Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

"How much? Thirty-one million? Oh, okay... Why am I not excited enough? No, I am very excited. This is already the first weekend box office performance of the three two years ago."

During the first weekend after its premiere, "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" was simultaneously released in more than 2200 theaters across the country. For a time, science fiction movie fans across the country were talking about this matter. When I watched the first film, many of the movie fans who were still teenagers were now parents. Everyone wants to call friends to relive the touch that this movie brought to them.

On Monday, the box office statistics were sent to Ronald. The average box office per theater is US$13,000.

Ronald still sighed after hanging up the phone. This result is still far behind his expectations. After all, my own movie marketing team spent so much energy on getting so many big stars to say good things about the movie on TV.

But I think of Batman the year before last. It was released in almost the same number of theaters, and it got 4000 million in the first weekend box office, and the single box office was as high as US dollars.

Even if Batman has a certain number of comic fans who support him, the ground-breaking special effects scenes like Terminator 2 are not so different.

"Are you still not satisfied? In fact, Terminator 2's box office in the first five days was million, which is very close to Batman's box office in the first five days. The difference between million and million is only million, which is the second best result in history. ”

Ronald's marketing consultant, Michael Gray, handed him a document containing the various box office records of The Terminator in film history.

"It's hard to compare. Although Batman also opened on Wednesday, there were only small-scale screenings in the first two days. Its box office was mainly accumulated in the three days of the weekend. And Terminator 2, on July 7th, Independence Day It was released on a large scale that day.

This is not the same thing. You can tell by looking at the box office results of a single theater. "

Ronald knew that Michael Gray wanted to take credit, so he handed him the average box office of a single theater.

"But Terminator 2, Cinema Score's audience rating was A+, which is the highest box office rating for an R-rated film in history." Michael Gray still found some achievements for the marketing actions he led.

"You're right, this is a great thing. I shouldn't be upset if I don't win the box office championship in film history. I will give your marketing consulting company a bonus. Well done."

……

"The box office of The Silence of the Lambs has immediately dropped below a thousand dollars per theater, and it will be released almost next week. Unfortunately, the influence of this movie cannot last until the second half of the year, otherwise when the awards season comes, it will be very popular. Strong."

Michelle Cannold, Ronald's distribution director, came to Ronald with all kinds of data to report to.

Because there was no money or resources to operate Dances with Wolves and The Silence of the Lambs at the same time, the two Oscar hopefuls were released simultaneously. So Ronald put Silence of the Lambs in '91.

To be fair, Silence of the Lambs is of better quality than Dances with Wolves . Jonathan Demme is more like a great conductor and made this movie very rigorous. When watching this movie, it is like watching a strictly trained high-level symphony orchestra playing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under his baton.

Every aspect is so perfect, including casting, makeup and editing. It seems like every dollar Ronald invested into this film was used where it was needed most.

What's even more commendable is that although this is a film with a director's personality, it is not bad in commercial terms. Ordinary viewers, you don't need to know anything about the director to enjoy this movie.

Except in non-Christian cultures, certain cultural barriers prevent audiences from enjoying this thriller. Audiences in the main markets of America, Europe, Oceania, North America and Korea were mesmerized and enjoyed the thrill of being scared and screaming.

Dances with Wolves is more like a young director with rough skills, rushing forward with his own passion. This movie has many plot and pacing problems, especially the director's cut that was edited by Kevin Costner and made the plot even more lengthy.

Although he himself did not put much effort into producing this director's cut, as the new Oscar-winning director, he still took the initiative in the editing work. The editor had to follow his opinions at every turn, and in the end his will dominated the special edition.

He made the same mistake that all new directors make, and was reluctant to cut out the scenes he had finally shot. Especially regarding the close-up of himself on the screen. Among the additional time, there are a full ten minutes of his beautiful face alone.

But because of this bloody courage, this movie is very contagious. Just like a man full of desire shouting loudly, everyone who sees this scene will be moved by his passion.

Relying on this momentum and the momentum related to Indian legislation, this movie actually won a big win at the Oscars, which really shocked many people. For example, CAA's Ovitz and Columbia's Peter Guber did not expect that such a movie that was not very good in public relations would have so many members vote for it.

So this also made Ronald feel even more regretful. If it had been decided to release The Silence of the Lambs first and move Dances with Wolves to this year, then maybe it would have been The Silence of the Lambs that swept multiple nominations at the Oscars at the beginning of the year and won several awards.

"Try to extend the screening time in our theaters as much as possible. I have said hello to the Hollywood Cinemas and the Palm Cinemas of Saudi Capital. You should also do some work in the Chinatown and other cinemas we acquired to let them extend the screening time as much as possible. , we can provide subsidies when necessary.”

Unlike Dances with Wolves, which took advantage of the situation, if this year's Silence of the Lambs can get a few more Oscar nominations, Daydream Pictures' image will be completely established. There are two completely different types of small and medium-sized production companies that can win awards and those that cannot.

Minahan Golan worked hard to become a true Hollywood insider by winning an Oscar. For a company like Orion, United Artists' executives can gain recognition in the industry when they start a business, and major directors and stars are willing to trust them. This has a lot to do with their first film "Love at Sunset Bridge" being nominated at the Oscars. relation.

The subsequent "Mozart Biography" also attracted Milos Forman to direct and was a great success. It was only later that many stars started to appear. Whenever a director has a non-commercial production that he wants to make, he will immediately think of the era of Orion.

Ronald also had this idea and opened up a small unit within Daydream Pictures to specialize in these award-winning films. This Silence of the Lambs is a very good time.

It's a pity that...it's not strong enough and didn't get the exclusive year-end schedule for award-winning movies. Now we have to extend it one day at a time and try to survive until August. I hope that by the end of the year, the judges will still remember the plot and the actors' performances.

This business unit specializes in making films for awards, and Ronald has spotted a good candidate, James Shams, the producer who serves as Ang Lee's "promoter". He has been immersed in the New York film industry for a long time and has family knowledge.

This movie is preparing to participate in many film festivals, especially the Golden Horse Awards and the Berlin Film Festival. Thanks to Ronald's relationship with Berlin, the film was happily accepted for screening.

On the other hand, Chief Song from the Information Bureau invested some money in this movie. He wanted to take advantage of the Singapore-Malaysia Awards to create conditions for his subsequent political progress. So the promoter soon joined the competition for the Golden Horse Awards at the end of the year.

Because that party wants to make a splash in conjunction with the Golden Horse Awards, the film's release will be held at the end of the year. Then the release in America will be synchronized accordingly.

James Shamus is very capable and handles many film festival matters in an orderly manner. Ronald had talked with him and asked him to take charge of his small unit. He was also very interested and planned to discuss a new job with Ronald after the promotion event was completed.

Because he wants to distance himself from studio brands like Daydream, which makes low-budget exploitation films, Ronald may just use his "Good Machine Pictures" brand. From now on, it will serve as an exclusive production brand for art films.

……

"Am I asking too much? I'm always not satisfied if it doesn't surpass Batman's box office record."

A few days later, Ronald and Cameron were fishing in a creek in the National Reserve Wetlands north of Los Angeles. They wore galoshes and fished for trout with artificial flies. "I'm very satisfied, at least my child support is paid." Cameron smiled and shook the fly away. Since they met in Roger Corman's company, the two have maintained a good relationship. When they have time, they get together and do things that ordinary people do with friends on vacation.

"Hey, you and Catherine, I really didn't expect..."

Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow also ended up divorcing. When two directors get married, there will always be various problems. When the relationship is good, the two can still discuss business, but when the relationship is bad, all that remains is contempt for each other's artistic vision.

When it came to the specific reasons for the division, Ronald did not go into details. But he also heard some rumors that Cameron and Terminator 2 heroine Linda Hamilton are now in a heated relationship. Kathryn Bigelow also had a very secret relationship with a man because of her new movie.

However, Kathryn Bigelow's career made his breakup with Cameron less dramatic than last time. After all, Gale Hurd was the producer, and Cameron had to give up the rights to his previous films, which was equivalent to cutting off some of his most successful early films.

But this time, it was just an ordinary breakup between two artists.

However, alimony to the ex-wife still has to be paid. Cameron will lose a large part of his salary for filming the Terminator sequel this time...

"Say, Jim. In America, there's something called a prenuptial agreement, didn't you know?"

Ronald really couldn't stand Cameron's way of getting married like a truck driver. He is obviously a successful director, but his marriage is still the same as when he first got married. The two got married as soon as they saw each other.

"Now it's a matter of whether I have more wealth or less than Linda..." Cameron also felt that he was at a bit of a disadvantage.

"Hey, it's okay not to get married. It's not the Hollywood of the 1930s. Stars had to divorce and get married if they changed their girlfriends. Nowadays, the audience's tolerance for the private lives of Hollywood stars is very high."

The recent gossip in the entertainment industry clearly reflects the change in audience tolerance. Emilio Estevez, a young actor who had a falling out with Ronald. The two children he had with his Latino girlfriend were again exposed by the gossip media.

He was engaged to Demi Moore, but his reputation fell apart later. But recently, Emilio has made a comeback. He found a rich woman, the former backup dancer of Michael Jackson and now the popular female singer Paula Abado.

Her new song Rush Rush has been at the top of the charts for five weeks, and she has entered the ranks of popular Diva. Of course, her romance has also attracted media attention.

Emilio Estevez's two illegitimate children and the custody case he lost were revealed again.

However, most of the people's reaction was to lament this man's amazing charm. He has continuously attracted popular heroines in Hollywood and the recording industry, and there are also Latino beauties who are willing to bear children for him without disturbing his normal life.

"That's fine. Keeping boyfriend and girlfriend together will also be good for Linda's star status." Ronald nodded in agreement. After all, America is a conservative country. A little tidbits about men are nothing, but it is better for a female star to be single. Once she gets married, her star will be dimmed. After all, most fans of female stars are because of their charm. And fall in love with them.

"Have you studied the box office? Did you get any results?" Cameron put away the fishing rod, took out a bottle of light beer from the small refrigerator in the pickup truck, and threw it to Ronald.

"The biggest reason is because of the rating." Ronald took the beer, opened it and took a sip.

Terminator 2's box office was not as good as Batman's, so he asked Daydream's department and external consultants to produce separate research reports. They all said it was because of ratings.

Terminator 2 has broken the box office records of many R-rated films, but compared to Batman, whose special effects are far inferior, there is still a big gap. And the box office decline rate after the first weekend is also faster.

This is actually very unsatisfactory. Terminator 2's audience reputation is far better than Batman. There are no visual breakthroughs in the entire Batman film, and the performances are not that good (except for Jack Nicholson's Joker). How could that kind of tight leather jacket, coupled with some s-style flying and boxing scenes, achieve such good results?

The final result is that teenage males, the main group of moviegoers, have no chance to see this movie because of the ratings. Although most of them will be the audience of future video tapes.

In fact, this movie is most suitable for the tastes of teenage male audiences.

"We will still have to make movies below PG-13 in the future. In the current film market, if we don't catch them, no matter what we do, we will get twice the result with half the effort..."

"Indeed, if this level of special effects is a PG-13... Steven (Spielberg) still knows how to make money."

"By the way, the movie theater I bought in Chinatown, Los Angeles, will be renovated and will open soon. Will you come and show your face?" Ronald finished his beer, packed up his fishing gear, and prepared to go home.

"Is there anything special?"

"It used to show Chinese films. After the new renovation, it will be merged into a Hollywood theater. In the future, we will have more movies scheduled. I always feel that we need to have our own theater to be strong."

"Okay, I'll do it..."

……

"Can't take the midwinter gun..."

Chinatown celebrated the reopening of movie theaters with traditional firecrackers and lion dances. This is not a very famous cinema, but it is a place where few Chinese in Chinatown can promote Chinese culture. During this opening ceremony, a month's worth of Chinese-language films will be screened as a retrospective.

"Crackling..."

Firecrackers were blasting and gongs and drums were noisy. It was the first time for Cameron and Linda Hamilton to see such a real scene. It was really noisy. After the two of them entered the cinema hall, they could still hear the gongs and drums outside.

"Hey...what did you say? I can't hear you, Silence of the Lambs, what happened to Silence of the Lambs..."

Ronald was also inside, holding a mobile phone and circling around, looking for a place with a good signal. Finally he found a corner where he could hear clearly.

"The box office has hit $1,000 per venue again? Why?... Did the FBI catch a real Buffalo Bill-style serial killer?"

I'm still a little uncomfortable today and it's a little late.