The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 803: The Martian

Matthew spent the entire morning at his computer, skimming a science fiction novel. Serialized on a personal blog, it was clear the author, Andy Weir, hadn't finished it yet. Judging by the plot, it was just over halfway complete, and based on Weir's posting schedule since the previous year, Matthew guessed it wouldn't be finished this year.

After reading through what was available, he fell into deep thought.

Although the novel was incomplete, its core premise was already clear.

Simply put, it was a story of survival in the vastness of space, one that could easily be titled "I Am a Farmer on Mars" or "How I Grew Potatoes on Mars."

That's right—growing potatoes on Mars. It was the one plot point that had left the deepest impression on Matthew after reading the first half of the novel.

"Growing potatoes on Mars," Matthew murmured to himself.

He then glanced again at the document on his screen, where the novel's title was displayed: "The Martian."

Perhaps because of its relative proximity to Earth, North America had produced countless science fiction novels about Mars, with none more typical than "John Carter," an adaptation Brad Pitt had invested in.

The novel "The Martian" contained quite a few plot points that felt very similar to movies he had seen before.

Specifically, the hero faces a desperate situation where he must grow his own potatoes on Mars.Matthew frowned, thinking for a moment. The part about planting potatoes on Mars was what he remembered most vividly, and because of that specific plot point, he had the distinct impression that the main character had been played by Matt Damon.

That's it! It was Matt Damon!

He seemed to recall the film was also called "The Martian."

Matthew finally remembered the film's title and vaguely recalled that it had been one of the most popular movies of its time.

As for whether the Matt Damon film "The Martian" was based on this novel, Matthew had no idea.

He didn't even know who directed the film, so how could he possibly remember the author's name?

But the similarity of several key scenes couldn't be a coincidence, right? Especially a plot like growing potatoes on Mars.

Perhaps the book was truly worth adapting.

Matthew considered it. With his experience on the "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" series, he knew that a novel was a long way from a successful film adaptation. But if he could get the book published and generate some buzz, it would build a foundation for a movie.

Comic book adaptations, novel adaptations, and sequels to popular films were undoubtedly the three main pillars of commercial Hollywood cinema today.

Original, large-scale, top-tier productions were a rarity. To be precise, only a handful of people in this day and age had the clout to get major funding for an original concept—Christopher Nolan being one of them.

And even those few didn't have a track record built entirely on original scripts.

According to the information Bella had gathered, the unfinished novel "The Martian" was only being published on Andy Weir's personal blog. Its reach was extremely limited, with fewer than three thousand readers, by some estimates.

In that case, he figured he could acquire the film rights and other related rights for a relatively low price.

But the novel wasn't ready for adaptation yet; this was just the beginning.

This was different from "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games." When he'd taken notice of them, both had already been published and had established a certain level of fame and a dedicated audience.

But "The Martian"? Three thousand readers...

The average movie ticket cost eight dollars. What would the box office be with only three thousand viewers?

Of course, it wasn't that simple. But if he wanted a future adaptation of "The Martian" to avoid being treated like an original commercial film—a major gamble in Hollywood—he would have to find a way to build up the novel's profile first.

At the very least, the original novel needed to gain a certain level of fame and a reader base before the film's release.

To do that, he would need to find a publisher for "The Martian."

He didn't lack resources in that area, however. It should be easy enough.

The only thing left was to figure out how to advertise and promote the book. Science fiction had a relatively niche audience these days.

Maybe even go the route of web publishing?

Matthew mulled it over for a while and finally came up with a plan: first, he'd have Bella contact Andy Weir. If the price was right, he'd secure the rights. Then he could slowly start making moves. After all, it would take a long time for Weir to finish the book.

He estimated the cost of the rights wouldn't be very high, so even if he failed to adapt it into a film later on, the losses would be minimal.

As for the investment in a film adaptation, for a hard sci-fi movie about Mars and space to look authentic, a production budget of fifty million dollars or more would be essential.

Thinking about it, Matthew couldn't help but rub his forehead. He couldn't just pass up an opportunity that had practically landed on his doorstep, could he?

He glanced at the wall clock. It wasn't time to leave work yet. He called Bella and then Helen, briefly discussing the matter with each of them.

Both of them expressed their support.

With the success of one film project after another that he had invested in, even the ever-cool-headed Helen had come to trust his instincts almost blindly.

After finishing his calls with Bella and Helen, Matthew went back to reading the science fiction novel for a while longer. Suddenly, a realization struck him: the number of films he was investing in as a producer was now greater than the number of films he was starring in each year.

Regardless of his actual producing abilities, he was now a genuine Hollywood superstar and a producer.

Matthew knew his own strengths and had never considered trying his hand at directing. While Hollywood was full of actors who became directors, and his star power would certainly make it easier for him to achieve that goal than others, he knew that directing wasn't the pinnacle of the industry.

In the Hollywood power game, the producer was always at the top of the pyramid. That position was the "pinnacle of life" that many of Hollywood's big shots dreamed of.

Major actors who became producers generally fell into two categories. The first, like Matthew's involvement in other companies' films such as the "G.I. Joe" series, was about gaining more creative control. The second, of course, was about serving their own interests as the boss, which naturally meant they could take a larger share of the profits.

However, the two categories weren't entirely separate. After all, everyone wants to make money doing what they love.

The first path was fine, but the second was not as simple as it seemed.

As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility, and with greater profits came greater risks for a producer.

Matthew understood that transitioning from in front of the camera to behind the scenes wasn't easy. Being a good producer required more than just acting talent. As an actor, his only concern was delivering a good performance. As a producer, he had to worry about a thousand different things, including ensuring the actors delivered good performances.

Any carelessness meant lost time, and time was money.

These days, Julia Roberts had fully transitioned into a producer, Tom Cruise held a tight grip on the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, Leonardo DiCaprio continued to invest in Martin Scorsese, and even Johnny Depp had opened his own production company.

Among them, Matthew was undoubtedly a model of commercial success.

It was said he had even built a film company on the strength of his name alone.

Studio Thirteen was still essentially his personal production company, but the number of people offering big money to buy it was growing.

However, Matthew had no intention of selling it for the time being. He knew the "Twilight" series would continue to be successful, and if "The Hunger Games" also took off, it would bring in far more than one hundred million dollars.

Bella's contact with Andy Weir went very smoothly. After Helen introduced Weir to a physical book publisher and helped him connect with Amazon to transition to paid online downloads, Weir eagerly signed the licensing agreement. Studio Thirteen acquired the film rights to "The Martian" for just three hundred thousand dollars.

During Bella's negotiations with Andy Weir, Matthew also learned a lot. For years, Weir had been publishing more than just "The Martian" on his blog. He had been using "The Martian" as a way to get his foot in the door, hoping it would open the gates to Hollywood and publishing houses.

For the past year, Andy Weir had been trying to sell his novels. Although his position as a manager at Blizzard offered some advantages, his dream was grand while reality was harsh. He had contacted over a dozen companies and publishing houses, but every attempt had ended in failure—until he met Matthew.

Matthew was lucky, and so was he. Otherwise, it was anyone's guess how many years he would have had to wait before someone took an interest in adapting "The Martian."

It was safe to say that both parties got what they needed and hit it off.

After securing the rights to "The Martian," Matthew returned to the set of "Fast Five" to continue filming. A week later, he received another piece of good news from Bella. After a long back-and-forth, she had finally reached an agreement with Chris and Taya Kyle. On behalf of Studio Thirteen, she signed a deal for the film rights to the autobiography "American Sniper."

The studio acquired the film rights to "American Sniper" for a total of seven million dollars. The rights were valid for fifteen years, meaning that if Matthew's side completed filming, production, and release of "American Sniper" within that time, they would continue to own the film rights. If they failed to do so within fifteen years, the rights would automatically be lost.

This was also a standard North American licensing agreement for a book or comic.

With "American Sniper" in hand, Matthew intended to find an opportunity to contact Clint Eastwood to see if the old cowboy was interested in directing.

Chris Kyle had initially suggested Spielberg as a good candidate, but Matthew had vetoed it. Spielberg's war films were too sentimental...

Time passed quickly, and soon it was May. Marvel Studios and Disney Studios were holding a grand premiere for "Iron Man 2," and Matthew returned to Los Angeles to attend.