Exploiting Hollywood 1980

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In the second week, the box office of Cyborg quickly dropped to just over 2 million. With the box office cut in half, the film can probably stay in theaters for one to two weeks before it is released.

But this case is not a crime of war. In addition to Ronald's B-level movies, the sequels to a number of blockbuster movies also fell miserably on the box office charts during the same period.

The Ghostbusters sequel's weekend box office dropped from 29 million to 13.8 million. Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Last Crusade also dropped from 14 million to less than 8 million. Star Trek 5 was also cut in half, falling to 3.5 million, and was directly kicked out of the summer release.

There is only one film, "Dead Poets Society", which has a strong artistic film quality. It only dropped less than 20% of the normal number and is still among the top five at the box office.

All of this is because this weekend Warner Bros.'s super dark horse, the comic book adaptation "Batman" is released.

The scale of screening in more than 2,100 theaters is not very amazing. However, with an average box office of $18,000 per theater, this noir film adapted from DC Comics directly exceeded the first weekend box office of $42 million.

This is already the record for opening weekend box office performance, and it has been broken for the second time this year. It is the latest installment of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it grossed 37 million during the four-day Memorial Day weekend.

The Ghostbusters sequel found another three-day weekend of "Abolition Day," celebrated in several states, and grossed 29 million.

The box office of "Batman" was generated during two actual weekends. This also broke the box office record for a comic book adaptation movie (the last successful comic book adaptation movie was DC Comics' Superman.)

"The lethality is too great. Ovitz is going to have a headache." Richard also came to the hotel where Ronald lives. He now runs here every day more diligently than the Daydream employees. Ronald gave him the guarantee of success and made this young man who was already a serious and hard-working man cherish everything he got.

Ovitz was indeed going to have a headache.

Like all sequels, the cost of a Ghostbusters sequel skyrocketed. The original cast was recalled for the sequel, and the leading actors significantly raised their asking prices, and the two creators, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, demanded direct authority to modify the script.

Even the heroine Sigourney Weaver was nominated for many awards because of Ronald's "Working Girl" and was able to get top-notch pay among actresses.

The production cost of Ghostbusters soared from 25 million in the first film to 43 million!

Now, the expected box office for this Ovitz-led project has been quickly reduced from the 220 million for the first part to just over 100 million. The halo that shrouded him, that CAA packaged and produced movies that were both popular and well-received, began to dissipate.

Film critics have always disliked the poor and favored the rich. Seeing that Ghostbusters 2 performed so poorly, many of their sarcastic remarks changed from being darkly sarcastic to directly naming the film.

A film critic from USA Today pulled no punches when he said that "Ghostbusters" works because it projects childlike fantasies onto adult characters who defy authority and bond in a club.

However, "Ghostbusters 2" changed course, turning the theme into a surreal comic fantasy combined with the humanity of the main characters, and the sequel movie became "Four Ghostbusters and a Baby", which is a good response to A plagiarism from the 1987 comedy film "Three Men and a Baby". Roger Ebert was also not absent, calling the film a disappointment, commenting on "Ghostbusters 2" at a public screening and hearing only one laugh in the entire movie.

They all turned to "Batman".

In fact, before the movie was released, comic fans had negative comments about the combination of Michael Keaton's Batman and Tim Burton's director. However, as soon as the movie was released, comic fans instantly became fans of this pairing.

Roger Ebert's evaluation was also very special. He believed that the set design, color design, and the role of the clown were far better than the male and female protagonists. Jack Nicholson, who plays the Joker, steals the title role in every scene he has with Michael Keaton.

It's a triumph of design over story, style over substance, a film that looks great but has a plot that you can't care about.

However, his partner Sisko spoke highly of the protagonist and believed that he was a new generation of psychological film masters. Allow the audience to naturally enter the psychological world behind the story.

"Hey, Ovitz is unlucky. Actually, I am unlucky too."

Richard glanced at Ronald and knew he was flattering him wrongly. Come up and turn it around.

"I know you feel the same way about Ovitz as I do." Ronald waved his hand so that he didn't have to say it. He knew that Richard hated Ovitz as much as he did. If Ovitz exposes himself to a big scandal, his own career will take a turn for the worse.

However, Ronald Daydream's release of "Cyborg" was also a big influence. And more importantly, he and Weintraub co-produced and distributed the third installment of The Dragon King, which will premiere next week.

Warner Bros.'s movie is coming so fast that all commercial movies that hit the same schedule as them will have their box office results severely suppressed.

The production cost of "Batman" was only over 40 million. Such a movie can even out the production cost in one weekend, and the box office may exceed 100 million, and the production cost can only be recovered in an instant.

…

"Ronald, what should we do? Batman's momentum is too strong now..."

Sure enough, Jerry Weintraub called. He chickened out a little.

Weintraub's company's financial situation was already on the verge of being strained due to financing difficulties caused by rising interest rates on Wall Street. He is not like Cannon, and has European capital to take over. If anything, he would be willing to sell the company to avoid a lifetime of hard work ending in bankruptcy.

Those who lent him money are all eyeing the box office performance of "Dragon Boy 3". If the box office is not good, then the creditors' attacks can make this former music industry tycoon bankrupt.

"It's okay, calm down. The overlap between our audience and Batman's is actually not high. Can you handle it even if you haven't watched Dead Poets Society?"

At this point, Luo Jian had no choice but to say something nice to comfort his old friend. This is the case in Hollywood. No matter how glorious your past is, if a movie fails at the box office at a critical moment, you will go from being sought after by thousands of people to having only a few people. If two movies fail in a row, then you have to hide from your creditors.

Therefore, Ronald was glad that he had the foresight. Apart from gambling on "Dirty Dancing", he did not use too much of his own money in medium-production movies. A variety of capital is always introduced to balance risks. I would rather let everyone share the profits than put yourself in a terrible situation.

"We'd better order the movie in advance..." Michael Gray, Ronald's marketing consultant, came over and proposed the latest plan.

"It will be screened on a small scale in Chinatown and Hollywood theaters on Thursday, don't do anything bad..." Ronald understood what Gray meant, but still shook his head and refused.

After screening, film reviews and audience reviews will be released in advance before the premiere day on Friday. If you are confident in the quality of your own movies, you can use large-scale movie methods to gain word-of-mouth recommendations in advance and further squeeze your competitors' box office.

If the quality is not good, then the screening is tantamount to disaster. When the audience sees a bad plot, the opening weekend, which was supposed to be the best at the box office, will be crushed by word of mouth.

Gray's idea is to die early and be born early. Anyway, under the pressure of Batman, the movie box office cannot be punished without war. Secretly doing a three-day box office weekend trip will not affect the signature of Daydream Publishing too much.

But Ronald didn't want to do that. The disaster caused by this Batman makes everyone nervous. Ronald could still afford to pay, but Weintraub couldn't.

Moreover, Ronald has seen a copy of this movie and still appreciates Tsui Hark's shooting techniques. The key lies in whether American audiences like this oriental aesthetic style.

…

"Rason, would you like to attend our premieres in New York and Hong Kong..." Director Tsui Hark came to visit Ronald, hoping that he would support his first Hollywood movie.

"I will attend the premiere in Los Angeles, but I can't go to the New York and Hong Kong premieres. You know, I just got married and I want to spend more time with Diane."

Ronald smiled and pulled Diane to meet Tsui Hark and everyone. Diane has also played the role of a monster causing havoc in Chinatown, and is familiar with the Chinese supporting characters in the third film of The Dragon King.

"Ronald-san, are you really not going to New York with us? In the first two films, you never failed to show off." Noriyuki Morita, who plays Mr. Miyagi, also came over to invite Ronald.

"Morita-san, I'm really too busy. You don't know that my company Daydream has been sued." Ronald said another way to the Japanese-American Morita. He was afraid that the Chinese from Xiangjiang would not understand the matter of being sued, and would think that something big had happened to his company. And Americans know very well that it is impossible for a company to grow big without being sued.

"I understand, Ronald-san, thank you for your support of our Longwei boys!" Noriyuki Morita bowed deeply to Ronald.

This man became famous because of the role of Mr. Miyagi, and then changed his wife. He returned to Japan to invest in, direct, and star in a movie, but failed. After losing all his money, he returned to Hollywood. He relied on this image for the rest of his life.

"Haha, there will be many opportunities for cooperation in the future." Ronald patted him on the shoulder.

Among the main creators of Long Wei Boy, the one who really has personal value is the very sloppy Morita Noriyuki. Americans like the role of this kind of Japanese mentor who is wise but foolish. Say a few lines of his and it seems as if he himself has wisdom.

As for Ralph Mazzio, who plays Daniel, he is already twenty-eight years old this year. No matter how young he is, he has lost the ability to play teenage roles.

The heroine chosen this time is Hong Kong actor Rosamund Kwan, who is already twenty-six years old. Fortunately, she is of Chinese descent, and American audiences have no clear idea of ​​her age. Otherwise, if the third film casts a girl like Elizabeth Sue or Tarin Tomita, the audience will have a bad association, as if an adult and an underage girl are playing a couple.

"Ronald, are you optimistic about our box office? Do you think this third movie will be as successful as the first movie?" Weintraub also came over, hoping that Ronald would give him reassurance.

"It depends on the taste of the audience." Ronald didn't dare to say that the share of the audience that Batman sucked up was really too big. Unless the audience of the Dragon King series is still thinking about giving Daniel LaRusso an ending, or they have a strong preference for flying and escaping martial arts scenes like Xiangjiang, only then can they attract audiences who don't usually go to the cinema.

"If the box office is good, can we strike while the iron is hot and release the fourth film?" It seems that Weintraub's financial situation is tighter than Ronald imagined. He actually started working on the fourth film before the third film was released. idea.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Ronald pouted, and across the room, Ralph Marzio's face showed wrinkles.

"Even if it's going to be filmed, you have to wait two years and have a normal sequel rhythm, otherwise the series will be completely dead."

"Okay, I listen to you." Weintraub was now in a hurry and sought medical treatment.

What Ronald didn't say in his heart was that even if a sequel was made, the leading actor would probably have to be replaced. Let Noriyuki Morita be matched with other leading actors and re-leveled, which might attract some fans.

No, maybe the heroine is better? The story of the male protagonist is the same as the first one. If Mr. Miyagi were to teach girls, there might be more market.

Ronald was not very interested in the party. The creators continued to yell and make noise happily. He hugged Diane and left. After sending her home, Ronald had no choice but to work overtime to discuss the case with lawyer Mickey Kanter. prosecution case.

"Sorry, Mitch, these creatives need a boost from me." Ronald apologized for being late.

"Ha, you have one of the healthiest schedules in Hollywood. Only Spielberg and a few academics like Lucas who don't like to socialize and like to stay with their families are like this." Mickey Kanter said it was okay. Many of his clients drank and gambled until late at night before calling him drunk.

"How much do you think we need to pay in compensation for this case?"

"I think it's under half a million, do you want a quick settlement?"

"I contacted someone and found out that the actor was really blind in one eye. This made a big fuss..."

This matter was actually caused by the joint efforts of Minahan and Jean-Claude Van Damme. When filming "Cyborg", there was a fight scene between Jean-Claude Van Damme and a black actor named Jackson Pinckney.

There is a switch in Jean-Claude Van Damme's shoe that can flash out a knife. He takes off and defeats the opponent with his feet. This is a unique routine of this apocalyptic action movie.

Unfortunately, during filming, Jean-Claude Van Damme used too much force and there was something wrong with the prop knife, which scratched Jackson Pinckney's eyeball.

At the time, Minahan's cannon was in chaos, and many actors didn't even have basic insurance. This Jackson Pinckney didn't take it too seriously and went home to recuperate.

Afterwards, his eyeballs became inflamed, red and swollen, and he remembered to go to the hospital for treatment. As a result, his condition worsened and he became blind in one eye.

When Cyborg was released and entered the top five at the box office, the actor immediately had a lawyer come to sue Daydream on his behalf.

Although it was Jean-Claude Van Damme's fault and the lack of insurance and medical personnel was Cannon's fault, in America, lawsuits always follow the money.

The lawyer would rather let go of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Cannon, who were more responsible, citing some labor protection cases to sue Daydream, who had almost no responsibility. Because only Ronald has the money to make compensation.

"If you are willing to settle, I can try to settle it at a lower price." Mickey Kanter admired Ronald's decision very much. Instead of going to court, let the news media know that Daydream may be safe. It is better to solve the hidden dangers beforehand and then ask the hapless actor to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

The news media must take this kind of gossip out of context. The best way is not to refute it, but to prohibit anyone from reporting it from the source. This kind of compensation comes with a confidentiality agreement, and if the plaintiff tells the inside story to any reporter, he will face a heavy fine.

"Ask that Jackson Pinckney. If he still wants to be an actor, if there is a need for extras in the future, he will be given the opportunity first." Ronald still thinks of this kind of actor who has an accident during filming. Full of sympathy.

"That would be even better. If he wants to take your check in the future, he will be less likely to speak ill of your company." Mickey Kanter was very happy when he saw Ronald taking the road like this. He has such a wise customer. , is the lawyer’s favorite.

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