As noon approached, the hotel grew considerably quieter. A door on the tenth-floor corridor opened, and Amanda stepped out first. Matthew followed, pulling the door shut behind him. He handed the key card to Amanda, and together they stepped into the elevator, heading down to the first-floor lobby to check out.
The elevator was empty. Amanda leaned in close to Matthew and whispered, "You're even better than Rachel said you were!"
Matthew leaned in, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "And what did Rachel tell you?" he asked.
"Not much," she murmured. "Just that she knew a major star who was not only incredibly handso, but also exceptionally talented in bed."
The elevator jolted to a stop and the doors slid open. As soone stepped inside, Amanda quickly fell silent, standing demurely beside Matthew for the rest of the ride down.
They stepped out of the elevator and crossed the lobby to the front desk. When it ca ti to settle the bill, Matthew insisted on paying for the room.
Matthew and Amanda had spent the night together. He was well aware that, in a way, he had just beco a new addition to her "stamp collection"—just as she had beco one to his.
Most importantly, they were both satisfied with how the night had gone.
Matthew walked Amanda to the hotel entrance, ready for them to go their separate ways. He had just started to say his goodbyes when he saw Amanda suddenly wave towards the back of the lobby. He couldn't help but follow her gaze.
The star of an Girls, actress Lindsay Lohan, was walking past, holding hands with a man.
Not wanting to linger, Matthew said to Amanda, "I've got to run."
"Okay, bye," Amanda said, giving Matthew a charming smile. "You have my number. Call
anyti."
Matthew gave a slight nod and turned to leave. As he walked toward the exit, he glanced back one last ti. Lindsay Lohan, who had been trying to remain inconspicuous, passed directly under the lobby lights, revealing a face covered in freckles. In fact, they dotted her entire face and even dusted her exposed neck.
He couldn't see the appeal. Compared to the fresh-faced beauty of Amanda—who was actually a year older—Lindsay had dark circles under her eyes and seed to have aged prematurely.
Of course, the dia was filled with gossip about Lindsay Lohan.
While Jessica Alba deliberately played the part of a sweet, ditzy, air-headed girl to appeal to her fans and the dia, Lindsay Lohan was undoubtedly the real deal—the quintessential Arican train wreck.
In the years since his "arrival," Matthew had heard Helen describe this specific Hollywood archetype more than once. The story was always the sa: a beautiful girl who developed too early, chased by the school heartthrob, becoming the talk of the town. She'd start sleeping around, her grades would plumt, and soon she'd fall in love with the club scene. She was drawn to bad boys, which led to a string of ssy relationships, drug problems, and alcoholism. Her career was built entirely on her looks, but by her early twenties, she was already showing signs of premature aging. In short, her life was a complete disaster.
You might feel sorry for soone like that, but seeing her lifestyle up close, you couldn't help but think she'd brought it on herself.
Reflecting on this, Matthew resolved to avoid becoming a womanizer himself and to steer clear of such "liberated" won.
As he walked out the main entrance of the hotel, he spotted paparazzi snapping photos nearby. He figured they'd just caught him and Amanda through a window, and it wouldn't be long before the pictures surfaced online and in the tabloids.
Matthew wasn't bothered. His love life was already a frequent topic in the tabloids. He didn't have a steady girlfriend, and this was just a normal encounter between a man and a woman.
He had sent the awards ceremony car back last night, so before leaving his room, Matthew had called a cab. He got into the taxi waiting outside the hotel and told the driver to head for Burbank.
He hadn't been lying to Amanda; he really did have business to attend to that afternoon.
Helen had spoken with Zack Snyder several tis. Since the proposed film would co out after Matthew had completed a few contemporary action movies, she was no longer worried about him being typecast in period roles. She wasn't opposed to the idea; in fact, she thought Zack's plan had rit and was even willing to help push the 300 project forward. However, strict industry rules prohibited agents and agencies from being directly involved in film production. That ant many of her ideas could only be implented through Matthew.
"The prerequisite for any of this..." Helen said seriously from her office at the Angel Agency, "...is securing the film rights to Frank Miller's graphic novel."
Matthew nodded. "That's why Zack has been doing all the prep work."
Helen leaned back in her chair. "Miller is a proud, stubborn, old-school kind of guy. He's not easily impressed. And even though Dark Horse published the graphic novel, Miller himself holds all the rights."
She pushed a stack of files across the desk toward him. "Here's the background information I've gathered. Zack is planning to shoot a short proof-of-concept film on his own di to win Miller over, and you should agree to star in it. If it's a success, you can negotiate for the adaptation rights with so kind of profit-sharing deal. If it fails, you won't have lost anything significant beyond a little of your ti."
Matthew had already been thinking along the sa lines. While he was eager to move the project forward, he knew the most driven person was Zack Snyder. Zack was desperate to prove to Hollywood, and to the world, that his unique visual style was comrcially viable.
So far, Matthew hadn't spent a single dollar of his own money. He had only contributed ideas and suggestions, while Zack was essentially handling every aspect of the project on his own.
Now, it seed Helen wanted the Angel Agency to get involved and offer so support.
But Matthew knew Helen well enough to understand that she would drop Zack in a heartbeat if things went south. In her eyes, Zack was the expendable one.
With that in mind, Matthew picked up the file Helen had prepared and began to look through the information she had compiled on the graphic novel.
300 was a historical war graphic novel published in 1998, written by Frank Miller, colored by Lynn Varley, and released by Dark Horse Comics. The plot was based on the Battle of Thermopylae between Greece and Persia, which took place in 480 B.C.
In 1999, 300 won several Eisner Awards—known as the Oscars of the comic book industry—for "Best Limited Series," "Best Writer/Artist," and "Best Colorist." The awards were presented by representatives of the comic book industry.
Furthermore, the rights to the graphic novels belonged personally to Frank Miller. He had taken Sin City and 300 to Dark Horse for publication because he was unhappy with the creative restrictions imposed by the two giants of the Arican comic book industry, DC and Marvel.
"Right now, this is all just an idea," Helen continued. "There's too much uncertainty. We don't need to make any major commitnts yet. Just help Zack out. The ball is in his court."
Helen's aning was clear: if they lost money, they would also cut ties with Zack. She raised her voice slightly. "There are a few things I need to remind you about."
Matthew looked at Helen. "Go on."
"First," Helen said, holding up a finger, "even if you and Zack manage to impress Frank Miller and secure the film rights, it will take a significant amount of ti to turn his graphic novel into an actual film."
Matthew's past experience was purely as an actor. He knew that perforrs were among the last people to get involved in a film's production cycle.
"You won't be able to shoot the test footage until late August at the earliest," Helen added. "Zack plans to use CG rendering, which ans we won't have a finished product before December. After that, he has to convince Frank Miller, both sides have to negotiate the rights, and only then can you start pre-production, filming, and post. By my estimation, if everything goes smoothly, the final movie won't be ready for two, maybe even two and a half years."
"If the tiline were any shorter," she clarified, "I wouldn't let you even consider another period piece."
As long as National Treasure and Mr. & Mrs. Smith were box office successes, he wouldn't have to worry about being typecast in period roles.
Matthew didn't know much about the intricacies of film production, but from his conversations with various producers, he knew Helen's projected tiline was actually quite optimistic.
According to Sean Daniel, a two-year-plus production schedule for a film costing tens of millions of dollars was considered highly efficient. Very few directors or producers in Hollywood could churn out a movie a year.
Helen held up a second finger. "Second, even after securing the rights, we'll need to find a suitable production company and a distributor. The production company is key—we need to find soone willing to put up the money, soone to finance it."
Even without a deep knowledge of production, Matthew knew from his mory of the finished film that it couldn't be made for less than fifty million dollars.
He and Zack couldn't co up with fifty million dollars between them, so finding a production company and an investor was an absolute necessity.
"I'll keep an eye on the project," Helen concluded. "As soon as we have the rights, I can bring in professionals to help Zack put together various pitches to impress potential production companies."
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