Exploiting Hollywood 1980

During the Labor Day long weekend, the box office of "Ghost" did not decline but increased, breaking through 10 million again. This is extremely unusual for a movie that has been released for two months. This made the critics who had previously said bad things about the movie in their reviews and gave it low scores very embarrassed.

They began to make up for it. When they reviewed other movies in their columns, they wrote two more reviews of "Ghost" in order to regain their dignity as experts in disguise.

The most exaggerated one was the Washington Post, which actually published another review of "Ghost".

When the movie was just released, the critic Dessen Howey said, "Ghost is an old-fashioned fantasy story full of emotion. The movie moves through different genres like a ghost passing through the walls of a castle. This movie, which is mainly based on horror, uses farce and interesting ghost special effects to ease the audience's emotions when it is too intense."

You can't say that this kind of weird review is written by him as a negative satire. At most, it is a "good-natured ridicule."

But the new film review, written by Rita Campelli, a female film critic who admires Ronald, is worded completely differently.

"There is no misconception about Paramount's Ghost, which is a formulaic, conventional commercial film.

But strangely, when I saw it, it was not as bad as it sounds. In fact, it ended the misfortune of this summer's movie season filled with garbage sequels and brought me pleasant entertainment, which complemented the powerful air conditioning of the new Palm Theater.

Only in the worst year for film performances would Schwitters or Moore have the possibility of winning Oscars, but they are very capable actors, good enough to complete this puzzle plot without hindering your viewing experience.

The best performance comes from Goldberg, who injects spiritual power into an otherwise somewhat far-fetched fortune-telling role. Since her memorable performance in "The Color Purple", she has been stuck in male-dominated formulaic works. But this movie, while still a work that meets the standards of commercial films, may bring good news for her future."

Even the Chicago duo of Ebert and Sisko, in a TV film review show, reviewed the six-month film segment and spoke well of "Ghost", admitting that their initial review tended to underestimate it.

…

“Hahaha, these bastards…”

Ronald laughed heartily while watching these new film reviews in the hotel. It is not easy for commercial productions to be nominated at the Oscars. Now that these film critics have collectively turned their attention, it seems that when registering for the Oscars this year, you have to try for the Best Picture and Best Director. This is what you said…

Of course, Whoopi Goldberg’s acting skills are obvious to all, and both ordinary audiences and film critics have given her good reviews. Paramount and Ronald have agreed to reserve the Best Supporting Actress spot and recommend her as the main force.

Diane next to him looked quite envious. Oscars, even supporting actresses are very impressive.

In addition to the Oscars, the most famous film award in America is the Golden Globe Award. But the Golden Globe Award is a famous award that can be bought. Less than a hundred judges decide the winners. This has happened many times before.

Don’t these female stars know that winning the Golden Globe Award is not a recognition of the industry, and it will not make their peers admire them? Of course not, they know it very well.

But this is an award for a national live award ceremony after all, and those audiences don’t know it. So, you can see that at the Golden Globe Awards, the stars who won the awards, especially the female stars, were so excited that they were hysterical and couldn't even say their acceptance speeches properly.

There were also those who waited for the announcement of the winners, drank cocktails one after another nervously, and finally went on stage drunk.

Not to mention the Oscars, in addition to wearing high-end custom-made designer clothes, they also had to work out in advance, diet for a few days, and squeeze themselves into small-sized clothes. Ronald and Diane smiled at each other, and both remembered the night when Diane won the Golden Globe Awards.

"Dear viewers, welcome to watch NBC, I am the host..." The two looked at each other sweetly, and were interrupted by the evening news on TV.

The situation in Kuwait was in a stalemate. Iraq officially announced the annexation of Kuwait, which was very rare in the post-war UN order. UN Secretary-General De Cuellar went to Baghdad to mediate in person, but there was no result.

The horror brought by the war was displayed in the Western media, and all major TV stations were reporting on refugees. There are many Indian, Filipino, and Palestinian workers in Kuwait. In the past few weeks, hundreds of thousands of foreigners working in Kuwait have fled to Jordan by land.

People in Europe and the United States are generally very sad to see this tragic situation on TV and demand that the government take measures. In response to the call of the people, Mr. 80%, the Grand Commander George, personally went to Helsinki, Finland, where he held a summit with the Grand Commander of the Soviet Union, Mr. Mikhail, to discuss the situation.

Yes, now the top leader of the alliance is no longer called the Secretary-General, but the Grand Commander. In March this year, the Supreme Soviet passed an amendment, and the alliance officially adopted the Grand Commander system. Mikhail has taken office.

After the summit meeting, the two presidents jointly issued a statement, claiming that Iraq must follow the United Nations Security Council.

Ronald looked at the high-spirited look of George and sighed that the world was changing too fast. The two major hegemonic countries actually joined forces to issue a statement asking the regional small hegemon to get out of Kuwait...

"Tom Fogerty, a member of the famous rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, died in the hospital today. He died of... a viral infection syndrome. His agent issued a statement that he was infected by blood transfusion during back surgery in the 1980s..."

A photo of a hippie-like man appeared on the TV, and the TV station was playing their most famous song, "Who Can Stop the Rain?"

Then, the TV station also interviewed Tom Fogerty's brother, John. Because his brother Tom betrayed him, John conspired with producer Saul Zaentz to sell the copyright of the R band's songs to this Jewish producer.

As a result, the songwriter and soul of the R band, John Fogerty, earned tens of millions of dollars, which were all defrauded by Saul Zaentz. Now even John Fogerty has to pay Zaentz copyright fees to sing his own songs.

The TV station added an avatar to John Fogerty's phone voice. Ronald recognized that this was the uncle who taught him to play guitar in a bar in San Francisco.

"I forgave Tom for his betrayal of me and R. But now I can never reconcile with him, and I can never talk to him face to face again."

"Hey..." Ronald saw Saul Zaentz's head on TV again. This guy is a powerful person.

Not only did he cheat R of all the money he made from his popularity comparable to that of the Beatles in the 1960s. He also moved to Hollywood and made two Oscar-winning films as a producer, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1975 and Amadeus in 1984.

Looking at Saul Zaentz on TV with a white beard and a philosopher, no one could have imagined that he was a ruthless man who would cheat and deceive people in every possible way, but everyone still had to respect him. Although he doesn't often make movies in Hollywood, his movies are always excellent.

"Do you still hate Saul Zaentz now?" The TV host also took the opportunity to ask a question, which must have a high ratings.

"Hey, look at the current ads, abusing the copyright of R's songs, such as gas stations, and even Saul Zaentz, who didn't make any selections, making it too rampant. I'm very sad." John Fogerty still feels bad about the abuse of his songs.

"I remember the rain kept falling,

mysterious clouds poured down on the ground"

Coincidentally, the TV station played an ad that abused R right after the news. This song "Who can stop the rain" was accompanied by an ad for rainproof paint.

"Puff..." Ronald couldn't help laughing, maybe Saul Zaentz, a Jew, was deliberately disgusting John Fogerty.

"John, I'm sorry for your loss... I want to help you stop abusing R's classic songs, Ronald Lee, who you once taught guitar chords to"

Ronald quickly wrote a letter,

Soon, John Fogerty called him.

"Ronald, hey, young man, I like your movie."

"I like your song, we're even."

"Ahahahaha..."

Although John Fogerty supports the Donkey Party and has mocked the former President Ronald, some of his behaviors are actually more inclined to the values ​​of the Elephant Party.

For example, he doesn't like extravagance, wears a plaid shirt all year round, is enthusiastic, and doesn't have a big-name temper.

For example, when he was in the band, he prohibited any team member from drinking during rehearsal, not to mention those banned drugs. And he was very serious during rehearsal, and was very strict with his brother Tom and other team members.

This is also an important reason why the other three team members betrayed him and turned to the unscrupulous Jew Saul Zaentz.

John Fogerty was quite moved to see that the kid who played with him in the bar back then has now become a successful Hollywood director. He asked Ronald how he planned to help him.

Ronald said that this matter had to be done slowly, first clarifying the confusing property rights issues and seeing how many chips Saul Zaentz, the liar, had in his hands. Then find a way to help John Fogerty, speak out in the media, and gain the sympathy of fans...

"Whether this succeeds or not, I am very grateful to you..." John Fogerty was moved.

"I am also your fan, Mr. Fogerty. That rainproof paint advertisement is really terrible. I can't stand my favorite R song being abused like this. I think there must be many fans who feel the same way as me."

He hung up the phone with a smile. R's songs are all classics. And many teenagers at that time grew up listening to their songs and the Beatles' songs. If we can make a good relationship, it will be convenient to use his songs in movies in the future.

It can be said that it is also the special business philosophy of the Jews. Although R's songs were sold cheaply to many advertisers by Saul Zaentz, it is not easy to hear R's interlude in Hollywood movies.

This old liar is very strict about the use of his peers. He often refuses without even looking at the quotation.

...

Ronald brought a copy of "The Silence of the Lambs" with Jonathan Demme,

"Old Mac, you can't get on the road like this." Ronald spoke the Xujiahui dialect in his office. Medavoy insisted that he was not able to help.

"I know, I know, but the internal struggle in Columbia is very fierce now. I just came here and don't have much bargaining chips..." Medavoy explained to Ronald with a smile.

Peter Guber is a power-hungry person. He and Frank Price, the president of Columbia who was also recommended by Ronald, were squeezed into the small place of TriStar Pictures. They were not allowed to interfere in Columbia's affairs.

"Isn't this giving you the capital to turn things around? You have also seen the Silence of the Lambs. This level is not available every year." Ronald also replied with a smile.

It is understandable that Frank Price, an honest man, was bullied, but he didn't believe that Medavoy, a Jew who was particular about cutting butter with a hot knife and had both sides bright, did not believe it.

"You promised Jonathan to give you the greatest support back then. Although it was not your fault that the film ended badly, there is a chance for you to remedy your damaged reputation. What's wrong with that?" Ronald said, holding up the banner of Jonathan Demme.

"It's not that I don't want to, but now I can only mobilize the distribution power of TriStar Pictures. We have limited resources. If you are willing to come to TriStar Pictures to distribute this movie, I am of course very willing."

"Okay, tell me a number." Ronald leaned forward slightly, waiting for Mike Medavoy to make an offer.

"I'll arrange it after the end of next summer..."

"Forget it, let's go to Mr. Eisner of Disney..." Ronald stood up and was about to leave.

After the end of the summer, it will be the biggest garbage season of the year. Medavoy said this, completely without sincerity.

"I am sincere, but the schedule of TriStar Pictures is really not good. The best schedule is in the hands of Columbia. We only have one schedule after the summer and a period of time after the New Year holiday, with four movie schedules."

Mike Medavoy also wants to rely on this movie to turn things around and establish his own team in Columbia. But now the cards in his hand are indeed limited. Peter Gubel is a very powerful person. He has long been prevented from giving any chance to the two potential competitors of TriStar Pictures.

TriStar Pictures only got two off-season schedules throughout the year. If the distribution performance of TriStar Pictures is not good, KPI can be used to restrict the two. If the box office is good... Hey, how good can those two bad schedules be?

But Mike McDavoy is not an ordinary person. In such a difficult situation, he still got several potential works. One is a biopic of Jim Morrison, the soul of the "Doors" band, starring Val Kilmer and Meg Ryan. The other is also a comic book adaptation movie, "The Punisher" following the Batman trend.

The "Silence of the Lambs" brought by Ronald is of course better than these two. In his opinion, it still has the potential to win awards. If it is put in the schedule after the New Year holiday, although the box office will be better than the worst schedule after the summer, the potential for winning awards will be limited.

"How many theaters can you give me?" Ronald said that he would go to Eisner of Disney, but it was also bluffing. Because Disney's internal integration is good, the movies for next year have been allocated long ago. Ronald wants to intervene and sell his face. But the number of theaters and marketing promotions obtained will definitely not get the best treatment.

If there are only 600 to 800 theaters showing, it would be better to push it in a daydream.

"About 1,200 theaters..." Mike McDavoy said that this number of theaters could be obtained in the second half of the year.

"That's too bad. I would rather choose the first half of next year." Ronald heard that TriStar Pictures would release four movies in the first half of the year, and he knew that most of the resources in McDavoy's hands were in the first half of the year in February after the New Year.

"If you are willing to come, I can get more than 1,300 theaters."

Mike McDavoy gritted his teeth and decided to move the "Los Angeles Story" to the second half of the year.

"1,500 theaters, plus some theaters I can handle myself, we can probably do more than 1,700 together..." Ronald felt that he could still squeeze out some resources, "plus the public relations resources you originally prepared in Orion, how about it?"

"Let's do it..." Mike McDavoy was short of money and had no budget in Orion. Although TriStar Pictures was suppressed, the money and accumulated resources of the Japanese were still enough.

After finalizing the release of "The Silence of the Lambs", Daydream breathed a sigh of relief.

It was still a great pressure for a small company to release two medium-sized films in a row.

Therefore, Daydream began to warm up for the release of "Dances with Wolves" with all its strength.

Many employees of the distribution department packed their bags and went to theaters across the country to finalize the screening contracts in one state after another, just like the pioneering era of Hollywood.