Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The audience at the premiere of "Die Hard 2" was packed. When they saw the opening scene at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., where New York Detective John McClain received a phone call from his wife from an airplane, they all burst into cheers and began to applaud.

"They seem to like this movie very much?" Diane asked Ronald quietly.

"They loved the characters in the movie..." Ronald laughed and shook his head. Die Hard

His wife earns more than he does, and the marriage in two places is in crisis. The children go to school with their mothers and are not as close to themselves as they used to be. Bosses and colleagues, as well as service staff in society as a whole, are always at odds with themselves.

There are also various emerging high technologies, especially computers and mobile phones, which have given these middle-aged white-collar workers who have just become accustomed to answering machines another learning crisis. The experience they have accumulated seems to be rapidly depreciating with the advancement of technology. The old experience is no longer useful. The thirty-five-year-old middle-level people are not as good as the young people who have just graduated and can play with computers... …

Therefore, at the beginning of "Die Hard 2", when Mike was ticketed for even parking his car, the audience was worried that he was in trouble.

When Holly, played by Bonnie Bedelia, called Mike Lian with love on her face, the audience was relieved and put down their worries. Although McClain still doesn't know how to fax or use satellite phones on airplanes, his old experience can still defeat terrorists and win back the love of his wife.

However, gradually, the audience began to become quiet, and then some people began to whisper to each other, and some even went to the toilet.

Ronald sighed, the sequel's appeal to the audience is far less than

The most important reason for this is probably that John McClane in the sequel no longer looks like

McClain in this sequel is more like a Rambo-style lone hero. He is omnipotent and has no disadvantages, so the audience is not so worried about him.

The reasons for this are complicated, including the rising star status of Bruce Willis and his stronger bargaining power for scripts. There are also factors in which the new director does not have enough authority and cannot control the overall situation.

But the most important reason is undoubtedly the collusion between producers Joel Silver and Bruce Willis, plus the indulgence caused by Ronald not keeping a close eye on the crew. Everyone tacitly believed that from the twentieth century Fox makes money.

How to film big scenes so that you can make money, and how to film product placements conveniently.

For example, at Dulles Airport, when Bruce Willis answered the phone, he deliberately revealed the trademark on the pay phone, which was that of Pacific Bell.

But this connection was too rough. Pacific Bell was a branch that focused on California business on the West Coast after Bell was split. How could it go to Washington, D.C., on the East Coast to develop business?

And when John McClane was tracking the whereabouts of terrorists with the help of a degenerate ex-engineer and a homeless man, in order to advertise a cordless drill, he even arranged a special event to use it to remove the grille of the exhaust channel. play.

"Huh? Where's the cordless drill?" I saw that one second Bruce Willis was taking off his sweater to start a big fight, and the next second he took off the grille of the exhaust channel and threw it aside.

"Did you edit out the electric drill?" Ronald was sweating. Although they only paid $150,000 for a few seconds of footage, you can't just cut out the electric drill. ? Do you still have the spirit of contract?

Ronald raised his wrist and looked at his watch.

The movie was delayed because Bruce Willis was getting special treatment, going on vacation with his family, and Joel Silver was doing a lot of big scenes just to make money. The premiere, originally scheduled for late June, has been postponed to Independence Day.

Even so, time was still very tight, so the editing was rushed and many things were not considered thoroughly.

After the show ended, Ronald still noticed that many people didn't stay in the cinema for long and walked out quickly.

But the film, which opened ahead of the Independence Day holiday on Wednesday, did much better at the box office than Ronald expected.

Originally, movies were generally released on Friday, but with Independence Day, they were released ahead of schedule during the holiday. For this early release, the distribution department of 20th Century Fox did a lot of work.

They broke the original distribution rule of releasing on Friday, contacted various theaters, and grabbed more than 1,600 theaters from those sequel movies that were disappointing at the box office. On Wednesday and Thursday, they grabbed more than 1,600 theaters. It reached a box office score of 9.6 million.

"Hey, are they really relying on this big weekend?"

Ronald saw the box office statistics on a weekend morning. During the screening period that officially started on Friday night, 20th Century Fox booked more than 2,500 theaters, squeezing Tom Cruise's "Thunder" into non-prime time.

"But it seems that the movie reviews are not very good..." Richard pointed to the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, two of America's most famous film critic columns.

Both Roger Ebert and Gene Sisco were heavily publicized, pinching their noses and giving the film a three-and-a-half-star rating (out of four stars).

Ebert gave the movie a classification called "bruised forearm movies" because by the time the movie is over, your forearm will be bruised and bruised from your date's tendency to scratch it during tense moments.

After praising the big scenes in the movie for a few times, especially the final duel on the plane, Albert couldn't help but start to complain. He said the plot lacked logic, and Holly was deliberately placed on the plane to create suspense.

He also said that the terrorists were exaggerated too much at the beginning, and after being hit by McLean, they collapsed too quickly, which was illogical.

"I think the reputation will be a problem..." Ronald expressed his concerns. People in the cinema were not focused, and many viewers would talk and go to the bathroom in the middle of the movie. How many viewers would recommend such a movie to their relatives and friends?

...

By Monday, the box office statistics were out. The box office of "Die Hard 2" this weekend was more than 20 million, which seemed to be much higher than the 10 million of "Days of Thunder". But if the 9 million screened two days in advance was subtracted, then the first weekend of "Die Hard" was just normal, not much higher than the first weekend of "Days of Thunder".

It can also be clearly seen from the single-theater box office of the two movies that "Die Hard 2" made 8,600 US dollars in the first weekend, and "Days of Thunder" made 66 million US dollars.

If "Die Hard 2"

"The production cost of the sequel to Die Hard is 62 million. Any claim that it exceeds this number is nonsense!"

Faced with such box office pressure, the top executives of 20th Century Fox came out to put out the fire.

The production cost of a movie is not disclosed in a complete and transparent manner like the quarterly reports of listed companies. Now a large number of Hollywood commercial productions will set up an independent project company. The biggest advantage of this is that they can control risks. Even if the movie loses a lot of money, it will not affect the operation of the parent company.

Another big advantage is that in financial accounting, some costs can be hidden or exaggerated, so that the listed parent company can use the accounting figures that have been "creatively adjusted" and concentrate them in the financial statements of the listed company.

The most famous example of this recently is Warner Bros., whose "Batman" revenue is not enough to cover the production costs. Such a box office success that has swept the world has lost money in the end.

However, there is "Batman" that adjusts the production cost upward, and there is "Die Hard 2" that adjusts the production cost downward.

Unlike Warner Bros. Terry Tramer, who has a stable position, 20th Century Fox does not have such a strong president. All the lords showed their talents and wanted to win the favor of the chairman, Australian Rupert.

Then, the return on investment of a big production is the most important KPI assessment indicator.

The production cost of a movie is 62 million or more than 80 million. In the assessment, it is the difference between profit and loss, that is, the difference between whether the person in charge should be promoted or fired.

You should know that this "Die Hard 2" is the sequel to a successful work with a high probability of making money...

...

Ronald doesn't care about these. The stars who went to the premiere of "Die Hard 2" last week will come back this week to support the premiere of "Ghost" directed by Ronald.

Especially Bruce Willis, after he married Demi Moore, he still

Although the two are very loving, Demi Moore always feels that she is inferior at home. After all, Bruce Willis had received a script invitation with a salary of more than 10 million US dollars before the release of "Die Hard 2".

And what about her? She is still pitifully receiving a salary of one or two million dollars. In comparison, she can't even speak loudly at home.

"Ronald, how is the attendance today?" At the premiere, Demi Moore came over to secretly ask Ronald after dealing with the reporters.

She is most unsure about this movie. Not to mention Ronald's historical achievements, even the male lead Patrick Schweitzer has many hit movies as a foundation, and this is her postpartum

"How do I know? Do you think I can count the ticket sales of all cinemas in America in real time?" Ronald felt that Demi Moore was a little crazy. What she wanted most was to be a first-class female star. Seeing such an opportunity in front of her, she was psychologically unbalanced and didn't know what to think.

"Relax, come and say hello to the guests." Ronald pointed to the luxury car that had just arrived. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were on it. The latter also competed with Demi Moore for the role of Molly.

"Demi... I heard you acted very well in this movie..." As expected, Nicole Kidman would not miss this opportunity. The movie "Days of Thunder" starring her and her boyfriend Tom Cruise was also distributed by Paramount.

However, there is a big difference in the treatment Paramount received for the two movies. On one hand, there is a star like Tom Cruise who has absolute box office appeal. According to the survey of ceasre, he is a man who can make the audience go to the cinema just for him.

The two male and female protagonists of "Ghost", one is a famous star of B-level movies, and the other, although well received, has no history of box office hits as a heroine. Although there is director Ronald, he cannot get much initiative in scheduling.

Movie scheduling is a very uncontroversial thing. No matter how famous you are or how well the critics evaluate your acting skills, the biggest influence on box office and audience attendance is still the star.

Moreover, "Days of Thunder" is a successful formula replication (Tom Cruise + blonde professional beauty + dangerous big machine), and "Ghost" is a pure love movie that has not been seen for many years. Under the insistence of the theater chain and the theater manager, Paramount cannot give Ronald more preferential treatment.

"Yeah... It's all Ronald's training... I listen to him on the set..."

"Ahem, let's go in..." Ronald saw that the two female stars were going to fight again. Demi Moore clearly said that she was the winner chosen by Ronald, and you Nicole Kidman was just a loser.

"Hahaha, is racing so interesting? I also want to find one or two to drive." The two boyfriends (husbands) over there were chatting happily.

"Let me tell you, the most important thing about driving a racing car is that you can't listen to the stunt instructor and coach. They all said that I can't do those car stunts by myself..." Tom Cruise definitely likes racing and speed.

"So what did you do?"

"I changed a stunt director..."

"Hahaha..."

After the two chatted, they happily took their female companions away and walked into the Beverly Hills theater where the premiere was held. Ronald let out a long sigh and looked at Diane, "I didn't expect that they were still dissatisfied with each other..."

"Hahaha, you are really funny, Ronnie." Diane stared and pulled Ronald tight, and her whole body stuck to him.

...

"Woo woo woo..."

During the movie screening, no audience member went to the bathroom. In the end, Sam kissed Molly goodbye, turned and walked into the light from heaven. After entering the place where he should go, the audience was even more in tears. Many female audiences cried out loud.

This director is so annoying. Such a touching boyfriend, even if he can become a ghost and go to heaven, he doesn't go to protect his girlfriend from being targeted by bad guys in the world. Why can't there be a happy ending in the end?

After the sharing session after the screening, Ronald and Diane slipped out of the premiere hall and went to other theaters to see the effects of other screenings.

What is incredible is that the long queue outside the bathroom door is something Ronald has never seen in all his years of work.

Especially the women's bathroom, where each person spends more than twice as much time in the bathroom as in a normal movie. The rhythm of this movie is very good, and it is rare for people to go out to the bathroom in the middle of the movie.

And almost all female audiences, unlike those who just left the theater, did not talk to each other with their friends. They covered their faces and said nothing.

In addition to going to the bathroom normally, they all had to touch up their makeup in front of the big mirror inside. This damn movie is so uncomfortable that it makes people break down in the end. And that damn song, why is it so tear-jerking?

"Hahahaha..."

Only Ronald laughed in the crowd, and was glared at by the audience who were still sad for the hero and heroine who missed their true love, and quickly pulled Diane away.

As soon as he got in the car, Ronald called the head of Paramount's distribution department, "This is Ronald. Should I give up the theaters for "Days of Thunder" and "Another 48 Hours"?"