Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   In February, "Beautiful" was finally released in more than 930 movie theaters across the United States.

  Because of the extremely low ratings of film critics in magazines all over the country, Twentieth Century Fox adjusted its marketing strategy.

   They didn't hold an official premiere, and they didn't put the starring and director who had just returned from Portugal for TV interviews to promote the film, or interviews for newspapers and magazines.

  Quietly, the movie was quietly released in the second week of February in the season.

   "The few months after the New Year are the annual season of the film industry. But this week in February, because of the President's Day, is a small peak season in the season."

   It was Michelle Cannold, Ronald's deputy general manager of distribution at Daydream.

   He came to Los Angeles this time to report to Ronald on the distribution progress of "Dancing Hot", and happened to accompany the boss to a movie theater to see the movies that are currently being released.

  “Every February, the birthday of the great commander George Washington, is a public holiday in many states, and it is connected with the weekend.

   Such a three-day weekend is very conducive to the fermentation of the box office and the spread of word of mouth, so many movies are selected to be released at this time. "

   After half a year of hard work, Michelle Cannold has already started the distribution of theatrical films and has mastered a lot of the focus of the work. He has also figured out the best schedules of each year.

  The two sat on the restaurant floor of the department store, watching the movie theater box office sales.

"Among the old films that are still being released, the 'field platoon' is the dominant one. They use the old tricks that Lianyi Films used in those years. They are released in the last two weeks of each year, and they will be released in dozens of small theaters first. The scale has made it eligible for the selection of the Oscars for that year.

   In the Christmas and New Year period, the scale of screenings was slightly expanded in several major cities, and the overall size was still limited to about 100 theaters.

  Because every December is the hot stage of the Oscar nomination contest, film critics from all walks of life are not stingy about the popular award-winning films released at this time.

   This 'Field Platoon' received very good reviews, with many critics hailing it as 'The Deer Hunter' and the best response to the Vietnam War since 'Apocalypse Now'. "

   Ronald listened to the other party's report and nodded yes. He was actually familiar with this method.

  The control of the screening scale in the early stage can not only attract the curiosity of the audience when it is well received. Because you can't buy tickets, it attracts more popularity and reputation.

   At the same time, the average box office of a single museum has also been pulled to a very high position. This in turn further stimulated word of mouth and grabbed tickets with more audiences.

"After the New Year's Day last month, the movie began to expand, from 100 to more than 200. The Oscar nominations will be nominated soon. Depending on the situation, 'Field Platoon' will be nominated for several major awards. When the time comes, they will also be nominated. Expand the scale of the show."

"There will probably be seven or eight nominations including best film, best director, best screenplay and other important awards, and Woody Allen's 'Hannah Sisters', and the British film 'A Room with a View', both This year's winner."

   Ronald told Michel what he knew. This year's Oscars, the nominees for major awards, are probably the most lucrative of these three films.

  Each film is expected to get seven or eight nominations.

From then on, it is the alien sequel of Ronald's friend Cameron. With a lot of special effects, makeup and other small awards, his heroine Sigourney Weaver is expected to win a best actress. nomination.

   Ronald's commercial film "Top Gun" was even worse. Not even the special effects and makeup awards were nominated. There were only minor awards for editing, original music, sound effects, and so on.

   Of course, the worst is Tom Cruise. Although he tried his best to cooperate with famous directors, the two films "Top Gun" and "The Color of Money" in 1986 were not nominated for his acting award.

   On the other hand, Paul Newman, who also starred in "The Color of Money", is very hopeful to win the Best Actor nomination again with "The Color of Money".

Michelle Cannold continued to report, "This 'field platoon' is very strong, with more than 200 theaters showing a weekend box office of over 3 million. Last week, it expanded to 600 theaters, The weekend box office has exceeded 8 million."

   "This kind of niche film, it is indeed better to use this method of word-of-mouth fermentation, but in order to succeed, the condition is that the film itself must be good enough."

  Ronald knew that it was not ten years ago, and the theme of the Vietnam War had actually become a theme that did not have a mass market. If normal announcements are adopted, it may be difficult to find those missing middle-aged viewers.

   On the contrary, the scale of the release is gradually increased, allowing word of mouth to circulate among those who are interested in watching the Vietnam War theme. As long as people who have seen the movie tell more than one friend to watch it, the box office growth of the movie will be terrifying.

   Director and screenwriter Oliver Stone, while filming, also asked Ronald about the acting of Charlie Sheen and his brother Emilio. Ronald remembers it as a small production with a production cost of less than six million, and now that the film has just been released in its eighth week, there are less than 800 theaters showing it.

   As a result, it has already won 38 million box office purely by word of mouth and the recommendation of film critics. Looking at the trend of this movie, it will make a lot of money when it is released.

  Except for the critics' evaluation, the popular movie has a very good reputation with the audience.

   This weekend, there are two more movies to be released in this little peak season.

   "Stallone is still very appealing. The cannon is "Leaping the Peak", and it found about 1,750 theaters in the first weekend.

  The reviews from critics are also very good. I heard Roger Ebert gave a recommendation on the TV show, although his fellow Gene Sisko disagreed. "

   "So many?" Ronald was a little surprised, "Looks like Minahan doesn't want me to win."

  Compared to the other party's larger-than-expected number of theaters, 20th Century Fox is quite satisfactory, arranging more than 900 theaters for "Spirit".

"Although no pompous film review, the theme song MV from MTV, 'Nothing can stop us now' is very popular. This film is mainly aimed at teenage audiences, and I think the box office of the first weekend is very popular. , will not necessarily lose to Leaping Peak."

  Michelle Cannold looked at Ronald's face and said his judgment.

"In this case, the box office of a single hall with a high spirit is twice as high as that of Flying Over the Peak, so it is possible to overtake?" Ronald didn't want to listen to flattery, and wanted to know Michelle Cannold's distribution work. How is the judgment.

   "I personally think there is hope. Anything can happen at the movie box office. Of course, to make a reliable judgment, you still have to look at the professional audience rating of emaScore."

   Ronald nodded, this is the judgment method of a professional distribution manager. It seems that Michelle has learned a lot in the past six months.

   "Look..." Michelle Cannold pointed to the audience who were lining up to buy tickets in front of the box office and pulled La Ronald's arm.

   "It seems that it is really possible to win the bet?"

  Ronald watched it for a while, and all the people who came to buy tickets for the show were all on a special trip to see this movie. The propaganda power of MTV is not small.

   Those who watched Stallone's "Leaping to the Peak" were more attracted by his posters, and many people saw the content of the arm-wrestling competition described in the introduction, and temporarily switched to buying tickets for the air.

   The number of people in line on both sides is almost two to one. If this ratio can represent the national audience preference, Ronald may not necessarily lose to Minahan.

   "Okay, your judgment seems to be very accurate. I'm very satisfied. Let's go to the office and chat later." Ronald was very satisfied with the former manager of the videotape distribution business. Cannold's learning ability is good, he pays attention to details and scene, and his original business intuition is also good.

"The release of Hot Body Dance has been relatively smooth, especially in some states in the South, which, beyond our expectations, are very interested in the clips we show them. Their enthusiasm for ordering is higher than some communities on the east and west coasts. ."

  Michelle Cannold went to Ronald's office and started reporting on the release.

   "Very good, how many theaters do you think you can achieve?"

   "At least with the general small and medium production scale, 800-900 theaters will open and complete the contract in the next month. It is not a big problem."

   "Very good, I asked Eddie to work with you on budget allocation and marketing materials, including posters and station boards.

   In addition, on Roger Albert's side, you can actually ask him to accommodate a thing or two. I asked Eddie to prepare a budget, and we also learned how to let film critics, 'real', understand the depth of our films. "

   "Hahaha, cheers." Michelle Cannold took the champagne that Ronald gave him, and he fully understood the correct meaning of "depth" and "real".

   "It seems that the Chicago Film Critics Association will have a good resort and conference hotel this year."

   "Not only in Chicago, but also in New York and Los Angeles, especially New York, where the headquarters of America's national media is located. If you can get some good reviews, it will be effective."

  Michelle Cannold agrees that one of the biggest problems with small and medium-sized films is that it is difficult to find cheap channels to advertise to target audiences.

   "Spicy Dance" is a story and dance from the 1950s and 1960s, with more serious adult content. After they've done their research, it's possible that advertising on MTV may not be as effective as the most teenage-friendly storyline.

  Being able to learn the strategy of "field platoon" and let the word-of-mouth of film critics and early audiences bring some popularity to the movie is a marketing strategy they have high hopes for.

   "What about the Cannes premiere?" Michelle Cannold asked Ronald's arrangement again.

"It depends on your judgment. If you are as feisty as you expected, and beat the theater at the box office and double its leap peak, then I can get a free Cannes premiere. qualifications."

  Ronald told Cannold about his post-Golden Globe bet with Minahan Golan.

   "Then I wish your new movie box office success."

   "I wish our new film more success." Ronald and him clink glasses, and the two drank.

   "In addition, I have a suggestion..." Cannold put down the glass, and while Ronald was in a good mood, he said a suggestion that he had been thinking about for a long time.

"Spicy Dance is ready to be released in the second half of the summer season. During that time, many theaters did not have a good film successor. They were worried about several blockbusters originally prepared for the summer season, the latest 007 Dawn. Murder, Jaws' latest fourth installment - Revenge, and two special effects blockbusters shot by Cannon, 'Space Superman', and 'Superman Part 4', have little stamina, so we're very welcome to our hot dance.

  I think there is still room for their schedule. If we can add a film distribution business, we can share the marketing and distribution expenses. "

   "Why, they don't give high marks to Cannon's two films?"

"Not really. The box office of Superman III has made the theater chain less confident in the Superman series, and they are still waiting for the Cannon to come out. And Roger Moore, who played James Bond, who was very popular, is no longer there. Shot 007.

  This Dead by Daylight is the first film of the latest Bond Timothy Dalton. Many theater buyers and theater managers who have seen the film say that they don’t like the new Bond very much. He is not omnipotent like the previous two, but very inferior.

   Ronald nodded. Said that he knew Cannold's plan.

   Issuance business is inherently very expensive. Only large companies can maintain a distribution team year-round, maintaining the expensive overhead of distribution offices everywhere.

  Roger Coleman once told himself that in order to maintain the distribution business without losing money, he was too busy to make and direct movies by himself, which was the main reason why he sold New World.

   So Ronald also got a temporary distribution team at the beginning, and the first distribution business was mainly to train the team.

   But Michelle Cannold's level is surprisingly good, and the distribution work is well done. In this way, if there is a movie that can also hitch a ride and is released at this time, it can greatly share the distribution cost of "Spicy Dance".

   Of course, the premise is that the movie is also a hit, at least, don't lose money.

   "I will pay attention to finding suitable movies." Ronald said he took down Cannold's suggestion and would use his contacts to see if there were any suitable ones.

   "Ronald, very good, emaScore gave it a B rating, which is very good in a romantic comedy."

   On Saturday morning, Ronald received an announcement call from Joseph Farrow, vice president of Twentieth Century Fox.

"Really? This rating is very good." Ronald was very happy when he received the call, "I thought the rating would not be good. Why do film critics dislike this movie so much, their ratings are converted, and they are only in high spirits. get a C"

   "Some movies just don't please them. Especially romantic comedies, a lot of times rely on the chemistry between the hero and heroine. And this movie, in many places, is the complete opposite of the evaluation routine that film critics like.

   In fact, the director has no deep meaning, he is like making a funny, funny, fairy tale love story. "

   "Tsk", Ronald thought this evaluation was very accurate.

   Film critics always want to read more deep meanings from the film, and sometimes, what the audience needs is just a good-looking story. Even if it doesn't have any deep meaning, it doesn't prevent them from watching.

   After all, it is very rare for a movie like "Field Platoon" to get high marks in both film critics and audience's word of mouth.

   "Can we be in the top three at the weekend box office?" Ronald recalled the bet with Minahan.

   "It's very close, very close. About Friday, we and Stallone's leap to the top, only about a hundred thousand.

  Maybe, when the Great Commander's Day weekend is over, you can stand on six million. "

   "Is there any hope of surpassing the Leap Peak?" Ronald didn't expect that he was so energetic that he could really beat the Leap Peak with twice the number of theaters at the box office.

   "Well, we hit $6,400 at the single-hall box office, and we're in the mid-$3,000s over the top. So... it's possible."

   "Fantastic." Ronald laughed, and couldn't wait to see the expression on Minahan's face.

   This guy, when he must bet, wants to use the number of theaters beyond the normal number to suppress himself, but he didn't expect that it would be inferior to his own movies.

   "I am quite satisfied. Although the field platoon is really good, the box office of a single hall has exceeded 10,000 US dollars. It is expected that the big weekend will earn 12 million."

   "That's really good." Ronald thought, Oliver Stone, this is a box office success and a Best Director Oscar nomination. Film reviews and box office take all, this is really over the top.

  …

   "Meinahan, I'm here to collect the bet."

   Sure enough, the anniversary of the Great Commander passed. Vigorously received 6 million at the box office, while Minahan's leap peak, despite having twice as many theaters, only got 5.1 million at the box office.

   And the emaScore score of Flying Over the Peak is only a pitiful C, and the box office of the single hall fell further, only in the early 2900s. The poor box office results made some New York film critics who Meinahan did not manage to give also gave unrecommended reviews. Others scolded Stallone for just repeating Rocky clumsily. To make Ronald, who was reading the newspaper, happy for a while.

   "I'm willing to admit defeat, you are still very good, and the film as a producer is so good." Minahan didn't deny anything.

   "However, you will also go to the premiere of Cannes, right, and also to the premiere of my movie Incredibles IV?"

   "Um...Okay..." Ronald didn't expect that Meinahan was waiting for him here.

   "This Oscar, our cannonball, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. It was our joint venture in the Netherlands, 'The Assault', can I count on your vote?"

   Minahan would not suffer, and then asked to vote for Ronald's best foreign language film.

"No problem at all."

  Ronald had no idea about this kind of small prize, so he just voted for him. In addition to the best actress, voted for his friend Cameron's Alien Part II, the best actor will give Scorsese's money, and the best director will be given to Woody Allen, who is kind to himself. ticket. The other awards, in fact, let the agent Nisita go to see if anyone is willing to exchange.

   "Quack, we're best friends." Minahan was very happy that Ronald was so simple.

   "Do you have any nominations for the Oscars? I can ask the actors and directors of Cannonball, who are eligible to vote, to vote for you."

"Hey…"

  Top Gun, as expected by CAA, was not nominated for any awards.

   "It's the best movie original song, please help."

   Among the four nominations for Best Editing, Best Soundtrack, Best Original Movie Song, and Best Sound Design, there is only Best Original Song, which is somewhat related to the fact that I filmed the MV for "Take My Breath".

   Ronald gave favor to the Berlin Band.

   "In a word, we'll see you at the Oscars then."