One side didn't want to pay more, while the other had a higher offer hanging in the balance. The negotiations ended without reaching any agreement. As Thomas Langmann left, Harvey Weinstein's face darkened.
Initially, Weinstein had almost closed the deal with Langmann, buying the rights to The Artist outside of Europe for $10 million. But then Bella Anderson intervened, forcing him to raise his offer to $15 million.
Even with the increase, Weinstein still didn't secure the rights.
This made him furious!
Did Matthew Horner's second-rate studio even have the capability to distribute films? They were fraudulently using Disney and Warner Bros. as a front, sabotaging his deals left and right.
There was no doubt—it had to be deliberate.
Wasn't this just to irritate him? The Artist was his biggest discovery this year!
Upon arriving in Cannes, Weinstein had immediately recognized that the film was tailor-made for the nearly sixty-year-old Academy voters: black and white, silent, evoking classic Hollywood star power, with a simple plot and a perfect runtime of 100 minutes—ideal for his Oscar campaign.
The Oscars are conservative, and the aging Academy members are always nostalgic for the past.
Weinstein had mastered the art of Oscar campaigning, to the point where even the global audience had come to recognize that "Oscar voters are a bunch of fools."
Securing The Artist and combining it with his unparalleled marketing skills would produce an Oscar contender.
Weinstein had always been confident in his abilities. From The English Patient sweeping the Oscars, to Shakespeare in Love upsetting Saving Private Ryan, to Chicago dazzling everyone, he had consistently adapted his PR tactics to the times.
For The English Patient, he praised it as "the most moving film in years." But during the campaign for The King's Speech, he publicly denounced such self-aggrandizing marketing, subtly jabbing at The Social Network. When pushing Chicago, he aggressively attacked competitors and shamelessly showered voters with gifts. But after the email scandal during The Hurt Locker's Oscar campaign, he scaled back his ambitions for Inglourious Basterds, focusing solely on Best Supporting Actor.
This black-and-white silent film, featured only in the Cannes market section, was something Weinstein was determined to win.
In fact, he had already begun initial plans. Since he had another major Oscar contender this year, he intended to hold The Artist for a year, launching the campaign at the following year's Cannes festival, building up buzz across various film festivals, and then making a strong push for the Oscars.
Some viewers might feel deceived and ask for refunds after watching this film.
Weinstein had thought of that, too. It could easily be spun into a news story, turning the controversy into a selling point for the Oscars. This would further convince voters that the Academy should value art and culture over mass appeal.
But all of this hinged on securing the rights to The Artist.
After some thought, Weinstein decided to continue negotiations. There was still money to be made.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, a week after attending the Iron Man premiere, Matthew returned to Disney Studios to resume filming Fast Five.
The movie was nearing completion, and aside from Matthew, Paul Walker, and Gal Gadot, most of the main cast had already wrapped their scenes and left.
The remaining scenes involved the trio performing intense car chases in front of a green screen.
Of course, since none of them were professional stunt drivers, most of the high-speed driving shots involved them sitting in stationary muscle cars, striking cool, dramatic poses.
The actual stunts were all done by professional stunt performers.
At this point, stunt performers had become an integral part of Hollywood, just like cinematographers, prop masters, and screenwriters. Almost every film set relied on them.
However, they rarely received the recognition they deserved, especially from the Academy, which had long refused to establish an Oscar category for stunts.
The visual effects industry also faced similar disregard.
In big-budget Hollywood productions, visual effects often took up a massive portion of the budget, yet the industry wasn't celebrated as it should be.
Still, it wasn't as if Hollywood's visual effects were unbeatable.
In Matthew's view, Hollywood's prowess in special effects benefited from the competition's mediocrity.
Filming in front of green screens had become a routine part of his work, with little challenge involved.
Between shoots, Bella Anderson brought him good news.
As CEO of his "second-rate" studio, Bella had made several disruptive moves at the Cannes market, sabotaging several of Harvey Weinstein's deals, although she hadn't secured any films herself.
In particular, she had forced Weinstein to bleed money over one project.
That project was The Artist, a black-and-white silent film. Weinstein had originally planned to secure the non-European rights for about $10 million, but thanks to Bella's competition, he ended up paying $25 million for the global rights.
The only consolation for Weinstein was that he now owned the film's worldwide distribution rights.
Matthew was a bit surprised. Spending $25 million on the rights to a black-and-white silent film? Harvey Weinstein was clearly gambling big.
Of course, Matthew knew Weinstein was betting on the Oscars.
But the real question was, even if this black-and-white film won major Oscars, how many people would actually watch it?
He, for one, wouldn't watch it even if someone paid him.
Just as he had no interest in films from the golden age of Hollywood, they felt too distant from him.
Perhaps Weinstein's understanding of cinema was beyond Matthew's comprehension, just as Matthew had never fully understood the Oscars.
After all, he had never been part of the Oscars' game of power and money.
It was no cleaner than a presidential election.
For example, Matthew had heard that when Crash upset Brokeback Mountain at the Oscars, it was the result of a massive financial push. The production team behind Crash had sent out over 160,000 promotional DVDs and gifts to Academy members, including everyone from top voters to security guards. The cost of making and mailing these DVDs alone ran into millions.
The results were clear: Ang Lee won Best Director, but Best Picture went to Crash.
The campaign for this year's Best Director and Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker, was even more ruthless. Megan Ellison, a wealthy heiress with endless resources, spared no expense. In addition to sending out DVDs and gifts, she personally orchestrated the campaign, leading one of the film's producers to send emails directly to voters, urging them to vote for The Hurt Locker.
It was practically an open secret. The Academy couldn't ignore it. If they hadn't warned The Hurt Locker's team to back down, the Oscars might have been tainted even more.
If David Ellison, Megan's brother, ever abandoned his commercial endeavors and waged a similar financial assault on the Oscars, things might turn even uglier.
The Academy had rules stating that voters could only accept gifts related to the films, but there was plenty of room for interpretation.
Back when DVD players first became popular, some studios sent both the DVDs and the player, claiming it was for screening purposes.
At the time, DVD players were rare enough that such a "loan" seemed reasonable. But when would they ever be returned? No one knew.
Other studios sent out fine china bearing the film's logo, or turned ordinary bottles of champagne into rare, expensive vintages… There were plenty of ways to play the game.
There were always loopholes in the rules, much like in Europe's major film festivals, where winning a prize often depended on the jury president.
Matthew might not know much about politics, but he knew that elections were filled with behind-the-scenes deals and compromises.
Hollywood was no exception.
Weinstein had secured The Artist, but at a heavy price, at least in Matthew's eyes.
Unfortunately, Matthew knew he didn't have much influence over the Oscars. Otherwise, he'd certainly throw a few wrenches into Weinstein's plans.
Still, he'd managed to make Weinstein spend an extra $15 million.
As June approached, after more than three months of filming, Fast Five finally wrapped production. Director Justin Lin immediately moved into post-production, while screenwriter Chris Morgan and his team began working on the script for Fast Six.
Matthew had specific requests for the Fast Six script: a broader world and a more powerful villain!
Without a strong villain, the racing crew would seem weak.
Ideally, they should introduce a villainous team to match them.
Matthew had also considered suggesting to Kevin Feige that Marvel's villains should be stronger, instead of being defeated by a barrage of jokes and banter.
However, after careful thought, he decided against it. Marvel's superhero films were pure entertainment, simple popcorn flicks that didn't require much thought. Changing that formula might have a negative effect.
Marvel movies had their own unique style.
At least their humor, while often forced, wasn't as crude as Michael Bay's approach.
As June rolled in, Matthew began working on promotions for Inception, starting with North America before heading overseas, circling the globe in just over two weeks.
After returning to Los Angeles, he took a few days off and began keeping an eye on a major upcoming release.
John Carter, directed by Andrew Stanton and starring Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman, with a production budget of $250 million, was finally set to premiere after more than two years in development.
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