Perhaps his phone call worked, or perhaps Fox-Sherman genuinely had high hopes for him as a rising star. When Matthew returned to the set and traveled to Acapulco in the Caribbean, he received a text message from Helen Herman, informing him that her young client had passed the audition.
After getting off the plane, they first boarded a car, then transferred to a ferry, swaying as they headed towards Acapulco Island. Matthew felt fine, but many members of the crew started to get seasick.
"Ugh…"
Seeing Keira Knightley rush out of the cabin, lean on the railing, and vomit into the sea, a very bored Johnny Depp said to Matthew, "That's the third time."
Matthew saw Keira Knightley's assistant go over to offer her water and said, "You remember all that?"
The three main actors received significantly better treatment than the other cast and crew, traveling in the first-class cabin of the ferry. However, since they were in Mexico, the so-called first-class wasn't much to brag about; it just smelled a little less like diesel.
Johnny Depp ignored Matthew's comment and said to himself, "I want to make a bet with you."
Matthew knew he was an eccentric, and after rehearsing and training together for so long, he was used to it. He asked, "What are we betting on?"
"Judging by the journey, we are still twenty nautical miles from our destination," Johnny Depp kept looking at Keira Knightley. "I bet she'll throw up at least two more times, making the total number of times no less than five."
He thought for a moment and added, "Dry heaves count too."
Matthew felt a sense of helplessness and told Depp, "You're really boring."
Johnny Depp readily admitted, "Being on a boat is boring, so isn't this just finding some fun?"
"Hey, Depp…" Matthew whispered, "Keira is seasick and throwing up. Don't you have any sympathy?"
Johnny Depp didn't respond, asking instead, "Are you betting or not?"
Matthew was actually quite bored himself, so he said, "Alright, I'll bet! Keira won't throw up more than five times throughout the entire trip." He asked Depp, "What's the stake?"
Johnny Depp held up a finger. "One hundred dollars."
Keira Knightley walked back, supported by her assistant, and Matthew raised an eyebrow at Johnny Depp, "You're going to lose for sure."
He stood up and went to meet Keira Knightley, looking very concerned. "Are you alright?"
Keira Knightley was clearly not feeling well and just shook her head without speaking.
Matthew then said, "I'll go to the doctor and get you some seasickness medicine. It might help."
"Mm," Keira Knightley nodded quickly.
Johnny Depp watched as Matthew whispered a few words to Keira Knightley, left the cabin, and quickly returned, handing her a medicine bottle and other items. Keira Knightley took out a pill and swallowed it.
When Matthew returned and sat down, he eyed Matthew and said, "You're cheating."
Matthew, of course, didn't admit it, arguing self-righteously, "This is concern, not cheating." He asked Johnny Depp, "is there a problem with me not wanting to see Keira suffer?"
Johnny Depp still didn't respond to Matthew, looking at him with a strange expression. "I understand."
This made Matthew curious, and he asked, "What do you understand?"
Johnny Depp secretly pointed a finger towards Keira Knightley. "You want to flirt with her."
Matthew was quite helpless with Depp's evasive way of speaking, so he simply leaned back in the spacious chair and said, "Depp, would you be interested in a girl whose chest isn't as big as yours?"
Johnny Depp finally stopped talking nonsense, thought seriously for a moment, and said, "I would."
Matthew simply stopped talking. In his understanding, the old Johnny Depp was a pure-hearted big boy, and the current Depp was a pure-hearted wanderer.
His phone suddenly vibrated. Matthew took it out and saw it was a text message from Rachel McAdams.
"Are you off the plane yet?"
Matthew thought for a moment, then composed a reply, "Off, currently on a boat."
Rachel McAdams quickly replied, "I have good news for you! I got that role you mentioned!"
From the text, Matthew could imagine Rachel McAdams' excitement. From the script, the vampire role of Erika had a lot of lines and scenes, making it a fairly significant supporting role.
Matthew quickly replied, "Congratulations, Rachel."
Rachel McAdams' reply was very fast. "Matthew, thank you so much! The casting director told me that I got the audition because of your recommendation."
Seeing this text message, Matthew immediately realized that Fox-Sherman was doing him a favor.
He replied, "No need to be so polite, you're just excellent."
There was no further reply, and Matthew waited a moment, put away his phone, and noticed that Keira Knightley, who had been seasick earlier, was drowsy, and Johnny Depp next to her was already asleep. He couldn't help but close his eyes and also slept for a while.
After an unknown amount of time, Matthew was woken up by his phone vibrating in his pocket. He took it out and saw it was still a text message from Rachel McAdams.
"You've helped me so much, how can I thank you?"
Matthew replied without thinking, "I know the film's investor, and I just casually said hello to him. It wasn't a difficult thing to do. You don't need to be so polite with me."
Rachel McAdams didn't reply for a while. Just as Matthew was about to put away his phone, another text message arrived.
"I don't like owing people favors. Matthew, I don't have anything else, and I can't compare to you, so how about I repay you with my body?"
Upon seeing this text message, Matthew was instantly speechless, not knowing how to reply. Thinking of Rachel McAdams, it felt like a worm was crawling in his heart.
Just then, the ferry docked. He simply stopped replying to texts, woke up the drowsy Keira Knightley, and called out to Johnny Depp, and they all disembarked together.
The luggage of the three was with their assistants, so they seemed quite relaxed. Besides the backpack on his back, everything else would be handled by Mira Wang, who would coordinate with the crew's general staff for transport.
"This seasickness medicine works well."
Keira Knightley felt much better, but she was still a bit wobbly when she walked.
Matthew simply held her arm with one hand, guiding her down the gangway. As soon as they disembarked, Johnny Depp, who was following behind, suddenly stepped forward, walked alongside Matthew, took out his wallet, pulled out a hundred dollars, and, under Keira Knightley's curious gaze, handed it over.
Johnny Depp was clearly doing it on purpose. "Take it." He specifically looked at Keira Knightley and added, "Keira didn't throw up five times, so you win."
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Matthew took the hundred dollars without hesitation. "I'll win against you again next time."
Johnny Depp shrugged and then winked at Keira Knightley.
Keira Knightley wasn't stupid and immediately guessed what these two despicable guys had done. She questioned, "You actually bet on me?"
Before Matthew could deny it, Johnny Depp admitted, "Matthew and I bet on whether you would throw up more than five times from seasickness. You didn't exceed five times, so Matthew won."
"You two…" Keira Knightley instantly bristled. "You're so boring!"
She pulled her arm free from Matthew's hand. "I thought you were kindly giving me seasickness medicine! Matthew, I didn't expect you to be even more boring than Depp!"
With that, she quickened her pace, stomping off angrily, and got directly into one of the cars waiting for them.
Matthew shook his head and looked at Johnny Depp. "You did that on purpose!"
Johnny Depp raised an eyebrow. "I did it on purpose."
His assistant came over with his luggage, and they both got into the front car. Matthew saw Mira Wang, took a box from her hand, and went to his car. The driver quickly took the suitcase and put it in the trunk.
The three main actors of the crew all had their own private cars, even when shooting on location.
This was the most normal treatment in Hollywood, and Matthew enjoyed it with a clear conscience.
Sitting in the car, he asked Mira Wang, who was in the passenger seat, "You didn't get seasick, did you?"
"I'm fine," Mira Wang said, turning around. "I used to take boats to France often, so I don't get seasick."
A long convoy of cars, carrying hundreds of crew members, arrived grandly in front of a hotel. The crew, being wealthy, had booked the entire hotel for the upcoming filming.
The crew checked into the hotel and, after only one night's rest, began filming.
Strictly speaking, the filming of "Pirates of the Caribbean" was quite intense. Buena Vista Pictures, a distribution label under Walt Disney, had already set the film's release date. Because the project was approved relatively late, to avoid directly clashing with other major blockbusters, the release slot for "Pirates of the Caribbean" wasn't ideal: a weekend after next year's Independence Day holiday.
Typically, the Independence Day holiday is arguably the best release window in July, as it's a nationwide holiday, and in previous years, many films have become box office hits during this period.
Unfortunately, before Walt Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films confirmed the "Pirates of the Caribbean" project, Warner Bros. had already announced that "Terminator 3" would be released during next year's Independence Day holiday. Even though James Cameron was no longer directing, no one dared to underestimate the power of the "Terminator" series combined with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Generally speaking, no two top-tier blockbusters would be scheduled to open on the same weekend, as that often leads to a lose-lose situation.
However, the summer blockbuster season is the most crowded period in the North American film market, with major films premiering almost every weekend. Finding a release window without any heavyweight films opening in the preceding or following weekends is extremely difficult.
Moreover, the further into the summer season, the less effective the box office boost tends to be, especially by late July and August, when moviegoers' enthusiasm and wallets are largely depleted.
In this era, very few super-productions would be scheduled for release in August.
The tight schedule for the crew naturally reflected in the filming. The "Lady Washington," serving as the "Interceptor," also arrived at the Acapulco dock. The "Black Pearl," specially built by the crew here, was also completed, and many scenes on the ships had begun filming.