Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Exploiting Hollywood 1980"

Exploiting Hollywood 1980 Main Volume Chapter 252 The unexpected counterattack "et Alien" was released and the box office was full over the weekend.

In the film critic circles, this film did not make much waves. The famous Albert and Sisko did not even write reviews of it in their columns. Only the New York film critics said good things about it.

But audiences, regardless of what the critics said, loved the film and theaters were packed over the weekend.

"The opening weekend box office so far is three million dollars." Richard said to Ronald in the office.

"Three million? It doesn't seem to be as much as expected?" Ronald continued.

"Idiot, that's the box office for one day on Friday. Today is Saturday, and it is estimated to reach 4.5 million. It is a foregone conclusion that it will exceed 10 million in the first weekend, and it may hit 11 million."

Niceta slapped Ronald gently. The young director was too preoccupied with looking forward to the release of his movie.

"So many?" Ronald came to his senses, "What about Tom Mount?"

"His days are counting down, along with a bunch of old diehards who support him. Tick tock, tick tock..." Niceta also suffered a lot from Mount's anger.

"No one expected that the new generation of parents would take their children to the cinema to watch ET. The previous model of children going to the cinema on their own has been replaced by a new model."

Ronald felt the same way. With the intensification of urbanization, the original lobby theaters located next to residential areas have begun to decline as blacks, Latinos and other ethnic minorities move into the city center on a large scale.

Most of the current moviegoers, white middle-class families, live in the suburbs. For them, to watch a movie, they have to drive into the city and go to the new multiplex theaters in department stores and shopping malls.

In this case, young children must be taken by their parents when traveling, instead of being taken by brothers and sisters as before, or going to the cinema with a few friends. On the contrary, this made the box office of movies such as ET, which is aimed at children, suddenly increase several times.

Yesterday, when ET was released on the first day, Ronald also went to the department store where "Fast Pace" was originally filmed to watch a show. The whole audience was drowned out by the happy shouts of children, and he couldn't hear some of the plot and dialogue clearly.

"When are we leaving?" Ronald asked. Today he went to CAA's office over the weekend to meet up with his agent and attend Vic Morrow's funeral.

Jennifer's mother, Vic's ex-wife Barbara, still organized her ex-husband's funeral, but she wanted it to be a small, family-style funeral, so in addition to inviting Ronald, the director of her daughter's first big-screen work, and several Other than friends in the circle, no other people in the circle were invited to participate.

Niceta didn't want to miss this opportunity to build relationships. He took the initiative to contact Spielberg. After obtaining Spielberg's consent, he contacted Barbara on his behalf and expressed condolences to her family.

Barbara also learned that Steven was mainly busy with the release of Aliens and was not on the set on the day of the accident. It had nothing to do with the accident. She forgave Spielberg. The accident actually had little to do with him.

Both parties agreed to use methods within the film industry to resolve the accident. Spielberg promised to spend a large amount of money to compensate Moreau's two daughters after "The Twilight Zone" was released, and to give Jennifer some entertainment benefits. opportunities within.

Barbara agreed not to initiate a civil lawsuit, but to negotiate a settlement between the lawyers of both parties, so that one of America's most powerful directors would not be tarnished as a defendant in a death case.

Vic Morrow, a prodigal son who was an alcoholic, domestically violent, and abandoned his family, finally fulfilled his promise after his death and paved a path for his daughter Jennifer in the entertainment industry. He gave her Spielberg's promise and also gave her ex-wife and other eldest daughter a large amount of financial compensation.

"Let's go now, I'll get a black tie."

Attending the funeral was a very formal occasion, so Ronald, Richard, and Niceta all wore black suits, black leather shoes, and black ties or bow ties.

They went to the funeral this time with the intention of paying their respects on behalf of Spielberg. It was not convenient for Steven to attend the funeral, and fearing that it would arouse more speculation from reporters, they simply let CAA's agent help with the conversation.

When they arrived at the scene, everyone put on black sunglasses to hide their not very sad eyes. Ronald came to Jennifer Jason Leigh, hugged him, and asked her to express her condolences.

He noticed that Phoebe Cates, who played Stacey's best friend Linda in the movie, was also here. The two of them seemed to have become best friends in reality.

Ronald looked at her and nodded.

Soon, the relatives and friends who came were quiet, waiting for the priest's eulogy.

Although Vic Morrow was a Jew, he had long given up Jewish religious customs and was called a secular Jew during his lifetime. In addition, Barbara raised her two daughters using Christian customs.

So the funeral was held in a family church, and the priest specially reserved an area for today's funeral, separated from the outside world. Prevent reporters from disturbing the peace of relatives.

"Almighty God, you are the source of life, you have saved us through your holy Son, please look upon Vic Morrow. His righteous deeds in the last moments of his life are like those of a righteous man, and he will be ranked with you... Amen. "

"Amen" Ronald joined everyone in paying tribute to the moment of silence.

"What is he here for?"

"Let him go, he is not welcome here."

"Murderer, murderer!"

The peaceful mourning ceremony was broken by a burst of noisy condemnation.

Ronald raised his head and looked at the source of the noise. It was a bearded man who seemed to have been hit hard. He staggered into the church from the aisle and walked into the crowd attending the funeral.

"It's John Landis," Richard whispered in Ronald's ear.

"I know." Ronald looked at Jennifer and Phoebe Cates. The disgusted looks on their faces also showed that they knew that this was the person directly responsible for the accident and the director who forced the filming regardless of the rules and safety requirements. and producer, Landis.

John Landis walked up to the podium, took out a piece of manuscript paper, and started to speak at the funeral openly.

Barbara and Jennifer, as well as other relatives, were so shocked by this shameless behavior that they were speechless and didn't know what to do to stop each other.

Ronald was also shocked by his shamelessness. This person's appearance at the funeral without the consent of the relatives was a great offense to the deceased and the relatives. He didn't know what he was here for.

Show off his cheap sympathy?

Landis gave the priest a smile that was uglier than crying and began to read his eulogy.

"Vic Morrow is a friend of mine...

After filming started, he once told me that this was the best movie he had made in ten years...

On the day he passed away unexpectedly, he also thanked me for giving him the opportunity to participate...

I'm proud to have coached Vic in what he considers to be the best performance of his career..."

"vomit!"

Jennifer Jason Leigh felt extremely uncomfortable and began retching.

Barbara patted her back gently and whispered to Ronald next to her, "This is bullshit. Vic called me during the filming and he said this movie is a piece of shit. "

"If you feel uncomfortable, you don't need to tolerate him." Ronald offered help to Jennifer and Barbara, "I can help you get rid of him."

"Thank you. I don't want Vic's peace in his last moments to be broken by shameless people like them."

"They should have come based on the lawyer's advice." Wearing sunglasses and covering her mouth with her hands, Niceta quietly approached Ronald and said to him and Barbara.

Barbara forgave Spielberg, who was not present, but had no intention of forgiving John Landis. The criminal investigation is still ongoing, and she plans to see what charges Landis will ultimately be charged with.

"Vic is a dedicated person. At the last moment, before filming started, he even consulted with Steven on how to perform."

"Enough, you've said enough. I think the relatives of the deceased don't want to hear these excuses anymore. They want to have a peaceful funeral. Mr. Landis."

Seeing that he was directing his words to Spielberg, Ronald immediately came out to stop the other person's nonsense.

"Lies! Murderers! Murderers!"

Several relatives and friends began to accuse Landis along with Ronald.

Landis' pale face showed a trace of panic and shook. He almost fell, but luckily he grabbed the edge of the podium to steady himself, then bowed his head to Barbara and Jennifer's family to apologize, and hurriedly left the scene.

"Well done." Niceta came up and secretly praised Ronald, then went to comfort her relatives.

"What happened that night? Was Mr. Spielberg present?" Ronald was also a little unsure and asked Jennifer secretly.

"No, Vic shot it at around two o'clock in the morning. There is a clear timing on the film. Spielberg was busy with the release of ET at that time. Maybe he had visited the set two days ago, but in the end the helicopter flew low. , and insisting on using illegal child labor are all Landis’ fault.”

Jennifer glanced at Phoebe and denied the rumor that Steven was there.

"This rumor seems to be well-prepared." Ronald thought to himself.

"It was Tom Mount and John Landis who got together." Niceta, who returned to CAA, made several phone calls to learn about the latest news, and finally came to a conclusion.

"Mount was hit hard by et Alien's box-office performance and his position was in jeopardy. Landis also faces criminal charges and huge civil damages in the future.

His lawyers suggested that he adopt a bundling strategy, using his status as co-producer with Spielberg to tie him to Steven.

And Mount accused Spielberg of dragging him down in an attempt to affect ET's box office. He will not sit still and wait for death. "

"Kathleen Kennedy called to say thank you, Ronald. She said Steven already knew about your action in stopping Landis at Vic's funeral and that he would remember it."

"Is Mount trying to undermine Universal's interests to keep his position?" Ronald asked.

"I'm afraid that's the case, Ronald. I heard that he is jumping up and down, desperately trying to meet with the old antiques at Universal and parent company A, seeking support from his protective umbrella.

It is said that Sheinberg has decided to convene a board meeting to remove him when the dust settles on the box office performance of E.T.

We also have to be careful. Before he leaves, apart from attacking Steven, the only weapon he can use to attack Sheinberg is probably the 'fast-paced Richmond High School'. "

Sure enough, within a week, Tom Mount's counterattack came as promised. The AA re-reviewed "Fast-paced Richmond High," giving the film an X-rated rating.

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