Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 701 The first A+ score in four years

   Didn't wait for the official result the next day. That night, Weintraub pressed the Cinemascore manager's neck and asked him to give him an answer overnight.

   Score sheets were faxed back from theaters across the country. It was then aggregated, filled in a form, and a staff member worked out the average score according to a calculator.

  After two reviews, the average points are added up, and then converted into a scoring system from A+ to F, and finally the staff fills in the big box at the bottom of the form.

   This final score summary sheet was faxed from the headquarters in Las Vegas to the hotel where Weintraub stayed in New York.

   "A+, A+, uh, uh..."

  Weintraub held the fax and kissed it passionately, despite the peculiar smell of a fax machine remaining on it.

   "Ronald, it's an A+, the first movie in four years to get an A+ from Cinemascore! We're about to make it, hahaha…"

Ronald, who was forced to stay by Weintraub, was actually not very happy. He wanted to go home with Aunt Karen to eat some baked cookies, talk about family life, and Donna's MIT studies. .

   However, Weintraub is very good at coaxing women. He told Ronald's aunt that the next score is related to whether Ronald can make a breakthrough again. My aunt heard that it was related to Ronald's career future, and persuaded him to stay.

  Cinemascore company's score is completely randomly selected cities in several states, and then the staff travels to do the sampling. Therefore, the rating can fully represent the audience's perception of the movie.

   "Is this rating important?" Ronald was actually not very clear about the company's rating system. He only remembered that "ET Alien" also received an A+ evaluation. This time, the second part of Longwei Kid can also get a good evaluation from the audience. It seems that he has done a good job.

"You're not an executive at the company, Ronald. Cinemascore is a big deal in Hollywood right now. Because of their ratings, it's largely a box-office prediction. Anything that gets an A or higher is a big hit at the box office. success.

  So now Cinemascore's ratings have been bought out by the seven major Hollywood studios, and they can't immediately publish ratings in the media. The real score figures can only be released to the studio first, and then to the news media after approval, and some key data will not be released. "

   "Well, is your evaluation accurate?" Ronald asked the Cinemascore staff.

  The staff explained something. It looks like he does the job a lot.

  CinemaScore surveys five randomly selected cities for each movie. For opening day audiences only. Survey cards ask questions about age, gender, rating the movie ("A", "B", "C", "D" or "F"), whether they rent and buy videotapes, and more.

   There are also questions about the promotion, such as why they chose the film and whether they thought it fit their marketing.

   "We get a movie with an A rating, and the first weekend multiplier of the total box office is more than 5 times. If it gets an A+, it may exceed 8, or even 10.

   And a C-rated film grossed about three times as much as its opening weekend.

   So generally speaking, A is good, B is average, and C is terrible. D and F grades, it means they shouldn't be making the movie, or they've advertised to the wrong group of people and found the wrong group of people to watch the movie. "

   "I got an A+ when I remember ET"

"In fact, in 1982, when ET was released, there were two more films, 'Gandhi' and 'Rocky 3', which got A+. But because ET was too successful, the total box office was more than 30 times that of the first weekend, so we revised it accordingly. scoring criteria.

In more than three years since   , not a single film has met the new A+ rating criteria. Your 'Longwei Kid Part II' is the first movie in four years to get an A+ rating, and even your 'Top Gun' just got an A.

   So, congratulations, Director Ronald, Mr. Weintraub, based on our experience, your movie will do well at the box office. "

   "Thank you, so we can use A+ for announcement, right?"

   Weintraub asked the Cinemascore staff.

   "Of course, we have no objection to that."

  Although Cinemascore ratings are generally not announced to the public, some movies will get A-level ratings and put them in their own promotion packages.

  Some posters, newspaper advertisements, and TV advertisements will be marked with an A in Cinemascore.

"Longwei Kid Part 2" got an A+ that he had not seen for a long time. Of course Weintraub would not let it go. He was busy calling the publicity department in Colombia, urging them to revise the publicity materials immediately, and propose Additional budget.

  Although Weintraub has joined MGM/United Artists, Columbia will not have a hard time with money.

   In addition to this "Longwei Kid Part 2", it will bring them huge returns. The sequel after the series of movies, the distribution rights are also in Colombia's hands.

   And for two consecutive films, product advertisements of Coca-Cola, the parent company of Colombia, were implanted. For such commercial films, the director was very cooperative in adding advertisements, instead of rejecting commercial implantation for the sake of art like some directors.

  Colombia's distribution department is moving fast. By the evening of the same day, the new scoring materials had been distributed in New York City.

  A patch-style advertisement with Cinemascore score of A+ was made on the posters of Longwei Kid in major cinemas.

   A big A+ with the words Cinemascore on the background. There is another person next to him with a thumbs up that it is very good.

   "This seems to be the gesture of the two film critics in Chicago." Ronald, wearing sunglasses, came to a Manhattan movie theater to see the new posters.

   "They didn't apply for a patent anyway." Weintraub didn't wear sunglasses. In the world of movies, audiences rarely care about the appearance of producers. Although he is the big boss, he still enjoys the fun of the front line, pointing and correcting the mistakes of the staff.

   "That's right", Ronald saw the crowd lining up to buy tickets at the box office.

   In addition to Ronald's "Top Gun" and "Dragon Mighty Kid Part II", some people are buying "Spring is not a reading day", and the rest are buying tickets for another new movie.

   "Legal Eagles?", Ronald looked at the star faces on the poster, one man, two women and three big stars that were pleasing to the eye.

The position of    stars on movie posters is also a symbol of their status in the industry.

   In the middle is Robert Redford, reclining on the ground, taking up the most space by himself. He is Hollywood's golden boy as an actor and a director. In 1980's "Ordinary Man", his directorial debut won the Oscar for best director. In that movie, there is also Timothy Hutton, the actor that Ronald hates.

   So he had the biggest hand, and he was in the best middle position.

   On the left is Deborah Wenger. She starred in "The Officer and the Gentleman" and "A Mother and Daughter Love", which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress, but lost to Shirley MacLean, who played her mother in the same movie.

   She was a black-haired beauty, wearing a white sweater, revealing her right hand.

   She has the second highest card, so she has half body leaning over Redford. Redford's body is also slightly sideways to her, and the audience's eyes will be guided by Redford, who will see her second.

   On the right is Daryl Hannah, who starred in the blockbuster "Mermaid" with Tom Hanks. However, she has not released any blockbuster films since then, and she has no recognition of awards.

   So she only showed her face and blond hair on the poster, and her body was covered by Redford.

   "I want to see it, do you want to see it?" Ronald asked Weintraub if he wanted to see the movie of his main rival.

   "I'm not interested, we have an A+ score and we will definitely win."

   "Well then, I'll see for myself."

   Ronald's eyes stayed on Deborah Wenger's face. Although she is a black-haired beauty traditionally considered by America to be bigger than her body, Ronald prefers this kind of temperamental and intellectual beauty. More attractive than the blond and tall Daryl Hannah.

   "Did you see her? But you're late. Deborah is already having a shotgun wedding." Weintraub made a round gesture with his hand on his stomach.

   "What?" Ronald didn't understand.

   "She's pregnant, and it's Timothy Hutton. Hutton is a famous Hollywood playboy, and to be able to agree to marriage, must have children.

It is rumored in Hollywood circles that her agent is yelling at her, Hutton's films after 'Ordinary People' have all failed at the box office, and no one has asked him to hand over scripts, and being with Wenger is also to deliberately rub her popularity. .

   Now Deborah Wenger is taking a break for at least a year, an actress who was originally on the rise, and now being pregnant and having a child is very bad for her career. "

   "Hey, female stars are really difficult."

   Ronald shrugged, bought a ticket, and bought a large can of popcorn and Coca-Cola, which he carried into the theater.

   "French Open Condor" is surprisingly pretty. Redford plays a prosecutor, Deborah Winger plays his rival lawyer, and the two defend Daryl Hannah, who is accidentally involved in a deliberate arson case more than 20 years ago.

The movie has romance, accidental explosions, and conspiracy exposures. In the end, the character played by Redford did not choose Daryl Hannah, who inherited the huge fortune of his father's world-famous paintings, but chose Debo, who opened a law firm with the same goal. La Wenger.

  The whole movie is quite satisfactory, the script can be seen, and it is written very well in line with the specifications of a commercial blockbuster.

   Ronald notes that the screenwriters on the subtitles are Jim Cash, and Jack Epps Jr. This pair of screenwriters is also named the screenwriter of "Top Gun". Of course, the script of that movie is very thin, and it mainly depends on the director.

   In addition to that, they also wrote the script for "The Secret to Success".

   But the plot of the movie is too normal, and the stars also play well. Ronald, as a Hollywood person, has all the twists and turns he expected, and the actors don't have any scenes, giving unexpected performances.

   After watching the whole movie, Ronald couldn't even recall which scene was impressive.

   "What a blast! Deborah Wenger is so pretty."

   "Darryl Hannah isn't bad either, she's in great shape."

   Ronald came to the bathroom and found that the audience did not talk about the plot, but talked about the performance of beautiful actors.

   "It seems that he is also a strong enemy, and should not be underestimated."

  Although the plot is not discussed, Ronald believes that the reputation of the heroine will not be bad.

  Maybe there is a discussion about Robert Redford in the women's bathroom.

   "Audiences love stars, producers depend on stars." Ronald understood this sentence deeply.

   (end of this chapter)