The richest actor in Hollywood.

The sound of footsteps approached, and Matthew noticed someone coming out of the studio across the way. He glanced casually and saw a young girl with a somewhat innocent face. He quickly returned his attention to his conversation with Charlize Theron about the film shoot. "If it really doesn't work out," Matthew suggested, "you could always resort to legal action."

Charlize Theron shook her head. "The film is already more than halfway done. If I quit now, all our previous efforts would be wasted."

Matthew spread his hands. "Then just set it aside for now and take on other work..."

Before he could finish, he sensed something coming toward them. Instinctively, he grabbed Charlize Theron and moved to the side, shielding her behind him.

A startled cry echoed as the girl, who had just left the studio, suddenly tripped and fell towards where Matthew had been standing.

Fortunately, Matthew's years of practicing mixed martial arts had sharpened his reflexes far beyond the average person's. Before the girl could crash into him, he had already moved aside, protecting Charlize Theron.

While they were safe, the girl hit the cement ground at the studio entrance hard.

"Ah—"

A pained scream followed as the young girl's face met the ground with a thud.

Seeing the girl fall so heavily, Matthew's mouth twitched instinctively. That must have hurt.

The girl groaned softly and lifted her still youthful face to look at Matthew and Charlize Theron. This wasn't how she had planned it at all.

She was supposed to fall into the arms of that big star, who would then catch her...

But who could have expected him to dodge so quickly?

How could he have reacted so fast, turning her fake fall into a real one?

Rubbing her sore knee, the girl propped herself up on the ground and sat upright.

Charlize Theron looked past Matthew and noticed the girl, frowning slightly but still asking, "Jenny, are you alright?"

Matthew didn't speak this time. Unlike before, when he had only glanced at her, he now saw her clearly. Her face seemed somewhat familiar to him—if only she were a bit more mature, with some milk spilled on her face...

Charlize Theron circled around Matthew and reached out to help the girl up.

"Sorry..." The girl dusted off her clothes and smiled shyly. "I twisted my ankle."

"No problem," Charlize Theron replied casually, shaking her head.

But Matthew didn't think it was an accident. That image of the milk-covered face had left a deep impression on him—this girl was not ordinary.

"Uh..." The girl turned to Matthew suddenly. "I'm sorry, I almost bumped into you. I really apologize."

"It's okay," Matthew said offhandedly.

He recalled "The Hunger Games" and asked Charlize Theron, "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"This is Jennifer Lawrence, my co-star on the set," Charlize Theron introduced briefly. "Jenny, this is my friend Matthew."

Jennifer Lawrence quickly extended her right hand. "Hello, Matthew."

Matthew shook her hand lightly. "Hello, Miss Lawrence."

"Just call me Jenny," Jennifer Lawrence said politely. "I really enjoy your movies. To be honest, I'm a fan of yours. I even watched 'I Am Legend' in the theater last year."

"Thank you for your support," Matthew responded courteously.

After exchanging a few more words with Matthew and Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence sensibly took her leave.

"She has a nice personality," Charlize Theron commented as she watched Jennifer Lawrence walk away. "She's well-liked on set."

Matthew, however, said, "Who was the last girl I met like her? Oh... right, Jessica Alba."

"Hmm?" Charlize Theron looked puzzled.

Matthew didn't elaborate, only remarking, "That girl has some deeper thoughts."

The studio entrance was a perfectly smooth concrete surface, and he had noticed that Jennifer Lawrence was wearing flat shoes. How could an adult suddenly trip on such a place?

As he and Charlize Theron walked toward the studio gates, Matthew thought about the current situation in Hollywood. These days, the stars born in the '70s were fading, the '80s generation was stepping into the limelight, and the '90s generation was already preparing to take over.

There's a saying that's particularly true in Hollywood: "Fame should be seized early," especially for actresses.

In the following period, Matthew became increasingly busy with work. On one hand, he had to oversee the filming of both "Twilight" and "Fast & Furious 4," while on the other, he needed to stay in close communication with Helen Herman regarding his latest job negotiations.

Moreover, Marvel was gearing up for "Iron Man 2," and Matthew had to keep up with developments to ensure he wasn't quietly edged out.

While Hollywood studios generally respected their contracts, the possibility of underhanded tactics wasn't out of the question.

Additionally, he was involved in promoting "Hancock" in collaboration with Warner Bros.

By early June, when "Iron Man" had been in theaters for a month, the film had successfully grossed over $300 million domestically and surpassed $500 million worldwide, climbing toward even higher numbers.

This was undoubtedly great news for Matthew.

Around the same time, Helen Herman brought more good news. After nearly two months of negotiations, she finalized a deal with Warner Bros. on Matthew's behalf—he would star in Christopher Nolan's upcoming film "Inception."

Most of the negotiation time had been spent haggling over Matthew's pay.

Both sides had quickly agreed on the base salary of $20 million, but the percentage of profit sharing had taken considerable time to finalize. 

Matthew and Helen Herman aimed for a share of the box office gross, not just profits, and they wanted it based on the global box office, not just domestic.

Warner Bros. was reluctant to agree since Christopher Nolan was already entitled to a cut of the box office revenue. If Matthew also took a portion of the early box office, it could significantly reduce the film's overall profit.

Thus, Warner Bros. wanted Matthew to accept a profit-sharing model instead.

It wasn't until June that both parties reached a compromise.

In the signed agreement, Matthew's profit sharing would be limited to domestic box office receipts, but it would be based on the gross box office, not profits.

The percentage would be tiered, starting with 1% once the domestic box office hit $100 million. If the domestic gross reached $150 million, it would increase to 2%, and so on. The percentage would rise by 1% for every additional $50 million in domestic gross, capped at a maximum of 10%.

Warner Bros. made other concessions to get Matthew to agree to limit his share to domestic box office receipts rather than global ones.

Most importantly, Matthew would receive 10% of the film's future revenues from new media and DVD sales, in addition to the standard percentage mandated by the Screen Actors Guild.

Hollywood films were generating increasing revenue from new media, and although DVD sales had passed their peak, top-grossing films still sold well.

To this day, DVDs remained a major source of revenue for Hollywood studios. Although the days of blockbuster films selling millions of DVDs in their first week were over, most films that made it into the top ten in the annual North American box office rankings still sold over $100 million worth of DVDs.

Moreover, the cost of producing DVDs was far lower than the once-popular VHS tapes, not exceeding 1% to 3% of the wholesale price sold to retailers. Even with marketing and other costs factored in, the profit margin was still substantial.

Matthew had studied the North American DVD market specifically for "Fast & Furious 4" and "Twilight."

Generally, a single popular film could earn a studio $5 million to $8 million just from a single rental company. And this was only from rentals—the sales portion was even more lucrative.

In other words, a popular film could generate tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars from DVD sales alone, with most of that being pure profit.

After finalizing his role in "Inception," Matthew received a more detailed project plan. Filming wouldn't begin until next year at the earliest, giving the production team time for pre-production and casting.

Several roles in the film had significant screen time, so after reviewing the script again, Matthew called James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender to recommend them to Christopher Nolan.

Once the deal with Warner Bros. was settled, another piece of good news came in: Paramount Pictures and Stephen Sommers had finally produced the latest script for "G.I. Joe," with Duke as the undisputed lead character.

After much consideration, Hasbro decided to bow to market demands. As Stephen Sommers said in a call with Matthew, "If the first 'G.I. Joe' movie doesn't succeed, everything Hasbro and Paramount have invested in this project will be meaningless."

Both Paramount and Hasbro were planning for more than just one "G.I. Joe" film. As long as the first one succeeded, any other ideas could be incorporated into future sequels.

Helen Herman began negotiations on Matthew's behalf with Hasbro and Paramount, while Matthew himself became deeply involved in promoting "Hancock."

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