Chapter 340: Picking the Softest Persimmons

Bang—Bang—

The sound of tapping on the car window woke Hulk, who was napping in the car. He looked up to see his partner standing outside with a cup of coffee in hand.

He quickly rolled down the window, took the paper cup from his partner, and after a sip, asked, "Have Matthew Horner and Charlize Theron come out of the hotel yet?"

His partner shook his head, "No."

Hulk opened the car door and stepped out, scanning the area. It seemed that many of his colleagues had also spent the night here.

The sun was already up, and shielding his eyes from the glaring light, Hulk looked towards the hotel entrance. People were coming out, but the two familiar figures were nowhere to be seen.

"Just like other men..." Hulk shook his head in dissatisfaction, "Matthew Horner is up there in a luxury suite messing around with an Oscar-winning actress, while we're out here blowing in the cold wind all night."

The disparity in life's pleasures was stark.

"They're coming out!"

Someone shouted, and Hulk saw two familiar figures exiting the hotel. He tossed his coffee cup, grabbed his camera hanging around his neck, and sprinted towards them. Within seconds, he positioned himself at a perfect angle and began snapping photos of Matthew Horner and Charlize Theron as they left the hotel.

The camera captured Charlize radiant and Matthew looking refreshed—a clear sign of their indulgences from the previous night.

Hulk muttered under his breath as he shot, "Such a disgraceful pair."

Capturing them entering the hotel together last night and now photographing them as they left hand in hand solidified the rumors of their Oscars night escapade.

This night's effort could easily net him a couple of thousand dollars, considering the subjects were Matthew Horner and Charlize Theron.

At the hotel entrance, Matthew and Charlize got into a car together.

"Where are you headed?" Charlize asked. "I'll drop you off first."

Matthew stretched and instructed the driver, "Head to the Angel Agency in Burbank."

As the car pulled away, Charlize raised the privacy screen. Matthew suggested, "Why don't you wait for me at the agency? I just need to pick up some things, then we can go back to my place together?"

Charlize replied coldly, "After all that fuss last night, you still haven't had enough? I'm tired, I need some sleep."

In fact, one night in Munich, having had too much to drink, they ended up together. (due to censorship)

The car quickly left Hollywood. Changing the topic, though Matthew was very fond of Charlize, he didn't forget his priorities. "Don't forget, in a few days we're going house hunting."

These plans were already set, and Charlize, of course, didn't object. She asked, "Isn't most of your money tied up in stocks? You still have enough to buy a house?"

"We can get a mortgage," replied Matthew, his finances not particularly flush. "The sequel to 'Pirates of the Caribbean' is starting soon. Disney will pay my first installment by mid-April at the latest."

Charlize considered this and then said, "Okay, I'll check my schedule and let you know."

"Great," Matthew prefaced, "The areas we're looking at are Beverly Hills, Santa Monica Valley, and Malibu Beach."

"Whatever works," Charlize was indifferent, "You're the one buying the house."

"Don't forget, Sally. You're the lady of the house," Matthew reminded.

Charlize gave a non-committal response as the car stopped in front of the Angel Agency. After Matthew got out, she didn't immediately drive off but watched his tall figure walk towards the building, her eyes flickering with doubt and complexity.

She rubbed her face, pondering if she was really ready to be Matthew's girlfriend.

Lowering the screen, she signaled the driver, and the car pulled away as she watched Matthew disappear into the building, deciding to take things one step at a time.

She hadn't planned on getting married, after all...

Inside the Angel Agency, Helen Herman wasn't present, but Matthew greeted her assistant and retrieved the latest advertisement script sent over by Mercedes-Benz from the archive.

After confirming Michael Bay as the director for the new commercial, and with filming taking place at the Disney studios in Los Angeles, Bay had immediately involved himself in the planning stages. After discussing with Mercedes-Benz's advertising director, he scrapped the previous script and crafted a new one.

The former script was only a few pages long; the new script Matthew now held was merely a pathetic single page with scant text, giving no clear indication of what Bay intended to shoot.

Matthew guessed that Bay would likely finalize the commercial's content and improvise directions on the shooting day itself.

Some directors prefer actors to interpret the script themselves, while others like

 to provide explicit instructions to ensure the shooting goes according to their vision. Michael Bay was definitely among the latter.

As Matthew left the Angel Agency, he grabbed several newspapers from the lobby. As expected, his and Charlize's high-profile appearance on the Oscars red carpet, announcing they were officially a couple, dominated many headlines—especially on tabloids that featured photos of their affectionate kiss during the interviews.

Back at home, he checked online and saw that news of him and Charlize going to a hotel after the Oscars was already spreading everywhere, attracting much attention.

And the media buzz was far from over.

A week later, TMZ reported that Matthew and Charlize were house-hunting in Beverly Hills, preparing to buy a mansion together. Subsequent reports even speculated that the couple might marry after the North American premiere of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith."

Due to the gossip surrounding Matthew and Charlize, which matched the frenzy of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie the previous year, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" also drew significant attention from movie fans.

On a website polling the most anticipated summer blockbusters post-Oscars, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" ranked third, only behind "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" and Spielberg's "War of the Worlds," pushing aside other anticipated films like the rebooted "Batman" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Of course, for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" to succeed at the box office, not only was aggressive marketing essential, but the film's quality was also crucial. Otherwise, it risked being lost among the multitude of major releases every weekend during the summer.

Peak Entertainment's $100 million investment was initially intended for distribution by 20th Century Fox, but due to scheduling conflicts with Fox's releases of "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Star Wars Episode III" in May, they couldn't dedicate sufficient resources to another film.

Late last year, facilitated by Helen Herman, Peak Entertainment and Avi Lerner reached a distribution agreement with Universal Pictures for both domestic and international markets for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith."

The release date was set for May 13, an ideally quiet weekend with no significant competitors except for "Unleashed."

Written and produced by Luc Besson and starring action star Jet Li, "Unleashed" had a production budget of $45 million but wasn't regarded as a major threat by Peak Entertainment and Universal.

In fact, Besson's films had never performed well at the North American box office, with no notable hits.

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith's" main competition was in the weekends before and after its release.

The weekend before, Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" starring Orlando Bloom, and the following weekend, George Lucas's "Revenge of the Sith" would dominate.

Initially, Matthew inquired about moving the premiere to Memorial Day weekend, as he had no recollection of "The Longest Yard," the film releasing that weekend, suggesting it wasn't a major contender.

However, his attempt failed; as just an actor without investment stakes or a producer role, he had no say in the release date.

Avi Lerner explained that competing against Adam Sandler's football-themed movie that weekend posed a far greater risk than going up against a film like "Unleashed."

With the summer packed with substantial commercial releases, it was clear that picking the softer option was the strategy.

July offered less competitive release dates, but Universal and Peak Entertainment wouldn't delay "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" that long. Gossip has a shelf life, and the impact wouldn't be as strong as in May.

The entire promotional strategy was intricately planned, leaving no room for long delays, as that would affect the campaign's impact.

Universal and Peak Entertainment's strategy was clear: stir up maximum public interest with intensive marketing to drive a substantial audience to theaters during the opening week.

Moreover, market predictions and feedback suggested that "Revenge of the Sith" wasn't as formidable as expected. The disappointment with "Attack of the Clones" had dampened enthusiasm for Lucas's next installment, likely to affect its follow-up.

While Matthew kept an eye on these developments, "National Treasure" concluded its North American run.

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