Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1404 True and False Forrest Gump Project
The two main characters were cast, and the core content of the film was already 80% determined. Ronald didn't care about the rest of the casting. Jan de Bont chose Dennis Hopper, who might be the most high-energy actor still alive in Hollywood. As the spokesperson for neurosis, he was very suitable to play the villain, the old soldier who was owed pension.

Ronald's free hands were mainly focused on his planned film project "Forrest Gump".

"Of course Tom Hanks is the most suitable actor for the leading role. I have already sent the script revised by Eric Roth to Tom, who just finished filming 'Philadelphia' and is on vacation."

Ronald approached Julia Taylor to discuss casting for the new project. With a friendship and partnership of more than ten years, and Ronald paying a large sum of confidentiality fees, the casting of the Forrest Gump project was carried out in secret under the cover of "Speed". Only a few core members knew that Ronald was going to take over the preparation of this film.

"I heard that Eric Roth's script changed the tone and core values ​​of many of Winston Groom's novels?" Julia Taylor didn't see the entire script either, but only watched some scenes with the male and female protagonists.

"Yes, my opinion is to reverse the two elements in the book, making love the main content and fantasy adventure the secondary content. Forrest Gump in the book is too cynical and too cold. The audience will not watch such a fool. This is the valuable experience that 'Rain Man' taught me. The family warmth of a fool is what makes the audience feel most comfortable."

Ronald has been discussing with Eric Roth how to make the movie script more appealing to the audience. The most interesting part of this "Forrest Gump" is that it uses the eyes of a fool whose IQ is lower than that of an ordinary person to look at the history of America over the years.

However, the original novel uses a deconstructive approach to ridicule all major historical events. The portrayal of Forrest Gump is also not very good, turning him into a "Rain Man"-like idiot genius who, although behind in studies, can quickly understand advanced astrophysics and later becomes an astronaut on the moon because of this.

This sarcastic tone is actually the same as the social trend in the 1970s. It is a hippie attitude that looks coldly at the crazy actions of successive presidents.

For example, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of the President, the Apollo moon landing, Ping-Pong Diplomacy, and the Vietnam War, which was the most painful for the hippie generation, all knocked the formerly high-ranking politicians off the altar, and mocking them as being no better than a fool was more useful.

Eric Roth originally received $500,000 for the adaptation from Warner Bros. and Steve Tisch. He wrote three drafts and finally received the full payment, but due to the success of "Rain Man", this movie with a similar plot was put on the back burner by Warner Bros.

After the film was transferred to Paramount under the new leadership of Shirley Lansing, especially to Weintraub, Ronald secretly paid Eric Roth to rewrite the script according to his own ideas. He deleted all the plots of the idiot genius similar to "Rain Man" in the novel, and only kept Forrest Gump's below-average IQ. He also gave him a kind-hearted character, which fits the worldview of young people in small towns in the South.

In other words, Forrest Gump's envy of the hippie lifestyle and chaotic relationships between men and women in the novel were completely replaced by the conservative tendency of emphasizing traditional values ​​and returning to the family in the script.

"So, yours is a complete subversion of the novel, right?" Julia Taylor was also excited after learning the whole picture. This adaptation looks like a hit movie.

First of all, because of the prevalence of...diseases, even Hollywood rarely has the chaotic relationships and parties of the 1970s and 1980s. The entire generation is very scared, and the rate of premarital behavior has hit the lowest level since the Vietnam War.

Moreover, moviegoers still want to see a love story, and it is best to have a happy ending. Although this ending is not as happy as the usual cheesy Hollywood movies, it is very consistent with the mainstream social trends among movies adapted from satirical novels.

"Ronald, this script is very good. I want to play Forrest Gump..."

Hanks had just received the script and read it for more than an hour before excitedly calling Ronald to ask him to lock in the male lead, Forrest Gump.

"Of course, you are the first choice that Julia Taylor and I thought of. Don't tell anyone, not even your agent. Once I get the filming rights, I will contact you formally through your agent. Otherwise, once this news comes out, I'm afraid there will be complications..."

"No problem, I'll hide it..."

"That's settled. You need to get back in shape and do some exercise. I'll have a nutritionist develop a special plan for you."

"Very good, Tom Hanks is indeed a very suitable candidate..." Julia Taylor heard the call, she thought about it, and made a suggestion to Ronald:

"However, you need to hide this as deeply as possible, and it would be best if you could do something fake..."

"What do you think?" Ronald also became interested.

Although Warner Bros. had transferred the distribution rights of this film to Paramount, there were still some restrictive clauses in the complex contract terms. This is why Ronald needed Paramount to transfer the filming rights twice - first to Weintraub Pictures, and then to Menahan Golan's 21st Century Pictures.

After these two changes of hands, some of the filming clauses of Daydream Pictures, which was finally sold to Ronald, will become invalid. Even if Warner Pictures and the original producer Steve Tisch are not satisfied, they can only take legal action afterwards, rather than opposing it as soon as they hear that Ronald has started filming.

"Do you have any idea how to set off a smoke bomb?"

“If Menahem Golan made this movie, who would he cast as Forrest Gump?”

……

"Ha ha ha... Ronald, Street Fighter is doing very well in the Middle East and Latin America. They like this kind of Hollywood movie the most. There aren't too many lines, just fighting..."

Menahan Golan was very happy. Ronald gave him the distribution agency for some regions of films suitable for international distribution. The films produced by Ronald were more popular than some Hollywood blockbusters due to their good international appeal.

"You must have read the Mortal Kombat project book. I have reserved two second-round financing quotas for you." Ronald smiled and shook hands with him and hugged him.

His new company, Twenty-First Century Productions, has embarked on a virtuous cycle. By distributing action films produced by Daydream to certain areas where he has good connections, the money earned from copy rentals can be used as an investment to participate in the early financing round of Daydream's next project. In addition to the money earned from distribution, he can also make money through commissions.

If he had the same vision as Ronald, Cannon had followed this path and might have squeezed out MGM and become one of the MPAA's major members. This would be the first time since RKO in the 1950s that a new production company had joined the ranks of the Big Eight in Hollywood.

Unfortunately, he has a poor eye for quality. Eight out of ten movies he invested in were lousy box office failures. If some movies could reach the level of Street Fighter, they wouldn't be... Never mind...

Menahan Golan is in a very good state of mind now. He knows that he is not the same as the Jews who dominate Hollywood. It is good that he can still mix in Hollywood, dominate the distribution and production of the Israeli market again, and get involved in some of Ronald's projects. It will not be too late to realize his dream when he saves enough money.

"My casting director and I have an idea. Minahan, let me ask you, if you were casting for the role of Forrest Gump, who would you choose?"

"Of course it's John Travolta... Oh, no, do you want me to lead the project? I'm ready to transfer it to you... Oh, you're not... Haha, I like your cunningness."

Minahan realized that Ronald was just bluffing, but this little brother had always been kind to him, so he just played with him however he wanted.

"Why Travolta?" Ronald was quite surprised to hear the answer.

"First of all, he's a star. I sold the musical Grease to Israel, and the young people there loved him so much... And your recent Look Who's Talking and the sequel, oh my God, this is the old-school Hollywood male star..."

Ronald listened and shook his head. Menahan Golan's aesthetic taste was simply...

Choosing John Travolta shows that in his mind, who is the most popular star in Hollywood is still measured according to the standards of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Travolta was indeed popular at that time, but now...

Moreover, his choice of a celebrity face like Travolta shows that his idea of ​​Hollywood stars is still stuck in the Cold War era. He is tall, handsome, with a square chin and a dimple in the middle.

Maybe, in places like Israel, people still prefer this type of male star. But by the 1990s, the local market had changed.

This may be the reason why Menahan Golan has not been successful. His understanding of Hollywood movies is always from the perspective of a foreign audience.

"What do you think? If I were still in Cannon, wouldn't this casting be very attractive? Plus Brooke Shields playing Jenny, if the posters of these two people were put together, the film would be able to sell 20 million at Cannes."

"Puchi..." Ronald laughed out loud. This taste is still stuck in the early 1980s, but maybe he can really get advance payment in Europe? The international market's perception of celebrities is indeed very different from that in China.

"I know you don't agree with my casting, but in some places, they still recognize these stars..." Minahan Golan smiled awkwardly.

"I just think you're really loyal to your friends, Minahan, and there aren't many producers like you in Hollywood."

"Ha ha ha, isn't it. Many of the Jews here are SOBs. The bad things are caused by these self-righteous people."

Ronald then quietly worked out the details of Operation Smoke with Menahan Golan. 21st Century Fox would make a misguided project, casting John Travolta as Forrest Gump, and then film the movie with the cynical tone of Winston Groom's original novel.

The entire project was submitted to the MPAA for filing, and then a project announcement was published in The Hollywood Reporter. John Travolta was interviewed and a one-sentence news item was published on page 14 of The Hollywood Reporter.

……

"21st Century Fox is launching a new project. Is this Menahan Golan's first big production after leaving Cannonball?"

The news was published in The Hollywood Reporter the next day. Menahan Golan revealed in an interview that John Travolta was interested in joining the film adapted from the novel. The film will use the latest special effects technology to shoot the Apollo moon landing spacecraft and the African jungle gorillas.

He also said that he would gather members of real college football teams to recreate the scene in Forrest Gump where he represented his university and won the NCAA's best running back award. Since the film involves former presidents of the United States, he is contacting Hollywood actors to select the most suitable actors to play JFK, Johnson, Richard, etc.

“I had the opportunity to work with Minahan ten years ago, but missed the opportunity. It’s a good thing that I can make up for it this time.

The specific situation depends on Minahan's preparation progress. He said that I am the most suitable Hollywood actor to play Forrest Gump. After all, Forrest Gump in the novel is a two-meter-tall football running back. I have always been looking forward to playing a role in a football movie..."

John Travolta didn't know the inside story, but he was really invited by Menahan Golan to play Forrest Gump. Now no one wants him to shoot a big production, and this Forrest Gump seems to be Menahan's first big production after lying dormant for a long time. Maybe it's also his chance to turn things around.

Besides, in the previous "Rain Man", Dustin Hoffman played an idiot genius and won the Oscar for Best Actor. Maybe I can also get the recognition of the judges?
The reason why he thought so, of course, was because Minahan gave him Eric Roth's earliest adaptation, which was still a project led by Warner Bros. at that time.

"Oh my god, is this fat Israeli guy going to make another movie? Hahaha, does he think he hasn't made enough jokes in Hollywood history?"

Upon seeing this news, several senior executives of Warner Bros. all laughed together. The reason why they sold the filming rights to Paramount's new female president, Shirley Lansing, who knew nothing, was because "Rain Man" had already occupied the market for this type of movie, and a remake in a short period of time would definitely fail at the box office.

I think Shirley Lansing also found out something was wrong afterwards and quietly sold the project to Weintraub. Although Weintraub was an outsider from the record industry, he had also made hit movies like "The Karate Kid". He also saw something was wrong and sold it to Menahan Golan.

Finally, in the hands of Menahem Golan, the eternal layman, this is a real project. It seems that we can once again appreciate this Israeli project, which failed at the box office after a huge investment, like a bomb that once again blew his company into bankruptcy.

"It seems that Ronald doesn't want this project anymore. We were worried for a while. However, this guy seems to want to transform and enter the international distribution of real heavy assets.

I heard that in China, he is the only Hollywood company competing with us for cinema investment projects. However, this guy is good at making movies, but he doesn't seem to know how to truly build international distribution channels. He doesn't build cinemas himself or acquire existing ones, but wants to sell newer equipment to them.

This time when I go to China, I want to finalize the cooperation with the film company before he can react."