Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ed Limato, William Morris's senior agent, is still the same. He likes to use a big family to describe the relationship between him and his clients.

"Nick is my child. He is a very dedicated actor. I am very optimistic about him. Although CAA took advantage of Francis Coppola's eagerness to reduce financial pressure to sign him, the hearts of Italians are still together."

"Stop talking nonsense. How much does it cost for Nick to act in my movie?" Ronald was too lazy to beat around the bush with Limato. He took a cigar from the Italian's desk, threw it into the sky, and then caught it.

"Hey, this is Cuban, you little bad guy."

Ronald also threw the cigar into his arms, "Name a price. I'll give him the role of the protagonist, although it's not too much."

"So, $50,000 in salary..."

Ronald turned around and pretended to leave. This price far exceeded Nicolas Cage's worth and was much higher than the minimum wage.

"Don't be like this, Ronald. We are old acquaintances." Limato grabbed Ronald's hand.

"I didn't make this price randomly. Michelle Pfeiffer was originally going to play 'Valley Girl' with Nick. But with my unremitting recommendation, she was chosen by Brian De Palma to play 'Scarface' with Al Pacino, and they gave Pfeiffer this number."

Limato made a "ten" gesture.

"What are you doing? That's a big project of 20 million for Universal, and mine is a small-budget one. The price is 5,000 US dollars in two weeks. If you don't want it, forget it."

Ronald looked angry. Brian De Palma gave up "Flashdance" and went to shoot Universal's big production "Scarface". Can it be the same as his own small-budget exploitation film?

"Ten thousand? Okay..." Limato proposed a not-so-high price. Cage has not yet been able to prove his own works and has not participated in big productions. "But if Nick goes to audition for a new film during your filming, you have to let him go."

"That's negotiable. But my production is a small one, and the audition should not exceed one day."

After negotiating a verbal agreement for Nicolas Cage to participate, Ronald continued his journey to find money.

…

“Sly, Sly…”

Ronald entered the office of CAA and heard Ron Meyer, one of the partners, making a phone call at the front desk. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, and a tropical vacation outfit, and carrying a big bag.

“What’s wrong with Mr. Meyer?” Ronald asked Niceta in the office.

“Sylvester Stallone,” Niceta pointed a finger at her forehead twice, “He doesn’t want to act in comedies and rejected the project ‘Beverly Cop’ that both Ovitz and Meyer were optimistic about. Meyer is going to Hawaii to persuade him to take on this movie.”

“Comedy and action movie fusion?” Ronald sat down at the desk.

“Yes, Sly said he doesn’t like to destroy his tough guy image. You know, stars always attach great importance to their screen image.”

“Tough guy plus sense of humor, it seems pretty good?” Ronald thought about it, the current president has a bit of this style, he has also played a tough guy in western movies in the past, and has a great sense of humor. Recently, he has been telling jokes about the Suvil Alliance on TV, and his public support rate is very high.

"But he is Rocky and Rambo." Niceta made two boxing gestures.

"Yes, his characters are all serious."

After talking about Sylvester Stallone, Ronald stretched out his hands and rubbed them in front of him, "How much can you give for this script?"

"One hundred thousand dollars. The script has actually been written twice, but Mr. Robert Sternwood, the owner of RSO Records, is still not satisfied. He remembered the sequel to "Grease" you wrote for him, and this time he specifically asked you to revise the sequel script of "Saturday Night Fever."

"Very good, I'm about to get the budget for "Night of the Comet." "

Ronald took the script of the sequel to "Saturday Night Fever" and opened it to read.

The story has to start with John Travolta, the male lead of this hit musical.

Since Travolta starred in "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" and became the new Hollywood dance king, there were a lot of musicals waiting for him to act.

However, Travolta did not want to repeat his screen image. He wanted to transform himself into a real actor and declined all musicals.

After the successful romance film "City Cowboy", he took on the thriller "Blowout" directed by Brian De Palma. However, the new genre film co-starring with Nancy Allen failed at the box office, so he could not find a good script to invite him to participate.

After more than a year, there was no suitable movie. John Travolta had to return to musicals, hoping to regroup through the sequel of his debut "Saturday Night Fever" and move towards Hollywood's first-line male star again.

Hollywood often calls this kind of big-budget movie that aims to support the fame of male and female protagonists "catapult". An actor, after being launched by the "catapult" movie, suddenly surpasses actors of the same level and reaches the status of a star.

The script of the sequel has the same name as the original, using the name of the song of the Beegees, called "Stay Galive".

In fact, this sequel began to be written the day after the original "Saturday Night Fever" was released in 1977 and became a hot seller.

In the original work, Tony Manero, who came out of a poor family in the Italian Quarter of Brooklyn, came to Manhattan and tried to find a world in a Broadway musical.

However, due to his background and lack of formal training in music and dance, he spent a lot of time in Manhattan without finding any suitable roles. Eventually I became a trainer at a fitness center.

Travolta has always welcomed sequels, but he didn't like the realistic script. He hopes that Manero will be successfully selected for the musical based on his talent and will succeed on Broadway.

RSO's Stewart, and Paramount's executive producer, spent a lot of time trying to convince Travolta to accept such a realistic ending. Because of the success of the original film, it was attributed by film critics to a very realistic depiction of Italian life in Brooklyn.

The originally stalemate situation took a turn for the better after Travolta suffered a major failure in his acting career.

"So what is Mr. Sternwood's request?" Ronald looked at the script and asked what kind of ending should be given to the protagonist Manero?

"It is more optimistic than the original, but we cannot give up realism. It is very far from reality. This would be too far away from the spirit of the original work. I am afraid that the audience will be disappointed to watch the sequel."

"Can I meet John Travolta?" Ronald asked.

He had never met Travolta in real life. Based on the script alone, he was afraid that he would not be able to dream of a movie, so he asked to meet the leading actor.

"That's no problem. Travolta has a lot of ideas for the movie. You just have to chat with him."

John Travolta is also a client of CAA, and the meeting was arranged at a high-end gym in West Hollywood.

Travolta was wearing a headband and a baggy T-shirt, lifting a barbell. He is working hard to get back in shape. He knew very well that a large portion of the audience, especially the female audience, came to see his sexy body dance hotly.

Six years later, he needs more efforts to regain his former strong figure.

"Hello, Mr. Travolta." Ronald stood aside and watched him do squats with the help of his coach.

"Call me...um...John...um." Travolta put down the barbell and took a towel to wipe his sweat.

"Are you Ronald? I really like the script you wrote for 'The Grease Sequel'. It's a pity that they didn't stick to your script, otherwise I would have made a cameo in it, so we would have been able to collaborate a long time ago."

Travolta is no different from the one on the screen poster, with thick hair, blue eyes, and small dimples on his chin. Many American women like this chin very much and think it is a sign of sexiness and masculinity.

"John, how do you imagine the ending for Manero?"

"Ronald, look, Manero is so talented." Travolta pointed to the famous "Saturday Night Fever" poster on the wall.

Travolta, wearing a white suit, pointed diagonally to the sky with one hand and the ground with the other. Travolta posted him in the gym, motivating himself to work out. This movement has also been imitated by many dancers.

"Why can't such a dancing talent be noticed by Broadway producers to star in a musical? I don't understand. They always say that this is not realistic enough. I don't understand what is unrealistic."

"I think what they mean is that the original work is full of the struggles that a little person needs to go through to get ahead in Brooklyn?" Ronald thought for a while and said, "Manero couldn't go to college. If it weren't for his dancing talent, he would be very difficult. Maybe find a job in a garage."

"Yes, Ronald, yes. Many Italians start working as soon as they graduate from high school. But Manero's talent is enough to support him in finding a job on Broadway."

"It seems like your own debut didn't go so smoothly." Ronald cursed. His agent told him that Travolta got the lead role in the Broadway remake of "Grease" by hooking up with Diana Hyland, an actress 18 years his senior.

He also did "Grease" on Broadway, and that was just a backup dancer.

By the way, backup dancers.

Ronald said, "John, I think that in addition to Manero's talent, his own struggle is also very important. Don't you think he should be rewarded for his hard work? Why not let him be spotted by a Broadway producer and serve as the first How about the backup dancers for the new musical?”

"Backup dancer?"

"Yes, now that we are in the third part, we still have stories to tell. Manero climbed from a backup dancer to the leading role."

"I like your idea, Ronald." Travolta thought about it and smiled. It seemed that he was a little satisfied. "Just like Rocky, huh? Struggle, defeat one opponent after another, and achieve success!"

Travolta punched the air twice.

"How about we give Manero a love life? A dancer who struggles with him and both end up getting roles in musicals?"

"You have a great idea." Travolta nodded. The actor who played the heroine Stephanie in the original film is now 37 years old and no longer matches him well on camera. Manero needs a new girlfriend.

With Travolta's approval, Ronald returned to the apartment excitedly. I followed Jane Fonda’s fitness video and did yoga for a while, then took a hot bath and went to bed early.

"ah……"

Ronald saw the alarm clock next to the bed, it was already pointing to six o'clock the next morning, and he didn't dream of anything!