Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The premiere of "Aliens", the sequel to "Alien", directed by Cameron, was held at the AV Cinema in Westwood, Los Angeles.

The distributor, 20th Century Fox, seemed to have some troubles. The premiere was not very star-studded. Even the TV reporters and newspaper reporters who brought the report were smaller than those of Paramount.

Ronald saw the producer Gail Hurd as soon as he came up.

"Thank you!" Gail was very grateful for the visit of his old friend. This premiere was supported by himself and Cameron's former friends.

"How is the finished film? I haven't seen it yet." Ronald asked quietly in Gail's ear.

"It won't be much worse than your movie box office." Although Gail was not very satisfied with the scale of the premiere, he was very confident when it came to the quality of the movie.

"Oh yeah?" Ronald raised his eyebrows in surprise, "So confident?"

"Yes, Jim's sequel removed a lot of the disgusting aliens in the first episode, focusing on the fighting spirit of women, and the test screening was very good."

"That's great, we can compare," Ronald said half-jokingly.

"You can talk to Jim when the time comes, he's waiting for Schwarzenegger."

"OK," Ronald himself communicated with guests in the lobby of the premiere cinema.

There were really many acquaintances, including the heroine of Cameron and Ronald's debut movie "Rock and Roll High School" shot at Roger Corman's New Century Pictures, Dai Young and PJ Souls.

It was quite fun to meet old friends, Ronald talked about the past with them and laughed.

"Ronald, hello," the laughter attracted the heroine Sigourney Weaver of "Alien 2".

"Sigourney," Ronald hugged her and greeted her.

Sigourney, wearing a spaghetti strap backless red dress, with her dark brown hair combed high, was eye-catching.

Perhaps knowing the quality of the new film, Sigourney was in a good mood and immediately started chatting with Ronald.

The old friends of B-level movies consciously dispersed to make room for the current Hollywood celebrities to chat.

"This is my father, Pat Weaver," Sigourney chatted for a while, pulled an old man over and introduced him to Ronald.

Pat Weaver was the president of NBC in the early years. In the 1950s, he transferred a set of program operation methods of commercial radio stations to television stations. It can be said that the various styles of the current American television industry were determined by him.

"Did you notice? There is no male protagonist in this movie. The heroine played by Sigourney has taken over most of the responsibilities of the male protagonist in traditional adventure science fiction movies."

"You must be very proud. "

Ronald chatted with Sigourney's father for a few words. He found that the old man's vision was indeed very accurate, and Cameron's movie was quite interesting.

"Ronnie", after changing a round of social partners, Cameron and Schwarzenegger came together, and the three began to talk about the past of "Terminator".

Ronald noticed that Schwarzenegger, who did not continue to participate in the bodybuilding competition, seemed to have smaller muscles than before.

"Aha, you noticed it." Schwarzenegger saw the meaning of Ronald's vision, "I don't want to be a muscle action star all the time, so now I am weakening the audience's stereotype of me and trying some new roles that can give me more personality. "

Ronald looked up to this muscular man with a strong Austrian accent. Unlike Stallone, who had to highlight muscles in every role, Schwarzenegger began to try to quietly modify his star image very early, and also signed up for many acting training classes.

"But you are the champion of the world bodybuilding competition. It is difficult for the audience to forget your muscles on the screen, right? "Ronald looked at him a few more times. It is not easy to transform the image in the audience's mind, especially for Schwarzenegger, who has a body as wide as two people.

"I have some tricks. I found a few supporting actors who are bigger than me in the new film, so that the audience will pay more attention to my acting skills."

"What movie is it?" Ronald looked at Cameron. He has a good relationship with Schwarzenegger.

"It's not directed by me. It's a black science fiction film, The Runnan." Cameron indicated that it was not his cooperation again.

"It's a very interesting script. In 2019, humans are dominated by TV programs. They think that what is shown on TV must be real.

So the prisoners in the prison are given a chance to go on TV to accept the challenges of various stars and fight against ice hockey stars, policemen, and wrestling stars unarmed. As long as they can survive to the end, they can be acquitted. ”

"2019? The Runnan? Maybe humans won't watch TV at that time? "Ronald blurted out, he felt that the name of the movie was a little familiar.

"Maybe, but we are still looking for a suitable heroine. She must have certain athletic ability and acting skills. Actresses nowadays can only take care of one thing. "

"Well... do you have any requirements for the height of the actress?" Ronald heard that the heroine was still being found, and hurriedly asked.

"Actually, it is called the heroine, but the role is not very large. There is no requirement for height, and we don't have many shots in the same frame. It is a distribution contract with Tristar Pictures (Tristar)..."

Schwarzenegger heard the music and understood the meaning, and hurriedly introduced the relevant information of the movie.

"Thank you, I will find someone to smooth it out. "

"Female star, eh?" Cameron winked at Ronald.

"Haha..." Ronald hugged Cameron's shoulder, and the two walked into the screening room arm in arm. This kind of thing is very common in Hollywood, and Ronald was no exception, trying to find a role for Diane.

Gail didn't lie, Cameron did direct the sequel very well, even better than the original.

This is very difficult. In Hollywood history, there are only a few movies whose sequels are better than the originals, such as "The Godfather 2" and "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back".

Cameron's additional difficulty is that he did not direct the first one.

However, Cameron's strength is extraordinary. It seems very simple to find a clue from the original movie and develop it into the plot of the sequel. Ellen Ripley (the role played by Sigourney Weaver) brilliantly completed the feat of killing all the aliens and rescuing the little girl.

Just like the title of Alien 2 (aliens), the sequel changed the focus from a horror movie about disgusting monsters to a victory song for female warriors. Multiple alien monsters were defeated by the heroine, and the audience was very comfortable.

"Wow, wow..." Ronald and the audience applauded together.

After the premiere, Gail was in high spirits. Everyone drank some champagne in the lounge and talked about the setting of the female protagonist.

Gail's best friend, Martha Coolidge, who is also a film director, kept promoting the concept of women's films. In her eyes, female producers, female protagonists, and stories centered on women, it is obvious that this movie can be called a women's movie from any angle.

"No, it's not my request, but Jim likes to have such a strong female protagonist in the movie."

Gail laughed, and she quickly denied that it was not her influence.

"What do you think, Ronald?" Martha Coolidge turned around and asked Ronald.

The two had some connections before. Ronald's second film "Night of the Comet" and her directorial debut "Valley Girl" were both released by Atlantic Pictures at about the same time.

"I think it was Jim's idea, maybe to please Gail." Ronald's nonsense caused several female practitioners to laugh.

"To be honest, I'm preparing a movie with a female character in the lead." Martha Coolidge brought the topic back to female movies.

"What movie is it?" Ronald asked with great interest. The next few movies he was going to direct and produce also happened to be centered on women.

"It's a movie script by John Hughes, called "Sokd of Wonderful". It's about a boy's best friend, and the girl next door who helps him pursue his dream lover. In the end, after pursuing her, he finds that he loves the girl next door the most."

"Oh, he wrote the male version of "Pretty in Pink" so quickly?" Ronald mentioned twice that the character setting of "Pretty in Pink" was wrong, and in the end it was discovered that the person next to him was the true love, and it should be the boy.

"Do you know this movie too? Actually, I think Hughes' script has some problems. It's too romantic. I plan to adapt it into a movie with a stronger realistic color..."

Martha Coolidge said a lot of her own ideas.

Ronald frowned. Hughes stole his inspiration very quickly. It was said that he could write the first draft of the script in a few nights.

This story, which was supposed to be a romantic love story, now seems to be changed beyond recognition by Coolidge.

Coincidentally, at this time, Ronald's agent Niceta came to him. He had already made an appointment with the senior executives of 20th Century Fox, and Ronald would meet them next to test whether the other party was interested in "Dirty Dancing".

"You continue, I have something to do and I'll leave first."

"Don't spoil the fun, Ronald. Today we should thoroughly discuss women's movies." Martha Coolidge is still that straightforward.

Gail stood up to stop her bestie, she said hello to Cameron, and sent Ronald out herself.

"Are you going to meet 20th Century Fox to discuss the project?" Gail asked.

"Yes, would you like to see it?" Ronald handed over the script.

The two have a good relationship, and Gail is now busy producing for her husband, so there is no conflict of interest.

Gail took Ronald's script and flipped through it casually.

"Your script is not good, Barry Diller, the current boss of 20th Century Fox, is Jewish."

"You think so too?" Ronald remembered that Gail was also half Jewish.

He and Niceta looked at each other. Could it be that their guess was right? Jews don't like stories about beautiful girls of their own ethnicity being tricked and abducted by a low-class Irish boy.

"No one will tell you this openly. I have come across similar content before.

Jewish gangs do bad things, Jewish girls are not virtuous, and Jews do immoral things. For this kind of plot, Jewish-owned studios generally use other reasons to reject such scripts.

You can only try non-Jewish studios, such as Disney. Their founder Walter has always been anti-Semitic."

Gail still believes more in the Catholic education he received when he was a child. The two have a good relationship, so they don't hide their words.

"Alas, it's a pity that I have a better relationship with the Jewish faction in Disney."

"Then you can only try... No..." Gail suddenly remembered something.

Ronald also smiled bitterly, "Yes, MGM/United Artists, now the Jews are also going to be in power."

"Don't worry too much, it's just a rumor. And if your movie really has the potential to be a big hit, they won't care."

"I hope so." Ronald put the script away.

Weintraub and Katzenberg used the female perspective story as an excuse to say that the market is not big enough, but it is not completely an excuse. It's just that this kind of small production with a narrow target market and content that is not very friendly to Jews, they are unwilling to risk ruining their reputation in the Jewish community.