Matthew got out of the taxi and dragged his luggage to the front of his house. He looked back and saw no one behind him. When he came out of Los Angeles International Airport, he vaguely noticed paparazzi following him. The taxi got on Interstate 5, and he even saw two motorcyclists following him, but later they disappeared.
He guessed they gave up because the target they were tracking had limited value. After all, this is Los Angeles, a city full of stars, and an actor hit by a paparazzi's thrown stone might even be more famous than him.
He opened the door and entered the yard. It had been unoccupied for more than ten days, and it was covered with fallen leaves. The lawn was also a bit overgrown, and there was a lot of dust inside the house. Matthew took out his phone, intending to call a cleaning company to send someone over, but then he remembered the meager cash left in his account and held back.
The media and agencies that Helen Herman contacted could not provide free services. The current effect was achieved, on the one hand, because Matthew's role as the Scorpion King was indeed eye-catching and one of the biggest highlights of the entire film, and on the other hand, it was due to a large investment of funds.
In just over ten days, coupled with the media reporters that Iliana Boyar helped contact, a total of nearly $200,000 was spent.
He had recently thought he wouldn't have to worry about basic living expenses anymore, but now he was back to square one.
"Even the landlord has no surplus food."
Matthew muttered, quickly tidied up the room, organized his luggage, checked the time, and dialed Britney's number. No one answered for a while, and just as he was about to give up, the call connected.
"Hi, Matthew." Britney's voice came through. "Are you in Los Angeles?"
Leaning back on the sofa, Matthew said, "Yeah, I just got home."
Britney seemed to be in a very good mood. "I have good news for you. My second album is finished recording."
Matthew stood up, feeling great. "Honey, are you coming back from Nashville?"
"You guessed it!" Britney's laughter came through. "But no reward! I'll have to wait a while, though; the exact date of my return isn't set yet."
"No problem." Matthew said again, "Once things are settled on my end, I'll come to Nashville to see you."
The two lingered on the phone for a while, then Matthew hung up, wondering if he should call Helen Herman. Helen Herman had flown back to Los Angeles on the same plane as him, so she probably just got home too.
He changed his clothes, took a shower in the bathroom, and seeing that it was getting late, Matthew ordered takeout for dinner. After dinner, he planned to rest early. For the past ten days or so, he had been constantly flying around North America, changing cities every two days on average, basically repeating the routine of airport to hotel to event venue, and he was indeed tired.
After lying down, he couldn't fall asleep for a while.
Matthew couldn't help but recall what had happened over the past ten days, especially Brandon Fraser, this Hollywood star who was undoubtedly set up by his side.
Throughout the journey, although Brandon Fraser was somewhat annoyed, he generally didn't directly cause him too much trouble. However, he and Helen Herman still provoked him step by step, ultimately allowing his accumulated anger to overcome his rationality.
Brandon Fraser and his agent wanted to push for the third installment of the series to be greenlit as soon as possible. A small portion of people within Universal Pictures supported him, which created an obstacle for the Scorpion King spin-off film that Sean Daniel and Stephen Sommers wanted to push for... Helen Herman had contacted these two, and the male lead of the Scorpion King spin-off film would definitely be him.
To be precise, there was no personal conflict between him and Brandon Fraser, but in this highly competitive industry, especially when faced with such a choice between two options, to move up, you have to step on your competitors.
Having been in the industry for over two years,
Matthew also had a direct understanding of Hollywood. Almost all Hollywood stars climb up on the shoulders of their competitors.
Could he run over and grab Brandon Fraser, saying, "Give up your chance to join the $20 million club. If you give up, Universal Pictures won't hesitate about the Scorpion King project anymore..." He didn't know the results of Universal Pictures' market research, but judging from the situation during the New York promotion, it shouldn't be bad.
Matthew slept exceptionally soundly. He woke up early the next morning feeling refreshed, went for a run, then drove to North Hollywood to buy a bunch of daily necessities, and found a place for breakfast along the way. After returning, he started tidying up the yard. A yard with a lawn looks grand, but it's quite troublesome to maintain.
In the afternoon, Matthew called Helen Herman. Helen Herman had just met Stephen Sommers and Sean Daniel. Their ideas hadn't changed at all; they continued to push for the Scorpion King spin-off film, with Matthew still playing the Scorpion King.
Moreover, Universal Pictures was quite dissatisfied with Brandon Fraser, believing that after directly clashing with fans, using him as the male lead of a major production in the short term would exponentially increase the risk.
However, Universal Pictures had not yet made a final decision, and Matthew and his team still had to wait patiently.
He still had that much patience. Matthew then went to the gym in Westwood to continue his training.
"Oh, the big star is here."
As soon as he entered the boxing gym, he heard Nebula's teasing voice, "Matthew, how does it feel to be famous?"
Matthew walked to the warm-up area, preparing to warm up first, and at the same time said, "No feeling at all." He spread his hands and joked, "I walked from the parking lot to the club and met many people, but not a single one asked me for an autograph."
A staff member was helping Matthew prepare his boxing gloves and chimed in, "Perhaps there are too many stars in Los Angeles, everyone is used to it."
Everyone around laughed. Westwood is close to Beverly Hills, and Hollywood stars are often seen there.
Another staff member said at this point, "Matthew, I watched it, and your character was fantastic!"
"Thank you."
Matthew gave the impression that he hadn't changed at all from before. After warming up, he put on his boxing gloves and followed Nebula to do body coordination training first. Unlike professional athletes, he was an actor after all, and Nebula focused on training his body's coordination.
From the initial warm-up to the later specialized training, Matthew was very serious. He was preparing for the upcoming movie. Sean Daniel and Stephen Sommers had already revealed to Helen Herman that the Scorpion King spin-off film would have a brand new story, set in ancient Egypt, and would be a fantasy action film with a large number of action scenes, especially for the protagonist, the Scorpion King.
Now, the possibility of the Scorpion King spin-off film being greenlit has greatly increased, and he also needs to start preparing for this film.
To produce excellent action scenes, more than just special effects are needed.
Universal Studios, within the office area belonging to Universal Pictures, Philip Clayston, the Director of Production at Universal Pictures, had just finished listening to his assistant Andy's report.
"The person who started the fight was Brandon Fraser, and the fans were relatively restrained." Andy concluded, "Although the fans, at the persuasion of the crew, gave up the idea of taking legal action, they did give interviews to the media. Brandon Fraser..."
Philip Clayston shook his head. "Don't worry about him anymore. We won't be working with him again for now."
Putting everything else aside, simply from a risk control perspective, it would be prudent to be cautious about collaborating with Brandon Fraser in the short term.
Andy said a few more words, and Philip Clayston nodded. "I understand. You can go out now."
Seeing that his boss had no other business, Andy turned and left. As he exited the office, he happened to see Jett Britton, the Deputy Director of Production, walking over.
"is Philip in?" Jett Britton held a document in his hand.
Andy smiled politely and replied, "He's in his office."
Jett Britton nodded at Andy, turned and entered the office. After greeting Philip Clayston, he sat in the chair opposite his desk and placed the document in front of Philip Clayston.
"This is the summary of the market department's survey statistics over the past ten days..." Jett Britton said as concisely as possible, "Among over 110,000 respondents in North America, of all the characters in this film, Evelyn, played by Rachel Weisz, is the most popular character, followed by the Scorpion King, played by Matthew Horner."
He was also doing his job and spoke frankly, "My initial judgment was wrong. Among the same respondents, when asked if they would watch a standalone Scorpion King movie, thirty percent expressed an intention to watch it."
Such data is already very good, especially for a supporting character in a film.
Once, he was talking about this movie with his sixteen-year-old son at home, and he didn't expect his son to also like the Scorpion King very much. When asked why, his son's answer was simple: the Scorpion King is handsome, cool, strong enough, and very much like a man, like the charismatic man he dreams of becoming!
As a professional, he was well aware that Hollywood doesn't lack handsome men, but not every handsome man can be accepted by the audience on screen. A handsome man with good looks, physique, and charisma who can be widely accepted by the audience often has a great promotional effect on the commercial value of an entertainment film.
"Also," Jett Britton added, "in our joint survey with the media and internet portals, the Scorpion King's popularity is also second only to Evelyn."
Philip Clayston opened the document and began to read it. This involved a brand new film project, so he read it very carefully.
Jett Britton hadn't finished yet. "Furthermore, media reviews for The Scorpion King are generally positive, which will also be beneficial for future film promotion."
"Hmm." Philip Clayston looked up from the documents. "Sean came to see me this morning. Stephen Sommers has already completed the script."
Jett Britton didn't speak; he had already made his stance clear.
Philip Clayston stood up and said, "Push this new project into the project approval review. It's best to complete it before the current film's run ends."