Hanging up the call from Helen Herman, Matthew went to the living room, quickly turned on the TV, and switched to CNN News, a television station that kept streaming important news, and he didn't wait long to see the major news event that Helen Herman was talking about.

Matthew scratched his head, this "911" is really an unusual day for Lao Mei.

At around 10 p.m. local time on September 11, the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, a large city in eastern Libya, was hit by heavy fire, including but not limited to air-dropped bombs, burning fire, and fierce gun battles.

Until 2 a.m. on the 12th, Libyan security forces arrived to take control of the situation, and the attack lasted for four hours, resulting in the death of four people, including Stevens, the US ambassador to Liberia.

It was the first time in 33 years that a U.S. ambassador abroad had been killed in an armed attack.

There is no doubt that another bloody black "9/11" is deeply embedded in the memory of Americans.

Matthew turned off the TV and called Helen Herman to exchange views on the incident, and then he borrowed the hotel's equipment and convened the crew and Warner Bros. distribution publicity for a remote video conference.

As more and more detailed news emerges, it is not difficult for Matthew and these people to be sure that this terrorist attack will touch a nerve that Americans are already very sensitive to terrorist attacks, and films like "American Sniper" with obvious anti-terrorist overtones may profit from it.

Cinema has never been purely existent, and is deeply influenced by the current social situation.

The attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on 9/11 will undoubtedly affect "American Sniper" and many viewers.

However, Matthew, the crew and Warner Bros. do not intend to use this to carry out large-scale publicity hype, that is a very stupid behavior, and the publicity must be moderate.

Sure enough, as the news spread, the incident caused an extremely strong reaction from the American public.

For those who have not experienced the "911 incident", it is difficult to imagine the emotions of Americans about facing another terrorist attack on the day of "911", and it is difficult to imagine the hatred of terrorist attacks.

The public doesn't care about the underlying reasons behind the terrorist attacks, and even though there are many media reports that the terrorist attacks may have been caused by the bloody clashes caused by the mass protests triggered by "Ignorance of ***", they are only concerned about one thing - we have suffered another terrorist attack.

In just half a day, the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi was like a drop of oil that fell into the oil, detonating all social strata in the United States.

In the afternoon, many billboards and media billboards of the "American Sniper" poster were quietly replaced, and the new poster had an eye-catching sentence on it - when the terrorist attack comes, I choose to protect my family!

The whole incident has already detonated the whole United States, but it is far from the impact of the "911" incident, and the attack did not take place in the country, nor will it cause panic, and it will definitely not bring chicken feathers to the film market after 911.

After professional analysis, Warner Bros. believes that this incident will stimulate the public's nerves, causing them to hate terrorist acts even more, and the movies related to this will generally receive more attention in the recent period.

Therefore, they have also increased their investment in the resources of "American Sniper".

Matthew got the news that Warner Bros. not only increased the investment in the promotion and distribution of "American Sniper", but also "Escape from Tehran", another film closer to the terrorist attack, was even placed by Warner Bros. as the top seed in the awards season.

It is conceivable that under the influence of the national shock caused by this incident, "Escape from Tehran", which is also the theme of the embassy attack, is very likely to become one of the winners of the awards season as long as the quality of the film is guaranteed to a certain extent.

Hollywood cinema is deeply influenced by the social situation and has never been separated from politics.

Even, with the addition of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, films like "Escape from Tehran" may win the Oscar for best film.

After hearing the news, Matthew realized that he was not the only one who was lucky, and Ben Affleck was more fortunate than him to a certain extent.

Who would have thought that Ben Affleck's film of such a theme would happen to encounter such an incident?

To paraphrase some people who like conspiracy theories, there must be something involved......

Of course, a fool would think so.

I can only say that this is too coincidental.

The project "Escape from Tehran", which Matthew had heard about three years ago, is based on the autobiography of a legendary secret agent, and was confirmed to be directed and starred by Ben Affleck two years ago, who would have thought that someone would launch a terrorist attack on the US consulate in Liberia on the day of 911?

Matthew chose the weekend after September 11 for "American Sniper" to draw on the aftermath of the 911 commemoration across the United States to attract more people to theaters because of terrorism, unaware of such an event.

When he was living on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, did he also have an attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi? For him, who paid more attention to entertainment gossip than current political news, like many ordinary people, the life and death of foreigners are his business?

So, Matthew didn't know at all.

But this kind of coincidence happened, and it was really too bad to invest in me if I didn't use it.

In the days that followed, "American Sniper" propaganda revolved around terrorism, low-key and targeted.

Perhaps stimulated by this incident, the box office pre-sale of the film broke out again, and the box office amount of the single-day pre-sale increased by nearly 30% on average compared with before.

This incident will inevitably make some films the winners in the market.

On the Internet, "American Sniper" has also received more attention, especially the crew's latest short video of the actor sniping terrorists, which exceeded 5 million views in just one day.

Matthew changed his itinerary and spent a few more days in New York, partly to match the film's new promotional strategy, but also to receive a call from Ronan Farrow who wanted to meet him.

Matthew did not refuse Ronan Farrow's request, and no one has noticed that Ronan Farrow is involved with him.

Also, aside from being Woody Allen's son, Ronan Farrow is not in the slightest.

In a reception room at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Matthew met the young reporter.

Compared to two years ago, Ronan Farrow looks a lot more mature.

"How's the investigation going?" Matthew didn't talk nonsense and got straight to the point.

"It's bigger and more complicated than I thought. "Ronan Farrow is like a detective who has discovered the truth behind the scenes," I have contacted nearly 40 women, and I have persuaded more than 20 of them to come forward, as well as some key audio and video evidence. ”

Matthew asked, "Do you think that's enough?"

If he could, he would have mobilized all the forces at his disposal and could have set off an operation against Harvey Weinstein in a matter of months.

Ronan Farrow shook his head, "I need more evidence and witnesses." ”

Matthew frowned slightly, "So much is not enough?"

"It's really not enough. "The more I investigate, the more I find out that Harvey Weinstein has a huge network of connections, which will become his umbrella, and we need enough evidence and more people to put those involved with Harvey Weinstein aside." ”

He thought for a moment and said, "I tried it some time ago and sent a very marginal bit of material to a newspaper, but the news spread quickly, someone called the newspaper and warned them, and the newspaper decided not to send it. ”

Matthew nodded slightly, "This kind of thing is very common. ”

Ronan Farrow asked, "Matthew, do you know who is calling?"

"Who?" Matthew was curious.

Ronan Farrow uttered two big names, "Ben Affleck and Matt Damon!"

Matthew rubbed his chin at him, "They've always been good friends with Harvey Weinstein, and that's something a lot of people know in Hollywood. ”

"It's just that I sent a little bit of marginal material in the name of a victim, and someone came forward to wipe Harvey Weinstein's ass. Ronan Farrow said helplessly, "If more things come up, will there be more powerful people who will come out and speak for Harvey Weinstein?"

"There will definitely be. Matthew said lightly.

Ronan Farrow is not discouraged, "No matter how much resistance there is, I will not give up!"

Matthew knew so much about Hollywood that he suddenly laughed, "Ronan, when the evidence you put out is too strong to refute, how do you guess people like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will react?"

Ronan Farrow understood what Matthew meant, "It must have been wonderful. ”

Matthew nodded, "The conscience of this circle has been buried for too long. ”

Ronan Farrow clenched his fists, "I've started putting together a report, trust me, Matthew." I'm going to change that. ”

Matthew said calmly, "If you need it, just contact me." ”

"I will. ”

Ronan Farrow didn't stay here long, chatted with Matthew for less than an hour, and then left.

Matthew also looked at the information left by Ronan Farrow, and the women Harvey Weinstein had forced in the past to count on both hands, and many of them stabbed the presence of the media and the judiciary, but they all pressed down.

Money, power, and networks still play a powerful role in so-called liberal democracies.

Among the materials collected by Ronan Farrow, Matthew saw that Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Meryl Streep had all come forward to help Harvey Weinstein settle the media or the victims.

These people, in order to get the Oscar statuette, have a much lower bottom line than him, a famous Hollywood scumbag.

After seeing Ronan Farrow, Matthew left New York and returned to Los Angeles to prepare for the premiere of American Sniper.