After attending the charity banquet, Matthew also made a stop at the United Nations headquarters in New York. To a large extent, his reputation as a social activist and advocate for women's and children's rights was gradually catching up with his title as a Hollywood superstar.
At the UN headquarters, he participated in a press conference convened and hosted by the Secretary-General, further elevating his profile.
Matthew once again called on the global community to help children around the world achieve their fundamental rights to survival, development, protection, and participation.
Leveraging his terrifying global fame as a Hollywood star, these charitable endeavors helped him further boost his social standing. Over the years, Matthew had successfully established multiple personas beyond that of a movie star.
As a result, Matthew had grown more cautious with his public image.
Elizabeth Holmes' invitation was something he had immediately deflected, using Helen Herman as a polite barrier. However, what Matthew hadn't anticipated was that after returning to Los Angeles, Angel Agency received a formal offer from Elizabeth Holmes.
"They've offered ten million dollars as compensation," Helen Herman said to Matthew in the reception room of Horner Manor. "And they're willing to negotiate further."
Matthew, lounging casually in a rattan chair, looked relaxed as he remarked, "That's quite a hefty offer." He then asked, "Did you investigate her and her company?"
Helen Herman took a moment to organize her thoughts. "How should I put this—she's a rising star in business, potentially a future billionaire, but she's in desperate need of investment."
Not one to waste time, she added bluntly, "I suggest turning it down. This falls under medical products, and it's best not to get involved."
Matthew nodded lightly. "I wasn't planning on accepting anyway."
Besides maintaining his existing endorsements for Rolex, Armani, and Mercedes-Benz, he hadn't taken on any new endorsements in recent years.
Helen Herman continued, "Elizabeth Holmes' goal is clear—she wants to use your fame and influence to create a sensation and attract more venture capital."
Matthew thought for a moment before saying, "Let's just reject it outright."
Helen didn't argue further. Instead, she mentioned, "Her company is based in California. She mentioned during a phone call that she'd like to meet with you one-on-one, so she might call you."
"I understand," Matthew said.
Before leaving, Helen gave him a final piece of advice. "When dealing with women like Elizabeth Holmes, be extra careful."
Matthew resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Don't worry. I know how to handle myself."
After all, was he the type of guy who lost his head over a pretty woman?
Someone who had started her own company before the age of twenty and was now able to secure financing from Rupert Murdoch wasn't someone Matthew would take lightly.
"Oh, by the way, one more thing," Helen added, "Starting in May, you'll need to work with Warner Bros. on promoting Inception."
Matthew nodded. "Got it."
Like Christopher Nolan's previous blockbuster productions, Inception was scheduled for release in July, during the prime Independence Day holiday weekend.
With the star power of both Matthew and Christopher Nolan, no other major blockbuster dared to open in the same weekend.
However, as with all summer releases, the weeks surrounding Inception were crowded. The weekend after Inception's release would see the premiere of Universal's Despicable Me, and the weekend before would feature Sony Columbia's The Karate Kid.
Given the "Kung Fu" title, Matthew had taken an interest and learned that Jackie Chan would be starring alongside Will Smith's son in the film.
Speaking of Will Smith, he had certainly gone to great lengths for his son, but Smith had long been on the opposite side of Matthew's career.
Perhaps Inception could impact The Karate Kid's second-weekend box office.
This wasn't something Matthew had deliberately planned. Historically, his films released over the Independence Day weekend had all been box-office hits, creating a certain expectation in and out of the industry. Following a successful formula increased the likelihood of success, after all.
Given that, Warner Bros. had no reason not to choose this prime release date. And with the combined draw of Matthew and Christopher Nolan, the anticipation was sky-high.
Matthew didn't believe that the movies opening around Inception could pose much of a threat. Despicable Me targeted a completely different audience, and as for The Karate Kid...
Since The Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith hadn't produced any standout work. His popularity and star power had faded considerably; otherwise, he wouldn't have accepted superhero roles.
As for his son, Jaden Smith, there wasn't much public interest in him at all.
Matthew was more concerned about the film opening the weekend before Inception, John Carter, directed by Andrew Stanton and starring Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman.
With a budget of $250 million, this massive production was finally set to hit theaters in this summer's lineup.
Matthew was eager to see whether John Carter would propel Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman to new heights or lead to their downfall. At this point, no one could predict the outcome.
But one thing Matthew knew for sure was that, due to the financial crisis and massive debt caused by Cloud Atlas, even a moderate success for John Carter wouldn't be enough to turn things around for Brad Pitt.
To truly escape his predicament, Pitt would need John Carter to be a box-office smash.
At the very least, it would need to perform as well as Alice in Wonderland, which had already released that year.
Without stellar box office returns, there was no hope of selling the ancillary rights at the ideal price.
Could Brad Pitt's Plan B production company even survive the year?
Just like last year, 2020 was shaping up to be a huge year for Matthew. In addition to starring in Inception, he was also involved in the May release of Iron Man 2, the Halloween release of James Wan's Insidious, and the Thanksgiving release of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.
All these films were crucial to him, as Hollywood remained the foundation of everything he had built.
After Helen left, Matthew made a quick call to Christopher Nolan to discuss promotional plans for Inception. After hanging up, he suddenly remembered something.
Andy Weir's USB drive still hadn't been reviewed.
Matthew called Bella Anderson. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he had given the USB to Bella, asking her to make a copy and send it to him.
"It's an interesting novel," Bella remarked over the phone. She had clearly read it and gave it a positive review. "I think it has potential for adaptation."
She also added a reminder, "I've found some information on Andy Weir and sent it over to you as well."
After the call, Matthew went to his study, logged into his work email, and saw Bella's email.
He started by looking over Andy Weir's background.
Andy Weir had been writing online since he was 20 years old, though his work hadn't attracted much attention. He was currently employed at Blizzard Entertainment, where he had contributed to the storylines of the Warcraft franchise.
Additionally, he was a self-described tech nerd.
As of now, none of Andy Weir's works had been officially published, and his influence remained limited to the internet. His most notable contribution was his work on the Warcraft storyline.
Initially, Matthew thought Weir had approached him to pitch Warcraft movie rights. But upon opening the files in the email, he realized it had nothing to do with fantasy games. Instead, it was a pure science fiction novel.
Unlike the superhero comics of Marvel and DC, this was a genre Hollywood had largely ignored—hard science fiction.
Hard sci-fi films had long faded from prominence, even disappearing from the mainstream of Hollywood's commercial cinema. In recent years, it was rare to find a hard sci-fi movie in the top 10 of North America's box office charts, and the movie rights for hard sci-fi novels were no longer a hot commodity in Hollywood.
No wonder Andy Weir had personally approached him.
On one hand, Weir lacked a proven track record of success. On the other, the market environment wasn't favorable.
Seeing that it was a hard sci-fi novel, Matthew's interest waned slightly. But since he had already opened the email, he decided to read through it.
Many people, including Matthew, were often hesitant to read science fiction, especially hard sci-fi, because they found the abundance of scientific terminology and complex concepts too difficult to grasp.
But Andy Weir's novel cleverly sidestepped this issue. Early on, the book clearly outlined its setting and theme: a stranded astronaut had to survive alone on Mars for a year and a half.
Moreover, the technology used for Mars exploration in the story was based on actual versions of NASA's Mars mission plans. Every solution the protagonist came up with was carefully calculated and rooted in real science.
Whenever the protagonist encountered a problem, the development followed a clear pattern: analyze the issue, form a hypothesis, conduct small-scale experiments, confirm the solution, and then implement it.
As a result, even readers like Matthew found each detail so believable that it seemed utterly real.
This sense of realism might very well be the novel's most captivating aspect.
Some say that the highest praise for a hard science fiction novel is that "it reads like it's real."
The protagonist's character was also far from the stereotypical cold and aloof genius. Instead, he was incredibly down-to-earth.
No matter how dire the situation became, or how close to despair he got, the protagonist's humor and optimism continued to shine through in his dialogue.
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