Exploiting Hollywood 1980

More than two months passed in a blink of an eye. Ronald returned to Los Angeles from the "The Brats" set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after completing the filming of the movie.

The filming of "The Brats" has ended. He followed Coppola on the set and saw his series of methods of directing the actors, which was very beneficial.

Coppola can be said to have turned directing into an art. From casting to rehearsal to the last word he said to the actors before directing, all his actions throughout the process were preparing for the final image presented by the actors on the film.

His bag seemed to be full of normal and abnormal tricks, each of which made the actors' performances more outstanding.

Ronald rented a clean motel in Los Angeles again and began to sort out his insights over the past two months. This was the master's experience that he could learn from when he directed himself in the future.

However, there was not much time left for him to sort out his notes, as the release time of "Fast-paced Richmond High" was coming soon.

Six weeks in advance, Universal's distribution department began to discuss the schedule of film marketing with producers Lin Sen, Azov, director Ronald, and several leading actors.

"That's basically it. We don't have much marketing budget to invest. In addition to accepting concentrated newspaper interviews in Los Angeles and New York, there is another focus in Dallas, Texas.

There is a celebrity interview program with Bobbi Wygant on NBC Channel 5, which is one of the few film-related TV programs broadcast in national syndication. Our three leading actors will be interviewed by her."

A director of Universal's distribution department was introducing the distribution plan to two producers and Ronald.

"We have invited several major regional distributors to see the prints. They have mixed opinions on the quality of the film. Buyers on the West Coast like it more, while buyers on the East Coast and the Mid-South have some complaints about the nudity, but are still optimistic about the box office.

They are all willing to release "Fast and Furious" five weeks after Universal's "ET Aliens", which is July 16. So our marketing work will start roughly in mid-June, including various TV shows, newspaper media interviews, and interviews with professional magazines.

I heard that you contacted David Letterman's Late Show and asked Brooke Shields, who guest-starred, to come on the show to talk about the movie "Fast and Furious", which is also very good news for our movie.

In short, this is our advance marketing arrangement, just waiting for the national box office results of the first weekend. The first weekend multiplier of a youth romantic comedy is generally around four times, and if the audience likes it, it may reach six times."

"What is the first weekend multiplier?" Ronald sat in a chair and heard a term he didn't understand, so he secretly asked the producer Lin Sen.

"This director of ours is directing a feature film for the first time. This is his debut. Can you help explain the first weekend box office multiplier and some basic knowledge related to distribution?" Lin Sen raised his hand and asked the distribution director.

"My question. I didn't expect this to be director Ronald Lee's first film. I want to congratulate you.

The first weekend multiplier is a means we use to estimate the box office of a movie. It is a number obtained by dividing the total box office of the movie by the box office of the first weekend of its release.

In this way, when we get the first weekend box office number, we can roughly estimate the box office performance of the entire movie. It is convenient to adjust the subsequent screening plan and the release time of other movies.

You know, since the tragedy of "Heaven's Gate" last year, both print media and television media have been very keen on comparing the box office numbers of movies every week.

Audiences have also begun to choose which movie they go to the cinema to watch based on the weekly box office rankings. In this way, our first weekend multiplier becomes more important."

"Uh, thank you. Can you please explain in more detail why the first weekend multiplier becomes important? I am completely an outsider to movie distribution." Ronald knew that he didn't understand, and he was not afraid of being embarrassed, so he simply asked in more detail.

"Very good question. You know, every time a movie is shown in a cinema, there is a cost? So what is the cost?"

"I think it should be the electricity bill, copy rental fees, cleaners, and ticket inspectors?"

"It can be seen that Director Ronald is a person who often goes to the movies, but in addition to these, what is more important is the box office of other movies.

Let me give you an example. If there are two movies, take the currently released "Annie" and "Grease 2" for comparison.

"Grease 2" was released on a large scale last weekend, with a box office of 4.6 million in the first weekend, while "Annie" was released on a large scale this week and has a strong momentum. How will the cinema decide which movie should be given more screening time?"

"I think I will compare the box office performance of the two movies to decide?" Ronald gave an answer.

"BGO! This is the concept of opportunity cost in economics. The average box office of Grease 2 this week is less than $2,000. The average box office of Annie since its release is more than $4,500, so cinemas will increase the number of screenings of Annie and allocate more prime time to Annie.

We, the distributor, will give a multiplier to estimate the box office performance of the entire movie based on the type of movie, the ratings of film critics, and the evaluation of the audience.

For example, Roger Ebert only gave Grease 2 a two-star rating, the audience rating was b-, and it is a sequel, so we can only estimate a multiplier of 3.5.

And the musical "Annie", which is also adapted from Broadway, has received much higher ratings from critics and audiences than "Grease 2", so we can safely give it a multiplier of more than 6. "

Ronald nodded, indicating that he understood. The first weekend box office multiplier is actually an empirical formula used by the distribution department to estimate the final box office, which is roughly determined by critics, audience ratings, film type, and experience.

The higher the multiplier, the longer the movie will be released, and the more theaters will be willing to show it, so the final total box office will be higher.

Of course, after ten weeks, when it turns to long-term screening, the theater's share will be much higher than the first few weeks. In addition to the good-looking total box office figures, it actually has little significance for the studio's income.

Is the box office performance of "Grease 2" so bad? Ronald knew that Paramount invested $6 million in "Grease 2", plus the record company owner Robert Stewart's own money. 6 million dollars from his pocket. A total of 12 million dollars in production costs, plus marketing costs.

If the first weekend box office is 4.6 million multiplied by a multiplier of 3.5, the box office may not even break even with the total cost. In this case, Michelle Pfeiffer's big screen debut will be a failure.

Ronald picked up the Chicago Sun-Times on the table. In the column, Albert ridiculed the plot and the male lead of "Grease 2", but said a few good words about Michelle Pfeiffer. Maybe her agent Limato handled it.

Ronald temporarily put aside the idea of ​​worrying about others. Now it's time to worry about his debut "Fast and Furious Richmond High School".

"Then how much can our movie's first weekend multiplier be?" Producer Lin Sen asked Ronald the question that everyone was most concerned about.

"Our movie will be released in mid-July, when the momentum of "Annie" and "ET Aliens" should have slowed down a little, and the audience preview score of Fast and Furious is B+, so we conservatively gave a multiplier between 4.5-6. "

"If we can get more than 4.5 million in the first weekend like Grease 2, multiplying it by the lowest 4.5, we can also break through 20 million. Considering that the production cost of the movie is only less than 3.5 million, such a result will definitely give Hollywood a good impression."

Ronald breathed a sigh of relief. In this way, he will definitely be able to get the second film contract from the studio.

The head of the distribution department saw his nervousness and raised his hand to signal him, "Based on experience, this movie will be a great success."

"How is the premiere arranged?"

"Fast Pace is not a big production. We will not hold the premiere in a large theater. But we will hold small premieres in Los Angeles and New York. At that time, we will also invite some newspapers and media to interview. The two leading actresses Jennifer Jason Leigh and Phoebe Cates have agreed to attend.

Sean Penn is very popular with theater buyers, and he will also come. Then it depends on whether you can invite guest stars Brooke Shields and David Letterman to attend. If possible, it will create news topics for the media, which will be of great benefit to our first weekend box office. ”

“Give me the time and place, and I will invite people. Also, save some tickets for me in New York, I want to invite my family and friends to watch it. The same goes for Los Angeles.” Ronald thought of his family and friends far away in New York, this is a memorable moment.

“Okay, no problem. I will save you at least ten tickets for the premiere.”

Ronald went back to prepare to go to several major cities for marketing and promotion, and relaxed his nervous mood a little. He paid attention to the situation of his competitors. The box office of “Grease 2” really plummeted in the second week, and it was about to be taken off the screen in four weeks.

Next week is the release date of “ET the Extra-Terrestrial”, which is also produced by Universal. I heard from the distribution director that this Spielberg movie received absolutely good reviews from the preview audience and received a very rare A+ preview rating that only comes out once every one or two years.

This gives “ET the Extra-Terrestrial” enough five weeks of release time, and “Fast and Furious” will be released on July 16th, which is in a good position in the summer season.

And Disney’s Zinnemann, Matt Dillon, and Meg Tilly’s “Desperado” "The Texan" will be released two weeks later than "Fast Pace" and will be released at the end of July. His own movie has a two-week advantage. Even if the quality of the other movie is comparable to his own, he will occupy a better time slot in the summer.

And the follow-up work of two Israelis, "The Last American Virgin", will also be released at the end of July, which will further dilute the box office of "The Texan", which is also about teenagers.

No matter how you look at it, he is in a very advantageous position.

Universal Pictures is indeed a big company. It is still very powerful in grabbing the schedule, leaving Disney, which makes animations, far behind.

Just when Ronald was waiting to reunite with several leading actors and flying to various places to market the movie, an unexpected incident suddenly happened.