Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"How's work going in Queensland?"

Fast forward to July, and "Die Hard" held its grand premiere at the ACVO Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles. Two days before the premiere, Ronald hosted Rachel Ward, who had just flown in from Brisbane to appear at the premiere with her husband, Barry Brown.

"Have you never filmed a TV series, Ronald?" Ward is a little thinner than the last time we met. Maybe she is also following the latest trend in Hollywood and becoming vegetarian. Whether an actress becomes popular or not depends on luck. Some actors who are no longer popular will blame themselves for being too fat, so they desperately try to lose weight.

"Yes, I have never filmed a TV series, only TV commercials and MVs."

"Ha, no wonder, TV dramas are different from movies. We have to shoot a lot of scenes within the specified time, and we don't have much time to polish them carefully." Barry Brown also acted in TV dramas with his wife in Australia. There really isn’t much technical content to this kind of shooting.

Ronald nodded in agreement. It seemed that the methodologies of TV series and movies were completely different. He shook his head, "By the way, what was the result of the test screening of the movie 'Cocktail' starring Tom?"

"Hehehe..." Barry Brown smiled, "I am one of the leading actors. I can't say the true reaction to the test screening..." His wife Ward poked him gently. This was Ronald. He wanted I know the reaction to some test screenings, and there are many channels, so if I don’t tell him, wouldn’t I offend people?

"But I can say one thing, probably less than half of the audience at the test screening came to see Tom Cruise. Those people only come when Tom appears on the screen to be cool, such as when he does fancy bartending. Cheers, for the rest, like when I was doing fancy bartending, they were just sitting on the ground talking to each other.

"It doesn't seem to be working. The attention is all on the stars, and the complete story cannot be seen. I guess this time 'Cocktail' will have a very bad reputation, and it might become Tom Cruise's Waterloo." Ronald thought to himself that there has been no shortage of scenes of the beautiful daughter of a wealthy family falling in love with a poor boy since ancient times, but it is still too boring to arrange a career as a fancy bartender for a poor boy.

Sure enough, on the day of the premiere, Tom Cruise, who was the first to come over, didn't look very good.

"Die Hard" received a good reputation in the test screenings, and 20th Century Fox discussed with Ronald and Joel Silver to adopt a curiosity strategy in the promotion.

There are no spoilers at all in the prior marketing, just to pique the audience's curiosity. After the good word-of-mouth from the first batch of viewers spreads, and then combined with the praise from various film critics, the popularity of the film suddenly increased.

As for the promotion of "Cocktail", they could only adopt a conservative strategy, desperately using Tom Cruise and Elizabeth Shue as a breakthrough in promotion, and also used Cruise's most handsome tricks in the movie. The bartending session was cut into a separate trailer and played on major TV stations.

Regardless of other things, Cruise is also a little worried. If the audience enters the cinema and finds that the best shots have been placed in the trailer, will they cry out that they have been deceived?

"Barry," Cruise forced out a smile and hugged Barry Brown, who played his master. "Ronald, hi, congratulations. I heard that the response to the movie review session was very good."

"Thank you, let's take a photo." Ronald and Tom hugged each other, then posed for a photo with Joel Silver.

"Bruce, congratulations." Tom Cruise took another photo with starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman and others, then waved to the audience and reporters before heading inside.

"Tom, Tom, look here, do you want to talk about your new movie?" Of course, the reporter pointed the camera at the most popular Cruise and kept taking pictures.

"Why isn't Mimi here?" Ronald asked Paula Wagner, who was following Tom Cruise. The invitation was sent to the couple. Demi Moore, the wife of Bruce Willis, is about to give birth and cannot come. The heroine Bonnie Bedelia is going to Mexico to audition for Paul Newman's new movie. Now those who are capable are filming abroad to avoid the writers' strike...

If Mimi doesn't come, and Stallone and Schwarzenegger are there today, the premiere will really turn into a male hormone conference.

"They are having a quarrel, just know it." Paula Wagner said to Ronald in a low voice. The "Rain Man" turmoil also made Cruise's team fully understand who is the director and friend who has their long-term interests in mind, and Ronald is not shy about this kind of thing.

"Hey..." In the film industry, filming often lasts for several months. After taking a break, you may meet your spouse to go out to film. Actors are all extremely emotional people, and problems may arise if not done properly. Anger

"The main reason is that Tom feels that Mimi is not religious enough for Scientology..."

Why? Ronald had no idea that the problem would arise here. Mimi Rogers was already a member when Scientology didn't have this name yet, and she was scamming people in Los Angeles under the psychological name of "Dianetics". Her father was the founder of Scientology, L. One of Ron Hubbard's earliest followers. how come?

However, it is difficult to say this kind of thing. Ronald has long sensed that Mimi Rogers is a very scheming woman. At that time, she also wanted to find a beautiful woman from Scientology to do some "audit" for Ronald. Calculation of interests. Maybe Mimi Rogers believes in Scientology just to meet Hollywood stars like Tom Cruise?

"Mimi went to some Catholic events and had little respect for current Scientology president David Miscavige."

"Uh..." When Ronald heard this, he felt that it contained some struggles between the founders of the religion, the old team members after their death, and the new chairman. Anyway, Tom Cruise only went there to cure his dyslexia...right?

"Ronald..."

A muscular man came over and greeted Ronald warmly. With a slight German accent and a standard smile, he hugged Ronald and gestured to reporters to take photos. Anger

"Arnold...how is your new movie? I haven't found time to watch it yet." Ronald finished dealing with the photographers and chatted with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"The box office was not satisfactory, but the reviews from the film critics were good. They said that I was no longer the Austrian bodybuilding champion with only developed muscles, but that I had learned to act."

"Hahaha, you must not only be good at bodybuilding..." Ronald thought to himself, such a venomous tongue must come from the Chicago duo.

"Hahaha..." Schwarzenegger also laughed, "I went to Moscow this time to shoot real scenes. I also learned from China there and let Hollywood go for filming. However, we seem to be less curious about Moscow than about China. ”

Ronald was not surprised by this. Moscow has always been hostile to America, and the people's stereotype of that country is that it is barbaric, cold, and the biggest opponent and threat. However, China is not the main enemy and has a long history. When people mention it, they often have a sense of mystery and the idea of ​​traveling.

So, Schwarzenegger's "Red Heat" was a box office flop after it was released last month. The gimmick of shooting on location in Red Square didn't bring many viewers into the cinema.

"How did it feel to shoot in Moscow?" Ronald, through cooperating with TV series in Australia, is now full of interest in shooting in places around the world that are not restricted by various unions and where shooting costs are cheap. Anger

"It was very troublesome. We waited for two weeks to wait for the shooting permit from Red Square. One thing there required dozens of department stamps to approve. After shooting Red Square, we went to Lithuania and Latvia for filming. Anyway, the street scenes were similar. The practices of the people there are closer to those of Europeans.”

Schwarzenegger is also very interested in the commercial operation of movies. When Ronald asked him about these filming matters, he just mentioned what he was interested in, and the two had a pleasant chat.

"Our enemies are not very good. When we went to Austria and Germany to shoot outdoor scenes, there were many beautiful women who flew with us. When we got there, we stayed in the hotel. Many men came in and out of the room every day. After staying for a week, we returned On the plane, there were a lot of extra luggage, including perfumes and cigarettes, luxury items.”

"Until he falls, they will still destroy the red empire of our imperialist capitalists." Ronald saw another muscular man coming in at the door. Knowing that Schwarzenegger and he would not appear in the photo at the same time, Ronald personally Go in with him.

"Ah, yes, Bruce is my friend, and I also admire the director John McTiernan, and yes, I would love to work with him. Sly is still the best."

By the time Ronald came out, Stallone had already taken a female companion with him and was chatting with reporters. He divorced the Nordic supermodel named Nielsen and lost more than half of his family property. His film career also hit rock bottom. Now the Cannon with whom he signed a contract with a high salary of more than 10 million has changed hands. It is impossible for him to get such a salary of more than 10 million again. Give him a chance to engage in arm-wrestling.

Therefore, Stallone is very easy to make appointments. As long as there is an opportunity for him to appear with action stars of the same level, he is easy to talk to and the invitation will be there. However, the broker is not willing to lower the price if there is an exit fee. There are rumors that his endorsements have begun to focus not on quality but quantity, and some daily necessities for women, such as dish soap, have also entered his endorsement range. Anger

"Perhaps the rumors are true..." Ronald said to Michelle Cannold next to him as he watched Stallone being interviewed by reporters while being held by Joel Silver from a distance.

Silver was in front of reporters, trying to get Stallone to say more nice things about the "Die Hard" movie. They have a division of labor. Stallone, who has an old grudge with Ronald, is hosted by Silver, while Schwarzenegger and Cruise are hosted by Ronald.

"How do you say this?" Cannold didn't understand.

"Look at his female companion..." Ronald pouted at Stallone's female companion. She has a protruding chin, a big nose, a short philtrum, and unkempt curly hair. She looks like a rich girl who wants to get married. Play in the entertainment industry.

"Pfft..." Michelle Cannold is also a handsome guy who has very high requirements for women's appearance. Seeing that Stallone was reduced to such a nanny, he also laughed out loud.

"Hmph..." As if he heard Ronald pointing at him, Stallone let out a cry of contempt in his throat. Didn't he want to follow me and change the script for me?

Ronald didn't care about the rough guy. When he saw Joel Silver coming over in a hurry, he asked, "Did you take pictures of everything?"

"We got it. Stallone really needed this opportunity to appear. He cooperated very well and posed several bodybuilding moves for the photographer."

"That's good, that's good... We have set a record, right?"

"That's right. With Jean-Claude Van Damme and Lundgren, the premiere of Die Hard is a big gathering of all Hollywood action stars. Everyone appreciates this movie and calls on all action movie fans to go to the cinema to watch this epoch-making action movie."

Joel Silver passed his hand through the air, as if he saw the entertainment news program on TV tonight. The subtitles passing under the screen were advertising "Die Hard" for free.

"It seems that your plan is very good and successful." Ronald turned around and shook hands with marketing consultant Michael Gray. Since the successful marketing of "Moonlight Temptation", Gray has been invited to make marketing plans for every Daydream blockbuster.

This time, his idea is to invite all Hollywood action stars to promote this movie and position it as a movie recommended by action stars. Anyway, this movie is different from all the previous action movies. Bruce Willis's character has many shortcomings, like an ordinary person. If this kind of action movie is successful, it will broaden the acting range for all the action stars who came today. They are also willing to say something good to see how the box office results will be in the end.

"Ronald, hello!" Just when I was worried about the photos of today's premiere, there were only a group of muscular men and Stallone's girlfriend who looked a little ugly, a short-haired beauty with black hair and black eyes came to greet Ronald. 傿

"Hi, Winona, how are you recently?"

"Not bad, my agent showed me a lot of scripts, when will our Heathers premiere?"

Winona Ryder, the heroine of "Heathers" that Ronald participated in distributing, is now waiting for this movie to be released, and then she can get a better role with this movie. It has not been released yet, which makes Winona very worried.

"I have already registered for the Sundance Film Festival next year. The large-scale release will be held after the festival. You just need to listen to your agent's arrangements." Ronald said with a smile. The beautiful actress who is waiting to become famous has a little girl next door. Everyone thinks she is very cute.

"My agent said so, but my boyfriend said that maybe it would be better to take another movie at this stage?" Winona Ryder has a feeling of worshipping big men for Ronald, and she said everything she thought in her heart.

"Your boyfriend?" Ronald looked at the distribution manager Michelle Cannold. How come she has a boyfriend in the past few months?

"It's Johnny... Johnny..." Winona Ryder looked up and looked around, and found her boyfriend's figure, waving him over, "Johnny Depp, also an actor."傿

When he saw that the one who came over casually was Johnny Depp, the actor who played a soldier with Charlie Sheen in the field platoon, Ronald frowned. Why is the makeup painted like a vampire? He also drew eye shadow.

"You decide for yourself. Talk to your agent. Also, ask him to call Mr. Cannold and reserve the film festival schedule for next year. You are the heroine of the movie."

Ronald still admired Winona Ryder and patted her head.

"Hehe...", Ryder smiled cutely and walked away with her boyfriend's hand.

"Isn't he with that, what's his name? ... actor?" Ronald pointed at Johnny Depp's back and asked Richard beside him. "Why is he dressed like a gypsy now?"

"Sherin Fenn, well, they were engaged, but after filming Platoon, I heard they broke up soon after. Depp didn't have any new films after Platoon, and he is now forming a band with a few friends..." Richard is well aware of these trends. Johnny Depp's exposure rate in Hollywood is not low now, but it's all gossip news, and his real acting career is actually stagnant.

In "Platoon", Depp also wrote the name of his then-girlfriend Sherin Fenn on his helmet... At that time, it was written as a sweet anecdote by the Hollywood Reporter...

This is no wonder. On the one hand, celebrity couples always have difficulty getting along. On the other hand, after filming for several months, it is tense and stressful. At this time, having a relationship that makes people indulge in it is very relaxing. Ronald put down the topic and walked into the screening room with several colleagues. The movie was about to start...

"Wow, wow, wow..."

After the screening, the audience applauded and started shouting. This action movie was a type they had never seen before. It was so strange? It seemed to combine romantic love movies, suspense movies, and action movies.

Why is there a plot for such a thrilling scene, such a wonderful fight, and such a good-looking action movie?

And the plot is obviously very reasonable? The leading actor actually has acting skills! And that villain, how can such a sanctimonious and gentle person be so bad!

Buying one ticket, it seems like watching three movies. The audience is tired of clapping and starts to stamp their feet to express their inner emotional fluctuations. They haven't calmed down after the villain was thrown to death and the only policeman and luxury car driver who believed in the protagonist finally met the protagonist.

"It seems that the response is very good?" Ronald was overjoyed to see this scene. During the whole movie, not a single audience member went to the bathroom...傿

"It depends on the film reviews after the weekend to see if the marketing strategy jointly recommended by the action movie male star is useful." Marketing consultant Michael Gray said to Ronald.

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