The short break passed quickly. Matthew finished his vacation and returned to Disney Studios to resu filming on "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."
For promotional purposes, so details about the working conditions for the cast and crew during the previous shoot in the Dominican Republic had already been made public. Besides, with hundreds of people on the crew alone, it was impossible to keep certain things under wraps.
According to the production's plan, on the first day back, the gates to Disney Studios were closed to vehicles. The main cast and crew were required to get out of their cars at the entrance and face the gauntlet of reporters and paparazzi swarming the studio gates.
Matthew was no exception. The mont he stepped out of his car, he was surrounded by reporters.
"Mr. Horner, please, a word!"
A dozen reporters sward him, imdiately firing off questions. "Were the crew really besieged by local indigenous tribes in the Dominican Republic?"
"Yes, there was a small misunderstanding," Matthew said, sticking to the official publicity line. "But it was resolved quickly."
From his own observation, Coca-Cola was far more influential in the eyes of the natives than any old reputation for cannibalism.
Another reporter shouted, "We heard that Depp was attacked in his hotel and you ca to his rescue?"
Matthew, of course, wouldn't admit to that directly. "It wasn't an attack," he explained. "Just a fan of Captain Jack Sparrow who snuck into Depp's room. I just happened to stop him."
He spun the story effortlessly. "And it just proves one thing: Captain Jack Sparrow's charisma is limitless!"
With that, he began to move forward, but the reporters were not about to let him go.
A female reporter squeezed in front of him and pressed, "A source close to the production said that you and Keira have rekindled your old romance and are back together!"
"That's not true," Matthew denied. "Keira and I have always been good friends, and we remain just good friends."
Matthew was mobbed by reporters, and Depp, who arrived shortly after, fared no better. The crowd of journalists and paparazzi swelled with each passing mont, and it seed the situation in front of the studio might spiral out of control at any second.
A group of security guards, already on standby, rushed out from the studio gates, carving a path through the throng of reporters as they moved to physically clear the way for Matthew and Depp.
On one side, Matthew and Depp struggled to escape the press, despite having been briefed and prepared for this by the production team before they arrived.
On the other side, Eva Green had just stepped out of her car. A few newly arrived reporters glanced in her direction before imdiately joining the mob surrounding Matthew and Depp without a second thought.
Throughout her entire walk past the press corps and into Disney Studios, Eva didn't see them give her so much as a second glance.
"It doesn't matter," Eva's French manager said beside her. "In ti, you'll have as many interviews from the press as you could possibly want."
After entering the studio, Eva didn't head straight inside but stopped, looked at her manager, and said, "Or I'll be the first one they want."
Hearing this, her manager instinctively glanced back at the studio gate, said nothing more, and walked directly toward the soundstage.
Matthew and Depp finally escaped the press and made it through the sea of bodies into Disney Studios, but they looked a bit disheveled. Depp's suit was rumpled, and even Matthew's hair was a ss.
If an explosion had gone off behind them at that mont, Matthew wouldn't have even looked back.
"Hi, Matthew."
Just as he entered the studio, Matthew heard a greeting. He saw Eva and replied with a smile, "Good morning, Eva."
Depp continued on, and Matthew fell into step behind him. Eva followed the two of them, and together they made their way to the soundstage.
"Is Director Verbinski grumpy?" Eva asked, stepping forward.
Matthew replied as they walked, "Well, he's better than Jas Caron."
The soundstages were close to each other, so the walk wasn't long. Matthew and Depp went to their separate dressing rooms, while Eva shared one with another actress from the cast.
Just as he had for the filming of "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," Matthew had once again grown out his beard and long hair, which significantly cut down on his makeup ti. Within two hours, he was on set, in full Will Turner costu.
The massive soundstage had been built to resemble a tropical rainforest, complete with water tanks that served as waterways cutting through the jungle.
Matthew handed his things to Bella and stood at the edge of the set for a mont, taking in the effect of the crew's expensive handiwork.
The next scene to be fild was the eting between Depp's and Will's characters with the witch, Tia Dalma.
However, Depp and Eva had more complicated makeup and costuming, so they still hadn't erged from their dressing rooms.
A few days ago, Gore Verbinski's directing team had sent him an email informing him that after shooting the scenes in the Dominican Republic, the work at Disney Studios would include not only scenes for "Dead Man's Chest" but also so overlapping scenes for "At World's End."
Jerry Bruckheir, despite his conflicts with Gore Verbinski, agreed with this approach. They would finish all the scenes for "Dead Man's Chest" by mid-October at the latest, and filming for "At World's End" would wrap by the end of the year.
Matthew's work schedule was adjusted according to "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which ant that filming for "300" would have to wait until February or March of next year at the earliest.
In any case, the film was scheduled for a 2007 release, so there was still plenty of ti.
After standing on the periphery of the set for a while, Gore Verbinski approached. Matthew glanced his way, seeing that the director had clearly co over to talk.
"Matthew." Gore walked up to him and asked directly, "Are you free at the end of October?"
"It's hard to say right now," Matthew answered honestly. "I haven't confird my schedule for October yet."
He looked at Gore. "Is sothing happening?"
Gore adjusted his glasses. "The movie I directed last year is having its premiere at the end of October."
Matthew imdiately replied, "I'll be there, as long as my schedule allows."
Gore Verbinski smiled. "Then I'll have soone send you an invitation."
Last year, during the prep period for the two "Pirates" sequels, he had used his free ti to direct a cody film starring Nicolas Cage.
After Gore Verbinski left, Matthew went over to Bella and told her to make a note of it. If nothing more urgent ca up, he would definitely attend the premiere.
In any case, it was always beneficial to maintain a good relationship with the director of a project.
Back in pre-production, he had expressed his dissatisfaction with the romantic subplot between his and Keira's characters in the "Dead Man's Chest" script, and Gore Verbinski, after weighing the pros and cons, made the appropriate adjustnts.
What Matthew had been unhappy with at the ti was the ambiguous relationship between Elizabeth Swann and Jack Sparrow. The Will Turner of today wasn't the sa character he once was; as one of the film's leads and now an A-list star, such a plotline would not have been in his best interest.
Since Matthew had a voice, Keira backed him up, and Depp was supportive, Gore Verbinski and the team agreed to the script changes.
The final version of the film would never include a scene where Elizabeth initiates a kiss with Jack Sparrow.
About twenty minutes later, Depp and Eva appeared on set. Director Gore Verbinski gathered all the actors involved in the scene and gave them so last-minute instructions before filming began.
Two small wooden boats entered the rainforest waterway, floating slowly forward. Matthew and Depp sat at the front of one of the boats, allowing the cara to capture their faces.
For this scene, the front of the boat was the standard position for the leads. Other actors, of course, couldn't just co and take it, nor did they have the clout to do so.
The boat arrived at its destination, and filming paused for a mont before moving to a stylized wooden house.
When filming resud, Matthew followed the pirates into the hut and then saw Eva, dressed in her witch costu.
More accurately, Eva wasn't just in costu; she simply stood there, radiating an aura of wicked, brooding mystery, as if she were a witch herself—at once stunningly beautiful and soul-shatteringly intense.
Undoubtedly, Eva Green was born to play this kind of enigmatic, dark, serpentine woman.
****
For so ti after that, Matthew was busy with filming. After his return to Los Angeles, Keira took the initiative to distance herself from him, and they returned to being just good friends. Matthew wasn't surprised by this.
anwhile, Matthew's other business was moving forward: Disney Pictures had already approached Helen to negotiate a sequel to "National Treasure."
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