If Matt Damon’s on second, who’s on first?

Rob Long writes about the strange way they do business in Hollywood.

Matt Damon as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Ultimatum. (Jasin Boland / AP / Universal Pictures)

hollywood watch

Matt Damon, the original star of the Bourne series of action films, is back again as Jason Bourne. Principal photography began last week on the next instalment of the series, with Damon in the title role.

It's been eight years since his last Bourne film. After wrapping the last version, The Bourne Ultimatum, in 2007, Damon at first said he felt he was done with the role, but soon after changed his mind. Of course, by that time he had already committed himself to a lot of other projects, so it took eight years to get everyone on the Bourne set again and for film to roll.

To normal people in normal businesses, this seems insane. Something as profitable as the Bourne series of films would surely get fast-tracked the moment Matt Damon said he was willing. But Hollywood is not a normal business.

Normal businesses know how to use scheduling software and basic human psychology to figure out how to maximise their profits.

For instance, here’s how the gym and health club business works: they charge you a monthly fee and pretend to believe you when you say that you’re so committed to your fitness regime that you’re going to be making regular appearances, probably daily, at their facility.

Of course, if every member of a gym or fitness club actually showed up as promised, every day, enthusiastic and motivated for a challenging workout, the place would be unmanageably crowded. There would be long, snakey queues at every weight machine, the cycling classes would be overbooked, members would be pushing and shoving for time on the treadmills and elliptical machines, the place would erupt into a constant hot tempered shouting match.

Luckily for the health club business, though, people like to lie to themselves about their willingness to exercise. Although they sign up for membership with the best of intentions, the management knows they’ll never follow through. Even as they take your credit card, the person who works for the gym knows that you’re really never going to be there after the first week or two. They can oversell memberships to their hearts’ delight.

“Oh, my gosh! You came!” a surprised hostess said to me, when I arrived at a film premiere party to which I had a) been invited and b) RSVPed in the affirmative. It was a party for one of the biggest hits of the summer, to which all of the biggest stars had been invited. And since I rarely – if ever – get invited to these things, I instantly accepted the invitation.

Also: in Hollywood, there’s a rather gaudy tradition of passing out luxurious gift bags to all partygoers as they make their exits. Often – especially with an event like this, for a high-profile picture – there’s some really cool stuff in there.

So I was a little surprised that she was surprised to see me.

“Oh, you know Los Angeles,” she explained. “You invite 200 people, 100 say they’re coming, 50 show up. People just flake out on you.”

I nodded. This kind of thing happens all the time. “Well,” I said, “as long as you have enough gift bags, you’ll be OK.”

Her face suddenly went white. “Will you excuse me?” she said. And then went off, presumably, to count guests and gift bags. I made a note to myself to make sure to leave early, while the supply was still high.

When money is involved, things get serious, and when things get serious in Hollywood we call the lawyers, and they’ve invented a way to rank the contractual commitments we have to each other, called “positions”.

“We have you in first position,” a studio executive told me once, about a project I had guided, and on which he actually had me in second position. The distinction is important. First position means, if this thing goes – if the series is ordered, if the movie gets a green light – you’re doing it. Second position means, if whatever is in first position doesn’t happen, they have the next option.

For eight years, the studio tried to figure out how to dislodge Matt Damon from his slew of picture commitments – from, in other words, his first and second positions – and get him into the next Bourne picture. But they also had to do the same with the very sought-after director, Paul Greengrass, who was also beset with first and second position commitments. The horse-trading and bargaining and double-dealing to get all of the pieces in place – even eight years later – must have been intense.

“Don’t worry,” an agent once told me about an actress’s availability. “You have her in a very safe second.” What he meant was, technically the actress was committed in first position to another project. But the agent knew that project was doomed. He just hadn’t told her yet. So even though I had her in second position, I was assured that she was going to be available to do my show.

I feel that way each morning when I lay out my gym clothes. They’re in first position. But sleeping an extra 45 minutes and the chocolate croissant at the coffee place around the corner? Very safe second.

Rob Long is a writer and producer in Hollywood