"Stephen Somrs?" Philip looked at Sean. "What does he have in mind?"
Sean replied, "Stephen wants to make a spin-off about the Scorpion King, sothing like a prequel to 'The Mummy' series, but set in Ancient Egypt."
Noticing the silence in the room, he added, "You've all seen the press reviews over the last few days. The Scorpion King character has drawn the most attention."
"It's too risky to promote a supporting character to a lead role," Jet imdiately objected. "We should be making a sequel to 'The Mummy' instead."
"We can make a sequel," Sean insisted, "but not now, not when audiences are dissatisfied with the current film."
The risk of continuing 'The Mummy' series was too great; if anything went wrong, the film would be a box office bomb, and the prestige built by two successful movies would be severely undermined.
Jet asked, "You want to imdiately promote the actor who plays the Scorpion King to the lead role? Can he handle it?"
"He's a very good actor." Sean didn't say it directly, but his aning was clear enough. "Especially for an action film."
"A good actor?" Jet shook his head. "I'd never even heard of him before 'The Mummy Returns' ca out."
He asked with a serious expression, "Sean, is he more famous than Brendan? Will he draw a bigger audience?"
The answer to that question was obvious.
Instead of answering Jet, Sean said, "Gentlen, I'd like to remind you that Hollywood is a place where turnover happens incredibly fast! Brendan is already becoming a relic in this market, as evidenced by the poor reviews from critics—he's like a setting sun. In contrast, Matthew Horner, who plays the Scorpion King, is a sun that is just beginning to rise."
"The words of critics and professional dia reviews can't be trusted," Jet countered. "You all know perfectly well that they're completely out of touch with the audience for mainstream entertainnt films."
Sean was about to speak, but Philip, the director of production, stopped him and asked, "How far along is Stephen's plan?"
"The outline is complete; he just has to write the script," Sean considered for a mont, then added, "He wanted to wait until the screenplay was finished before pitching it to Universal Pictures along with the overall plan. However, the Scorpion King has turned out to be surprisingly popular, so we decided to fast-track the process."
"I'm not convinced." Jet's reasoning was simple: "It's better to stick with Brendan in the lead for 'The Mummy' series than to take a risk on a new actor."
"The company has limited cash flow and resources to launch two similar films at the sa ti, and the risk is too great," Philip intervened. "It's better to let the market speak for itself. I'll contact the market research departnt and have them hire a specialized agency to survey the theater audiences."
The market's reaction to the film over the past two days had given Sean confidence, and he said, "Alright."
Since Philip had made the decision, the others weren't about to object, and the plan was quickly put into motion.
...
"It's easy to see from 'The Mummy Returns' that Brendan can't act at all, and he's overweight. Of the male cast, he's the most famous and has the most screen ti, yet he's completely outshone by newcor Matthew Horner, who has far less screen ti and fa. anwhile, Matthew Horner's supporting role as the Scorpion King has been extrely well-received by audiences."
After reading this, Brendan threw the newspaper down and slamd his fist on the table. His chest swelled with a rage he didn't know how to release.
He picked up another newspaper, which featured a similar review of 'The Mummy Returns'.
"It's obvious to everyone that Brendan is old and fat, and his fight scenes in the movie are as clumsy and slow as an overweight penguin... The best action sequence in the film is the fight with Matthew Horner as the Scorpion King. It was realistic and brutal."
"Damn it!" Brendan grabbed the newspaper and ripped it in half. "What is this crap?!"
He couldn't understand why these lousy journalists were trashing him while praising that nobody, Matthew Horner. Was it all because he was younger, better-looking, leaner, more muscular, more agile, and a little more hardworking?
Besides that, what else did the guy have? Did he have any brilliant roles under his belt? Did he have any acting talent? Did he have any box office appeal? Did he have any damn na recognition?!
Brendan picked the newspaper up off the floor, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the trash can, refusing to believe his spotlight could be stolen by a re supporting actor.
He walked over to his computer and went online to check the fan reviews.
Fans had showered him with endless praise when the first 'Mummy' ca out, and for a movie star, that was what mattered most.
With no work scheduled for the day, Brendan turned on his computer and easily navigated to a film forum where his fans congregated. He used to visit the site from ti to ti after the first 'Mummy' was released, enjoying the endless praise heaped upon him.
After browsing for a mont, he found the 'Mummy Returns' section, clicked on it, and saw a series of positive reviews about the film itself, and about... the Scorpion King.
"The most impressive part of the whole movie was the Scorpion King."
Reading a comnt like that, Brendan's eyelids twitched.
"The biggest surprise of the movie for
was Matthew Horner as the Scorpion King. Not as built as Schwarzenegger, but he looked so cool!"
"A diocre sequel. Rachel was gorgeous as always, but Brendan was much worse than in the first film. The Scorpion King was the only surprise for ."
"I don't like Brendan. It's been two years, and not only has he not improved, he's gotten worse! Plus, the actor playing the Scorpion King is the highlight of the movie. He has the face and the physique, especially when you compare him and Brendan..."
"The Scorpion King's performance was good. You can ignore the rest!"
Then ca the thirsty comnts.
"God, I want to touch the Scorpion King's muscles."
"Seeing Matthew Horner's abs and that stoic face made
want to..."
Unwilling to read any further, Brendan closed the page with visible irritation and sank into thought. Was Matthew Horner really that prominent in the film? It was ironic, considering what had happened between them during filming and at the premiere.
The big boss was about to be overthrown by his underling!
Suddenly, the phone rang. Brendan got up to find it and saw it was a call from his agent.
"What is it?" Brendan sat on the sofa and answered the phone, his tone harsh from his foul mood. "I believe I told you I have the day off."
His agent seed completely unbothered by his tone—stars were always temperantal. He said into the phone, "I just heard from the top brass at Universal Studios. They might cancel the next 'Mummy' installnt!"
Brendan shot to his feet. "What?"
His face was a mask of disbelief. 'The Mummy Returns' had already grossed over $50 million in its first two days, and various agencies were predicting an easy $200 million at the North Arican box office. Had the executives at Universal gone completely insane to not greenlight a sequel to a film like that?
"Are you sure?" He subconsciously doubted the news.
"Absolutely!" his agent swore. "The production departnt at Universal Pictures called a eting just this morning to discuss it."
Brendan's brows furrowed. "What were they thinking?"
There was no doubt 'The Mummy Returns' would be a massive hit, and he had initially thought the third film in the series would co out just as quickly as the second. Then, as the lead actor, he would have the leverage to demand a top-billing contract from Universal and finally beco a mber of the exclusive club of stars paid $20 million per role.
"Sean Daniels thinks you're hurting the film's word-of-mouth and is proposing they suspend production on the third movie," the agent said in a rush. "He and Stephen Somrs are preparing to co-produce a spin-off of 'The Mummy' series, with the intention of creating an ancient Egyptian epic war film with the now-popular Scorpion King as the protagonist."
"With Matthew as the lead?" Brendan muttered under his breath. "How is that possible? He's just a supporting actor."
The agent added, "No decision has been made within Universal Pictures yet. Brendan, the bigwigs in Universal's production departnt are split into two factions. One, led by Sean, believes you're losing your popular appeal, so they don't want to move forward with another film starring you. Instead, they want to create a new project featuring the Scorpion King! The other faction argues that Matthew Horner has no na recognition with audiences, and they should continue with you for the next sequel."
Brendan was relieved that a decision hadn't been made yet, which ant he still had a chance to break into the $20 million club.
His agent was quite optimistic and said, "Brendan, since Universal hasn't made a decision, we need to act. We have to push them to fast-track a new 'Mummy' sequel. I'll go to Universal and lobby them, and you'll need to team up with Rachel and the other key actors to put the right kind of pressure on Universal Pictures."
Brendan gradually cald down and sat back on the sofa. "I understand."
The agent continued, "Hollywood has been struggling to raise money since last year's stock market shock. Universal Pictures doesn't have a strong cash flow right now, so the top brass would have to drastically cut the budget for a 'Mummy' sequel in order to fund a movie starring the Scorpion King. Therefore..."
...
At almost the sa mont, Helen turned her car off Interstate 5 onto a quiet road, slowing down to look for Matthew's house.
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