Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1288 Ronald Playing Mahjong

Weintraub happily signed over the rights to the Britannia 2000 film library to a company owned by Ronald and Douglas Jr. and an anonymous minority shareholder.

Although it was nearly half of the peak price when he bought it, it was much higher than the transaction price of nearly 90% of the price cut at the court-appointed auction after bankruptcy.

Moreover, this money could support his cash flow. Those bastards at Bank of America saw an opportunity to take advantage of his bankruptcy as it was not confirmed, so they found a reason to continue lending him money.

Weintraub learned from his experience and got back on his feet, looking for a new bank to balance the risk. Ronald also introduced Bannon's foundation to him, which could invest in his new film in the form of investment or loan. However, there was a condition: it had to be a film project approved by Ronald.

Weintraub learned from his mistakes and decided to find a new film based on the The Karate Kid that Ronald had filmed. He immediately held a press conference and invited Noriyuki Morita, who played Mr. Miyagi, to announce that he would film a new The Karate Kid movie.

Ralph Mazzio was already 30 years old, and it was inappropriate for him to play a young man. So Daniel officially retired from the "King's Kid" series and went to college.

Weintraub carefully studied Ronald's film success in recent years and found that there was always a very strong female character in his films, so he also officially announced that the unnamed "The Karate Kid" will find a girl to replace Daniel and continue to be trained in Ryukyu Karate by Master Miyagi.

To this end, they will also hold a public audition for Daniel's successor...

……

"Weintraub has finally recovered from the blow..." Ronald watched Wintertraub talk about America's need for a female Daniel LaRusso at the press conference, and he knew that this guy had finally recovered from the blow.

"Look, ABC is broadcasting Julia Roberts' return to Los Angeles..." Diane grabbed the remote control and switched to the scene at the Los Angeles airport.

Julia Roberts, wearing big sunglasses, and Jason Patric walked out of the airport holding hands. Facing the swarm of photographers, the two showed no fear and officially appeared as a couple.

"I told you, Kiefer Sutherland is definitely in the wrong. He definitely won't show up at the bachelor party if he's involved with strippers..." She was about to run back to call Demi Moore. The two had different opinions on whether there would be two men fighting over one woman at the airport.

The whole of America is talking about this gossip, and young people are automatically divided into two camps, those who support the old love, and those who support the new love. Some think that Kiefer Sutherland is not worthy of Julia Roberts after "Pretty Woman". He doesn't even have his own house and has to live in his girlfriend's mansion. Sooner or later, the two will get married.

Some people also think that Julia Roberts didn't want to be with Sutherland, so she deliberately planned the stripper time, and Kiefer was just a victim...

Under these circumstances, the news that Justice Clarence Thomas successfully passed the Senate by a few votes did not receive such extensive coverage.

……

"These are the list of actors I want..."

That day, Chinese director Wang Ying, who had not been seen for a long time, also came to Ronald's home in Los Angeles. Yang Yanzi brought him in. The "Joy Luck Club" in preparation was a movie aimed at American audiences, not like Ang Lee's "Pusher", which was mainly for Chinese audiences.

Therefore, the importance of casting, in the case of The Joy Luck Club, is closely tied to the film’s box office success.

First of all, these female characters must have the appearance characteristics of Chinese Americans in the eyes of American audiences, and must look like Chinese. Secondly, they must also have an understanding of mainstream American culture. After all, this is a movie that understands Chinese culture from the perspective of Americans.

Finally, these actors must speak fluent English with a distinct Chinese accent so that the audience can empathize with the characters.

In the past few months, the most important thing for Wang Ying was casting. He traveled all over Broadway and Hollywood, as well as drama students from other parts of the United States, looking for suitable candidates.

Ronald took the stack of photos and looked at them. In addition to the familiar Zhou Caiqin and Lu Yan, there were also two Vietnamese actresses, Qiao Zheng and Nguyen Yun'e.

"They look very much like Chinese..." Ronald looked at the two old Vietnamese ladies.

"They are immigrants from South Vietnam and were originally of Chinese descent..." Wang Ying explained.

The actresses who played the four mothers all had strong Chinese facial features and their English was well-honed. They had all been working in the theater and film festivals for decades, so performing in English was not a problem for them.

"These are the candidates for the four daughters..." Wang Ying handed over four more photos. It was more difficult to find young actresses who met the requirements.

This time, they put a lot of effort into finding some new people with potential to bring together their four daughters. One of them is Zhao Jialing, a Californian. She graduated from Pomona College and was the only non-white female graduate that year.

One is Lauren Tom, from Chicago. She is the third generation of Chinese immigrants, grew up in a Jewish district, and is more familiar with American culture than many white actors.

One is Ming-Na Wen, who was born in Macau and later immigrated with her father. Her family ran a restaurant in Pittsburgh. But she was very ambitious. She graduated from the Department of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University and was the first Chinese actress to play a role in a soap opera on the three major wireless TV stations.

For the last one, I couldn't find any Chinese people who met the requirements, so I had to find someone...

"Puchi, isn't this Tomita? She's grown into a big girl now?"

Ronald almost spit out his tea. Is this the actress who played Daniel's fat Japanese girlfriend in "The Karate Kid 2"?
"Huh, you know her?" Wang Ying was surprised.

"How could I not know her? I was the one who cast her for her first Hollywood role."

Tomita Tanling has grown up now, and she no longer looks cute with baby fat. She is well-proportioned and feminine. After filming "The Karate Kid 2", she went to UCLA to complete her university studies, so she has not been able to get more film and television roles.

This time she was inseparable from drama and participated in some TV drama auditions, which is how she was discovered by Wang Ying. During the interview, she found that Futian Tanling had a strong sense of camera, performed in a relaxed manner, and was not nervous at all. She immediately felt like she had found a treasure... She didn't expect that this was an actress trained by Ronald.

"Very good, what other actors do you need now?" Ronald saw a bunch of audition photos at the back, including Chao Li, and knew how difficult it was to put together such an all-Chinese team in Hollywood.

So he decided to give strong support to the film.

"There are also four versions of the mothers when they were young..."

"That's going to be difficult. You've found all the Asians in Hollywood who can speak English and act..."

"This part is about the four sisters who just came to America, so they don't need to speak English very well..."

"Oh, that's easy. I have an expert here. Just ask him." Ronald called Director Wu and asked him to come to his house for dinner and ask about some questions about mainland movies.

"Hey, actresses from the mainland are very good. A large number of them came to America a few years ago, and they were all winners of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards... However, many of them were influenced by the performance methods of old movies and have become stereotyped. They may not meet your requirements..."

Director Wu's daughter is now in college, and he has an important job entrusted by Ronald. With a good income, he lives a comfortable life and has gained weight. But as a film director and the head of a film studio, it is still a bit lonely in Hollywood without a movie to shoot.

Today, we had a chance to talk about the mainland’s film situation, and he got excited, naming all the mainland actresses whose performances have been distinctive in recent years.

"But my film is about the older generation of women who came to the United States. They didn't speak English when they first came, but after their own efforts, they now have children and grandchildren and live a good life. So it would be best if actresses who have never been to America could truly portray the cultural alienation and unfamiliarity with America..."

Wang Ying attaches great importance to this movie and he wants to make it a classic.

"Then you should go to Beijing Film Academy and Central Academy of Drama for selection. The actors there have not been stereotyped by that kind of performance program..." Director Wu listened to Wang Ying's ideas very carefully, thought for a long time, and then gave his own suggestions.

“I’ll ask Director Huang…” Ronald called Director Huang, who was filming “Hi, Frank”. When he came back, there were two names written on the note in his hand: Vivian Wu and Xi Meijuan…

"Is this the actress who played Princess Wenxiu in The Last Emperor?" Wang Ying recognized the name. "I've seen her named one of the 50 most beautiful faces in People magazine, and I thought she wouldn't act in a movie like this..."

"It's okay to give it a try. Just say that this is the first Hollywood movie in many years that tells a story entirely about Chinese people. Both of them are actors that Director Huang has worked with at Xujiahui Studios. There's no need to worry about their abilities."

Ronald asked Yang Yanzi to write down the names of several people and arrange for them to audition, and if necessary, he could also invite them in his name.

As for the other roles, a trip to the mainland was inevitable. Ronald also asked Xiao Yan to help contact the Xujiahui Film Studio and two colleges far in the north to facilitate the production of this large-scale Chinese story after "The Last Emperor".

Apart from anything else, Ronald's title as the city's specially-appointed foreign consultant still has some credibility.

"Is this the bamboo mahjong prop you found?"

The Joy Luck Club is the name of a mahjong club founded by four women. After they immigrated, they encountered various setbacks. It was in these regularly held mahjong gatherings that they supported and understood each other, and finally settled down successfully.

Therefore, mahjong is a very important prop in the movie.

"I spent a lot of time and found a lot of mahjong tiles from that time. This is a sample made after referring to many mahjong sets..."

"Self-draw... Red Center..." Ronald picked up a Mahjong tile with one hand, touched the card back and forth with his middle finger twice, and then turned it over with a snap. It was indeed a Red Center...

"Director Luo, you really are an expert in Chinese culture. They really found the right person to be the foreign expert..." Director Wu laughed, "How about we do some?"

"Come on... Am I still afraid of you?"

We agreed to play 16 rounds, and the loser would put his money into the prize pool. After the game was settled, we went to a new restaurant in Chinatown to eat Cantonese food. I heard that the chef was a famous chef from Hong Kong.

"We are short of one person. Aunt Wang, come over here. Do you know how to play mahjong? Yes, play with us for a few rounds. If you win, it's yours. If you lose, I'll pay..."

"Seven cakes..."

"Wait a minute, touch... all the same color... you dare to hit a single seven-cake..."

Aunt Wang happily took the chips in front of Ronald. This boss was smart and kind, but his card playing skills were really bad.

Ronald was humiliated after losing several rounds. He wanted to be a big shot, but he was defeated and intercepted by others many times. The accumulation of small amounts of chips eventually led to him losing all his chips.

Just then Diane walked in, "What game are you guys playing?"

"Mahjong is fun. Come and help me play a few hands. I have to make some phone calls." Ronald quickly gave a brief introduction to the basics of mahjong. Diane found it very interesting and sat down to play the cards seriously.

"How's Ovitz doing? Any news?" Ronald called Niceta. Now they were also paying close attention to what Ovitz would do after losing David Letterman.

"He wants to sign Spielberg now. His Captain Hook crew has run into a lot of trouble these past few days. Ovitz wants to help him solve this problem. If he succeeds, Spielberg will probably have a very good impression of him..."

"What's the problem?" Ronald thought. If Spielberg stood on his side, the power comparison between the two sides would definitely be unbalanced. He had to find a way to solve this problem...

"That's the most famous woman in America..."

It turns out that Julia Roberts has a role in "Captain Hook", Tinker Bell, an elf girl who finally helps Peter Pan muster the courage to find himself...

This character didn't have many scenes with other characters, most of them were with Robin Williams. In addition, special effects had to be shot with a green screen, so they were concentrated in the last period of filming.

However, after Julia Roberts escaped from the wedding and stayed with the groom's good friends, her mental state was unstable.

On the set, Roberts and Spielberg had a big disagreement. Spielberg was already under a lot of pressure, and the original shooting period had been extended to three times the original length due to Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams, which was already seriously over budget.

Now Julia Roberts has to do the same thing. She has to maintain her image and slowly adapt to green screen shooting, which is definitely not an option.

But Julia Roberts said she would refuse to film the rest of the scenes, saying she suffered mental trauma...

"So, you have a good relationship with Steven and Julia. Can you go to the set of Captain Hook once?" said Niceta.

"So how much are you willing to pay for Spielberg?"

When Ronald heard that he was asked to be a peacemaker, he thought about whether Niceta and the others were sure to sign Spielberg, otherwise it would be stupid to make wedding clothes for others.

“…” Nicita stated their conditions, and they fought hard to prevent Ovitz from succeeding.

"Okay, I'll go and take a look. This may not work..."

Ronald returned to the card table after finishing his phone call. Changing luck is a very mysterious thing. It is said that novices have good luck. This time, he must be lucky. He will kill the three of them without leaving a single piece of armor. Let them see the power of a mahjong master.

"Hahaha, red, self-drawn, all the same color, give me money, give me money..." Dai An followed the hand table, confirmed that she had a big hand, and happily pushed the cards down...

Now it was their turn to look pale.

"Hahaha, Ronnie, this game is really interesting, I like playing it..." Diane counted the chips happily.

"Director Luo, your wife is amazing. The big shots are even more powerful than you..." Director Wu has now almost returned all the chips he had just won to Dai An.

"Uh..." Ronald saw that Diane was having fun playing and that he had nothing to do. "Is it time to go eat? Let's take a break first..."

"How about coming back after dinner?" Dai An turned around...

(End of this chapter)