The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 734

After chatting a bit more with Kevin Tsujihara and hearing the latest industry buzz about The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Matthew started to get a clearer picture. It seemed that The Hobbit, the project being developed by Warner Bros. and Peter Jackson, was finally emerging from a whirlwind of complications.

Years ago, after New Line Cinema secured the film rights to The Lord of the Rings trilogy with assistance from the Weinstein brothers at Miramax, they had also acquired the rights to The Hobbit. However, it wasn't a complete acquisition; a portion of the rights still remained in the hands of MGM.

Thus, it was MGM and Peter Jackson who had initially proposed The Hobbit, and Warner Bros. only joined the project after the rights were transferred to its subsidiary, New Line Cinema.

The original plan was for MGM and Warner Bros. to co-finance the film.

But there was a major snag: Peter Jackson would likely be unable to direct.

The reason was that Peter Jackson was embroiled in a legal dispute with Warner Bros.—or more specifically, with its subsidiary, New Line Cinema.

Shortly after the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Peter Jackson had sued New Line Cinema, claiming the studio owed him a total of $15 million in fees for the trilogy.

New Line Cinema had a rather poor reputation in this regard, and they owed money to others besides Peter Jackson.

Peter Jackson won the lawsuit and collected his overdue salary, but late last year, he sued New Line Cinema again. The new suit alleged that he hadn't received his contractual share of royalties from video games and other media adapted from The Lord of the Rings.

He was the most suitable director for The Hobbit, but the lawsuit was still in full swing.Just this past April, the struggling MGM finally buckled and filed for bankruptcy, selling its portion of the rights to The Hobbit to Warner Bros. as a valuable company asset.

Warner Bros. now held the complete rights to The Hobbit.

Furthermore, thanks to Kevin Tsujihara's intervention, New Line Cinema reached an out-of-court settlement with Peter Jackson, paving the way for him to return to filmmaking.

However, Peter Jackson, physically and mentally exhausted by the ordeal and soured by his history with New Line Cinema, was reluctant to work with Warner Bros. Instead, he recommended Guillermo del Toro, an old acquaintance of Matthew's, to direct the film.

The whole situation was as convoluted as a soap opera.

"Since MGM is out of the picture..." Kevin Tsujihara said, his voice low.

"Warner Bros. has to bear the full production costs alone."

Matthew gave a slight nod, guessing that MGM's sudden departure had caught Warner Bros. completely by surprise.

Given the enormous success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit was sure to be a top-tier blockbuster, and its production costs would be commensurately high.

"Kevin," Matthew considered this, then took the lead. "Are you planning to raise funds to cover the production costs?"

"Yes." Kevin Tsujihara had laid all this out with the express purpose of attracting someone with cash on hand, and Matthew was the perfect target. "You've worked with Warner a lot, so you know how things are. Warner Bros. is currently managing several top-tier projects and can't commit too much capital in such a short period."

Matthew certainly understood. Leaving aside their other projects, the production budget for Green Lantern alone was a staggering $250 million.

Moreover, Warner Bros. had high hopes for that film, expecting it to surpass the success of Iron Man and lay the groundwork for the entire Justice League cinematic universe. Consequently, they hadn't sought much outside financing for it.

"I have some capital on hand," Matthew said cautiously.

"Matthew, we could partner up again," Kevin Tsujihara said at once. "The project is currently facing a funding shortfall of about twenty percent."

These days, everyone in Hollywood knew Matthew's value. From the moment Matthew had approached to greet him and Ron Meyer, Tsujihara had been turning this over in his mind, calculating the possibilities. He had quickly concluded that bringing Matthew in offered a twofold benefit for Warner Bros.

Everyone knew Matthew was wealthy now; his base salaries for Inception and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra alone ran into the tens of millions. Bringing him on board would solve a part of The Hobbit's financing problem.

On the other hand, it would also be a show of good faith from Warner Bros., strengthening the collaborative relationship between them.

Moreover, compared to film funds and financial institutions, Matthew's involvement as an investor would also generate a certain amount of publicity for the movie.

"Alright," Matthew said. He wasn't about to refuse, but he proceeded with caution.

"Kevin, the best director for adapting Tolkien's literary works is Peter Jackson."

That New Zealander was practically born to adapt Tolkien's work.

"We're also in talks with Peter Jackson, trying to persuade him to take the director's chair," Kevin said with a smile.

"I'm sure he'll come back." Matthew had faith in Warner Bros.' powers of persuasion.

They reached a simple agreement: the remaining twenty percent of The Hobbit's current funding deficit would be covered by Studio 13. The specific details of the investment and collaboration would naturally be handled by their respective staffs.

Compared to the projects he had fought tooth and nail for in the past, this opportunity with The Hobbit had fallen into his lap with relative ease. The heights he had reached and the success he'd achieved had given him an unconscious influence over people's choices.

Matthew had some recollection of The Hobbit films. If they'd managed to turn it into a trilogy, the financial returns must have been decent.

However, the plot of this series was much fuzzier in his memory than The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and it hadn't left as strong an impression as the original.

While Matthew spoke with Kevin, Taylor stood quietly by his side without saying a word. She truly looked the part of a very proper young woman.

The number of people in the banquet hall was growing, a steady stream flowing in and out of the doors, and Harvey Weinstein was among them.

Harvey, chatting with people and scanning the room, soon spotted the target of his visit: Kevin, standing in a relatively empty corner of the banquet hall.

To his surprise, he also saw Matthew Horner standing beside him.

Harvey frowned slightly but didn't slow his pace as he headed toward Kevin Tsujihara.

"Kevin!"

Before he even reached Kevin Tsujihara, Harvey called out, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you."

Hearing the familiar voice behind him, Matthew glanced over and gave a polite nod.

He always maintained his public persona.

Harvey Weinstein nodded back at Matthew before approaching Kevin Tsujihara, who offered a smile.

"Hello, Harvey."

"Kevin, I heard you flatly rejected my investment in The Hobbit?" Harvey Weinstein didn't beat around the bush, asking directly, "Could you explain why?"

Hearing this, Matthew glanced at Harvey Weinstein. So, the fat man wanted to invest in The Hobbit too?

He then recalled the details Kevin had shared earlier: when Harvey Weinstein was still at Miramax, he had helped New Line Cinema secure the rights for The Lord of the Rings. In doing so, he also helped New Line acquire a portion of the rights to The Hobbit, which allowed Miramax to invest in The Lord of the Rings.

Taylor Swift suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered,

"I heard you had a run-in with Harvey Weinstein a while back?"

Matthew nodded slightly. He remembered Oscar night.

"Warner Bros. has practically finalized all the investment slots, and there's no share left for The Weinstein Company."

He was telling the truth, as he had just reached a preliminary agreement with Matthew to cover the final twenty percent of The Hobbit's investment.

How could he possibly go back on that agreement with Matthew standing right there?

Harvey Weinstein suddenly raised his voice. "Kevin, don't you forget how you got the rights to The Lord of the Rings franchise."

At that, Kevin's smile vanished. He replied sternly, "And let me remind you, those rights were purchased by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema for a hefty price!"

Matthew looked from Kevin to Harvey Weinstein and gradually put the pieces together: Harvey wanted to invest in The Hobbit series, but Warner Bros. didn't want him involved, and Kevin had just offered the last remaining twenty percent stake to him.

Harvey clearly wasn't going to give up, but how could Matthew pass up such a lucrative opportunity? Even if he had to turn it down, he would never let it go to someone like Harvey.