Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Back in the Mercedes driven by Little Bud, Ronald was chatting with Elizabeth Su to relax. The intense shooting was very intense for the director, and Ronald felt that chatting with beautiful women was a way to reintegrate into life and regain vitality.

Su talked a lot about her experience at Harvard. The liberal arts major was purely for those rich kids. After Elizabeth entered Harvard, she found that it had no effect on her acting career.

"That's not the case. College is a place to be influenced, which is good for your acting career." Ronald disagreed with this. Many actors from the lower class could not play high-status roles, but it was possible for well-educated actors to go back and play lower-class people.

At least it can broaden their acting range.

"The career of an actress is only a few years. I have wasted several years in college. After this time, my agent also advised me to drop out of school and focus on my acting career."

Ronald shrugged. He was also a student on leave and had no right to speak on such things.

As they chatted along the way, Ronald felt a lot more relaxed. Sue had studied at Harvard for three years, and her temperament had changed a lot. Ronald had a pleasant chat with her.

"I have arranged for the crew to pick you up in Toronto. You should have a good rest. This business trip has exhausted you."

"Haha, it's okay. I think I have fulfilled a dream of a girl's generation."

When the car arrived at the airport, Ronald carried Elizabeth Sue's luggage and sent her on the plane. Ronald bought a first-class ticket so that Sue could have a good rest. She would continue the intense filming in Toronto.

As the car turned around, Bud asked, "Are we going to the apartment or the hotel?"

"Let's go to the hotel. No one has lived in the apartment for a long time, and we need to clean it." Ronald was a director, and his income mainly came from film remuneration and some investment income. Now he has invested in "Dirty Dancing" and has not hired a maid to help him take care of it. Naturally, he doesn't want to go back to clean the room. Bud turned the steering wheel and went to the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel.

"Ding ding..." The car phone rang, Ronald picked up the phone, "Hello, who wants to see me?"

"Ronald, the two producers of Top Gun, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, want you to attend the celebration party. Top Gun won the annual box office champion in 1986. They called me, will you go?" It was the call from the agent Nicita, who made the most private calls.

Before Ronald could express his opinion, Nicita continued, "Go, Tom will also take time to go, you haven't seen each other for a long time."

"Okay, I'll go, you tell Little Bud the time and address."

The celebration party was a private banquet. Don Simpson was recently using a "twelve-step therapy" to quit drinking, so he didn't get a lot of beauties to make it a messy party. Instead, it was held in his Beverly Hills mansion, and everyone brought their own female companions in a normal mode.

Ronald arrived at the hotel, checked into the suite, and called a few familiar female companions.

Helen returned to New York and played the leading role in two movies in a row. She wanted to lead the filming of a movie herself. Recently, she was preparing for it with the help of her father.

Diane was not in her small apartment in New York. The phone call was recorded, but she had an agent to help her deal with things. After Ronald called her agent, she called back quickly.

"Ronnie, where are you?"

"I'm in Los Angeles. See if you're free. I'm going to attend the celebration party of Top Gun."

"Oh? I'm in Los Angeles. Wait, I'll find you."

Diane asked for the address in a hurry and hung up the phone in a hurry.

"Do you have a new audition?" Ronald poured Diane a cup of coffee. She didn't have many connections in the circle. Ronald was busy with the new movie and didn't care much.

"No, this time Matt Dillon called me and said he had a good opportunity and asked if I wanted to try it."

"Oh", Ronald hadn't heard from Matt Dillon for a long time. The young man was also pitted by Coppola's two or three consecutive unsuccessful movies. Like Diane, three consecutive movies in which he played the leading role failed at the box office, and he has also wasted his time until now and has not become a star.

"Hey, I don't get along with him, but they all say that he and I have a lot of chemistry on the screen. You know, the camera can make two people who originally hate each other look very emotional."

Seeing Ronald not talking, Diane thought he was a little unhappy and hurried to explain.

"No, no, I'm happy for you, Diane. I introduced you to the "Running Man". Is there any news about when it will be released?"

"I heard that editing is difficult, which reminds me of bad memories in the past."

Ronald knew that Diane was talking about "The Magic Stains" and "Street Rage". There were problems with the shooting, and the editing was slow and difficult. The final result was often not good.

"But this movie was produced by Martin Ransohoff's company. I heard that he wants to make Matt Dillon the next Paul Newman or Steve McQueen."

Diane's eyes flashed with desire. She also wanted to become famous and find her lost dream.

She was born as a child star, and although she has experienced ups and downs, successes and failures, she is not yet 22 years old. Compared with Elizabeth Sue, who debuted in her twenties, she has a strong age advantage.

"Who is Martin Ransohoff?" Ronald didn't know these people.

"Don't you know? Your friend Tom Cruise's previous role in 'The Color of Money' was the sequel to 'Hustlers' that he produced in the 1960s, which made Paul Newman famous, and later also filmed 'The Cincinnati Kid' ', made Steve McQueen famous. He single-handedly made the two major male stars famous back then, and this time he wants to make Matt Dillon the same star.

Even the plot is similar, with a casino master making his way in the world. "

"Oh", Ronald didn't feel much about casinos. Isn't it more exciting to spend real money and make a movie in reality than to play poker in Las Vegas?

"This is a more casual gathering, so just wear your normal clothes, Paula Wagner said. It seems Tom's new girlfriend is going too."

Ronald took Diane to visit the hotel mall and bought her a pair of earrings. The two wore everyday clothes and attended the "Top Gun" celebration party.

"What was the final score?" Ronald asked Jerry Bruckheimer who came to say hello at the party.

"The nationwide release time included in the box office statistics was 34 weeks in total, and it earned a total of 193 million in the domestic market."

Bruckheimer gave a number and handed Ronald a box office summary.

"It's almost over 200 million." Ronald clicked his tongue, which was a bit of a pity.

If you can break 200 million, you can say that you are a "200 million director". Compared with the 100 million director hat, it is still a little different.

"The Persian Gate incident had an impact on us. After the audience saw the government's incompetent performance in the Lebanese hostage incident, they lost interest in beating up fighter jets from other countries in the movie."

Bruckheimer gave Ronald a reason. After the film ended in the first week of 1987, it was withdrawn from screening in mainstream theaters across the country due to a sharp box office drop.

"The Romance of Fairy Wood"

"Oh, what a shame." Ronald read the summary carefully. At that time, I was able to direct this movie only because of the help of the commander-in-chief. This time, because of the scandal of the commander-in-chief, the box office did not end well, so I gave it back.

Top Gun won the annual box office championship in 1986. However, compared to last year's champion "Back to the Future" and the year before that "Ghostbusters", the results were slightly lower and did not break the 200 million mark like the previous two years.

However, the average weekly box office performance and the average box office per theater are actually similar to those of the champions in the previous two years.

The main reason for the difference in box office is that "Top Gun" did not stay in theaters for as long as they did.

Comparing the box office champions in the past five years, the most powerful one is Spielberg's "ET", which has a box office of 350 million in China. That is because it was released in theaters. It took more than eighty weeks and lasted more than a year. It was on the box office charts for more than fifty weeks.

"Ronald, congratulations." Bruckheimer picked up the champagne and congratulated Ronald loudly.

Regardless of whether it exceeds 200 million, a movie can become the annual box office champion, which is a great recognition of a director's commercial ability.

Especially for "Top Gun", a theme of aerial combat that no one has successfully tackled before, Ronald's reputation is equal to a guarantee of making money in the eyes of major producers.

"Congratulations to us."

Ronald clinked glasses with him in congratulations. Diane, who was holding her arm, smiled happier than herself. She stamped her feet desperately to show her excitement.

"Ronald, you are really amazing. You succeeded."

"Hahaha", Ronald was a little happy to be praised by the beauty, but he still had to be modest, "It's just luck that makes him so popular."

Diane looked at Ronald with eyes full of admiration. The director's reputation represents past achievements, while the box office reflects current capabilities.

"Where's Don?" Ronald asked Bruckheimer where Simpson was.

"He's over there, chatting with Tom and his new girlfriend, let's go over there."

Ronald nodded to the people beside him who were eager to come up and talk to him, and he and Diane walked to the other side of the large room.

Looking at the envious looks of the actresses around her, Diane also felt a strong sense of satisfaction in her heart, "Humph, what kind of relationship do Ronald and I have! I attended the Oscars with him in 1981."

"Hi, Ronald." Tom Cruise, who was chatting with Don Simpson, saw Ronald coming over and hugged him quickly.

"What are you talking about?" Ronald looked at Don Simpson and Cruise as if they were having a very interesting conversation.

"We were talking about twelve-step therapy. Tom's new girlfriend inspired me a lot. Sometimes religion and psychiatrists are similar."

Don Simpson's condition improved a lot after treatment. He pointed at the blond beauty next to him with the hand holding the champagne.

"I haven't introduced you yet, this is my girlfriend Mimi, this is Ronald, and this is Diane." Tom Cruise reacted and was busy introducing Ronald.

He then looked at Ronald, wondering how he would react to his new girlfriend.

"Ah, hello, Miss Rogers."

Ronald then took a look at this beautiful woman. She stood very carefully and measuredly. She was slightly one step behind Cruise, always highlighting Tom's status.

Ronald's eyes moved downward. Sure enough, she was wearing a pair of flat shoes, which made her appear several inches shorter than Tom when she was behind him.

But this woman named Mimi looks much older than Tom. Her blonde hair has some newly grown black and mixed hair at the roots. She looks like an artificial blonde.

However, Ronald is no longer surprised by Cruise's taste. Starting from Rebecca De Mornay, his girlfriends are at least three years older than him. At least Mimi Rogers is much younger than Cher.

"It's really nice to meet you, Ronald. Just now Tom was talking about working with you, which was his most comfortable acting experience."

"Ah, hahaha..."

As soon as Mimi Rogers opened her mouth, Ronald couldn't help but frown in his heart.

This woman has a crooked mouth.

It's not that she is very good at changing her mind and saying something that makes everyone happy. But Mimi Rogers really has a crooked mouth.

As long as she speaks, her mouth will involuntarily tilt to the right. Ronald is very uncomfortable.

And Mimi gradually walked out from behind Tom and communicated with Ronald directly. Ronald took a closer look and found that Mimi had a little difference in her eyes.

"Mimi, Mimi, where are you?"

At this time, a short man came from the dark corridor leading to other places in the room, and he hurriedly called Mimi Rogers. Ronald and Diane looked in the direction of the voice.

A short man with a funny watermelon head and a mustache came over and said to Mimi Rogers, "I've been looking for you for a long time, Mimi. Are you free now? I feel an audit is urgently needed!"

"Oh, Sonny, can I go over later? I'm still talking to others now." Mimi was very polite to the visitor.

"Hi, Tom, hi, Don, I have to borrow Mimi's time, don't you object?" The visitor named Sonny apologized to Tom Cruise and pulled Mimi away.

"Isn't it rude of you to do this? We are chatting." Ronald felt that it was wrong, and seeing that Tom Cruise seemed to have something to hide, he stopped him.

"It's okay, Ronald, this is Mimi's job, I'll go with her to take a look." Tom didn't have any particular dissatisfaction, he just didn't want Mimi to leave him.

"I'll go do an audit for him, it'll be quick." Mimi Rogers smiled crookedly and patted Tom Cruise's arm. Then she walked out of the room with the bowl-headed man and went to another room to chat alone.

"That seems to be Sonny Bono, Cher's ex-husband?" Diane whispered in Ronald's ear.

"Are you sure?" Ronald recalled that the voice was indeed very similar to the male voice that sang with Cher in the song "I Got you Babe".

"It's Sonny Bono," Don Simpson nodded to Ronald to confirm, "Mimi is a senior auditor of Scientology, Tom is also her client, and so is Sonny, but soon I guess she will only audit Tom."

"Audit? Is she an accountant?" Ronald felt that Mimi Rogers' temperament was not at all similar to his accountant Lawrence.

"Ah, no, it's a form of Scientology."

"Scientology, what is that?" Ronald looked at Tom Cruise in confusion. Is it the name of an accounting firm?

"It's a new type of religion. Auditing in Scientology is like prayer in Protestantism or confession in Catholicism." Tom Cruise knew Ronald had misheard. It's not the kind of auditing that accounting does.

"Yes, they are very effective. This is an instrument invented by Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. It's like an electrician's multimeter. It's very useful. I feel relaxed after using it." Don Simpson was talking about Scientology.

"Lafayette Ronald Hubbard? I seem to have heard this name somewhere." Ronald frowned.

"He used to be a science fiction writer. He wrote a best-selling book "Battlefield Earth". Later, he created a new form of meditation called "Dianetics" that combines psychology, mystical experience, and religion. It's very good for learning." Tom Cruise was introducing Ronald to the work of his new girlfriend Mimi.

"Oh," Ronald thought of David Lynch's Transcendental Meditation when he heard about it. He was naturally distrustful of this kind of thing.

"Actually, this Scientology has helped my dyslexia a little. Now I can read more scripts." Tom Cruise whispered in Ronald's ear.

"Oh, that's good. It will help you a lot." Ronald heard that it could cure dyslexia, so he was not so disgusted with Dianetics. Maybe it was just a change of the psychiatrist's stuff, which was just right for Tom.

"By the way, Ronald, what is your religious belief?" Tom Cruise asked him, "There is a celebrity club in Scientology. Do you want to experience it?"

"I belong to the Quakers in New York and Boston." Ronald didn't expect Tom to ask him this question. After thinking about it, he brought up the sect to which his ancestors belonged and pushed it away.

"Oh, that's a very ancient sect." Tom Cruise didn't continue.

After a while, Mimi Rogers finished the audit of Sonny Bono and came out to chat with Tom and Ronald.

"You're a Quiggle member? Do you go to church every week?" Mimi Rogers was much more enthusiastic about Scientology than Tom.

"I'm the director, so I'm definitely not free." Ronald was a little impatient. The enthusiasm of a preacher was out of place, and Mimi's crooked mouth looked even more annoying.

"Actually, the Western solutions have come to an end. We have to go to the East to find some solutions to solve the current problems in America."

Mimi Rogers also wanted to try, "Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, the founder of our Scientology, was inspired by the masters from the East. In the 1950s, he was inspired by It was only through the inspiration of Jack Parsons, the founder of Jet Laboratory, and his Eastern companions that I gradually became interested in the occult.”

Ronald gradually began to get tired of this messy rhetoric, and Diane, who was holding his hand, felt that the strength in his hand was wrong. Diane looked at Ronald and quickly touched his arm gently with her other hand to soothe his emotions.

"When you are free, you can come and see the hall left by Herbert. He was summoned by the Emperor of the Universe at the beginning of last year and left the believers who loved him." Mimi Rogers also keenly felt Ronald's Impatiently, he ended the topic.

"I feel that Eastern philosophy does have merit. Our Western civilization has its weaknesses and considers too little about the connection between people. Therefore, many people in the film industry are interested in Eastern philosophy. Ronald, you You should also be interested in Eastern culture. I see that your Longwei boy has many elements of Japanese culture."

Mimi Rogers chatted for a while and then changed the topic back. She knew that Ronald didn't like occultism, so she changed her approach and wanted to discuss some high-end philosophical issues with him.

Mimi's father is one of the founding fathers of Scientology and a good friend of Herbert. She has been exposed to it since she was a child, and she knows that to deal with different people, she needs to attract them in different ways.

Tom Cruise is not highly educated and has dyslexia, so he is very interested in talking about occultism. In addition, it can help him read scripts without feeling dazzled. This is the best proof that Scientology is effective.

Ronald seems to be a widely read person and is well aware of many film and television technologies. For this kind of people, if they are not interested in occultism, then they have to talk from a philosophical level. Some well-educated people who joined Scientology were also interested in some of the specious universe theories of the founder Herbert. And joined.

"Actually, I have also studied Eastern philosophy. For example, I have been studying the teachings of Confucius." Ronald felt that he was no longer interested in chatting with her, so he brought up the ultimate topic terminator:

"Confucius said that a gentleman should not talk about supernatural phenomena, or the crimes of unnatural depravity of man, or supernatural evil creatures."

"Forehead……"

Mimi Rogers' mouth became even more crooked. Why did this person talk so much of the topic?