Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 677 Chapter 3 The box office rose against the trend in the second week
"Ronald, there's another agency besides Pepsi that wants to put commercials in the 'Top Gun' video and wants you to direct it."

"Oh? Which company is it?" Ronald received a long-distance call from the producer Bruckheimer from Hollywood.Since AT&T was broken up, the telephone companies in each area operated independently, and the cost of in-room calls and answering machines dropped a lot.But the price of long-distance calls rose instead of falling, and Ronald often had to chat with multiple people about creative projects, and his monthly phone bill skyrocketed.

"It's not the company, it's the American Navy. They want to add a recruiting advertisement to the video. Because the Navy has a strict bidding process, they have already issued bids to all 4A advertising companies, but they strongly hinted that you are their favorite The candidate, as long as you nod, you will win the bid [-]%."

"Um, well, if any 4A advertising company wins the bid, ask him to contact Eddie, the general manager of my Daydream Productions."

Two Navy investigators quickly discovered that Ronald's film portrayed the work of the Navy very attractively.

In addition to pilots being able to pick up girls casually, playing MiG pilots, playing volleyball on the beach, and driving cool fighter jets like the Tomcat, even the ground crew was described by Ronald as a good job choice.

Whether dancing to rock music on the aircraft carrier, or those ground crews working in the tower of the base, using the radio to communicate with the pilots, it is a very desirable job (various scenes of working with oil and wrenches under the sun Ronald did not shoot).

In the second week of the film's release, the Navy saw inquiries from its recruiting office rise by more than [-] percent.The bureaucrats of the Pentagon were already very worried about the continuous decline in the number of recruits every year. This time, in order to seize the opportunity, they overcame the red tape of the bureaucracy and quickly set up recruiting points on the spot in movie theaters in major cities across the country.

Since the Vietnam War made civilian families in America cry over the children who died under the conscription system, a major issue in the election has been to change the conscription system to a conscription system.After voters got their wish, the Pentagon quickly found that they could no longer recruit middle-class soldiers.

No one wants to serve in the army, be humiliated at will by instructors, and have the chance to die in battle.Soon, the composition of the army changed drastically.Blacks and various ethnic minorities began to rapidly exceed their respective proportions in the total population and became the largest source of soldiers for the Army.

And worst of all are the Air Force and Navy.These two services require a large number of highly educated people to serve as high-tech arms.However, American society has gradually regarded serving as a soldier as a worthless place. The navy has become the most difficult military branch to recruit because it has to serve at sea, away from land and family, surpassing the air force.

Originally the most distinguished military branch in America, and the first choice for the children of many senators to enlist in the army, it is now gradually beginning to encounter serious difficulties in recruiting troops.

If serving as a soldier is not for honor, but for a job and a way out, the quality of soldiers will soon become worse and worse.

This time "Top Gun" brought an unexpected surprise.Young people quickly discover that being a soldier is not only a job, but also a "cool" job.The sense of honor and the fact that showing off the status of a navy pilot when picking up girls is all-encompassing, made young people start to look forward to serving in the army again.

Ronald quickly felt the trend, and in nightclubs and bars, people began to rent navy uniforms and wear Ray-Ban sunglasses to pick up girls.The boat caps and badges drove the girls wild, though Ronald guessed many were fake navy.

Going to the nightclub was proposed by the advertising agency hired by Pepsi, and Ronald also met an old acquaintance, the original creative director of BBDO, Darcy Maguire.

Eddie, Ronald's original agent in New York, took over the duties of general manager of "Daydream Pictures".Pepsi gave a lot of creative freedom and a large production fee.

Their only request was for Ronald to market Pepsi's latest "Diet Pepsi" with iconic scenes from "Top Gun"

A side effect of massive farm subsidies and food stamps for the poor is a massive increase in obesity.Urban residents like to follow trends, rich people start exercising in gyms one after another, while middle class people have no money or time, they prefer to find comfort in products.

The "Sugar Free Pepsi" launched by Pepsi in the 60s was once again welcomed by consumers in the mid-80s.

Pepsi also found the quarterback of the San Francisco [-]ers last year, Joe Montana, to endorse Sugar Free Pepsi.In addition, they tasted the sweetness of sponsoring the Los Angeles Olympics in [-], and they also sponsored the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer this time.

This time Tom Cruise showed his strong figure several times in the movie. Pepsi has always been interested in such a pair of young women (Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, etc., strong and topless, and also dressed in cool clothes) uniforms), and movies with huge appeal to young men (supersonic jets, air combat, and cool uniforms) are very interesting.The box office in the first two weeks also gave them great confidence.

Pepsi even wanted to find Tom Cruise for an ad.However, this does not match the star positioning that Paula wants for Cruise.Pepsi took the next best thing, hitched a ride, and found an actor who looked a lot like Cruise to shoot commercials.

After discussing with the film's two producers and Paula Wagner, they both readily agreed to borrow the film and the star's image for the advertisement.

Advertisements for videotapes will not be broadcast on public TV stations with great influence, and on the other hand, it can increase the extra income of the film.Neither side disputed that.

Ronald wrote the script, imitating the beginning of the movie where the Lone Ranger flies upside down above the MiG-28.

He changed the actor who looked like Cruise to Mustang (Mustang), which means a maverick young man just like Maverick.

During the flight, the diet Coke placed on the drink cup holder was stuck to the cup holder by the companion and could not be taken out to enjoy.Mustang had no choice but to fly upside down, took the poured Pepsi with a cup, and drank it down.

Advertisement Ronald didn't do it himself, he just put on a name.He found Catherine Bigelow, who couldn't find a job, gave her a director's fee, and then found Cameron to build a special effects ring system on the ground to shoot the shots in the cockpit.

Darcy Maguire gave the green light to Ronald's plan. Since the two have cooperated, their careers have advanced by leaps and bounds in their respective industries. Maguire has become a rare female creative vice president in the industry.

PepsiCo is a big customer, and the annual advertising cost is tens of millions.Now that Ronald agrees, she is also happy to let a director who is also a woman produce.The end result pleases Darcy Maguire, Katherine Bigelow's camera language is beautiful, and the end result has a parody of "Top Gun" comedy.

"Satisfied?" Seeing the client nodding, Ronald turned to congratulate Bigelow.

With the remuneration for this shooting, she can hang out in Hollywood for a long time.Female directors don't have many opportunities to get independent investment.

"Do you know, the Navy is also bidding for a 30-second recruiting advertisement, and they also asked me to bid."

"What do they think? Recruitment advertisements are actually not easy to shoot, especially now that the American people have not fully healed from the psychological trauma of the Vietnam War."

"I didn't submit a plan. In fact, your movie is the best recruitment advertisement. There is no need to submit ideas."

"Ah? You don't even do business delivery?"

"You don't understand, this is the best strategy. Those in the navy pay attention to costs. If I can convince them, they will feel that I am really thinking about them, and there will be no fewer orders in the future."

"So that's how it is." Ronald felt that these people had figured out the client's psychology very clearly, and they deserved to run an advertising company.

"Actually, this time is a good opportunity for you. Pepsi's sponsorship of the video tape of Top Gun this time will definitely cause a surge in sales. I watched Top Gun, and it is a phenomenal movie. Now your reputation in the fast moving consumer goods market It is completely established.

I guess it won't be long before Coca-Cola wants you too.Even other giants in the snack industry will want to try their luck on you.The higher your movie box office, the more extra Pepsi you'll sell, and the bigger your advertising reputation will be in the future..."

Darcy Maguire described his business prospects to Ronald.Ronald thinks it is a good opportunity, his daydream also needs more shooting opportunities that are not so demanding, training technicians and artistic creation personnel, and when the opportunity comes, he can start shooting low-cost exploitation films .

Week two, the big Memorial Day weekend is over.

The box office statistics came out, and in the second week, the box office did not decrease but increased, rising to 50 million even though the number of theaters released basically did not increase.The single-house box office increased by more than 2000%, and the total box office exceeded [-] million in [-].

"Huh..."

This result really scared Paramount.

Although the box office champion was surpassed by "Cobra" starring Stallone, which was signed by Minahan Golan with a salary of more than 1000 million, it only ranked second.

However, the Warner Bros. distribution that Minahan found, in order to support the first movie of the first superstar he signed, arranged for more than 2100 movie theaters to be released.

As such, it was only slightly higher than "Top Gun" at the weekend box office.

With 1000 theaters, Ronald almost equaled the box office of other 2000 theaters.And it was Stallone's opening week, with the usual second week of box office declines.

Paramount's distribution manager, Sid Ganis, went mad and approached president Ned Tanin with a very radical plan.An additional 500 copies will be printed, and starting in June, 1500 theaters will be screened urgently.Make the number of theaters showing more than [-].

"It's a very feasible plan. We have estimated the appeal of Ronald's movie and Tom Cruise's influence. But we still underestimated their appeal.

The box office of the second week can greatly exceed the box office of the first week, which shows that the moviegoers this time are those who did not go to the cinema very much.This kind of opportunity is rare. We predict that this movie can be screened for a long time, and it can be used as a new movie in the summer file in June. "

Tanin quickly signed the document, and this Ronald gave himself endless surprises.

"The next international premiere will also depend on their international appeal. How do you predict it?" Tanin asked.

"We expect to achieve good results in all English-speaking countries, Britain, and Australia. It will also sell well in Japan and South Korea. In addition, we will also make some progress in Xiangjiang on the other side. The fierce scene of fighter dogfights does not require Language is also capable of transmission.

And the charm of McGillis and Cruise can be seen by people who are not blind. "

"Hard lads, swapping their hotel for a penthouse executive suite, how's the royal premiere in Britannia going?"

"The royal office stated that the princess will attend the premiere, and the queen is also fighting for it. She will also receive new recipients of the title of Lord and prominent representatives of cultural undertakings."

"Very well, keep in touch. If Her Majesty the Queen can come to the premiere in London, we will add a public relations fee so that our boys can show their faces in the British media."

(End of this chapter)