The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 747

Following the success of "Fast & Furious," Paramount Pictures and Hasbro borrowed many tactics from Disney to promote "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." They firmly tied the film to Matthew, leveraging the recent shooting incident to generate continuous buzz.

Although news cycles are notoriously short, Matthew's feat of taking down three terrorists was so stunning that, with Paramount Pictures deliberately fanning the flames, the videos of the incident once again shot to the top of trending lists on various websites.

Once Matthew officially joined the promotional tour and began fully cooperating with Paramount Pictures' campaign, a series of publicity events kicked off.

The entire cast and crew flew to Maryland and parachuted onto Andrews Air Force Base for a special screening of "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" for military personnel and their families, all in front of numerous media cameras. Matthew, Sienna Miller, and Karolína Kurková offered special words of support to the soldiers wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The event was also a revelation for Matthew, showcasing his popularity among military personnel.

According to one of the service members who approached him for an autograph, they felt Matthew was especially professional in the film. Both his shooting and tactical maneuvers looked authentic and military-grade, not amateurish like other Hollywood stars.

***

After checking into a hotel near the airbase that evening, Matthew invited Karolína to his room again. The film's release was just around the corner, and the term of his agreement with her was nearing its end.

The next day, as they were leaving Maryland, Karolína made a point of getting into Matthew's car to talk.

"The movie is coming out soon," Karolína said softly, gazing out the window at the receding buildings. "And our agreement is about to end."Matthew replied directly, "I'm a man of my word."

He had helped Karolína get the role, and she had played her part right up to the film's release. Both sides had kept their promises.

Karolína pursed her lips. "Matthew, I have no complaints." She emphasized, "Really!"

"We had a fair deal," Matthew said coolly.

Karolína nodded cautiously and said slowly, "I don't want anyone else to know about this."

"Don't worry about it," Matthew assured her. "K.K., good luck with your career."

"You have my number. If you ever need anything, you can call me," Karolína added.

Matthew glanced at her and asked, "Like yesterday?"

"Well..." Karolína considered for a moment. "I'd still have to charge appropriately for travel and... as compensation, wouldn't I?"

Hearing this, Matthew understood what she meant and replied casually, "I'll call if I need to."

He probably wouldn't be calling her again.

With his current status, did he really need to spend a million dollars at a time for one woman?

***

The cast and crew's visit to Andrews Air Force Base to pay their respects was met with great support from the U.S. military, as the Air Force had also participated in the film's production. A military spokesman even made a point of mentioning "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" at a regular press conference.

"The combat suit Matthew Horner wears in the film is an armor that allows you to run at super-speed and jump incredibly high. The running speed is 50-60 miles per hour, and even walls are no obstacle," the spokesman said. "I've seen the concept armor in the film, and the military is indeed working on similar armor."

The military's endorsement drew the attention of many military enthusiasts to the film, and the futuristic combat weaponry proved to be an excellent promotional hook.

Paramount Pictures also seized the opportunity, highlighting four key selling points of "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" in their promotional materials to attract more fans.

The first, of course, was Matthew. He was the film's biggest promotional asset, and Paramount Pictures pushed the slogan: See Matthew Horner take down terrorists on the big screen!

This, obviously, tied into the recent shooting incident.

Second, director Stephen Sommers also had his own fanbase, thanks to "The Mummy" series and other successful films.

Third was the weaponry—the specialized futuristic gear and weapons.

The fourth point: the nanomite warheads that devour the Eiffel Tower.

This particular element attracted a great deal of attention from moviegoers and was also the most shocking part of the previously released trailer, where a dense green fog "eats" the Eiffel Tower.

When the cast and crew returned to Los Angeles, Matthew went to the offices of the Los Angeles Times for an interview.

The interview would not only be published in the newspaper but also broadcast live on the official website in both video and text formats.

"I heard that before filming, all the main actors, including you, underwent weapons handling training?" the blonde reporter asked. "And that the training even involved live ammunition?"

Matthew nodded. "We had to know what it felt like to fire live rounds, including the recoil and the sound of a real gunshot, as well as how to load and handle the weapons. All of that is very important."

He smiled. "A lot of military personnel like this movie too. I don't want veterans to watch this film and say, 'He's just an actor.' I want them to watch it and think, 'This guy really knows how to handle a weapon.'"

And indeed, at Andrews Air Force Base, the film had been well received by the military audience.

The blonde reporter then asked, "Did the other actors say anything during filming when they saw you were better at handling weapons than they were?"

"No." Matthew thought for a moment and added, "They all knew I go to the shooting range often to practice, so they just thought it was normal that I was better with a gun."

This was a typical pre-release interview, and the reporter asked another question: "You've starred in several action films; do you like action scenes?"

Matthew answered immediately, "Action scenes entertain me. My body is my way of communicating with the world. Some might call me crude, but I just love it."

Perhaps it was because he had always been a very visceral person, and the physical aspect of interaction brought him more pleasure than any spiritual connection.

It wasn't just Matthew; the rest of the cast and the filmmakers were also taking part in press junkets in an attempt to build momentum for the upcoming film.

Sienna Miller, for instance, did a wet-look photoshoot for ELLE magazine and also claimed in an exclusive interview that an explosion scene during filming had nearly burned her chest.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, she weighed in on popular male Hollywood stars, including Matthew, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, and Leonardo DiCaprio, ultimately praising Matthew as the most masculine of the bunch.

In an interview with TMZ, she said she'd had a wonderful but brief relationship with Matthew, and that the whirlwind romance between them was short and scorching, something she would remember for the rest of her life.

Clearly, Sienna Miller was also using the film and Matthew for her own publicity.

Additionally, director Stephen Sommers gave an interview to The Hollywood Reporter and spoke quite emotionally about his experiences over the past few years, stating that filming a big commercial production in Hollywood was like walking a tightrope on a cliff, and that working with Matthew was like having a safety harness.

During the promotional period, Matthew also attended the premiere of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," having worked with Spielberg and Michael Bay on the first "Transformers" film.

The film, also a Hasbro release, was savaged by critics upon its release. A group of critics, led by Roger Ebert, acted as if they had established a new form of political correctness in the film criticism world—the series simply had to get a bad review!

In its first week, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" grossed hundreds of millions of dollars, despite the storm of criticism.

Paramount Pictures also began to capitalize on the franchise's success to build momentum for "G.I. Joe," which was scheduled to be released two weeks later.

"G.I. Joe" had a better release slot over Independence Day weekend than "Transformers," which came out in mid-June, and both Paramount Pictures and Hasbro had high hopes for the film.

Before July arrived, Matthew made a point of sending premiere invitations to Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman. He had accepted Natalie Portman's invitation to the "Cloud Atlas" premiere, and according to the unwritten rules of the industry, she was now expected to accept his.