The richest actor in Hollywood.

In the car on the way back, Helen Herman roughly glanced through the draft-like script, lost in thought. Her understanding of the text far surpassed Matthew's, and after reading the script and considering what Matthew had just discussed with Christopher Nolan, she gradually formed her own judgment.

"What do you think?" Matthew asked.

Helen Herman shook her head slightly. "The idea seems good, but it's actually quite similar to what the Wachowski siblings did in the sequels of 'The Matrix.' It's all about being deliberately obscure."

Matthew didn't expect Helen Herman to say this. He looked at her and asked again, "Is it really that bad?"

"I'm curious. You despise the overly profound stories of the Wachowski siblings..." Helen Herman retorted, "So why are you interested in..."

She pointed at the draft-like script. "This kind of toxic project?"

"Toxic?" Matthew asked once more.

Helen Herman reminded him, "Have you forgotten? You once told me that overly complex and obscure plots, along with philosophical musings and intentionally added depth and thought, are the killers of commercial films. We've never taken on such projects."

Matthew was momentarily stunned. Indeed, in past discussions with Helen Herman, he had said that truly successful global commercial films in Hollywood were simple and easy to understand.

That is, what critics called "vulgar" works.

For a moment, he didn't know how to explain.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, overly complex films do not become blockbusters...

Thinking about this, Matthew suddenly recalled something. In the past, he had watched Christopher Nolan's films, from the "Batman" trilogy to a few others, and none of them were overly complex. Even "Inception" was quite easy to understand. Nolan's films that he hadn't seen were unknown to him, but the later commercial blockbusters seemed to adhere to Hollywood's usual standards.

He remembered reading a comment on a resource site when downloading "Inception." It said that Christopher Nolan's films were not complex and followed typical Hollywood themes but were excessively interpreted by his fanatical fans.

Considering the fans he had seen and encountered in Hollywood, many die-hard supporters, like Phyllis Beretta, were completely irrational in their support.

From an ordinary person's perspective, a girl in her twenties chasing a star around the world was certainly irrational.

Of course, this thought would remain in his head and never be spoken aloud.

It's well-known that classic films like "2001: A Space Odyssey," "The Godfather," "The Shawshank Redemption," and "The Matrix" have been excessively interpreted by their fans. These fans not only couldn't tolerate any criticism of the films but also produced interpretations that far exceeded the directors', writers', and producers' original intentions.

Due to his past contact with the "Dark Knight" crew, he had paid attention to Christopher Nolan's films and took time to watch "Insomnia" and "The Prestige." Additionally, he checked fan comments on IMDb, noting that Nolan and his films were already being excessively interpreted.

While Nolan's fans were still relatively low-key, everything would change once "The Dark Knight" was released.

He vaguely remembered that no director had fans as fanatical as Christopher Nolan's.

"This is just a script," Matthew shrugged and said, "Helen, have you seen Nolan's recent films?"

Helen Herman replied, "I only watched 'Memento' and then lost interest in him. That's also why I advised you not to take on the Joker role."

Matthew reminded her, "Was today's 'The Dark Knight' difficult to understand?"

"Uh..." Helen Herman was momentarily stunned by his question, then responded, "It's straightforward, completely different from 'Memento.'"

"I've seen 'Insomnia' and 'The Prestige,'" Matthew said slowly. "These two films are also straightforward. Christopher Nolan is a very different director from the Wachowski siblings."

In his view, since entering the commercial film scene, Nolan hadn't deliberately obscured anything in his movies. It was just the overly enthusiastic fans who excessively interpreted his films, making them seem complex and obscure.

These fans thought far more than Christopher Nolan did.

"As a commercial director, Nolan will never aim for esoteric. His films are fundamentally accessible—straightforward and easy to understand."

Matthew added, "In fact, even someone with limited artistic appreciation like me has never found Nolan's commercial films difficult to understand. One of Nolan's film strengths is the lack of logical flaws, ensuring that plot twists and turns are well explained and easy to follow."

He continued, "Helen, if you watch Nolan's commercial films, you'll find they're essentially very common."

Helen Herman could understand Matthew's words. For them, "common" was always a compliment, not a criticism.

A prerequisite for a successful blockbuster is its commonness.

"I'll take a look," Helen Herman said.

Matthew nodded. "Nolan is skilled at dressing a simple story in a flashy exterior without changing its common essence. Coupled with his guaranteed quality, his commercial films have good reputations."

In fact, among professional critics, Christopher Nolan was similar to Matthew, not particularly favored.

After all, those critics who considered themselves artistically superior looked down on vulgar filmmakers like them.

But without these common filmmakers, the film industry wouldn't have become the global entertainment powerhouse it is today.

Otherwise, it might have been trounced by television, like European art films, becoming completely marginalized in the public sphere.

Although Nolan was very different from Michael Bay, and comparing the two seemed inappropriate, Matthew, having seen most of Nolan's commercial films, thought they shared common commercial film elements—straightforwardness and accessibility.

For example, "Interstellar," which he had seen before, dressed as a sci-fi film, meticulously handled scientific theories and technical details, but its core theme was merely the propagation of "love," a theme long exhausted in Hollywood.

For a commercial film, as long as most audiences found it interesting and were willing to buy tickets, it was good enough.

Helen Herman handed the draft script back to Matthew and asked, "Are you considering taking this film?"

Matthew nodded lightly. "The film's production budget exceeds $150 million. Warner Bros. wouldn't invest that much money to let Nolan mess around."

"That makes sense," Helen Herman, familiar with Warner Bros. management, agreed.

"Taking this film has another advantage," Matthew continued, "It allows us to maintain our collaboration with Warner Bros. We can't just tie our future solely to Disney like Tom Cruise did with Paramount."

Helen Herman rarely smiled. "You're considering things more comprehensively."

Matthew also smiled. "Competition maximizes our benefits."

Most top Hollywood stars didn't work exclusively with one film company. Spreading their opportunities across multiple companies was the best strategy.

Moreover, building a good working relationship with a highly respected director like Nolan, who would likely gain immense fan support after "The Dark Knight," was beneficial for an actor like him.

Back at Angel Agency, Matthew received good news. Disney had already paid the post-production shares for "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." He instructed his accountant to inject funds into the "Twilight" project as soon as possible to stabilize the crew.

In film production, as an investor, no promise was more effective than money.

Without money, what film could be made?

Perhaps with the final $20 million received, Sofia Coppola and Sean Daniel were completely relieved, or perhaps because the film was relatively easy to shoot, the "Twilight" crew's studio shooting proceeded exceptionally smoothly. In just ten days, they completed the interior scenes.

In early March, Sofia Coppola and Sean Daniel led the entire crew to a small town in the Portland area to continue shooting the exterior scenes.

Matthew didn't go there. Sean Daniel was a responsible producer, and his presence was enough. Besides, Matthew needed to stay in Los Angeles for final preparations for "Fast & Furious 4."

Firearms, driving, fighting, rehearsals... all needed to be in place beforehand. Justin Lin wasn't the type of director who improvised on set. Most challenging scenes required some pre-rehearsal.

Rehearsals might lead to a template-like approach, but in commercial films, that was never a problem. Films like "Fast & Furious" were originally designed using a successful template.

In mid-March, the film officially started shooting in the studio.

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