"Where's Matt Damon? It's been a few days since I've seen that guy, right?" Harvey suddenly asked, his tone curious.
Ever since a month ago, Matt Damon had been particularly attentive, following him around. But after that, he hadn't seen him for quite a while.
Bob Weinstein looked at his brother with concern and replied, "It's better if you don't know, Harvey."
Harvey froze for a moment. "What happened? Tell me!"
Bob sighed, "Martin's Meyer Films has a new project—The Bourne Identity. They're currently holding auditions, and Matt went for it. He got the role—he's the lead!"
"What the hell? Why didn't I know about this?"
"You've been hiding out for a while, not showing up, so naturally, you missed the news. It's already circulating in the industry. This movie is based on Martin's script and is fully financed by Meyer Films. Everyone is waiting to see if Martin's first independent project can make a big splash."
"So you're telling me Matt Damon sold out to Martin?"
"That's one way to put it. Otherwise, Martin wouldn't have given him the role."
"Son of a bitch, traitor!" Harvey roared in fury, but quickly regained his composure. "The Bourne Identity? A spy movie? Since 007 bombed, no one has dared touch the spy genre. Martin's got guts."
"He's even venturing into pirate films, so he's got courage," Bob added.
"This movie will probably fail," Harvey said coldly, sitting back in his chair, stroking his chin—a habit of his when he was deep in thought.
"Why's that?"
"Because I'll make sure it fails. I will."
Harvey's expression turned sinister, like a predator ready to pounce.
This time, without Warner Bros. or Disney backing Martin, Harvey could go all in.
As early June rolled around, the Matrix crew had finished their martial arts training and signed formal contracts with all the actors.
The Wachowski brothers had begun initial filming.
Martin was still not on set.
He attended the premiere of Parent Trap II instead.
"Martin, thank you for coming to my premiere. You haven't visited me in so long. I've missed you," the young girl said with a hint of affection. During the filming, she had developed a soft spot for Martin, thinking about him day and night. Her face had even become slightly thinner, showing the promise of the beautiful witch she would become.
"I've missed you too, but I've been really busy. Sorry! You know, with so many projects going on at the same time, I can't be everywhere at once," Martin replied.
"Really? You're so busy, huh? Hehe, I forgive you," she giggled.
"Haha, it's my honor to attend Princess Elizabeth's premiere."
The car slowly stopped.
Martin stepped out and extended his arm for Elizabeth to link hers with his.
A young boy and a little girl walked down the red carpet with calm confidence.
The movie that followed didn't bring Martin any surprises.
Parent Trap II didn't deviate from the formula of the first film, still telling the story of a pair of twins and a broken family.
But luckily, Disney knew how to handle family-friendly films, and the movie's cliched plot was still entertaining, drawing laughter from the kids in the audience.
Martin guessed that the movie's reviews wouldn't be too high, and the box office wouldn't be extraordinary, but it wouldn't flop either.
And he was right.
"The plot is predictable, the screenwriter didn't put much thought into it, almost directly copying Martin's scenes from Parent Trap 1, only changing the background, locations, and props." — New York Times
"A disappointing and mediocre film. Not much to stand out. Disney's cash grab. The only highlight was Elizabeth Olsen's portrayal of the twin sisters. She's so pure and lovable. She's the most endearing and likable character in the film." — Los Angeles Times
"The pacing was decent, and the jokes were okay, but compared to Martin's Parent Trap 1, this film feels too much like a copy. The screenwriters did think, but not enough. Young actress Elizabeth Olsen's performance was very impressive. Her freckles on her face gave her a natural charm, and she couldn't hide her beauty." — Chicago Sun-Times
At the Olsen family home, Janet Olsen put down the newspaper and ruffled Elizabeth's little head.
"Okay, don't be upset. Even though the movie didn't do well, your performance was praised. Elizabeth, you've succeeded."
"I'm not upset!" Elizabeth lifted her face and gave her mother a gentle smile.
Janet thought her daughter was just comforting her and smiled proudly, thinking, Elizabeth's grown up. She's maturing!
But in reality, Elizabeth wasn't upset at all. She was actually excited.
Because in the darkened theater, she had secretly kissed Martin.
Giggle, giggle. It felt so good. Martin's lips were so soft, and they tasted sweet.
Of course, this was just the girl's imagination.
Parent Trap II grossed just over $20 million in its opening weekend, and the final box office projection was around $80 million. With an investment of $36 million, Disney would make a small profit.
Martin then traveled to Sydney with the Matrix crew, as all the outdoor scenes of the movie were being shot there. Australia's tax incentives helped reduce production costs.
Filming had been delayed because the actors' training wasn't up to par, so they trained for an extra month.
For actors who had to perform action scenes, hearing the director announce "Filming officially begins" was like hearing the sound of heaven.
After more than sixty days of grueling training—though not comparable to professional athletes—this was a mental and physical torture for the pampered actors who were used to living a lavish lifestyle.
For example, Hugo Weaving sneaked out during training to drown his stress in a bar all night.
Lawrence Fishburne, who played Morpheus, nearly got into a fight with Tiger Chen during training.
Nicole was physically and mentally exhausted, but luckily, Martin often came by to check in on her and relieve some of her stress.
Now, it was finally time to test their results.
"Tiger..."
Yuan He Ping tilted his head toward Tiger Chen.
The latter immediately stepped forward to explain the action sequence to Martin and Lawrence Fishburne.
When it came time for action, Lawrence Fishburne still forgot many of the moves. If it weren't for Martin's quick reflexes, he probably would have been hit by several stray punches.
"Hey, man, focus!" Martin shouted.
"Sorry, Martin!" Lawrence Fishburne quickly apologized.
Tiger Chen resumed his demonstration of the action sequence.
But when it came to filming, Lawrence Fishburne still made mistakes.
Martin decided, "How about this? Let him just perform the sequence he's most familiar with. I'll handle the rest!"
"Are you serious?" Tiger Chen was surprised.
"Yeah, I can handle it." Martin nodded confidently.
Tiger Chen relayed Martin's suggestion to Yuan He Ping, who thought for a moment before replying, "Sure, Martin's reactions are fast enough. Just have that big guy take it slow, and we can speed it up in post-production."
Everyone else had heard about Martin's plan to fight Lawrence Fishburne for real, so they gathered around to watch.
[•———•——•———•]
𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧