Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Tom Cruise's agent Paula specially asked Ronald to talk about the role of "Moonlight".

She made a cup of coffee for Ronald, "Ronald, Tom has just established his status as a male star. You know, stars are not suitable for such roles.

And you are also a super-selling director. The script you are interested in must be very good. I don't want you to operate on the script to accommodate Tom's star image."

"Is it because Ronnie in the script is a disabled person, with one finger cut off by a bread machine and a wooden prosthetic hand?"

Ronald took a sip of coffee. Paula Wagner's coffee making skills are average, but she made the coffee to please herself, and it tasted okay.

"No, if it's a disabled role, Tom can also take it. It's just that this role is crazy, and the lines seem a bit hysterical, as if there are a lot of crazy pain in the heart. Stars can have defects and can play physically disabled people, but such a character with defects is really not suitable.

If you want Tom to participate, then this part must be adapted a little. Ronnie can't harbor resentment towards his eldest brother. Although he is disabled, he must be full of hope for the future. He can't go to bed with his eldest brother's fiancée directly. There must be a foreshadowing here.

He must show his affection for his brother's fiancée Loretta, and then after hearing that his brother abandoned Loretta, he will take the initiative to marry the woman he loves."

"Well, what else?" Ronald took out a small notebook and wrote down Paula's words.

"And..." Paula continued to bring up some plots and dialogues that were not suitable for stars.

"That's enough, wife. Ronald is teasing you." Nicita stopped his wife Paula who was serious at the side.

Paula looked up at Ronald and was obviously stunned for a moment.

"Hahaha..." Ronald and Nicita both laughed.

When these two men thought of letting Tom Cruise play Ronnie, they both thought of his celebrity status and that he was not suitable for the role.

Stars do not need to have any character growth in the role, nor do they need to have any shortcomings. Even if they have shortcomings, they are cute and do not need to be changed.

However, Nicita always joked that his wife cared more about Tom Cruise than herself. If Ronald revealed a little, Paula would definitely come to discuss with Ronald nervously.

Ronald did not believe it, so he still called Paula, and that's how he personally offered coffee and begged for forgiveness.

"In fact, what you said is still very useful to me. I have never worked with famous stars before, and Tom's status was not as high as it is now when he was in Top Gun." Ronald also asked Paula about the taboos of stars participating in movies.

For example, stars will pay more attention to their own image. Some of them will ask to change the lines to better fit their star image - the image of stars is accumulated in each movie.

There are also some difficult stars who will make all kinds of excessive requests. For example, you need to arrange a nanny for your pet, ask a friend to chat in the trailer between filming, arrange a schedule with an astrologer, and don't shoot certain shots at certain times, etc.

Of course, the most troublesome thing is that some stars will ask for the privilege of watching sample films. When they feel that some shots are not beautiful, they will ask the director to reshoot.

This is the most troublesome. Many stars actually don't understand post-production editing at all. They don't know how the shots they shot are combined into the final film. So many times, the reshoots requested are actually a waste of time and money. Anyway, they can't tell which part the director edited in the end.

Seeing that Ronald attaches great importance to her opinions, Paula also put aside her annoyance of being teased.

She finally pleaded with Ronald, "If Tom hears about it, he will definitely come to ask to work with you. He will definitely hear about it... He is now very interested in roles that can show and develop his acting skills. When the time comes..."

"I know what to do."

Ronald smiled. Tom Cruise likes movies that can challenge his acting skills, but this kind of role, as Paula said, will never be considered by him unless Ronald strongly recommends it.

Paula was obviously very happy. After thanking him again, she remembered something, "I heard that you wanted Cher? Don't blame me for not telling you. She's very difficult to deal with. During the time she was dating Tom, I was fed up with her pickyness."

"Hey... I know." Ronald waved his hand. He had long known from people in the circle that Cher was a very easy-going person in life, but she was extremely picky in her singing and acting. She also had many requirements for life, and must stay in the best hotels, etc., and made a lot of requests.

...

Sure enough, Tom Cruise still knew the content of Ronald's new film through other channels, and he immediately called to ask for a meeting.

"You're back from Singapore?" Ronald asked Cruise, who rushed into the house.

"Ronnie, why didn't you look for me? I thought we were best friends?"

"Of course we are best friends."

"Then why didn't you ask me to act in your new film? We should continue to cooperate. Did Paula say something to you?"

Tom Cruise immediately thought of the key to the problem.

"Listen to this." Ronald handed over a small recorder and pressed the play button.

"Why did you marry Johnny? He's a fool." Ronald's voice came from the tape. He also received Messner's systematic acting training. His breath came from his Dantian, and he could express an angry emotion very well.

"Where are you taking me?" Helen Slater's fearful and expectant voice also appeared on the tape. After Ronald's prompting, her line skills have improved and she is no longer the same dramatic tone as before. The tone of his words is getting closer and closer to reality.

"Go to bed!" Ronald growled.

"Ah... God, okay, I don't care. Take me to bed, I don't care anymore." Helen's voice showed an emotion of giving up self-esteem and succumbing to desire.

Tom Cruise looked solemn, "Is this the line of my character Ronnie in the script?"

"Yes, please listen further." Another line came next.

"I don't have a life. My brother Johnny took that away from me. What kind of life do I have? I bake bread here every day, shoveling the dough into this oven all covered in sweat, and shoveling the bread out.

And then my brother Johnny said he was getting married? Want me to attend his wedding? ah! ah! "

Ronald's lines in the recording were very rhythmic, and at the climax, the table was banged.

"I have no life! I have no life! My hand fell off! My hand fell off! My fiancée ran away too! Johnny still has a hand! He still has a wife! You want me to take this prosthetic hand to his happy wedding ? Get out!" Ronald read at the climax.

"The beast, what a beast," Helen says the last line.

"Click", Ronald pressed the recorder. In this climactic scene, I still lacked some line skills, so I read it carelessly.

"Do you have an idea?"

"Well, it's really not suitable for me." Tom Cruise also heard that this character has too many dark sides and may not be suitable for his star status.

"But your line skills are great. Can you bring me this recording? I like to think about this kind of wonderful drama."

"It was just for you," Ronald said, throwing the small tape recorder and a copy of the script to Cruise.

Tom Cruise has severe dyslexia and it would be very difficult for him to read the script by himself, so Ronald prepared a recording for him to make it easier for him to understand what the play was and why he was not suitable for the role.

…

After a while, two agents, Niceta and Richard, walked into Ronald's house again.

"Ned Tanning is quick to say yes, but he won't give the green light to the project until you find a female star to sign. He prefers to hire Diane Keaton."

"Disney and 20th Century Fox were wary of scripts that clearly needed stars, but both agreed that if you could get big-name stars, they'd be more than willing to invest."

Niceta reported the results of preliminary contacts with several major studios.

"It's the same on my side. Universal is still in turmoil because of that duck, and I'm afraid they don't have the energy to promote this kind of project for a while. MGM strongly promotes Kim Basinger, and her '9 and a half weeks' made them I’ve made a lot of money and want to continue to win over this cash cow.”

But I asked Mr. Weintraub, and he said that MGM has suspended all movie shooting to make room for him to take over. He heard that you wanted to film a new script and said he wanted to chat with you at the premiere of 'The Dragon King 2'. "Richard reported on the contacts from several other studios.

"Has there been any reply from Cher's agent?" Ronald asked about his favorite candidate for the heroine.

"She expressed that she was surprised that you would ask her to make a movie. She also said that she is a difficult star. If you really want to cooperate with her, you should first give her some recordings of the script to listen to."

"Oh, yes." Ronald patted his head. How could he have forgotten that Cher, like Cruise, is a severe dyslexic patient, so she probably didn't read much of the script he was sent.

"Okay, here is a conversation rehearsal recorded by Helen and I. You can send it to Xueer first. Then I will find someone to record a more complete version."

"Is there anything else?" Ronald seemed to have something to say when he saw Niceta.

"Francis called and said he wanted to talk to you about the new film." Niceta is also director Coppola's agent.

"Is he also interested in this script?"

"No, since he made The Godfather, Italian gangsters have become interested in the film industry and will interfere with some scripts that reveal too many dark sides of Italian gangsters.

Your script is an Italian story. As the parent of an Italian director, he wanted to ask you if there is any gangster content. "

"How come he already knows about it, hehe." Ronald smiled and was about to call Coppola to reassure him.

"Huh? How about I go meet him." Ronald then thought about it. Coppola is a very traditional Italian parent, so why not ask him what he thinks about filming this kind of romantic comedy. When I was dealing with several major studios, I always felt that I was missing the point, so I just asked Coppola, who had experience in filming "The Godfather" two-parter, for advice.

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