Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1109 Let word of mouth ferment

"Congratulations, Ronald."

The Los Angeles premiere of "When Harry Met Sally" took place quietly on Thursday, the third week of "Batman"'s run.

At the foot of Beverly Hills, the movie theater belonging to the Academy of Film Technology and Art became the venue for the premiere.

It was a by-product of a meeting in which Ronald and Billy Crystal visited the Academy for the right to host next year's Oscars.

The directors were satisfied with Ronald's detailed plan, and more importantly, they all remembered that during the writers' strike, during the writer's strike, comedians had free rein at the awards show, and Billy Crystal single-handedly gave free rein. Perform a rescue feat.

Although the result has not been officially notified to Ronald, but the college has sent a clear signal.After they learned that Ronald's new film would be released on a small scale, they offered to rent the Beverly Cinemas owned by the academy to Ronald for the premiere.

Here, it is walking distance from the Beverly Hills mansion area where old stars live. It is very convenient for celebrities to attend, and it is also a disguised help for the marketing of Ronald's new movie.

Therefore, although the premiere was relatively low-key, there were still many stars who made entertainment reporters very happy.

Bruce Willis and Demi Moore also came to support the couple.Demi Moore has long black and beautiful hair, matched with a white shirt and jeans. The image of a sexy blue-collar mom murdered many films.

"Bruce, Demi, what do you think of Ronald's new movie?" The writers were not to be outdone, and asked the celebrity couple questions at the top of their voices from a long distance away.

"I haven't watched it yet, man! I'll tell you when I finish." Bruce Willis was wearing a black shirt, sunglasses, and a blue-collar outfit.His current roles all have this kind of temperament, so his temperament is also deliberately leaning towards the direction of a blue-collar macho, gradually getting rid of the urban yuppie image he used to film in TV dramas.

"We have never missed Ronald's romance films, and I was so moved that I cried to death every time." Demi Moore hurried back to make amends, otherwise the reporters would distort Willis's words tomorrow.

"Bruce Willis doesn't know if Ronald's new movie is any good" is light.

"I haven't seen Ronald Lee's new movie yet, and I will comment when I finish watching it when I have time." This kind of "watch it when I have time" is added, and the whole meaning can be distorted into Willis's opinion of Ronald Lee. Nader's new film is not cold, so don't rush to watch it.

"Hey, I remember you, the variety show reporter, right? Tell me something nice tomorrow, dude." Ronald walked over to welcome the two of them, just in time to see this scene, he pointed at the reporter , said to him half-jokingly, half-threateningly.

"Then what about watching a movie, Ronald." The reporter replied not to be outdone.

"Remember to come to the reception later, there will be exchange vouchers for entertaining reporters", Ronald said, and then turned to welcome Willis and Demi in, so anxious that the photographers started shouting again, "Ronald, give us Let's have a photo, Ronald!"

"Brother, you are so brave, dare to talk to Ronald like that." Another lower-level reporter on the Variety Show Weekend edition admired the old reporter who confronted Ronald across the air.It was rumored in the circle of entertainment journalists in Hollywood that Ronald had all eyes and hands, so don't offend him.

The case of wiretapping a Hollywood star in the previous paragraph was said to have been dealt with by Ronald, not to mention alarming the FBI, and even the person concerned was so frightened that he "suicided" overnight.

"When dealing with these big people, you have to be neither humble nor overbearing. If you have value, they will give you some sweets in exchange for your use. Do you understand? If he can only say good things blindly, why would he talk to you?" The old reporter began to brag own experience.

"Arnold, Arnold!"

Just after the Willis couple was sent off, another family of a heavyweight star came to the scene.Arnold Schwarzenegger and a young woman walked slowly together, supporting an old lady with full hair.

"That's Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver." The young "Variety Show" reporter didn't know much about this young woman who was not in the entertainment industry in the strict sense.

"Of course, she is JFK's niece. Didn't you watch last year's Olympic Games? She is the host of NBC." The old reporter taught by example and example. As an entertainment reporter, recognizing people is a very important basic skill, and it cannot be limited to Hollywood.

"Who is that old lady?" The young reporter nodded in a taught way, and he pointed to the old woman who looked a bit like Maria Shriver with a wide chin and asked.

"Oh, Shxt! That's Eunice Marie Kennedy..." The old reporter immediately rushed up with the photographer, "Eunice, Eunice, are you visiting your daughter in Los Angeles? What do you think about Ronald's What can you expect from the new movie?"

Those young reporters who run the entertainment line don't know her, but the old reporters used to run news in New York, and they are familiar with Kennedy's sister and the founder of the Special Olympics.

Unlike his two older brothers and one older sister, this younger sister has not participated in politics herself, but in the eyes of the older generation of Americans, she is not inferior to other members of the Kennedy family.In [-], he was awarded the Grand Commander's Medal of Freedom for creating the Special Olympics.

"Wow, I didn't expect people to know me in Los Angeles." The old lady Eunice was very happy to be recognized, "I really like the working girl directed by Ronald, the kind of free and independent women, I like it very much, This is the idol woman in our hearts when we were young. This time I came to see my granddaughter, and I am very happy to have the opportunity to attend Ronald's premiere."

Just as Ronald came out again, he stepped forward to let the old lady Eunice take his arm and sent her in.

"How can he even invite big shots in New York?" The young reporter didn't understand again, so he hurriedly asked the old reporter for advice.

"Ronald is not as simple as a famous Hollywood director, you will understand after staying in this industry for a long time."

"OJ, OJ! Look this way."

Unexpectedly, so many celebrities came to this premiere, former football players and commentators, actors, OJ Simpson and his wife Nicole Brown also came to the premiere.Anyway, they all lived near Beverly Hills, which made the reporters frantically shoot again.

"I'm a fan of Ronald..." OJ's wife talked about the reason for the premiere. The little unhappiness between her and her husband OJ has passed, and the domestic violence lawsuit filed in the court was withdrawn. Get back together again.

However, Ronald didn't come out to greet these non-Hollywood celebrities or lesser-known guests every time.

As soon as he and Diane did not come out, the enthusiasm of the reporters dropped sharply, so that the actor John Cusack, who had just filmed "Into the Depths of Love" with Helen Slater, could only talk to his new girlfriend Suzanne Melvin walks into the movie theater alone.

"Honey, why are there so few reporters? Did we come at the wrong time?" Suzanne Melvin was born into a music family. She was the girlfriend of pop singer Prince, and now she is dating Cusack and hopes to appear on the entertainment page again headlines.She was very disappointed by the appearance of the scene.

In addition to being a singer, Suzanne Melvin is also an accomplished songwriter. She feels that the music industry does not pay enough attention to her, so she can only use various gossips to increase her exposure.

"Maybe they've already gone in. I'll take you in and introduce Ronald to you." John Cusack still stood at the door for a while, and after gathering enough photos, he dragged his new girlfriend in.

After John Cusack came in, he didn't find a chance to meet Ronald. He had to wait for the movie to finish before going up to say hello.

But after the one-and-a-half-hour movie ended, both he and his girlfriend forgot about it. The two hugged each other, intoxicated on the screen, and the hero and heroine had a happy ending.

In the movie theater, whether it is a star, an ordinary audience, or both Ronald and Diane, they are very moved by this ending.

Harry, played by Billy Crystal, finally said the line of marriage proposal. After deciding who he wants to spend his life with, he hopes that the second half of his life will start as soon as possible.

As this line fell to the ground, not only Meg Ryan, who played Sally on the screen, laughed through tears, but also the resentment in her heart for the change in the relationship between Harry and Harry after they avoided going to bed, turned into tenderness in place.

There was also a chorus of "Oh..." in the audience. The female audience members couldn't stand such sweet words, and they all held the hands of their lovers next to them.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you all."

After the film screening, the leading actors Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan took the stage to interact with the audience.

Unlike female audiences who are intoxicated by the ten-year sweet love from strangers, to ordinary friends, to confidantes, and finally to lovers, male audiences all feel the same about Billy's confusion. Perhaps many men have such a different personality around them. A woman who knows whether to be friends or lovers.

But the most interesting thing was the scene where Meg Ryan demonstrated live in a restaurant how women can fake orgasms. All the male audience members were breathing nervously at that moment, not daring to breathe for fear of accidentally exposing themselves to some surprise. The expression on your face was laughed at by your female friends. Why don’t you even understand this?

In fact, they were all deeply shocked, and their understanding of women was completely subverted since then.

Unlike Ronald's other movies, where everyone went crazy after the screening, the audience of this movie remained rational, but everyone must have been moved by the movie and quietly changed something in their hearts.

"Being able to make such a movie really makes people feel beautiful inside."

After the fan meeting, Meg Ryan was talking to Diane.She will soon fly to Hawaii to film a movie directed by Shanley and will no longer participate in subsequent marketing activities.

"Yeah, I think it's so sweet." Diane was a little excited. She felt that in several places in the movie, she could see the details of the relationship between herself and Ronnie. Create again?
"Meg, thank you for being able to attend the premiere, and we will see you next time in London." Ronald came to send Meg Ryan off.Because of the shooting schedule, Meg Ryan has to wait until the end of the shooting in Hawaii and wait until the premiere in London to participate.

The following premieres in New York and other places, and fan meetings, are mainly done by Billy Crystal and Carrie Fisher.

"See you in London." Meg Ryan said goodbye to Diane with a smile. Both of them were married and had a lot to say.

"My dear, let's go back first. The film review will come out tomorrow." Diane pulled Ronald and asked him to go home first.

"Oh, okay, I'm a little nervous. The audience's reaction wasn't very enthusiastic today..." Ronald felt that Diane's eyes were extraordinarily gentle today, which dilutes the slight uneasiness in his heart a lot.

"The Cinema Score is out, it's A+"

Early the next morning, Ronald heard good news from Richard.

"It seems that it's not that the audience is not enthusiastic, but that they are enthusiastic in another way." Ronald let out a long breath. The Cinema Score has always been very accurate, and the audience's response has exceeded expectations.

After the film premiered, it was not shown on a large scale across the country, but only on a small scale in 50 theaters.

This is a marketing strategy set by Michael Gray. The target audience of this film, like "Working Girl", is not the traditional summer audience of teenage audiences.

But this time it is a romantic love story of a middle-aged man, and there is no way to find successful people who are female secretaries from all over the country to do marketing like "Working Girl".

So Gray moved those Oscar-winning film routines to the summer season.First release it on a small scale, control the number of theaters it is released in, and use a more accurate audience composition in exchange for better reputation and better ratings from film critics.

These audiences are all fans of the two protagonists selected from among the members of the movie theaters in cooperation with the participating theaters, or lovers of romantic love stories.

Although the cost of doing this kind of precise marketing is high, the marketing cost spent by everyone is several times higher than their movie tickets.

But movies are actually a commodity that spreads through word of mouth. Ronald is willing to spend money on it and let the audience's word of mouth ferment first.

"Oh..." Ronald frowned when he saw the box office statistics again.

With a screening scale of 45 theaters, the box office of a single theater exceeded [-] US dollars.Although this number is only controlled on a small scale through artificial means, it is still impressive.

In recent years, through similar means of winning awards, there are very few literary films released in the Christmas file at the end of the year that have such a strong box office momentum.

"It seems you don't have to worry about the audience's reputation." Ronald smiled and ate breakfast with Diane at the dining table. "Wang Ma, give me some more steamed dumplings and barbecued pork buns."

I was in a good mood and ate a lot more than usual.Ronald even finished his coffee, and Diane quickly added another cup for Ronnie with the coffee pot. Has his coffee making skills improved?

By Monday afternoon, the box office results came out, and the total box office of the 45 theaters over the weekend had exceeded 110 million.This made both Daydream and Columbia's distribution department very excited.Gearing up to call theater managers everywhere, trying to arrange the film for the second week.

"It seems to be the first time that I have been collectively praised by all film critics, and the favorable rate exceeds 90%..."

During dinner, the film reviews of the major film critics also began to transfer to Ronald, and he was flattered by the neat praise.

"Ronald Lee is already one of the best romantic comedy directors in Hollywood and this film is the most conventional in terms of structure and meeting our expectations, hats off to him.

In addition to Nora Efron's script, the chemistry between Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan makes it even more special. "

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times also praised Ronald uncharacteristically, which made Ronald a little unbelievable when he read it.

As for the praise of Ronald, the most shameless is the media in New York.This has a lot to do with Ronald himself being a New Yorker, and the script tells the story of New York.

Karin James, film critic for The New York Times, said "When Harry Met Sally" was an "often amusing but surprising film" that "romanticized the lives of bright, successful, neurotic New Yorkers. "

James also described it as "a sitcom version of a Woody Allen movie, full of funny lines and scenes, all kinds of familiar scenes, each with an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu, Reminds us of our own love lives."

The Washington Post's film critic, Rita Campelli, differed from her New York counterparts in her praise of Meg Ryan and screenwriter Nora Ephron.

Meg Ryan is "Summer's Melanie Griffith"!
Sally is a blonde beauty who has finally found the stage to show her pure passion.She is neither innocent nor voluptuous, a female character created by a female writer, not the Cinderella under the scrutinizing gaze of the male writer in "Working Girl." "

"Is this a compliment to me?" Ronald asked Diane suspiciously after reading the Washington Post's film review. "

"It must be praising the movie." Diane suppressed a smile, "When you go to New York, ask her."

"Okay, I'll take it as a compliment to the movie."

(End of this chapter)