Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Back in the Mercedes-Benz driven by Little Bud, Ronald was chatting and relaxing with Elizabeth Sue. The intense shooting was very demanding on the director's mental energy. Ronald felt that chatting with beautiful women was a way to reintegrate into life and rejuvenate.

Su talked a lot about her experience at Harvard. Liberal Arts majors were purely prepared for those from rich families. After Yin Lisabai entered Harvard, she realized that it had no effect on her acting career.

"That's not the case. University is a place where you receive education, which is good for your acting career." Ronald disagreed with this. Many actors from low-level backgrounds cannot play high-status roles, but they have received good education. It is possible for educated actors to go back and play people at the bottom.

At least you can broaden your horizons.

"The career of an actress lasts only a few years. I have wasted several years in college. After this time, my agent also advised me to take a break from school and focus on my career as an actor."

Ronald shrugged. He was also a suspended student and was not qualified to speak on such matters.

While chatting all the way, Ronald felt a lot more relaxed. Su has been studying at Harvard for three years, and her temperament has changed significantly. Ronald had a great time chatting with her.

"When we arrive in Toronto, I have arranged for someone from the crew to pick you up. You have a good rest. You are exhausted from this business trip."

"Haha, it's okay. I feel like I have fulfilled a girl's dream."

When the car arrived at the airport, Ronald carried Yin Elizabeth Su's luggage and sent her to the plane. Ronald specially bought a first-class ticket so that Su could have a good rest and continue the intense filming back in Toronto.

As soon as the car turned around, Little Bud asked, "Should we go to the apartment or the hotel?"

"Let's go to the hotel. The apartment has been unoccupied for a long time and needs to be cleaned." Ronald is a director. His income mainly comes from film salary and some investment income. Now he has thrown it into "Dirty Dancing" and has not hired a maid to help. Taking care of it, naturally I don’t want to go back and clean the room. Little Bud turned the wheel and went to the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel.

"Didi..." The car phone rang, and Ronald picked up the phone, "Hey, who's looking for me?"

"Ronald, the two producers of Top Gun, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, asked you to come to a party celebrating Top Gun's 1986 box office hit. They called me. We’re here, are you going?” It was the manager Niceta’s call, and he was the only one who made the most personal calls like this.

Before Ronald could express his opinion,

Niceta continued, "Go, Tom will also find time to go. It's been a long time since you two have seen each other."

"Okay, I'll go and tell little Bud the time and address."

The celebration party was a private function. Don Simpson is currently recovering from his alcohol addiction using a twelve-step program, so he doesn't have a messy party with lots of beautiful women. Instead, it was placed in his Beverly Hills mansion, the normal pattern of everyone bringing their own female companions.

Ronald arrived at the hotel, checked into the suite, and called several female companions he knew.

Helen returned to New York and filmed two consecutive films as the heroine. She had thought about leading the filming of a film by herself. Recently, she had been doing the preparations with the help of her father.

Diane was not in her small apartment in New York, and the phone calls were recorded, but she did have an agent to help handle things. After Ronald called her agent, she quickly called back.

"Ronnie, where are you?"

"I'm in Los Angeles, see if you're free, I'm going to the Top Gun celebration party."

"Oh? I happen to be in Los Angeles. Wait, I'll go find you."

Diane hurriedly asked for the address, then hurriedly hung up the phone and came over.

"Do you have any new auditions?" Ronald poured a cup of coffee for Diane. She didn't have many connections in the industry. Ronald was busy with the new movie and didn't pay much attention to her.

"No, this time Matt Dillon called me and said he had a good opportunity and asked me if I wanted to give it a try."

"Oh," Ronald hadn't heard from Matt Dillon for a long time. This young man had also been cheated by Coppola's two or three consecutive films that were not blockbusters. Like Diane, three consecutive starring films failed at the box office, and he has yet to become a star.

"Hehe, I actually don't get along with him, but they all say that he and I have great chemistry on screen. You know, the camera can make two people who originally hate each other look very interesting."

Seeing that Ronald was silent, Diane thought he was a little unhappy and hurriedly explained.

"No, no, I'm happy for you, Diane. Is there any news on when 'Running Man', which I introduced to you, will be released?"

"I heard that editing was difficult and it reminded me of bad memories from the past."

Ronald knew that Diane was talking about "The Amazing Dirt Band" and "Streets of Rage". There was a problem with the filming and the editing was very slow and difficult. The end result is often not good either.

"But this movie is produced by Martin Ransohoff's company. I heard that he wants to make Matt Dillon the next Paul Newman or Steve McQueen."

A trace of desire flashed in Diane's eyes. She also wanted to become famous and regain her lost dream.

She was born as a child star, and although she has experienced ups and downs, with successes and failures, she has not yet reached the age of twenty-two. Compared to Lisabeth Su, a woman who debuted in her twenties, she has a strong age advantage.

"Who is Martin Ransohoff?" Ronald didn't know these people.

"Don't you know? Your friend Tom Cruise's previous role in 'The Color of Money' was the sequel to 'Hustlers' that he produced in the 1960s, which made Paul Newman famous, and later also filmed 'The Cincinnati Kid' ', made Steve McQueen famous. He single-handedly made the two major male stars famous back then, and this time he wants to make Matt Dillon the same star.

Even the plot is similar, with a casino master making his way in the world. "

"Oh", Ronald didn't feel much about casinos. Isn't it more exciting to spend real money and make a movie in reality than to play poker in Las Vegas?

"This is a more casual gathering, so just wear your normal clothes, Paula Wagner said. It seems Tom's new girlfriend is going too."

Ronald took Diane to visit the hotel mall and bought her a pair of earrings. The two wore everyday clothes and attended the "Top Gun" celebration party.

"What was the final score?" Ronald asked Jerry Bruckheimer who came to say hello at the party.

"The nationwide release time included in the box office statistics was 34 weeks in total, and it earned a total of 193 million in the domestic market."

Bruckheimer gave a number and handed Ronald a box office summary.

"It's almost over 200 million." Ronald clicked his tongue, which was a bit of a pity.

If you can break 200 million, you can say that you are a "200 million director". Compared with the 100 million director hat, it is still a little different.

"The Persian Gate incident had an impact on us. After the audience saw the government's incompetent performance in the Lebanese hostage incident, they lost interest in beating up fighter jets from other countries in the movie."

Bruckheimer gave Ronald a reason. After the film ended in the first week of 1987, it was withdrawn from screening in mainstream theaters across the country due to a sharp box office drop.

"The Romance of Fairy Wood"

"Oh, what a shame." Ronald read the summary carefully. At that time, I was able to direct this movie only because of the help of the commander-in-chief. This time, because of the scandal of the commander-in-chief, the box office did not end well, so I gave it back.

Top Gun won the annual box office championship in 1986. However, compared to last year's champion "Back to the Future" and the year before that "Ghostbusters", the results were slightly lower and did not break the 200 million mark like the previous two years.

However, the average weekly box office performance and the average box office per theater are actually similar to those of the champions in the previous two years.

The main reason for the difference in box office is that "Top Gun" did not stay in theaters for as long as they did.

Comparing the box office champions in the past five years, the most powerful one is Spielberg's "ET", which has a domestic box office of 350 million. That is because it was released in theaters. It took more than eighty weeks and lasted more than a year. It was on the box office charts for more than fifty weeks.

"Ronald, congratulations." Bruckheimer picked up the champagne and congratulated Ronald loudly.

Regardless of whether it exceeds 200 million, a movie can become the annual box office champion, which is a great recognition of a director's commercial ability.

Especially for "Top Gun", a theme of aerial combat that no one has successfully tackled before, Ronald's reputation is equal to a guarantee of making money in the eyes of major producers.

"Congratulations to us."

Ronald clinked glasses with him in congratulations. Diane, who was holding her arm, smiled happier than herself. She stamped her feet desperately to show her excitement.

"Ronald, you are really amazing. You succeeded."

"Hahaha", Ronald was a little happy to be praised by the beauty, but he still had to be modest, "It's just luck that makes him so popular."

Diane looked at Ronald with eyes full of admiration. The director's reputation represents past achievements, while the box office reflects current capabilities.

"Where's Don?" Ronald asked Bruckheimer where Simpson was.

"He's over there, chatting with Tom and his new girlfriend, let's go over there."

Ronald nodded to the people beside him who were eager to come up and talk to him, and he and Diane walked to the other side of the large room.

Looking at the envious looks of the actresses around her, Diane also felt a strong sense of satisfaction in her heart, "Humph, what kind of relationship do Ronald and I have! I attended the Oscars with him in 1981."

"Hi, Ronald." Tom Cruise, who was chatting with Don Simpson, saw Ronald coming over and quickly hugged him and said hello.

"What are you talking about?" Ronald looked at Don Simpson and Cruise as if they were having a very interesting conversation.

"We were talking about twelve-step therapy. Tom's new girlfriend inspired me a lot. Sometimes religion and psychiatrists are similar."

Don Simpson's condition improved a lot after treatment. He pointed at the blond beauty next to him with the hand holding the champagne.

"I haven't introduced you yet, this is my girlfriend Mimi, this is Ronald, and this is Diane." Tom Cruise reacted and was busy introducing Ronald.

He then looked at Ronald, wondering how he would react to his new girlfriend.

"Ah, hello, Miss Rogers."

Ronald then took a look at this beauty. She stood very carefully and measuredly. She was slightly one step behind Cruise, always highlighting Tom's status.

Ronald's eyes moved downward. Sure enough, she was wearing a pair of flat shoes, which made her appear several inches shorter than Tom when she was behind him.

However, this woman named Mimi looks much older than Tom. The roots of her blond hair also have some newly grown black mixed hair. It seems that she is also an artificial blond.

But Ronald is already used to Cruise's taste. Starting from the original Rebecca De Mornay, all his girlfriends are at least three years older than him. At least Mimi Rogers is much younger than Cher.

"It's really nice to meet you, Ronald. Just now, when Tom was talking about working with you, it was his most comfortable acting experience."

"a ha ha ha……"

As soon as Mimi Rogers spoke, Ronald couldn't help but frown inwardly.

This woman is a crooked talker.

It’s not that she adapts to the situation and knows how to watch people’s faces and say something to make everyone happy. But Mimi Rogers really has a crooked mouth.

Whenever she spoke, her mouth would involuntarily tilt to the right. This made Ronald very uncomfortable.

Moreover, Mimi gradually came out from behind Tom and faced Ronald to communicate. Ronald took a closer look and found that Mimi was a little blind.

"Mimi, Mimi, where are you?"

At this time, a short man came from the darkness of the corridor leading to other places in the room, and he called Mimi Rogers urgently. Ronald and Diane both looked in the direction of the sound.

I saw a short man with a funny watermelon haircut and a mustache. He came over and said to Mimi Rogers, "I've been looking for you for a long time, Mimi. Are you free now? I feel that I urgently need one." audit!"

"Oh, Sonny, can I come over later? I'm still chatting with other people." Mimi looked very polite to the visitor.

"Hi, Tom, hi, Don, I have to borrow Mimi's time, don't you object?" The man named Sonny apologized to Tom Cruise, took Mimi and left.

"Are you so impolite? We are chatting." Ronald felt something was wrong and looked at Tom Cruise as if he was a bit embarrassed, so he stopped him.

"It's okay, Ronald. This is Mimi's job. I'll accompany her to take a look." Tom didn't have any particular dissatisfaction, he just didn't want Mimi to leave him.

"I'll do an audit for him, soon." Mimi Rogers smiled crookedly and patted Tom Cruise's arm. Then she and the watermelon head walked out of the room and went to another room to chat alone.

"That seems to be Sonny Bono, Cher's ex-husband?" Diane whispered in Ronald's ear.

"Are you sure?" Ronald recalled, and indeed his voice was very similar to the male voice singing with Cher in the song "I Got you Babe".

"That's Sonny Bono," Don Simpson nodded to Ronald in confirmation. "Mimi is the senior auditor of Scientology, Tom is also her client, and so is Sonny, but soon I guess she will just Audited by Tom.”

"Audit? Is she an accountant?" Ronald felt that Mimi Rogers' temperament had nothing in common with his accountant Lawrence.

"Ah, no, it's a form of Scientology."

"Scientology, what is that?" Ronald looked at Tom Cruise in confusion. Which accounting firm is it called?

"It's a new kind of religion, and Scientology is like prayer in Protestantism, or confession in Catholicism." Tom Cruise knew Ronald had been misled. It's not the kind of audit that an accountant does.

"Yes, they are very effective. This is an instrument invented by Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. It is like an electrician's multimeter. It is very effective. I feel that after using it, my whole body It's all so easy." Don Simpson said good things about Scientology next to him.

"Lafayette Ronald Hubbard? I seem to have heard this name somewhere." Ronald frowned.

"He was originally a science fiction writer who wrote a best-selling book, 'Battlefield Earth,' and later created 'Dianetics,' a new form of meditation that combines psychology, mystical experience, and religion, and is very useful for learning. There are benefits." Tom Cruise introduced Ronald to the work of his new girlfriend Mimi.

"Oh." When Ronald heard these things, he remembered David Lynch's transcendental meditation. He had a natural distrust of this kind of thing.

"Actually, this Scientology has helped my dyslexia a little bit. I can read more scripts now." Tom Cruise whispered in Ronald's ear.

"Oh, that's good, it will help you a lot." Ronald heard that it can cure dyslexia, and he is no longer disgusted with Dianetics. Maybe the things that psychiatrists do have a new look, which is just right for Tom. .

"By the way, Ronald, what is your religious belief?" Tom Cruise asked him, "There is a celebrity hall in Scientology. Do you want to experience it?"

"I belong to the Quakers of New York and Boston." Ronald didn't expect Tom to ask himself this question. After thinking about it, he moved out the denomination to which his ancestors belonged and blocked it.

"Oh, that's a very old sect." Tom Cruise stopped talking.

After a while, Mimi Rogers completed the audit for Sony Bono and came out to chat with Tom and Ronald.

"Are you a Quaker? Do you go to church every week?" Mimi Rogers was much more enthusiastic about Scientology than Tom.

"I'm the director, so I'm definitely not free." Ronald was a little impatient. The enthusiasm of a preacher was inappropriate, and Mimi's crooked mouth looked even more annoying.

"Actually, the Western solutions have come to an end. We have to go to the East to find some solutions to solve the current problems in America."

Mimi Rogers also wanted to try, "Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, the founder of our Scientology, was inspired by the masters from the East. In the 1950s, he was inspired by It was only after being inspired by Jack Parsons, the founder of the Jet Laboratory, and his Eastern companions that I gradually became interested in the occult."

Ronald gradually began to get tired of this messy rhetoric, and Diane, who was holding his hand, felt that the strength in his hand was wrong. Diane looked at Ronald and quickly touched his arm gently with her other hand to soothe his emotions.

"When you are free, you can come and see the hall left by Herbert. He was summoned by the Emperor of the Universe at the beginning of last year and left the believers who loved him." Mimi Rogers also keenly felt Ronald's Impatiently, he ended the topic.

"I feel that Eastern philosophy does have merit. Our Western civilization has its weaknesses and pays too little attention to the connection between people. Therefore, many people in the film industry are interested in Eastern philosophy. Ronald, you You should also be interested in Eastern culture. I see that your boy Long Wei has many elements of Japanese culture."

Mimi Rogers chatted for a while and then changed the topic back. She knew that Ronald didn't like occultism, so she changed her approach and wanted to discuss some high-end philosophical issues with him.

Mimi's father is one of the founding fathers of Scientology and a good friend of Herbert. She has been exposed to it since childhood and knows how to deal with different people and attract them in different ways.

Tom Cruise is not highly educated and has dyslexia, so he is very interested in talking about occultism. In addition, it can help him read scripts without feeling dazzled. This is the best proof that Scientology is effective.

Ronald seems to be a widely read person and is well aware of many film and television technologies. For this kind of people, if they are not interested in occultism, then they have to talk from a philosophical level. Some well-educated people who joined Scientology were also interested in some of the specious universe theories of the founder Herbert. And joined.

"Actually, I have also studied Eastern philosophy. For example, I have been studying the teachings of Confucius." Ronald felt that he was no longer interested in chatting with her, so he brought up the ultimate topic terminator:

"Confucius said that a gentleman should not talk about supernatural phenomena, or the crimes of unnatural depravity of man, or supernatural evil creatures."

"Forehead……"

Mimi Rogers' mouth became even more crooked. How could this person talk so much of the topic?

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :