Inside Helen Herman's office at Angel Talent Agency.
Matthew sat in a chair in front of the desk, seriously flipping through the script that Sean Daniel had specially delivered yesterday afternoon. The script wasn't thick, only about a hundred pages. As a simple and clear commercial film script, with his current reading level, understanding it was a very easy task.
Although it was a remake, what Sean Daniel said before was true: the Crew had been repeatedly polishing the plot. By mid-March, his Crew already had the script framework and setting, and now it was the end of May before the first draft of the script was produced. For Hollywood's industrial assembly line model, this efficiency was considered low.
According to Helen Herman, the reason for the low efficiency wasn't that the Crew was incompetent, but that Sean Daniel had people repeatedly polish the script to make it better fit Matthew's acting style.
The reason Sean Daniel did this was also simple. In May, Walt Disney Pictures held several test screenings for 'pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl'. The screenings circulated widely within the industry, and word-of-mouth was explosive, especially the evaluations for the two lead actors, Johnny Depp and Matthew, which were as good as they could possibly be for a commercial film.
Walt Disney Pictures had even put a sequel on the agenda, waiting only for the first week's box office of 'pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl' to explode before announcing the news to the public.
Matthew understood Sean Daniel's approach very well, especially after constantly riding the heat with Keira Knightley lately. Hollywood was like this: you ride my heat, I ride yours. As long as everyone can get famous and rich together, these were minor matters.
Helen Herman sat in her office chair, also flipping through another copy of the script. She had already skimmed it last night, but this time she was reading it more carefully.
Selecting and securing work for the actors under their wing is the most basic ability of an entertainment Agent.
Matthew's reading speed wasn't fast. When he encountered scenes he thought were good, he would construct the scene in his mind. After nearly a whole morning passed, he had only finished two-thirds of the script, which was only about a hundred pages and relatively sparse in text.
To be honest, he didn't have a real concept or the ability to judge whether a script was good or bad.
The films he had appeared in previously could roughly be divided into two categories.
One category consisted of films he appeared in as an extra or an ordinary actor. At that time, he had no fame or capital; it was a matter of taking whatever opportunity came along to show his face, try to get recognized, and earn some living expenses at the same time.
During this period, it wasn't him choosing the Crew and script; it was the other way around—they were choosing him.
Later, after he gained fame, especially when he did everything possible to get the role of Will Turner in 'pirates of the caribbean', it had absolutely nothing to do with his ability to judge scripts; it was complete cheating.
Similarly, the reason he didn't directly reject Sean Daniel and Zack Snyder for the 'dawn of the dead' remake was also because of Zack Snyder's former illustrious reputation.
A new director transitioning from the advertising world to the film industry who later became a top-tier commercial film director—his first work definitely wouldn't be a flop.
This was Matthew's most direct judgment of the script and project.
Having been in Hollywood for a few years, he knew very well that the success of a movie depended on many factors, and the script was just one of them. The project's initiator, producer, and director were far more important than the script. There were far too many examples in Hollywood history of average scripts turning into box office hits in the hands of excellent producers and directors, while brilliant scripts ended up as flops.
Matthew flipped through the script of 'dawn of the dead', confirming that it met the usual standards of the Hollywood industrial assembly line. He didn't think about whether it was good or bad, but first listed the advantageous conditions of this project in his mind.
The initiator and producer of 'dawn of the dead' was Sean Daniel, the director was Zack Snyder, and the production and distribution companies were Universal Pictures... just like when they first met,
Matthew's judgment was simple: this was a very, very reliable combination.
Once that was determined, it wouldn't be too late to consider the script.
The first sentence of the entire script left a deep impression on Matthew—'When there's no more Room in hell, the dead will walk the earth...' The lead actor in this script was set as a tough SWAT member. During a mission, a plague suddenly breaks out. He survives thanks to his tough skills, saves the young and beautiful female lead halfway, and then arrives at a shopping center, which serves as the main setting of the movie.
The lead actor has a lot of action scenes. The setting for his physique, appearance, and skills were basically based on him—for example, this SWAT member is a fanatic Kickboxing enthusiast, and so on. To be precise, the lead actor is capable of dealing with a not-too-large number of Zombies.
From Matthew's judgment, this lead actor still used acting cool and selling his skills as the main selling points. Compared to his past roles, the selling point mainly added one aspect: the level of gore.
In the words of Zack Snyder's notes in the script, the audience should enjoy the thrill of the lead actor's frantic slaughter of Zombies!
In addition, the lead actor also has a romance with the female lead—perhaps better described as the primary supporting female character—and the scenes would be quite explicit. After all, this was definitely going to be an R-rated film, so there was no need to be too evasive about explicit scenes.
It was hard to say how the final film would turn out, but from the script's description, it was indeed very suitable for his acting style. Furthermore, after appearing in consecutive period action roles, a modern role would also help him broaden his range.
Although it was still limited to the scope of action films, it moved away from the relatively narrow scope of period pieces. Moreover, the development space for action films was broad enough for him at the moment.
If this film succeeded, he could take the opportunity to accept modern action roles and temporarily step away from the period action film genre.
Thinking of this, Matthew closed the script and placed it on Helen Herman's desk. Helen Herman looked up at Matthew, also closed her script, and placed it on the desk.
Helen Herman adjusted her glasses and asked, "Any thoughts?"
Matthew didn't hide it and said directly, "I think we can take it."
Helen Herman didn't speak immediately, her finger lightly tapping the armrest of the chair, seemingly in thought.
"What about you?" Matthew asked. "Helen, what are your thoughts?"
Helen Herman stood up, walked back and forth a few steps, and said, "The role is indeed very suitable for you. Sean kept his word; the lead actor was set almost with you as the template. As long as the director has half the level of Gore Verbinski, I have no doubt you can make this character stand out."
Matthew knew she wasn't finished, so he didn't interrupt and continued to listen.
"I already gave you a clear analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of this project last time," Helen Herman said, crossing her arms. "I believe there are risks, but it's worth taking."
She sat back in her office chair. "There's no such thing as a risk-free movie in Hollywood."
Matthew held the same opinion. If you want to appear in movies without taking risks, then don't compete for lead roles; just always play minor extra roles. That way, no person or company will pin the responsibility for a film's failure on your head.
Helen Herman added, "The shooting time Sean chose is also suitable, filming from mid-August to September. If 'pirates of the caribbean' is successful, your fame will skyrocket. Taking on a new work then will be beneficial for both you and the film!"
Matthew nodded and no longer hesitated, saying, "You should get in touch with Sean then."
Negotiations, of course, had to be handled by the Agent.
Helen Herman waved her hand. "The timing isn't right now. We must wait until after 'pirates of the caribbean' is released to start formal negotiations."
Matthew understood that this was the only way to secure the maximum benefit for himself. If they negotiated now, he was just a third-rate minor star, and his salary couldn't possibly be high.
"How about this, you raise a few points of confusion and dissatisfaction with the script," Helen Herman was already considering how to stall. "I'll go negotiate with Sean. It takes time to revise a script."
She smiled and said, "I think Sean also knows we can't sign before 'pirates of the caribbean' is released. He might be waiting too."
"That's very likely," Matthew agreed.
If 'pirates of the caribbean' was successful after its release, the cooperation would naturally go smoothly. If it failed, what Sean Daniel said before would probably be void, and the lead actor might even be replaced.
It was never a big deal in Hollywood to reject or change a script.
After Matthew and Helen Herman settled on this project, he remembered something else. "Will the shooting time conflict with Jerry Bruckheimer's project about independence?"
"No!" Helen Herman explained in detail. "Jerry Bruckheimer encountered financing problems. He's been looking for investment everywhere these past few months. He just recently solved the initial budget for 'king arthur', but the other project still faces a funding gap of tens of millions of dollars. Walt Disney Pictures' liquidity is tight, and he hasn't found a suitable investor yet. It might be delayed for a while. I estimate it'll be good if filming can start early next year."
"No suitable investor?" Matthew suddenly felt this might be useful to him, but he didn't think too deeply about it and asked instead, "What's the content of that project?"
"Supposedly, there's no progress on the script," Helen Herman shook her head. "I haven't found out the specific content yet. I'll let you know when I have news."
She suddenly remembered something. "By the way, Keira Knightley has already agreed to play the female lead in 'king arthur'. Jerry Bruckheimer asked me about the male lead, but I politely declined him using the 'dawn of the dead' project as a reason."
"Keira took the female lead in 'king arthur'?" Matthew frowned slightly.
Should he try to advise Keira Knightley? After all, from his analysis, this film belonged to the 'King and Emperor' series, and the chance of it flopping was greater than the chance of success.