The richest actor in Hollywood.

Two days later, Helen Herman had her first meeting with Suzanne Collins. As Matthew had anticipated, the negotiations were not as smooth as they had hoped and proved to be more difficult than initially expected. Suzanne Collins, being an experienced television writer in Hollywood, was represented by an agent. With guidance from her agent, there was no way she would sell the movie rights to *The Hunger Games* at a low price. Unlike Stephenie Meyer, Collins was financially stable, having previously been nominated for an Emmy, and wasn't in desperate need of money.

The message Helen Herman sent to Matthew indicated that Collins' agent had quoted a hefty $15 million for the rights, which also included a percentage of the post-release profits.

Realizing that acquiring the rights cheaply was not feasible, Matthew instructed Helen Herman to continue negotiating with Collins' team. He was willing to consider the $15 million fee as long as it didn't include a share of the future profits and included conditions such as the right of first refusal for any sequels.

This type of negotiation was a classic case of starting high and settling lower. The high initial price set by the other side was clearly not their bottom line.

While Helen Herman continued to negotiate with Suzanne Collins, Matthew was busy filming *G.I. Joe* at the Hughes Aircraft Company soundstage.

As time passed, the crew moved on to shooting more scenes.

On set, Matthew and several other actors were inside a large model of an aircraft. However, only the front half of the aircraft was built—the rear half was missing. During filming, the camera would focus solely on the front half of the cabin.

Additionally, the aircraft's cabin only had one wall. To save on costs and facilitate filming, the other side was left open, creating a half-open structure.

Inside the aircraft, Matthew leaned back in his seat, his left arm's desert camouflage uniform stained red with blood. Despite his injury, he appeared tough, seemingly unfazed by the wound.

"Who are you?" he asked Karolina Kurkova, who was holding a medical kit.

Kurkova approached him, squatting down to tend to his wound. She first took out a pair of medical scissors from the kit and cut open Matthew's sleeve before saying, "Your wound needs treatment."

Matthew watched as she bandaged his arm, his expression unchanging. Then, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, dressed in tight black combat gear, approached and roughly inserted an IV line into Matthew's left hand.

For the close-up shots of the IV, of course, they didn't actually pierce the actor's vein.

The muscular black man patted Matthew's shoulder and said in a deep voice, "You're quite remarkable."

Matthew's face darkened as he responded with a hint of guilt, "I'm worthless. I got all my men killed."

"This wasn't your fault," Karolina Kurkova, with her hair dyed red, said. "You were ambushed, and the ones who ambushed you weren't just ordinary terrorists."

Matthew scanned the surroundings before asking, "What unit are you with? Which department is this?" He fixed his gaze on Karolina Kurkova and added, "From your accent, you're not with a regular military unit."

Kurkova remained expressionless...

"Cut!" Director Stephen Sommers called out, halting the shoot. "KK, you need to be more expressive!"

From the start, Sommers had been tempted to call for a cut due to Kurkova's stiff expression, but he allowed the scene to continue for the sake of familiarizing her with the role.

"Reset! We'll shoot again in five minutes."

Hearing this, Matthew stretched lazily and signaled to a production assistant, who promptly brought him a water bottle. Matthew took a few sips through the straw, feeling slightly better.

Even though it was October, Los Angeles was still quite hot. The soundstage, originally a hangar, lacked proper air conditioning, and the metal roof trapped heat, making the place feel like an oven.

Kurkova glanced over at Matthew, who was drinking water, and seemed to hesitate before swallowing whatever she was about to say.

It was her first day on set, and compared to the rehearsals, she was understandably nervous.

Matthew noticed but simply told her to relax without saying much more.

It wasn't uncommon for models, especially supermodels, to struggle with acting due to the stiffness that comes from years of walking the runway. However, Victoria's Secret Angels tended to perform better in this regard, likely due to the dynamic nature of their shows.

Otherwise, Matthew wouldn't have chosen Karolina Kurkova for the role, even though she had been willing to make sacrifices to get it.

This scene had to be reshot three times due to issues with Kurkova and another Arab actor, before finally being completed successfully on the fifth take.

In *G.I. Joe*, Stephen Sommers wasn't overly strict about performances.

Even with Kurkova's level of acting, as long as it wasn't too poor, the director was likely to accept it.

The set was then reconfigured, with the previous walls being pushed aside and the aircraft model turned to a different angle. This allowed the cameras to shoot from another perspective, making the scene appear more like a hangar in a secret military base.

This scene focused entirely on Matthew's character, with all other roles, except for Dennis Quaid's General Hawk, serving as background for the protagonist.

"All your men are dead. Only you were rescued."

Standing at the aircraft's entrance, Stephen Sommers outlined the key points of the next scene to Matthew. "You're determined to avenge them and will seek revenge against those terrorists. Make sure this comes through in your performance."

Matthew nodded slightly. "I understand."

As the commander of an elite unit, Matthew's character, Duke, would have perished in the battle if not for the timely intervention of Scarlett and Heavy Duty leading the G.I. Joe team. Their impressive combat skills also left Duke in awe.

This was clearly a force even more formidable than his previous elite team.

"Get ready," Sommers added.

Matthew remained silent, boarding the aircraft and standing behind Karolina Kurkova as the crew closed the hatch, waiting for the shoot to begin.

"*G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra*... Scene 12, Act 3, start!"

Following the clapperboard's snap, the shoot began. Dennis Quaid, followed by several aides, strode up to the aircraft. As the hatch opened, Matthew followed Kurkova out.

"General!" Kurkova, carrying a large case, saluted Dennis Quaid in American military fashion. "We're back."

Quaid returned the salute. "Well done!" He addressed the group disembarking from the aircraft, "Well done, Joes!"

Matthew stepped off the aircraft, giving Quaid a surprised look. He hesitated for a moment, as if he recognized him.

"Welcome to the base, Duke." Quaid smiled and said, "I've heard a lot about you."

"You're... General Hawk?" Matthew asked.

"This way," Quaid replied, leading him towards an elevator while continuing, "We served together in Afghanistan, though only once, but you left a deep impression on me. You're an outstanding soldier. I've wanted to recruit you for years."

Matthew boarded the elevator, glanced around, and asked, "What is this organization?"

"This is G.I. Joe," Quaid explained. "An elite unit made up of the best of the best, the finest force in the world."

As Matthew and Quaid stood before the massive blue screen, it began to scroll, allowing for later post-production additions of elevator movement and the special forces training sequences outside the elevator.

"Are you tracking those terrorists?" Matthew asked bluntly. "If so, I'm in!"

The blue screen stopped scrolling, and Stephen Sommers' voice came through, "Cut! That's a wrap for this scene!"

He then called out loudly, "Take a 30-minute break, and move to set 12!"

The previously quiet set suddenly became bustling with activity as the crew prepared for the next location. Matthew headed alone towards the rest area, but he hadn't gone far before Karolina Kurkova caught up with him.

"Hey, Matthew," she greeted him with a smile and then lowered her voice, "Are you free tonight..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Bella Anderson approached and informed Matthew, "I just got a call—there's something that needs your attention."

Matthew waved off Kurkova and followed Bella to a quiet corner of the set. Bella typically only approached him for work-related matters, which didn't involve Kurkova.

"What's up?" Matthew asked directly.

Bella's response, however, was unrelated to work. "Charlize Theron just called. She'll be stopping by this afternoon."

"Charlize?" Matthew was surprised. "She's back from South Africa?"

For the past two years, Charlize Theron had been actively promoting the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa alongside her acting career.

Sometimes, Matthew even joked that South Africa had kidnapped her with a gold brick.

"I'm not entirely sure," Bella replied apologetically. "Miss Theron only said a couple of sentences before hanging up."

Matthew nodded slightly, "Got it." After thinking for a moment, he added, "Make sure to inform the crew."

Visits like this usually required notifying the crew in advance to avoid disrupting the filming schedule.

Soon after, the crew moved to set 12 to continue shooting. The morning's scenes were mostly dialogue-heavy, and they managed to complete five or six takes with relative ease.

That afternoon, Charlize Theron arrived on set, just in time for Matthew to discuss something important with her.

_________________________

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