The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 807

One party refused to pay more, while the other held out for a higher price. The negotiations had reached an impasse, and as Thomas Longman walked away, Harvey Weinstein’s brow furrowed in frustration.

He had been on the verge of closing the deal with Thomas Longman, ready to purchase the distribution rights for "The Artist" outside of Europe for a mere ten million dollars. He never expected Bella Anderson to jump in out of nowhere, forcing him to raise his offer to fifteen million.

But even at fifteen million dollars, the rights remained out of his grasp.

The thought of it infuriated him.

Did Matthew Horner’s pint-sized studio even have the capacity for distribution? They were just waving Disney and Warner Bros. banners around, meddling in his affairs and derailing his plans one after another.

This was clearly intentional.

Weren't they just making his problems worse? After all, "The Artist" was his most important discovery of the year.

As soon as he arrived in Cannes, Harvey Weinstein recognized the film for what it was: a gift-wrapped present for the average Academy voter, whose median age was nearly sixty. It was black-and-white, silent, and chronicled the rise of a star during Hollywood’s classic era. The plot was simple, the runtime was perfect at one hundred minutes—it was practically tailor-made for an Oscar campaign.

The Oscars were conservative, and the older judges were always nostalgic for the past.

He had become so adept at Oscar PR that he had single-handedly made movie fans around the world understand a simple truth: "The Oscar judges are a bunch of idiots."Once he acquired "The Artist" and put his promotional machine behind it, an Oscar contender would be born.

Harvey Weinstein had never been more confident. From the early days when "The English Patient" won its Oscar, to the turn of the century when "Shakespeare in Love" triumphed over "Saving Private Ryan," and then the stunning success of "Chicago," he had never stopped refining his PR techniques, adapting his methods with the times.

With "The English Patient," he loved to boast that his film was "the greatest moving picture in years." But while promoting "The King's Speech," he openly expressed his disdain for such labels, taking a subtle jab at the self-promotional flirtations of "The Social Network." For "Chicago," his strategy had been to outmaneuver competitors by lavishing voters with gifts during the campaign. But after seeing the email scandal surrounding the producers of "The Hurt Locker," he immediately tempered his shameless pursuit of the top prize, settling for Best Supporting Actor and moving on.

This black-and-white silent film, which was only being shown at the Cannes market, was a must-win for him.

He even had a preliminary plan. Since another key project was being rushed for the awards season this year, he could acquire "The Artist" and sit on it for a year. Then, starting with next year's Cannes Film Festival, he would take it on a tour of major art-house festivals, building up enough word-of-mouth before making a full-throated run for the Oscars.

He knew some audiences might watch the film, feel cheated, and demand a refund.

He had considered that possibility as well. Not only could it generate a huge amount of news buzz, but it could also be a selling point. It would give the voters a sense of superiority: the Oscars were about class and taste, something ordinary, uncultured audiences just couldn't appreciate.

But none of this could happen unless he secured the rights to "The Artist."

Harvey Weinstein mulled it over for a moment and decided the negotiations were worth continuing. In the end, the potential profit was too great to ignore.

In Los Angeles, a week after attending the premiere of "Iron Man," Matthew returned to the Disney studio lot to continue filming "Fast Five."

The movie was in the final stages of production. All the principal actors, except for Matthew, Paul Walker, and Gal Gadot, had already wrapped their scenes and left the set.

Most of the remaining scenes for the trio were shot in the studio against a green screen.

Of course, they weren't professional race car drivers. Most of the time, they were just posing in slow-moving muscle cars, striking various action poses.

All the fantastical racing sequences were performed by stunt drivers on location.

Stunt performers, it could be said, were an indispensable part of Hollywood, just as crucial as cinematographers, prop masters, and screenwriters. Nearly every film crew had them.

However, these professionals weren't highly valued, especially by the Academy, which had consistently refused to create a stunt category for the Oscars.

The special effects industry was similarly underappreciated by the Academy.

Hollywood's big-budget commercial films were packed with spectacular special effects, which were often one of the most challenging elements of filming and production.

Of course, that wasn’t to say Hollywood’s special effects were invincible.

In Matthew's view, the best special effects in Hollywood films were not necessarily superior to their counterparts around the world.

For Matthew, filming against a green screen was a common occurrence on almost every movie, and it presented no particular difficulties.

During a break in filming, Bella Anderson brought him some good news.

The head of his studio's acquisitions had been making waves at the Cannes film market, disrupting several of Harvey Weinstein’s deals without actually purchasing a single film.

One movie, in particular, had made Harvey Weinstein spit blood.

The black-and-white silent film "The Artist," whose distribution rights outside of Europe Harvey Weinstein could have acquired for about ten million dollars, ended up costing Weinstein Pictures a staggering twenty-five million, thanks to Bella's competitive bidding.

The only consolation for Harvey Weinstein was that the twenty-five million dollars secured the worldwide rights to the film.

Matthew was still a little surprised. Spending twenty-five million on a black-and-white silent film was a massive gamble, even for Harvey Weinstein.

Of course, he knew Weinstein was betting on the Oscars.

The problem was, even if a black-and-white silent film like that won an Oscar, how many people would actually go to see it?

He wouldn't watch it, even if someone paid him.

Just as he had never been interested in films from the Golden Age, the distance in time was simply too great.

Perhaps he just didn't understand Harvey Weinstein's world, much like he had never respected the Oscars.

That was because he had never participated in the game of power and money that the Oscars represented.

It was a game no cleaner than the race for the White House.

For example, as far as he knew, when "Crash" beat "Brokeback Mountain" for the Oscar, it was undoubtedly a move dictated by money. The studio behind "Crash" had hired a PR firm that produced and mailed 160,000 hardcover copies of the DVD, along with commemorative souvenirs, to every member of the Academy, from the voting members down to the security guards at the gates. The cost of producing and mailing the discs alone ran into the millions.

The results were obvious: the Academy recognized Ang Lee as Best Director but gave the Best Picture award to "Crash."

"The Hurt Locker," which had won Best Director and Best Picture this year, had done even better. The super-wealthy Megan Ellison had rushed in to secure the awards, sparing no expense. Not only did she distribute discs and souvenirs, but she also personally took charge of the operation, even instructing the producer to send emails to numerous voting members, directly urging them to vote for "The Hurt Locker."

It was so blatant that the Academy couldn't turn a blind eye. If they hadn't warned the film's crew and advised Megan Ellison to tone it down, this year's Oscars would have been an utter sham.

To be honest, the Oscar situation could have been even worse if David Ellison had abandoned the commercial route and simply thrown money at the problem, just as his sister had.

The Academy required that judges only accept memorabilia related to the film, but there was a lot of room to maneuver within that rule.

In the early days of VCRs, some people would give away valuable players along with the movie tapes, under the pretext of lending them to someone to watch the film.

The device was not common at the time, which made the gesture seem reasonable. But as for when it would be given back, or if it ever would be, only the devil knew.

Beneath the rules, there were always hidden deals, just like at the three major European film festivals. If you took care of the current jury president, winning an award was hardly a challenge.

Although Matthew wasn't well-versed in politics, he knew that political elections were full of compromises and under-the-table deals.

Politics was like that, and the film industry was no exception.

In Matthew's opinion, Harvey Weinstein had paid a steep price to get "The Artist."

Unfortunately, Matthew was clear-headed enough to know he had little influence over the Oscars. Otherwise, he would have definitely made Harvey Weinstein pay.

In any case, he had cost The Weinstein Company an extra fifteen million dollars.

***

Time gradually moved toward the end of June. After more than three months of shooting, "Fast Five" finally announced the completion of filming. Justin Lin immediately led his team into post-production, while screenwriter Chris Morgan and his team began writing the script for "Fast & Furious 6."

Matthew had also made his wishes for the "Fast & Furious 6" script known: a broader worldview and a more powerful villain.

Without a strong antagonist, the racing family would look weak.

It would be best to have an entire team of corresponding villains.

Matthew also considered telling Kevin Feige that the villains in Marvel's superhero movies needed to be stronger.

However, after some deeper thought, he abandoned the idea. Marvel superhero films were the simplest form of entertainment, the purest popcorn flicks that required absolutely no brainpower to watch. Changing a formula that was so simple it demanded no thought could have a negative effect.

Superhero comic book movies had a style that belonged to superhero comic book movies.

In June, Matthew began to work with the "Inception" crew to promote the film, first in North America and then overseas. In just over two weeks, he had circled the globe.

After returning to Los Angeles, he took a few days off to focus on a truly magnificent production.

"John Carter," directed by Andrew Stanton, starring Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman, with a budget of two hundred and fifty million dollars, was finally approaching its release after more than two years of preparation, filming, and production.