Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 529 The Audience Responds Overwhelmingly
"Longwei Boys don't have many ticket buyers." Producer Weintraub looked worriedly at the flow of people at the ticket office.

Together, Ronald and Weintraub watched the box office of the first-day screening of "The Dragon Boy" outside the movie theater on the fourth floor of the Sherman Oaks department store in Los Angeles.This department store, where Ronald made two movies, has become a standard sampling point for him to watch live reactions.

Weintraub's money was spent on on-site marketing and expanding the scale of the screening. After the two discussed it, they did not hold any more irrelevant premieres.Anyway, this movie has no stars, and it is difficult to attract reporters to make headlines.

"Ghostbusters," "Little Goblins," and "Raiders in the Palace" were also the top three movies.Ronald secretly counted the number of people watching these three movies.And the number of people who choose to watch "Longwei Boy" is almost half of them.

"It's okay, as I said earlier, the first-day box office of a movie depends on marketing, and the rest depends on word-of-mouth." Ronald was beside him, encouraging Weintraub and himself.

"You're right, our word of mouth is better than..." Weintraub wanted to say that his films were better than those three, but he was a little self-deceiving after thinking about it, so he swallowed it.

This year's summer vacation is very strange, with "Ghostbusters" and "Little Monsters" two super dark horses.The reason why they were able to run out in the box office competition is also because of their good reputation, otherwise they shouldn't be called dark horses.I really have no confidence in defeating them with word of mouth.

Especially for "Ghostbusters", the average box office per theater in the second week of its release did not drop, but rose, and the number of theaters where it was screened was immediately increased by [-], reaching [-].Everyone knows that this is the posture of a super dark horse.

Weintraub wanted to say that the two of them were deceiving themselves and others by imagining that "Longwei Boy" could get good grades under the attack of the three masterpieces, as long as they could get a good grade, they would be able to explain it.

But seeing Ronald so confident, he also held back his bad judgment.After all, he himself is the first real producer.

The film starts shortly after Weintraub finishes his Pepsi and throws the cup in the trash.He winked at Ronald, and the two entered the screening room without talking about the box office forecast.

The movie started to play, and because it was a drama, the audience was immersed in the plot, and no one let out an exclamation like they did during the "Breakdance" screening.

Daniel and his mother drove from New Jersey all the way to Los Angeles.They moved into the apartment and met Mr. Miyagi to fix the faucet.

The audience still didn't make a sound. Weintraub didn't know whether they were engrossed in watching or not interested in the plot.He got a little nervous and started to clasp his hands and look around.

Daniel met the beautiful Ali on the beach, and the two fell in love at first sight. Ali took the initiative to ask Daniel to teach him how to play football.

Then Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny taught Daniel a lesson, and Daniel practiced karate in the apartment to take revenge. Master Miyagi saw it and was noncommittal.

On Halloween, Daniel dressed up as a shower ring to attend a masquerade. Ali recognized him by heart, and the two embraced in the shower curtain.

Not hearing the audience's reaction he expected, Weintraub's hands turned white from exertion.He couldn't bear it anymore, picked up the drink that was placed next to him and drank it.

"Hey, Jerry, that's my Coke." Ronald also went to get a drink, took one empty, and couldn't help complaining.

The audience in front turned their heads and glared, thinking they were too noisy.

"Sorry," Ronald gave a wink, and the two quietly slipped out of their seats to the rest hall at the door.

"You're too nervous, Jerry." Ronald went to the snack counter to buy a pack of cigarettes, pulled out one and handed it to Weintraub, lit it for him with a disposable plastic lighter, and took it himself Pick up one.

"I was inside, and my heart was about to jump out. Why didn't the audience respond?"

Weintraub smoked a cheap cigarette that he usually dismissed, and let out a big puff.

"They watched it too engrossed. I think it's a good sign. It shows that the plot of the movie has aroused their curiosity. Didn't you see the look of disgust that the audience cast after we disturbed them?"

Ronald also took a puff of smoke.He never smokes at ordinary times, he only smokes to relieve stress when writing scripts.

"You're right," Weintraub hurriedly finished his cigarettes, went to the counter to buy two packs of chocolate beans, and gave one pack to Ronald.

"Don't worry, it's too late to modify the copy anyway." Ronald joked.

"Hey!"

Clearly, the joke was misplaced, and Weintraub was even more troubled this time around.

"Did we fail?" he asked suddenly.

"Where does this start?" Ronald opened the package and ate two chocolates.

"No, it's not your fault, I'm not complaining about you." Weintraub nervously tore at the package of MM chocolates, "This is Columbia's mistake in arranging the release time."

"They don't know that Ghostbusters and Gremlins can be so popular, right? We've tried our best to avoid Raiders and Star Trek," Ronald persuaded. In fact, the worst is "Hot Street Boys". It is the object of being hit hard.It is expected to be offline in three weeks.

"Hey..." Weintraub couldn't listen to Ronald's persuasion, he had completely fallen into a cycle of self-denial.

"Maybe we spend too much time on useless plot. Are we going too slow?"

"That's not the case. I see that the audience is very involved. Didn't you notice that we have been out for so long, and no one has come out to use the bathroom in Hall [-] where 'Longwei Boy' is played?"

"Yes...that's a good sign." Weintraub relaxed slightly.

"Well, are these two audience members from Hall [-]? They're going to the bathroom." Before the words finished, Weintraub pointed to a young couple, and the two walked quickly to the bathroom.

"It's over, they're out to go to the toilet." Weintraub handed the cigarette to his mouth with trembling hands, and the cigarette hair that he smoked vigorously gave off a bright red light.

"It's okay, there are not many people, and they are all eager to go back." Ronald explained.The boy waited for the girl, held hands and hurried inside.

Seeing that the other party was so nervous, Ronald led Weintraub to the pizza shop opposite, and ordered two Cokes, a small pizza, and a poke of chicken wings to the clerk in the red and white arrow shirt.

"Eat something first, don't be nervous, I think the audience's reaction is very positive."

"Just because few people go to the bathroom?" Weintraub picked up the Pepsi again and swigged it.

"Yes, I generally use this to measure the appeal of the plot to the audience. Obviously, they are not willing to miss any plot."

"Thank you," Ronald took the chicken wings from the waitress and ate them himself.

"Maybe we should listen to Columbia and cut the scene where Miyagi-sensei remembers the 10 Infantry Regiment, so that [-] minutes can be compressed, so that the cinema can have an extra show."

Ronald was beaten by Weintraub, a man who was very nagging as he waited for the flop at the table.

It's actually not that bad.He thought to himself, even if he was in a ring with the three major films, he was confident that he could stand out.

Ronald said nothing, and offered Weintraub another cigarette.

"I may be too nervous, we haven't lost yet." Weintraub was finally gagged by the cigarette, took the pizza, and began to munch.

"How much box office do you think we can get in the end? Based on six to eight weeks of release, the average is 400 million. Is it possible to break 3000 million?" Weintraub began to worry again.

But this time his worries are not random. Generally speaking, the box office in the first week of release is the highest. According to today's attendance rate and publicity, it is about 500 million, and then decreases every week. It will be released for six to eight weeks. Already above the industry average.

"As I said, the opening of the film determines the box office on the first day, and after that it depends on word of mouth." Ronald knocked on the table, he was not very sure, "I think we should be able to stay in the theater. for more than eight weeks."

Weintraub also knew that asking any further questions would be disrespectful to Ronald, and the two faced each other silently, eating pizza silently.

"How is your wife Jane getting along with Susan?" Ronald broke the silence. He was very curious and admired Weintraub's ability to live a monogamous life.

"I'm living a double life now. Although Jane asks Susan to go home during festivals, they still don't talk at ordinary times. I can only take care of both ends and work hard on my own."

Weintraub shook his head, "Who made me fall in love with the two of them, Ronald, you must not make the same mistakes I made in the future."

The two sat in the pizzeria for a long time, and Weintraub was afraid to go back to see the real reaction of the audience, so he could only wait here.

"Aww..." There was a faint cry from the theater opposite.

"Where is it? Is it our Hall No. [-]?" Weintraub stood up with a bang, holding on to the railing with both hands and looking across.His joy was beyond words, and his head was poked out from the railing.

"It seems to be", Ronald also stood up, and he raised his wrist to look at the newly bought electronic watch. The numbers showed that this "Longwei Boy" has been played for an hour and 55 minutes.

"Maybe it was the last crane kick." Ronald guessed.

"Come on, let's go take a look," Weintraub hurriedly took out a handful of banknotes and put them on the table.Pulling Ronald, he ran along the aisle to the entrance of the opposite projection hall, waiting for the audience to leave.

During the closing track of Joe Esposito's "You're the Best," the audience began to come out in twos and threes.

The young people at the beginning began to make karate moves in the movie while walking.

"Hey, ah!" A boy in a T-shirt raised his hand and hit his companion with a "wallwashing style".

"Sweep the legs!" Another young man, not to be outdone, squatted down and kicked back the despicable move of the cobra dojo, "Get ready for the body bag!"

"It's all lines from movies, it's all lines from movies," Weintraub was excited, and he grabbed Ronald's sleeve tightly and shook it.

"Karate is here, not on the belt." Another older man began to learn the lines of Master Miyagi, and began to teach his two companions.

"Waxing style! Floor style!" Unconvinced, the two started fighting around him.

Ronald also heaved a sigh of relief. It seems that the effect is really good, and young people also like to watch it.

"Uncle, Uncle!"

A voice started to scream strangely behind him, and Ronald looked back.It was a man in a suit and leather shoes, with the appearance of a senior office worker, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.

He was independent on one foot, and then began to imitate the "crane kick" that Daniel used to defeat Johnny in the end.

"Uncle", he didn't know how to use force, so he imitated clumsily, but he still enjoyed it.

"We're saved." Ronald pulled La Weintraub and pointed him to the white collar.

"What did you say?"

"I said our box office is guaranteed," Ronald pointed to the white-collar worker who was bumping past.There are several people beside him, imitating the crane kick.

"Why?" Weintraub looked at them blankly.

Ronald smiled slightly. This is not the target audience of the movie, young people, but senior white-collar workers who pay great attention to clothing and demeanor.

Even this kind of audience began to imitate the crane kick, which shows that the whole story is very convincing, not only teenagers, but even adults will be moved, remembering the past in high school, right?

Unlike "Breakdance", which was an epoch-making dance, no one had ever seen it, and most of the audience's madness was brought about by that dance.

Audiences have seen a lot of martial arts movies like "Longwei Boy".

Martial arts movies have been released over the years, starting with the original Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon."The audience has seen much more exciting fights than this "Crane Kick".

This time their madness for this action is obviously not out of admiration for the martial arts action itself, but the story really moved them.

"I think your box office target can be greatly improved, and we will not fail."

(End of this chapter)