Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Alan, it's me, Ronald. Your assistant Ronald...do you still remember me?...Ahahaha..."

Alan Arkush, the director of "Rock High" back then, received a call from Ronald and at first thought someone was pretending to be Ronald as a joke.

His career as a director was not going well. After Rock and Roll High School, it took an average of four years for a script to come to him. Last year's "Crazy Golf 2" had a box office of only 11 million against a budget of 20 million, and even the shooting cost was not recovered. Just relax at home now.

In fact, this movie is also executive produced by Peter Gubel and Jon Peters, and their production company funded and directed it. Therefore, the so-called good vision of these two people also has a lot of water. Just because their output is much larger than that of personal studios like Ronald and Spielberg, they seem to be more famous on Wall Street.

Ronald was enthusiastic about Alan Aykouch, expressing his interest in inviting him to direct "Rock of Ages 2." Another director who helped out at the time, Joe Dante, had a much better career than him. Last year he also directed a new film by Tom Hanks, which cost more than 10 million and earned more than 40 million at the box office.

Therefore, it is impossible for him to direct a sequel to a B-level movie, but Alan Aikush is different. He has no choice now.

"I've been talking to PJ and Day Young. Van Patten is retiring next spring. How about we bring in the Ramones and make a sequel, with you deciding the main story?"

Ronald has already contacted all the leading actors of the year by phone, plus himself and Jim Cameron, and also found Roger Corman, who can all make a cameo.

"Yeah? Your idea is very interesting. Rock girls are still good friends ten years later. They still use a punk rock attitude to deal with difficulties on the road of life?" Alan Aikush figured out that Ronald really wanted to film A sequel rather than a joke, interest immediately spiked.

Another week passed, and on Friday, Ronald was handling official business in Daydream's office when he saw Alan Aikush coming over in a hurry with a briefcase under his arm.

"Alan..." Ronald stopped his personal assistant Fat Girl Lake, who stepped forward to stop him, and called Alan Aikush to come in and sit down.

"That's a good story. You figured it out so quickly?" Ronald flipped through the summary of the story. It tells the story of ten years after Rock and Roll High School. The old high school was named after the former commander-in-chief, Ronald Sr. .

As a student idol, Liv Randall's photos of her collaboration with the Ramones are still displayed in the high school's honor room, but the rock and roll spirit is no longer there. Black students are all trying new forms of Rap music. Only one female student named Susan still likes the old punk Ramones band.

Susan was angry that the music department no longer had the status of a rock band. Just like Liv Randall back then, she drove a car rebelliously and left the campus. With the help of finding Liv from the alumni address book, Kate and others are now address and embarked on a journey to find the true spirit of rock and roll.

The result was a bit disillusioning. Liv Randall was married, had two children, and was often bullied by her boss in the company; her good friend Kate became a housewife, and her husband often ignored her. The former rock idol became Ami. Middle-aged Lijia...

However, because of Susan's stimulation, the two rock and roll girls regained their courage as high school students..."

"Very good. I made an appointment with Mr. Roger Corman. We will go to see him with the outline of the script. The production rights of the sequel are still in Corman's hands. But it's not a big problem. We have collaborated on several projects. Every time, it was a pleasure.

You have three to five months to perfect the script, and when the protagonists are available, we will shoot the sequel. "Ronald is very happy. Alan Aikush's level is still online, and he is eager to prove himself.

"Would it be a TV movie or a video distribution channel?" Alan Aikush was eager to know the technical details of the film.

"Give me some confidence, Allen. I'm planning the project based on medium-production theater movies. However, the theaters in Colombia and the east and west coasts will be the main ones. The screening scale of about 1,000 theaters can be gathered together, and then There is no more.

After all, things are different now than ten years ago. Drive-in theater distribution channels have almost disappeared. Now it is difficult to find audiences who are willing to spend less money to watch B-level movies. "

"I know, I know. I made several films for TV stations and video companies under pseudonyms. Now almost all small productions have been transferred to these two channels, and it is increasingly difficult for new directors to get ahead."

"The script is here with me, and I'm also looking for any stars who are interested in making guest appearances." Ronald sent Alan Aikush away with a smile. Back then, everyone was poor and happy, but now there are different classes. Many of the actors, directors, and staff back then were not doing well. Ronald thought of making a sequel and wanted to let his old friends make some money.

In addition to Ronald, Cameron, and Gale Hurd, there was one other person who sneaked out of the cast of the film. That’s director of photography Dean Candy.

He later made many blockbuster movies, including B-level movies such as "Escape from New York" and "The Monster in Chinatown", all of which were hits. A-level major productions include "Emerald", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", "Back to the Future Series", etc. In the Hollywood circle, the professional status is very stable.

Even Ronald wanted to hire him when filming "Ghost", but there was no schedule (he went to film Back to the Future 2 and 3).

The number of low-cost B-movies has been decreasing year by year, and the shooting methods of videotapes and TV movies are completely different from those of real big-screen movies.

The size of a TV screen is limited to about 21 inches. The dialogue scenes of this size can only be mainly close-ups. This has resulted in the very expressive audio-visual language of big-screen movies, which cannot be reproduced on videotapes and TV movies.

Shooting too many videotapes will also ruin the artistic taste of directors and actors. The most important thing is that if you are a new director and have shot some movies exclusively for videotapes, you have to learn many techniques and scheduling from scratch when you shoot big-screen movies.

Rural towns and old-fashioned cinemas are more scattered than before. Most of the newly built cinemas are multi-hall cinemas in shopping malls. It is becoming increasingly impossible to show a B-movie starring a new director and unknown actors.

This kind of sentimental work initiated by Ronald, with the original cast of the original movie, is likely to be screened in the number of theaters through the cinema chain.

Just when he was thinking that there was no successor to the new directors, Ronald heard the Israelis' characteristic hoarse duck voice again:

"Ha ha ha, Ronald, our final cut has been produced, I brought it to you today to show you."

"Minahan, have you finished shooting your Lombarda? Let me see..."

It was the film that Minahan and Ronald collaborated on, based on a popular Brazilian music Lombard, the forbidden dance.

The two went to the screening room to watch the finished film, and the beginning made Ronald laugh out loud. The title should actually be "forbidden dance". Because the name of the film adaptation of Lombarda has been bought by Lilahan's cousin Yoram to shoot another film.

But Minahan listened to Ronald's advice and made the words Lombarda as big as the competitive dance, and the competitive dance was on the top and Lombarda was on the bottom, making it look as if the title of the movie was still Lombarda.

Only very attentive viewers can see the words "dance" written in small letters on the right side of Lombard.

The whole movie was shot very "hot". The plot is very vulgar. It is about a princess from the Amazon tribe who comes to Los Angeles to study at an international high school. Then she and the male protagonist fall in love with each other because of dancing the Lombard dance.

After the princess finished the exchange, she returned to the Brazilian rainforest. The male protagonist didn't know which high school she went to, so he rashly chased her to Brazil and appreciated the scenery and dance of Brazil. Finally, at the carnival, he finally found the masked heroine from the crowd of Lombard dancers...

But it doesn't matter. The focus of this kind of movie is all kinds of novel dances. The heroine Laura Harring is very beautiful, and the Miss Universe is photogenic. She also danced the Lombard dance well. The first and last few hot dances made the audience breathe fast and the blood circulation accelerated...

The Lombard dance has a lot of hip movements, plus the heroine has a very good figure and face. I'm sure many people go to the cinema to watch it for the dance.

"When do you plan to release it?" Ronald asked Minahan.

"How about the summer season next year?" Minahan is ambitious.

"Not very good. My friend at Columbia Records told me that the song Lombarda is very popular. It has sold 3 million singles in America...

And Columbia Records' branches around the world have recomposed the music and found local singers to sing this song.

In addition to the English version, the Japanese version and the Cantonese version are being recorded... Let's take advantage of this popularity and release it immediately..."

"This..." Minahan was still thinking about making a comeback in the summer season. Several of his big productions, such as Incredibles IV, were all defeated in the summer season.

"That's it. Don't look down on this period. Although there are not many viewers, there is not much competition. And our Lombarda - no, it's the forbidden dance, does not rely on those viewers who have the habit of watching movies on a daily basis. Anyway, the popular MV now is our best advertisement."

Minahan had a painful expression on his face. He wanted to get up from where he fell. In his last two years at Cannon, he spent a huge amount of money to shoot summer blockbusters, but because of insufficient investment in special effects, he lost a lot of money and was kicked out by his cousin.

His first big money-making project at Cannon was also in the summer season. It was the "Breakdance" that Ronald filmed for him that year. Taking advantage of the popularity of the Olympics, the movie swept the American summer box office.

But Ronald's statement made sense, and now he was determined, and Minahan couldn't oppose it, so he gritted his teeth and agreed.

"I'll contact the photofinishing factory right away and print out enough copies as soon as possible." Although Minahan was not very optimistic about this period, he had to be prepared.

"It doesn't matter, you go to the photofinishing factory at Columbia, I'll call them..." Now Ronald only needs to pass a message through Norio Ohga's office to Columbia Pictures to do something, and this kind of trivial matter is not worth mentioning.

Minahan is very active in doing things. He spent some money to print out copies as soon as possible, and then through some local distributors he had accumulated, Ronald's Hollywood theaters, and Columbia's distribution channels, he helped him get 800 theaters for the release.

At the same time, his intelligence said that his cousin Yoram, the current president of Cannon, was very busy. The Italian boss who took over Cannon seemed to be a liar. He was busy going to high-end places with actresses every day. He seemed to have no interest in making movies.

In addition to the theaters in Europe, Yoram seemed to be stuck in administrative work and did not notice the sneak release of Minahan's Lombard adaptation.

"Ronald, you have to come to the premiere... This is a film where our best partner in musicals returns to the arena. Hollywood will know that you, a genius, have launched another musical film. The most impressive dance music in America in the 1980s was brought about by your film. How can you be absent from such an event?"

After arranging the release, Minahan ran to Ronald every day to persuade him to attend the premiere.

Ronald was really not interested, so he pushed it to Michel Cannold, the distribution director.

But Minahan was not discouraged at all. He still came every day, waiting in Ronald's office every morning, and then personally made tea for him. He took away the job of Ronald's assistant Richie Lake.

"Boss, just agree to Minahan, otherwise I will be unemployed in a few days. Now all my work is done by him..." Fat girl Lake also spoke well of Minahan.

"Why did you speak well of him?" Ronald asked curiously.

"I also made my debut in Hairspray. This kind of musical movie is the only possible way out for an actor like me who is not good-looking. I heard that you also gave those dance coaches a way to do business in Dirty Dancing. Now they all have opened Mamba dance studios.

There are also many ordinary dance stuntmen in this Lombard - Taboo Dance. Your presence at the premiere may be an important difference in their lives."

Richie Lake's words touched Ronald. Movies can change the lives of ordinary people in this way. He didn't say much and agreed to attend the premiere.

On the day of the premiere, Ronald wore a sheepskin jacket, leather boots, jeans, and dressed like a casual dancer, and got into the car of Minahan who came to pick him up.

"Damn it, Yoram still has an insider in my company. He also asked to print the copy and it will premiere tonight."

"I... why didn't you tell me earlier?" Ronald looked at Minahan who was sitting next to him. He didn't care about it, and something strange happened again.

"I said, didn't I leave a note for your secretary? Lombarda will be released tonight, and Forbidden Dance needs your support..."

"I..." Ronald remembered the note Lake gave him. It must be intentional by Minahan. He took advantage of his misunderstanding and thought he was talking about Lombarda - Forbidden Dance. In fact, Minahan was talking about two rival movies.

"Okay, let's see what the film reviews say tomorrow and which one has a higher box office number." Ronald is not afraid of competition, but it is rare for two movies with similar contents to meet head-on, so he can learn from it.

"Beep..." The luxury car driver that Minahan hired started honking.

"What's going on?" Ronald looked at his watch and saw that it was almost time for the premiere to start. There was a traffic jam at the intersection of two roads in front of the cinema where the premiere was held.

"Beep..." He only heard anxious horns from the other side of the road.

After finally getting to the door of the cinema, Ronald got out of the car and saw that a luxury car had stopped on the opposite side. The door opened and a fat man who was about the same size as Minahan got out.

He took off his sunglasses and whistled in this direction.

Ronald looked closely and found that it was Minahan's cousin, Yoram.

"Did you make an appointment?" Ronald saw that the neon lights on the door of a cinema across the street formed a line of words, "Lombarda"

It turned out that the two movies were not only released on the same day, but also premiered in two cinemas facing each other on both sides of the road.