The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 729

In the living room of the estate, Brown Williams glanced from Matthew to Helen. The tense standoff left him feeling a bit awkward. "Mind if I head out first?"

Matthew waved a hand. "No problem."

The day after the incident, Brown Williams had rushed back to Los Angeles from Hawaii.

Matthew also realized that the assailants might have deliberately chosen a time when Brown Williams was away.

"The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the FBI are still searching for those who got away," Helen said once Brown Williams had left.

"The danger alert hasn't been lifted. You shouldn't go now."

She adjusted her glasses. "I think it's best to cancel the trip."

Matthew shook his head. "My itinerary was confirmed a long time ago, and the promotional campaign started over ten days ago. If I back out now, the negative consequences will be significant."

If a Hollywood star of his caliber failed to keep his word, the negative impact would also tarnish "The Fast and the Furious 4."

Helen insisted, "The market there is huge, the future is promising—that's all true. The problem is, your safety is more important than all of that!" She stared intently at Matthew. "If something happens to you there, the market and the profits will all be for nothing."Matthew shook his head again. "Helen, you don't understand what it's like on the other side of the ocean."

"I really don't," Helen replied. "I can't imagine it's any safer there than it is in Los Angeles or Beverly Hills."

Matthew suddenly laughed, gestured to himself, and declared, "The last thing a celebrity and public figure like me has to worry about when going to the other side of the ocean is safety."

Helen frowned and was about to speak again when Matthew raised a finger. "Things are too chaotic here right now. Everywhere I go, I'm surrounded by reporters and paparazzi. Over there, I can get a break."

"Alright." Seeing Matthew's insistence, Helen didn't argue further. "But you must be mindful of your safety."

"I know," Matthew nodded.

For the past two days, the media had been hounding him relentlessly. Even the gates to the estate were blocked. His fans had been keeping vigil for days on end.

Once he was on the other side of the ocean, he could leave all of this behind for a while.

After all, no matter how powerful the paparazzi were in Los Angeles, if they dared to travel across the ocean and cause trouble, they would be swiftly deported.

Many media outlets wanted to interview him, but Matthew had turned them all down on Helen's advice.

There was plenty of video footage, and public opinion was entirely on his side. There was no need for him to step into the spotlight and say anything at this time, lest it create the impression of deliberate hype.

The current situation didn't require him to make any statements to the media.

Since the public fervor was already intense enough, some of his partners—in addition to Disney and Paramount—saw an opportunity for profit and also used the incident for advertising.

The most prominent example was Mercedes-Benz, which unexpectedly added the slogan "Mercedes-Benz—the safe choice" to their recent commercials.

In the footage from the scene, the Mercedes-Benz vehicle had blocked numerous bullets. And even though the assailants used powerful AK assault rifles, not a single bullet managed to penetrate the car's body.

The Mercedes car inevitably became an internet sensation.

It was said that in the last two days, the number of people ordering the same model had skyrocketed.

Of course, Mercedes-Benz did not disclose that the vehicle provided to Matthew was a specially customized, armored version.

A widely circulated video even appeared online, analyzing the fact that Matthew had been dressed in Armani from head to toe that day.

Even Rolex, which didn't consider Matthew its number one spokesperson, quietly took advantage of the situation behind the scenes, capturing photos of Matthew's wrist at the crime scene and posting them on social media.

Matthew had been wearing a Rolex Submariner.

All of this added fuel to the fire. So, two days later, ignoring the still-chaotic public discourse in North America, he boarded an international flight.

Matthew spent the following days attending promotional events. Soon after, Jack Beard and the creative team flew out for the world premiere of "The Fast and the Furious 4."

***

A few days later, upon returning to Los Angeles, Matthew immediately put aside his overseas affairs and turned his attention to the final days of pre-release promotion for "The Fast and the Furious 4." In recent weeks, Disney had taken full advantage of the public storm caused by the shooting incident to promote the film.

Thanks to several different versions of the live video, Matthew, without much effort on his part, had already become a man with nerves of steel in the public's eye, just like the film's hero.

On the day of his return, Matthew heard Bella Anderson mention that Studio 13's public mailbox had been flooded with letters requesting meetings.

Matthew left it all for the people at the studio to handle.

Furthermore, to Matthew's mild surprise, he had also received several letters challenging him to professional wrestling matches, mixed martial arts bouts, and other combat sports, none of which he dignified with a response.

These so-called invitations were just attempts to attract attention by using his name.

If someone genuinely wanted to challenge him, they could do it through a formal competition. He underwent comprehensive, military-style practical training and sparred with professional fighters, so he was confident of victory. But of course, the best strategy was simply to ignore them. Given his current status and position, there was no need for him to respond, even to a public challenge.

The fallout from the shooting incident still hadn't subsided, and "The Fast and the Furious 4" was reaping enormous benefits from it. On the eve of its North American premiere, the film's advance ticket sales had already surpassed forty million dollars.

No one doubted that "The Fast and the Furious 4" would gross one hundred million dollars at the North American box office in its opening weekend, but Matthew was more concerned about its performance in the long run.

The intense publicity and heated discussions would drive most moviegoers to theaters during the first weekend, making a significant drop-off the following week inevitable.

He wasn't very confident that this kind of film could maintain a stable box office trajectory.

It was, after all, a pure popcorn action flick; even "The Dark Knight," which many considered a classic, had also experienced a steep drop in its second week.

If "The Fast and the Furious 4" could manage the same box office trend as "The Dark Knight," Matthew would be thrilled, but that extravagant hope was clearly unrealistic.

Initially, he and Disney had expected the film to gross three hundred million dollars in North America and six hundred million dollars worldwide.

That would have been enough to revive the Fast & Furious franchise.

Now, however, Matthew believed that three hundred and fifty million dollars in North America and seven hundred million dollars worldwide were entirely realistic targets.

At this stage, most of Matthew's energy was focused on promoting the film. It wasn't until the day of the premiere that he went to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to speak with officials from the LAPD and the FBI. And with that, the shooting incident was essentially concluded.

The case had been classified as an act of terrorism. As a country that had learned painful lessons from such attacks, one could imagine how swift and severe the response would be.

According to the information Matthew received, the prosecutor's office would make every effort to seek the death penalty for the three captured drug traffickers. The FBI had once again teamed up with Mexico to conduct a major sweep of Tijuana, sending a clear signal that while Mexican drug traffickers might operate freely in Mexico, they would face severe consequences if they dared to cross the border to continue their business.

Matthew's goal was simple: those three had to die.

Under the current circumstances, the three Mexican drug traffickers would not survive the year.

Furthermore, the impact of the shootout was so extensive that the deputy chief of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the head of the FBI's Los Angeles field office had both resigned. This was the government's way of making amends to Matthew.

Of course, this also involved numerous private negotiations and agreements. For example, if films Matthew invested in in the future required assistance from the LAPD or the FBI, both agencies would provide the maximum possible help within their authority.

With Helen handling things, Matthew wasn't worried about securing sufficient leverage. But none of this could be spoken of openly.

Matthew was no longer concerned about the threat from the Mexican side, but the level of security around him had not decreased: whenever he stepped outside, he was accompanied by six bodyguards.

He himself tried to avoid unnecessary risks as much as possible. It sometimes occurred to him that public safety in Los Angeles truly was a problem. On the other side of the ocean, this issue was not nearly as significant.

After all, the danger there, at worst, involved a knife. Here, automatic weapons were far too common.