Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1334: Casting from The Godfather
"Francis, this is my nomination letter for you. You may not be able to catch the first two chances to get a star this year, but you are very sure of the third one. Columbia Pictures has several votes on the Walk of Fame committee, and I have already made arrangements. It will be just in time for the release of your Bram Stoker's Dracula at the end of the year."

Ronald took out a letter he wrote and handed it to Coppola, who was inviting him to dinner. Today he was treated to excellent Italian food, and the two of them had a family dinner. Although Ronald did not have the ability to cook like Coppola, Diane was also the heroine he strongly supported back then, and Coppola, his wife, and daughter Sofia were all very happy.

"Oh, who should I go with?" Francis wiped his mouth. Today's ingredients were obviously imported from Italy, the chef was also very good, and Ronald opened a few bottles of red wine from his own estate that he had given to him that year, which was really a great honor for him.

"I'm going to nominate Roger Corman, but he's not like you. Many people in Hollywood hate his film philosophy and don't agree that he's part of Hollywood. I still have to do more work, so I may not be able to get the nomination this time."

Ronald sighed. This was still the relatively easy Walk of Fame. He wanted to get an honorary Oscar for Roger Corman, which would be extremely difficult.

"Roger, he deserves the award, and Hollywood has greatly underestimated his contribution." Coppola agreed. How many people got their tickets to Hollywood from this master of low-cost B-movies?

After dinner, the two drank Ronald's black tea and got down to business.

"Your idea is great, but I can't help with Marlon's problem... My relationship with him was completely broken after Apocalypse Now."

It turns out that Ronald asked Coppola for help because he wanted to invite Marlon Brando, who played Don Corleone in "The Godfather", to come out and play a mafia boss in "The Trap" who was the client of Mitch, played by Tom Cruise, who helped him evade taxes.

But after contacting his agent, Brando offered the crew an impossible high price. Ronald also wanted to use their friendship to get Coppola to lower the price, but Coppola said he was also a victim back then.

When filming Apocalypse Now, the shooting time and salary were agreed upon, but Brando did not read the script and acted according to his instinct. Later, Coppola realized that he wanted to exceed the agreed time limit so that he could get another $1 million in overtime pay.

"God……"

Ronald was a little surprised by this behavior. He had only seen the 1990 movie "The Freshman", in which Brando played a comedic version of the Godfather, personally deconstructing Don Corleone. He thought Brando would be easy to talk to as he got older, but now it seems that he is still the movie star who would make more money and never lose less.

"This guy acts out of interest. If the price you offer is too high, it means he is not interested. Is the role repeated in his previous roles?" Coppola understood Brando's thoughts and explained to Ronald. Marlon Brando was probably not satisfied with the script, but if you offered a high price, he would not refuse.

"What about the supporting characters in The Godfather? What about Sollozzo and Clemenza?"

Ronald has great respect for the casting of "The Godfather", and he thinks it may be the best casting in Hollywood. The one who threatened and assassinated the Godfather, and the internal conflict between the Godfather and his eldest son can be seen from a sentence, the Dragon Sollozzo. And the Godfather's right-hand man, the fat man Clemenza, who remembered to take the pancake home to feed his children after killing people, are all actors with unforgettable images.

It is impossible for Ronald to agree to Brando's blackmail, and letting these two guest-star as the two Italian gangster clients is also a clever way to allow the audience to enter the prescribed situation very quickly.

"Al Lettieri (Sollozzo) died of a heart attack at 47, too young. He was a John Wayne-level actor... Richard Castelno (Clemenza), he died a few years ago, also of a heart attack, and the producers kept making him fatter and fatter."

"Hey……"

The plan to copy the Godfather completely failed. Ronald could only comfort himself that Robert Duvall was also a member of the Godfather team, although he was bald now and many viewers could not recognize him.

……

"Julia, can you help me find an actor who looks like these two? I want someone with a similar temperament. He looks like an Italian gangster..."

Ronald was not giving up, and brought out another B-movie trick. If you can't afford a celebrity actor to make a B-movie, then hire an actor with a similar appearance and temperament. This is also a way to take advantage of the popularity to some extent...

"Ha, have you seen Scorsese's Goodfellas?" Casting director Julia Taylor laughed when she saw the two photos in the Godfather. I guess she has been asked similar questions by other producers.

"Hmm?" Ronald stood up. The actor who had a joking confrontation with the protagonist in the bar in Marty Scorsese's previous film "Goodfellas" seemed a bit like Sollozzo. They both had the temperament of a river dragon, who never showed his emotions, tough on the outside, but smart on the inside. And he could go from a calm state to a rage at any time, which was very consistent with the image of a high-ranking gangster in the minds of the audience.

"As for Clemenza, we need to find the image of a fat man that is unique to Italians. It is difficult for other ethnic groups to portray that kind of temperament..."

"You seem to have put a lot of effort into this movie?" In Julia Taylor's eyes, Ronald was still the photographer who worked for their casting studio back then. Seeing Ronald's dedication, she felt very concerned.

"I have to devote my full efforts to this adaptation as well. Look at this adapted script..." Ronald took the script and flipped through it. It was obviously one-third thicker than other scripts, and the copper nails used to bind the script did not stick out like in other scripts.

"This length..." Julia Taylor also understood that a 160-page script is much longer than an ordinary movie. This kind of movie is also a double-edged sword for the director. If it is well made, it can gain both fame and fortune, and is considered by the industry to be a work that is out of ordinary commercial films. If it is not well made, the loss of money is also particularly severe.

"What do you think of the leading actress?" Julia Taylor had seen the audition photos of three actresses. She knew that if Ronald liked her, the leading actress would be chosen among the three.

"I prefer Robin Wright, because it can save me a lot of trouble. Bridget Fonda's image is the most suitable, but she needs to be trained slowly. I heard that she doesn't seem to have inherited her grandfather and aunt's acting skills..."

This kind of super long movie is really a test of the actors' performance, and there are many scenes in the sugar-coated trap that require a lot of acting skills. If the actress has poor acting skills, it will be very troublesome to shoot.

Julia Taylor put a mark on Robin Wright's name. She is not the kind of casting director who only caters to the director's preferences. In her eyes, Bridget Fonda seems to be a more suitable candidate.

As for Jane Tripplehorn, if the script was still the outrageous version, her face that looks like Jacqueline would be more suitable. In the minds of American audiences, women who look like Jacqueline are smarter and would probably use her husband Mitch's affair to severely control him, and it would not be so easy for her to go back to Boston with him to live an ordinary life.

"Very good, we will start auditioning according to this schedule. There are also various supporting roles. This is as big a project as the Godfather's back then."

"Yes, I won't see you off, Julia. I have guests from across the ocean. Sorry."

……

The guest Ronald was talking about was Deputy Director Fei whom he had met there not long ago. As expected, his speech at the banquet last time was full of hidden meanings, and he came again this time.

This time he came with a large delegation, mainly to visit people in the arts and literature who are friendly to China. He did not go directly to Washington DC. Ronald was the first person he visited in Hollywood.

"Excuse me, Deputy Director Fei. We Hollywood capitalists actually work very hard. You see, we have to work at home on weekends. We are so busy."

"Director Luo, you're joking..." Deputy Director Fei still called him Director Luo like the mainland filmmakers.

This time when he came to Hollywood, he brought Ronald good news. His Daydream had been specially approved as the first Hollywood production company that could negotiate a profit-sharing agreement with China Film. This was a reward for Ronald's consistent pro-China behavior.

Of course, they also wanted to learn more about the inside story of Hollywood from Ronald. If they could help to restore this important matter that the leader was particularly concerned about, it would be a great achievement.

"Who do you want to talk to in Hollywood? I'm afraid the big studios are not as interested in the mainland film market as they were ten years ago."

Ronald also told the truth that the number of television sets there has been growing rapidly in recent years. It is said that several color TV production lines have been introduced. His shell company that supplies TV series to Xujiahui TV stations has also been doing well recently, which shows that the development speed of the mainland's TV market is amazing.

Similar to the way Hollywood was beaten to a pulp by TV stations, the current mainland market is also experiencing the same thing. The decline in movie box office compared to a few years ago is quite alarming.

Under such circumstances, it would not be easy to get the seven major film studios to be interested in that area.

"I don't know. Which one do you think has a greater chance, Director Luo?" Deputy Director Fei took the initiative to ask Ronald, to ask him which major studio is more likely to achieve a breakthrough and cooperation first?

"I suggest you look for MGM and Columbia. During World War II, MGM made a series of films that reflected the Chinese people's heroic resistance against Japan. Katharine Hepburn even played a Chinese girl.

Columbia is now owned by Japan, so they have more experience in dealing with the mainland than other big studios.”

Ronald did not hide his secrets. According to his own understanding, he told them about some major studios that might cooperate with China Film Group and gave them some advice on who might make the process go faster. At that time, they could appoint those China-friendly executives to talk, such as Mike McDavoy of TriStar Pictures, who could also gossip about Songhai.

"Before I came, I asked some teachers at the Central Academy of Drama, and they said that Warner Bros. has recently made a lot of movies that reflect the Chinese people. I wonder if they are also suitable?" Before Deputy Director Fei came, he asked his secretary to ask people from the Central Academy of Drama to write a report. Those production studios like to shoot stories about Chinese people.

"Hey, you have to find those movies to watch yourself. I'm not in a position to comment. I can only say that not all movies shot with Chinese people are friendly to China. Maybe in some movies, the image of Chinese people is deliberately distorted..."

As soon as Ronald heard it, he knew that they were talking about movies like Chinatown and Year of the Dragon, which had Chinese as the main characters. They were either villains or gangsters, and there were no positive images. Of course, these movies could not be dubbed into Chinese, so it was normal for the deputy director not to understand them.

"Thank you Director Luo for your great assistance..." Although Deputy Director Fei did not fully understand what Ronald meant, he felt that such words might not be good words.

The visit ended there. They couldn't help much in the arts field and could only play a supporting role. Deputy Director Fei was about to leave.

"Stay for dinner, my wife has already prepared the food..." Ronald thought to himself, it's impossible for a Chinese person to come to their home as a guest and not eat.

"Then we'd better obey your command..." Someone invited us to dinner, and it was official business, which had been reported before... Everyone in the group was very happy.

"Please wait a moment, I have something else to discuss..." Ronald stood up and said goodbye.

"Hey, what do you think the Hollywood capitalists eat?" The translator and the assistant began to joke.

"You may say you don't understand. Director Luo is a fan of Chinese culture. Didn't you see there is a garden here?"

"Is this a garden? It looks like a dry landscape from Japan, right?"

Anyway, Ronald's family has a little bit of everything. The young people began to argue.

"Hey, look at Director Luo's guest, who does he look like?"

Suddenly, Deputy Director Fei's trusted secretary pointed outward, and saw Ronald and a white man walking towards another house from the garden. They looked familiar.

"Is it a bit similar?" Deputy Director Fei was unsure, and suddenly his heart warmed.

……

"George, how is the scenery in Beverly? Is it better than the scenery you saw in Texas?"

The guest Ronald received was George Jr. He suddenly appeared in Hollywood and went straight to Ronald's home after getting off the plane.

"My mother Barbara is very unhappy. I'm here to check something for her..."

(End of this chapter)