The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 786

Bob Weinstein was holding court in the lounge, greeting a parade of stars, directors, producers, and executives from major companies. Naturally, he wasn't about to snub a superstar, and he soon made his way over to Matthew.

"I've heard Harvey mention you many times."

Standing before Matthew, Bob Weinstein adopted a completely different communication style, his face fixed in a perpetual smile. "I didn't expect to meet you for the first time tonight."

He extended his hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Matthew."

Matthew shook his hand and smiled back.

He didn't feign ignorance. The Weinstein Company was a big name, a top player among the second-tier Hollywood studios, capable of handling everything from production to distribution. For someone like him to claim he didn't know the second-in-command of The Weinstein Company would have been absurd.

Bob Weinstein continued, "I've really enjoyed your films. It's a shame we haven't had the chance to work together."

With his own plans in motion, Matthew answered with deliberate ambiguity, "There will be opportunities in the future."

Bob Weinstein's expression didn't change. "I'd also like the chance to work together in the future."

Then he added, "It's cooperation that benefits people like us."Matthew said solemnly, "I agree with that."

"Let's talk again when we have the chance." Bob Weinstein took the lead, ending the short conversation and walking away.

Though Amanda's people had already befriended Bob Weinstein, both Matthew and Amanda remained deep undercover, giving no hint of their intentions.

From the very beginning of their planning, Matthew, Amanda, and Helen understood perfectly well that taking down such a deeply entrenched power in Hollywood would not be easy. Patience was the most crucial virtue.

If they acted rashly, they would undoubtedly alert the Weinstein brothers and ultimately achieve nothing.

***

Because of the encounter with Bob Weinstein, Matthew sat in the screening room with his mind far from the film on the big screen. Instead, he was reviewing the latest intelligence he had gathered on Harvey Weinstein.

As always, Harvey Weinstein's focus was on his Oscar campaigns. According to their intelligence, with the film "Nine" turning into a fiasco, Harvey would have to focus all his efforts on the campaign for "Inglourious Basterds."

The word was that Brad Pitt would be absent from the campaign trail, but the film was still competitive.

Next year, Harvey Weinstein's focus during awards season was expected to be on "The King's Speech," as well as "The Iron Lady" and "My Week with Marilyn," which were currently in development.

These were films engineered by Harvey Weinstein specifically for the Oscars.

Additionally, Matthew had received information that Harvey Weinstein was scouring the international market for films suitable for the North American awards season, aiming to strengthen the leverage in his hands.

No one was certain about the rest, but one thing was for sure: Harvey Weinstein would be attending the Cannes Film Festival's market next year.

In the past, the Weinstein brothers had managed films that weren't all their own productions, often buying up the distribution rights for small, independent pictures.

For instance, the Weinstein brothers had acquired the distribution rights for several films from the Asia-Pacific region.

The intelligence Matthew had gathered also indicated that Harvey Weinstein was domineering in his international dealings and had no regard for the rules.

His most typical method involved buying the North American or overseas distribution rights for films coming out of Asia.

Harvey Weinstein often dealt with Asian filmmakers. A common trick was to bid on the North American distribution rights for their films, starting with an offer of ten million dollars. Seeing such a high price, other distributors would back off, refusing to compete with him.

But this buyout money was never paid in a lump sum. Harvey would first put down a deposit of one or two hundred thousand dollars. Then, when the film was finally released in its home market across the Pacific, he would claim, "I don't want this film anymore, take it back."

By then, it was too late for the producers to sell the rights to anyone else due to the rampant piracy that had already occurred.

That's when Harvey Weinstein would approach the studio again, this time offering a mere one million dollars. Since it's incredibly difficult for films from that region to break into the international market, most producers lacked the time and resources to fight a protracted international lawsuit or find a new distributor. Eager to recoup whatever they could, they would ultimately sell him the rights.

In the early 2000s, Harvey Weinstein had disguised his tactics so well that many filmmakers from that part of the world once considered him a savior for their films in the international market.

Over the last two years, however, as more and more filmmakers on the other side of the Pacific were swindled, they gradually began to see Harvey Weinstein's true colors.

In reality, the number of Harvey Weinstein's misdeeds, even just the generally unethical ones, was countless.

In 2006, the American writer Peter Biskind published a book titled "Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film," which detailed many interesting stories about the Weinstein's studios and their former company, Miramax, which had dominated the indie film scene.

However, the book didn't touch in the slightest on the side of Harvey Weinstein's life that he could never allow to become public.

Matthew's personal life was an open book; paparazzi and entertainment reporters could snap whatever pictures they wanted, and the public could scrutinize them as they pleased. But Harvey Weinstein would never dare allow such exposure.

Over the past week, Matthew had made contact with Ronan Farrow, an idealistic and ambitious young journalist.

He said that an actress from "Planet Terror," a film from the Quentin Tarantino-produced "Grindhouse" double feature, was rumored to have been coerced by Harvey Weinstein on more than one occasion.

In addition, Ronan Farrow had collected the names of several other actresses, but these women were extremely private, and getting through to them was not easy.

All this information was kept buried deep, and Matthew wouldn't bring any of it to light without absolute certainty.

This wasn't something you could do halfway. If he was going to make a move, it had to be a decisive one—a blow from which his target could never recover.

Without another thought, Matthew put on his 3D glasses and turned his attention to the film being shown.

From a plot standpoint, the film was mediocre, but from a technological one, the IMAX 3D format on display was revolutionary.

Visually, nothing could compare to what James Cameron had achieved. And while Matthew wasn't particularly fond of the characters, especially the male lead, the spectacle was more than enough to make him forget all that. The world unfolded in such a breathtaking way that for a moment, he actually felt like he was on Pandora.

Can one person really change an entire world? If you believed James Cameron, at least, the answer was a resounding yes.

Everyone knew James Cameron was a money-making machine, but he was also a filmmaker who invested enormous sums to achieve exponential returns, sparing no expense in his quest for the most perfect visual effects.

Only toward the end of the film did Matthew's expression sour.

Regardless of the meaning James Cameron ascribed to the Na'vi, in the minds of people like him, being human was far better than all that other nonsense.

As for the film's graphics and technology, they were simply beyond description. Even piling on layers of magnificent rhetoric wouldn't be enough to do justice to the planet Pandora depicted on screen.

After the premiere, once he was back home, Matthew couldn't wait to send out a tweet, lavishing praise on James Cameron without reservation.

"James Cameron proves he's truly the king of the world. As the commander-in-chief of an army of visual effects artists, creature designers, motion capture technicians, stunt performers, and sound engineers, he has brought science fiction into the 21st century in a way that is nothing short of dazzling. This is Avatar!"

In essence, with James Cameron at the helm, the "King of the World" had expanded the boundaries of commercial filmmaking, ensuring that Hollywood blockbusters, which had been in something of a slump, could continue to dominate the global film market.

According to some directors, the film industry could now be divided into two eras: before "Avatar" and after "Avatar."

But not even "Avatar" could break one of the unwritten laws of Hollywood cinema.

In the entire history of Hollywood, no original film—not an adaptation or a sequel—had ever grossed more than one hundred million dollars in its opening weekend in North America.

"Titanic" couldn't do it, and neither could "Avatar."

The film's opening weekend of seventy-seven million dollars in North America was nothing special, but its second weekend, grossing over seventy-five million, was simply astounding.

In its third weekend, "Avatar" took in over sixty-eight million dollars, and in its fourth, more than fifty-two million. No film had ever had such a steady run at the box office.

In contrast to "Avatar," "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," which had been released earlier, was on a downward spiral.

After an explosive box office run in its first three weeks, the vampire romance clearly lost its stamina. By New Year's 2010, its weekend gross had fallen to around three million dollars, knocking it out of the top ten on the North American box office charts.

However, no one could deny the film's enormous box office success.

In seven weeks, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" grossed $312.08 million in North America and $645.5 million worldwide.

With the final box office numbers rolling in, Matthew was ready to count his money.

After the New Year's holiday, following final preparations and rehearsals, "Fast Five" was ready to begin filming at Disney Studios.