Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Alien" was released, and the weekend box office was booming.

In the film critic circle, this movie did not cause much waves. The famous Albert and Sisko did not even write a review of it in their columns. Only the New York film critics said good things about it.

However, no matter what the critics said, the audience loved this movie very much, and the cinemas were full on weekends.

"The box office for the first weekend is currently 3 million US dollars." Richard said to Ronald in the office.

"3 million? It doesn't seem to be as much as you imagined?" Ronald continued.

"Stupid, that's the box office for Friday. Today is Saturday, and it is estimated that it can reach 4.5 million. It is a foregone conclusion that it will exceed 10 million in the first weekend, and it may hit 11 million. "

Nicita gently hit Ronald. The young director was looking forward to the release of his own movie and was confused.

"So much?" Ronald woke up, "What about Tom Mount?"

"His days are counting down, along with a group of old stubborn people who support him. Tick-tock, tick-tock..." Niceta has also suffered a lot from Mount.

"No one expected that the new generation of parents would take their children to the cinema to watch ET. The previous model of children going to the cinema by themselves has been replaced by a new model."

Ronald felt the same way. With the intensification of urbanization, the original hall cinema next to residential areas has begun to decline due to the large-scale influx of blacks, Latinos and other minorities into the city center.

The main force of moviegoers now, most white middle-class families live in the suburbs. For them, watching movies means driving into the city and going to the new multi-hall cinemas in department stores and shopping malls.

In this case, young children must be accompanied by their parents, instead of being taken by brothers and sisters as before, or going to the cinema with a few friends. This has doubled the box office of children's movies such as ET.

\u0026On the first day of the release, Ronald also went to the department store where "Fast Pace" was filmed to watch a movie. The whole audience was drowned by the happy shouts of children, and he couldn't hear some of the plots and dialogues clearly.

"When are we leaving? "Ronald asked. Today, he went to the CAA office on the weekend to meet up with his agent and attend Vic Morrow's funeral.

Jennifer's mother, Vic's ex-wife Barbara, still organized her ex-husband's funeral, but she hoped to make it a small-scale family funeral, so in addition to inviting Ronald, the director of her daughter's first big-screen work, and a few friends in the circle, no other people in the circle were invited to attend.

Nicita didn't want to miss this opportunity to build relationships. He took the initiative to contact Spielberg. After obtaining Spielberg's consent, he contacted Barbara on his behalf and expressed condolences to her family.

Barbara also knew that Steven was mainly busy with the release of ET the Alien. He was not at the shooting site on the day of the accident and had nothing to do with the accident. She forgave Spielberg. Ge, this accident actually has little to do with him.

Both parties agreed to use the methods of the film industry to solve this accident. Spielberg promised that after the release of "The Twilight Zone", he would give a large sum of money to Morrow's two daughters as compensation, and also give Jennifer some opportunities in the industry.

Barbara agreed not to initiate a civil lawsuit, but to negotiate a solution through the lawyers of both parties, so as not to give one of the most powerful directors in America the stain of being the defendant in a murder case.

Vic Morrow, the alcoholic, domestic violence, and abandoned family prodigal, finally fulfilled his promise after his death and paved a big road to the entertainment industry for his daughter Jennifer. He gave her Spielberg's promise and also gave his ex-wife and another eldest daughter a large amount of financial compensation.

"Let's go now, I'll take a black tie. "

Attending a funeral is a very formal occasion. Ronald, Richard, and Niceta all wore black suits, black leather shoes, and black ties or bow ties.

They went to the funeral this time to pay their respects on behalf of Spielberg. It was not convenient for Steven to attend the funeral, fearing that it would cause more speculation from reporters, so he simply asked his CAA agent to help convey the message.

When they arrived at the scene, everyone put on black sunglasses to cover their eyes that were not very sad. Ronald came to Jennifer Jason Leigh, hugged him, and asked her to mourn.

He noticed that Phoebe Cates, who played Stacey's best friend Linda in the movie, also They are here. They seem to have become best friends in real life.

Ronald and she looked at each other and nodded.

Soon, all the relatives and friends who came fell silent, waiting for the priest's eulogy.

Although Vic Morrow was Jewish, he had long given up Jewish religious customs and was called a secular Jew during his lifetime. In addition, Barbara raised her two daughters using Christian customs.

So the funeral was held in a family church, and the priest reserved an area for today's funeral, separated from the outside world. Prevent reporters from disturbing the peace of relatives.

"Almighty God, you are the source of life, you saved us through your Son, please look down on Vic Morrow. His righteous deeds in the last moments of his life are like righteous people, and he will be ranked with you... Amen."

"Amen" Ronald and everyone else paid silent tribute.

"What is he doing here?"

"Let him go, he is not welcome here."

"Murderer, murderer!"

The quiet mourning ceremony was broken by a noisy condemnation.

Ronald looked up at the source of the noise. It was a bearded man who seemed to have suffered a great shock. He staggered from the aisle into the church and walked into the crowd attending the funeral.

"It's John Landis." Richard whispered in Ronald's ear.

"I know." Ronald looked at Jennifer and Phoebe Cates. The disgust on their faces also showed that they knew that this was the person directly responsible for the accident, the director and producer, Landis, who ignored the rules and safety requirements and forced the filming.

John Landis walked up to the podium, took out a piece of manuscript paper, and actually began to speak at the funeral.

Barbara and Jennifer, as well as other relatives, were shocked by this shameless behavior. They were speechless and didn't know what to do to stop him.

Ronald was also stunned by his shamelessness. This person appeared at the funeral without the consent of the relatives, which was a great offense to the deceased and the relatives. I don't know what he is here for?

Show off his cheap sympathy?

Landis gave the priest a smile that was uglier than crying, and began to read his eulogy.

"Vic Morrow is my friend...

After the filming began, he once told me that this was the best movie he had made in ten years...

On the day of his unexpected death, he also thanked me for giving him the opportunity to participate...

I am proud to have guided Vic to give what Vic himself considered to be the best performance of his career..."

"Ugh!"

Jennifer Jason Lee felt extremely uncomfortable and began to retch.

Barbara patted her back gently and whispered to Ronald next to her, "This is nonsense. Vic called me during the filming and said that this movie was a pile of stinking shit."

"If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to put up with him." Ronald took the initiative to offer help to Jennifer and Barbara, "I can help you get rid of him."

"Thank you, I don't want Vic's last moments of peace to be broken by these shameless people."

"They should have come based on the advice of their lawyers." Nicita wore sunglasses, covered her mouth with her hand, quietly approached Ronald, and said to him and Barbara.

Barbara forgave Spielberg, who was not at the scene, but she did not intend to forgive John Landis. The criminal investigation is still going on, and she plans to see what charges Landis will be charged with in the end.

"Vic is a dedicated person. At the last moment, before the filming began, he asked Steven for advice on acting."

"Enough, you've said enough. I think the relatives of the deceased don't want to hear these excuses anymore. They hope to have a peaceful funeral. Mr. Landis."

Ronald saw that he was talking to Spielberg, and immediately came out to stop the other party's nonsense.

"Lie! Murderer! Murderer!"

Several relatives and friends began to accuse Landis with Ronald.

Landis' pale face showed a trace of fear and shook. He almost fell, but fortunately he grabbed the edge of the podium, steadied his body, then bowed his head to apologize to Barbara and Jennifer's family, and hurriedly left the scene.

"Well done." Niceta came up and secretly praised Ronald, and then went to comfort the relatives.

"What happened that night? Was Mr. Spielberg there?" Ronald was a little unsure and asked Jennifer secretly.

"No, Vic was shooting at around 2 a.m., and there was a clear time for the plate on the film. Spielberg was busy with the release of ET at that time. He might have visited the set two days before, but in the end, the low-flying helicopter and the insistence on using illegal child labor were all done by Landis."

Jennifer glanced at Phoebe and denied the rumor that Steven was there.

"This rumor seems to be well prepared." Ronald thought to himself.

"It was Tom Mount and John Landis who got together." Niceta, who returned to CAA, made several calls to get the latest news and finally came to a conclusion.

\u0026 The box office of Alien was a huge hit, and Landis was about to lose his job. Landis also faced criminal charges and huge civil compensation charges in the future.

His lawyer suggested that he adopt a bundling strategy, using his co-producer status with Spielberg to tie him and Steven together.

Mount accused Spielberg of dragging him into the water and trying to affect the box office of ET. He will not sit still and wait for death. "

"Katherine Kennedy called to thank you, Ronald. She said Steven already knew that you stopped Landis at Vic's funeral, and he will remember it. "

"Is Mount trying to undermine Universal's interests to save his own position?" Ronald asked.

"I'm afraid so, Ronald. I heard that he is jumping up and down, desperately meeting those old antiques in Universal and the parent company MCA, seeking support from his umbrella.

It is said that Sheenberg has decided to hold a board meeting to remove him when the box office of ET is settled.

We must also be careful. Before he leaves, the only weapon he can use to attack Sheenberg besides attacking Steven is probably "Fast and Furious Richmond High". "

Sure enough, less than a week later, Tom Mount's counterattack came as expected. The MPAA reviewed "Fast and Furious Richmond High" and gave the movie an X-rating.