Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Michael Keaton was somewhat surprised by the hot response to playing Batman. He is a person who focuses on acting and wants to be a star more than an actor.

Although he did not sign a lucrative profit-sharing agreement like Jack Nicholson, he will also receive a significantly higher salary for the first Batman movie and the sequel that is already in preparation.

As an actor who is famous for his comedy, Keaton actually wants to perform a serious drama. He expressed his wishes to his agent, preferably a Shakespeare drama, or a script that reflects American reality.

But the agent strongly recommended him another full-fledged commercial film script, the kind of film that can only be seen in the 1950s to praise business leaders positively.

After reading the script, Michael Keaton found out that the reason for his agent's strong recommendation was the invitation from the popular film director Ronald Lee.

After reading the script, Michael Keaton was a little hesitant. Invitations from big directors are not something that happens casually, just like him who has just become famous now is no exception. He did not reject the script, but he was also skeptical about this kind of theme that had been abandoned since the hippies became popular in Hollywood in the 1960s.

In contrast, he received another movie script invested by Disney, called "A Good Cop", which tells the story of a policeman who wanted to adopt his partner's three orphaned daughters because his partner was killed by a drug abuser.

However, he was rejected by the Child Welfare Agency because his house was not big enough. In desperation, the policeman robbed the drug dealer and used the stolen money to pay the down payment for the house, and donated the remaining money to the child welfare agency.

This kind of script is more "safe", and it is a stable work that conforms to the values ​​of Hollywood since the 1960s and 1970s. The contradiction between people and the system, the gap between reality and theory, and the idea that good people do not always do good things have become dogma.

In contrast, "Other People's Money" is relatively risky. Entrepreneurs who are social beneficiaries and bankers who have recently had a bad reputation are both described as positive characters in the movie. In fact, there is no real hero or villain in this movie.

Compared with the scripts like "A Good Cop" which are complex in name but simple in core, Ronald's script is more modern. It seems to be divided into good and bad guys, but it actually has a profound core.

Keaton is now famous. What he wants to do most now is to pick some roles he likes to play, and then make more money in the Batman sequel. This kind of Jewish vampire banker role has the risk of not being recognized by the audience due to performance, cooperation, director, editing and other reasons. He doesn't want to touch it too much.

Although A Good Cop challenges the bottom line of law and morality, the audience actually likes to watch this kind of lone hero who completes revenge for his partner under oppression and adopts the other party's daughters. In fact, there is no risk.

Having said that, the invitation of a famous Hollywood director cannot be rejected lightly with just a phone call. Michael Keaton still visited Ronald's home in person.

"I have a proposal for you, Mr. Garfield."

"Have you dumped Bart?"

Diane and Keaton simulated the audition at home and read a dialogue at the end of the movie. Kate Sullivan wants to introduce capital from Japan to allow the New England Cable Factory to switch to a new product, automotive airbags. Garfield is more interested in dating Kate, the woman he has fallen in love with.

"You sell the cable factory back to Jorgensen and the worker shareholders, switch to airbags, and you can get $28 per share."

"28? I think it can be 30 per share."

"30? Do you think so?"

"Yes, we will discuss this issue at dinner, and I will see you in an hour."

"Huh, tomorrow at noon, lunch, one o'clock. Strictly only discuss work..."

"Okay, okay... Strictly only discuss work..."

This is a script of a two-person phone call, but Michael Keaton's eyes are very meaningful, as if the face opposite is the heroine's face.

Ronald, who was shooting the clip with a home video recorder, couldn't help but feel that Keaton was indeed suitable for such a handsome but unsuccessful role in the love field. The audience will not feel strange.

"My schedule is like this. A Good Cop will start filming in July or August in the second half of the year. I like your script and role very much. If you can make arrangements in terms of time..."

"I'll consider it. I'll contact your agent if there's any news..."

Ronald shook hands with Keaton and sent him out. This man has the style of an old-school Hollywood star and respects himself when doing things. Although the schedule conflicts with his own movie, there is room for maneuver.

"What do you think?" Diane has already started preparing for the lawyer role of Kate Sullivan. She put her hair up, bought several sets of working girl's power suits, and began to imitate Ronald's lawyer Lindsay in her daily life.

In addition, she increased the intensity of her daily yoga recovery classes, rented some TV tapes of court battles, and began to learn the way lawyers speak.

"The schedule conflict is quite large, and the chemistry between him and you is a bit strange. I'll call Tom Hanks now."

Ronald felt Keaton's temperament because Batman was portrayed as a super-rich heir. There are many differences between him and Garfield, a wealthy man who came from a poor family and worked hard on his own.

…

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"With the offer of three million, isn't Ronald contacting us?" Terry Tramel, the president of Warner Bros., came to the office on Monday morning and frowned when he saw the latest box office results. He frowned, pressed the button and asked the secretary.

"No, Mr. Temer, we have received no further inquiries from him or Minahan Golan."

"Minahan, this cunning fox. Huh..."

The news that made Temer furious was that the movie "Pretty Woman" in which Ronald participated was surpassed by "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" produced by Xiangjiang and distributed by New Line for a few weeks. one.

This is no small matter!

For ordinary movies, the natural weekly box office decline is around 20-25%. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is open in 500 more theaters than Pretty Woman. Moreover, the average weekend box office of these green turtles in a single theater is 12,000 US dollars, which is much higher than the 8,000 US dollars of Wall Street bankers and street girls.

But by the fourth weekend, the box office results of the two films were tied at US$6,000. Coupled with the contribution of Disney, the distributor of Pretty Woman, which urgently added more than 400 theaters, it regained the top spot with a slight advantage after being overtaken for two weeks.

In particular, Temer saw that the box office of "Pretty Woman" dropped by less than 10% every week, which was very strong. In comparison, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are down 25% every week, and this week they are down 30%...

What is this indicating? It shows that comic book adaptation movies, as long as they are not those with top-level famous characters, such as Superman and Batman, other character adaptation movies, after consuming comic book fans in the first few weeks, the box office decline is super fast.

And what about the "other people's money" movie that Ronald bought through Minahan? It just fits the formula similar to "Beautiful Woman", with real business war and romantic love story...

It's so cunning!

It turns out that he used "Forrest Gump" as a cover, and then quietly obtained the script of a real blockbuster genre film.

Alas, I, a Jew with a reputation as a shrewd person in Hollywood, didn’t expect to be tricked by a white man and an Israeli.

what on earth is it? A thirty-year-old young man actually has such a vision? Does Ronald have any secret business classics to learn? More powerful than the Talmud?

Temer looked at the box office numbers and regretted it more and more.

New York Attorney General Rudy, who lost his bid for mayor, has just pleaded guilty in federal court to six counts of securities and tax violations against junk bond king Michael Milken.

Not only was he fined US$200 million, he was also ordered to pay US$400 million in compensation to related securities market victims. In addition, female federal judge Kimba Wood was very dissatisfied with his behavior and accused him of deliberately taking advantage of legal loopholes.

She said Milken was only willing to commit crimes that were unlikely to be discovered, and that a man of his power in the financial world repeatedly conspired to violate securities and tax practices in order to gain more power and wealth. A lengthy prison term (more than ten years) will certainly be required.

This is the most influential (and ugliest) among a series of Mafia family members and Wall Street tycoons who were sued by Rudy and brought to court.

A large number of reports have been discussing Milken's imprisonment. Legal experts estimate that even if he is paroled in the future, he will definitely stay in prison for at least more than a year. This is extremely unusual for such a billionaire, and it also shows that America's legal system is fair and just.

Coincidentally, the main character in "Pretty Woman" is Edward Lewis. In fact, they are doing the same business as Milken. By issuing junk bonds in an overly lax bond market, and then raising funds to acquire America, a prestigious shipbuilding factory. Instead of running it, he directly sold it to investors from Japan.

But unlike Milken, shameless is the opposite. Edward Lewis was a loving man. He saw his own weaknesses clearly from the street girl Vivian and reconciled with his irresponsible father.

Later, they changed their tune. Instead of dismantling and selling the shipyard that had built many warships for the navy since World War II, they invested more money. He wants to give blood to the shipyard and continue his glorious business of building warships.

Both positive and negative, the plot and characters of the movie are also talked about by more people outside the entertainment industry. Coupled with the shipbuilding plan inherited by the current commander-in-chief, in other words, Edward Lewis was lucky enough to escape from this trap because of his love for Vivian before the stock market crash when money shrank, and instead took advantage of the opportunity to expand the navy's warships. The powerful shipbuilding plan has also made a lot of money with the shipyard...

Coupled with the legendary love story of a banker and a streetwalker, as well as the passionate performances of Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, who have great chemistry, the word-of-mouth reputation has driven more men and women to enter the cinema. Watch this romantic comedy plus business war movie.

"What the hell, how could this guy predict the social hot spots during the movie's release?" Temer put down the Wall Street Journal and the Hollywood Reporter. Some people really have to accept their luck.

…

"How could you predict that Milken would be convicted during the release? I saw many newspapers saying that he would most likely get away with it."

Tom Hanks, who also saw this magical effect on the box office of "Pretty Woman", was also surprised. When he was invited to discuss "Other People's Money", he couldn't help but ask Ronald this question.

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"If I tell you that it is a complete coincidence, do you believe it?" Ronald smiled and handed him a can of Coca-Cola.

"I believe it, I definitely believe it, but I just think it's a bit unbelievable..." Tom Hanks smiled and took the can and took a sip. If this is not a coincidence, it is simply an effect that can only be achieved by having amazing predictive ability about society, law, and the film market.

"I do feel that, especially after my Working Girl received positive reviews, it seems that today's moviegoers are tired of the more childish business war plots of the past and want to see something more realistic.

You know, the number of white-collar workers living in big cities has greatly increased. They are the backbone of society and experts in a certain business field. They get married late and like to watch romantic love comedies.

But the Milken incident was purely coincidental."

Ronald explained slowly. He was most satisfied with the auditions of Tom Hanks and Diane. Hanks is actually very handsome, but he has some things that ordinary people can empathize with.

Ordinary audiences will overestimate their own appearance. If they talk about handsome guys like Tom Cruise, they can only imagine that they can transform or be reborn in the next life to look like that. And Hanks' appearance is what most men would think, well, I am almost like that.

This "Other People's Money" just needs such an actor who can make the audience go from disgust to understanding, to sympathy, to recognition.

Hanks and Diane had played lovers in "Growing Up" before, and the audience recognized it. In many ways, Ronald was very satisfied with Hanks' acting ability. He had underestimated his acting skills before.

Especially in the scene where Michael Keaton and Diane auditioned, Keaton only showed love in his eyes when he was talking to his lover on the phone, while Tom Hanks was about to flirt with the phone receiver.

"Rita supports me to play this role, but I have to accompany her during the week when she gives birth... I think you can understand."

Hanks' new wife Rita Wilson is a Greek Orthodox woman, and this is their first child. Ronald smiled and looked at Diane next to him. He certainly understood this request.

"Of course, I think I can let my agent call your agent."

"By the way, is your CAA agent really that capable?" Tom Hanks suddenly asked Ronald when shaking hands with Ronald.

After losing to "Rain Man" at the Oscars, he has always wanted to change an agent who can have stronger award public relations ability.

"It depends on who you are. Not all agents at CAA are loyal to their clients... I can introduce my agents to you. You can talk to them and make your own judgment..."

"Okay!" Tom Hanks thought Ronald's words were very mature and steady. No wonder he has achieved such a great career at such a young age.

"Bye, Diane!" Tom Hanks made the iconic expression in the previous movie "Grown Up" and said goodbye.