Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The preview results of "Rock and Roll High School" were neither too good nor too bad. The two directors were slightly disappointed. Roger Corman looked at the preview results and called a meeting on the spot. He decided to make only 10 copies and play them in each state in turn.

This old-fashioned distribution model has long been subverted by the new model of "Jaws" with hundreds or even thousands of theaters opening and simultaneous release across the country.

The reason Roger used the old model was that he was not optimistic about the box office of the movie, so in order to save the production cost of the copies and reduce the risk, he adopted the state rotation model.

A copy is a complete film, which is copied from the negative and can be played many times. Instead of making hundreds of expensive copies of the movie at the beginning, releasing it simultaneously across the country, and then reaping the box office bomb and losing money. Roger Corman's philosophy is always cost first. If the cost is low enough, it is difficult for you to lose money.

Roger decided to release it in small states in the central and southern parts of the country, such as Arizona and Georgia, and then transport the copies to the next state after the screening in one state. Not only did it save the cost of making copies, but the marketing was mainly done by local theaters putting up posters, without expensive TV and newspaper space.

If the box office in a small state is high enough, some more copies will be printed and released in big cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. If the box office is average, no more copies will be printed, and the movie will slowly finish its life.

It did not exceed expectations, nor did it fall below the bottom line. It was still able to be released nationwide. Allen and Joe were a little disappointed, but also fortunate. Ronald didn't know whether to comfort or congratulate the two directors.

Ronald went out to buy some Chinese food and brought it to the two directors. The two liked this modified Chinese food that suited the taste of Westerners. Ronald himself preferred the original version. He often went to Mong Kok Restaurant in Chinatown to eat.

The preview was the first time that the movie faced a real audience. The director's psychology was probably similar to that of a gambler waiting for the result. Ronald began to think about "Apocalypse Now" in the evening. He wondered how the great director Coppola would view the preview of his own movie. Would he be as nervous?

As it turned out, Coppola was more nervous.

Francis Coppola has a big beard, black-framed glasses, and has gained some weight.

"Dear film critics and friends from the media, please do not publish film reviews after today's preview. Today's preview is still a semi-finished product, incomplete. We will go to the United States to attend the Cannes Film Festival next month, and then return to China for fine-tuning. This preview is a temporary screening at the invitation of the Directors Guild and the Film Academy, so please do not publish film reviews before the official release."

When Ronald entered the door, he saw many audiences who came in directly with a membership card without an invitation. I think they are the film critics Coppola mentioned. Film critics for newspapers and magazines in the United States enjoy this privilege. No matter what movie it is, as long as they show the critic card, they can watch it for free.

After a senior executive of the distributor United Artists gave a brief speech, the lights were turned off and the screen was dark.

"Uh-huh..."

A faint propeller sound came from the left and right, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, and it seemed to come from behind Ronald.

The audience turned their heads in surprise, trying to see where the sound came from.

"It's a new technology, called surround sound..." Ronald heard someone whisper.

Is this new technology? Ronald thought, in the previous movies, the sound was emitted from behind the screen, and the audience was used to it. Today, the propeller seemed to be hovering behind his head, which really broadened his horizons.

On the dark screen, a sad background music sounded...

The screen gradually brightened, and it was a tropical coconut forest. The orange-red dust was blown up by the wind, and it was pulled up in circles.

The dust was getting more and more, and the sound of the propeller was getting louder and louder.

The landing gear of a helicopter suddenly passed from left to right across the screen.

It was as if the world was awakened.

A breeze suddenly blew in the coconut forest...

One by one, napalm bombs fell into the coconut forest, and the orange-red explosion flames rose one by one, which was very similar to the color of the dust just now.

"Wow..." Ronald was really surprised in his heart. This beginning was extraordinary. I sat up straight, waiting for the name of the movie and the subtitles.

There was no movie name! The subtitles did not appear!

There was only a man's voice, and he began to sing softly. His voice was very special.

"This is the End..."

How come it was the end right at the beginning?

Some people in the audience were actually excited. "Oh, this is the end of The Doors!"

Some people began to applaud...

Ronald did not understand the worship of Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors, by these people in the literary and artistic circles. Morrison, known as the rock poet, also has many fans in the literary and artistic circles.

This is the End...

My beautiful friend

This is the end

My only friend, the end

Accompanied by poetic singing, the helicopter hovered above the coconut grove that was bombed into ruins.

Sometimes the tail was exposed, sometimes the propeller was exposed, and sometimes the landing gear was exposed.

An upside-down face began to appear on the screen, with confused eyes staring at the audience, as if asking "Who am I, why am I here?"

The sound of the propeller was getting closer and closer to the audience...

Just when Ronald felt more and more weird, the propeller turned into a ceiling fan.

The ceiling fan was blowing hard, the camera began to slowly rotate 180 degrees, and the owner of the face began to appear in the field of vision.

The opening music "Ending" gradually faded away, and the audience saw the protagonist lying on the bed in a tropical-style room, with a pistol thrown beside the bed.

The protagonist finally got up, walked to the window, and turned on the midnight window with his hand. There was warm sunshine outside.

The picture was finally not that weird orange-red.

A soft voice sounded.

Ronald was startled, and the person who was talking seemed to be whispering in his ear. How did this happen? There were also audience members looking down at their feet, wondering if there were speakers hidden under the seats.

"Saigon, Shxt, I'm still stuck in Saigon."

It turned out to be the protagonist's inner monologue, so the helicopter and explosion just now were the protagonist's memories? This opening is really brilliant.

The protagonist turned out to be Captain Willard, an officer of the US military intelligence department. He accepted the mission and went north along the Mekong River to investigate Colonel Coates, a US soldier who had left his command and organized his own private army, and to eliminate Coates himself if the situation allowed.

Willard formed a special forces team and went forward by boat, encountering all kinds of strange people and things along the way.

The colonel who commanded the helicopter formation, let the Valkyrie ride, and bombed the village was only thinking about surfing.

The cover girl who flew from the United States to entertain the troops sang for the frontline soldiers in a bikini, but was surrounded by soldiers. She wanted to spend the night with them, and finally climbed onto the helicopter to escape.

The frontline soldiers held a fireworks party. On the other side of the beautiful fireworks were soldiers on duty firing machine guns in the trenches.

The team went ashore to rest and encountered a tiger in the rainforest... They were scared to death.

The team that finally reached the destination found Colonel Coates with the help of an American war photographer.

Coates had become an evil leader who could kill or take the lives of his subordinates. He hoped that Willard would inherit his position and career. The subjects held a sacrificial ceremony and slaughtered a bull alive. The crowd cheered and worshipped him as if he were a god.

Willard, the team leader, seized the last chance and killed Coates with the knife used to slaughter the bull. He led the remaining team members and left this strange place. Before leaving, he called a bomber to flatten Colonel Coates' camp.

The ending music was the ending of the Doors again. The whole film seemed to tell a story of reincarnation.

"Apocalypse Now" has not been edited yet. There are still many unedited cuts in the preview copy. Either the screen suddenly goes black or there is a card sound. There is no credits in the whole movie. There is only one shot with the words "Apocalypse Now" written on the wall.

I don't know if it was not done in time or the director did it on purpose.

The film, which lasted about 2 hours and 20 minutes, ended and the lights in the screening room were turned on. The audience began to whisper.

I don't know what others think, but Ronald was deeply fascinated by the movie.

The movie seemed to be telling a strange dream, and the words that the protagonist Willard always said in his ear seemed like a dreamer telling himself a story.

The creative team was invited to the stage, and some audience members began to applaud enthusiastically.

However, it seemed that not many people applauded?