In every city the crew visited, Matthew received a warm welcome from fans. Reports about him in the media were mostly positive. Not to mention others, even he himself had the illusion that the role of the scorpion king had made him famous across the entire North America overnight.
But Matthew ultimately knew the truth. These were all carefully planned publicity stunts by Helen Herman. By the time he arrived in New York, along with the payment to Elena Boyar for continuously slandering Brendan Fraser, large sums of money had been spent like flowing water, and his accumulated savings were almost depleted.
Fortunately, it also showed results. After all, this wasn't groundless hype; it was based on a character that genuinely received good feedback.
Matthew saw a large number of fans supporting him at the event. The sheer quantity meant they couldn't all be hired; most of them should have been genuine fans.
Cott Plaza on Long Island was packed with people, countless fans gathered. Some crazy fans even dressed up as Anubis, but more fans wore T-shirts printed with the strong, fierce, and domineering Scorpion King, showing their love for a certain character.
Some even held up banners that read: "What's the mummy returns? I only remember the scorpion king!"
"Do you see that, Andy?" Sean Daniel stood on the terrace of a building near the plaza, speaking to a white man in his thirties. "This is the real situation. the scorpion king is very popular. T-shirts with his image have become a popular trend among some fan groups."
The person named Andy was the assistant to Philip Clayston, the director of production at Universal Pictures. In this place, he could be considered Philip Clayston's eyes.
Sean Daniel added, "Similar situations occur at almost every stop."
"That's precisely why," Andy smiled. "Mr. Philip Clayston asked me to come and see. These are more real than media reports and statistics."
Sean Daniel said no more. This was not a dispute of emotions, but a business disagreement; everything was determined by the market.
The May sun was a bit glaring. The two quickly hid under a sun umbrella. Since this was a bustling commercial area, it was difficult to rent a suitable venue, so they could only find this open-air cafe built on a not-so-tall building.
"Move aside!"
Inside the building below, Brendan Fraser entered the dressing room and found that the first chair by the door, which he usually sat in, was occupied by Matthew. "That's my seat!"
Matthew ignored him completely. He had just met Helen Herman that morning and finalized certain matters.
"Didn't you hear me?" Brendan Fraser had too much accumulated dissatisfaction with Matthew. "That's my seat!"
"Yours?" Matthew was deliberately provoking him. He first looked at the chair, then at the dressing table, and spread his hands, saying, "Sorry, I don't see Your Name.
Brendan Fraser narrowed his eyes. "What do you want, Matthew Horner?"
Matthew stood up from the chair, shrugged, and said, "Just wanted to tell you something." He suddenly reached out and patted Brendan Fraser's shoulder. "I really don't like this move."
He snorted coldly and deliberately said, "Don't try to be the boss everywhere, Brendan. You belong to the last century! Haven't you realized it yet? You're outdated."
Brendan Fraser was stunned for a moment. Matthew walked past him, his triumphant laughter accompanying him out of the dressing room.
Matthew didn't leave immediately after exiting the dressing room. Instead, he slowed his pace, wanting to confirm the effect of his provocation. Given Brendan Fraser's personality of liking to act like the boss, being openly mocked by this junior member of the crew, combined with such a long period of accumulation, he must be furious.
For the past ten-odd days, although he had been subtly provoking Brendan Fraser, he had never directly confronted him or challenged his 'I'm the boss of this crew' mentality.
Clang—
A loud noise came from the dressing room, as if something had fallen to the ground.
Hearing this sound, Matthew didn't need to go back for another look. After more than ten consecutive days of constant provocation, Brendan Fraser had stepped into the trap, and the accumulated anger of these ten-plus days was probably burning fiercely within him.
On the terrace near the plaza, Andy and Sean Daniel communicated very smoothly, which was also related to the current situation.
The North American box office for the mummy returns successfully broke 100 million, but its reputation steadily declined. Dragged down by poor reviews, the film had shown a trend of starting strong and then fading. Originally, after the first-week box office results were released, Universal Pictures expected the final North American box office to reach between 250 million and 270 million US dollars. Now, they had quietly lowered their expectations, believing that the North American box office would not exceed 230 million US dollars at most when it ended its run.
More people within Universal Pictures also began to realize that continuing to make sequels to the series might not be a good choice.
After all, there was accumulated popularity to consume, but would another sequel have that much popularity left to consume?
"Andy," Sean Daniel asked, "When will the marketing department's research conclude?"
"Soon, it won't last much longer." Andy thought for a moment and said, "The statistical results will definitely be in Mr. Philip Clayston's hands before Wednesday."
Sean Daniel nodded. Stephen Sommers's script was complete and undergoing revisions and polishing, and the project proposal was also being drafted. As long as Universal Pictures gave the green light, this project could quickly move into actual planning.
Presumably, the media and fan reactions to the scorpion king character during this period should have also reached Universal Pictures, and the resistance might be smaller.
The only drawback was that Matthew Horner's fame was insufficient. Although Brendan Fraser had garnered much criticism and abuse due to his rather ordinary performance in the film, his appeal was still not comparable to Matthew's.
What about a different lead actor? Sean Daniel then shook his head. Although the scorpion king in the two films was not the same person, the risk of changing actors was still too great, and it would be impossible to find a more suitable actor than Matthew Horner in a short time.
Among the younger generation of action actors, few were successful. Famous ones like Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Nicolas Cage would be suitable, but their high salaries were an issue.
It's better to use someone familiar than someone new. Moreover, Matthew Horner had left a very deep impression on him and Stephen Sommers during the filming at Pinewood Studios.
The event in the plaza was gradually drawing to a close when Andy suddenly noticed a commotion in one area and couldn't help but ask, "What's happening over there?"
Sean Daniel also noticed it and quickly stood up, walking to the edge of the terrace. Since it wasn't far from the plaza, he could clearly see that the chaos was clearly caused by a fight.
"Looks like a fight broke out," Andy also walked over.
Sean Daniel saw it without being told, and his expression wasn't good, as he was the person in charge of the crew.
In the plaza, security personnel separated two people, and media reporters gathered around, frantically taking pictures. Sean Daniel saw very clearly that one person was unfamiliar, and one person was very familiar.
The familiar person was clearly Brendan Fraser!
The other person was wearing a Scorpion King T-shirt, presumably a fan.
"Brendan Fraser had a conflict with a fan?" Andy could hardly believe what he was seeing. "is he crazy?"
What else could it be but madness for a star to have a conflict with a fan who supports the movie he stars in?
This was simply a scandal!
The conflict in the plaza was minor, and the situation was quickly brought under control. Sean Daniel made a call, asked a few questions, and then quickly hung up.
"What happened?" Andy asked.
Sean Daniel sighed and said, "A fan wanted Brendan Fraser's autograph. For some reason, Brendan Fraser was in a very bad mood and refused to sign because the fan was wearing a Scorpion King T-shirt. The fan couldn't understand his unreasonable excuse and probably said something unpleasant. The two had a verbal conflict, and Brendan Fraser hit that fan."
Andy didn't quite understand. "Why did he refuse to sign for a fan wearing a Scorpion King T-shirt?"
"This isn't the first time," Sean Daniels looked helpless. "He's probably unhappy that the scorpion king stole the spotlight from him, the lead actor."
He shrugged, "Brendan Fraser has always considered himself the boss of the crew, so this kind of thing..."
Sean Daniel didn't finish his sentence, but Andy understood his meaning and shook his head. How could the current Brendan Fraser be the lead actor of a major production?
By the time the two of them went downstairs, someone, they didn't know who, had called the police. The police took away the two parties involved in the conflict and took statements from the people around. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Brendan Fraser couldn't deny it.
Sean Daniel knew very well that this incident would inevitably cause a huge uproar in the media, but his actions to bail out Brendan Fraser were not very quick. Brendan Fraser didn't get out of the police station until that evening.
The events unfolded without any surprise. Related news appeared on the internet that same day, and traditional newspapers and television stations also reported it the next day. The media unanimously criticized Brendan Fraser, and this Hollywood Star's reputation greatly diminished.
Under pressure from Universal Pictures and his agency, Brendan Fraser publicly apologized, but it couldn't salvage his plummeting popularity.
"The situation is very clear now," Helen Herman said to Matthew in a hotel suite in New York. "I just received news from Universal Pictures that the executives are very dissatisfied with Brendan Fraser and are negotiating with his agency. The possibility of starting a sequel in the short term is very small."
Matthew, however, asked curiously, "Did you arrange what happened in the plaza?"
Helen Herman had only told him to find a way to anger Brendan Fraser, but said nothing else.
"You don't need to know about this, and you don't have to know," Helen Herman had no intention of explaining, and reminded him, "Go back and pack your things. It's time for us to return to Los Angeles and launch the final offensive."