Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"congratulations……"

After the show, Ronald held the hands of several main creators and congratulated them one by one in the lobby of the theater.

The staff of easre are also here to sample the audience's reactions and ask them to fill out forms and rate them.

Ronald stood aside and peeked at a few pictures. Most people still gave them a grade of B+ or above, which made him relieved.

The audience response to this movie was okay, and there were still many viewers in the bathroom discussing the funny plot. It seems that the box office will not be completely overturned, and with luck, the money can be recovered.

"Congratulations, Betty", the actor Danny's face turned pale, his comedy has never had so little laughter.

"Same joy, same joy", Bette Midler, also a Golden Globe Award-winning actress, saw comedy veteran Danny DeVito say this and believed it. "Ronald looks good, what do you think?"

"Really?" Danny DeVito smoothed his hair and held his girlfriend's hand tightly. "Are you telling the truth? It seems we did a good job, huh?"

He went over to Ronald, wanting to have a few more words with the Hollywood blockbuster director to see what he thought of his first big-budget comedy movie.

Ronald is discussing with Disney's publicity staff, "This is not a traditional Zach-style comedy, and I am still very satisfied with the audience's feeling."

"But the number of laughs seems to have failed. We have strictly counted it. Even if it is a traditional screwball comedy, the number of laughs is a little less." The other party told the truth, and the two began to discuss the next publicity plan.

"I feel like the next marketing plan needs to be adjusted..." Ronald said about the on-site ratings that easre saw. "It seems to be a little better than we expected. If Touchstone can invest more, maybe the box office in the first week will be better." Can it be improved?”

"It's over, it's over, we're done." DeVito only heard the first half of the sentence, "The marketing plan needs to be adjusted." His face suddenly turned pale, and he pulled his girlfriend back, his palms sweating.

"What, what are you talking about?" Bette Midler heard DeVito's muttering and hurriedly came up and asked.

"Producer Ronald said that the number and intensity of laughter were not as good as expected, and he and Xuanfa are discussing whether to adjust the subsequent marketing budget."

"Ah..." Bette Midler exclaimed, "It's over, I'm done. Our acting careers are all over. We are not as good-looking as Helen. We can only rely on acting skills and making people laugh in this industry. mix.

If this movie fails at the box office, the two of us will have to play supporting roles in small productions. "

"Ah... so bad?" DeVito's face turned pale again, "It's over, you still have a singing career to rely on, and I can only act in Roger Corman's low-budget exploitation films."

Unbeknownst to Ronald, the two protagonists were terrified.

After he and Helen were done, they took a car to the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel, which was just a few streets away from the Plitt Theater.

Little Bud helped him book a large suite.

Ronald took a quick shower and came out in his bathrobe.

Helen did not change out of the sleeveless red top, but only took off her high-heeled sandals. She saw that Ronald had combed his hair back into an aviator hairstyle, and he also brought a pair of Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses in the room. .

"I heard that you like men who are taller than you, beauty." Ronald took off his yukata, revealing his muscular upper body.

"Hehehe... Now I feel that playing volleyball topless on the beach is also very artistic..." Helen's hair was combed high, her blue eyes were full of admiration, and she hugged Ronald's neck. , and kissed him.

"Tall men are more suitable for me, and I don't need to borrow seats for kissing scenes."

"How did my kissing scene go?" Ronald kissed for more than ten seconds and then joked with Helen.

He found that Helen still had her eyes closed, her face was intoxicated, and she pursed her lips nervously.

How could Ronald hold back and kissed him again.

"Well...you did a good job."

…

"Ding dong..."

Early the next morning, agent Richard knocked on his door again.

"Come here." Ronald looked at Helen who was sleeping next to her, got dressed, closed the bedroom door, opened the door and welcomed Richard in.

"Last night's box office came out?"

"Yes, this is your first production work, and it is also Touchstone's first film. Mr. Eisner has taken care of it, and the data will be sent to you as soon as it comes out."

"How many?"

"Less than two million. 1.7 million to be exact, give or take 20,000."

"Tsk...hey..."

Ronald sighed, this result is not very good. The first weekend's box office was probably around 5 million.

Coupled with an easre score of around b+, the first weekend multiplier will be around five. Multiplying the two will give you an estimate of the total box office.

If it can be shown for about ten weeks, the first weekend box office is multiplied by five, and the total box office of the entire movie is 25 million to 30 million.

My first filmmaking work was probably at a tepid level. Although it didn't embarrass Eisner, it certainly wasn't as strong as his support for his desired outcome.

"What did Touchstone say?" Ronald asked Richard with a frown.

"Touchstone said that it will continue to invest in publicity and promotion resources as planned. There will be no fewer newspaper interviews and TV interviews as planned. This is Katzenberg's personal order. However, it will not invest in printing more copies. It is also very difficult to increase the number of theaters showing the film."

"I understand. I'll call Mr. Eisner."

"I'll make an appointment with his secretary."

Ronald was a little depressed. After all, he was not a producer with any unique secrets who could see whether a movie would be a hit.

This comedy work is not a failure, but it is definitely not a success. Fortunately, with a production budget of less than 10 million, it can have a box office of 25 million, which is profitable. In this way, it can explain the first investment work of the Screen Fund and Touchstone, which specializes in shooting live-action movies.

Even for Eisner's power struggle within Disney, this achievement is far from being a useful weight.

"It seems that my level as a producer is not as good as that of a director. After all, it is shot based on dreams, and the movies that can be dreamed of must have been box office hits in the previous life, so they can be made into videotapes and seen by themselves."

"His secretary said he is in the office, and Mr. Eisner wants to talk to you."

"Mr. Eisner, the box office figures are not very satisfactory." Ronald took the phone and told Eisner his thoughts directly.

"Don't be too discouraged, Ronald. This is just your production work. Jerry Zucker wants to change his directing style. This is his problem. There is obviously a formula for success."

"Can this result help you inside Disney?" Ronald asked. At that time, Eisner invested in this movie, on the one hand, to give an explanation to the eldest son of the deputy commander, and on the other hand, to use the results to strike at the veteran group headed by Roy Disney, the founder's nephew, who was obsessed with animation.

"If the box office is less than 30 million, it may not be good news for live-action movies. How about putting your next movie on the test? I will give you the best treatment."

"I still have to wait for Paramount's reply, Mr. Eisner. Can you increase your budget a little bit?"

"The people of Screen Fund are very stubborn and insist on investing less than 10 million. I am afraid they will have something to say about the box office performance of the evil husband this time, and will further reduce the budget of each movie."

"Alas, these people really don't understand the business and art of filming."

"In fact, with your box office performance, it shouldn't be difficult to attract investment. I can give 6 to 8 million here, and you can find 5 million investment, which is enough."

Michael Eisner was short of breath. He had been in charge of Paramount for ten years. He didn't ask about movies below 15 million. Now he has to worry about the investment of a few million live-action movies.

"Okay, according to the contract, I have to wait for news from other studios first, and I will visit you then."

Ronald hung up the phone.

"Moonlight" is not the kind of high-concept movie that he is best at. If he and Douglas Jr. were to jointly invest five million, there would be a lot of risks.

"The Wicked Husband" gave him a wake-up call. For a movie like this that needs to urge the audience of "The Sound of Music", many factors are beyond his control. Who knows why those audiences who rarely watch a movie a year will go to the cinema?

If it comes to making money from investment, it is more reliable to make high-concept movies like "Top Gun". It is also easy to recommend movies to friends, such as the movie about the air battle that shot down the Soviet Union MiG.

"You make an appointment with Ned Tanin of Paramount, we will meet him and listen to his decision." Ronald asked his agent Richard to contact the production of "Moonlight".

He has Paramount, Disney, and MGM/United Artists, which Weintraub recently took over, and three companies have expressed interest.

The best one is of course Paramount, because it is not a big deal for them to invest in such movies, and they have the strongest distribution capabilities. Disney has budget constraints, and Weintraub's power in MGM is unclear, so their conditions are the most variable.

"Ronnie, ah... you're here too, Richard." Helen woke up and came out in her pajamas. She greeted Richard.

"I'll contact the studio first, and you and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley will go together." Richard nodded and said hello, then got up and left.

"Are the box office results out?" Helen packed herself up and came out to eat the breakfast delivered by Ronald.

"Yes, about five million in the first weekend. One thousand and one hundred theaters is a pretty good result, and it can enter the top five of the box office rankings." Ronald handed her a glass of orange juice and pushed the bread basket over.

"That's it? It's not even as high as the weekend box office of "Supergirl"?" Helen took the bread basket, took the vegetable salad, and was about to eat. Hearing the box office figures, her eyes widened and looked at Ronald.

"Is it because of my performance that the box office is dragging down?"

The memory of the failure of the first two films came to mind again. Helen stopped reaching for the bread and only ate salad and drank orange juice. She touched her face. Did she gain weight again?

Ronald cut a piece of fresh baguette and handed it to Helen, "Don't be nervous. The first weekend box office does not represent the total box office. Our Easre score is good, and the expected box office multiplier is five, so the total box office will not be less than 25 to 30 million."

"Really?" Helen smiled again, picked up the baguette and put it in her mouth. The fresh bread made a crisp sound and tasted very good.

"Hehe, this is the first time that the box office of the movie I starred in has exceeded 20 million."

"It will be better in the future." Ronald wiped the crumbs from Helen's mouth. She really didn't have good luck. The two movies she starred in were box office failures. Now she plays the second female lead in the third movie, but it didn't sell well.