Chapter 274: Born with Advantages

The new acting contract that Matthew had signed was somewhat inferior in terms of compensation compared to his role in the sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean." Helen Herman had discussed this with Matthew during negotiations. Continuing as Will Turner, the lead in the highly successful sequel "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," gave him a substantial bargaining advantage due to his existing pay scale and the role's popularity. However, "National Treasure" was a new project without the benefit of a sequel's momentum.

In Hollywood, there's a system for estimating a star's pay, which considers the box office performance of their recent films.

Helen Herman had initially offered Matthew $10 million, a salary typical for an almost A-list star. However, securing such high pay outside of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series was virtually impossible under normal circumstances.

If an actor's career isn't in rapid decline, agents typically aim high in salary negotiations, as bargaining is commonplace worldwide.

After more than two weeks of negotiations, both parties agreed on $8 million.

According to Helen Herman, given Matthew's current stature and true drawing power, a reasonable salary range would have been between $6 million and $7 million. The decision to offer $8 million was mainly due to "The Curse of the Black Pearl's" domestic gross exceeding $350 million and a global haul of over $800 million.

Just last week, "The Curse of the Black Pearl" ended its theatrical run in the Gibraltar Islands, concluding its international release with a global box office total of $811.91 million.

This achievement temporarily placed the film tenth in the global box office rankings, trailing only behind "Finding Nemo," another Disney release from 2003.

Given the success of "The Curse of the Black Pearl" and the popularity of the character Will Turner, Matthew had significant leverage. His previous film, "The Scorpion King," also grossed over $100 million in North America, justifying an $8 million salary.

Though this was $2 million less than James Franco's negotiated amount for another project, such differences often have a ripple effect on the negotiations with directors, leading actresses, and supporting actors.

Following the signing of the contract, the production finalized additional cast members. The lead actress role went to Diane Kruger, a German actress; the sidekick of the male lead was played by Justin Bartha from Angel Brokerage; and for the major antagonist, the production moved on from initially considered Sean Bean to cast the physically imposing Dwayne Johnson, who could truly stand toe-to-toe with Matthew in both presence and build.

To ensure the film would not exceed a PG-13 rating, Disney specifically arranged for Joe Johnston, known for directing child-friendly films for Disney, to helm the project.

The film could include intense action scenes, but an R rating was unacceptable to Disney, which had never produced films above this rating.

After the director was confirmed, Matthew met with Joe Johnston to discuss their visions for the film and its characters.

Jerry Bruckheimer also sent Matthew a shooting schedule. The film primarily involved location shoots with interior scenes concentrated at the beginning and end. Shooting was to start in mid-February and wrap by the end of April at the latest.

From May to November was reserved for post-production, with some challenging sets planned to be created using CGI.

The target PG-13 rating was intended to ensure the film was dynamic enough while focusing on a teenage demographic, making it ideal for a Thanksgiving release to meet the viewing needs of families over the holiday weekend.

The North American release date set by Disney was November 19, the weekend before Thanksgiving, a slot historically dominated by the Harry Potter series, although the latest, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," had moved to a summer release.

Despite the crowded release schedule, with Warner Bros.' "The Polar Express" and Pixar's "The Incredibles" launching around the same time, and Paramount's "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" debuting on the same day as "National Treasure," Matthew wasn't overly concerned. Modern commercial cinema focuses heavily on opening weekend performance, and unless releases overlap exactly, direct competition doesn't usually result in a zero-sum game.

After Christmas, Matthew received a wealth of historical and decryption materials related to "National Treasure" from the production team. Anyone familiar with his background would realize his limited education, possibly lacking even a basic knowledge of American history.

In this regard, Helen Herman understood him well. From the start of official negotiations with the production, she had someone gather extensive materials based on the screenplay. Between promoting "Pirates of the Caribbean" for the Oscars, Matthew had reviewed these materials repeatedly.

The script contained many references and terms initially unfamiliar to Matthew, which he came to understand through the materials provided by Helen Herman and the production team.

For example, the name of the protagonist, Ben Gates, was derived from John Adams, while the female lead, Abigail Chase, took her name from Abigail Adams, John Adams' wife, and Samuel Chase, a chief justice.

The film's treasure hunt is based on the legendary treasures of the Knights Templar, a powerful secret organization of the 11th century based in Jerusalem's Temple of Solomon. Rumored to possess vast treasures, their wealth mysteriously vanished in the 14th century.

To this day, treasure hunters worldwide, especially in America, are fascinated by these legends.

In this sense, the subject matter of "National Treasure" was inherently advantageous—it wasn't fabricated but was an appropriate cinematic adaptation of widely known or true events.

Before the New Year, Jerry Bruckheimer personally called Helen Herman to discuss the shooting schedule, aware that Matthew, thanks to his "Pirates of the Caribbean" fame, was attracting numerous project offers.

Bruckheimer provided detailed updates different from the initial shooting plan, and Helen Herman promptly relayed these to Matthew.

After the New Year, Bruckheimer, along with director Joe Johnston and others, would scout locations in New York, Washington, and Boston. Barring major issues, filming was set to start on February 10th, focusing first on exterior scenes, expected to wrap by April, then return to Burbank's Disney studio for interior shots.

The construction of interior sets had begun in November and was expected to take about five months.

Bruckheimer's message was clear: if Matthew planned to audition for other productions, he should schedule them either after returning to Los Angeles or before filming began.

As a second-tier but rising star, even Jerry Bruckheimer couldn't forbid Matthew from auditioning for other productions during the shoot.

This was an unreasonable demand in the industry.

Much trouble could be avoided with prior communication between both parties.

Each December 31st marks the day the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences begins mailing Oscar ballots to its judges, and the period leading up to the New Year is typically the most intense for Oscar campaigning.

Temporarily setting aside preparations for "National Treasure," Matthew joined Disney and Johnny Depp in campaigning for Jack Sparrow's Best Actor nomination at the Oscars.

At one campaign event, Matthew encountered Orlando Bloom, who was also campaigning for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."

"It's been a while, Orlando."

Matthew made time to meet with Orlando Bloom, who greeted him with the same warmth as before, "It's great to see you!"

After chatting for a bit, Matthew brought up Bloom's recent project, "How did 'Van Helsing' turn out?"

"It's done

!"

Bloom was visibly excited about "Van Helsing," "It's premiering at the start of this summer's blockbuster season!"

Hearing this, Matthew understood that Universal had high hopes for the film, placing it at the beginning of the summer season.

Bloom then added, "You must come to the premiere! Stephen feels the same way, and he'll probably send you an official invitation soon."

Matthew thought for a moment and replied, "As long as I'm in the country and not shooting on location overseas, I'll definitely be there to support you and Stephen."

"I knew I could count on you!" Bloom, doing well in his career, was in high spirits and whispered to Matthew, "Ever since I met you, things have just been going so well!"

He leaned in closer and murmured, "Ridley Scott just sent me an invite this month to audition for the lead in a huge new project."

"Really?" Matthew pondered briefly before saying with a hint of jest, "I got an invitation from Ridley Scott too, is it about the Crusades?"

Bloom was taken aback but managed to keep his composure, replying, "Yes, that's the one!"

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