Helen Herman's words were indeed a bit unexpected for Matthew. A super production of around 150 million dollars and Jerry Bruckheimer's reputation carried immense appeal for both actors and their Agent, especially for those like them who were determined to follow a primarily commercial path.
After all, unlike him, who had some vague impressions of certain major flops, Helen Herman couldn't possibly have the advantage of such foresight.
"Why?" Matthew asked curiously.
Helen Herman said directly, "Starting from the mummy returns, you've appeared in three consecutive period action films. What has truly left an impression are your roles in the costume genre. If you continue to appear in this genre in the short term, you'll be completely restricted to this narrow category, and your acting range will quickly shrink."
She paused, seemingly organizing her thoughts, then quickly added, "Action films are a very broad genre, but period action is relatively limited. Your strength lies in action, but not necessarily period action. What we want is broader room for development, not a path that gets narrower and narrower until there's nowhere left to go."
"It's not that you can't play similar genres and roles in the future," Helen Herman explained patiently. "For the next two or three films, it's best not to do period pieces. After a few years, when the impression of roles like the the scorpion king has faded, the negative impact of taking such roles will be smaller."
Matthew nodded. Helen Herman made a lot of sense. There are many types of action movies: epic action, sci-fi action, fantasy action, adventure action, crime action—these all suited his development path, rather than being limited to a single sub-genre.
In four or five years, aside from the Little Blacksmith, the audience would probably forget the the scorpion king. By then, if a suitable project came along, it wouldn't matter if he took it.
Besides, he really did have significant worries and doubts about king arthur in his heart.
"I think you're right," Matthew said, appearing very compliant. "I'll follow your lead on this."
Helen Herman glanced at Matthew with a hint of surprise, seemingly not expecting him to agree so readily. She had prepared quite a few arguments to convince him.
As Matthew's fame grew and he gradually became a star-level actor, her way of handling him was also changing. She could no longer use a simple, blunt, commanding tone like she did at the beginning.
Matthew checked the time and said, "is there anything else? If not, I'm leaving."
"If you encounter any press interviews..." Helen Herman reminded, "mention pirates of the caribbean more."
"I understand."
For now, Walt Disney's promotional efforts for pirates of the caribbean weren't particularly intense. Aside from occasionally reminding the public that it was based on a Disneyland attraction, they hadn't released any major bombshells.
Matthew guessed this was because Disney was quite confident; the attraction in Disneyland was very famous and had enough appeal among teenagers.
Although pirates of the caribbean was the first film produced by Walt Disney Pictures to exceed a PG rating—most of Walt Disney's more mature films were handled by Touchstone Pictures, while Walt Disney Pictures only produced children's films—it was basically confirmed to be PG-13. However, in essence, it was still a children's movie.
Of course, such a children's movie wasn't pure; it was equally suitable for many adult viewers.
Additionally, Walt Disney Pictures released the main character posters for the film.
This was also a key point of contention between Helen Herman and James Benesner. Originally, under pressure from Johnny Depp's powerful Agent, the poster design focused on highlighting Captain Jack Sparrow. He was in the center of the poster, while Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann were below him, only showing their profiles.
If it were really designed that way, the personal promotion for Matthew and Keira Knightley would undoubtedly be diminished. Helen Herman and James Benesner went to the Crew together.
They requested a change to the poster but faced strong opposition from Johnny Depp's Agent.
Although the relationship between the three leads—Matthew, Johnny Depp, and Keira Knightley—was very harmonious, their Agents fought fiercely. They argued for nearly a week over just the main poster design. Finally, it was only through Jerry Bruckheimer's intervention that an agreement was reached.
To be more precise, all parties made compromises.
In the newly designed poster, Captain Jack Sparrow was moved upward to occupy the top center of the poster alone. The characters Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann were moved closer to the center, changed from profiles to front-facing, and shared the remaining space on the poster.
Furthermore, regarding the actors' names on the poster, Johnny Depp was no longer listed alone but was on the same line as Matthew and Keira Knightley. However, Johnny Depp was first, Matthew second, and Keira Knightley third... which was consistent with their star power, appeal, and gender.
As two actors with a significant gap in status, it was impossible for Keira Knightley to be ranked ahead of the male lead actor.
Since the upcoming promotional plan required Matthew and Keira Knightley to have a period of downtime, Matthew temporarily settled his mind and stopped thinking about messy things like Rachel McAdams. Moreover, Rachel McAdams had gone to Bulgaria with her Crew in early December. She wasn't his girlfriend, so he couldn't possibly fly that far just to meet a temporary hookup.
As for the promotion of pirates of the caribbean, he would just follow the Crew's plan.
A few days later, the final installment of Matthew's salary from the pirates of the caribbean Crew arrived. The Crew had previously paid $600,000 twice. This time, in addition to the remaining $800,000, there was also the $300,000 compensation fee.
In this way, he earned $2.3 million from the single project of pirates of the caribbean. Even after deducting Helen Herman's 8% commission, he still had over $2 million.
He began to consider whether to use this money to buy a property that truly belonged to him. The detached house he was currently renting wasn't bad; it was quiet enough and offered good privacy.
Matthew simply had his real estate Agent contact the landlord. The landlord was far away in Europe and didn't reply immediately.
There was no rush regarding the house; it could wait for a while. He set it aside for the moment, contacted his Stylist, and went to a costume rental company to pick out suitable clothes, preparing to attend the North American premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Matthew had been recommended to the Crew by Orlando Bloom and then received a formal invitation to the premiere.
Due to the massive success of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers could be said to be the most anticipated film of the year-end holiday season, even overshadowing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
On the day of the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the media, book fans, and movie fans gathered together. The scale, number of people, and buzz far exceeded the previous The Fellowship of the Ring. Orlando Bloom was especially a focus of attention.
Matthew had heard him mention that because The Fellowship of the Ring was a huge success, the New Zealand director Peter Jackson had received a large amount of reshoot funding from New Line Cinema to reshoot some scenes for the subsequent two films. The focus of the reshoots was Legolas. Peter Jackson specifically filmed many shots of Legolas looking cool and stylish for Orlando Bloom.
Perhaps an average person who had done something like digging a pit for someone to jump into, and then accepted such a warm invitation from Orlando Bloom to ride the coattails of The Lord of the Rings and Legolas on the red carpet, would feel guilty. But a dark-hearted and thick-skinned person like him certainly wouldn't have such emotions. He came as a matter of course and walked the red carpet with ease and style.
From the moment he first entered this circle, he had been climbing up by stepping on others. If he felt guilty, he might as well not mix in the melting pot of Hollywood and just go home and wait to die.
So, when he entered the red carpet interview area and stood with Orlando Bloom, facing the reporters' microphones and cameras, Matthew put on an act of deep brotherhood.
"Yes, we're good friends!" Matthew said with a hearty laugh in response to the reporter's question. "I met Orlando on the set of black hawk down, and we quickly became friends. I'm here at the premiere because I accepted Orlando's invitation, specifically to cheer for Legolas!"
Orlando Bloom put his arm around Matthew's shoulder and said, "We're more than just friends! We're brothers! Matthew has helped me many times. He's a passionate person. After spending time with him, you'll unconsciously be drawn to him and become his friend."
A press photographer shouted, "Matthew, Orlando, look over here!"
Matthew and Orlando stood shoulder to shoulder, making a victory sign together, letting the reporters take photos.
At this moment, they were truly as close as brothers.
Afterward, the two walked toward the theater together. Matthew asked as they walked, "Has van helsing started filming yet?"
"Yeah." Orlando Bloom nodded gently. "They're currently filming my parts. The female lead..."
He shook his head. "The female lead went to film another movie. The scenes with both the male and female leads won't be filmed until next year."
"The Crew for that Kate Beckinsale movie..." Matthew said with a heart-to-heart attitude, "invited me to be the lead actor, but I didn't want to be a supporting actor for someone else, so I refused."
Orlando Bloom entered the theater doors and said, "Kate Beckinsale has someone supporting her now; it's not like before."
Matthew nodded. "I've heard that too."
In a Hollywood Crew, just like Vin Diesel, someone who can bring in large amounts of funding is also a big shot.
Entering the theater, Matthew separated from Orlando Bloom and sat in a guest seat relatively close by. Looking at Orlando Bloom walking toward the front row, he couldn't help but think of a question.
Will the van helsing with a different lead still flop?
He thought for a while and estimated that the chance of it still being a pit was very high. After all, Orlando Bloom was just the lead actor; he wasn't also the producer, nor could he meddle with the script. The possibility of change was too small. And anyways, they both got the role they wanted, even orlando schemed behind his back to get the role from Universal, so now it's up to fate how the course of history unfolds.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers achieved a double harvest of critical acclaim and box office success without any surprise. By the time the Academy Awards Ceremony was held in March 2003, the film's North American box office had surpassed 300 million dollars. Orlando Bloom's Legolas was incredibly popular. According to Matthew's estimation, he had firmly entered the ranks of Hollywood's B-list.
Just after the 2003 Academy Awards Ceremony, in mid-March, Helen Herman sent word that Sean Daniel, who had always maintained a good relationship with him, had come to her door with an acquaintance of his.