Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Minahan! Let's go have a drink together?"

Ronald hadn't chatted with Minahan for a long time. Now he seemed to be freed from the heavy work of the CEO. Unlike the last time he saw him, he was so busy that he even got the name of the movie wrong and posted a bunch of irrelevant comments.

So after the long Golden Globe Awards finally ended, Ronald walked over, patted Minahan on the shoulder, and greeted him.

"Hey, Ronald. I didn't expect you to come and chat with me. I'm so happy to see you at the Golden Globe Awards. The first time we met was at the film festival."

Minahan Golan's mental state was not good. There was some fatigue in his eyes, perhaps because he was too busy with his work.

"Cannon's movie was coldly received, but I think the Golden Globe Awards don't mean anything. The real recognition of Hollywood is the Oscars."

Ronald saw that his old friend was a little depressed, and he actually talked about the past when he almost committed suicide at the Montreal Film Festival. He quickly comforted him.

The two greeted their assistants and went to the cocktail party held by the Hilton Hotel after the Golden Globe Awards. They found a place to chat.

"I have a movie coming out soon, Sylvester Stallone's Flight to the Top. His last year's The Greatest Show sold more than 100 million worldwide. It seems that the star strategy is still successful.

In Hollywood, stars also shoot two or three movies a year. Now? They take a break for half a year after shooting one. This is a waste of resources.

I talked to Stallone. As long as a star with such appeal can increase the amount of filming, he can continuously produce hit movies."

Ronald frowned when he heard it. After Minahan got the 400 million financing, he no longer insisted on low-cost production as in the past.

The movie that Stallone shot for him last year finally broke the box office record of Cannon Pictures' own "Breakdance". Having tasted the sweetness, he began to shoot movies for Stallone without stopping, regardless of the current common practice in the film market.

And Stallone can enjoy high pay at Cannon, and one movie can be equivalent to three in the past. In addition, Schwarzenegger challenged his position as the top action star, and he also needed to continuously launch new works to prove himself.

For a while, the interests of both sides found a place to coordinate, and Cannon and Stallone became the best partners.

"Is your movie also released next month?" Ronald heard Minahan mention the release date.

"Yes, what, you have a movie to be released too?"

"A small-scale romantic comedy, I am also a nominal producer."

"It doesn't matter, there is no conflict between our two movies"

"Don't take it lightly, my cocky, the box office potential is good."

"Hahaha, it turned out to be that cocky, I heard some rumors, the critics have opinions on your movie? Do you want me to help you invite two out to talk, and find a way to publicize it."

"Huh?" Ronald looked at Minahan, thinking, aren't you using money to bribe those critics to say good things about Stallone's new movie, so that they have to find a movie to belittle as a comparison? "

"Why didn't Yoram come today? "Ronald saw that Minahan's inseparable cousin was missing from the scene, and deliberately changed the subject.

After returning, I will look for the reviews of those film critics praising Stallone's new film. Make a confirmation.

"Yoram, he is now mainly responsible for the company's finances and operations. But the production and distribution business belongs to me, and he is not very involved in the company's artistic creation now."

When Minahan mentioned his cousin Yoram while speaking, he no longer had the intimate feeling that he and his cousin could imitate each other's signatures and issue checks in each other's names.

"There is no problem between you and him, right? It seems that you didn't divide the scope of work before, and I always felt that you were one."

Ronald looked at Minahan's face that couldn't hide his thoughts, and he intuitively felt that there was a story behind it, so he pretended not to know and stimulated him.

"He is now the president of the Cannon Group, and is responsible for the merger of theaters in the country. The business is big, and we are too busy, so it is normal to make a division of labor. Ha ha ha, I am now focusing on the chairmanship of Cannon. "

Minahan smiled reluctantly.

Ronald's suspicions grew. Without the title of president as chairman, how much power did Minahan have left?

His cousin Yoram had actually had a conflict with him, and no one knew what had happened.

"That was the largest cinema chain in the United States that was originally controlled by EMI. After our merger with EMI, we targeted this cinema chain. As long as we take it over, plus the cinema chain we acquired in Britain last year, we will be the largest distribution group in Europe. "

Minahan Golan was quite happy to see Ronald, and unconsciously told him about the company's business situation.

Ronald didn't know about these situations, but they had already caused some waves in Hollywood.

The British EMI company and Minahan's Cannon carried out a merger in the second half of last year. After the merger, EMI held a large share. Although the original Cannon people still occupied the dominant management, the leadership was also adjusted.

EMI insisted on letting Yoram, who had a better business mind, take the position of president with real power, while Minahan was deprived of the power of overseas distribution and other business development, leaving only the right to produce film and television dramas.

This is why Minahan has time today to represent the Cannons at the Golden Globe Awards.

"We, Cannon, are currently filming two major productions scheduled to be released this year. They are aimed at this year's summer season. If you have a movie released, please be careful to avoid it. Don't blame me for not warning you, Ronald."

Minahan has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the past two years and is used to bossing around. He still has a slight psychological advantage in front of his biggest benefactor, Ronald.

"I do have a musical film to be released. What is the theme of your film?"

Ronald didn't take it seriously and inquired about Minahan's thoughts.

"Two superhero movies adapted from comic books. Musical movies are not a hindrance. You have a way of making musicals. You can't compete head-on with us. As long as the quality is excellent, you can definitely make money."

"Comic adaptation?"

Ronald was a little uncomfortable hearing Minahan's condescending tone of voice. But it doesn't matter. Ronald doesn't think Minahan has a higher vision for production than him. He just got lucky and got the general trend. He is also involved in the distribution business now, so Wall Street financing will not be worse than him in the future.

"Yes, I have two movies that I'm going to send to the Cannes Film Festival." Minahan said about making movies. He was obviously more interested than talking about commercial matters. He stretched out two fat fingers and said, Said to Ronald.

"One is the fourth Superman movie. I spent a lot of money to hire Christopher Reeve, the original Superman actor, and also asked him to participate in the movie's screenwriter. I also hired Gene Hackman, an old supporting actor from the first movie. Come back to play the villain Luther.

There is also the heroine Margaret Kidder. I also paid a lot of money to invite her to return and continue to play Superman's girlfriend Lois, which she swore not to play.

In short, this is a Superman movie that returns to the classic formula of the first film. Instead of returning to the boring black comedy mode of the third film, it returns to what a hero movie should be.

The other one is also a superhero movie called Spaceman, adapted from a toy owned by Mattel. I found Dolph Lundgren, the actor who played the league boxer who fought Stallone in Rocky IV, to play the protagonist, Space Superman.

There is also a very beautiful actress Courtney Cox playing the female lead, who will become the new Superman and Lois. "

Ronald felt that when his old friend Minahan was still a producer, he was full of energy and seemed to have dreams. Maybe focusing on producing would be a good thing for him.

"The cost of such a special effects blockbuster is not low, right?" Ronald asked.

"That is, the filming process, plus the stars' salaries, the fourth Superman movie cost 10 million. We also prepared a budget of 25 million for special effects production.

As for Space Superman, a similar special effects budget has been prepared. "

Minahan once again wowed the audience by boasting about how expensive his special effects would be and how the effects would be just like the first Superman movie.

Ronald feels that from a business perspective, this method is actually good. Especially the Space Superman collaboration with Mattel. The cast is inexpensive, but if it's a hit at the box office, you can make a lot of money from toy sales alone.

Moreover, Ronald has always felt that Minahan Golan's ideas and aesthetics in making movies are similar to cartoons. If he can really make a special effects film with this kind of cartoon image, maybe Cannon can really copy the success of "Break Dance" .

"You're right, I'm in a bad mood today."

Minahan and Ronald chatted wildly about filmmaking, scratching their own itch and finally getting over the emotion they just felt.

"The Golden Globe Awards are discriminatory against us foreign producers. Zeffirelli's Othello is his greatest work by his own admission.

Julie Andrews also said that Duo was her best work after The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins, but the Golden Globes didn't even recognize their efforts.

I am very disappointed. Only the audience is selfless. They will not discriminate against my films because I am Israeli. Whether it looks good or not is the only criterion for them to buy tickets. "

Minahan began to criticize the Golden Globe Awards organizing committee.

Ronald asked about the situation. In fact, the Golden Globe organizing committee was not to blame. If you want to call it discrimination, there is indeed a bit of discrimination against the several films Cannon was nominated for, but this kind of discrimination is not directed at Minahan's nationality.

This kind of discrimination, if you think of it as discrimination, is directed at the stars of Minahan's films.

Except for Stallone, his other movies all used outdated star actors and star directors. The Golden Globe Awards rely on stars to attract ratings. Not awarding the award to Cannon movies is discriminating against their leading actors who are too starry.

Thinking of this, Ronald couldn't help but smile.

"What, you don't believe it? Stallone's new film is soaring to the top. It is definitely his best work after First Blood. It has profound themes, the relationship between father and son, the difficulty of a single blue-collar worker establishing a foothold in America, and The high-spirited spirit of the arm-wrestling competition.

I absolutely believe that this is the best character Stallone has portrayed since Rocky in 1976. "

Not only was this film Cannon's most important work in the first half of 1987, but it was also directed by Minahan Golan himself, so his box office expectations were also very high.

"But Americans like to watch boxing. Who wants to watch a fucking arm-wrestling?" Ronald complained in his heart. He shook his head, and the smile on his lips betrayed his inner thoughts that he didn't like the movie at all.

As a director, Ronald couldn't imagine how to make this arm wrestling scene look good? Boxing can also have a series of routines such as being hit, defending, counterattacking, etc. Arm wrestling, snap, the winner is decided in two seconds, without any twists and turns.

"Why, do you think your romantic love film can beat my directorial work?" Minahan is the chairman of a multinational company, but he is most concerned with film directors.

Seeing Ronald's smile, he became more competitive.

"I bet with you, how about seeing the box office results of our two movies?"

Ronald didn't expect Minahan to be so persistent. He seemed to have no great interest in running the company, but instead turned all his interests to his favorite career, movies.

"Haha, I have my judgment, what do you want to bet?" Ronald just smiled. He was definitely better than Minahan in judging the tastes of American audiences.

"If you lose, and my movie has a higher first weekend box office of our two movies, then you have to accept an interview and speak well of my movie." Minahan stated his conditions.

"This"

Ronald didn't expect Minahan to put forward this condition. He and Stallone had all kinds of unpleasant pasts. It was really uncomfortable for him to say good things about his movie.

"Why, you don't dare?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Ronald blurted out, "But I won't say good things about Stallone. Even if I lose, which I don't think is likely, I can only say that your directing skills are extraordinary."

"Okay, what do you want if you win?" Minahan knew that Ronald and Stallone didn't get along. It was good enough to have him praise his directing ability. Maybe he could accumulate some recognition in the industry, and maybe he could get an Oscar nomination for Best Director?

"Me?" Ronald didn't think about what he wanted. He just wanted the other party to praise his movie.

"By the way, didn't Cannonball spend a lot of money at the Cannes Film Festival? There are a lot of opportunities, right?"

Ronald suddenly remembered what Minahan said just now. In European film festivals, if you want to attract domestic attention, only the three major film festivals, especially the awards in Cannes, can have an impact.

"Yes, what, you have a movie you want to go to Cannes?"

"Yes, are you willing to give up a chance to appear in a movie?"

"What's the big deal, I agree." Minahan came over and shook hands with Ronald, and the two said the bet was established.

"You want to participate in the main competition unit of Cannes, but it's too late. This year's film selection is almost over. Either you participate in the secondary competition unit, but you are a big director, it's not appropriate to participate in a small unit.

Or I will discuss with the organizer and let your movie premiere in Cannes? This will definitely be in the newspaper, and it will definitely be good for your marketing when it is sent back to America."

"Premiere? Then bet on the premiere." Ronald calculated that the Golden Palm Award in Cannes would be covered by domestic reports, but other competition units would not arouse interest.

It would be nice to hold a premiere in Cannes. At least it would be a very good news point, and then the TV media in the United States and China might also report it.

"But it's not about being cocky, it's about the musical Dirty Dancing I directed, which is produced by my own company, and I need some exposure."

"That's no problem," Minahan was very generous to his old friend Ronald, "Since it's your own movie, even if you lose the bet, I can still give you this opportunity, but you have to pay for the premiere yourself."

"Deal!" Ronald shook hands with Minahan again and confirmed the additional conditions.

Back to the hotel, Ronald called his agent Richard, "Can you help me find the report on the merger of Cannon and EMI? I want to know what's going on.

In addition, there is Stallone's new film, and those film critics' reviews, if possible, please help me find them and let me take a look."

Ronald was filming and didn't pay attention to anything else. It was common for him to work more than ten hours a day and seven days a week. After finishing the film and returning to normal life, he often knew nothing about the news that happened during the filming.

The next day, Ronald waited for Richard on time.

Richard brought Ronald an analysis chapter from the Wall Street Journal. Analysts on Wall Street all believe that this is a key step for Cannon Pictures to go international. They are optimistic about the future of Cannon Pictures.

Only one analyst pointed out that Cannon Pictures shot more than 40 films last year, and has launched mergers and acquisitions of theaters, TV stations, and office buildings. If the box office is not good this year, cash flow will be a big problem.

The merger of EMI has actually solved the hidden dangers brought about by the rapid development of Cannon Pictures to some extent. However, the details of the merger terms are still unclear, and the views of the Ministry of Culture of the British government on the merger remain to be seen.

"Their overseas distribution channels have been strengthened again." Ronald saw that Cannon Pictures has acquired theater shares in six or seven countries on the European continent through mergers and acquisitions, and has been advertising heavily in Cannes for many years. Every Cannes Film Festival has become Cannon's home court.

"Yes, if your movie needs to be distributed overseas, you might as well cooperate with them. There are so many theaters, and the demand for good films is actually very hungry." Richard reminded.

"Yeah, I know." Ronald felt that this idea made sense. Overseas distribution was more troublesome and the collection period was longer. Many countries did not cooperate long-term, and one really did not know the integrity of the opponent. It was highly likely that one would encounter a scammer.

"Huh? No way?"

Ronald turned to the film review section at the back, "Is this a published newspaper?"

The film review version of the Chicago Sun-Times two days ago did not publish a review of Stallone's new film, but Roger Ebert's shameless praise for Menahan Golan, the chairman and chief director of Cannon Pictures.

"No production company in the world today, of course I'm not talking about any of the seven Hollywood giants, can take more risks than Cannon to shoot serious, marginalized films.

He is the only producer and director in Hollywood who sticks to the old-school style in this era of box office and material desire.

Filmmaking is a noble cause, not just for box office. He used to represent the conscience of America, especially the American Puritan values ​​that small town youth once represented.

Loyalty, hard work, kindness, and consideration for others often have good rewards at the end of the movie.

I didn't expect that today, a foreigner is still sticking to the tradition of Hollywood."

"Hehehe" Richard laughed, "This year, the Chicago Film Critics Association can go to Cannes, England for its annual work meeting, and can also go on vacation in Paris, and all expenses will be reimbursed by Cannon's affiliated companies."

"This guy is really working hard to buy flattery."

Ronald sighed, he didn't expect Roger Ebert's conscience to be sold so cheaply. His own hot dance can actually try the effect of sponsoring vacations for these greedy film critics.