Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 418 Second Weekend

"Night of the Comet" grossed more than $550 million in its first week, and Ronald heard the news on Sunday.In the middle of the week, some screening theaters were added, and the average box office of a single hall has exceeded [-] a week.

This result was far beyond Atlantic's expectations. In the few days of the week, the box office did not drop much compared to the first weekend. Will go beyond the first weekend.

This box office trend has made Ronald's second directorial work a Sleeping Beauty-style box office structure (Sleeping Hit).If The Atlantic can invest more marketing dollars and get more screenings, the potential of the opening weekend should not stop there.

But this is all an afterthought. I chose Atlantic Ocean because they are the only ones who believe that I can make good science fiction themes.

"Your performance has already attracted the attention of Mr. Ovitz. Some of the seven major studios have already contacted CAA. Your third film will have a much wider range of choices." Agent Nisita said in the office , Said to Ronald.

"Of course it's very good." Ronald was happy in his heart. A person's status in the industry is often determined by his past history.

"In the film industry, because the box office varies greatly, practitioners often have a roller coaster experience.

For example, Peter Bogdanovich, the director you are familiar with, once nominated for Oscar for Best Director and Best Screenplay. Out of 50 to buy the distribution rights of the film.

Then Peter used his production company to release the movie independently. After spending 300 million US dollars, Bogdanovich is on the verge of bankruptcy, and now he is wandering around in major film companies, hoping to take another director project to make money pay off debts. "

Nisita said to Ronald.

"Is it so miserable?"

"Yeah, he just left CAA, and he's a bit desperate now. I think his mansion will be replaced soon."

While answering, Nisita took out a black envelope from the drawer and threw it over.

"This is the invitation letter for the premiere of Star Wars - Return of the Jedi, sent by Lucasfilm. It seems that George Lucas is also very optimistic about you." Nisita invited Ronald to come to CAA for an interview this time, mainly Or give him this invitation letter.

"It's a pity that Helen is not here." Ronald took out the invitation letter from the envelope, a large black letter, and folded it in half.On the cover was the red "Return of the Jedi" LOGO. Ronald opened it, and inside was a premiere ticket and a T-shirt.

On the navy blue T-shirt, there is also the word "Return of the Jedi". It seems that Lucasfilm hopes that the audience attending the premiere will wear T-shirts to participate.

"Eight o'clock on Thursday night?" Ronald looked at the time on the invitation.

"Yes, you are among the lucky ones among all Californians who saw "Return of the Jedi" first. All other movie theater audiences have to wait until the early morning to watch the midnight show.

"All movie theaters?"

“Yes, almost all of the movie theaters’ day-to-day productions are for Return of the Jedi, which is, after all, the much-anticipated finale of the Star Wars trilogy.”

"I have to make a call to ask." Ronald looked serious, picked up the phone and called the president of Atlantic Films.

"Tom, I heard that Return of the Jedi will be shown in all California movie theaters starting Thursday? What about our movie?"

"It doesn't start on Thursday, but on Thursday. Our film schedule will resume from Friday, but the number of screenings will be greatly squeezed. There is no way, Ronald. When the weekend is over, we will start next week theaters, and will be compressed, unless 'Return of the Jedi' isn't as good as expected, but that's Lucas."

"Well, roughly how much will it go down?"

"We are fighting for it, but there is Star Wars on the top, and there is 'Lightning Dance' below, which has not dropped in box office, so it is not very optimistic. The number of theaters that will be released may be reduced to less than [-]."

"Okay, okay. No I'm not angry, it's unavoidable, who let us touch this Big Mac?"

Ronald put down the phone, still feeling a little unwilling, for such a good movie of his own has a very good momentum.Who would have thought that "Star Wars" would have such a big appeal to theaters?
Fortunately, I still have one weekend, and one midweek, where I can rake in the box office.

Soon it was Monday, and the box office results for the weekend of the second week came out.The weekend gross was little changed from its first weekend at just over $350 million.The Atlantic also pulled some theaters from "Girls of the Valley," for a total of 960 eight screenings.

The scary thing is that "Lightning Dance", the box office of the sixth weekend, did not fall but rebounded a little, just surpassing "Night of the Comet" by $10,000+, pushing Ronald's film to fourth place.

"How did they do it?" Ronald looked at the box office data on the "Hollywood Reporter". More than 50, it has picked up again.

Ronald thought for a while, and called the producer Don Simpson. Compared with helping him so much, he should explain the reason.

"Aha, Ronald, you are the fourth person who called me today to ask about this matter, you are very perceptive." Don Simpson answered with a yawn as it was almost noon and he seemed to have just woken up.

"Who are the first two?"

"Michael Eisner from Paramount, Katzenberg, and Michael Ovitz, president of CAA. Nobody else has my number, lol."

"What is the reason? Did you do any marketing? It doesn't seem like it." Ronald asked.

"I'm telling you the 100 percent truth, no compromises," Don Simpson seemed to be blowing his nose on the other end of the phone, "the only thing we did last week was an extra thing, which was to release a video."

Ronald hung up the phone and began to think about it.The seven major studios in Hollywood spent a lot of money and influence to prevent VCRs from becoming popular in America. Who knew that "Lightning Dance" would be released on VHS tapes while the movie was still in theaters, which would actually boost the box office. Growth is really an unexpected thing.

The only answer is that many viewers who have watched the videotape choose to watch it again on the big screen in the cinema.They think that the effect of watching it in a movie theater is much better than watching a small TV at home.

Invisibly, the video tape has become a publicity channel instead.Anyway, most of the customers who bought or rented videotapes watched it with their family and friends, and thought it would be better to go to the cinema to buy a ticket to see a better screen effect. As a result, a videocassette brought several moviegoers instead.

"Ring, ring, ring..." The ringing of the phone interrupted Ronald's thinking.

Ronald answered the phone. It was Aunt Karen calling him.

"Ronnie, you haven't called your aunt for a long time, and your aunt misses you."

"My fault, Auntie. I've been busy with movie releases for the past few weeks. By the way, did you and Donna go see it?"

"Donna went to see it and said you did a great job, Comet did a great job. But that's not my cup of tea, I just want to see a movie that reflects family life."

"Well, auntie, you know, I'm only 23 years old this year, when I'm older, I'll definitely make a family-themed movie, and then we'll watch it together."

"Of course, of course, you're a good boy. I'm looking forward to that day, but it doesn't matter if you have a successful film career in the future, or if you don't, you promised me that you would go back and get a college degree..."

Ronald chatted with his aunt for a while, feeling very happy.It was because the family was thinking about him, and my aunt must have called herself to congratulate her when she knew the new movie was released.Next time, let Richard remember to remind himself that he must call his family first when a new movie is released.

Ronald continues to write a new film about karate.

After chatting with Vidal for several days, Ronald gradually had an idea.Let the villain, the boy who bullies the protagonist Danny, is also a karate practitioner.

And what he practiced was the kind of karate moves that focused on vicious attacks without leaving a bottom line.That's why Danny was afraid of him, he didn't dare to resist, and he was powerless to resist.

In the end, Danny found a teacher from Dongying, and finally learned the method of Goju-ryu, defending and counterattacking, and defeating the villain.

Don't attack the enemy actively, but learn skills, and when others bully you, fight back.This is also in line with the oriental philosophy of Gangjuliu. Learning martial arts is to prevent bad people from attacking you, not to attack others.

Ronald feels that this story has a deeper content than the one he originally wrote.The competition between the two is not just a competition between two boys for a girl, but a competition between two philosophies, two methods, and two wisdoms.

One is the American traditional preemptive attack, relying on force to attack those who are not as good as themselves.The other is the traditional Chinese wisdom, which is to strike later, focus on doing one's own thing well, and practice force in order not to be attacked by others.

In this way, the contradictions of the story can have another dimension.The masters of the two protagonists are actually competing, not directly, but who can teach a better apprentice.Such a structure can add a lot of dramatic conflicts and emotional experiences.

"Tony, let me tell you a story, a kid, he transferred to Los Angeles to attend high school, met a beautiful girl in school, and the two had a crush on each other."

Ronald went to the hair salon he frequented, and found Tony, the hairstylist, to tell his story.The average audience, unlike professional screenwriters, listens to your story from an admiring point of view, and if it's not fun, they don't listen to it, and Ronald knows there's room for improvement.

Tony kept responding to Ronald's story, and sometimes asked a few questions.

"Danny found a teacher. He is from Dongying. He taught him the philosophy of Goju-ryu karate, which is to combine elimination and strike, both offensive and defensive."

"What?" Tony didn't know why, and continued to look at Ronald in the mirror, trimming his hair.

"It's attack and defense, just use one trick."

"How is it possible, when you hit someone with your fist, they have time to hit you."

"That's right, just turn around like this."

"Hey, don't move, I will cut it if you do this."

"Okay, okay." Ronald failed to end the story.It seems that we have to find a way to tell the journey of learning the art and the oriental philosophy of karate in a way that ordinary audiences can understand.

(End of this chapter)