Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 828 No one wants to play the protagonist of the big production?

   "So what's the script?" Ronald asked Joel Silver.

"It's an adaptation of a novel 'Nothing Forever'. Author Rodriguez Thorpe is a real New York detective. His novels are detailed and popular, and were adapted into Hollywood films in the 1970s . Starring Frank Sinatra."

  Joel Silver gave the blonde beauty in his arms a wink, and the beauty stood up obediently and went out first, leaving the study to him and Ronald.

   Then Silver scoured the shelves and found a paperback original first edition of the novel "Nothing Is Forever" and handed it to Ronald.

   "You made a deep impression on me when you were filming 'Street of Rage'. If only I had hired you to be the director." Joel Silver reiterated. Back then, in order to steal money from the budget, he and director Walter Hill took all the footage that could have been shot on the spot in a studio.

  In the studio in Los Angeles, a Chicago subway station was recreated, and the city's night scene. I also hired the best lighting engineer, the best costumer, and the best composer, but I forgot to hire the best director.

  Walter Hill's creative taste failed to catch up with the audience of the new age, and it was a fiasco at the box office and was ruthlessly abandoned. Some of Ronald's ideas back then left a deep impression on Joel Silver. In the few years after the movie failed, Silver sometimes thought in the dead of night that if he could use Ronald to direct, maybe he would still be successful.

  Ronald took the novel and flipped through it casually. It was the packaging of an ordinary paperback detective novel. On the cover was an old detective-like man with a skyscraper in the background.

   "Take a look and call me anytime if you're interested, I'll be waiting. I've been busy with this project for the whole year this year." Silver gave Ronald a warm smile.

"Busy all year? Where's your script?" Ronald looked at the introduction, and said that a retired detective named Joe Leland was visiting his daughter in New York for Christmas when he was attacked by a group of German terrorists. He took his daughter and grandson and granddaughter hostage...

   "The script is still being written..."

"Huh..." Ronald let out a sigh, wondering if he was surprised that the other party was able to keep his temper and pursue a wonderful script, or he was surprised that the producer was always like this, when he had nothing in his hand, he dared to persuade others people join.

   "Who is your bank mortgage? Sinatra is suitable, he is 70 this year? It's good to play a retired old man."

  Ronald is talking about the producer's jargon. A movie needs to be able to establish a project, get a contract from the distribution company, and then start financing. It's a chicken-and-egg problem.

  Hollywood, whoever it is, likes to join projects that other well-known industry insiders have already joined. If a project already has a big star who agrees to participate, then the rest of the things can be done naturally.

  Unless, like Ronald, he made the film with his own money. The starting point of a medium-sized or larger Hollywood project is to first get one of the distribution, director, and star, and then use the people and resources that have been done to persuade others to participate.

   In terms of difficulty, because the bank has no concept of what projects are selling well, it is easiest to start with stars. As long as the star agrees to star, the rest of the difficulty is an order of magnitude less difficult.

   This is also one of the reasons why Hollywood stars are so sought after, and they can almost do whatever they want in normal times.

  Because the role of stars is so great, banks see stars participating in performances, and they can basically be regarded as collateral for projects, so everyone in the industry likes to call stars as bank mortgages.

   "Sinatra is in his seventies, and emphysema makes it a problem for him to perform on stage in Las Vegas. I don't think he can do the heavy manual labor of filming."

   "Um...then who did you find?" Ronald continued to ask.

   "Whoever you want to work with, we'll find someone. Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood..."

When Ronald heard these names, he shook his head for a while. Joel Silver was afraid that he didn't know his "history" with Stallone, and Stallone and Eastwood were both narcissistic and had no relationship with him. Well... that is, Schwarzenegger and himself are pretty good friends.

   "Wait..." Ronald was still thinking about what project Schwarzenegger was working on now and whether it was appropriate for him to act. Suddenly he found that he was almost cheated by Silver.

   "You SOB, you haven't got a star, you want me to be your bank mortgage, right?"

"Hahaha..." Joel Silver didn't feel ashamed after being exposed, but instead laughed, "You should be proud, Ronald. Now you can be like those big stars, by the SOBs of Wall Street. as a box office guarantee.”

   "So you SOB, you're going to hang on to my name, and then you lie to those SOBs on Wall Street?" Ronald also laughed, Silver is really a wonderful person. To tell the truth, when a producer is to have this shameless "talent" to test everything.

"To be honest, I really want to work with you." Silver put away his smile and looked sincere, "I have a good relationship with Twentieth Century Fox, as long as I can promise the director, I can tell them A better condition."

"Hey... I have a good relationship with their vice president, Joseph Farrow, and I can get what you said." Ronald didn't hide his relationship with the CEOs of several major studios. Poor, Fox's Farrow, who worked with himself to produce "Beautiful", tacitly took a lot of Fox's money and resources.

   "Go talk, can you talk about the box office commission?" Silver lowered his voice.

   "Can you get it?" Ronald became interested when he saw that he seemed to be able to do it.

"Almost, Fox's financial situation is not very good now. Their building is half repaired, and the upper floor has not been renovated, so the legal department and the financial department have moved in. Let's take advantage of this time period to have a good talk with them about the conditions, absolutely You can make a lot of money.

  Besides, your old relationship, Farrow, has lost his right to speak at Fox now. The new president is Leonard Goldberg from the past of ABC TV. We have known each other for a long time..."

   "If you say that, it's worth considering." Ronald recalled that two of Dongying's friends wanted to invest in Hollywood. It happened that Fox was short of money, so it might be a good opportunity.

"That's right," Silver took the novel off the table again and put it in Ronald's hand, "Look carefully, even if you don't direct, I welcome your company to invest in this. movie."

   Ronald put away the novel, and he had already planned to take time to see if he could put some positive Eastern characters in it. Anyway, as long as a positive image appears in the movie, the two pro-American entertainment industry bosses in Dongying can invest.

"I said Joel, can you tell me the truth, in the end, who is the male protagonist, who is the candidate you have in mind, and who has contacted? Whoever rejected it, who agreed to consider? Go ask those who refuse."

"It's fair", Silver raised his hands and made a gesture of surrender, "Eastwood and Stallone both refused, we hope that the male lead has the strength of action and a certain sense of humor, and now the most optimistic is Shiva Singh, in touch."

   "Sounds less promising?" Ronald saw that he crossed two more out of the three names on the list.

   "Hey, if you make a few more movies, you'll understand. Not all the projects of the seven major studios will have stars vying for it."

  Joel Silver took out a portrait and handed it to Ronald.

   Above is a sketch of a male protagonist, with muscles all over his body and a smile on his face.

   "Having a talent for action and comedy doesn't seem very compatible unless we get black star Eddie Murphy."

   "Huh, I understand." Ronald glanced at the portrait, and listed a lot of star names below.

  The left column is action stars, including Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Eastwood, etc., which can shoot action scenes, but the comedy talent has not been proven.

   The right column has acting skills, including Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, etc., but their ability to shoot action scenes is slightly inferior.

   "I'll take this novel and see, I can't promise anything." Ronald patted the thick paperback novel and was ready to leave.

   "Of course, of course, but I think you're going to love the novel and you're going to love the project," Joel Silver predicted.

   "By the way, you said the screenwriter is still writing the script, is it too late? When will Fox approve the project and when will it be released?"

"This year's Las Vegas fair has been confirmed, next year's summer. Don't worry, the screenwriter I'm looking for is paying off his mortgage. His previous script was abandoned by Columbia, and now Disney is giving him a little odd job and he can't make ends meet. , I gave him a high salary, he can work 18 hours a day..."

"Fuck you SOB, 18 hours a day? Joel, don't press too hard, now the screenwriters union is very dissatisfied with the share of the videotape, and they all sent letters to me, a union member, encouraging everyone to refuse to grow time to work overtime.”

   "Yeah, yeah...you're still a member of the Producers League, you're on our side." Joel Silver laughed and sent Ronald out.

  …

   After negotiating the videotape rights for several upcoming films, Ronald is about to take another trip to the East Coast with Michelle Cannold to finalize the business of a videotape factory in New Jersey.

  Ronald has felt that business jets are much better than first class on commercial flights since he flew long distances in private business jets. He knew many bigwigs who owned business jets, and he also obtained the contact information of the business jet leasing company through his broker. hooked up with them.

  Los Angeles and New York are the busiest business routes in America, with many daily commutes, Ronald can find cheap business jet charter segments just by telling them in advance.

  Many CEOs of listed companies, or wealthy people who rent business jets, do not return immediately after flying to their destination. At this time, the business jet company needs to dispatch the plane back. At this time, if you take one or two passengers by the way, the price can be greatly discounted. It's just that the time is uncertain and you need to wait.

   Ronald was put on the waiting list by the business jet company this time, and it would take about 24 hours for the scheduled flight to New York.

   "Ronnie, where are you? New York or Los Angeles?"

   Ronald, who was about to hide at home and read a novel, received a call from Kelly McGillis.

   "I'm in Los Angeles, I could go to New York anytime, what? What?"

   "You are great in Los Angeles. I have something to call you. Are you still in the same place?"

   "Yes, come on." Ronald put away the novel, what did McGillis know about himself? It's not the one I said last time... is it?

   Just thinking about who McGillis's girlfriend would be, Kelly came as fast as he could and knocked on Ronald's door.

   "Ronald, help me, I've been on the phone for the past two days." McGillis was very anxious when he came in.

   "What's the matter?" Ronald helped McGillis take off his shirt and hung it on the coat rack. Looking back for a while, it seems that there is no second person.

   "Paramount couldn't find a suitable actor for the victim of the assault case of 'Robbery Pear Blossom'. They still asked me to play the victim and find another role as a lawyer."

   "Oh, how could that be?", Ronald took a list that McGillis took out of his bag, which listed a lot of Shirley Lansing's proposed heroine candidates.

   Ronald knew that McGillis would love to play the role of the lawyer, using the film to evoke the kind of social atmosphere in American society that was unfriendly to female victims. She wanted to use the film to show that it was the criminals who were morally to blame, not the **** female victims who wore them.

   And she herself is plagued by similar things, if this movie can be made, it may be a good relief for her heart knot.

   "However, none of you can convince the female stars on this list? I can convince them?" Ronald was a little strange, why McGillis would come to him for help.

   "Kim Basinger, Demi Moore, Jennifer Beals, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Tilly..."

   Ronald saw at a glance that, except for Basinger, they were all actresses who had a 'history' with him. Especially the last two names...

   He doubted in his heart that this list was directed at him.

   "Who made this list?" Ronald didn't show his emotions. Instead, he calmed down his voice, stroked the list, and spread it out on the table.

   "It was made by Shirley Lansing. She went to all the people on the list and was turned down. She seems to have decided that I want to be in this movie, so let me beg you."

  Kelly McGillis looked at Ronald with big eyes and blinked a few times. There is an actor's sincerity and desire in it.

   Ronald sensed in McGillis' eyes that she didn't seem to be the one who deliberately used his past history. Then Lansing, who came up with the idea, is very suspicious. What does she want to do? When you are still the little screenwriter back then?

  Ronald stretched out his hand, and slowly flattened the paper on the table, pressing it down one by one. The unevenness caused by the folds was very hard with each stroke, as if he was smoothing out the memory that came up because of the list.

   "I don't have the ability to convince them. Presumably Lansing and Paramount came forward, and they both declined to appear. Is there a reason?" Ronald said slowly.

   "Hey...I know that too." McGillis sighed. "I think so too. This is not something that can be persuaded by a director, and it has nothing to do with the salary. It is the star's choice of his career path."

   McGillis seemed to be out of breath, and she fell on Ronald's lap, covering her face with her hands. "I couldn't help begging you either. Ms. Lansing said you might have a way to convince one of them. She said your director's work made women beautiful, and your words were convincing. I ...sorry, I really want to be in this movie."

   Sure enough, Lansing was doing the trick, Ronald smiled, "Then why don't you insist on playing the female lawyer? Don't touch the role of the victim."

   "Thank you..." McGillis gently kissed Ronald's mouth. "But there are too many people who can play the role of a lawyer. Lansing is still in contact with Jane Fonda and Mel Streep. If she can't find the right person for the victim, she will ask me to play it. , and then give the roles of female lawyers to those two."

   "This Lansing is too tricky." Ronald got angry in his heart, picked up the tea cup and slapped the table hard.

  This old woman is too good at abacus. McGillis filmed "Top Gun", and now is the time when the bank is most optimistic about the box office guarantee. Her interest in the role of the prosecutor in the case in the film was too obvious, and Shirley Lansing took advantage of her.

   As long as McGillis plays the victim, it is still a big bank mortgage. Financing and issuance are no problem.

   And her own past, I don't know where she dug out from. Especially the last Meg Tilly, now a Hollywood producer who also has some power, Tim Kinneyman's wife, let her ex-boyfriend contact married women? She had absolutely no peace of mind about this.

   "Forget it, I know you're in a dilemma. If it really doesn't work, I won't act. If I want to come to their filming plan, I'll put it on hold. I'll talk about it later." McGillis said happily, stroking his hair.

   "It has nothing to do with you." Ronald shook his hand, took out his handkerchief and wiped the water that splashed on his hands.

   "If you don't mind, I'll ask." Ronald still had a question he couldn't understand. "I can understand that you don't want to play the victim. Why don't these actresses want to?"

   "Hey, Lansing asked someone to modify the script and add a crime scene at the beginning, which is why I couldn't accept this role."

   Kelly McGillis got up, went to his bag, took out a script, and handed it to Ronald.

   "Oh, Shxt!" Ronald flipped through the previous scenes and couldn't help scolding. Several scenes in which the heroine was raped by criminals in the bar and were repeatedly assaulted on the pinball machine, were all written down?

   "Ready to be rated R? For the market?" Ronald finished the script and threw it on the sofa.

   "Yeah, there wouldn't be much of a market for this kind of subject matter." McGillis also had a painful look on his face. Originally a film that exposed the darkness of society and promoted righteousness, for the sake of box office, it had to compromise with business, and add those scenes of victims to attract male audiences.

   "I have never felt like today that the commercial logic of movies also has its very unreasonable side."

   Ronald felt that the various experiences of McGillis actually reflected some bad aspects of the business society. Everything is measured by the box office, and sometimes there is a price.

   "Do you really want to do this movie so much?" Ronald admired McGillis a little and hoped that she would get her wish.

   "Think, but don't think so. You don't have to do things you don't want to do because of me."

   McGillis hugged Ronald softly. In the Hollywood world, it is rare to have such a director who can hear what an actor is saying.

   "When I go to New York, I'll ask. But don't expect anything."

  Ronald picked up the list she had brought. In addition to the **** female stars I know, there are two names I have never heard of. It's a fair deal if one of their phone calls can make them decide to play victims for the sake of fame.

   "Rosanne Arquette, Kristen Davis, who are they?"

   (end of this chapter)