As the night progressed, so did the passion between Matthew and Amanda, Clothes scattered everywhere in the room and every corner of the room witnessed the fighting power of Matthew while he completed devoured the pretty and sweet Amanda Seyfield leaving her body limp with pleasure by the time they finished and their passion subsided.
As noon approached, the hotel traffic significantly decreased. A door opened in the tenth-floor hallway, and Amanda Seyfried came out first. Matthew then turned back to close the door and handed the Room key card to Amanda Seyfried. The two walked into the elevator lobby together to go to the first-floor lobby to check out.
There was no one else in the elevator. Amanda Seyfried leaned against Matthew and said, "You're even better than Rachel said!"
Matthew reached out and pinched her cheek, asking, "What did Rachel tell you?"
"Nothing much. She just said she knew a big star, and that big star was not only exceptionally charming, but their technique and practical ability..."
The elevator suddenly stopped, and someone walked in. Amanda Seyfried quickly shut up and stood quietly next to Matthew as they rode the elevator down to the first floor.
Afterward, the two exited the elevator lobby and went to the main hall to check out. Matthew insisted on paying the Room fee.
Matthew and Amanda Seyfried had been together all last night, and in his heart, he understood that to some extent, he was Amanda Seyfried's target for 'collecting stamps' (a euphemism for sexual conquests), and conversely, Amanda Seyfried had also become his target for 'collecting stamps.'
Most importantly, both of them were very satisfied with last night.
For things like 419 (one-night stands), this aspect is actually the most important.
Matthew brought Amanda Seyfried to the hotel entrance, preparing to leave separately. Just as he finished speaking, he noticed Amanda Seyfried suddenly waving toward the hotel lobby inside, and he couldn't help but turn his head to look.
Lindsay Lohan, the female lead of mean girls and a former child star, walked over, arm-in-arm with a man.
Matthew didn't want to interact with Lindsay Lohan, so he said to Amanda Seyfried, "I have things to deal with this afternoon. I'm leaving now."
"Alright, goodbye." Amanda Seyfried gave Matthew a sweet smile. "You have my number. Keep in touch."
Matthew nodded slightly, turned, and walked toward the hotel exit. Before stepping out, he glanced back. Lindsay Lohan, barefaced, had just walked under the lobby light, revealing a face full of freckles. Even more exaggeratedly, her freckles continued down her facial skin and covered her neck, which was exposed outside her clothes.
He really couldn't appreciate this look.
Furthermore, compared to the youthful beauty of Amanda Seyfried, who was only a year older, Lindsay Lohan had noticeable under-eye bags, showing signs of premature aging.
In fact, there was far too much gossip about Lindsay Lohan in the tabloids. From child star to teen idol, after the massive success of mean girls, she ignored the path to success and insisted on getting into all sorts of messes, being photographed looking hideous every day... If Jessica Alba intentionally acted like a naive, sweet, and brainless bombshell to please fans and the media, Lindsay Lohan was definitely the stereotypical brainless American girl.
In the few years he had been here, Matthew had also heard Helen Herman mention this type of Hollywood actress.
When they were young, they developed early and were beautiful, pursued by the popular people in school, and were the focus of the school. They started having sex early, weren't good at studying, loved clubbing, liked cool and bad men, their relationships were basically a mess, and they usually had some drug issues. Their careers relied on their looks, and after messing around for their twenties, they started showing obvious signs of aging. The cool men would then start chasing seventeen or eighteen-year-olds. The lucky ones among them find a rich man to be a trophy wife; the less fortunate ones find an honest man to take over (as a partner); and the worst end up as single mothers or go astray.
These people look sympathetic, but if you see them firsthand, you'll definitely feel they deserve it, because they look down on you and think you are the loser.
Therefore, Matthew had long decided that he would resolutely not be the 'takeover guy' (the man who marries or dates these women), but rather let others take over the 'plates' he discarded.
Stepping out of the hotel entrance, he noticed paparazzi nearby taking photos. He figured his interaction with Amanda Seyfried had already been photographed through the glass curtain wall and would soon appear online and in the tabloids.
Matthew didn't care. This kind of thing had been sensationalized by the tabloids too many times, and since he didn't have a girlfriend, this was just normal interaction between a man and a woman.
The car used for the awards ceremony had been sent away last night. Before leaving the hotel Room, Matthew had already called a taxi. He got into the car waiting at the hotel entrance and instructed the driver to go to Burbank.
What he had told Amanda Seyfried—that he had things to do this afternoon—was true.
Helen Herman had spoken with Zack Snyder several times. Because this film would be scheduled after several of Matthew's modern action films, there was no longer a worry about being typecast in period roles. Therefore, she didn't object and felt that Zack Snyder's plan had a certain feasibility. She wanted to push the 300 spartans project, but there were clear industry regulations here prohibiting Agents and talent agencies from directly participating in film production, so many of her ideas could only be implemented through Matthew.
"The prerequisite for all of this..."
Inside the Angel Talent Agency office, Helen Herman said seriously, "is getting the film adaptation rights for the illustrated novel from Frank Miller."
Matthew nodded and said, "That's why Zack Snyder made so many preparations."
Helen Herman leaned back in her chair and said, "Frank Miller is rigid, stubborn, and self-important. It won't be easy to impress him. Although the illustrated novel was published by Dark Horse Comics, the copyright is entirely held by Frank Miller personally."
At this point, she pushed a stack of documents toward Matthew. "These are the relevant materials I collected. Since Zack Snyder plans to self-fund the shooting of a short film segment to impress Frank Miller, you should cooperate with him. I've already talked to Zack Snyder. You need to sign an agreement with him: if the segment succeeds, you will fund the purchase of the adaptation rights according to a certain percentage; if it fails, you won't suffer a major loss, aside from spending a little time."
Matthew had already considered what Helen Herman said. Although he really wanted to push the project forward, the most eager person was still Zack Snyder. Zack Snyder was desperate to prove to Hollywood and the entire global film industry that his unique style could succeed!
Therefore, up to now, besides giving advice and talking big, he hadn't shelled out a single dollar. Zack Snyder was personally handling most aspects of the work.
Now that Helen Herman wanted the Angel Talent Agency to get involved, they would probably help out a bit.
However, Matthew knew Helen Herman well. If the situation became impossible, she would definitely abandon Zack Snyder; after all, the person who would suffer the loss was the one who was most desperate.
Thinking this, Matthew took the documents Helen Herman had specially collected and quickly flipped through them. Most of the content was about the illustrated novel.
300 is a war history illustrated novel published in 1998, created by Frank Miller, colored by Lynn Varley, and published by Dark Horse Comics. Its subject matter is based on the Battle of Thermopylae that occurred between Greece and Persia in 480 BC.
In 1999, 300 won three Eisner Awards—known as the Oscars of the comics industry—for "Best Limited Series," "Best Writer/Artist," and "Best Colorist."
Furthermore, Frank Miller personally holds the copyright to this illustrated novel. That year, dissatisfied with the various restrictions placed on comic creators by the two major giants of the American comic industry, DC and Marvel, he switched to Dark Horse Comics to publish the illustrated novels sin city and 300.
"Right now, it's just an intention, and there are too many uncertainties. We don't need to do too much initially; just assist Zack Snyder, and let him take the lead in everything."
Helen Herman's meaning was clear: any loss of money would be Zack Snyder's own loss. She raised her voice slightly and said, "There are a few points I need to remind you about."
Matthew put down the documents and looked at Helen Herman. "Go ahead."
Helen Herman held up a finger. "First, even if you and Zack Snyder manage to impress Frank Miller and successfully acquire the film rights, turning it into a real movie will take a considerable amount of time."
In the past, Matthew had participated in filming and production as an actor, and actors are one of the last professions to join the Crew.
"You won't be able to shoot the test footage until around the end of August," Helen Herman continued. "Zack Snyder plans to use CG technology for rendering. Even calculating for the fastest possible scenario, you won't get the finished product until December. Then he has to convince Frank Miller, negotiate the copyright, and then prepare, shoot, and produce the film. By my estimation, even if everything goes smoothly, this film won't be released until two or even two and a half years from now."
She added, "If that weren't the case, I wouldn't let you continue taking on period action roles."
As long as national treasure and mr. & mrs. smith are successful at the box office, there will be little need to worry about being typecast if he takes on another period role.
Matthew didn't know much about film production, but having interacted with many producers, he knew that Helen Herman's estimated timeline was considered fast.
According to Sean Daniel, spending more than two years preparing and shooting a film with production costs in the tens of millions of dollars is absolutely high efficiency. Few directors or producers in all of Hollywood manage to shoot a film per year.
Helen Herman then held up a second finger. "Second, after securing the copyright, we need to find suitable production companies and distribution companies, especially production companies. We need to find someone to invest money so that if the film fails, someone else can take the fall for us, rather than us going bankrupt directly."
Even though Matthew didn't know much about production, thinking of the film he had seen before, he knew it couldn't be made without an investment of at least $50 million.
He and Zack Snyder combined couldn't come up with $50 million, so finding a production company and investors was inevitable.
"I will keep an eye on this project," Helen Herman concluded. "As long as we secure the copyright, I can find professionals to assist Zack Snyder in creating various plans to impress the production companies."