Chapter 299: Overwhelming Victory

"A brief and cautious journey in ancient times, the costume design of this film was deliberately meant to flaunt the muscular physiques of several male actors, while having female stars wear corsets that were easily removable. The primary concerns for director Wolfgang Petersen and lead actor and producer Brad Pitt were how to avoid appearing ridiculous."

Just as Helen Herman had predicted, after the premiere of "Troy," its reputation quickly fell apart. Although it didn't receive an overwhelming flood of negative reviews like "Van Helsing," it was only slightly better.

Moreover, a $46 million opening weekend in North America also dashed Warner Bros.' hopes of crafting an epic trilogy akin to "The Lord of the Rings."

The summer season's start wasn't completely a flop, but both films fell short of industry and public expectations.

"Van Helsing" saw its box office plummet to $20 million the following weekend, while "Troy" was projected to make about $130 million in North America.

Over the next week, the box office trends of these two films validated external predictions.

In this era, surpassing $100 million in North America is a significant achievement for any film, but given the investment scale of these two films, even this wasn't considered a passing grade.

Led by TMZ, various websites and traditional media outlets claimed that Brad Pitt's commercial appeal did not match his status as an A-list star.

"Reviewing Brad Pitt's roles, since 'Se7en' in 1995, he has not carried the box office of any film as the absolute lead. His highest-grossing film was 'Ocean's Eleven,' but the lead in that was George Clooney…"

In truth, Brad Pitt's films that have truly exploded at the box office are few and far between.

"Brad Pitt's consistently poor box office draw has severely hampered 'Troy,' and with the film's poor quality and reputation, as its first producer, he bears undeniable responsibility."

By mid-May, nearing the auditions for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," even the average moviegoer could see the downturn in "Troy's" box office.

Of course, "Van Helsing" fared even worse.

Many media outlets focused on Orlando Bloom, whose performances in two consecutive big-budget films were disappointing. Without the fame and foundation built from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, he would have fallen far.

Still, he was significantly affected.

Fortunately, Ridley Scott and the crew named for "Kingdom of Heaven" did not abandon him, sticking to their signed actor's contract.

Matthew also met Orlando Bloom for a drink at the Black Mamba Bar. Orlando was still in good spirits, not blaming himself for the situation, especially since he had worked hard behind the scenes to secure the role.

The two agreed to vacation together when they both had time.

Afterward, Matthew continued practicing shooting and studying scripts, leaving everything else to Helen Herman to manage. He trusted her to handle matters well, as their interests were closely intertwined.

In Century City, at the Fox Tower's ground-floor café, Helen Herman met with Azizah Gossman.

"It's been a long time, Helen," Azizah said as he sat at the coffee table, getting straight to the point. "You wanted to meet about the audition, right?"

Their relationship was good, and Helen had no reason to deny it, acknowledging, "Yes, my top client Matthew Horner is soon auditioning for the lead role, and his main competitor is an A-list star like Brad Pitt."

She playfully added, "I've known you for over ten years, so of course, I'm looking for a bit of favor."

"Matthew's not bad. His films over the past two years have been continuously successful, even a zombie film nearly made $100 million in North America," Azizah actually had a good impression of Matthew. "But in terms of fame and impact, he's still not on Brad Pitt's level."

He crossed his arms over the table, "Helen, this project has a production budget of $100 million, the largest investment in a project I've produced alone. I don't need to tell you how much pressure I'm under. If this project fails, I won't get another chance at top-tier production."

Listening, Helen nodded slightly, as Azizah spoke the truth.

Azizah looked at Helen and said, "So, Helen. The real candidates for the male lead right now are Matthew Horner and Brad Pitt. The others who received audition invites are just due to obligations I couldn't ignore. If you want me to choose Matthew Horner, you need to give me a very compelling reason."

"Matthew's niche is as an action star," Helen was prepared with her arguments. "From his breakout role in 'Band of Brothers' to his supporting roles in 'The Mummy Returns' and 'Black Hawk Down,' all his significant films and roles have been in the action genre. As a leading man,

 'The Scorpion King,' 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' and 'Dawn of the Dead' made him truly famous and were also action-oriented."

Azizah didn't respond, just looked at Helen.

Helen continued, "Matthew's last three films as the main lead all had blockbuster sales! 'The Scorpion King' continued the success of 'The Mummy' series. His co-starring with Johnny Depp in 'Pirates of the Caribbean' was hailed as one of the best screen pairings in recent years, and as the absolute lead in 'Dawn of the Dead,' he proved his solo box office draw."

Without waiting for Azizah to comment, Helen added, "On the other hand, Brad Pitt's recent blockbusters are few and far between! It's unfair to compare his box office from the past three years with Matthew's; Matthew Horner simply crushes Brad Pitt."

Hearing this, Azizah almost laughed, recalling how accurate Helen's points were. Comparing the box office of recent films, Matthew Horner overwhelmingly outperformed Brad Pitt.

Helen wasn't done yet, "Let's start from Brad Pitt's films around 2000. 'Fight Club' in 1999 had a production cost of $63 million but only brought in $37 million in North America. You must remember this failed investment caused a Fox executive to step down; 'Meet Joe Black,' with a production cost of $90 million, earned $44 million; 'The Mexican' had a production cost of $60 million and earned $66 million; 'Spy Game,' with a production budget of $115 million, earned $62.3 million in North America..."

She slightly raised her voice, "Only two films can truly be called box office successes, 'Snatch' and 'Ocean's Eleven,' but the former's lead was Jason Statham and the latter George Clooney, and both were ensemble casts!"

"Look at the currently screening 'Troy.' Brad Pitt's poor performance has been unanimously criticized by the media and fans. If this epic doesn't perform a box office miracle overseas, Warner Bros. will face tremendous financial pressure!"

Helen concluded, "Brad Pitt's past starring roles show he doesn't have the ability to carry a commercial film's box office alone, and he's not suited for action films. The duel between Achilles and Hector became a universal joke."

With that, Helen took out a statistical document from her bag and slid it across to Azizah, who glanced at it. The data Helen mentioned was easy to verify, and Azizah wasn't concerned about falsification.

Of course, Helen wouldn't falsify such easily verifiable data.

Azizah scanned the document, originally only having a vague concept, but now it was crystal clear. Brad Pitt hadn't managed to make any film a blockbuster in North America as the absolute lead since around 2000.

Helen added just in time, "It's strange. In these films starring Brad Pitt, he's the one who benefits, yet the films and the crew suffer..."

She paused, letting her point sink in without further elaboration.

Azizah frowned slightly; some things aren't noticeable without specific investigation, but a closer look reveals quite shocking facts.

A leading man who can't boost the box office of commercial films he stars in – is such a lead truly qualified? He naturally pondered this question.

Helen secretly breathed a sigh of relief; she too had carefully gathered data and studied before realizing the strikingly poor box office of most films Brad Pitt had starred in over the past seven or eight years.

If "Troy" had been a box office hit, these issues wouldn't matter. But the current situation proved the opposite; once again, "Troy" demonstrated Brad Pitt's insufficient box office appeal.

Why this was the case, Helen hadn't yet had time to study. If it were any other star, their career would have declined, but Brad Pitt continued to thrive, likely linked to his marriage to Rachel.

"Helen, what you've said..." Azizah collected the document, "I'll consider it carefully when I get back."

He didn't say much more and soon left the café.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Aniston had returned home early.

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