As night falls, the hustle and bustle of Pinewood Studios gradually returns to quiet, but the office area belongs to a brightly lit office belonging to the "Return of the Mummy" crew, and inside Sean Daniel and Stephen Sommers are arguing, with no intention of turning off the lights and leaving work.

The Scorpion King's audition with makeup was not completed until nearly six o'clock, and because the opinions were not very unanimous, the audition results were not determined at that time, and after a brief dinner, producer Sean Daniel and director Stephen Sommers came to the makeshift film room to re-watch the daytime audition footage to choose the right actors.

Needless to say, the first candidate is not considered at all, and the situation that occurs during the audition is completely out of their consideration; the actor who auditioned for the last audition, they heard something at the end of the audition, this person has been mixed up for more than ten years and has not yet come out, it is estimated that he wants to be crazy to become famous, and he thinks he is very smart, and he can also be excluded.

The focus of the dispute between Sean Daniel and Stephen Sommers is on Matthew and Dwayne Johnson.

"I think Johnson is better suited for the role of the Scorpion King!" Stephen Sommers insisted on his point and pointed to the audition video playing on the monitor, "His rock-like muscles and nearly two meters tall, coupled with a muscular figure that has been trained in professional wrestling, is very suitable for the role of the scorpion king!"

Since confirming something, Sean Daniel has made up his mind, and the reason why he did not veto it with the authority and toughness of the producer is mainly to take into account Stephen Sommos's face, and the relationship between the two.

"I don't agree with you. He still said more tactfully, "Stephen, what we need is an actor, not a macho man who eats by muscles!"

Sean Daniel pressed a few buttons, switched to a close-up of Dwayne Johnson's face, pointed to the monitor screen and said, "He only had one expression from beginning to end! Look here, the corners of his eyes are shaking, obviously nervous! I admit, he's a star, but he's a professional wrestling star, not a Hollywood star!"

Stephen Sommers' last film was a big hit, which gave him a certain amount of confidence, arguing, "A role like the Scorpion King doesn't need much good acting skills!"

"But you can't be too bad at acting!" Sean Daniel was slightly impatient, after the audition, the two had an exchange, but now, Stephen Sommers is still insisting, he decisively removed Dwayne Johnson's audition video, replaced it with Matthew Horner's audition video, and said while playing, "Look at this actor again, his acting skills are above the level line, his figure and body shape are equally good, and he is not as exaggerated as Dwayne Johnson, which is more in line with the image of a fighter!"

He's still trying to persuade Stephen Sommers to give up, "And I've talked to Dwayne Johnson's agent about the salary, and he offered $1.2 million! What about Matthew Horner? At most, a tenth of that number can be done, and the money saved by the crew can be invested in post-production to further enhance the CG technology you mentioned. ”

Stephen Sommos looked at Matthew on the screen and shook his head, "He doesn't match the image in my mind! Sean, when I wrote the script, the role of Dwayne "The Scorpion" Johnson was created with Dwayne Johnson as the blueprint. There was a hint of anger in his tone, "Matthew Horner isn't the Scorpion King I want!"

Anger flashed across Sean Daniel's face, he knew that some directors or screenwriters were difficult to do, and it was even more difficult to do things like directors and screenwriters, but Stephen Sommers was not James Cameron after all, and he would not give in to such things that violated the bottom line of the mind.

There can be African-American actors on the set, but never the main character and the main supporting role!

This is his psychological bottom line.

Stephen Sommers' words are not finished, "I stand by my opinion!"

Sean Daniel was instantly on fire, and from the beginning to the present, he has been using a softer way to communicate, but he didn't expect Stephen Sommers to be so stubborn.

"I'm sorry, Stephen. Sean Daniel's tone also became tougher, "I decided, Matthew Horner will be the actor of the Scorpion King." ”

Turning off the monitor, he packed his things and prepared to leave, looking like he didn't want to talk to Stephen Sommers anymore.

Sean Daniel has absolute power in the crew, he knows that Stephen Sommers will bow his head in the end, Stephen Sommers signed a series of contracts with Universal Pictures, and the copyright of the "Mummy" series is all owned by Universal Pictures, and even the copyright of the script of "The Mummy Returns" is also in the hands of Universal Pictures.

When Universal Pictures approached Stephen Sommos, he was interested in his ability to direct, adjust shooting and handle special effects on the spot, whether it was "The Mummy Returns" or the first "The Mummy", his power as a director was very limited, and he couldn't even participate in post-editing, if it wasn't for the success of the first "Mummy", now he doesn't even have the right to discuss actors with him here.

Within reason, limiting the power of directors and shooting with divergent thinking has always been the work of major Hollywood studios, including Universal Pictures.

"I'll have someone inform Matthew Horner's agent tomorrow. Sean Daniel saw that the communication could not be solved, so he simply took out the authority of the producer, "If it goes well, the crew will be able to sign a contract with him tomorrow afternoon, and you'd better get to know him, which will also be conducive to future cooperation." ”

Stephen Sommers never spoke.

"Alright, that's all for today. Sean Daniel lifted the briefcase, "See you tomorrow." ”

He left the office, and it was a long time before Stephen Sommers turned off the lights and walked out.

Sighing, he walked towards the studio gates, this was not the first time he had clashed with the producers......

"Damn producer-centric productions!" Stephen Sommers scolded, adding, "This one is a success, I must also be the producer of the next film, and Universal's pictures still want to work with me on a movie with a big collection of monsters?"

As long as "The Mummy Returns" can be as successful at the box office as "The Mummy", it will certainly not be a problem for the next film with Universal Pictures to serve as both a director and a screenwriter and a producer.

The next morning, Matthew was informed by Helen Herman that he passed the audition and successfully won the role of the Scorpion King!

“Yes！”

Hanging up Helen Herman's phone, Matthew couldn't help but swing his fist hard, and the failure of "Almost Famous" was ahead, highlighting the hard-won success of this time.

The most important thing is that he knows that "The Mummy Returns" is very widely circulated, and the pirated discs that used to fill the streets are flooded, and Dwayne Johnson, who starred in the Scorpion King, has become a big star......

According to this logic, will he also become a big star?

Even though he knew that this strange logic was cranky, Matthew couldn't stop fantasizing.

At this moment, he was in a very good mood and wanted to share it with others, so he took out his mobile phone and prepared to make a call, the first object to share was of course Britney, but considering the time difference on both sides of the Atlantic, Matthew didn't call, just sent a text message to Britney.

Then, I texted Elena Boyar, hoping to report it again, even if it wasn't very likely.

Matthew then also called James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, who are now out of London and have traveled together to the Mediterranean after filming Band of Brothers.

As time went on, he gradually calmed down and felt that he was able to get the role, thanks to Duck Munster.

After lunch, when he rushed to Pinewood Studios with Helen Herman to sign a contract, Matthew made a point of telling her about it.

"An actor who has been in Hollywood for more than ten years and has not yet made a career is difficult to have a peaceful mentality. Helen Herman just said lightly, "It's also possible that you're thinking too much, and that unlucky actor just ate something and broke his stomach." ”

Matthew didn't say anything more, anyway, he was the one who won, and it didn't matter what the truth was.

Coming to the crew and getting the official written notice, as usual, Matthew just waited for the outcome of Helen Herman's negotiations, and the negotiations went smoothly at the beginning, such as accommodation, food, insurance, overtime, assistants and dressing rooms, etc., the big Hollywood crews are similar, and the "The Mummy Returns" crew has a more adequate budget, and they will not treat an important supporting actor in these aspects.

The focus of Helen Herman's negotiation dispute with the crew is still on Matthew's salary.