Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Thank you, I'm here." Ward arrived at the door of the apartment where he lived and took out a bunch of keys and shook them.

The sound of "ding-dong-dong" made Ronald stunned for a moment.

Ward came up to hug him and say goodbye, "Thank you very much today, Ronald. You are a real gentleman." Ward, standing on tiptoe, barely reached Ronald's ear and gently expressed his gratitude.

"Would you like to have a cup of black tea?" Ward took his hand off Ronald's shoulder and looked up at Ronald.

"Okay," Ronald followed him into the apartment honestly.

"I hope to stay in Hollywood, which is the world's largest film market after all." Ward put down her bag in front of the sofa, took off her high heels, walked barefoot on the floor to the kitchen, and began to prepare black tea for Ronald.

"But unfortunately, no one invites me to shoot a movie anymore. It may be my accent or my figure."

Ward put the teapot on the gas stove, turned on the fire, and came out to chat with Ronald. She gestured at her chest with her hand, indicating that she was not the kind of American sexy bomb.

"But you have a unique temperament. Not all beauties can remain beautiful with short hair." Ronald looked at Rachel Ward, who had a boy's haircut, and admired her from a different angle.

"I cut it for the movie, and it will last a long time," Ward touched her hair with her hand, and she crossed her bare feet and sat on the sofa. This Australian beauty is not particular about details, and has a bit of the temperament of the wild child in "The Thorn Birds".

"You said I have a unique temperament, I don't know what it is?" Ward raised his head and looked at Ronald curiously, "From the perspective of a director looking at an actor."

"You have a more literary temperament than American actresses, and more wild than those Shakespeare actors in Britain. Just like the Thorn Birds you played, a very independent woman who does not rely on men."

"Oh," Ward sighed, and did not expect that the man who knew her best was Ronald, who had only met her a few times before.

"Then do you have a role suitable for me?" Ward approached and asked Ronald.

"I'm sorry, I haven't confirmed my next film project yet. If there is one in the future, I will remember you."

"Really? You will remember me," Ward got closer and closer, leaning out of the sofa.

"Why not?" Ronald looked at Ward's collarbone exposed in her collar. Her slender figure was not as unobtrusive as she claimed. Maybe it was just a small frame.

"Do you really want to be a gentleman?" Seeing that Ronald hadn't made any move, Rachel Ward took the initiative to step forward and hugged Ronald's neck. "I'm going back to Australia soon. Let me remember you too."

Ronald's hands rubbed into Ward's short hair, and their lips finally touched.

Ward was very light and it could be seen that he kept a good figure, but when they hugged each other, they could feel amazing heat.

"Oh," Ward cried out when Ronald kissed him next to his ear.

"Woo woo woo..." The kettle in the kitchen boiled, and white steam came out.

"The water is boiling," Ronald tried to go to the kitchen.

"Pah," Ward slapped Ronald's hand as it was about to leave his body, "The kitchen gas stove has an automatic cut-off system."

"Puff, puff," streams of boiling water flowed out under the steam, extinguishing the fire. The automatic protection system detected it and cut off the gas.

...

"I made breakfast." Ronald used the sliced ​​bread in Ward's refrigerator to simply make two sandwiches, cut them along the diagonal, and then cut off the crust. With the hot milk, he put it on a tray and brought it to Ward on the bed.

"Have you always been so good at taking care of women? I feel very respected." Ward picked up a piece and ate it, "It's comparable to the skills of Beverly Hilton."

Ronald smiled and helped her wipe the salad dressing off the corner of her mouth.

"Hmm," Ward licked Ronald's finger that was stained with salad dressing in return.

"I'm leaving first. I have to meet the producer today. You can call me anytime next time you come to America. If I'm not here, you can call my agent to find me."

After the lovemaking, Ronald carefully wrote down his contact information on a piece of paper and folded it on the table.

"Hmm..." Ward waved at Ronald on the bed. He was going back to Australia soon, and maybe he would marry his boyfriend. Let's just take this as a memory.

"The box office statistics for the second week are out, and it's basically the same as the first weekend." Weintraub was very happy in the office. Holding the box office statistics, he said to Ronald, "This is a very good phenomenon. Columbia said that our movie may stay in the theater for a longer time."

"The second weekend is the same as the first weekend?" Ronald was very happy, which showed that the word-of-mouth effect of the audience was unexpected. If the number of more than 5 million continues every weekend, it may not be much lower than "Breakdance".

"Ronald, congratulations. Mikhail Baryshnikov from 'White Nights' wants to meet you on Thursday to discuss the details of the new film."

When he returned to his apartment, his agent Niceta called again. It was a double blessing.

The film reviews were good, and the box office was unexpectedly strong. Now he is finally a big shot in the circle... right?

On Wednesday night, Weintraub called again, "Ronald, you are amazing. You can invite big stars. Hey? Isn't this adding fuel to the fire for our movie?"

"What big star?" Ronald was confused. His agent didn't arrange any stars to praise him.

"Isn't it you? So he said it spontaneously? When Stallone was being interviewed, he praised 'The Kid' vigorously, saying that it is simply the youth version of 'Rocky'. 'Rocky' was a box office hit in China at the time, but Over 100 million.”

Ronald felt something was wrong, how could Stallone say good things to him.

Sure enough, not long after, another one of his agents, Paula Wagner, called to break the bad news.

"Ronald, have you offended Stallone?"

"How? What did he say about me on TV?"

"I asked Richard to drive to pick you up. This is a bit troublesome."

Ronald and the three agents rushed to CAA's office, and everyone watched the evening talk show tape.

"Sly, how are your Rocky IV and First Blood II going?" Stallone's face with a stiff face on one side appeared on the TV.

"It's all in progress... I invited John Avelson, the director of the first Rocky film. In fact, I also participated in the screenwriting of the second film of First Blood."

Paula reminds everyone, "It's right here."

"So among the movies made this year, are there any that you admire?"

Sylvester Stallone smiled with the good half of his face that was the agreed upon question.

"I think "The Kid" that is being released now is good. It is a teenage version of "Rocky." When I watched it, it was like watching Rocky again, but the director changed boxing to karate. In the end, Rocky The heavy punch was changed into a flying kick."

"What you mean is that 'The Dragon King' is just like following the story of 'Rocky', except that the characters are changed from adults to teenagers."

"Pretty much, I think this is a movie full of Italian-American style. In fact, I know a little gossip about the crew," Stallone pretended to be mysterious, "This movie was supposed to be directed by my old friend, Rocky director Avril Mori was the director, but he didn’t change until the start of filming was approaching. Fortunately, I was able to get him to come back and direct the fourth Rocky film.”

"Is there a high-level struggle in Hollywood?" The host felt that he had caught big news and quickly asked.

"You can see, whether it is the plot or the final battle, there is a shadow of Rocky. In fact, the final episode was all made of leftover materials from Rocky. At that time, there were two episodes competing for the theme song of Rocky III. , I finally gave up the song 'You're the Best' and chose 'Heart of the Tiger'."

Stallone did not answer the follow-up question, but talked about the use of the "Rocky III" episode by "The Kid".

"Hmph!" Ronald slammed the table.

"An interview of this level should not affect the box office of the movie." Richard said from the side, "Maybe it can be improved..."

Niceta poked Richard, and Ronald next to him looked very unhappy.

Paula Wagner spoke from the side, "This is not right. This is a shameless slander and questioning of Ronald's directorial ability."

The studio executives who originally favored Ronald had doubts about Ronald's directorial ability because of this accusation of plagiarism, and they had to find a way to fight back.

Paula knows that in Hollywood, trust is everything.

In this way, it would be better not to let Ronald participate in the competition for Tom Cruise's new film until he can effectively counterattack. After all, Ridley Scott is a famous director, and being in charge of that project would also satisfy Tom's requirement of working with a famous director.

"Damn, this stinky Italian guy", Ronald felt as disgusted as if he had eaten a fly. However, in this level of interview, Ronald did not seem to be accused of plagiarism, but every sentence hinted that Ronald was in the story. , action, music and all other aspects are imitating Stallone's 'Rocky'.

It may be difficult for me to say that Stallone is slandering, but if I also publicly clarify it, will others think that I am making a fuss out of a molehill? Ronald rubbed his forehead. This soft knife move was very difficult. How could he fight back?

"I think you need a public relations consultant to deal with these issues." Paula Wagner suggested from the side.

"You're right, I do need one." Ronald felt a little unclear about the direction.

"I will find the best one for you, and it will be available the day after tomorrow at the latest." Wagner promised.

The next day, Ronald made an appointment to interview the famous ballet dancer and former principal of the Leningrad Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov.

"Hello, Mr. Baryshnikov, how are you doing recently?" Ronald shook hands with him.

"What is good? What is bad?" Baryshnikov spoke slowly, but the content was very cold.

"I think the studio also hopes to be able to shoot live in Leningrad, and they are negotiating with the Soviet Union."

"How can I go back to Leningrad? Do you want me to be detained there like the protagonist of the movie?" Baryshnikov was furious.

"I didn't mean to let you go, I just wanted a team to go there to shoot the location." Ronald explained.

"I think you need to add some common sense to the alliance, instead of taking it for granted that the American way of thinking should be added to the alliance," Baryshnikov said unpleasantly, "Also, according to Russian custom, you should call me Mikhail Nikolayev Baryshnikov. I hope that the Russian in this movie will be in real Russian, not the English-style Russian in previous Hollywood movies."

Ronald held back his temper and said goodbye to him.

"Your Karate Kid is a very successful imitation of Rocky, so I hope you can also watch another ballet movie I starred in before, "Turning Point", and hope it will bring you some inspiration." Baryshnikov added as he stood at the door and said goodbye.

"Shxt!" Ronald closed the car door fiercely and told Richard, "Go to Paula and urge her public relations consultant. This matter has begun to have a very bad impact on my career."