Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Perot was a self-made entrepreneur. After retiring from the Navy, he worked as a salesman at IBM and immediately set an annual sales record. After IBM did not adopt his suggestion to replace traditional paper files with electronic storage, he founded a company called Electronic Data Systems and won the government contract to store medical insurance records.

This made him successful and rich, and he was later hailed by Fortune magazine as the fastest person to become a billionaire.

This person did things completely unlike a traditional American tycoon. He used the Navy's method to manage the company and respected honor and records. What is most well-known is that during the Persian Revolution, he organized a private army to enter Tehran and rescued the company employees trapped there.

Perot also found the famous novelist, Ken Follett, and wrote a novel "Eagle Wings" based on it, which became a bestseller. It was also made into a TV movie in 1985, and more than 20 million viewers watched it.

After becoming famous, his company was also acquired by General Motors for 2.5 billion. As of this year, his personal wealth is estimated at 3 billion US dollars.

Therefore, Perot had the confidence to say that voters who supported him should not donate more than five dollars, thus opposing the election system of the two parties that relied on large donations to PACs. Moreover, he showed his true colors as a businessman. He would not advertise if he could go on a free talk show.

He has appeared on the programs of more serious talk show hosts such as Larry King and Barbara Waters, and promoted his own ideas, gaining the support of a large number of rational elephants in the suburbs and donkeys in the city who agree with Ronald's ideas.

"This is a master at discovering and using the opinions of the people..."

Ronald spent some time watching Perot's talk show and came to this conclusion.

He knows what the people like to hear, and he also knows why those people who were unwilling to vote were disappointed with the country. So his ideas are very popular with such people.

For example, he advocates that the rich should spend more than ordinary people to eliminate the budget deficit. Although he is a rich man, he is more popular among the poor than the grassroots governor of Arkansas.

For example, he packaged himself as a business expert, although his business was actually the kind of government outsourcing business that relied on his connections in the navy and government relations. He did not perform better than his competitors under free competition.

And have the current movie audiences also changed their concepts? Ronald thought of the movie he dreamed of on the plane and picked up the phone to call Richard.

…

"Oh? They also questioned your client's appeal among the audience?"

"No, I'm not his agent now. I'm talking to you as a producer of CW Production Company."

Hearing the news that Ronald was going to work with Tom Cruise again, his former agent and current partner Paula Wagner was very excited and went to see him as quickly as possible. When she saw Ronald, she apologized first. Through her husband Niceta, she intercepted and negotiated before Cruise's agent, and went to talk directly in an unconventional way.

Now Tom Cruise and Shirley Lansing's cooperation has been negotiated, and the two sides will form a close alliance. Lansing gave Tom Cruise the opportunity to cooperate with him with a profit-sharing ratio that exceeded the norm, while Cruise contributed some projects that were not very profitable but guaranteed to have a low return on investment.

This kind of cooperation relied on Tom Cruise's super appeal to movie fans. This is not something that ordinary people can compete with. It was certified by CeaSre, the most authoritative audience reputation survey company in Hollywood. He is the only superstar in Hollywood who can single-handedly upgrade the bad audience reputation.

Generally speaking, CeaSre's rating can roughly tell that the total box office of a movie will be several times the box office of the first weekend. This multiplication index is correct in most movies. Among the few exceptions, there is "Cocktail" co-starring Tom Cruise and Elizabeth Shue.

This movie, which has a very bad audience reputation, has obtained a box office multiplier that is two levels higher than the word-of-mouth rating. This can't be brought by Elizabeth Shue? Therefore, the producer looked up to Tom Cruise, because with him, there is double insurance.

With such ability, people still doubt whether he can get the box office he deserves. It stands to reason that Shirley Lansing is not such a stupid person, right? She now urgently needs a superstar to bring a hit project to build confidence for her new position. I have never heard of such an old hand being so stupid as to bargain and ruin the cooperation before the project is completed...

"This is other pressure from within Paramount..." Paula Wagner did not hold back to Ronald and explained the current situation within Paramount.

Now Shirley Lansing has become the vice president in charge of production. She is now in the necessary stage of changing CEOs in large studios, a handover period of about six months. The studio business is not like other businesses. Many projects need to be watched by the person in charge until they are completed. Otherwise, the person who takes over in the middle may mess up the project because he does not understand the situation (or deliberately).

Although this is a good news for the new person who makes the predecessor look bad, it is not good for the stock price of the listed company... So there is generally a six-month handover period to let the old people finish the projects they should do, and then the new person can move forward without any burden.

But Shirley Lansing screwed up. Before she took office, she had her independently produced "SchoolTies" released early in an attempt to gain some extra box office before the fiercely competitive summer season, so that she could establish greater authority for herself.

Shirley Lansing originally thought that this kind of teen-oriented movie would be like the John Hughes teen movie of the year, which was a complete hit, both applauded and well-received. It is also a theme about teenagers, and there is no violent dramatic conflict, but there is the kind of reflection on teenagers and the outlook for adulthood.

But things went against expectations. The movie's box office was a mess, and the production cost was not even recovered at the box office. Shirley Lansing was instantly questioned, and some people began to question whether she was the best candidate to be Paramount's future CEO.

"Oh, can't she wait until she takes office to try this trick again?" Ronald understood at a glance that this was a way of using his power to sell his bad works at a good price.

"Shirley thought this movie would be a hit..."

"John Hughes' teen movies were about teenagers in the 1980s, and all those viewers saw on the screen were themselves. Who the hell wants to watch a few hotties act out an old story from the 1950s?

A Jew being discriminated against because of his identity? Would it be nice if they didn't discriminate against others? Sorry, I shouldn't have said this in front of you..."

Ronald was just about to curse when he remembered that Paula was also Jewish.

"It's okay, I also want to scold her a few times. Why is this guy so short-sighted?" Paula Wagner was anxious, and she felt even more hatred for Shirley Lansing's stupidity. He just tied Tom Cruise and Shirley Lansing to some extent in order to find a stable distribution channel for his CW production, not to wipe the butt of an unqualified CEO.

Both sides cursed Shirley Lansing hard, but both came back laughing. The stupider she is, the higher the terms of cooperation with her can be, right? The pressure on Paula Wagner has also been eliminated. As long as Ronald and Tom Cruise work together again, any objections will be eliminated.

Because those at Paramount's parent company couldn't bear to hear any other objections just to hear that the golden duo of "Top Gun" were working together again.

"What subject do you want to film? Lawyers, business? Another Wall Street?" When it comes to formal cooperation, Paula Wagner also wants to find a better genre film for Tom Cruise. She was a little surprised to hear Ronald's thoughts.

I originally thought that Ronald would continue to make business war films, or return to movies for teenagers like Top Gun. Unexpectedly, Ronald would come up with a slightly darker subject, which seemed like something only Martin Scorsese would make. The kind of theme that reflects the dark side of America.

"No, I wanted to make a movie that caters to the current audience's perception. Didn't you see that Perot's approval rating has reached 15 now? Many people actually complain about those Wall Street and gangsters who make money by breaking the law. I I want to make a movie that relieves the audience’s stress, allowing them to become like clowns in the movie, and be fooled around by a traditional American small-town boy like Tom..."

"Oh, when you say that, I am reminded of a script. When we were filming A Few Good Men, someone passed the script to Tom through connections. It happened to be an adaptation of a thriller about working as a tax lawyer for a rich man.

But they expect Tom Cruise to direct and star, like Kevin Costner and Barbra Streisand. Tom knew that he was not suitable as a director, so he turned it down. "

"Oh? What's your name?" Ronald didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard the news. Few people outside the circle know that Tom Cruise is dyslexic. It was simply difficult for him, who had trouble memorizing his lines, to be a director who had to convert words into the audition language. No wonder he refused.

…

"Oh, this project is really strange..."

When Ronald got the novel called "The Fir" and the adapted script, he found that the script was not quite what he thought.

The author of this novel is called John Grisham. Before it was published, the manuscript was spotted by Paramount executive Lance Young, who paid $350,000 in advance for the rights to adapt it. It was only later that the novel was published and became a bestseller.

But changes in top management at Paramount left the project without an owner. The main driving force behind this project is Scott Rudin, an independent producer. After his high-level changes, he found that no one was taking care of his project, and he began to desperately look for interested celebrities to obtain financial investment.

They asked Tom Cruise to direct, which is the best embodiment of this desperation. In desperation, they asked a playwright, David Leib, to revise the script. After spending tens of thousands of dollars in revision fees and receiving two revisions, the script had completely turned into a film noir.

Ronald smacked his lips when he saw it, this was truly a film noir. Tom Cruise plays a Harvard Law School graduate named Mitchell Madill, whose wife is named Abby.

In the revised version of the script, the two of them became a tragedy just like the Warren Beatty project that lost a lot of money at the box office and awards the year before. Abby was raped in the end, and Mitch broke into the law firm with a gun and killed everyone with a pistol, including the bad boss and the gangster client...

"I want a little bit of dark thriller elements, not a real black film. Who the hell is going to watch Tom Cruise kill everyone in despair and then shoot himself?"

Ronald was so angry that he threw the script on the table. What's wrong with these people? This is not the Great Depression. At that time, there were still many audiences willing to watch this kind of crazy revenge under despair.

Now is the era of stars. Tom Cruise is of course adhering to the positive spirit of the traditional American small town youth, using his own wisdom, courage, and true love to correct the incorrect things in this society, and finally gaining the rebirth of lover and career.

The most important problem of the movie is to resonate with the audience. Now the people are just dissatisfied with the share of economic development they have enjoyed. Their lives have improved a lot compared to the 1970s.

At this time, if you give them such a tragic ending, they will not empathize with the villains in this way, but will think that Tom Cruise is a bit antisocial.

Tom Cruise is definitely not a person who can solve problems with brute force. He should go to Schwarzenegger or Stallone for such things. He should use his wisdom as a Harvard law graduate to defeat those stupid villains and finally win a new life opportunity for himself.

Paula Wagner immediately followed Ronald's advice and found an expensive script doctor to rewrite the script.

Shirley Lansing was even more grateful. This kind of timely help is rare in Hollywood. In order to repay this friendship, she promised to give Tom Cruise a salary of 12 million US dollars to break her own record, and also gave Ronald a salary of 5.5 million, which is exactly 500,000 US dollars higher than the current price of a first-line director.

In addition to this well-known salary, as expected, Ronald and Tom Cruise also got the opportunity to share the box office. This will not be announced as a promotion for the movie. Since Jack Nicholson made a fortune from Joker, this kind of profit-sharing contract has become evidence that the producer has no negotiating power.

…

"Tom, Nicole, look here, look here..."

To celebrate Ronald and Cruise's cooperation again, and the first production after the establishment of CW Films, Tom Cruise took the initiative to bring his wife Kidman to the premiere of Ronald's new film.

This "Ultimate Soldier" co-produced by Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally unable to attract a star like Cruise to the premiere, but Tom Cruise, grateful for Ronald's help, took the initiative to show his support.

"Oh, you know, I have always liked action movies. Myself? It is not ruled out, haha..." Tom Cruise was very considerate and said a lot of good things about the two action stars. He also took a photo with the two leading actors.

Of course, Lundgren was on his left and Jean-Claude Van Damme was on his right. The two still did not talk to each other, but smiled when taking photos. After taking photos, they snorted and glared at each other.

This mutual hype gimmick has been going on from the project establishment to the European Film Festival and the premiere.

"Tsk, with all the hype, the box office still didn't exceed expectations."

On Monday, when the box office of the premiere came out, the super-large scale of more than 1,900 theaters contributed more than 10 million box office. CeaSre also only gave it a B rating. It seems that this movie will stay in theaters for a maximum of five weeks...

"Is it the director's problem?" Distribution Director Michel Cannold was very puzzled. The plot of this movie is good, the actors' performances, especially Jean-Claude Van Damme's performance, can be said to be quite outstanding. This action star who made his debut in a dance film has been continuously learning over the years, which has given him good acting skills.

"It has nothing to do with Roland Emmerich. It's because of the audience's taste for stars." Ronald didn't want to blame the German director. This was actually his mistake. The audience's taste drifted very quickly. Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme's square chins are now rapidly losing the favor of mainstream audiences. They should shoot those pure action movies to have fans.

"Next..."

"I will plan some movie ideas that are suitable for them..." Ronald shook his head. Stars are most afraid of being born at the wrong time. If Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme had debuted ten years earlier, they might have been able to compete with Stallone in the 1980s. Now... of course, everyone prefers stars with small cheeks like Tom Cruise.

"That's great." Michelle Cannold looked at his boss Ronald eagerly, wondering when the idea would come up.

"Wait, I have other things to do..." Ronald waved his hand, indicating that he would not give him an answer right away.

After the other party left, he took out a document from the drawer, which was the complaint letter he wrote to the Chinese because "Hi, Frank" could not be released.

Someone wrote a handwritten instruction on it, "We should carry out various forms of film art cooperation pilots with Hollywood artists who are friendly to China to meet the people's higher demand for literary and artistic works."

With this instruction, it is a real stepping stone to the cross-strait market. Ronald needs to think about how to use this thing to the highest value.