matthew directly, ready to feature him in the latest entertainment news at a moment's notice.

Everyone knew that if these two films succeeded at the box office this year, Matthew would become a bona fide superstar.

And not a superstar defined by a single franchise, like Johnny Depp with "Pirates of the Caribbean," but one on the same level as Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, and Harrison Ford.

Looking across all of Hollywood, the only actors who could realistically reach that superstar threshold today were Matthew and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The latter's commercial appeal was slightly lacking, since after..."Titanic," he hadn't had any massive box office hits.

"Matthew, we heard you witnessed a fight between Emma Roberts and Anne Hathaway in London. Could you tell us the details?"

After recording a show for NBC, Matthew had just stepped out of the studio when a crowd of reporters swarmed him, shouting questions.

"Is it true you're dating Emma Watson?"

"Did you and Emma Watson have a one-night stand?"

Despite the barrage of questions, Matthew had no intention of answering. Flanked by his bodyguard, he got into a black Mercedes.

Brown Williams was on temporary leave and had been replaced by a bodyguard named John, who sat in the passenger seat. Another bodyguard was behind the wheel.

Unlike his time in Africa and London, Matthew had returned to his normal routine in Los Angeles, which meant a two-man security detail.

Matthew told the driver to head straight for the Angel Agency.

Everyone was busy. It was a truly hectic time; never mind the small and mid-sized media outlets, he was juggling appearances on the four major television networks and interviews with the three major newspapers, all scheduled one after another.

The Mercedes turned onto the main road. Matthew glanced back and saw a convoy of cars and motorcycles tailing them—this had become the norm lately. Wherever he went, the press followed. Even when he returned to his estate, they would be waiting outside the gate.

What was even more extreme was the ABC entertainment news van, which had been shadowing him 24/7 for nearly a week.

Disney had truly invested a considerable amount in the advertising and marketing for "Fast & Furious 4."

Their last film with Matthew, "Twilight," had done well at the box office, and profits were a natural motivator.

Matthew understood perfectly well that Disney was being very aggressive in the face of potentially massive profits.

For the advertising and promotion in North America and overseas, Disney had poured in a vast amount of resources. They were doing everything possible to accommodate Matthew's requests, even those that might seem unreasonable for a box office star like him.

Currently, the market capacity on the other side of the Pacific was limited, and ancillary revenues were negligible. On top of that, the film distribution fees went to the local distribution company, so the final amount of money that could end up in the hands of Studio No. 13 was quite limited.

The reason Matthew insisted on promoting the film across the Pacific was, of course, for the sake of future revenue.

This installment, "Fast & Furious 4," was more about opening up the market, attracting and cultivating an audience for the series step by step.

Having once been part of that vast film audience on the other side of the Pacific himself, Matthew believed he had a better understanding of which Hollywood films would appeal most to the public there.

Later, Matthew would travel to the other side of the Pacific with several key actors to hold the film's world premiere.

If all went well, Matthew believed the series would begin to pay off handsomely there, starting with the sixth or seventh installment.

The Mercedes-Benz drove past the Walt Disney headquarters, transitioning from a district of high-rises into a business quarter filled with smaller, low-rise buildings.

This was where many entertainment companies, including the Angel Agency, were located.

The gaggle of reporters and paparazzi followed them here, knowing full well that Matthew was heading to his agency but showing no intention of giving up the chase.

No one noticed that as the Mercedes-Benz passed through an intersection, a Dodge sedan appeared and blended in with the stream of reporters' vehicles.

Few people noticed the car, and even the reporters and paparazzi who did spot it simply assumed it was another colleague.

After all, scores of people like them had been tailing the Hollywood star for days on end.

Just as the Dodge merged into the flow of traffic, a Ford followed suit, turning onto the same street.

"Two days of waiting..."

In the passenger seat of the Ford sedan, a bald man rubbed his shaved head and muttered, "Finally!"

He said to the Hispanic man behind the wheel, "Keep some distance from the car ahead and wait for Rodriguez to find an opportunity to ram it."

A ruthless expression crossed the driver's face. "Got it, boss!"

The bald man carefully stroked the modified semi-automatic rifle resting beside the driver's seat. "That bastard ruined my business."

Back when he was in Tijuana, he had poured a fortune in material and financial resources into digging a tunnel across the border, a project that took over a year. But on its very first use, his men ran into Matthew Horner. Not only was the tunnel subsequently destroyed, but his entire operation was wiped out by the FBI and the Mexican police.

He used the last of his money to slip into the United States with only his two most trusted men at his side, but he refused to give up. The man who started all his troubles was going to pay.

He had actually arrived in Los Angeles several months ago, only to discover to his dismay that his target was out of town. On the rare occasions Horner did return, he was constantly flanked by an extremely vigilant bodyguard.

He would only get one shot at this, which was why he had been biding his time.

The black Mercedes sedan pulled up to the Angel Agency and parked in the lot out front. Matthew had just opened his door, not yet having stepped out, when the expression on John's face, who had just exited the passenger side, changed drastically.

"Watch out!" he shouted to Matthew.

Matthew whipped his head around just in time to see a Dodge sedan careening toward them from across the lot, slamming hard into his Mercedes-Benz.