Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 301 Unexpected Counterattack

   "ET Alien" was released, and the weekend box office was bursting.

  In the film critics, the film did not make much waves. Albert and Sisko, who are famous for their TV film review programs, did not even write a review of it in the column, only the film critics in New York were talking about it.

   But audiences loved the movie no matter what the critics said, and theaters were full on weekends.

   "Three million dollars so far in the opening weekend," Richard told Ronald in his office.

   "Three million? It doesn't seem to be as much as I imagined?" Ronald continued.

   "Fool, that's a one-day box office on Friday. It is estimated that it will hit 4.5 million on Saturday. It is a foregone conclusion that it will exceed 10 million in the first weekend, and it may hit 11 million."

  Nisita tapped Ronald lightly, the young director was so confused that he was looking forward to the release of his movie.

   "So much?" Ronald woke up, "Where's Tom Mount?"

   "His days are counting down, along with a bunch of old stubborns who support him. Tick, tick..." Nisita has also suffered a lot from Mount.

   "No one would have thought that a new generation of parents would send their whole family out to take their children to the cinema to watch ET. The previous model of children going to the cinema by themselves has been replaced by a new model."

   Ronald felt the same way. With the intensification of urbanization, the original lobby theaters next to residential areas have begun to decline gradually due to the large-scale entry of minorities such as blacks and Latinos into the city center.

   The main force of movie watching now, most of the white middle-class families live in the suburbs, for them, to watch a movie, they have to drive into the city and go to the new multiplex cinema in the department store complex shopping center.

   In this case, the travel of young children must be brought by their parents, not siblings as before, or a few friends to go to the cinema together. This instead made the box office of ET, a film for children, double at once.

On the first day of ET on Friday, Ronald also went to the cinema where the "fast-paced" department store was filmed. The audience was overwhelmed by the happy shouts of the children, and he had no plot or dialogue. Hear it.

   "When are we going?" Ronald asked. Today he was at the CAA office over the weekend to rendezvous with his agent for Vic Morrow's funeral.

Jennifer's mother, Vic's ex-wife Barbara, still organized the funeral of her ex-husband, but she hoped that the funeral would be a small-scale family style, so in addition to inviting Ronald, the director of her daughter's first big screen work, and several others. Except for the friends in the circle, no other people in the circle were invited to participate.

  Nisita didn’t want to miss this opportunity to develop a relationship. He took the initiative to contact Spielberg, and after obtaining Spielberg’s consent, he contacted Barbara on his behalf and expressed condolences to her family.

  Barbara also knew that Steven was mainly busy with the release of ET Alien, and was not at the filming site on the day of the accident. It had nothing to do with the accident. She forgave Spielberg, and the accident had little to do with him.

Both parties agreed to solve this accident with methods in the film circle. Spielberg promised to pay a large sum of money to compensate Morrow's two daughters after the release of "Yin and Yang Demon Realm", and to give Jennifer some circles. opportunities within.

  Barbara agreed not to initiate a civil lawsuit, but negotiated by the lawyers of both parties, so as not to cast one of America's most powerful directors as a defendant in a death case.

  Vic Morrow, the prodigal son of alcoholism, domestic violence and abandonment of his family, finally fulfilled his promise after his death, paving the way for his daughter Jennifer to perform in the entertainment industry. Giving her Spielberg's promise, as well as a large financial compensation to his ex-wife and another eldest daughter.

   "Let's go now, I'll get a black tie."

   Attending a funeral is a very formal occasion, Ronald and Richard, Nisita, both wore black suits, black leather shoes, and black ties or bow ties.

   They went to the funeral this time, and they wanted to express their greetings on behalf of Spielberg. It was inconvenient for Steven to attend the funeral, fearing that it would lead to more speculation from reporters, so CAA's agent helped lead the conversation.

When    arrived at the scene, everyone wore black sunglasses to cover their not very sad eyes. Ronald came to Jennifer Jason Leigh, hugged her, and asked her to mourn.

   He noticed that Phoebe Cates, who played Stacey's best friend Linda in the movie, was coming. They seem to have become best friends in real life.

  Ronald looked at her and nodded.

   Soon, the relatives and friends who came were quiet, waiting for the priest's eulogy.

  Although Vic Morrow was Jewish, he had long since abandoned Jewish religious customs and was known as a secular Jew before his death. In addition, Barbara raised two daughters, using Christian customs.

  So the funeral was held in a family church, and the priest specially reserved an area for today's funeral, which is isolated from the outside world. Prevent reporters from disturbing the peace of relatives.

"Almighty God, you are the source of life, and you have saved us through your Son, look upon Vic Morrow. His act of righteousness in the last moments of his life, like a righteous man, will surely be with you... Amen. "

   "Amen" Ronald joined the crowd to greet the silence.

   "What is he doing here?"

   "Let him go, he is not welcome here."

   "Murderer, murderer!"

   The peaceful mourning ceremony was broken by a roar of condemnation.

  Ronald raised his head to look at the source of the noise. It was a bearded man who seemed to have been hit hard. He staggered from the aisle into the church and into the funeral crowd.

   "It's John Landis." Richard whispered in Ronald's ear.

"I know." Ronald looked at Jennifer and Phoebe Cates. The disgusted expressions on their faces also showed that they knew that this was the person directly responsible for the accident, the director who forcibly filmed regardless of the rules and safety requirements. And producer, Landis.

  John Landis stepped onto the podium, took out a piece of manuscript paper, and started to speak at the funeral in a grand manner.

  Barbara and Jennifer, as well as other relatives, have been shocked by this shameless behavior, and they are speechless and don't know what to do to stop each other.

   Ronald was also stunned by his shamelessness. This person appeared at the funeral without the consent of his relatives, which was a great offense to the deceased and relatives. I don’t know why he came here.

   Show his cheap compassion?

  Landis gave the priest a uglier smile than crying and began to read his eulogy.

   "Vic Morrow is my friend...

   After filming started, he once told me that this was the best film he had made in ten years...

   On the day of his unexpected death, I also thank me for giving him this opportunity to participate...  

  I'm proud to direct Vic to what Vic himself considers to be the best performance of his career..."

   "Sigh!"

  Jennifer Jason Lee felt extremely uncomfortable and started retching.

Barbara patted her on the back lightly, pulled Jennifer into her arms, and said softly to Ronald next to her, "This is nonsense, Vic called me during filming and he said this. Movies are a piece of shit."

   "If you feel uncomfortable, you don't need to put up with him." Ronald offered to help Jennifer and Barbara, "I can help you drive him away."

   "Thank you, I don't want Vic's last moments of peace to be broken by these shameless people."

   "They should have come according to the lawyer's advice." Nisita, wearing sunglasses, covered her mouth with her hands, quietly approached Ronald, and said to him and Barbara.

  Barbara forgave Spielberg, who was not there, but did not intend to forgive John Landis. The criminal investigation is still ongoing, and she plans to see what charges Landis will eventually be charged with.

   "Vic was a dedicated person, and at the very last moments, before filming began, he also consulted with Steven on how to act."

   "Enough, you said enough, I think the relatives of the deceased don't want to hear these excuses, they want a peaceful funeral. Mr. Landis."

   Ronald saw that he brought the words to Spielberg, and immediately came out to stop the other party's nonsense.

   "Lying! Murderer! Murderer!"

   Several relatives and friends, along with Ronald, began to blame Landis.

  Landis shook his pale face with a hint of horror. He almost fell, but fortunately he grabbed the edge of the podium, steadied himself, bowed his head to Barbara and the Jennifer family, and hurriedly left the scene.

   "Well done." Nisita came up and complimented Ronald in secret, and then went to comfort the relatives.

   "What was the situation that night, was Mr. Spielberg present?" Ronald was also a little uncertain and secretly asked Jennifer.

"No, Vic was filmed after two in the morning, and the film has a clear punch time. Spielberg was busy with the ET release at that time, maybe he visited the studio two days ago, but the helicopter flew low in the end. , and insistence on the use of illegal child labor, all of which Landis did."

  Jennifer glanced at Phoebe and denied the rumor that Steven was present.

   "This rumor seems to have come well prepared." Ronald thought to himself.

   "It was Tom Mount and John Landis who got together." Back to Nisita at CAA, made several phone calls to get the latest news, and finally came to a conclusion.

   "Mount was slammed by the ET Alien box office, and his job was in jeopardy. Landis also faces criminal charges, and future hefty civil damages charges.

  His lawyer suggested he adopt a tying strategy, using his co-producer status with Spielberg to tie him and Steven together.

   And while Mount accused Spielberg of pulling him into the water and trying to influence ET's box office, he won't sit still. "

   "Katherine Kennedy called to thank you, Ronald. She said Steven already knew about your actions to stop Landis at Vic's funeral, and he'd remember."

   "Is Mount trying to undermine Universal's interests to keep his position?" Ronald asked.

   "I'm afraid so, Ronald. I heard he's jumping up and down, desperately trying to meet the old folks at Universal and parent company MCA, asking for support from his umbrella.

   It is said that Simberg has decided to convene a board of directors to clear him out when the box office dust settles for ET's Alien release.

  We also have to be careful. Before he leaves, the only weapon he can use to attack Simberg other than Steven, is probably the 'fast-paced Richmond High School'. "

   Sure enough, within a week, Tom Mount's counterattack came as promised. The MPAA re-examined "Fast-Paced Richmond High School," giving the film an X rating.

   (end of this chapter)