After an early Saturday morning run through the wooded gardens, Matthew had showered and changed and was just sitting down to breakfast in the dining room when the sound of footsteps echoed from outside. Before the butler could even enter to announce him, David rushed into the room, his hair looking like a bird's nest.
"Matthew! Matthew!"
He called out as he approached, his voice buzzing with an excitent he could barely contain, as if he was about to burst with so thrilling news. "I have good news!"
David strode into the dining room, and upon seeing Matthew eating his breakfast, he imdiately walked over, planted his hands on the table, and asked impatiently, "Guess what?"
Matthew set down his knife and fork and looked at David. The absurdly wealthy heir's hair was a complete disaster, the corners of his mouth twitched, his eyes were bloodshot, and his face was flushed. The dress shirt he wore under his casual suit also seed slightly out of place.
"David..." Matthew said, gesturing toward him. "Your shirt is on backwards."
"What?" David glanced down but didn't seem to care. "Ah, never mind that."
Seeing how agitated the young man was, looking as if it were a strain just to hold himself up by the table, Matthew gestured to the chair opposite him. "Why don't you sit down so we can talk?"
"Yeah! Yeah!"
David nodded eagerly, pulling out the chair and sitting down across from Matthew.
Matthew looked at him, having a pretty good idea why David had co rushing over so early, but he decided not to press the issue. Instead, he asked, "Have you had breakfast? I can-"
"Wait!" David held up a hand to stop Matthew. "Can you just listen to ?"
Without waiting for Matthew's consent, he barrelled on, "I've been up since the crack of dawn. I needed to talk to soone. I was about to call you in the middle of the night..."
"You could have called your sister," Matthew interjected.
David threw up his hands in exasperation. "She turned off her phone!"
Then he exclaid, "Matthew, just listen to !"
Matthew nodded gently. "Go on."
"Haven't you seen the box office numbers?" David asked, noticing Matthew's unconcerned expression.
Matthew nodded. "I have."
David's eyes widened with excitent as he pressed, "And you don't feel anything?"
"What am I supposed to feel?" Matthew picked up his soy milk and took a small sip.
"It's 38.5 million dollars!"
After blurting out the number, David slamd his hand on the table several tis in his excitent. "Our movie made 38.5 million dollars on its first day!"
Matthew set down his glass of soy milk. "I know."
"Do you have any idea what that ans?!" David raised his voice, pointing a slightly trembling finger at Matthew. "It's a single-day box office record for an R-rated film in North Arica!"
Matthew's expression remained as calm as ever.
David's voice grew even louder. "Our movie could potentially gross over 100 million dollars in its opening weekend in North Arica!"
Matthew replied, "I know."
"You... you..." Seeing Matthew's nonchalant expression, David was montarily at a loss for words.
"Calm down, David," Matthew said, making a placating gesture.
After the emotional outburst and the rapid-fire questions, David had cald down a little. "You're not nervous or excited?" he asked.
Matthew gave a slight shrug. "I was just like you at first. But I've been through enough of these surprises that I can take them in stride now."
The remark seed to sober David up. He sighed and said, "How could I forget? You've succeeded so many tis, while I'm... just getting started."
Matthew looked at David again; the almost pained excitent had vanished from his face.
David let out a long breath. "You have no idea the kind of pressure I've been under for the past two years."
Matthew didn't know the specifics, but he could imagine. His family's money didn't just appear out of thin air. Before coming to Hollywood, no one had ever heard of David making a single successful investnt. With that much capital in his hands and millions being poured into film projects, he wouldn't be human if he didn't feel any stress.
If he rembered correctly, David was several years younger than him.
David leaned back in his chair. "How many people—from the entertainnt world to the dia to the entire business community—are just waiting to see fail? They're waiting for to fall flat on my face so they can point at and say, 'Look, there goes Larry Ellison's talentless son.'"
Matthew said nothing. The best thing he could be at that mont was a listener. In so ways, David's situation was not unlike Sofia Coppola's.
"I'm Larry Ellison's son!" David continued. "I'm only allowed to succeed; failure would be a disgrace to the entire family!"
He threw his hands up. "And my father... he hasn't said anything, but I know in his heart he's just waiting for to co to Hollywood, crash and burn, and then co crawling back. He's going to be surprised!"
"Thank you, Matthew."
David looked at Matthew and said with sincerity, "Thank you for bringing into this project."
With that, he suddenly burst out laughing. "I've let them all down, all those people who were waiting to see fail!"
He let out all his pent-up pressure with that laugh.
Matthew didn't interrupt. On the surface, David looked like a carefree, super-rich kid, but he faced far more pressure and scrutiny than the average person.
The laughter subsided, and David, now composed, looked at Matthew. "I'm starving. I haven't eaten since last night."
Matthew summoned the housekeeper and instructed her to have the kitchen prepare breakfast for David.
As he slowly returned to his normal self, David looked down at his backward shirt and asked, "How's my outfit? I ca all the way here like this."
Matthew simply replied, "You look ridiculous."
David couldn't help but smile.
Just then, breakfast arrived, and Matthew changed the subject. "Try this, you might like it."
He must have been truly hungry, because David didn't respond and just dug into his food.
After a while, he added, "I just rembered sothing... I didn't invest in 'I Am Legend.' That was stupid!"
Matthew didn't reply, but he recalled the plan he had been formulating since the premiere of "Flags of Our Fathers."
"David..." he said slowly. "Do you want to keep working with ?"
Grabbing a napkin to wipe his mouth, David quickly considered Matthew's words. "What person interested in film investnt wouldn't want to work with you right now?"
Taking a mont to gather his thoughts, Matthew said, "I have a plan that might require a lot of capital and the support of a friend like you."
David was not as impulsive as his words might have suggested. "Tell more."
"Are you familiar with Universal Pictures' 'The Fast and the Furious' franchise?"
Seeing David nod, Matthew continued, "I had a small role in the first film years ago, but because I ended up punching the lead actor, Vin Diesel-"
David cut in, "You punched the bald guy? Was he pissed?"
Matthew shrugged and went on, "Anyway, I was fired from the film. The franchise went on for three movies, but the last one, 'Tokyo Drift,' did so poorly at the box office and got such bad reviews that Universal shelved the series."
David understood where Matthew was going with this. "You're interested in a sequel?"
"I think there's a market for films that blend action, drag racing, and camaraderie."
If anyone else had said that, David would have just laughed. Were drag racing movies really as exciting as blockbuster action films?
But this was Matthew Horner saying it—a man with a string of successes, recognized both inside and outside the industry for his incredibly discerning eye for projects.
Matthew had waited until now to bring this up, banking on the fact that "300" would be a massive success, and David, as the sole investor, couldn't possibly turn him down.
David thought for a mont and asked, "Are you going to star in it?"
"I want to be a producer on the franchise," Matthew said, knowing his value. "I could star in it if I have to."
David had already done the math, but this was a major investnt and couldn't be decided on a whim. "Do you have a specific plan?"
"No specific plan yet, just a general idea. I don't know much about the business side of things," Matthew said with a sincere look. "David, I need the support of a business professional like you."
He explained, "My idea is to approach Universal Pictures later and see if we can buy the rights for a sequel, or propose a joint venture, and turn it into our own sequel."
David imdiately pointed out, "The mont you do that, Universal Pictures will know the project still has potential. They'll never sell."
He sighed. "You... you have too much influence when it cos to picking hit movies now."
Matthew smiled. "That's why I'm asking you to work with ."
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