In early April, "National Treasure" officially exited the North American theater market. Although Matthew didn't attend the Golden Raspberry Awards before the Oscars like Halle Berry, the film's professional reputation continued to decline.
By the time the film was pulled, Rotten Tomatoes, a website that collects critics' reviews as a basis, saw its fresh rating drop to 45%. Based solely on critics' scores, "National Treasure" would definitely be a box office flop.
The reality, however, was quite the opposite. This family-friendly entertainment movie, with a good audience reputation, grossed $225.6 million in North America, surpassing 20th Century Fox's "The Day After Tomorrow" ($186.7 million) and "The Bourne Supremacy" ($172.64 million), ranking seventh in the 2004 North American box office.
With a production cost of $100 million, "National Treasure" brought in $225.6 million at the North American box office, which can be described as a huge success.
Moreover, the film's overseas box office performance was also quite good. So far, it has appeared in nearly a hundred countries and regions, with overseas box office cumulative exceeding $200 million, reaching as much as $243.2 million.
By this point, "National Treasure" had accumulated a global box office of $468.2 million.
Although the film had not yet finished its run in some overseas countries, the remaining markets, such as the Faroe Islands and Haiti, would only generate negligible box office revenue.
The film's final global box office would not exceed $500 million.
However, the figure of $468.2 million was enough to make everyone involved in the film beam with joy.
Even though "National Treasure" had a poor professional reputation, it couldn't change the fact of its commercial success, and Matthew once again proved his market value in action films.
Due to Walt Disney, Disney Pictures was also in some disarray and temporarily couldn't attend to a sequel. However, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, one of the film's producers, put the sequel to "National Treasure" on its agenda and had someone make initial contact with Helen Herman.
Helen Herman was not at all polite. Given Matthew's successive box office successes, plus the salary increase rules for sequels, she directly told the representative of Jerry Bruckheimer Films that without a $20 million salary, Matthew's sequel actor contract was not even worth discussing.
Subsequently, there was no news from Jerry Bruckheimer Films. Matthew guessed that they were waiting for Disney Pictures' attitude before making a decision.
"National Treasure" achieving a global box office of nearly $500 million was definitely good news for Matthew, and at the same time, another piece of good news came.
Zack Snyder, who was in New York, called Matthew to inform him that his test footage had finally been approved by Frank Miller. With the lobbying of a public relations expert hired by Helen Herman, and the promise that his previous film as the male lead was a box office hit, Frank Miller agreed in principle to negotiate the authorization of "300" with Zack Snyder and Matthew.
"Negotiations won't start immediately."
In the office of Angel Agency, Helen Herman adjusted her black-rimmed glasses and said, "My people have reported that Frank Miller won't start negotiations with us until the end of April at the earliest."
Matthew was a bit curious, "Why is that?"
"Have you been putting all your energy into Charlize Theron lately?" Helen Herman reminded him, "'Sin City' just premiered on April 1st, and it's getting rave reviews. Frank Miller will only be able to demand a higher price once the film's box office and reputation continue to rise."
Matthew slapped his head, "I overlooked 'Sin City'."
Helen Herman glanced at him, "You and Charlize Theron had better take precautions, or it will be troublesome if something happens."
"Don't worry," Matthew said directly, "She is even more safety-conscious than I am."
He brought the diverted topic back on track and asked, "How much do you estimate the copyright fee will be?"
"It's hard to say," Helen Herman thought for a moment and said, "In today's Hollywood commercial films, original types are succeeding less and less, and adapted films are increasingly valued by major companies. The copyright fees for popular novels, comics, or other suitable adaptation subjects have at least doubled compared to before 2000."
"Yes," Matthew nodded, "We can't change the big picture."
In today's Hollywood, if an unknown screenwriter goes to a film company with an original commercial script, the chance of it being picked up is negligible.
For someone like Simon Kinberg, if it weren't for the guidance and recommendation of producer and Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, Summit Entertainment would have to be crazy to take on a script like "Mr. & Mrs. Smith."
But with Akiva Goldsman's recommendation, the situation was completely different.
Helen Herman then added, "The rising adaptation fees are indeed a headache." She sighed softly, "My people have probed Frank Miller, and his bottom line is $8 million, which is double what we expected."
Matthew frowned; this was definitely not a small sum.
Helen Herman wasn't finished yet, "Given the current situation in Hollywood, Frank Miller will also demand a share of the backend."
"Still want a backend share?" Matthew suddenly felt that he and Zack Snyder were being extorted.
"Don't be surprised, don't be shocked," Helen Herman was quite calm, "'Sin City' currently has a very good reputation, and it's not just professional reputation, but also film fan reputation. In the past, the industry believed that Frank Miller's works had too strong a personal style and were not very suitable for film adaptation. That's why 'Sin City' and '300' are very famous but have never been adapted by film companies."
Matthew understood what she meant, "Now the situation has changed. 'Sin City' is basically confirmed to be a success. With the style of major Hollywood companies, someone will definitely be interested in Frank Miller's other works."
He suddenly thought of something, "Zack Snyder approached Frank Miller with the test footage a long time ago, but Frank Miller only expressed his stance now. Frank Miller must have deliberately delayed, right?"
"It must have been intentional," Helen Herman was very sure about this, "Even if Frank Miller himself didn't think of it, his agent would have asked him to do so."
Matthew, however, stood up, paced back and forth, and frowned, saying, "Frank Miller completely holds the initiative; this cannot be changed."
Helen Herman nodded gently, "Indeed."
"The backend share is still manageable," Matthew paced back and forth, his thoughts gradually clearing, "The increased adaptation authorization fee is the trouble."
At this point, Matthew realized that he and Zack Snyder had no experience in operating a film, and even Helen Herman had very little experience in this area, overlooking many important issues.
Especially regarding funding, they had only planned for a budget of $4 million.
He turned to Helen Herman, "As far as I know, Zack Snyder doesn't have that much money. His salary for directing 'Dawn of the Dead' was only a few hundred thousand dollars, all of which went into the production of the test footage. Most of the salary he earned as an advertising and music video director before became fixed assets."
Zack Snyder had specifically mentioned this when discussing the production of the test footage with him.
Matthew pointed a finger at himself, "I don't have that much money either. Most of the money I earned also became fixed assets. Our initial idea was that $3 million to $4 million for the adaptation fee would be enough, but now…"
He shook his head. Unless he sold his Apple stock, but cashing out Apple stock at this time, even if he didn't understand investment and the financial market, he knew it would be an incredibly foolish act.
Apple stock was one of his future safeguards, allowing him to live a carefree life even if he became a king of bad movies like Nicolas Cage.
Helen Herman also stood up and, like Matthew, paced a few steps back and forth, saying, "Actually, there's a way."
"Hmm?" Matthew looked at her and asked, "What way? Don't keep me in suspense."
"We bring in a film production company to negotiate with Frank Miller together," Helen Herman said slowly, "Let the film company fund the purchase of the copyright for '300'."
Hearing this, Matthew was first happy, then felt something was wrong and asked, "If a film production company gets the copyright, they will have the initiative. If they object to Zack Snyder directing and don't agree to me starring, then it will be terrible…"
Helen Herman interjected, "That's not impossible." She thought for a moment and then added, "There's also a way to counterbalance it. For example, we first negotiate the terms with Frank Miller, reach an agreement, and have him stipulate in the authorization transfer agreement that the director must be Zack Snyder and the male lead must be you."
Matthew considered for a while and said, "That would be very difficult, wouldn't it?"
Helen Herman nodded, "It should be very difficult. If Frank Miller knows that Zack Snyder and you don't have enough funds, he might skip us and negotiate directly with the film company."
According to Helen Herman's strategy, Matthew was confident that with the box office performance of his recent films, the possibility of the production company and Frank Miller kicking him out was not high. However, Zack Snyder was hard to say, as he had only directed one film.
"300" had such a strong personal style; without Zack Snyder, Matthew really didn't have the courage to try.
Helen Herman then said, "There's another way! If we can find an investor, not a film company, as long as they are willing to put up the money, the problem of lack of funds will be solved, and even the production costs can be resolved at the same time."
"Investor?" Matthew immediately thought of the one who invested in "Underworld," but that person didn't seem particularly wealthy.
Then, he thought of another candidate and whispered something into Helen Herman's ear.