Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Without waiting for the official result the next day, Weintraub pressed the company manager's neck that night and asked him to give him an answer overnight.

Score sheets were faxed back from theaters in every state across the country. It was then aggregated, filled in a form, and a staff member worked out the average score according to a calculator.

After two reviews, the average points are added up, and then converted into a scoring system from a+ to f. Finally, the staff fills in the large blank at the bottom of the form.

The final score sheet was faxed from the Las Vegas headquarters to the hotel where Weintraub stayed in New York.

"a+, a+, uh, uh..."

Weintraub held the fax and kissed it passionately despite the peculiar smell of a fax machine.

"Ronald, it's an A+, the first film in four years to get an A+ rating from the company! We're about to succeed, hahaha..."

Ronald, who was forced to stay by Weintraub, was actually not very happy. He really wanted to go home with Aunt Karen to eat some baked cookies, talk about family life, and Donna's mit study. .

However, Weintraub is very good at coaxing women. He told Ronald's aunt that the next score is related to whether Ronald can make a breakthrough again. My aunt heard that it was related to Ronald's career future, and persuaded him to stay.

The company's score is completely randomly selected cities in several states, and then the staff travels to do the sampling. Therefore, the rating can fully represent the audience's perception of the movie.

"Is this rating important?" Ronald actually didn't know the company's rating system very well. He only remembered that "et aliens" also received an A+ rating. This time, the second part of Longwei Kid can also get a good evaluation from the audience. It seems that he has done a good job.

"You're not a corporate executive, Ronald. It's a lot of attention in Hollywood right now. Because of their ratings, it's largely seen as a prediction of the box office.

Anyone who gets an A or above is a big success at the box office.

Therefore, the current rating has been bought out by the seven major Hollywood studios, and they cannot immediately publish the rating in the media. The real score figures can only be released to the studio first, and then to the news media after approval, and some key data will not be released. "

"Well, is your evaluation accurate?" Ronald asked the staff.

The staff explained something. It looks like he does the job a lot.

Five randomly selected cities will be surveyed for each movie. For opening day audiences only. Survey cards ask questions about age, gender, rating the movie ("a", "b", "c", "d" or "f"), whether they rent and buy videotapes, and more.

There were also questions about propaganda, such as why they chose the film and whether they thought it fit their marketing.

"If we get an A, the first-weekend multiplier for the total box office is more than 5 times. If we get an A+, it may exceed 8, or even 10.

A film with a C rating earned about three times as much as its opening weekend.

So in general, a is good, b is average, and c is terrible. D and F, it means they shouldn't have made the movie, or they've advertised to the wrong people and got the wrong people to watch the movie. "

"I got an A+ when I remember et"

"In fact, in 1982, when et was released, there were two more films, 'Gandhi' and 'Rocky 3', which got A+. But because et was too successful, the total box office was more than 30 times that of the first weekend, so we revised it accordingly. scoring criteria.

In more than three years since then, not a single film has met the new A+ rating criteria. Your 'Longwei Kid Part II' is the first movie in four years to get an A+ rating, and even your 'Top Gun' just got an A.

So, congratulations, Director Ronald, Mr. Weintraub, based on our experience, your movie will do well at the box office. "

"Thank you, so we can use a+ for announcements, right?"

Weintraub asked the staff.

"Of course, we have no objection to that."

Although the ratings are generally not announced to the public, some movies will take an A-level rating and put them in their own announcement packages.

Some posters, newspaper advertisements, and TV advertisements will be marked with a rating of a.

"Longwei Kid Part 2" got an A+ that he had not seen for a long time. Of course Weintraub would not let it go. He was busy calling the publicity department in Colombia, urging them to revise the publicity materials immediately, and propose Additional budget.

Although Weintraub has joined MGM/United Artists, Columbia will not have a hard time with the money.

In addition to this "Longwei Kid Part II", which will bring them huge returns, the distribution rights for the sequels after the series are also in Colombia's hands.

Moreover, for two consecutive films, product advertisements of Coca-Cola, the parent company of Colombia, were implanted. For such commercial films, the director cooperated with adding advertisements, instead of rejecting commercial implantation for the sake of art like some directors.

Columbia's distribution department is moving fast. By the evening of the same day, the new scoring materials had been distributed in New York City.

It was made into a patch style; the advertisement with a rating of a+ was pasted on the posters of Longwei Kid in major cinemas.

A big a+ with some words on the background. There is another person next to him with a thumbs up that it is very good.

"This seems to be the gesture of the two film critics in Chicago." Ronald, wearing sunglasses, came to a Manhattan movie theater to see the new poster.

"They didn't apply for a patent anyway." Weintraub didn't wear sunglasses. In the world of movies, audiences rarely care about the appearance of producers. Although he is the big boss, he still enjoys the fun of the front line, pointing and correcting the mistakes of the staff.

"That's right," Ronald saw the crowd lining up to buy tickets at the box office.

In addition to Ronald's "Top Gun" and "Longwei Kid Part II", some people are buying "Spring is not a reading day", and the rest are buying tickets for another new movie.

"Legal eagles (legal eagles)?" Ronald looked at the star faces on the poster, one man, two women and three great stars that were pleasing to the eye.

The star's position on the movie poster is also a symbol of their status in the industry.

In the middle is Robert Redford, reclining on the ground, taking up the most space by himself. He is Hollywood's golden boy as an actor and a director. In 1980's "Ordinary Man", his directorial debut won the Oscar for best director. In that movie, there is also Timothy Hutton, the actor that Ronald hates.

So he has the biggest hand, and lies in the best middle position.

On the left is Deborah Wenger. She starred in "The Officer and the Gentleman" and "A Mother and Daughter Love", which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress, but lost to Shirley MacLean, who played her mother in the same movie.

She, a black-haired beauty, was wearing a white sweater, revealing her right hand.

She had the second-highest cards, so she was half-protruding from Redford. Redford's body is also slightly sideways to her, and the audience's eyes will be guided by Redford, who will see her second.

On the right is Daryl Hannah, who starred in the hit "The Mermaid" with Tom Hanks. However, she has not released any blockbuster films since then, and she has no recognition of awards.

So she only showed her face and blond hair on the poster, and her body was covered by Redford.

"I want to see, do you?" Ronald asked Weintraub if he wanted to see the main rival's film.

"I'm not interested. We have an A+ rating and we will definitely win."

"Well, I'll see for myself."

Ronald's eyes stayed on Deborah Wenger's face. Although she was a black-haired beauty traditionally considered by America to be bigger than her body, Ronald preferred this kind of temperamental and intellectual beauty. More attractive than the blond and tall Daryl Hannah.

"Did you see her? But you're too late. Deborah is already having a shotgun wedding." Weintraub made a round gesture with his hand on his stomach.

"What?" Ronald didn't understand.

"She's pregnant, and it's Timothy Hutton. Hutton is a famous Hollywood playboy, and to be able to agree to marriage, it must have been a child.

It is rumored in Hollywood circles that her agent is yelling at her, Hutton's films after 'Ordinary People' have all failed at the box office, and no one has asked him to hand over scripts, and being with Wenger is also to deliberately rub her popularity. .

Now Deborah Wenger has at least a year off, an actress who was on the rise, and now pregnant and having children is very bad for her career. "

"Hey, it's really hard for female stars."

Ronald shrugged, bought a ticket, and a large can of popcorn and Coca-Cola, which he carried into the theater.

"French Open Condor" is surprisingly pretty. Redford plays a prosecutor and Deborah Winger plays his rival lawyer. The two defend Darryl Hannah and accidentally involve a deliberate arson case with more than two decades of money.

The movie has romance, accidental explosions, and conspiracy exposure. In the end, the character played by Redford did not choose Daryl Hannah, who inherited the huge fortune of his father's world-famous paintings, but chose Debo, who opened a law firm with the same goal. La Wenger.

The whole movie is quite satisfactory, the script can be seen, and it is written very well in line with the specifications of a commercial blockbuster.

Ronald noticed that the screenwriters on the subtitles were Jim Cash, and Jack Epps Jr. This pair of screenwriters is also named the screenwriter of "Top Gun". Of course, the script of that movie is very thin, and it mainly depends on the director.

In addition to this, they also wrote the script for The Secret to Success.

But the plot of the movie is too normal, and the stars also play well. Ronald, as a Hollywood person, has all the twists and turns he expected, and the actors don't have any scenes, giving unexpected performances.

After watching the entire movie, Ronald couldn't even recall a single scene that was impressive.

"It's so exciting! Deborah Wenger is so beautiful."

"Darryl Hannah isn't bad either, she's in great shape."

Ronald came to the bathroom and found that the audience did not talk about the plot, but talked about the performance of beautiful actors.

"It seems to be a formidable enemy, and should not be underestimated."

Although the plot was not discussed, Ronald believes that the reputation of the heroine will not be bad by discussing the heroine's appearance and temperament in this way.

Maybe there's a discussion about Robert Redford over there in the women's bathroom.

"Audiences love stars, producers depend on stars." Ronald understood this sentence deeply.