The enormous banquet hall was lavishly decorated. The film's massive box office success allowed Universal Pictures to invest heavily in this celebratory party. In every sense, a North American box office exceeding 100 million dollars, compared to a 40 million dollar investment, was a huge commercial success.
Following Sean Daniel, Matthew approached two middle-aged men.
"Philip, Jett, this is Matthew Horner." Sean Daniel introduced them to Matthew, then introduced Matthew to them, "Matthew, this is Philip Claxton, Director of Production at Universal Pictures! And this is Jett Brighton, Associate Director of Production."
Matthew quickly stepped forward and greeted them very politely.
Without a doubt, Jett Brighton and Philip Claxton were high-ranking executives at Universal Pictures.
"Many people say you're the biggest highlight of the film…" Philip Claxton seemed very friendly, "My opinion is the same as theirs!"
Matthew, however, appeared very humble, "Without a platform like Universal Pictures, success wouldn't have been possible."
Everyone gathered there chuckled.
In fact, Matthew was telling the truth. If it weren't for Universal Pictures' ingenious publicity and hype, relying solely on him as the so-called biggest highlight of the film would not have been enough to achieve such massive box office numbers.
The main reason Jett Brighton and Philip Claxton were so friendly towards him was the overwhelming success.
Philip Claxton suddenly said, "Your male lead is very popular, and he's received excellent reviews from the audience. Are you interested in continuing to collaborate with Universal Pictures? We could work together to develop it into a series."
Hearing this, Matthew immediately recalled Helen Herman's instructions and certainly wouldn't readily agree. He vaguely replied, "It would be my honor to collaborate with Universal Pictures."
Jett Brighton and Philip Claxton were busy men. After chatting with Matthew for a few more minutes, they moved on. Sean Daniel also went elsewhere shortly after.
Just as Matthew relaxed a bit, Helen Herman, wearing a black cocktail dress, approached him.
"What were you two talking about?" She was almost as tall as Matthew in her high heels.
"Uh…" Matthew didn't answer. Instead, he thoroughly scrutinized Helen Herman from head to toe. Strictly speaking, it was the first time he had seen Helen Herman in anything other than business attire. "You look beautiful tonight."
It was a simple compliment. Helen Herman politely replied, "Thank you."
Matthew pointed to her black-rimmed plain glasses, "Those glasses ruin your look."
He had accepted Helen Herman's suggestion and hired the stylist who had helped him with his recent looks. He also took some time to learn a bit about fashion styling, though, due to the short time frame, his knowledge in this area was still very limited.
"I can't help it," Helen Herman said flatly, "I have astigmatism."
Although she no longer spoke to Matthew as if squeezing words out of a tube, as she did initially, this was limited to work-related matters.
Seeing Helen Herman pull out that incredibly powerful reason again, Matthew didn't dwell on the topic. He said, "Universal Pictures seems interested in turning it into a series. They asked me about a sequel."
Helen Herman asked, "You didn't agree to continue starring in this series, did you?"
"No." Matthew pointed to his head, "I remember what you said."
"The reputation of this film isn't ideal," Helen Herman looked around, and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, she said directly, "If there's another one, the audience won't be as receptive."
Matthew immediately understood her meaning.
"This series has no future?"
Helen Herman lowered her voice slightly, "Unless there's a reliable script and director, otherwise…" She shook her head, "The risk is too great. If Universal Pictures elevates this series to a major A-list production, it could be considered. Otherwise, the risk and reward are completely disproportionate."
The possibility of a film with such a poor reputation being upgraded to an A-list production was very small.
"We don't need to consider this for now…" Helen Herman whispered again, "It's not too late to decide after seeing Universal Pictures' plans for the series. The initiative is currently in our hands…"
She didn't finish that sentence, immediately putting on a smiling face and saying to someone approaching from the other side, "Stephen, long time no see."
Matthew turned to look. Stephen Sommers walked over, smiling and greeting them.
Stephen Sommers stood opposite Matthew and Helen Herman and said, "Matthew, you played a crucial role in the massive success this time." He chuckled, "I told the people at Universal Pictures that you're a good actor, and you certainly didn't disappoint me."
"Thank you, Stephen." Matthew said this sincerely.
Without Sean Daniel and Stephen Sommers' strong advocacy and recommendation, there would have been no film, and no male lead role for him.
"Keep up the good work, Matthew." Stephen Sommers was completely different from before; he now admired Matthew greatly. "I have high hopes for your future."
After only a few words, Helen Herman interjected. She seemed not to have completely given up.
In this setting, Matthew couldn't say much, so he simply looked around. Many people attended today's celebration party, including a few celebrities. For example, he saw Orlando Bloom had just entered the banquet hall.
"What's he doing here?" Matthew's mind raced, "is he here to congratulate me?"
As far as he knew, Orlando Bloom had virtually no previous connection with Universal Pictures.
"I saw a friend," Matthew told Helen Herman and Stephen Sommers, "I'll go say hello."
Seeing them nod, Matthew walked towards the entrance of the banquet hall. Orlando Bloom was standing there, looking around, seemingly searching for someone.
Matthew quickly approached him, "Hey, Orlando!"
Orlando Bloom was looking to his left. Hearing someone call his name, he immediately turned around. Seeing it was Matthew, a smile spread across his face, "Hi, Matthew."
"How did you come?" Matthew asked.
"Ah…" Orlando Bloom reacted very quickly, smiling as he said, "Your film was a huge box office success, I had to come and congratulate you."
He opened his arms and lightly hugged Matthew, "How does it feel to be a hundred-million-dollar box office leading man?"
They separated, and Matthew didn't hide his good mood, "It's f***ing awesome!"
He knew his own situation. Ever since the film's opening weekend box office numbers were released, he had been in a good mood.
"Shall we find somewhere to chat?" Matthew suggested.
Orlando Bloom had already seen Stephen Sommers. Seeing that he was with someone, it wasn't appropriate to go over. He immediately nodded in agreement, "Sure."
The reason he came was not to congratulate Matthew, but to congratulate Stephen Sommers.
Orlando Bloom followed Matthew to an empty table and sat down. Matthew's excitement hadn't waned, and he continued, "You've experienced this feeling too. I don't know how to describe it, it's like you're the center of attention wherever you go."
"Mm," Orlando Bloom nodded, "After its release, I was pretty much the same as you."
Matthew glanced at him. In fact, keeping Orlando Bloom engaged wasn't just about discussing how great fame was. He mainly wanted to ask about the progress of Orlando Bloom's efforts to secure the role in Van Helsing.
Such a question couldn't be asked directly, so he could only beat around the bush to probe.
After chatting for a bit about how great it was to be famous, Matthew suddenly adopted a mysterious tone, "Remember that big project I mentioned to you? Now that the box office has exploded, I've asked my agent to go all out to secure that role."
"Really?" Orlando Bloom seemed very calm, "This project…"
He and his agent had done a lot of work over the past month, already impressing Stephen Sommers and Universal Pictures' executives. Especially with the global box office now exceeding 800 million dollars and Legolas receiving widespread praise, he had ample leverage.
Not long ago, he participated in an internal audition hosted by Stephen Sommers and Universal Pictures executives. It was basically confirmed that he would play the role of Van Helsing, and his agent had already begun negotiations with the production team.
Barring any major unforeseen circumstances, by early June at the latest, he would sign a formal actor's contract with the production team and then begin preparations for the monster hunter role.
By then, the production team would certainly make it public, and Matthew Horner would naturally know as well.
What would Matthew Horner think? He would definitely think that he had used the information Matthew provided to snatch the role, and thus… If it were just that, Orlando Bloom wouldn't care. There were plenty of instances of roles being fought over in Hollywood. For example, when he first auditioned for the production team, the role he auditioned for was Aragorn, and later, due to various circumstances, he got Legolas.
His concern was Matthew Horner's relationship with Stephen Sommers. Lately, he had been in frequent contact with Stephen Sommers, and Stephen Sommers had many times expressed his admiration for Matthew. If his agent hadn't simultaneously worked on Universal Pictures' side, the role of Van Helsing would never have fallen to him.
If Matthew were to become enraged and use his relationship with Stephen Sommers to cause trouble behind the scenes, it would likely create a lot of problems.
It wasn't impossible. If he were in Matthew's shoes, he certainly wouldn't make things easy for the other party.
Orlando Bloom was deep in thought. It was already late May, and the production team would soon announce the lead actors. How could he eliminate this potential threat from Matthew?
At this moment, seeing Orlando Bloom suddenly hesitate, Matthew deliberately said in a joking tone, "Orlando, you're not interested in this project too, are you?"