Ding-a-ling
The phone rang. Brian Lister, who was trimming potted plants in the yard, glanced toward the house. Just as he was about to resume work, he heard Mrs. Lister's voice from the house, "Brian, your phone!"
"Coming!"
Brian Lister answered, put down his tools, removed his gloves, hurried into the house, took the receiver from his mother, and said, "Hello, this is Brian Li~www~~la."
"It's me, Brian." A clear girl's voice came through the receiver, "Daenerys."
"Ah, Dani, hello." Brian Lister chuckled. After watching the premiere of pirates of the caribbean together, the two had exchanged phone numbers and MSN, and they contacted each other occasionally. He asked, "Dani, is there something you need calling at this time?"
Daenerys sounded very excited, her tone high-pitched, "I have great news! Matthew and that ugly, annoying Keira Knightley broke up!"
"They broke up?" Brian Lister was surprised. "When did this happen? I checked Yahoo Entertainment today, and I even went to Matthew's blog, but I didn't see this news."
"It's absolutely true!" Daenerys spoke very quickly. "I searched for Matthew's information on Google today and found a newly launched website, I think it's called TMZ. It broke the news that Matthew and Keira Knightley broke up last night."
Brian Lister grew more curious. "TMZ? I haven't heard of that website."
Daenerys on the other end said again, "Go check it out. I'm so happy today; Matthew finally broke up with the woman who wasn't good enough for him."
After exchanging a couple more sentences, Brian Lister hung up, ran back to his Room, sat down at his computer desk, turned it on, opened the browser, quickly searched for TMZ via Google, and entered the website.
As soon as the TMZ website homepage loaded, he saw a huge picture and a striking headline!
The picture showed Keira Knightley dragging a suitcase out of Matthew's house in the dark with a gloomy expression, while Matthew, standing by the door, also looked quite unhappy!
The headline was in large, bold, black letters: Exclusive Shock! Hot Star Matthew Horner and English Rose Keira Knightley Officially Broke Up Last Night!
Although he didn't particularly like Keira Knightley, the English woman, Brian Lister felt that judging Matthew and Keira Knightley to have broken up based solely on this one photo was too arbitrary.
He dragged the mouse, clicked on the news story, and more photos and captions appeared.
Brian Lister subconsciously glanced down and saw that the news story was posted by a reporter named Elena Boyar. He then scrolled down the page, looking at the photos one by one.
These photos were clearly taken simultaneously and revealed many details: Keira Knightley dragging her suitcase out, Matthew chasing after her, the two of them clearly arguing by the roadside, then a taxi arriving, Keira Knightley getting in and leaving, Matthew angrily throwing his phone at the taxi, and finally going home and closing the iron gate.
Seeing all this, Brian Lister felt that even if the two hadn't broken up, they had likely had a huge fight and parted on very bad terms.
There were more photos afterward.
The person taking the candid shots had clearly followed Keira Knightley, and the taxi stopped at a hotel in Burbank.
Further down, there was a short video clip. Because it was dark and was a candid shot, it wasn't very clear, but after seeing the images above, Brian Lister could recognize that the people in the video were Matthew and Keira Knightley. The distance of the hidden camera wasn't very far, and since the surroundings were very quiet, he could faintly hear the sound of the two arguing.
The video was short, only a little over a minute long. When the taxi finally arrived, Matthew and Keira Knightley's voices noticeably rose.
"We're done for!"
Matthew's sentence sounded relatively clear, and Keira Knightley's British accent was also distinct, "That's right! You and I are done for!"
Keira Knightley got into the taxi, and the video ended.
Brian Lister scratched his head. No wonder the headline of this scoop was so certain that Matthew and Keira Knightley had broken up—it turned out they had secretly filmed this video clip.
"Breaking up is good!"
As a die-hard fan of Matthew, Brian Lister had never liked Keira Knightley. "Now those chattering British media can shut up too!"
He closed the website and went to Matthew's blog. Since it was approaching noon, quite a few people had seen the related news, and many had left comments on the blog.
"Matthew, did you really break up?"
Confirmation messages like this were the most common, after all, what was said in the video might just have been words spoken in anger.
"They broke up! Let's celebrate for Matthew!"
The number of messages like this was also considerable. Brian Lister frequently visited Matthew's blog and knew that most of Matthew's fans actually disliked Keira Knightley.
"This woman has no figure, no looks, and is a self-righteous Brit. It's better that they split!"
Perhaps these words best represented the views of Matthew's supporters.
Brian Lister thought for a moment and also left a comment in the message section, "I suggest next time you look for a girlfriend, find one with a better figure."
Mrs. Lister's voice calling for him sounded outside. Brian Lister closed the webpage and left the Room.
With the substantial news exposing the breakup of Matthew and Keira Knightley, Elena Boyar fired the first shot at her new company. The newly soft-launched TMZ website also received massive attention, and after gaining the website's consent, numerous websites and print entertainment media rushed to republish the news.
Riding on the heat of the breakup, Matthew and Keira Knightley once again entered the media and public spotlight, becoming hot entertainment news figures.
The Crew of dawn of the dead and the Crew of king arthur, where the two were working, certainly wouldn't miss such an opportunity. They used the attention generated by the breakup to launch a wave of preliminary publicity.
Matthew never made any reply. Whether at the door of his agency or going to the Universal Pictures Crew office, he always remained tight-lipped when encountering reporters' questions. In this regard, Keira Knightley was the same as him, never answering the question of whether they had broken up, either directly or indirectly.
Gossip about a breakup has an even shorter shelf life than news about getting together. Since this was a meticulously planned operation, the two naturally had to follow the pre-determined pace.
The gossip surrounding Matthew and Keira Knightley's breakup was hyped up for four or five days, and the heat gradually subsided.
According to the plan, the second wave of hype arrived right on time. On the same day, when Keira Knightley accompanied the king arthur Crew to London, she faced an interview with a reporter from the ABC Television Entertainment Channel and admitted that her relationship with Matthew was already a thing of the past.
Matthew deleted all blog posts and pictures showing affection with Keira Knightley and posted a new image of a mirror shattered into two halves, captioned "When Love Has Passed"!
Consequently, the media launched a second wave of hype. Matthew and Keira Knightley, along with the two Crews supporting them, once again attracted attention and garnered countless eyeballs.
This kind of hype seemed to lack a moral bottom line, but it was normal practice in the industry. Matthew was not a moral purist; from the initial planning until the final goodbye, he not only didn't object but actively cooperated. Keira Knightley on the other side was the same. Both clearly understood that doing this would make them more famous!
In the entertainment industry, fame means a lot.
Furthermore, Walt Disney Pictures had made a rough summary regarding the publicity and hype of the couple's scandal, estimating that Matthew and Keira Knightley's various acts of public affection, which attracted fans and attention, brought at least eight million dollars in North America box office revenue to pirates of the caribbean.
For all parties involved, this was a very worthwhile deal.
After completing this plan, Matthew gained a deeper understanding and fully grasped why so many stars like to flaunt their affection publicly—because it brings tangible benefits.
For Hollywood Stars, dating a girlfriend can be treated as business, showing affection can be treated as business, and breaking up can likewise be turned into business.
It's no wonder that celebrity relationships that constantly show public affection often end quickly; their intentions were impure from the start. Compared to celebrity couples who like to flaunt their love constantly, those who are more low-key might stay together longer.
In this regard, could his relationship with Britney back then be considered true love?
Matthew didn't dwell on it. Some things are past, and they are past. He wouldn't look backward; he needed to look forward.
Affected by the gossip of Matthew and Keira Knightley's breakup, the box office for pirates of the caribbean, which had entered a relatively quiet period, actually rebounded. The North America box office for the eighth weekend rose against the trend by twenty-three percent compared to the seventh weekend, with the three-day haul returning to the ten-million-dollar range, reaching over $11 million. The North America box office also suddenly surpassed the three-hundred-million-dollar milestone in one fell swoop!
This made it the second film in the North America film market this year, after Finding Nemo, to surpass $300 million at the box office.
Numerous media outlets and research organizations also provided new predictions, believing that stimulated by a series of favorable events, the final North America box office for pirates of the caribbean was expected to move toward $350 million.
Additionally, the film's overseas box office was close to $300 million, bringing the worldwide total just shy of $600 million.
Based on Matthew's speculation, it shouldn't be too difficult for this film's final worldwide box office to exceed $700 million.
The counter-trend rise in weekend box office numbers also indirectly confirmed Matthew's current influence. Event after event related to him since the release of pirates of the caribbean showed that a superstar was rapidly rising.
Matthew clearly knew that if he succeeded in two or three more films and proved his ability to carry the box office alone, he would inevitably become an A-list star.
A bright future seemed to await him, and the life he dreamed of felt like it was right ahead.)!!