Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"congratulations……"

After the show, Ronald held the hands of several main creators and congratulated them one by one in the lobby of the theater.

The staff are also here to sample the audience's reactions and ask them to fill out forms and rate them.

Ronald stood aside and peeked at a few pictures. Most people still gave them a grade of B+ or above, which made him relieved.

The audience response to this movie was okay, and there were still many viewers in the bathroom discussing the funny plot. It seems that the box office will not be completely overturned, and with luck, the money can be recovered.

"Congratulations, Betty", the actor Danny's face turned pale, his comedy has never had so little laughter.

"Same joy, same joy", Bette Midler, also a Golden Globe Award-winning actress, saw comedy veteran Danny DeVito say this and believed it. "Ronald looks good, what do you think?"

"Really?" Danny DeVito smoothed back his hair and held his girlfriend's hand tightly. "Are you telling the truth? It seems we did a good job, huh?"

He went over to Ronald, wanting to have a few more words with the Hollywood blockbuster director to see what he thought of his first big-budget comedy movie.

Ronald is discussing with Disney's publicity staff, "This is not a traditional Zach-style comedy, and I am still very satisfied with the audience's feeling."

"But the number of laughs seems to have failed. We have strictly counted it. Even if it is a traditional screwball comedy, the number of laughs is a little less." The other party told the truth, and the two began to discuss the next publicity plan.

"I feel like the next marketing plan needs to be adjusted..." Ronald said about the on-site ratings he saw. "It seems to be a little better than we expected. If Touchstone can invest more, maybe the box office in the first week will be better." Can it be improved?"

"It's over, it's over, we're done." DeVito only heard the first half of the sentence, "The marketing plan needs to be adjusted." His face suddenly turned pale, and he pulled his girlfriend back, his palms sweating.

"What, what are you talking about?" Bette Midler heard DeVito's muttering and hurriedly came up and asked.

"Producer Ronald said that the number and intensity of laughter were not as good as expected, and he and Xuanfa are discussing whether to adjust the subsequent marketing budget."

"Ah..." Bette Midler exclaimed, "It's over, I'm done. Our acting careers are all over.

We are not as good-looking as Helen. We can only survive in this industry by acting and making people laugh.

If this movie fails at the box office, the two of us will have to play supporting roles in small productions. "

"Ah... so bad?" DeVito's face turned pale again, "It's over, you still have a singing career to rely on, and I can only act in Roger Corman's low-budget exploitation films."

Unbeknownst to Ronald, the two protagonists were terrified.

After he and Helen finished, they took a car to the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel, which was only a few streets away from the Plitt Theater.

Little Bud helped him book a large suite.

Ronald took a quick shower and came out in his bathrobe.

Helen did not change out of the sleeveless red top, but only took off her high-heeled sandals. She saw that Ronald had combed his hair back into an aviator hairstyle, and he also brought a pair of Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses in the room. .

"I heard that you like men who are taller than you, beauty." Ronald took off his yukata, revealing his muscular upper body.

"Hehehe... Now I feel that playing volleyball topless on the beach is also very artistic..." Helen's hair was combed high, her blue eyes were full of admiration, and she hugged Ronald's neck. , and kissed him.

"Tall men are more suitable for me, and I don't need to borrow seats for kissing scenes."

"How did my kissing scene go?" Ronald kissed for more than ten seconds and then joked with Helen.

He found that Helen still had her eyes closed, her face was intoxicated, and she pursed her lips nervously.

How could Ronald hold back and kissed him again.

"Well...you did a good job."

…

"Ding dong..."

Early the next morning, agent Richard knocked on his door again.

"Come here." Ronald looked at Helen who was sleeping next to her, got dressed, closed the bedroom door, opened the door and welcomed Richard in.

"Did last night's box office come out?"

"Yes, this is your first production work, and it is also Touchstone's first film. Mr. Eisner has taken care of it, and the data will be sent to you as soon as it comes out."

"How many?"

"Less than two million. One million seven hundred thousand to be exact, give or take 20,000."

"Tsk...hey..."

Ronald sighed, this result is not very good. The first weekend's box office was probably around 5 million.

Coupled with a score of around b+, the opening weekend multiplier will be around five. Multiplying the two together will give you an estimate of the total box office.

If it can be shown for about ten weeks, the first weekend box office is multiplied by five, and the total box office of the entire movie is 25 million to 30 million.

My first filmmaking work was probably at a tepid level. Although it did not embarrass Eisner, it certainly did not support his expected results as strongly as he did.

"What did Touchstone say?" Ronald asked Richard with a frown.

"Touchstone said that it will invest publicity resources as planned. There will be no shortage of newspaper interviews and TV interviews. This was personally ordered by Katzenberg. But no more resources will be invested in printing more copies or increasing the screenings. The number of theaters is also very difficult.”

"I understand, I'll call Mr. Eisner."

"I'll make an appointment with his secretary."

Ronald was a little depressed. After all, he was not a producer with any unique secrets. He could tell whether a movie would be a hit or not.

This comedy work is not a failure, but it is definitely not a success. Fortunately, with a production budget of less than 10 million, it has a box office of 25 million, which is already profitable. In this way, it can be the first investment work of the Screen Fund and a touchstone for making live-action movies.

For Eisner's power struggle within Disney, this result is far from being a useful weight.

"It seems that my level as a producer is not as good as that of a director. After all, it was based on dreams, and the movies that can be dreamed about were probably made into video tapes after they were box office hits in previous lives. Be seen by yourself.”

"His secretary said he is in the office and Mr. Eisner wants to speak to you."

"Mr. Eisner, the box office numbers are not satisfactory." Ronald took the phone and told Eisner his thoughts.

"Don't be too discouraged, Ronald. This is just your production work. Jerry Zucker wants to change his directing style. This is his problem. There is obviously a successful formula out there."

"Can this result help you within Disney?" Ronald asked. At that time, Eisner invested in this movie, on the one hand, to give an explanation to the eldest son of the deputy commander, and on the other hand, in order to work in Disney. Internally, results were used to combat the veteran faction, led by Roy Disney, the nephew of the founder, who was obsessed with cartoons.

"If the box office is less than 30 million, I'm afraid it's not good news for live-action movies. How about putting your next movie on the touchstone? I'll give you the best treatment."

"I'm still waiting to hear from Paramount, Mr. Eisner. Could you please increase your budget?"

"The people at the Screen Fund are very stubborn and insist on investing a budget of less than 10 million for the film. With the box office performance of "A Bad Husband in the House" this time, I'm afraid they will have something to say and will further reduce the budget of each film."

"Gee, these people really don't understand the business and art of filmmaking."

"Actually, it's not difficult to get investment based on your box office performance. I can provide 600 to 8 million here. If you find 5 million investment, that's about it."

Michael Eisner is a short-tempered hero. He once ran Paramount for ten years and couldn't make movies under $15 million. Now he has to worry about investing in live-action movies with only a few million.

"Well, according to the contract, I have to wait for news from other studios, and then I will visit you."

Ronald hung up the phone.

"Moonlight" is not the kind of high-concept movie that I am best at. If I and Douglas Jr. jointly invest as much as five million, I am afraid there will be a lot of risks to take.

"The Evil Husband" gave me a wake-up call. This kind of movie needs to draw out the audience of "The Sound of Music". Many factors are beyond my control. Who knows why those viewers who rarely see a movie a year will go to the cinema?

When it comes to making money from investment, high-concept movies like "Top Gun" are more reliable. It’s also easy to recommend a movie among friends, the movie about the Soviet Union’s MiG being defeated in an air battle.

"You make an appointment with Ned Tanning from Paramount. We'll go meet him and listen to his decision." Ronald asked his agent Richard to contact the production of "Moonlight".

He owns Paramount, Disney, and MGM/United Arts, which Weintraub recently took over, and three companies have expressed interest.

The best one is of course Paramount. It’s not a big deal for them to invest in this kind of movie, and they also have the strongest distribution capabilities. Disney had budget constraints, and Weintraub's power at MGM was unclear, making their conditions the most variable.

"Ronnie, ah... you are here, Richard." Helen woke up and came out in her pajamas. She said hello to Richard.

"I'll contact the studio first. Then you and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley will go together." Richard nodded and said hello, got up and left.

"Have the box office results come out?" Helen packed herself up and went out to eat the breakfast delivered to her with Ronald.

"Yes, about five million in the first weekend. One thousand and one theaters is not a bad result, and it can enter the top five in the box office rankings." Ronald handed her a glass of orange juice and pushed the bread basket past.

"That's it? It's not as high as the weekend box office of 'Supergirl'?" Helen took the bread basket and the vegetable salad and was about to eat it. Hearing the box office numbers, he looked at Ronald with wide eyes.

"Is it because of my performance that it drags down the box office?"

The memory of the failure of the first two movies came to mind again. Helen stopped reaching for the bread and only ate salad and drank orange juice. She touched her face. Was she fat again?

Ronald cut a piece of fresh baguette and handed it to Helen, "Don't be nervous, the first weekend box office does not represent the total box office. Our ratings are good, and the box office multiplier is expected to be five, so the total box office will not be less than 2,500 One hundred to thirty million."

"Really?" Helen's smile returned, she picked up the baguette and put it in her mouth. The fresh bread made a crisp sound and tasted very good.

"Hehe, this is the first time a movie I've starred in has a box office of over 20 million."

"It will be better in the future." Ronald wiped the crumbs from Helen's mouth. She is indeed not very lucky. The two movies she starred in failed at the box office. Now she plays the second female lead in the third movie, which is not a big hit either.

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