Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald contacted the production supervisor of Fox's film department the next day, and they jointly went to the Die Hard 2 crew to check the accounts. If you don’t check it, you won’t know that the production cost of this movie has exceeded 55 million US dollars and is still rising.

"What is this? I thought a large part of the airport scene was made of frosted glass mattes and then left to the computer visual effects team?"

Ronald held the financial statements with a look of disbelief on his face. I handed over the production to Joel Silver, and the result was a "surprise" for him, and the various expenditure figures were blown up like a balloon.

The bill for Bruce Willis's corporate jet trip to New York to visit Demi Moore was also included. That's okay, it's normal for a celebrity to be in bad shape and reunite with his wife to regain his status. But the bills for sets, filming locations, and plane rentals cannot escape the eyes of Ronald, a veteran of the crew.

Ronald has recruited two IT wizards and possibly the last experienced matte painter in Hollywood to use the computer software Photoshop to innovate the technology with the aim of reducing the cost of filming the movie and the difficulty of the actors' performances.

However, the statement still showed a huge advance payment for runway leasing fees at Denver International Airport and a long-term lease of a Boeing 747 passenger aircraft called Evergreen International Airlines.

"Ronald, you are also an expert. We still need to take some panoramic shots of the movie. We can't put all the hijacking scenes in the studio and shoot them with sets. The most important thing now is the Christmas snow scene, and so do we. After a long search across the country, we found Denver International Airport, where the runways are long and wide, and it will snow next month, and it will snow heavily."

Joel Silver defended himself, wearing pajamas and a cigar in his mouth.

"Don't talk nonsense. If you just want to take a panoramic view of the snow scene, do you need to rent the Denver International Market for two weeks? And what is the purpose of renting this Evergreen Air Boeing 747 aircraft for a short period of time?"

"What can I say? Is it necessary for shooting? The interior of this aircraft is often used in the filming scenes. It's still an old problem. We can't simulate everything in the cabin in the studio. Today's audience needs to see the real thing. Things, you can’t fool them with a few sofas, you must see a scene that matches their experience of flying before they buy it.”

"You were dishonest to me, Joel..." Ronald closed the ledger, was silent for half a minute, and then stared into Silver's eyes and said.

"Hey, you went to shoot your new movie. I'm staring at you every day when you go to the set. How dare you say this? Are we still on the same team? Ronald, now it's that bastard Tom Sherak from Twentieth Century Fox , are looking for trouble for us." Joel Silver shouted dissatisfied.

"Do you think that since Evergreen International Airlines is a cargo aircraft company with military background, I can't check the flight records?" Ronald stared at Silver calmly, but what he said made Silver a little scared. .

"what do you mean?"

"Humph..." Ronald threw the flight records of the rented plane on the table, which contained records of several trips to and from the Caribbean island. Fox's Tom Sherak couldn't find it, which doesn't mean Ronald couldn't find it. He called Little George last night, and the fax was sent to the office early this morning.

"Ronald, I'm doing this because of Bruce Willis's condition. He was in poor condition during the filming of the sequel, and I had to take him to the Caribbean often on weekends."

As soon as Joel Silver saw Ronald taking out the flight records, he immediately changed his face and came over to beg for mercy...

"Hey... this is too blatant." Ronald sighed. Producers steal the production budgets of large companies. This is almost a default rule in the industry. Ronald didn't intend to go into details at first, because the more tiring work of going to the set to supervise every day still had to be completed by Joel Silver.

As a hands-off shopkeeper, he just coordinated the relationships between several parties, and then with some of the production rights for the first Die Hard movie, he was able to sit back and divide the accounts. In fact, he couldn't make things too big. clear.

But this time 20th Century Fox made a statement and was dissatisfied with this, and Ronald had to give them an explanation. So he said to Joel Silver, "Tell me the truth, how much more money do you need to invest in this movie?"

"It takes about 60 million..."

"Um?"

"About 65 million... to 70 million..."

"God, how do you spend your money?" Ronald covered his face. If the sequel to Die Hard cannot be a hit, this movie will be a waterloo for his production career.

"There's no way around it. Bruce Willis is the leading actor. If he's not in good condition, the whole crew has to wait for him.

So the production budget keeps going up, and then I have to add the cost of post-production visual effects and sound design. These are the most expensive parts of this kind of special effects action film. "

Ronald knew that Joel Silver's estimate was not too outrageous this time, whether it was the real-life explosion scene or the visual effects done using computers in the later stage, plus this action movie required Dolby sound effects. Six-channel sound effects are very expensive.

Ronald's budget estimates have always been generous. He knew that even 70 million might not be enough to survive.

He roped in Joel Silver and prepared to present to 20th Century Fox to persuade them to invest more.

…

"Ronald, I don't mean to make things difficult on purpose. The cost of film production has skyrocketed recently, and I understand that. But we still have to be tighter, otherwise subsequent distribution will be difficult."

Tom Sherak, the director in charge of releasing the sequel at 20th Century Fox, was polite to Ronald, but not so nice to Joel Silver.

"There's now a consensus in Hollywood that a high-tech VFX version of Heaven's Gate is coming soon. We're now betting on who will be so unlucky as to become the second Michael Cimino. Now McClain's Gate The odds are the best.”

Tom Sherak compares "Die Hard 2" with "Heaven's Gate", which was responsible for the end of the New Hollywood movement of independent filmmaking in the 1980s.

But he didn't say this without any reason. The production costs of blockbusters shot this year and released next summer have all exceeded US$60 million. High-cost big-budget productions need box office miracles to reward them. If you are not careful, the studio will lose tens of millions and will be in a situation of no return.

"Top Gun" written by Tom Cruise himself, some people call it the racing version of "Top Gun", and the production cost exceeded $60 million.

Eddie Murphy's "The Other 48" cost $50 million to make.

"Total Recall," directed by Paul Verhoeven, had a budget of $60 million.

Warren Beatty directed and starred in a follow-up comic book adaptation. The production cost of "Dick Tracy" was also more than 55 million.

Coupled with the two Big Mac sequels Die Hard, the production cost has steadily exceeded 70 million. The production cost of the sequel to Back to the Future has soared, with the cost of co-production of the two films reaching over 90 million.

Superstars and VFX are so expensive. Executives at all the major Hollywood studios know that one of these movies will do poorly at the box office, sending the careers of the stars, directors, producers, and executives into freefall.

Tom Sherak is more outspoken, and for good reason. Because it was also guaranteed by Ronald, "The Abyss" directed by James Cameron, after gaining more than 10 million at the box office in its first week, the box office declined by more than 25% every week.

According to the derivation of empirical formulas, the U.S. box office is about last, which should be 16 to 18 weeks after release, and the total box office is around 65 million.

And this "Abyss" does not have a particularly famous international star starring. Therefore, the overseas box office expectations are not particularly high.

Of course, the total global box office of This Abyss should exceed 100 million. Coupled with the distribution of video tapes, recovering the cost is not a big problem. But when it comes to profitability, that's another story.

"You are really very straightforward..." Ronald had not met someone who talked to him like this for a long time, so he made a comment about Tom Sherak, whether it was praise or criticism.

"I'm sorry if what I said was offensive... I just think that the most respectful way for a very busy and successful director and producer like you is to save you time and energy, to be honest. The best strategy."

"You are very good. In the future, whether it is related to the sequel to Die Hard or anything else, you can come to me directly..." Ronald actually admired Tom Sherak's professionalism.

He is only responsible for the distribution work, and the production cost overrun is not his responsibility. If he is not particularly ambitious, he will not do this.

"You are the most powerful producer and director in Hollywood. I have great respect for any of your projects." Tom Sherak's smile seemed a little weird to Ronald.

"Do you mean?"

Tom Sherak was a little dissatisfied and thought, can we expect this kind of thing to be hidden from us? By we mean we're Jewish, and Tom Sherak is one of the most common Jewish executives in Hollywood.

However, he was still very polite, "What I mean is that with you in charge, our expectations for Die Hard 2 at 20th Century Fox will be much higher. I hope you can come to the filming site more often..."

As he spoke, he glanced at Joel Silver next to him. The subtext was completely unspoken, he couldn't trust this playboy at all.

"I will..." Ronald glanced at Joel Silver. Not to mention Tom Sherak, he himself didn't trust Joel very much and planned to let Joel Silver continue to go to the set every day. While staring, he also had to suddenly airborne several times.

…

"What did he mean?" Ronald couldn't figure it out on the car ride home. What did Tom Sherak mean by the last few words he said to him? This person seemed to respect him professionally but also be a little hostile.

But it's not the kind of malicious hostility, but the kind of hostility towards a visible competitor in the market. As an executive of a production company, he is neither a producer nor a director. How can he compete with himself?

With doubts, Ronald was always a little uneasy. It has been a long time since I felt this kind of warning from my intuition.

When he was a small person in the past, because he had many opponents, he could feel more clearly any slightest bit of malice and hostility when communicating with others face-to-face.

But the continued box-office success of his movies, and Ronald's own financial success, made those around him careful to hide their jealousy and hatred.

He had not "enjoyed" such a direct competitive tone and look for many years.

For a moment, Ronald was a little confused whether he really felt something, or whether it was because this executive had a straightforward personality and was able to contradict him head-on.

"What's wrong with you? You seem to have something on your mind?"

Dane watched Ronald tossing and turning on the bed, so he simply turned on the light and started chatting with Ronald.

Ronald describes what happened on the set of Die Hard II. I told Diane briefly.

"There must be a problem. When I was auditioning on the crew and chatting with other actresses, I knew there would be a problem if their expressions or tone of voice were wrong." Diane spent a long time traveling between major production crews for auditions. , the early warning generated by this intuition is very superstitious.

"Really? I'll call Niceta and Richard, you go to bed first..."

This attracted Ronald's attention. He got up and called two agents and asked them to come to his home tomorrow morning to discuss the matter.

The incident caused great shock to the two agents. They came to Ronald overnight.

"I think it needs to be taken seriously. Let's see if there are any other places where you can test it by making some insinuations?" Niceta paid great attention to what Ronald said. In the entertainment industry, the beginning of a storm is often the beginning of a young girl. A humble omen. If you don't pay attention to it, it will suddenly become a big deal.

In this industry, no matter you are a star, a director, or a producer, one movie can take you to heaven or send you to hell. The two of them don't have other investment income like Ronald. They mainly rely on Ronald's acting career, and they are more nervous than Ronald.

"I'm going to call Barry Diller and Mr. Rupert."

The result was worrying. Rupert did not answer his call and his secretary told him that Rupert had traveled back to Australia.

Barry Diller's secretary also said that he was very busy and just promised to pass it on. But Ronald Barry was not told where Diller went?

"Is there really something going on?" Ronald felt something unusual. If everyone is unwilling to talk to you, in this industry, it means you have a big problem.

To confirm his idea, he called Eisner at Disney to give it a try.

"Ronald, you are really good. When I was your age, I was a senior vice president of Paramount."

Eisner did not avoid Ronald's call, but chatted with him happily.

"What did you say? What's wrong with me at my age?"

"Don't keep it a secret from me. Several of our CEOs and presidents in Hollywood know where you are going next."

"Huh? Why don't I know where you are going?" Ronald heard the problem.

"What? Are you kidding? Are you saying that my information is wrong? This is... what the hell..."

I found the version before the power outage on Microsoft's one drive, haha.