"What's going on between you and Orlando Bloom?" Helen Herman asked Matthew in a low voice. "I feel like there's something strange between you two."
Matthew quickly shook his head. "What could be going on between us? We're just ordinary friends."
It wasn't that he didn't trust Helen Herman, but there was simply no way to explain it. After all, everything was based on past events. How could he possibly fool Helen Herman? At most, Helen Herman only had a slight suspicion now, and explaining it would only lead to more trouble.
Upon reaching the entrance of the screening hall, Helen Herman went inside, but Matthew stopped. He waited with Kelly Hu, who had been waiting there earlier, for the main cast and crew to gather before they all entered the screening hall together.
As soon as the crew appeared, enthusiastic applause erupted in the Temple Grand Hall. The applause came in waves, as if continuous.
Producer Sean Daniel walked at the front, followed by director Chuck Russell, and then Matthew. For some reason, Matthew felt particularly excited when he heard the applause.
He had worked hard for three years, and finally, as the male lead, he stood before the audience!
Male lead—it sounded light and easy, but to fight through a multitude of contenders and claim this crown, those who hadn't experienced it could never truly understand the difficulty.
He knew he was very close to his first small goal: becoming a third-tier Hollywood celebrity!
If the movie was a box office success, he would be at least a third-tier celebrity; if it failed, it would be difficult to get another chance to rise again.
Everything depended on this film, which was about to be screened!
As he sat in a front-row seat, Matthew felt a mix of anticipation and trepidation. This "The Scorpion King" would undoubtedly be a turning point in his life.
"I can't see, sit down quickly."
In the good ordinary audience seats in the middle of the cinema, Lister reminded his son, "Brian, is he that captivating?"
"Yes!" Brian Lister nodded vigorously. "Didn't I show you the trailer? It's so exciting!"
He sat down, still muttering, "I haven't found a man in Hollywood who's more MAN than Matthew!"
Lister could only shake his head. He was almost forty years old, and the aesthetic differences in movies between him and these fifteen or sixteen-year-old boys were too great.
However, he also admitted that Brian Lister had a point: Matthew Horner was indeed a very masculine actor, not just in films, but in real life too.
The Universal Pictures logo lit up on the screen, and the auditorium instantly fell silent. "The Scorpion King" began its screening.
Like all Hollywood action films, it naturally started with a fight scene to highlight the protagonist and entice the audience to keep watching.
Audiences willing to buy tickets for this type of film are looking for handsome guys, action, muscles, and beautiful women. Almost no one cares about depth, humanity, or philosophical musings.
In Matthew's words, audiences who watch films like "The Scorpion King" are just looking for a good time.
In fact, these people don't have very high demands for the actors' performances; it's enough if they don't constantly break immersion.
The first scene of "The Scorpion King" was a traditional Hollywood action film opening: Mathayus, played by Matthew, ghosted into the barbarian tent to rescue his brother. His appearance was wild, domineering, and masculine, with his custom-made costume highlighting his strong physique. His muscles were well-defined but not overly exaggerated, making him appear both powerful and agile.
Mathayus's action scenes were specially designed by the action director based on Matthew's characteristics. They weren't the somewhat clumsy wrestling-style fights, but rather a beautiful blend of power and speed.
Matthew moved flexibly, striking powerfully and lethally. The barbarian soldiers in the tent were like mere chickens and dogs before him, utterly defenseless.
The five-minute opening scene was entirely dedicated to showcasing the power of Matthew's character. Although his acting was average, it was still above the average line.
Coupled with the film's use of action to shape the character, Mathayus easily left an extremely deep impression.
"The action scenes are quite exciting," Lister gradually became interested.
"Cool!" Brian Lister was completely engrossed in the movie. "This character is so strong! Matthew is so handsome!"
In front of him, there was a girl who would stare intently at the screen with a lustful look whenever Matthew appeared. When the camera briefly cut away, she would instantly lose all interest.
"He's very muscular, very agile, and his face is so damn handsome!" The girl was clearly a little infatuated. "And he's not simple-minded… wow… he's really so sexy!"
She gazed blankly at Mathayus on the screen. "Matthew Horner and this character are truly a perfect match!"
Compared to "The Mummy Returns," the film's pace wasn't slow. Movies of this era couldn't be as fast-paced as those in the later internet age, but a series of exciting action scenes strung the entire film together.
Of course, compared to the impressive action sequences, the film's plot could only be described as average, a typical Hollywood commercial formula.
First, there's a rather outlandish, unverifiable backstory: the city of Gomorrah, over 5000 years ago, before the time of the pyramids—a notorious city destroyed by the gods because of the great sins of its inhabitants.
Then there's a major villain who is rotten to the core from his first appearance, which in the film is naturally the warlord Memnon.
Third, there's the opposing force against the villain.
Memnon's greedy desire for power made the other tribes feel threatened. For survival, several tribes united, vowing to fight Memnon to the death. After several clashes, the tribal alliance always lost, which greatly puzzled everyone. It turned out that Memnon had a mysterious sorceress by his side who could foresee the future and use this to guide Memnon in deploying his battle plans.
Upon learning of this, the tribal alliance decided to send an assassin to carry out the mission of assassinating the sorceress.
The male protagonist, who had displayed his mighty demeanor and superb skills in the opening, naturally joined the main storyline.
Mathayus, played by Matthew, is the sole surviving member of the Akkadian warrior tribe. Strong, brave, and skilled in combat, he is a rare first-class assassin. But even a hero can be swayed by beauty. When Mathayus infiltrated enemy lines and discovered that the mysterious sorceress Cassandra was actually a beautiful woman, he hesitated.
On one hand, Mathayus was moved by Cassandra's beauty and couldn't bear to harm her; on the other hand, Mathayus also learned that everything Cassandra did for Memnon was not of her own free will, but rather under his coercion and intimidation.
Therefore, Mathayus ultimately did not act.
Finally, the beautiful sorceress and the heroic male protagonist naturally come together, and the war between good and evil inevitably erupts between Mathayus and Memnon.
In less than an hour and a half, the film reached its end. The final action sequence entirely used the long take of Matthew and Steven Brand, and Matthew could tell that not a single cut was made to the long take.
This made the entire action scene particularly coherent, real, and powerful, looking incredibly exciting.
"Ah…"
A scream echoed on the screen.
Brian Lister's hair stood on end, and he unconsciously clamped his legs together. How much must that hurt!
"Good thing this is just acting," he thought, feeling fortunate for the actor on screen.
This villain was too weak. He was easily defeated shortly after engaging the protagonist. He was simply all show and no substance.
However, this perfectly highlighted the protagonist's strength. Anyway, he was watching the film from the protagonist's perspective, not the villain's, so it was harmless.
At the end of the film, the male lead Matthew Horner and the female lead Kelly Hu were truly a perfect match. Especially that scene under the moonlight, it was so pleasing to the eye, and the two actors were really well-chosen...
Brian Lister then scratched his head, realizing there was a problem: what did the plot of this movie have to do with scorpions?
The screening of "The Scorpion King" thus concluded.
In the front row guest seats, Orlando Bloom sat with his arms crossed, shaking his head slightly. A film and character like this? Could it even compare to "The Fellowship of the Ring" and Legolas?
"This is Matthew Horner's first film as a male lead?" He scoffed disdainfully. "Desert, beautiful women, sorcery, assassination… these are all Hollywood's leftovers. It emphasizes muscles over plot, killing over beautiful action. A small character overturns a wicked dynasty, achieves great things, and wins the beautiful woman—a typical, utterly typical cliché, entirely following the physical route…"
For such a film to keep an audience engaged, the audience first had to lower their IQ from thirty to fifteen.
With a film and character like this, would Stephen Sommers still be interested in Matthew Horner?
"Very good," Stephen Sommers whispered to Sean Daniel. "This edited version is even better than the test screening version. It fully highlights Matthew as the male lead; he's even better than I expected."
Sean Daniel nodded slightly. "Matthew is a natural athlete, but he was born in the wrong era…"
If it had been the 80s or 90s of the last century, perhaps an actor of Matthew Horner's type would have had a larger market.
Stephen Sommers added, "That final action scene was fantastic."
Matthew's strong and agile movements made him even more charismatic, and also made the hand-to-hand combat between Mathayus and Memnon more captivating, creating a perfectly timed climax for the film.
If it hadn't been for Universal Pictures' opposition, he would have definitely listed Matthew Horner as the number one choice for Van Helsing. However... if "The Scorpion King" was a box office hit, the internal opposition within Universal Pictures should be significantly reduced, as their main dissatisfaction was Matthew's fame and box office appeal.
As the credits appeared, applause erupted, and the Temple Grand Hall was instantly filled with thunderous applause. Matthew once again stood up and applauded at a film premiere, only this time, unlike in the past, he was one of the absolute protagonists.
Well-wishers appeared before him in droves, and his face quickly became stiff from smiling.
At the subsequent press conference, he also became a key focus for media reporters, but this was only the beginning.