Sitting in the study, Sean Daniel looked at the poster of "The Scorpion King" on the opposite wall, where Matthew Horner was especially conspicuous. This actor from Texas was becoming famous under his watch, about to enter the vast group of Hollywood stars, a higher tier.
Hollywood production companies have a clear system for measuring the success of actors, mainly based on the box office and popularity of their last three films.
This directly represents an actor's future draw in new works and their potential salary.
With the trend of "Pirates of the Caribbean" in the last few days, its North American box office is guaranteed to exceed one hundred million dollars, and surpassing two hundred million is not a problem. If it continues steadily, it could even hit three hundred million dollars.
Such a successful film can elevate an unknown actor directly to the second tier of stars, especially for someone like Matthew Horner who already had "The Scorpion King" as a foundation.
Sean Daniel refreshed his email again, but still, no new messages had come through.
He estimated that the opening weekend box office for "Pirates of the Caribbean" would not be less than 60 million dollars. With such box office numbers, along with the praised role of Will Turner, Matthew Horner would undoubtedly attract a large fanbase, which could directly translate into box office draw for new films.
The higher the opening weekend box office for "Pirates of the Caribbean" and the more praise Will Turner receives, the greater Matthew Horner's future draw will be.
Accordingly, his salary would also increase.
Sean Daniel was waiting for the latest data to find a balance point to start negotiations with Helen Herman.
If there was any doubt about casting Matthew Horner as the lead in "Dawn of the Dead" before, it was now gone. If "Dawn of the Dead" could continue the momentum, it would definitely benefit from the popularity Matthew Horner gathered from "Pirates of the Caribbean."
"Should we consider increasing the lead role's scenes?" Sean Daniel thought seriously and decided to discuss it with director Zack Snyder.
A pop-up appeared on the bottom right of the computer screen, a new email notification. Sean Daniel eagerly clicked it open.
The email opened to reveal some numbers: Friday 22.2 million dollars, Saturday 23.8 million dollars, Sunday 18.6 million dollars, totaling 64.6 million dollars for the weekend!
Sean Daniel nodded in satisfaction, putting his mind at ease. However, new worries emerged. With "Pirates of the Caribbean's" explosive opening weekend, as the lead, Matthew Horner's market value would definitely increase, and his salary could not stay at the 2 million dollar level. Was the 25 million dollar budget for "Dawn of the Dead" enough?
First, he would see how negotiations with Helen Herman went. Given the current situation, getting Universal Pictures to increase the budget shouldn't be too difficult.
As the Monday sun rose, due to the time difference and being busy preparing "King Arthur," Jerry Bruckheimer in London just received a fax from Disney.
He glanced at it and handed it to his assistant, Anderson Martinez, who couldn't help but laugh, "Boss, we've succeeded again."
Jerry Bruckheimer smiled faintly, "When the project started, I told Disney that pirate movies still had potential." He scoffed disdainfully, "Michael Eisner, that fool, said my project would completely fail!"
Anderson Martinez laughed, "It's Michael Eisner who has a vision problem."
"Michael Eisner's capabilities have seriously deteriorated, clearly unable to keep up with the times," Jerry Bruckheimer criticized his former collaborator at Disney without mincing words. "Walt Disney might have grown under his leadership, but now he's become an obstacle to its further development."
"Mhm," Anderson Martinez agreed.
He didn't fully understand the issues with Michael Eisner, only knowing that Eisner had refused to invest significantly in "King Arthur" and "National Treasure," causing delays, and "National Treasure" was still stuck in script development, much to his boss's displeasure.
He knew Michael Eisner was no longer the Michael Eisner of the past, and Jerry Bruckheimer was not the same as before either.
"Boss, there are two sets of statistics on the fax," Anderson Martinez said after seriously reviewing the document, "You might be interested."
"Let's hear it," Jerry Bruckheimer said.
"Disney's first-week survey statistics show the most popular character is Jack Sparrow, followed by Will Turner. These two characters received eighty-five percent of audience support, with Jack Sparrow at forty-six percent and Will Turner at thirty-nine percent, not a big difference."
"Deciding to change Will Turner was correct," Jerry Bruckheimer said with some seriousness. "Matthew Horner is indeed very capable."
"Indeed, and he's not as difficult to work with as Johnny Depp, making him a particularly worry-free and reliable actor," Anderson Martinez added.
Jerry Bruckheimer nodded slightly. Having worked with Matthew Horner twice, he was well aware of this.
"What a pity..." Jerry Bruckheimer sighed, "I originally wanted him to continue as the lead in 'King Arthur,' but he took another movie."
"Boss..." Anderson Martinez ventured, "Do you have high hopes for Matthew Horner?"
"It's not that I have high hopes," Jerry Bruckheimer explained, "but the movie's response has proven that Matthew Horner has the potential to become a star with significant draw."
He suddenly showed a reflective expression, "Matthew Horner reminds me of when I worked with Don Simpson on 'Top Gun.' Tom Cruise really became a superstar after that movie."
Anderson Martinez was surprised at how highly Jerry Bruckheimer regarded Matthew Horner, saying, "Boss, we still have another project, right? The lead role for 'National Treasure' hasn't been decided yet."
After some thought, Jerry Bruckheimer said, "Go talk to Helen Herman about scheduling. Once the funds are in place, send Matthew Horner an audition invitation."
He paused, then added, "The success of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and the relative box office failure of 'Black Hawk Down' have made me fully understand one thing: films targeting all age groups are more likely to succeed commercially."
"That's true," Anderson Martinez agreed.
"So, I've already spoken to two screenwriters," Jerry Bruckheimer continued, "There won't be any large-scale scenes in 'National Treasure,' and we'll lower the age of the male and female leads to better match the tastes of teenage audiences."
He made films with a focus on the market and audience, always targeting the majority of viewers' aesthetics, and teenage audiences have always been the main consumer group in cinemas.
Burbank, outside the Angel Management Company, Matthew had just gotten out of the car when he was surrounded by reporters who had followed and were waiting there.
Escorted by several company security personnel, he walked towards the company entrance, answering some questions from the reporters.
"Success was, of course, expected!" Matthew said with a smile, "I said at the premiere that 'Pirates of the Caribbean' would definitely be a success!"
With the film's opening weekend box office explosion, many media and professional organizations predicted the final North American box office would be around 300 million dollars, giving him enough confidence to make such a statement.
The success of "Pirates of the Caribbean" also led to the downfall of another major release during the same period, "Sky Soldiers." This 20th Century Fox production, set in the Victorian era and resembling an Avengers assembly, only managed to secure a little over 20 million dollars at the box office in its first week, clearly unable to meet its production costs in North America.
"A sequel to 'Pirates of the Caribbean'?" Matthew shook his head, "Sorry, I haven't heard anything about it. No one has mentioned a sequel to me."
Disney had not yet released any information, so he certainly wouldn't speak out of turn and disrupt Disney's marketing strategy.
Moreover, at this stage, those eager to announce and produce a sequel would likely be Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer, not a lead actor like him.
A sequel is definitely in the cards, but Helen Herman had advised him not to make any casual statements. As for those "I'm looking forward to continuing to play the role" type of naive remarks, they were strictly forbidden.
The situation is quite clear: the higher "Pirates of the Caribbean's" North American box office, the better his position in negotiations to continue in the sequel, and the higher his salary could be. There was no rush.
According to Helen Herman, once "Pirates of the Caribbean's" North American box office exceeded 200 million dollars, securing at least an 8 million dollar salary for him in the sequel would be no problem.
Not for anything else, but for that 8 million dollars, he would cooperate with Helen Herman.
"Matthew, there are rumors that you and Keira have broken up?"
Hearing this question, Matthew immediately clarified, "Absolutely not, we're doing great, very stable!"
After addressing this question, he entered the Angel Management Company, ready to meet with Helen Herman to discuss upcoming matters.
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