The red Chevrolet turns onto Nanbo Great Street, and Natalie Portman personally drives to the café where she has an appointment with Matthew Horner, which is as low-key and accessible as her image in the eyes of the public and the media, unlike the wanton and insolent Mercedes G-Class SUV driven by Matthew Horner.

She came over this time, not just because she had an appointment with Matthew Horner, Brad Pitt told her to find out more about Matthew Horner's attitude.

Natalie Portman arrives near the Disney studios, parks her car on the side of the road, and gets out of the car and walks towards a café diagonally across from the Disney studios.

"I guess Matthew Horner isn't too happy, right?" she could think of that.

At the beginning, it was she who proposed that the Wachowski siblings invite Matthew Horner to play the leading role, but later Brad Pitt gave a promise that Plan B's investment in "Cloud Atlas" could give her a super high salary, and she naturally switched to Brad Pitt's side, and cooperated with him to gradually conquer the Wachowski siblings.

That's right, the main thing in them is money.

Matthew Horner's Skydance Pictures was only able to invest $60 million, Brad Pitt's Plan B company promised a minimum investment of $100 million, and even if Brad Pitt's commitment was not counted, she would have made the same choice when it came to the investment of both companies alone.

Low investment means low budget, and it also means that the lead actor's salary will be compressed as much as possible......

She doesn't have any money, so she needs it.

Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy made some money for her, but not much, and films like this don't pay young actors too much, and no one attributes the success of the series to the actors.

Queen Amidala opened up the world for her, but no one in the industry believed in her box office appeal, and no one was willing to pay her a high salary in the future.

Also, going to university and going to Jerusalem for further education all cost money.

It's not about how expensive the tuition is, but about the publicity.

The advertorials that praising her ambition to not be in Hollywood, the stories that she was a different actor, the praise of her academic achievements, the papers that appeared in peripheral academic journals, the reports discussing her heart in Judea and Israel, and so on.

These are never spontaneous acts of the media, they cost money, and they cost a lot of publicity and PR money.

Fortunately, the money was not spent in vain, and she successfully established a maverick actor character who meets the preferences of Jewish bigwigs in the Hollywood circle and has a literary style.

After so many years of persistent media public relations, she almost spent all the salary she received before.

If she wants to develop further in Hollywood and stand on the stage of her dreams, she also needs more money.

But her salary is very low, which is not directly proportional to her great fame, because she has never really proven her commercial appeal.

Therefore, two years ago, she chose "V Vendtta", and in her and her team's analysis, this medium-to-upper-scale production is very much in line with her requirements, with both the big scenes of commercial films and the ups and downs of the plot, as well as high style, which is very rare.

Although the subject matter is a bit sensitive, it does not prevent it from being released in the Western market.

However, the global box office of "V Vendtta" of more than 100 million yuan did not meet her and the filmmaker's expectations at all, and her follow-up salary could not be raised at all, and the salary of the latest film was only one million US dollars.

In terms of fame, she killed vase actors like Jessica Alba in seconds, but when it comes to salary, Vase actors such as Jessica Alba dumped her ten streets.

Coming to the door of the café, Natalie Portman sighed, even now, she can't figure it out, "V Vendtle" has a very good reputation, the audience is highly evaluated, the Internet scores are very high, the film critics are highly praised, and the word of mouth is bursting in all aspects......

It's just a box office ...... In particular, the most critical North American box office has just half of the production cost.

This reminded her of the famous work "Killer Leon", which also had a good reputation and a high rating at the time, but failed at the North American box office, and only half of the production cost.

The glass door of the café was opened by the waiter from the inside, Natalie Portman shook her head, strode in, asked the waiter, turned her head and saw where Matthew was, and hurriedly walked over.

"Hi Matthew. She offered to say hello.

"Hello, Nat. ”

Although Matthew was gentlemanly pulling out the chair for her, Natalie Portman could hear the unhappiness in his words.

Natalie Portman knew that it must have been Matthew who was unhappy with her.

Waiting for the waiter to bring coffee, Matthew looked at Natalie Portman and said unabashedly, "Nat, did you know that Lana and Andy have suspended negotiations with me and Skydance Pictures?"

Before Natalie Portman could speak, he added, "Don't you feel like you owe me an explanation?"

Natalie Portman looked sincere, "I owe Brad Pitt a favor before, but I introduced him to the Wachowski siblings, and I don't know exactly how they talked about it. ”

It's a skill that all actors are good at, "You know, I don't have much say in this project. ”

Matthew's face was very calm, but there was a hint of anger in his words, "Nat, the current situation is that I'm going to be out!" Speaking of this, he was a little angry, "All my efforts for more than a month have been wasted!"

"I'm sorry, Matthew. Natalie Portman always seemed so sincere, "I'm so sorry about that." ”

She seemed to agree, "I very much regret introducing Brad Pitt to the Wachowski brothers, but I'm really powerless right now." ”

Matthew gasped for breath twice in quick succession, as if he couldn't calm down until now.

Natalie Portman said tentatively, "Matthew, aren't there a lot of projects that invite you? you don't lack pay and roles, and you don't ...... for such a project."

"Do you think it's easy to pick a good project?" Matthew seemed to be angry again, "That night, I was just interested in this project, and then I thought about it and decided to get involved, and I also pulled my partner to invest in order to make the trip as soon as possible, and the result was ......"

He sighed and turned his head to look out the window, "With so many Hollywood films made every year, how many of them can really sell big?" and turned back to look at Natalie Portman, "What if your handpicked role was robbed, Nat?"

"I understand. Natalie Portman sneered in her heart, "I've had this experience before. ”

Matthew nodded, "Nat, you contact the Wachowski siblings for me, and ask them not to sign with Brad Pitt and Plan B first, David Ellison and I are raising funds, and it will be in place as soon as July......" He waved his hand, "No, the Wachowski siblings don't answer my phone right now, you help me get the Wachowski siblings out, and I'll talk to them personally." ”

Natalie Portman hurriedly said, "I'll do my best." Her tone changed, "Matthew, I'm just an actor, and I can't guarantee anything." ”

Matthew frowned and was silent for a few moments before he said, "I understand. ”

From this conversation, Natalie Portman could see and hear Matthew's attention to this role, and suddenly remembered what he had heard before, because "Spartan Three Hundred Warriors" exploded, Matthew in addition to the previously determined "All Superman Hancock" project, pushed off all the jobs that came to the door, and focused on the negotiation of "Cloud Atlas".

"That's good. Matthew put down a bill and stood up to take his leave, "Nat, I'm waiting for your good news. ”

"Hmm. Natalie Portman nodded slightly.

Matthew was the first to leave the café and watched him leave from the glass curtain wall, but Natalie Portman didn't mean to leave, but picked up the coffee cup and tasted it slowly.

After drinking half a bowl of coffee, she reached into her satchel, pressed the voice recorder inside, then took out her phone, edited a text message, and sent it to Brad Pitt to make an appointment to meet at the office of Plan B.

A sneer tugged at the corner of Natalie Portman's mouth as Matthew Horner was doomed.

He said so much here to ask her to help, but he didn't mention anything she would get from helping, but Brad Pitt had a clear condition!

If it's not good, you want her to help, what's the joke?

This project, Matthew Horner is out, maybe the movie will be released later, and it will lose the box office appeal brought by him, but she is well aware of a universally accepted truth that a good project does not have to be an actor.

Besides, there is her and Brad Pitt! The film is made up of six stories interspersed, and other excellent actors can also be found.

When she got out of the café and drove a Chevrolet to Plan B, Natalie Portman was still thinking that Matthew Horner was completely led by her and the Wachowski siblings on this project, and was used by them as a tool for publicity.

"He's not as smart as he is out there. She muttered to herself.

Natalie Portman thinks she has an outstanding mind, and people like Matthew Horner who haven't even finished middle school can only be played by her.

When she came to Plan B, she met Brad Pitt, and after confirming Brad Pitt's favorable terms again, she handed over the recorder to Brad Pitt.

"Listen to it. She said lightly, "This is a live recording of me and Matthew Horner." ”

Brad Peete nodded, connected to the computer and put on headphones, and listened solemnly once, then twice.

"Very well, Miss Portman. Brad Pitt smiled on his handsome face, "Consistent with what I've learned from my investigation." ”

He dialed the phone and said directly to the other side, "Speed up the negotiations with the Wachowski siblings, and I want you to have a final result before the end of June." ”

Natalie Portman stood up and said, "You better hurry, David Ellison is raising funds." ”

"I know. Brad Pitt is confident, "There will be no surprises. ”