Exploiting Hollywood 1980

All marketing activities on the East Coast were cancelled, leaving only a few media interviews on the West Coast. Ronald also did not participate in any local marketing activities in California. He let the two leading ladies undertake all the publicity.

He had to call Brooke Shields to explain, but luckily Brooke didn't mind and postponed the talk show with David Letterman until after the movie was released to help cover it up.

Friends all know that Ronald is in a bad mood. He hides at home and watches TV sports programs and late-night movie theaters every day, as if he is autistic.

After learning the news, Spielberg called specifically and invited him to write and revise the script for his Amblin Studio.

Amberling got a taste of the teen market and began collecting scripts for teen movies. Spielberg promised that as long as Ronald's script can get the green light from the distributor, he will give him an opportunity to direct independently within a year or two.

Ronald thanked Steven for his concern and said that he was fine but needed some time to sort out and adjust.

"Hey, the director's first work is very critical. You should call his agent after a while and extend an invitation to adapt the script."

Spielberg lamented that a director who makes a blockbuster success will immediately become the darling of Hollywood, while a director who fails at the box office will have to start over and start from scratch again.

If Ronald can survive this time and maintain his strong desire to create, he may still advance and become a qualified Hollywood commercial director. If this fails...

During this time, several agents at CAA were busy with their own affairs. Niceta's newly signed Coppola is in Tulsa, Oklahoma, filming another adaptation of Hinton's novel.

Niceta often flew in to look after her, and if the film was a success, Coppola would be able to pay off the mortgage on his vineyard and house and get back on his feet.

Paula Wagner got Tom Cruise a starring role in another movie, Risky Bess, and now Paula became Tom's nanny, taking care of him on the set.

Only Richard was in Los Angeles, and he often came to Ronald's motel to bring him food.

"Hi, Richard, you here?" Ronald squatted at home for a few weeks, and his beard grew longer. He was holding a football in one hand and was doing throwing and catching exercises to exercise while watching the football game on the videotape.

"This is an invitation from Catherine from Amblin Studio. What, do you want to make a rugby movie?" Richard joked, seeing that he was in a good mood.

"Maybe." Ronald pressed pause and rewinded. He was watching a game in the NFL playoffs at the beginning of the year. The San Francisco 49ers faced the Dallas Cowboys in the National League finals.

With 49ers quarterback Joe Montana trailing by six points with less than a minute left in the game, a long pass found wide receiver Clark in the end zone for a touchdown. The team narrowly defeated the opponent by a last point, entered the Super Bowl and finally won the cup.

During this time, he asked Richard to find a video of this classic game called "the catch" by the commentator, and watch it repeatedly at home to find some spiritual support for himself.

"How is Tom in Illinois?" Ronald asked Richard while playing football.

A few days ago, Tom Cruise called specifically from the crew of "It's Crazy" and said that he still lacks an experienced assistant director here. He hopes Ronald can come over to help him and he can recommend it to the director. .

Ronald's help to Tom on the set of "The Kid" made him feel that his acting skills had made a breakthrough, and he wanted to ask him for help again. It can also be considered as giving repaying friends a chance to make a comeback.

Of course, Ronald declined. His movie had not yet been released and he was unwilling to fail.

"Matt Dillon is coming later. The Italian pizza you brought is good. I'll save some for him."

"Oh, is he coming to Los Angeles to attend the premiere of 'Texas'?" Richard learned that Dillon was coming and started calling the front desk to ask for some drinks.

The doorbell rang and in walked was none other than Matt Dillon.

"Hi, Ronald, I was asked by Diane and Ms. Hinton to come here to see you." Dillon made a funny gesture like a press secretary, and then came over to hug Ronald. He had just taken time off from a set in Oklahoma to attend the premiere of Disney's "The Texans."

"You are in better spirits than I thought." Ronald handed over a bottle of Coke.

"The Texan" starring Tillon and Meg Tilly was just released nationwide on July 30th. The box office in the first weekend was only over one million, which should really be comforting.

"Shouldn't I be the one to say this?" Seeing that Ronald could still joke, Dillon let go of his worries.

“How many theaters is your movie playing in?”

"There are less than five hundred, most of them are in California." Ronald handed over the pizza, "I'm still very optimistic about the box office."

"Hahaha, I'm going to call Ms. Hinton and let her hear your voice. You're in good shape."

Dillon dialed the number on the set, and an assistant there found Ms. Hinton.

"Hi, Ronald. Let me tell you some good news. I showed my agent the book manuscript you wrote on the set of 'The Kid' and he said it can be published. It will be scheduled for the end of the year. Now I'm looking for an editor to proofread and With pictures." Hinton was also very happy to hear Ronald's voice and congratulated him first.

"That's great news. I'm short of money right now." Ronald said half-jokingly. The controversy surrounding the release of the movie made him want to invest in a movie himself, without being constrained by the studio executives.

"He also said that his movie would have a higher box office than our 'The Unruly Boys.'" Dillon added fuel to the fire.

"Oh, really? That's not easy." Hinton's words were full of joy. Southern ladies in America like boys like Ronald who can keep their sense of humor in adversity.

"Diane wants to talk to you." She handed the phone to Diane Lane, who came over after hearing the news.

"Hi, Ronald. Your movie will be a success. I have always been confident in you."

"Thank you. Didn't Director Coppola give you special treatment this time?"

"No, I play a poor girl this time."

"Also, my agent called me. The "Magic Stains" you reshot for me will also be released, but on a small scale. It may be bought by a TV station in the end."

"It doesn't matter. It's also a good channel for communication. The audience will like you."

"Uh, did I say something wrong? His movie seems to have been screened on a reduced scale and then bought by a TV station." Diane felt something was wrong after hanging up the phone and asked the fat Ms. Hinton.

"It doesn't matter. Ronald is a person who can withstand failure."

After staying at home for a few more days, the news spread, and Ronald received comforting calls from family and friends one after another.

Helen Slater called from the ABC TV series shooting site and said that she would come to Los Angeles to accompany him after the shooting. The two people who were separated by distance could only communicate by phone frequently.

"Don't run around. I'll go back to New York after the movie is released."

"Really? That's great. Let's go to the museum again. Now I hope that after the TV series is broadcast, it will bring me some audition opportunities."

...

Richard still came to see him every day, hoping that he would cheer up, but he guessed that Ronald had suffered a big blow in the short term and needed some time to recover. When the movie is released, this "autistic" state will change.

The Israeli brothers of Cannon Pictures also called. Their "The Last American Virgin" suffered a big box office failure. Only more than 100 first-tier cinemas showed their movie in the first round, and they had to switch to second-run theaters.

However, it seems to have achieved good box office in second-run theaters, but the lower share ratio of such theaters makes it impossible for them to recover their costs.

"Ronald, come and cooperate with us. We can get money from European investors, you can write the script and direct, we can cooperate with him, we can find popular stars to act, this time it is because there are no stars that MGM will not release our movie.

Let's do it together, best picture, best screenwriter, best director... all of them are ours. Ronald, best director, Minahan and Yoram, best movie..."

After hanging up the phone with these two unreliable guys, Ronald turned to his two good friends who came to visit him, Jim Cameron and Gale Hurd.

"Look, I don't have anything to do, I just want to take a break."

"Cheer up, Ronald, don't waste your talent." Gale saw him watching the video of the football game again, and was so angry that he snatched the remote control and turned off the TV.

"Hey, don't turn off my TV." Ronald was not happy, took the remote control and turned on the TV again.

"Cameron is writing the script for his robot, why are you here being depressed and autistic? People who worked hard for Roger Coleman will not fail like this."

Gail was a little angry. She recently received an investment from her father and quit her job to start her own production company.

Seeing that Ronald was not doing his job properly and did not respond to her request for a script, she went to watch it with Cameron.

Ronald turned on the TV again and watched the game video of "that catch", holding a football in his hand and playing with it.

"Did you watch this game, Gail?" Ronald pointed at the TV and asked Gail.

"Why do you think Joe Montana is so sure that wide receiver Clark will catch that ball?" Ronald pointed at the quarterback on TV and asked.

Joe Montana was forced to the sidelines by five or six defensive players and was about to go out of bounds. He ran a pass to the sky and found wide receiver Clark in the end zone. Clark jumped up to catch the ball and scored a touchdown. It is said that the quarterback cannot see the position of the wide receiver at all, and it seems that he just threw it casually based on his feelings.

Afterwards, the Dallas Cowboys' defensive players were interviewed and also believed that Montana was lucky to scare the ball away, and they were defeated because of bad luck.

"Because he is Joe Montana." Gale certainly knew about this game, and Montana is now an idol of boys across the country.

"No, that's wrong."

Ronald threw the football over, and Gale caught it with both hands.

"Because he knew the wide receiver would appear there, so he is Joe Montana."

Ronald corrected, "Why do you all think my movie will definitely fail? I see a different picture."

Cameron pulled Gale, "Let's go, Ronald knows what he is doing."

On the first weekend of August, "Fast-paced Richmond High School" was released in California and other places on the West Coast.

A total of 498 theaters showed this movie, and without any publicity and marketing, the audience was overwhelming.

The first three days of the weekend box office exceeded 2.5 million US dollars, and the average weekend box office of each theater exceeded 5,000 US dollars.

This single-theater performance is only slightly behind "The Best Chicken House in Texas". Compared with "ET Aliens", it is more than half of them.

As a youth exploitation film, "Fast and Furious Richmond High" has exploded at the box office.